Terry Starbucker

MARCH 27, 2014

There, at an annual budget meeting with the entire operations management group in attendance, an important decision was made. I wanted to talk about leadership. I framed it that day as group of 10 leadership battles that leaders will constantly face, in any quest to be great. That school is now closed. Featured Articles'

Leadership 419

Leadership Follow-up Long-term Bottom-up 419

Terry Starbucker

JULY 6, 2014

Of the 8 core principles of More Human leadership , it’s #6 - Measuring, monitoring and managing with the right metrics - that presents the biggest “nuts and bolts” challenge to any leader. The answer, as this leadership short story shows, is to think green. Lead well!

Metrics 214

Metrics Leadership Operations Report 214

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 8, 2017

A More Human Short Story – My Path To Leadership Joy . As SVP of Operations, I approached my first visit to the field after his death with a great deal of trepidation. As SVP of Operations, I approached my first visit to the field after his death with a great deal of trepidation. How were we going to deal with this?

Leadership 192

Leadership Bottom-up Metrics Mentor 192

Terry Starbucker

MAY 31, 2015

I’d been at my leadership role for 6 years. We had worked hard to get our operations in order and build a great team. The fact was, I was getting more comfortable with being more detached from the day-to-day operating decisions. You’re already the SVP of Operations. It was time. What can I be promoted to?

Collins 150

Collins Leadership Operations Travel 150

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 4, 2016

I’ve been fortunate enough over the course of my 34-year career to have arrived at what I call the leadership summit – a high place of great business success and personal satisfaction, and a fulfilling culmination of years of effort, determination, and dedication. It’s a very powerful exercise well worth doing.

Leadership 150

Leadership Mission Statement Metrics Survey 150

Terry Starbucker

JULY 12, 2015

We had just finished a review of one of our operating centers in Cheyenne, Wyoming. After all, this was a telecommunications and cable TV operation, and they were used to observing a far different situation. But there, along that linear path, was the framework, path, and process for leadership success. “How did you do this?

BHAG 150

BHAG Leadership Telecommunications Metrics 150

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”. . It was a marker I could meaningfully connect to a higher purpose of employee happiness -one of the key principles of More Human Leadership. Failing the Supermarket Test. It was on the record.

Leadership 150

Leadership Metrics Price Mass Marketing 150

Terry Starbucker

JULY 27, 2011

It was a catalyst to a Social Media AND a Leadership revelation - person to person, and face to face, still mattered. It also provided a valuable leadership lesson in my role as an SVP of Operations for a cable TV company- I knew couldn’t lead through e-mail and memos. I needed to meet those I lead, face to face.

Media 271

Media Leadership Blog Operations 271

Terry Starbucker

JULY 31, 2011

So the question is, if Leadership by Osmosis never works, why is this technique still around? “We’re in the dark here&#. “Nobody knows what’s going on&#. It’s really a huge assumption that quickly becomes an even bigger risk to a leader’s success. And oh yes, I asked.

Succession 390

Succession Leadership Metrics Travel 390

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 22, 2012

It scares me because I feel we are losing something from this big change – something that, from a leadership perspective, I believe is an absolute necessity to build a team that can (and will) move mountains. I was the SVP of Operations, and my office was in suburban New York. The power of face-to-face conversation.

Leadership 385

Leadership Technology Commitment Travel 385

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 17, 2016

Because it’s obviously important to do this, it often can overwhelm our brains and put us in a position where we operate as if our “job” is: Get Stuff Done. It’s the more human side of leadership. The post The Number One, Got To Get it Done Job of Leadership appeared first on Terry "Starbucker" St.

Leadership 150

Leadership Operations Goal Planning 150

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 18, 2013

Leadership, that is. A great example was our “operations dashboard” report, which was our chance to sit in a room for two hours and dig, and dig, and dig, and dig into the numbers. Leadership' The more human kind. And you’ll never have to grow up. Cotton candy, anyone?

Leadership 313

Leadership Metrics Examples Report 313

Terry Starbucker

MAY 21, 2017

My More Human Leadership philosophy and practice is guided by 8 core principles. 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. By early 2006, I had begun to feel a sense of assertiveness and increased confidence in my leadership.

Succession 253

Succession Leadership Commitment Travel 253

Terry Starbucker

JULY 23, 2018

Leadership is one of my life’s great passions – and I’m pleased to share with you my journey (in three parts in 3 weeks) to what I consider to be the heart of great More Human leadership – the success trifecta. Along the way I learned SO many things about leadership, because I had the honor of actually DOING it.

Leadership 181

Leadership Learning-by-Doing COO Follow-up 181

Terry Starbucker

MAY 22, 2016

This is another installment of excerpts from my book manuscript of “More Human: A Journey To The Heart Of Great Leadership”. This excerpt tells two very contrasting stories about a job of leadership that is never, ever, easy – having to let people go. I thought about how I had been in this situation before. Indeed it was.

Letter 171

Letter Leadership Call Center Long-term 171

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 4, 2015

For example, when I was SVP of Operations of Bresnan Communications from 2003-2010 and made hundreds and hundreds of speeches to rally our teammates in city after city in 4 Rocky Mountain states, I never made the same speech twice. As you can probably also surmise, this list hews very closely to my 8 Principles of More Human Leadership.

Leadership 150

Leadership Metrics Video Newsletter 150

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 9, 2011

(Terry’s Note: Hi all – Today I’m introducing a new series of posts, written by guest writer Adam Tenenbaum , called Front Line Leadership. Adam is currently right in the middle of his leadership journey, overseeing a large staff at a very successful retail operation.

Leadership 296

Leadership Tactics Management Maturity 296

Terry Starbucker

JULY 5, 2015

Note: This is the 3rd installment of excerpts from my book manuscript of “More Human: A Journey To The Heart Of Great Leadership” The first installment is here , and the second here. . It is a key step towards building the culture of accountability that is the heart of More Human leadership. ” – Robert Orben.

Leadership 150

Leadership Letter Conference Definition 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 6, 2011

He later started his own cable company, Bresnan Communications, in 1984, and continued to operate cable systems both internationally and domestically until his too-early passing in 2009. Sam and Bill shared a leadership secret that they happily passed on to anyone they knew. That’s leadership everybody could get behind.

Leadership 276

Leadership Leadership Styles Travel CEO 276

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 20, 2016

Unrealistic budgets and operational goals are morale (and job) killers. 3) Dream and Goal set realistically in a 12-24 month window, and, this is very important: If you hit them, raise the bar quickly. 3) Dream and Goal set realistically in a 12-24 month window, and, this is very important: If you hit them, raise the bar quickly.

BHAG 391

BHAG Company Short-term Long-term 391

Terry Starbucker

JULY 20, 2014

Leadership More Human Podcast' Confident that he had the formula to success, he became an angel investor… and proceeded to lose his entire fortune. Then he started all over again, with a new “Profit first” formula. The post Profit First: Reverse Engineer Your Way To Financial Success appeared first on Terry "Starbucker" St.

Engineering 266

Engineering GAAP Succession Analysis 266

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 30, 2011

Front Line Leadership . As I complete my monthly, quarterly and yearly strategic planning for my retail operations, I break down each larger strategy to tactics and then actions. Adam Tenenbaum i s currently right in the middle of his leadership journey, overseeing a large staff at a very successful retail operation.

Strategic Planning 288

Strategic Planning Management Tactics Retail 288

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 9, 2012

It was 1987 - I had just arrived in Los Angeles to start my new job as the VP of Operations for a cable TV company. Leadership is not a one-way street, not by any means. 5) Honor the position by being honorable – I didn’t regard leadership as an honor and a gift until years after I should have.

Mentor 369

Mentor Download Budgeting Learning-by-Doing 369

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 5, 2014

While it may seem too simplistic to reduce an entire operating philosophy into two pithy statements, the beauty of it is that when your teammates or partners consider going down the opposite path, you can point to the bulletin board and remind everyone of “the basics” Try it and you’ll see what I mean. Leadership'

Short-term 304

Short-term Quality Operations Article 304

Terry Starbucker

MAY 6, 2018

More specifically, the leadership training. Plus, taking these critical cogs in the wheel out of circulation for even a few days can certainly be a burden on the operation. This is the usual story for a first-level supervisor – the person directly overseeing the personnel who serve customers, make the widgets, or code the software.

Team Building 175

Team Building Team Training Metrics 175

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 17, 2011

I was presenting our quarterly operations review to the executive team at my cable TV company. It had been a particularly good quarter for all of our operating metrics, and I was pumped. It was time to lay it all out there, and gather up the kudos. Because after all, who doesn’t like to be praised? But someone else did.

Mentor 293

Mentor Education Metrics Follow-up 293

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 31, 2011

“Would you be interested in the chief operating job for a cable company with 400,000 customers?&#. I managed several jobs, and oversaw 5-10 staff accountants, but that was the extent of my leadership experience. And threw me headfirst into the leadership pool. I was an Audit Manager at a public accounting firm.

Hotels 304

Hotels Planning Execution Operations 304

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 16, 2014

I will not have nattering nabobs of negativism as part of my operations. Leadership' ” “It can’t be done sir” (oh man, I said it again!). “My dear Terry, there’s no such thing as can’t. Do you hear me?” “Now, let me ask you again, will you get this done by x date?

Franchising 318

Franchising Budgeting Engineering Learning-by-Doing 318

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 9, 2011

Several years ago, I had one of the most extraordinary leadership experiences of my career – one of those days that you remember, and draw on, for the rest of your life. I watched as the local technical operations manager presented the weekly operating statistics on the overhead projector. Photo by J. Stephen Conn.

Team Building 248

Team Building Operations Team Commitment 248

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 23, 2011

I had just moved from San Antonio to Los Angeles for this “ once in a lifetime &# opportunity to be the head operations person for a cable TV company. I invite you to read more about these lessons, and how I “discovered&# them through my own experience, in my e-book “ Leadership From A Glass Half-Ful l&#.

Download 256

Download Education Learning-by-Doing Operations 256

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 16, 2015

When I look back at 998 posts and pinpoint the day I completely embraced the concept of More Human leadership, and took my first shot at defining it, it was the day I wrote this post in February 2010. My first executive leadership opportunity came very early for me – at age 27. I vividly remember the first time I tried.

CPA 150

CPA Budgeting Open-book Long-term 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 11, 2012

(Terry’s Note: This is the latest in a series of posts written by guest writer Adam Tenenbaum , called Front Line Leadership. Adam is currently right in the middle of his leadership journey, overseeing a large staff at a very successful retail operation.

Goal 302

Goal Price Energy Commitment 302

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 29, 2017

I’ve been in that situation a few times in my career, where we had acquired existing operations that were, for the most part, been ignored or marginalized by their previous corporate bosses. It’s one of the core 8 Principles of More Human Leadership (click the pic for more details)- asking for, and getting, the trust of your team.

Morale 150

Morale Policies Team Operations 150

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

With this post I’m pleased start a 5-part series that outlines 25 timeless leadership lessons – lessons that I’ve applied successfully during my 30+ year career as a leader and businessman. And, these practical lessons apply to all levels of leadership, from first-level supervisors to upper tier executives.

Leadership 402

Leadership Resistance Energy Learning-by-Doing 402

Terry Starbucker

MAY 18, 2011

When I was in the cable business as an SVP of Operations, I oversaw over 1,100 employees- not a “small&# company by too many definitions (unless you are in the Fortune 500).

Company 276

Company Definition Objective Training 276

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 26, 2019

These are classic signs of a (very) big leadership fail I call “ Leadership by Osmosis “. The ever so interesting question is, if Leadership by Osmosis never works, why is this technique still around? “We’re in the dark here”. Nobody knows what’s going on”. “This is an information vacuum!” And oh yes, I asked.

Leadership 236

Leadership How To Metrics Travel 236

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 21, 2012

Here’s an example: In my old line of business, cable TV, we used to give customers a lot of manuals about how to operate the remote control and set up their e-mail and voice mail. Throwing dollars at things that were “the right thing to do”, without thinking about any direct way to measure it at the back end.

Management 312

Management Report Education Participative 312