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Tran, Sr. Vice President, CIO and Associate Dean Rush University Medical Center “Aspatore is unlike other publishers…books feature cutting-edge information provided by top executives working on the front-line of an industry.” – Debra Reisenthel, President and CEO, Novasys Medical, Inc www.Aspatore.com Aspatore Books is the largest and most exclusive publisher of C-Level executives (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO, partner) from the world’s most respected companies and law firms. Aspatore annually publishes a select group of C-Level executives from the Global 1,000, top 250 law firms (partners and chairs), and other leading companies of all sizes. C-Level Business Intelligence™, as conceptualized and developed by Aspatore Books, provides professionals of all levels with proven business intelligence from industry insiders—direct and unfiltered insight from those who know it best—as opposed to third-party accounts offered by unknown authors and analysts. Aspatore Books is committed to publishing an innovative line of business and legal books, those which lay forth principles and offer insights that, when employed, can have a direct financial impact on the reader’s business objectives, whatever they may be. In essence, Aspatore publishes critical tools—need-to-read as opposed to nice-to-read books—for all business professionals. Inside the Minds The critically acclaimed Inside the Minds series provides readers of all levels with proven business intelligence from C-Level executives (CEO, CFO, CTO, CMO, partner) from the world’s most respected companies. Each chapter is comparable to a white paper or essay and is a future-oriented look at where an industry/profession/topic is heading and the most important issues for future success. Each author has been carefully chosen through an exhaustive selection process by the Inside the Minds editorial board to write a chapter for this book. 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I N S I D E T H E M I N D S Establishing a Companywide Vision for Success Leading Executives on Updating Your Company’s Long- Term Strategy, Setting and Achieving Goals, and Motivating Employees Copyright © 2007 by Aspatore, Inc All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Inside the Minds Managing Editor, Laura Kearns; edited by Michaela Falls; proofread by Leah Jones No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the U S Copyright Act, without prior written permission of the publisher This book is printed on acid free paper Material in this book is for educational purposes only This book is sold with the understanding that neither any of the authors or the publisher is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, investment, or any other professional service Neither the publisher nor the authors assume any liability for any errors or omissions or for how this book or its contents are used or interpreted or for any consequences resulting directly or indirectly from the use of this book For legal advice or any other, please consult your personal lawyer or the appropriate professional The views expressed by the individuals in this book (or the individuals on the cover) do not necessarily reflect the views shared by the companies they are employed by (or the companies mentioned in this book) The employment status and affiliations of authors with the companies referenced are subject to change Aspatore books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use For information, please e-mail store@aspatore com or call 1-866-Aspatore ISBN 978-1-59622-715-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2007925927 For corrections, updates, comments or any other inquiries please e-mail editorial@aspatore com First Printing, 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Establishing a Companywide Vision for Success Leading Executives on Updating Your Company’s Long-Term Strategy, Setting and Achieving Goals, and Motivating Employees CONTENTS Diana Pohly 7 SETTING A VISION AND ESTABLISHING THE STEPS TO GET THERE Cynthia Ambres, M.D., M.S. 17 LEADING A PATH TO SUCCESS Timothy M. Andrews 27 A CEO’S HANDS-ON APPROACH TO LEADING A COMPANY Colin Angle 41 LEADING AN INNOVATIVE COMPANY Gamal Aziz 49 BENCHMARKING MGM GRAND’S CULTURE OF INNOVATION Douglas W. Stotlar 69 CULTURE: A CRITICAL DRIVER OF THE CORPORATION David Adamany 77 GUIDING AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION TO SUCCESS Lita M. Abele 91 DIVERSITY & LEADERSHIP Lorri A. Keenum 99 THE “HOLE” SCOOP Nikki Olyai 105 MEASURING CORPORATE PERFORMANCE TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS Gladys W. Mack 115 LEADING A SUCCESSFUL TRANSIT SYSTEM Setting a Vision and Establishing the Steps to Get There Diana Pohly President The Pohly Company 7 INSIDE THE MINDS Being Successful The Pohly Company is a marketing and publishing services company. Our mission is to create sustainable communications programs that connect customers to companies and help businesses grow. We define the “customer” as anyone who can positively impact our client’s business, including buyers, employees, partners, readers, and members. We believe that feeling understood and valued is a basic human need upon which quality communication programs can be built and nurtured. Consequently, our efforts are dedicated to harnessing the power that emotion can wield in supporting and fostering a trusted relationship in a business context. From a quality standpoint, the most important thing I can do to build long- term success at my company is have the ability to be very forward-thinking on behalf of the business. However, any CEO must also be able to bring that future concept back to the present. We must develop ways to execute in the present so that everyone within the company can understand the future vision and act upon it. Creating the Vision Often, CEOs do not have a strategic planning process, and instead, only have an annual budgeting process. Planning in longer cycles than just year- to-year is really important. I believe that the entire executive management and senior management team should be engaged in creating our strategic plan. This way, they have ownership, which results in more support and engagement. It is also necessary to write down goals, measures, strategies, and key tactics and then benchmark those goals to make sure they are being achieved. And of course, it is critical that a CEO be passionate about the company, its work, and its people. Changing the Vision Our leadership plan or vision is prepared in three- to five-year planning increments. We only change our plan if it’s not working internally, or something changes in the market externally. Our executive management team gets together quarterly and reviews our current plan as it pertains to that year, as well as the current year’s progress against our longer term 8 SETTING A VISION AND ESTABLISHING THE STEPS TO GET THERE goals. Major changes will occur only if it’s needed. For example, when 9/11 occurred, our largest client was an airline. We not only had to immediately act in a crises management mode for the work we were doing for that client to be sensitive to 9/11 and its aftermath, but we had to completely reset our financial goals for the next two years due to the immediate negative impact on the airline industry as a whole. By having a detailed plan in place, it made it easier to adjust and to communicate effectively to our staff. Change would also be needed if we were to suddenly experience a decline in quality or a decrease in client satisfaction. Those problems would cause us to lose market share, so we would be forced to step back and try to determine the problems. Setting Goals We set goals for the company using a process called TopSheet planning™.