Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

How do you know when your leadership is making a difference? As we move forward on our leadership journeys, there are lots of clues out there that can let us know how we’re doing, but there are 10 in particular that you should focus on. I call them “ triumphs “, and for good reason – these milestones represent critical tests of leadership.

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Leadership Wilde Metrics Goal 398

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 27, 2013

'Last week at the Digital Marketing Conference in Portland, I did an “Ignite” presentation on my “15 Ways To Tell The Difference Between a Boss and a Leader” I really like the Ignite format, because of the challenge it presents - 20 slides in 5 minutes, each one changing over every 15 seconds, whether you are ready for the change or not.

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Download Conference How To Marketing 378

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 16, 2013

'What are the secrets to entrepreneurial success? The best way to discover them is to ask those who have overcome the odds to tell their stories, and that’s what the Oregon Entrepreneur’s Network (OEN) did last week here in Portland, inviting 15 Oregon entrepreneurs to speak at their first OEN Summit. I was honored to be the emcee of the event, which attracted a sell-out crowd of nearly 200 (that’s me doing the kickoff in the pic).

Entrepreneur 378

Entrepreneur Apparel Ryan Software 378

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 29, 2013

'Fellow leaders, it’s that time of year again – time to dust off our leadership checklist, and get ‘em done. It’s time to get ready for a new year of issues and challenges. Proper preparation is key, and I assure you, if you do these 10 things, you’ll be more than ready to make the coming year the best one ever for your leadership.

Leadership 376

Leadership Self-aware Metrics Planning 376

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 4, 2013

'“Morale is poor, turnover is high, and our performance has been dismal. Can you fix all this for us?” Leadership has its challenges, and there’s none more daunting than walking into a difficult “turn around” situation. The expectations are high and the pressure is on, but the rewards are great for the leader that accepts this call to duty, and succeeds.

Leadership 376

Leadership Morale Learning-by-Doing Operations 376

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 1, 2013

'I was at a friend’s house for Thanksgiving dinner the other day when the conversation turned to leadership, and my blog. I was asked about my “More Human” philosophy and why it wasn’t more prevalent in today’s business world. I said I believed it was based on a couple of core issues – one, a mistaken belief about basic human motivation, and two, a fear that being “touchy feely” couldn’t possibly produce economic success.

Trends 375

Trends Aaker Tips Leadership 375

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 24, 2013

I remember when I didn’t have permission to fail. Or, to say it a bit more precisely, when I was really afraid to fail. I wasn’t a very productive employee. I never took chances. I never stepped out of the narrow little box I was existing in. I did my job. I did what I was told to do, and nothing more. Because, if I did something wrong – something unacceptable, or way off the mark…… I’d be in trouble.

Learning-by-Doing 373

Learning-by-Doing Team Course Positioning 373

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 10, 2013

I’ve seen and heard (and written) about a lot of great leadership lessons, but there’s a short list of them that have really “stuck” with me. They’ve since become an essential part of my leadership practice, and my life. I’m pleased to share these “greatest hits” with you, and hope that you to will find them as sticky as I have. “ An ounce of demonstration is worth a pound of explanation “ - Emil Liebling.

Leadership 363

Leadership Learning-by-Doing Motivation Succession 363

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 15, 2013

'I remember the first time I really acted like a leader – that is, when I accepted the most important leadership responsibility. It happened in 1977, when I was in high school. I was the editor-in-chief of our student newspaper. We had a staff of about 12 people, and my job was to get all the content put together, edited, typeset, proofed and delivered to the printer by our deadline.

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Leadership Content Mentor Career 358

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 3, 2013

I’ve written several times about one of my favorite leadership lessons, “A Short Course in Human Relations” (click on image at left for a PDF of the slide). Today my thoughts are focused on one part of that lesson, the “6 most important words”, triggered by the recent firing of Groupon CEO Andrew Mason. “I admit, I made a mistake” Mason publicly admitted his failure when he published his resignation note on Twitter ( and also threw in, for good measure

Short-term 355

Short-term Resistance Learning-by-Doing CEO 355

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 8, 2013

'Leaders do a lot of talking. It’s their job to paint the picture of what is supposed to be happening- that grand world of team harmony and stellar execution. I hear a lot of that talk these days as an angel investor, and by and large, most of the startup CEOs I listen to do a pretty good job of that kind of visioning. Where the rubber meets the road, however, is when these CEOs go from talk to action.

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Leadership Metrics Short-term Drucker 339

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 27, 2013

When I was in school I hated deadlines. Absolutely hated them. To make matters worse I was a classic procrastinator, especially when I was in college. It wasn’t unusual for me to finally crack the book open a couple of days before the exam, or pull out the typewriter just a day before a term paper was due. What was interesting about this “hatred” was that it actually worked for me – that is, what I didn’t realize was that that the deadline put me (albeit pretty l

Motivation 339

Motivation Tools Open-book Long-term 339

Terry Starbucker

JULY 14, 2013

'I worked for a company that had 1,200 employees. Every one of us had a job to do, all related to providing broadband cable services to residential and commercial customers. Since it was a business, it had owners that had certain expectations – a healthy return on their investment. On that high level, the objective was clear - build the company up by steadily increasing its profits, until it is attractive enough to be sold with that healthy return.

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Leadership Objective Finance Goal 338

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 13, 2013

I recently read “ Think Like Zuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook’s Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg ” by Ekaterina Walter (I received an advance copy). The book is a fascinating deep dive into many aspects of Facebook’s meteoric success, but I was particularly interested in her perspectives on the importance of great leadership.

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CEO Word of Mouth Marketing Leadership IPO 335

Terry Starbucker

MAY 12, 2013

'It’s so tempting…… There are times when it seems so logical, and so right, to just kick it back and push the auto-pilot button. Things are going fine. There are no disturbances in sight. Status Quo? Sure, why not? (Plus, I’ve got other distractions calling me – like all those Social Media sites that keep popping messages on my screen).

Resistance 325

Resistance Energy Price Media 325

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 30, 2013

'It was the fall of 1982. I was 3 months out of college, working for an accounting firm in San Antonio. Up to that point it had been an uneventful start to my career, since the summer is a slow time for most accounting groups. I spent hours at my cubicle just studying up for the CPA exam, and serving as a “go-fer” for the higher ups in the office (lets just say I knew my way around the copy and storage rooms).

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Power CPA Career Mentor 321

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 10, 2013

'I am pleased to present the first More Human Leadership Podcast , a new regular feature at TerryStarbucker.com. Hosted by yours truly,this series will feature conversations with authors and thought leaders about my favorite topics: leadership and leadership philosophy. The goal of the series is to bring you valuable and actionable insights that can help you on your personal leadership journey, from my more human perspective (What’s being more human all about?

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Drucker Ries Waterman Collins 320

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 2, 2013

'“A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person. (This rule never fails).” - Jim Swanson, from Swanson’s Unwritten Rules of Management. A big part of being a more human leader is showing respect – for the people you lead, and for the jobs that they do. It should be a very natural thing to do, BECAUSE it’s such a human thing.

Leadership 319

Leadership Retail Learning-by-Doing Quality 319

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

'I fell in love with road maps when I was 4 years old, paging through my dad’s Rand McNally atlas in the backseat of our Oldsmobile Jetstar 88 as we made our annual trips to northern Minnesota to visit my grandparents and extended family. (Quick aside – it was quite a cool car for its day, check out the pic). It was a two day trip, so I had plenty of time to do my version of “route planning” Even then, it didn’t take me long to start looking for short cuts that my

Short-term 319

Short-term Leadership Long-term Policies 319

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 1, 2013

'You’ve put in your time, done all the work, and you’re ready to climb up to the next rung on your career ladder. It’s time to get that promotion, and move up to a leadership role. A role that will give you a new title, a raise in pay, and something much more valuable – a chance to make a difference, and show the way. The question is, are you ready?

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Quality Career Books Review 316

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 9, 2013

'There’s a pesky pronoun out there that leaders need to be contstantly aware of. It’s a slippery one because it’s so short and sweet. One letter. It’s pesky because of the messages it sends to those who hear it. It could be simple. “It’s about me” Or a mixed message. “Well, it could be about you too, but how could you know, given the use of this particular pronoun” Or, a message with absolutely no ambiguity. “Hey ,it’s ALL about m

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Letter Morale Team Leadership 315

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

Not as much as you think. I was reading a quote the other day from John F. Kennedy, who in 1960 was battling perceptions in his presidential campaign that he didn’t have enough experience. Experience, he said, “ is like taillights on a boat which illuminate where we have been when we should be focusing on where we should be going “ This quote got me to thinking about the value of experience in being a great leader, and my own struggles to overcome a perceived lack of experience

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Leadership Education Company Article 315

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 18, 2013

'It was 5 years ago when I discovered the real secret of life after a walk down Pearl Street in Boulder Colorado. I just happened to have my eyes wide open that day – one of those rare ones where for whatever reason, there was a hightened sense of awareness of my surroundings. I wandered through candy stores and ice cream shops, and watched kids playing in the water fountain.

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Leadership Metrics Examples Report 313

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 20, 2013

'In 2006 I started blogging about leadership. It was a simple little post on January 22nd about Peter Drucker , and his philosophy that employees are “ an asset, not a cost “ In hindsight, that one post, and all that subsequently came after, played a major role in my success as a leader. The act of writing down and summarizing my experiences, opinions and lessons was a catalyst for my maturity and development.

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Document Drucker Maturity Blog 308

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 24, 2013

'Every company has some kind of leadership development program, even if they don’t realize it. As soon as a supervisor, manager, director, vice president, senior vice president, executive vice president, or C-suite executive is hired, they “ develop ” as leaders – that is, from the moment they start working they are molded by the circumstances and people that they encounter.

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Leadership Development Development Seminar Leadership 305

Terry Starbucker

JULY 7, 2013

'“Nowadays, leaders need to wear many hats. They need to be able to develop both the human side and product side of a business – if you have just one or the other, you greatly limit yourself and the success of your business.” - Ilona Jerabek, PsychTests.com. There’s no doubt great leadership is a delicate balancing act, between the two most important elements of the equation – the business, and the humans who function within it.

Leadership 304

Leadership Delegation Sports Mentor 304

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 7, 2013

'“They just don’t have it. ” “ It’s not there.” “I can’t find it. ” “I’ve got it!” “He’s got it!” “She’s got it!” We’re all looking for this thing, this “ it “ The difference maker. The “je ne sais quoi” that gets a team, a company, and ourselves past the ordinary and into the rarified air of extraordinary.

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Exit Strategy How To Software Marketing 292

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 24, 2013

You can feel it. And it’s not a very comfortable feeling. There’s this presence hovering over you, watching your every move. There’s tension in the air, and it permeates your thinking. Every action, every word on a page, and every utterance is tainted by that tension. They get over analyzed, over scrutinized, over thought and over processed by that tension.

Micromanagement 288

Micromanagement Career Environment Process 288

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013

'“You are beaten. It is useless to resist.” Man, Darth Vader was a bad dude. I remember sitting in the movie theater back in 1980, watching the Empire Strikes Back for the 15th time, and still getting riled up as this classic villan was standing over young Luke Skywalker, trying to turn him to the “Dark Side” In fact, to this day, Vader’s theme music, that ” da-da-da, da-ta-da, da-ta-da “, still runs in my head when there is trouble ahead, or a nemisis

Resistance 281

Resistance Stress Goal Career 281

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 31, 2013

In 1977 I wanted to dance like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. That scene where he did a solo performance to the Bee Gees’ “ You Should Be Dancing ” was mesmerizing. I HAD to get a three piece suit of my own and give it a try. Travolta was leading the way towards making disco a huge music phenomenon, and I was an eager follower.

Leadership 281

Leadership Follow-up Learning-by-Doing Execution 281

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 11, 2013

'I remember this meeting oh so well. It was a dart throwing session where the trees were getting more attention than the forest, one of my all-time pet peeves. That is, we had drilled down hard on what I thought was a relatively insignificant metric, rather than look at the bigger picture of what was happening out there – improved morale, higher trust, and a turnaround on the “big stuff” (the overall customer satisfaction number, among them).

Leadership 272

Leadership Metrics Motivation Morale 272

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 17, 2013

Leaders, if they are to live up to their role as those who “show the way”, need to do a lot of talking. However, there’s a trap door lurking on that speaking platform, and if we fall in it, we can take the teams we lead down with us. The trap is simply this: We do more talking than focused listening. I know, it sounds pretty simple.

Tips 263

Tips Leadership Self-aware Environment 263

Terry Starbucker

JULY 21, 2013

'“A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark” – Dante Alighieri. It’s amazing what a spark can do. That concept was reinforced with me on 3 different occasions in the past week – in 3 different business situations. When something is banged up against your head that many times in a week, it stands to reason that the universe is trying to tell me something.

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Loyalty Marketing Strategy Follow-up Strategy 246

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 21, 2013

'It was the spring of 1981 – my junior year in college. I had just successfully completed my “core” courses in my selected major of accounting with “A”s across the board, and was sailing towards my senior year with a bright future of debits and credits ahead of me. Accounting seemed right for me. I was good with numbers, and had a knack for the fundamentals of business.

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Library Leadership Budgeting Course 222

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 19, 2013

'Recently I sat down for an interview with Steve Cunningham of Readitfor.me to talk about my philosophy of More Human leadership, and how by practicing such leadership we can acheive the “success trifecta”: A great company (or organization), A happy team, and A fulfilled you. It was a great chat, and I invite you to listen in and find out how More Human leadership can work for you.

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Succession How To Leadership Team 189

Terry Starbucker

MAY 5, 2013

'I was always uncomfortable on a pedestal. Call me modest, or humble, or whatever, but it just doesn’t suit me. There’s something so detached about it. There’s a real physical separation between you, the leader, and they, the people you lead. Communication from the pedestal is made by words and sounds, both written and spoken. But words and sounds aren’t enough.

Leadership 419

Leadership Conference Follow-up Team 419

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 3, 2013

'Let’s talk about a concept that gets batted around a lot in leadership circles, and for good reason. Alignment. It’s when every person within an organization, leaders and all, is focused, coordinated, and pointed in the same direction, under a common purpose, and with a high level common set of goals and objectives. There are also subsets of separate goals and objectives for each functional area and/or division of the organization, but they all funnel nicely up to (and serve the p

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Retail Drucker Objective Metrics 325