Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

Providing individual context can be that powerful, just as powerful as the company “Why” concept made famous by author Simon Sinek and his “Golden Circle” TED talk. At my cable TV company we started tracking a customer service metric called the Net Promoter Score (NPS), based on specific customer feedback.

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Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 31, 2014

It’s been almost 4 years now since my cable TV company was sold, and my wife and I packed up and moved from Stamford, Connecticut to Portland, Oregon. We’re doing it not because we’re wanting to create a publishing empire, or be the next Billion dollar company. It was a vibe, a sense, an instinct.

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Leadership Entrepreneur Bottom-up Magazine 333

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 20, 2014

I took my biggest leadership gamble for the success trifecta - a profitable company, a happy team, and a fulfilled leader. It didn’t feel right, because the company was managed by a bunch of “bosses” – and at the time, I had to include myself in that category. One that also involved a gamble.

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Terry Starbucker

JUNE 11, 2019

For companies where profit is paramount, it’s easy to be compelled by the expediency argument – “If we sell more at a cheaper cost, we can get away with lesser quality, and make more money”. But slowly but surely we ultimately prevailed, and we became a better (and more profitable) company. The target is GREAT.

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How To Leadership Quality Price 259

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 8, 2013

The key here is to focus on only 3-4 targets per cascade level that have specific relevance to that level – for example, in my cable company our 3 company-wide numbers were total customers, Net Promoter Score, and our Customer Fault Rate, while at the call center level, they were Service Level, Abandonment Rate, and First Call Resolution.

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Leadership Metrics Short-term Drucker 339

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

Can a company really “measure its heart”? In my quest for those measurements, I’ve found 3 in particular that not only provide insights as to overall company health, but also put a “virtual stethoscope” over its heart. The first is the customer Net Promoter Score. Are they happy? Do they know we care?

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Metrics Retail Bottom-up Company 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 23, 2014

Why company culture is the real “X Factor” of innovation. The high value of simplicity, especially when determining the key metrics of the company. How a good value set should reflect the DNA of the company, and the need for a leader’s own actions to reflect those values.

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Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 3, 2013

The best example is my own – I got my first leadership job at the ripe old age of 27, overseeing a company generating over $200 Million in annual revenue. This “fish out of water” helped build the company I managed into one that was later sold for a very healthy profit. The reason?

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Leadership Education Company Article 315

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 17, 2014

One such challenge came up earlier this week over at US Airways (now part of American Airlines), when a company Tweet went way off the rails. The company issued an apology, took the Tweet off the feed, and then… heads were going to roll, right? I mean, WAY off. They were being more human.

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Leadership Airlines Company Career 275

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 25, 2018

This was a common (and encouraged) practice in our company, but these folks put a different twist on it – they put the INDIVIDUAL statistics up there. We built one of the best performing cable television companies in the industry. Good or bad, there they were, for the whole team to see. We worked on “leading our way out of a job”.

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Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 14, 2012

We invest in startups and early-stage growth companies in the Pacific Northwest, and as you can imagine, we hear a lot of pitches. You need to be able to get us to imagine your company 5 years out, at a scale and profit that would attract that big payout. And remember, practice makes perfect.

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Due Diligence Entrepreneur Construction Marketing 418

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 26, 2017

My More Human Leadership philosophy and practice is guided by 8 core principles , and if they are followed and practiced well, a leader can achieve what I call the “ success trifecta ” – a great company, happy employees, and a fulfilled leader. Choose them wisely, and keep them to a small and manageable number. Here are my favorite metrics.

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Metrics How To Performance Review Document 250

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 19, 2014

You’ve accepted a big leadership position at a company that had been mismanaged for many years, leaving its employees discouraged, jaded and skeptical. It’s the 2nd principle of More Human Leadership – and an absolute must for any lasting change. Trust is never nameless.

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Terry Starbucker

JULY 14, 2013

I worked for a company that had 1,200 employees. 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. This is what I did in my role as a leader and executive for the broadband company.

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Terry Starbucker

MAY 19, 2013

Two weeks ago I wrote about how leaders needed to be more human to achieve the “ success trifecta ” – a great company, happy employees, and a fulfilled leader. 4) The right metrics & measurements are set up – Each position needs objectives measure of success, from both a personal, team, and company-wide perspective.

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Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 4, 2015

Remind everyone of the founders and legacy of the company (“50 years in the business”). And I want everybody else in the company to think the same way. And when I say great I just don’t mean just the greatest company in Billings. Or the greatest company in Montana. I mean the greatest company. .

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Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 13, 2013

Though Facebook doesn’t have a visual culture map, the “hacker” culture within the company is very well defined and understood by all. As part of building a strong company, we work hard at making Facebook the best place for great people to have a big impact on the world and learn from other great people.

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CEO Word of Mouth Marketing Leadership IPO 335

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 7, 2011

Back in 2005, when I was SVP of Operations for a cable television company (Bresnan Communications), I started hearing whispers… They were telling me things about the business that needed our attention. And, those calls also had a couple other game-changing benefits that saved the company big money.

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Terry Starbucker

JUNE 5, 2014

It’s always interesting to me when I read an article about a company whose fortunes had taken a turn for the worse, because invariably the leader will talk about going “back to the basics” How many times have you seen that one?

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Short-term Quality Operations Article 304

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 1, 2012

I know it’s gold because we had the chance to prove it in a “real life” situation with my previous company (a Cable TV operation). 3) The overall brand and company experience (the Net Promoter Score). We kept it pretty simple – 5 questions, ones that could be modified as we went along.

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Terry Starbucker

MARCH 13, 2014

I put it into practice at my company, by showing care, embracing humanity, and exercising humility even though it flied in the face of what we’ve traditionally expected our leaders to do. Six years later, we hit what I believe is the heart of great leadership – what I call “ the success trifecta ”: A successful company.

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Terry Starbucker

JULY 27, 2014

For companies where profit is paramount, it’s easy to be compelled by the expediency argument – “If we sell more at a cheaper cost, we can get away with lesser quality, and make more money” But if the target is higher, then the power shifts to the other side. This is a world where good is NOT good enough.

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How To Quality Price Cost 283

Terry Starbucker

JULY 23, 2018

A successful company, A happy team, And a fulfilled YOU. It’s what happens when a leader makes it about “ the team ”, and not about “ the company ”. I was hired by a multi-millionaire entrepreneur to be the COO of a 600,000 customer cable company. I did that for 5 years, and then fate intervened.

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Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 31, 2011

I was 27 when I got a call from an executive search company about a job in Los Angeles. “Would you be interested in the chief operating job for a cable company with 400,000 customers?&#. Next thing you know, I’m on a plane to Los Angeles, to speak to the EVP of the company. Turns out, he was serious.

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Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

3) It’s OK to ask for help from your community & networks, especially if the values and purposes behind the ask are aligned - We had over 40 companies in the video, so we had to send a lot of emails and make a lot of phone calls to line everything up, drawing on the networks we’d built over the years.

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Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 12, 2017

Because you’ve connected at such a personal level, when you then stand up and ask for a culture of accountability , and then explain that it’s necessary to not only make the company profitable, but to make them happy and fulfilled as employees, they’ll trust you, and follow along. And yes, we love.

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Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 9, 2018

At age 27 I had just started my first big executive job at a Cable TV company in Los Angeles, with very little leadership experience. My all-time favorite leadership lesson came at the perfect time. Consequently, I was hungry for guidance on what it took to be a great leader. I found it on on the wall of my boss’s office.

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Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 17, 2013

There is a lot of “we”, and very little “I” The Triumph of Clarity - There is no doubt among the team as to the vision, goals and values of the company. They are clear, they are understood, and they are relatable to and aligned with their own personal goals and objectives.

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Terry Starbucker

APRIL 29, 2012

I knew this when I was working at my cable company - when I was on the road visiting a local office I’d typically call an all-staff meeting at 8AM to discuss company business. I would sing a little karaoke to go with the company statistics. I needed to do something different to make these talks work.

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Terry Starbucker

APRIL 23, 2017

5 ) Read your employee handbook – You oversee a lot of employees – there are a lot rules, policies , and official company positions that everyone should follow – do you know what they are? For example, do you know your company’s Social Media usage policy? Don’t let HR make those calls for you. Even screaming “Serenity Now!”

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Performance Review Handbook Policies Review 270

Terry Starbucker

MAY 25, 2014

If we’re more human, we can demand excellence, and get it, because our team wholeheartedly believes it’s the right thing to do, for the company AND for themselves. Here are those 4 (see the rest here ): Crossing The Bridge from “I” to “We” ( the keys: respect and empathy). And rise to greatness.

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Consensus Cooper Execution Team 315

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 23, 2014

Under the banner of his company Extreme Leadership Incorporated, he is also is a senior-level leadership coach and consultant, and has worked with and spoken to a wide variety of public and private organizations in virtually every arena. You’ll find Steve great company on your commute, your next flight, or during your workouts.

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Download Leadership Airlines Energy 296

Terry Starbucker

MAY 21, 2017

To quickly set the scene, I was the SVP of Operations for a 1,100 employee cable television company based in 4 states in the Rocky Mountain west. We had acquired the properties in 2003 from a large company that had largely ignored and neglected them for a number of years. A Breakthrough Lands In My Mailbox. Commitment. Dependability.

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Succession Leadership Commitment Travel 253

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 1, 2011

I did a little experiment at my company a few years ago. That percentage held true for over three years ( up until we sold the company). “Thank you for your business – we really appreciate it&#. That is a very valuable string of words. That is, if you say them to your customers. How do I know they are valuable?

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Efficiency Productivity Products ROI 280

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 10, 2016

His name was Matt, and he was a technician for our cable TV company in Gillette, a city in northeast Wyoming notable for its energy production and its abundance of wide-open spaces. No more suits flying in, giving the company pitch, and flying out again. Of course our CEO could talk with passion and pride about the company.

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Webinar Mentor Company Execution 150

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 9, 2014

On the latest More Human Podcast, my guest is Richard Sheridan , CEO and “Chief Storyteller” of Menlo Innovations, a software company in Ann Arbor, MI, and the author of a great book called “ Joy Inc – How we Built a Workplace People Love “ It’s a book about what Richard has created at Menlo, a company focused on the “business value of joy”, (..)

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Software Sharpe Storytelling Magazine 277

Terry Starbucker

JULY 21, 2013

How small? You guessed it, 1%. They found and nurtured a small group of all their product users that became so attached, and so in love, with it, that when we called these customers as part of our due dilgence, they couldn’t stop gushing about it in terms that gave us the clear impression that the spark had been lit.

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