Performance is Reality

One of my earliest "management" hero's was Harold Geneen, the CEO of International Telephone & Telegraph from 1960 to 1977. During that period, Hal led the growth of ITT and took it from a $750M dollar firm to a $16 billion dollar firm while net earnings grew from $29 million to $560 earnings, a compounded annual growth rate of more than 20%. Net earnings grew at least 11% in 15 of those 17 years and ITT acquired 350 firms and created over 200 new profit centers. When Hal retired in 1977, ITT was the ninth largest industrial company in America.

So what was his secret? In one of the books that he co-authored in the late 80's called Managing, he noted that the best way to manage a business was from back to front; i.e.: you started with the end goal in mind and then worked backwards through all the steps required to achieve that goal. In his mind, the goal wasn't a target or an objective. It was in fact a commitment and everyone in his organization worked towards that commitment because achieving anything less than the commitment was failure in his eyes. He held people accountable and he did not accept excuses. In fact, he is well know for having said that, "I think it is an immutable law of business that words are words, explanations are explanations, promises are promises-but only performance is reality." I've always remembered reading that quote and I've repeated it over the years to more folks than I can remember. I think that is one of the reasons technology got into such a rut in the late 90's and early 2000's. We stopped forgetting that performance is reality and everything else is essentially noise. Harold Geneen was a tough leader and he was relentless in his pursuit of the commitments established for the firm each year. He accepted responsibility for delivering against those commitments and he expected his management team to do the same, and if they couldn't deliver, then he found managers that could and he found them quickly.

As we begin the process of building our 2008 business plan, I am reminded of the lessons I learned from Harold Geneen all those years ago and I'm filled with an energy that comes from both optimism and resolve. Moreover, I'm filled with a sense of purpose and commitment. I think it is the only mindset that you can have if you are going to be successful. Resolve to be successful. Resolve to achieve the commitment. Resolve to be relentless in your pursuit of the commitment. Lead the team and remember that "performance is reality" and forget everything else!