Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 28, 2018

As I enter my 31st (!) year as a business leader, there are just a handful of leadership lessons come back to the forefront for me, time after time (after time). This one always bubbles back up to the top of the list. Leaders HAVE to stay out of the Comfortable Middle, and practice Full Spectrum Management, to have any real chance to reach for greatness.

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Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

Yesterday, while looking for inspiration for this week’s post, I went into my post vault and found this absolute gem from something I posted back in February of 2006. In that post I wrote about a review in the NY Times of the book “Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?” by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones. There were some quotes from that book that were noted in the review, and when I re-read them yesterday I was struck by their absolutely spot on description of More Human Leadership.

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Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 27, 2017

While there is no question that having a high level of accountability in the workplace is a good thing, the trick is getting your teammates to that point of clarity without tipping the scale over into a perilous danger zone. That is, how do you avoid what I call the “ accountability trap “, where teammates are so focused on what happens if they run afoul of their responsibilities that they go into a paralysis, unwilling to take any risks to drive the company forward.

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Terry Starbucker

JULY 30, 2017

The foundation of my More Human leadership practice and philosophy comes from what I call “ half-fullism ” – dealing with the literal world in a favorable way. In fact, the original title of this blog was “Ramblings From a Glass Half-Full” In my very first post back on December 25, 2005, I noted, Call me an eternal optimist, call me a fool, but I find it’s the best way to live one’s life with the least amount of angst.

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Terry Starbucker

MAY 21, 2017

My More Human Leadership philosophy and practice is guided by 8 core principles. One of them is “Establish A Mantra Of Key Values” A few words or a short list of bullet points can’t tell you how important that was for me in becoming a successful leader, so I wanted to share with you my personal story of how I discovered, and then fully absorbed, the values that guided me towards the right path.

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Terry Starbucker

MARCH 12, 2017

As a long-time student of more human leadership I love to chat with other leadership and business thought leaders and teachers, because there’s always something new to learn that can make a difference. Recently I was introduced to Andrea Garfield by a mutual friend, and our subsequent conversation was so interesting and valuable that I just had to get it on tape and share it with you.

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Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

As soon as we are labeled as a “leader”, especially one in the executive suite, there is a very strong tendency to put ourselves on a pedestal. After all, we are on a higher rung on the ladder, right? If we’re not careful, this “higher level” thinking can also have an effect on how we interact with our teammates. Suddenly, we’re more aloof, more reserved.

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Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 15, 2017

I’ve had this infatuation with being a wordsmith for many, many (many) years. The fact is, I like words – all kinds of words. I guess you could say I’m infatuated with the English language, so much so that one of my favorite books of all-time is Webster’s Dictionary. And it still gives me great pleasure to have my friends reach for the dictionary when I ask them to quit acting insouciantly.

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Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 18, 2016

There is a great benefit to the 365-day calendar – the fact that it restarts at January 1, without fail. It’s an annual window of opportunity for recycling, renewal, rebirth, rejuvenation, rejiggering, retooling, rebooting, and whatever other “re-something” you can think of. I call it the “ January Effect “, and as leaders we need to take full advantage of it.

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Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 11, 2016

I recently chatted with Jamie Newman on his “Your Best Manager” podcast – in it, I talk about (among a few other things): My best mentor (and why). My biggest people management challenge. Why leaders should be more human. The 5 lessons everyone should know before they start leading. And my 3 favorite business books. Check it out! Then visit Jamie’s podcast page for more links and info related to our chat.

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Mentor Leadership Books Management 176

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 6, 2016

The teaching element of leadership is so often overlooked and overshadowed by more glamorous things like vision, strategy and execution. But in the end, it is probably the most gratifying part of leadership, because when you do connect with someone this way, and they get it, they thrive and grow, and even surpass you, the resulting feeling of satisfaction is unlike anything else.

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Committee Learning-by-Doing Metrics Download 150

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Respect is a much-talked and much-written about cornerstone of effective leadership, particularly the more human kind. Yes, leaders need to be respected because it leads to a bond of trust that enables a culture of accountability and success. But it’s not all about YOU getting respect. It’s just as much about them being respected too. It’s about the people you lead.

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Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

Great leadership lessons are the ones that stand the test of time because they become a part of who you are, and how you lead, every hour of every day. In my 34 years in the business world, I’ve been fortunate to have had a chance to observe and work with great (and not so great) leaders, to read many excellent (and not so excellent) books about leadership, and gain many years of experience as a leader (and now entrepreneur, startup investor, and business consultant) myself, through both success

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Terry Starbucker

JULY 31, 2016

“Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”. ~Mary Oliver. I was one of the lucky people who got to know and work with Dr. Kathy Cramer, who passed away on July 13th, 2016 due to complications from a cancer she fought with great bravery and tenacity. I reached out to her in 2014 after I read an interview she had done with the Washington Post.

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Wilde Webinar Leadership Download 150

Terry Starbucker

JULY 3, 2016

Washington Crossing The Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, MMA-NYC, 1851. “Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages” – George Washington. I was never a great student of American History and the Revolutionary War when I was younger, only learning the most basic details of what occurred 240 years ago to secure the Independence of the United States of America.

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Terry Starbucker

JUNE 5, 2016

“It can’t be done”. “You can’t do that”. How many times have you heard these words? Plenty of times, I bet. And, how many times have you said those words? Stop and think about that for a second, and then consider this: “Can’t” is a big, fat, stop sign designed to sabotage a dream. Perhaps a better question we should ask ourselves is this – why are we hearing and saying that word in the first place?

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Terry Starbucker

MAY 8, 2016

All leaders need to get good and consistent verbal feedback from their teammates, but there are 10 pieces of feedback in particular that ratify our more human effectiveness and eventually lead to leadership greatness. They are rich with meaning as to the kind of leader you are, and are destined to become. Every time I heard one of these sentences, I knew I was on the right track, and it spurred me on to keep reaching for greatness. 1.

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Terry Starbucker

APRIL 10, 2016

Six years ago I published a little free ebook, “ Leadership From a Glass Half-Full: The 5 Lessons You Need To Learn Before You Jump Into The Pool” It was a way for me, as I wrote at the time, to “share my hard-earned lessons with leaders of all stripes, but particularly new and emerging ones – ones looking for the kind of guidance that I didn’t get” 14, 338 downloads later (thank you!

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Terry Starbucker

APRIL 3, 2016

In 2007, while SVP of Operations for Bresnan Communications, a cable TV company with 300,000 customers in 4 Rocky Mountain states, I was searching for a solution to a problem that had been eluding me for many years – a simple way to connect the 1,100 employees I was responsible for around a higher cause that went beyond profit. Fortunately, late that year a dedicated field technician in Grand Junction, Colorado and my faulty memory during a morning shower in Billings, Montana were the catalysts

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Terry Starbucker

MARCH 6, 2016

On paper, and in your head, you have the best team in the world – and yet, things are not clicking. You feel like you have the “ right people on the bus “, but right now, it’s just a bus going to nowhere. What to do? First off, you are not alone – this is a classic dilemma that has spawned a ton of books, studies, white papers, seminars, webinars and head scratching that have attempted to discern the core issues and solutions.

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Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

Can a company really “measure its heart”? As more human leaders, we instinctively know that there’s a strong correlation between a caring, connected and happy team and successful financial performance, but we also know that finding a way to measure and confirm that correlation is an essential part of sustaining (and even tightening) it over the long haul.

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Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 10, 2016

It was a conversation that forever changed my vision of “ corporate leadership “, and put me on the more human path. It also taught me the immense value of an open heart and mind. The funny thing was, it wasn’t a chat with a boss, or a mentor, or a teacher that set me straight. It wasn’t a concerned friend or colleague who wanted to pass along helpful advice.

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Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 23, 2015

On December 25, 2005, it started this way : Hello blogland, starbucker here – I figured that Christmas Day was the best time as ever to start doing this. Yes, I always tend to look at the glass as “half full” – call me an eternal optimist, call me a fool, but I find it’s the best way to live one’s life with the least amount of angst. I hate angst. Now I wish I could always see the bright side of everything, but hey, that’s why I need to blog – to share perspectives and learn from other experienc

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Terry Starbucker

JULY 26, 2015

I always thought it was strange how great leadership was always thought to be vitally important to a businesses success, but yet it was quite often the least discussed thing in the meeting rooms, and the budget money allocated to “leadership training” was always limited (or the first thing to get cut back). Why is this the case? It’s a question that has banged around in my head for a long time.

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Terry Starbucker

JULY 19, 2015

Note: This is the 4rd installment of excerpts from my book manuscript of “More Human: A Journey To The Heart Of Great Leadership”. . Today’s story is about how I found my leadership secret weapon – an operational metric that could play a key role in our march to greatness, and provide a critical link between great customer service and profit.

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Terry Starbucker

JUNE 21, 2015

I remember the day I knew I really wanted to be a leader. Funny thing was, it was 5 years after I “accidentally” became one. I started my career as an accountant, right out of college. I obtained my CPA certificate, rose quickly through the ranks and within 5 years I was a Manager on the fast track to partner. Then, I got a phone call that would change my life.

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Terry Starbucker

MAY 24, 2015

A current look at my (now closed) elementary school in Cudahy, Wisconsin – with my childhood playground in the foreground. This holiday weekend I’m visiting my hometown of Cudahy, Wisconsin to spend some time with my family. Cruising around the old neighborhoods, and past my old elementary school and playground, brought back some childhood memories that played a huge role in putting me on the path to business success.

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Terry Starbucker

MAY 17, 2015

Now that you’ve absorbed the 8 basic principles of More Human Leadership , learned the 10 immutable laws that go with them, and truly know the difference between a boss and a leader , it’s now time to dig a little deeper. Let’s get beyond those basics and into a little leadership fine-tuning – those refinements and adjustments that keep that wheel of success turning without too much friction.

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Terry Starbucker

APRIL 5, 2015

'This morning I was reading the business section of the Oregonian and I saw these survey statistics – 86 percent of employees trust their leadership less today than they did 5 years ago, and 70 percent of people say they are “disengaged at work” What’s going on? As usual for me, a song played in my head as I digested that information.

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Terry Starbucker

MARCH 29, 2015

'Jack Kent Cooke, my boss back in 1987, when I had my first leadership job. “Terry, my boy… ” When I heard those words from Jack Kent Cooke back in 1987, I knew he was about to teach me something. I had a lot to learn, since he had plucked me from the accounting ranks to be the COO of a cable company at the ripe young age of 27. What was amazing at the time was how little I really knew about leadership.

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Terry Starbucker

MARCH 22, 2015

'Kjell van Zoen and his wife, Kim. Kjell van Zoen isn’t looking for unicorns. The founder and CEO of Portland company Plywerk , Kjell has been fighting the good startup fight for nearly 8 years, handcrafting beautiful wood photo displays with his crew in a warehouse on the east side of the city. It is a classic startup story. When Kjell’s wife Kim, a photographer, needed to mount a photo, she simply took some wood glue to the photo and pasted it on a piece of wood.

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Lean Manufacturing Entrepreneur Workshop Learning-by-Doing 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 15, 2015

'One of the keys to being a good leader is the ability to leverage a basic human trait that exists in every workplace. That is, unless you destroy it by how you lead. Among those who serve the customers, or make the widgets, or support those who do either of these things, is a strong desire to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. It’s called pride.

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Terry Starbucker

MARCH 8, 2015

'Love isn’t a new concept when it comes to great leadership- after all, in one of the oldest leadership books out there, The Art of War (it goes back to the 6th Century BC), Sun Tzu said “He treats them as his own beloved sons and they will stand by him until death”. However, it is not a concept well suited to the typically rough and tumble world of business.

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Power Leadership Magazine Mentor 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 1, 2015

'There are days when I can get in serious “auto-pilot” mode – the state of being where things are happening so fast and furiously that all I do is react, instead of think. It’s during those times that my leadership suffers. Because I’m “ not all there “. I become a mile wide and an inch deep. My teammates don’t get the benefit of any fully developed and reasoned thought and analysis.

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Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 21, 2014

'9 years ago this week, I started this blog with a declaration (of sorts): Yes, I always tend to look at the glass as “half full” – call me an eternal optimist, call me a fool, but I find it’s the best way to live one’s life with the least amount of angst. 965 posts later, I find myself sitting in front of my computer thinking about all that has happened after I drew that line in the sand.

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Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 14, 2014

'George Santayana. I’m sure you’ve heard this famous quote many times: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana. Indeed, it’s a very powerful message about learning from the past. However, I would offer that this quote should be amended to truly reflect using history to a leader’s advantage: “Those who learn best from wisely selected amnesia are destined to greatness”.

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Objective Policies Course Leadership 279

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 7, 2014

'My Dad used to love wearing trucker hats. He was a carpenter – that is, when he wasn’t working full time for the county sheriff’s department – and he had a closet full of cool hats to wear out on his jobs. He loved helping friends and neighbors that way, hanging a door, installing a window, fixing a roof, repairing siding, or even building an entire garage (I was with him on that adventure , in the summer of 1974).

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