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An excerpt from Chapter 14 of Change is Good…You Go First:

This story originally appeared in the play Some Folks Feel the Rain.

A man was lost while driving through the country. As he tried to reach for the map, he accidentally drove off the road into a ditch. Though he wasn't injured, his car was stuck deep in the mud. So the man walked to a nearby farm to ask for help.

"Warwick can get you out of that ditch," said the farmer, pointing to an old mule standing in a field. The man looked at the decrepit old mule and looked at the farmer who just stood there repeating, "Yep, old Warwick can do the job." The man figured he had nothing to lose. The two men and the mule made their way back to the ditch. The farmer hitched the mule to the car. With a snap of the reins he shouted:

"Pull, Fred! Pull, Jack! Pull, Ted! Pull, Warwick!"

And the mule pulled that car right out of the ditch.

The man was amazed. He thanked the farmer, patted the mule, and asked, "Why did you call out all of those names before you called Warwick?"

The farmer grinned and said, "Old Warwick is just about blind. As long as he believes he's part of a team, he doesn't mind pulling."

An excerpt from Chapter 13 of Change is Good…You Go First:

After analyzing the purchase histories of customer groups, Brad [Anderson, CEO of Best Buy] discovered that 20% of his customers were responsible for virtually all the transactions in which the company lost money, while an entirely different 20% accounted for the bulk of store profits. To prepare for the change, Brad trained his "on the floor sales staff" in 100 pilot stores. He got them to quickly recognize and accommodate their high-profit customers.

Surprisingly, price was not the issue to this group of customers, yet they were responsible for most of the revenue in the company; hence, the importance of recognizing your customer's value.

Hechanged the way his salespeople talked to these high end customers. He trained them to describe the benefits of their products and to upsell them on additional features, warranties, and options in a way that this highly targeted group would appreciate.

At the same time, he eliminated all discounting and price driven promotions to deter the 20% of customers that resulted in unprofitable transactions. Within a few months, Best buy's 100 pilot stores posted double the sales gains of the other stores. Promptly, the change was exported to the remaining stores with great success.

...Brad had no guarantee his strategy would work, but his courage to try it paid off.

This is just another example of the 80/20 rule showing itself in real life. 20% of your best customers generate 80% of your revenue, and 20% of worst customers generate 80% of your losses. Fire the 20% on the bottom and focus on the 20% on top.

An excerpt from Chapter 11 of Change is Good…You Go First:

A paycheck is what an employee works for. Recognition and praise is what they live for! Every manager should understand that recognition is a human need...one that we all crave. And one of your greatest challenges is to find creative ways to fill that need. Many times, this one thing can be the difference between a good and a great leader. Michael LeBoeuf understood this when he said, "The greatest management principle in the world is 'the things that get rewarded and appreciated get done.'"

During the change process, an effective recognition practice is to celebrate successes, and to reinforce your goals on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. You are making an investment in your most important asset...your people!

An excerpt from Chapter 11 of Change is Good…You Go First:

Don't pass the buck

According to Gallagher and Ventura, the most important words of personal responsibility are as follows:

The 10 most important words:
I won't wait for others to take the first step

The 9 most important words:
If it is to be, it's up to me.

The 8 most important words:
If no me, who? If not now, when?

The 7 most important words:
Let me take a shot at it.

The 6 most important words:
I will not pass the buck.

The 5 most important words:
You can count on me.

The 4 most important words:
It IS my job!

The 3 most important words:
Just do it!

The 2 most important words:
I will.

The most important word:
Me

Frank Tyger said it best...

"Your future depends on many things, but mostly yourself.

Today's method to inspire change really puts a new spin on the idea of "lead by doing." When was the last time the CEO of your company did something like this?

An excerpt from Chapter 10 of Change is Good...You Go First:

Not long ago, I read a great story in INC. magazine written by Norm Brodsky. In it, Brodsky wrote about being on a Jet Blue flight when Neeleman [the company's founder] was on board...
"As we were buckling up to take off, Neeleman stood up and introduced himself. 'Hi, I'm Dave Neeleman, the CEO of Jet Blue. I'm here to serve you today and I'm looking forward to meeting every one of you before we land.
"As he was handing out snack baskets he would stop to chat with everyone. When he came to me, I told him I thought it was a great idea to serve his customer first hand, and asked him how often he did it. Expecting him to say once or twice a year, he said, 'Not often enough...I get to do it about once a month.'
"Out of curiosity, I watched him interact with other passengers. In several instances, I saw him taking notes and listening intently to what passengers were saying. In a few instances when he couldn't answer the question, I watched him take a business card and say, 'Someone will be in touch with you in the next 24 hours.' Even at the end of the flight, there was Neeleman, in his blue apron, leading the charge collecting the trash from the seat pockets."