Johnson Conley

Leadership is a Matter of Performance

Category: Leadership

Leadership

10 Rules of Leadership

Mar 14, 2025 #Leadership by Dennis Conley

Bob Kierlin, the former CEO of Fastenal, who passed away on February 10, 2025, left behind a profound legacy encapsulated in his 10 Rules of Leadership:

  1. Challenge rather than control: Encourage innovation by inspiring team members to find their own solutions rather than micromanaging their actions.
  2. Treat everyone as your equal: Foster teamwork by valuing each individual’s contribution, regardless of their role.
  3. Stay out of the spotlight: Leaders should avoid taking credit for team achievements, instead highlighting the collective effort.
  4. Share the rewards: Celebrate successes by ensuring recognition and benefits are distributed fairly among all contributors.
  5. Listen rather than speak: Prioritize understanding others’ perspectives to build trust and collaboration.
  6. See the unique humanness in all persons: Recognize and appreciate the individuality of each team member.
  7. Develop empathy: Cultivate the ability to understand and share the feelings of others to strengthen relationships.
  8. Suppress your ego: Leaders should focus on the team’s success rather than their own personal glory.
  9. Let people learn: Encourage growth by allowing team members to experiment and learn from their experiences.
  10. Remember how little you know: Stay humble and open to continuous learning, acknowledging that there is always more to discover.

Great principles of leadership, thanks Bob!

Leadership
Leadership
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Leadership, Sourcing

Outsourcing Benefits and Risks

Mar 29, 2024 #Sourcing by Dennis Conley

An interesting although an expected outcome of outsourcing challenges (Fired Americans Say Indian Firm Gave Their Jobs to H-1B Visa Holders).

Early on, outsourcing was a strategy leveraged to obtain better services than could otherwise be delivered with in-house staff. Firms could focus on their core business without having to manage an area of the business that they were unwilling to invest in. Employees would join a service provider that provided the support and access to state-of-the-art tools and techniques, not to mention career advancement opportunities. Corporate leadership championed outsourcing initiatives as part of their strategic vision. In many cases, it was a win-win-win for customer, service provider, and outsourced employees.

It was not too long before the strategy turned into a tactic to cut costs. All too often, the strategy devolved into other objectives. Creative financing to get assets off the books. Promising reduced costs that could only be delivered with staff reductions; “efficiencies.” It is no surprise that in the objective to reduce costs, labor arbitrage entered as a significant way to deliver cost savings. I recall the CEO of a major US firm reveling in the fact that he saved one hundred million dollars in operating expenses because of outsourcing. I also recall the many engagements I led providing “marriage counselling” to companies and their service providers for failed outsourcing deals.

Done well, outsourcing can be a significant strategy that delivers positive outcomes. Done poorly, outsourcing leads to higher costs, lower quality service delivery and human carnage.

Leadership