It is highly unlikely for me to learn nothing in the presence of executives from other companies. “Performance equals potential minus interference,” was one of the comments made at the Radiant Leadership Team meeting a couple of weeks ago during a speech by Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America. He kicked off the second day of our meetings and shared with us many business lessons and a few personal ones too. Being on our board, Sandy has provided many wise words over the years so it was not a surprise to learn more from Sandy when he spent his time with us. I want to share some of the most memorable take-aways with you.
• When you need to have a tough talk with a child of yours, bring two cans of Coke into his/her bedroom (one for you, one for the child) and it will make a huge difference in how well the conversation goes.
• People remember how they are treated when they’re in trouble.
• We all work in a multi-cultural environment in the United States and our workforce should reflect that same environment if we are to truly understand the markets we serve. Otherwise, there could be a trend staring us in our faces that we simply don’t get.
• Today’s work environment should allow individuals to bring their whole selves into the work place.
• Entrepreneurial channel partners are the best way to serve small to mid-sized businesses.
• Packaging products and aligning pricing with those packages may be the best way to address customer needs – for your customers and for the company delivering those packages.
• Warts are not beauty spots and to call them so avoids the problem.
• Customers can’t afford their suppliers’ waste.
• Obsessing about the competition can take you out of your game.
One other thing I learned from Sandy during the session was this – he displayed a passion for the Coca-Cola products in a way that reminded me what to keep in mind when talking with people about our company. It’s easy to get caught up in business models, processes and markets. Radiant’s products inspire me and, thanks to Sandy, I realize how important it is for me to do a better job reflecting on them.
Tags: Coca-Cola, Executive, president of Coca-Cola North America, Radiant Leadership Team meeting, Sandy Douglas
Echoing your last couple of paragraphs Michael – some people would not think our line of work is very exciting, but it’s all in how you present it.
My daughter had me out for Career Day at her kindergarten last year.
I loaded a 1520 with a QS database with five big buttons: Hot Dog, Hamburger, Coke, Milk, and $$ to pay out. I got to explain how I use math, science, reading, and computers, as well as the importance of being nice to people and working well together.
The kiddos had an absolute ball taking each other’s orders and ringing them up! Every one held their “Treetops Cafe” receipt (Treetops is the school name) like it was a little treasure.
So, color me pretty darn excited too.
Every year I get the opportunity to visit my daughter’s school for career day. Not only do I look forward to talking to the kids about my career (thus far) but I also enjoy the chance that it gives me to reflect on the company I work for. Like many of my coworkers I have roots in this industry dating back to my first job. My secondary education was focused on this industry and I’ve moved from operations to development and design over the past two decades. As I reflect on my position now with Radiant Systems I can say I feel a sense of complete pride for the company I work for and the products they sell. And it’s that pride, I feel, that is reflected to the kids.
As my daughter’s progressed from elementary to middle school my presentation with the kid’s has come back, hands down, as THE highlight of the day. Sure – they get to see and hear from firefighters, police officers, doctors, FBI agents, aerospace engineers, train engineers – you name it, it seems they’ve all visited on career day. But what REALLY gets their attention is the dad that works at Radiant Systems!
Why, you ask? Simply put, that’s the company that not only has the computers at the restaurants, but it also has the cool computers at the movie theaters, and the ones at the sporting events, and the ones at the stores and all those other fun places they shop or visit. They actually get to hear about what it takes to get that system designed, installed and working at various locations. From sales to consultants, analysts to product managers, support to developers, they see what it takes to create a product that they see almost everywhere they go. Yes – the other jobs are really important and cool, but this is the company that makes those computers I see everywhere!!!
They can say later in the week when they go out to dine, shop or see a movie at one of our customers locations “Hey – I know that logo! That’s Radiant Systems! My classmates dad works for them and I know ALLLL about them now!”
And that, to them, is the most exciting thing in the world.
Tell you what … it makes me pretty darn excited too …