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Much has been said recently in conjunction with our military operations in Iraq about “force multipliers.” As best I understood, these force multipliers were elements leveraging our available manpower into a more potent ability to not just win, but to dominate a military campaign. The primary force multiplier in modern warfare is technology. In industry, the most potent force multiplier is excellence, especially when it is found in the executive suite. As one Executive Vice President of Human Resources told us recently, the most effective way he found to reduce personnel costs was to invest in excellence among the leaders being recruited or groomed for the organization.
In an era where the mantra is to do more with less, it was the brilliant leaders who found ways to modify processes so that more could be done without having to add to the workforce. It has been the excellent leaders who have created environments worthy of appearing on Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” while concurrently finding ways to reduce the cost of health care benefits through wellness and fitness programs that not only informed, but conditioned the participants. The most excellent sales executives not only lead by example, but also develop and/or hire sales professionals who deliver higher performance than competitors, sometimes by factors of 200% or more.
• Excellence finds ways to say “we can.” Excellence acts from a belief in abundance rather than scarcity.
• Excellence leads people to give the job their best and not just their time.
In cultures of excellence, executives have the pleasure and the extreme challenge of framing the vision, providing the resources, and determining when to lead and when to get out of the way. In most businesses, the most crucial force multiplier is the level of excellence you can develop or bring into your company.
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