Strategy CEO Archives - Page 8 of 10

Recent Articles

Toughness

Jay Bilas is a basketball analyst for ESPN. He also played at Duke. A few years ago he wrote an article for ESPN magazine called “Toughness.” You can read it here: http://blogs.yis.ac.jp/18howet/files/2013/01/Toughness-by-Jay-Bilas-2er84di.pdf The article was wildly popular. Coaches printed them up and shared them as well as leaders from all walks of life. It was more than a basketball article. It described how one can be more effective in any pursuit. Bilas has taken the

Howe Q. Wallace May 17, 2013

PDCA Revisited

Revisiting Plan, Do, Check and Act. Hector Peña works to support the advancement of lean efforts at PalletOne. He sent me a note thanking me for talking about PDCA and shared with me an observation. He likes the bias for action exhibited by our teams in the Plan and Do stages. He thinks we do a good job identifying issues and doing something different to address them. But, he observes that we can be better

Howe Q. Wallace May 2, 2013

Plan, Do, Check and Act

PDCA – Do you know what that means? I attended a staff meeting in Shipshewana last week. They reviewed a lecture on PDCA. Here’s what it means: Plan, Do, Check, and Act. Planning starts with making a clear statement of a problem to be solved. The “P” could have stood for “Problem” but I like that planning is associated with this stage. Planning means that the team is on a conscious search for problems to

Howe Q. Wallace April 30, 2013

NWPCA CEO’s Tenets for Success in Leading an Organization

The new CEO of the National Wooden Pallet and Container Association (NWPCA) Brent McClendon visited our Bartow headquarters today. Brent just began his third week with the NWPCA. The first two were spent planning and attending the NWPCA Annual Leadership Conference. Thus, our Bartow plant was the first pallet plant he has visited since becoming our industry’s leader. At the meeting in Orlando, Brent shared his tenets for success in leading an organization. Here is

Howe Q. Wallace February 20, 2013

The Humble Attitude of Learning

I had a teacher once who talked about the communication tools of successful people. His idea was that successful people would be moving from one situation to the other as they demonstrated their competence. Thus, a successful person might find herself in new settings frequently. He said that most new people felt a need to demonstrate their competency by telling what they knew. He cautioned us to resist that tendency. Instead, he said you would

Howe Q. Wallace January 23, 2013

Executing the 10 Commitments a Team Effort

It’s been said that if you want to be a successful leader you should find a parade and get out in front of it. I was reminded of that quote when I read an article about famous coaches in professional sports. Guys like Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots or Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers. Or basketball giants like Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson and Pat Riley. Or baseball managers like Joe Torre.

Howe Q. Wallace January 4, 2013

10 Commitments: #5 – Work Hard

More on the 10 Commitments, #5: 10 COMMITMENTS No Shortcuts We will teach you the safe way, provide you safe equipment, fix it when it breaks. Do it right and safe. Safety Freeze Watch out for others, guide and teach “rookies,” hold others accountable for safe practices. On Time and Quick Start Be there, start timely. Work Smart – Technique and Consistency Learn the right techniques and work at a consistent pace. Work Hard –

Howe Q. Wallace December 19, 2012

10 Commitments: #4 – Work Smart

More on the 10 Commitments, #4: 10 COMMITMENTS No Shortcuts We will teach you the safe way, provide you safe equipment, fix it when it breaks. Do it right and safe. Safety Freeze Watch out for others, guide and teach “rookies,” hold others accountable for safe practices. On Time and Quick Start Be there, start timely. Work Smart – Technique and Consistency Learn the right techniques and work at a consistent pace. There is a

Howe Q. Wallace December 18, 2012

The Benefits of Plant Tours

The PalletOne Board of Directors was in Bartow for its quarterly meeting and an annual budget review. Among the activities was a plant tour of the Bartow facility. Bartow, like all of you, has been engaged in “lean” activities. The plant looks good. We should offer plant tours all we can. Whether customers, vendors, public officials, family or friends – a tour of our facilities raises awareness of our excellent team. It only helps us.

Howe Q. Wallace November 14, 2012

Contributing to a Culture Change

I got a chance recently to speak to a group of students. I was describing my thoughts on converting a culture like we’ve been working on at our company as we become “leaner.” One of those listening sought me out after I finished. “Those ideas sound good but you don’t understand the place where I work. They would never allow it.” My answer to that is be the best you can be at controlling what

Howe Q. Wallace October 30, 2012

Talk To The Leader in PT Lumber. Request A Quote for Pallets.

Articles About Leadership

THE JUICE IS WORTH THE SQUEEZE

“Everything you want is on the other side of ‘hard’.” – CJ McCollum, NBA player McCollum is a story of overachievement. He was undersized. Played college basketball at a non-descript school. Was a long shot to be an NBA player but worked his way to being a first-round draft pick and was a solid star in his 10th year in the league. I heard him describe his approach to the game and his development on a podcast called

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

HAPPENING TO THE WORLD – A SATISFYING WAY TO LIVE

PalletOne leaders “happen to the world.” What does that mean? A PalletOne leader is confident. Each situation creates an opportunity for service and contribution. We are talented and put those talents to work. We see those around us as having talent. We seek to unlock it. We realize that we can be called upon to take the initiative to improve things at any moment. We act when the situation calls for it. We inspire through

Howe Q. Wallace March 25, 2024

SUFFERING AND CHALLENGES

“Weep, trust, pray, think, shift, hope, grow. Ways to handle suffering.” – Tim Keller Tim Keller was a preacher from New York City. He passed away in 2023. I followed him on Twitter because he tweeted profound thoughts like the one above. You don’t exit life without tough things happening to you. It’s a fact. None of us are exempt. In specific order, Keller gave us seven verbs to consider when challenged: Weep – It’s

Howe Q. Wallace March 22, 2024