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Hit the Ground Running by Jason Jennings |Book Brief

Business expert and author Jason Jennings interviewed the country's top ten performing CEOs for his book, "Hit the Ground Running". He explains how Smuckers' CEOs Tim and Richard Smucker reap what they sow by always treating customers the way they would want to be treated; how Staples' CEO Ron Sargent finds, keeps, and grows the right people; and how Humana's CEO Mike McCallister drove his stake in the ground and wound up changing the face of an industry. Jennings asserts that the ten "golden rules" these and other unconventional leaders follow can be transformational to their companies.

Speaker: Jason Jennings, entrepreneur & author

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Tags: CEO, Jennings, Strategy, Management, Business Book Brief, CEOs, best practices, leadership

 

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Hit the Ground Running by Jason Jennings |Book Brief

Business expert and author Jason Jennings interviewed the country's top ten performing CEOs for his book, "Hit the Ground Running". He explains how Smuckers' CEOs Tim and Richard Smucker reap what they sow by always treating customers the way they would want to be treated; how Staples' CEO Ron Sargent finds, keeps, and grows the right people; and how Humana's CEO Mike McCallister drove his stake in the ground and wound up changing the face of an industry. Jennings asserts that the ten "golden rules" these and other unconventional leaders follow can be transformational to their companies.

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Speaker: The book "Hit the Ground Running" asserts that taking over as a new leader is one of the hardest jobs in business. Author Jason Jennings interviews ten of the best performing CEOs in the country to find their golden rules.

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Speaker: Whether you're starting a new career, launching a new product, or about to take on bigger responsibilities, it's vitally important that you know how to get up to speed, make good decisions quickly, and begin producing positive results fast. So what are the right steps to ensure that you hit the ground running? I asked America's ten best performing CEOs that question, and here's what three of them had to say.

Music Because Smucker's jams, jellies, and marmalades are household names, and the company has been around for more than a 100 years, most people would be surprised to know that its current CEOs personify leaders who hit the ground running. Tim and Richard Smucker, co-CEOs attribute the success of their company to the Golden Rule. "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" in everything you do. The Golden Rule dictates everything single thing within the company from the culture to its quality control. For example, instead of using a high tech process to scan for quality control, they still use people because they want to make sure that there isn't one jar of jam or jelly that goes out the door that doesn't deliver on their promise of being the very best. Tim and Richard truly believe they have a higher calling to do the right thing. It's what they put into practice every day as they've grown into a five billion dollar company that rules the market in eight cutthroat grocery categories.

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>> If you're ever in one of Staple's several thousand stores and a trim, enthusiastic associate introduces himself and helps you out, check out his nametag. If it says "Ron," and he's got a mustache, it's probably Ron Sargent, CEO of the 30-billion dollar giant. Any successful business leader will tell you that the biggest challenge in business is finding, keeping, and growing the right people. Sargent's philosophy for keeping and growing the team is as follows, always promote from within, which creates a career culture that encourages people to stay longer and cuts out the expensive learning curve. Next, move people around the company in order to offer them new challenges. Identify the rising stars. Workers with high potential are more likely to stay if they know their hard work is recognized and that the company has a future in mind for them. Make everyone an owner by offering them a share of the company, no matter how small that share might be. And finally, to make diversity a priority because it's not only the right thing to do, but it makes good business sense to have your workforce look just like your customers.

Music It's vitally important to let your workers, customers, and partners know who you are, and what you stand for. Driving a stake in the ground allows a leader to provide clarity to everyone. Humana's CEO, Mike McAllister, did just that in 2000 when he started to talk about how health care was broken, and that the answers did not exist in Washington, D.C., but in the pocketbook of customers. Back in 2000, the only people with access to the vast database of health care options and information were those working in hospitals and doctor's offices. Humana decided to change all that by allowing their customers easy access to the same information via the Internet. They also insisted that their own 26,000 employees manage their own health care coverage online. Humana's internal cost reduction has been nothing short of astounding. While annual health insurance costs averages have soared into the double digits, Humana's have remained at an average of less than four percent since 2001.

Speaker: The CEOs I've talked about along with all of the others in "Hit the Ground Running" have something else in common. They just don't fit the stereotypical mold of a conventional CEO. In fact, they're often described as being humble, authentic, accessible, highly ethical, compassionate, and committed to always doing the right thing. These single-driving personalities are an unusual breed; so unusual I started calling them "fish out of water." I hope that "Hit the Ground Running" inspires you to break the mold and jump out of the water and into greatness. Music Sound effect

==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Techologies ====