Jim Blasingame

Business futurist, award-winning author, speaker and columnist

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Ethics / Trust

Keeping the coronavirus pandemic – and our response – in perspective

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Perspective: The capacity to view things in terms of their true and relative importance.

Four stock market crashes, seven recessions, three wars, three pandemics, one global financial collapse, one Y2K – and 9-11. This scary list identifies the varied major crises which have taken place during my long career. In the aggregate, they’ve ground a perspective lens through which I view momentous moments, like the pandemic of COVID-19 disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Of all the things on my list, we’re likely to agree that the two most frightening and destructive are the 9-11 attacks and the 2008 financial crisis. But you might be surprised to learn that the challenge providing me with the best perspective on the coronavirus pandemic is the Y2K event. Not for what happened, but because of what didn’t happen.

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The intangible force of organizational special sauce

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“Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.”

You may remember this jingle that once described the McDonald’s Big Mac. That burger was created to go head-up against the Hardee’s Husky, which was, well, husky, and the first-to-market with a “special sauce.”

Over the years, the term “special sauce” has been re-deployed beyond the burger wars, from condiment to handy metaphor. Management and organizational nerds, like me, have co-opted the term to identify a level of intangible performance that manifests beyond standard expectations.

Organizational special sauce in the marketplace isn’t a strategy or campaign, nor can it be achieved with a slogan or mission statement. No special sauce was ever the fruit of an algorithm, big data, or other amalgamation of ones and zeros. To the chagrin of Wall Street quants and activist investors, organizational special sauce is an incalculable, unprojectable, and intangible force. It’s 100% performance leverage produced by an active ingredient made of highly engaged human beings loving to work together toward something they all believe in.

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A big black bird is coming at you. Are you prepared?

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What do a rock, a flea, and a plate have in common with a small business? Hint: they’re all associated with surprise and danger. Any ideas?

Here’s another hint: a bird is sometimes used to refer to them. Anything yet? Okay, I’ll stop.

The rock is the dinosaur-killing asteroid that slammed into what is now the Gulf of Mexico 65 million years ago. The flea contributed to wiping out half of Europe during the Dark Ages. The plate was the tectonic kind that slipped on Boxing Day 2004, creating the south Asia, 9.3 megathrust earthquake and tsunami. And that small business? Patience, grasshopper. I’ll get to that in a minute. But first, about that bird …

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Lincoln’s leadership, courage and perseverance continues to inspire

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It’s that time of year when we’re reminded of the life of one of the most famous people in the history of modern civilization. What follows is a little history and a lot of inspiration.

Earthlings in every country on the planet have heard of the American who was born dirt-poor in a log cabin on the frontier, 2011 years ago this week. Even if they don’t know why, people know the name Abraham Lincoln. And for good reason. Besides almost three dozen Lincoln monuments (including internationally), there are over 600 schools, dozens of cities and counties, and no less than a gazillion streets, parks, buildings, and sculptures celebrating this great man’s iconic name and countenance.

As the 16th president of the United States of America, it’s generally accepted that Lincoln’s leadership during one of the greatest conflicts in human history was a profile in courageous genius. Even though the American Civil War was horrendous and the post-war era harsh, prolonged and contentious, both resulted in the successful reassembly of the United States – sans slavery. When you consider the blessing that the re-United States became to the world for the past century and a half, it’s no leap of logic that Lincoln is recognized as one of the most important individuals in the history of Western Civilization.

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Grow your Leadership Tree with four power questions

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Most agree that there are many traits of an effective leader, including competent, professional, visionary, trustworthy, confident, a communicator and, of course, courageous.

But great leaders are set apart further by three other qualities.

1. Servant-leadership. In the 21st-century marketplace, the prime devotion of great leaders is to their people because they know it’s through engaged, high-functioning teams that their own goals are achieved.

2. Honest curiosity. This quality has two parts that are as inextricable as the sides of a coin: 1) A great leader is devoted to asking questions, and 2) they listen.

3. Mentor mentality. The most successful and beloved leaders I’ve known had a trait that’s often overlooked: They mentored their people to become leaders. Great NFL coaches like Vince Lombardi, Bill Walsh, Tom Landry, and Bill Parcels became legendary through the subsequent performance of the coaches they mentored. It’s called the Coaching Tree.

In that spirit, allow me to introduce the concept of a Leadership Tree.

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Eleven financial fundamentals every small business CEO must know

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Regardless of the size of the business, the ultimate responsibility for success lies with the CEO. If you’re a small business owner, that’s you. And the most critical CEO tasks that result in success or failure lie in the knowledge and practice of financial management fundamentals.

Recent statistics show that over half of small businesses fail within the first four years. Clearly, that mortality rate could be significantly reduced if, before a business opens, the founder/CEO was required to pass a course that teaches business financial fundamentals and how to operate a business with them.

Don’t worry. Your humble advocate would never presume to lump you in with those who need business finance schooling. You, no doubt, are squared away on that score, but perhaps you know a small business CEO who isn’t. And let’s say you’re keen to give that CEO – your “friend” – the maximum opportunity to avoid becoming a marketplace battleground casualty.

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