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.

Short-term 304

Short-term Quality Operations Article 304

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 30, 2011

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

APRIL 13, 2014

“We’ll spend the money needed to offer a competitive product, so you’re not operating with one hand tied behind your back” The back-breaker. . “We’ll give you the right tools to do your jobs” Negative. They never showed up. Budget money was allocated, then taken away.

Resources 381

Resources Leadership Budgeting Resistance 381

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

Establish the “Immutables” – You’re now ready to lay down a few operational “immutables” – your leadership lines in the sand. We used 3 – total customer counts, our operational fault rate, and our Net Promoter Score.

Leadership 416

Leadership Mission Statement Metrics Survey 416

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?

Mentor 293

Mentor Education Metrics Follow-up 293

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 9, 2011

I watched as the local technical operations manager presented the weekly operating statistics on the overhead projector. It was their regular weekly meeting, and since I didn’t want to disrupt their normal “flow&# , instead of using the time to speak, I simply asked to sit in and observe the meeting.

Team Building 248

Team Building Operations Team Commitment 248

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 4, 2013

And most importantly, the leader operates with a keen sense of fairness that builds real credibility with the team. Once the “new way” to success is in place, all the revised rules and processes are established, and exectution begins, the leader needs to have a steady hand on the wheel, changing course only when necessary.

Leadership 376

Leadership Morale Learning-by-Doing Operations 376

Terry Starbucker

MAY 6, 2018

Plus, taking these critical cogs in the wheel out of circulation for even a few days can certainly be a burden on the operation. Delivering such training can be expensive, because this is typically the largest management group in most organizations. Some supervisors figure it out fast enough, and fend for themselves very well.

Team Building 175

Team Building Team Training Metrics 175

Terry Starbucker

JULY 16, 2017

I was doing was our first round of operational budgeting then, which happened just a few months after I was hired. I spent a whole night, by myself, making a bunch of wholesale changes to each of the operating budgets, until I hit the target number. So I went with the easiest option. He was happy, albeit temporarily.

Leadership 196

Leadership Budgeting Newsletter Bottom-up 196

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. “How did you do this? I mean, to get from where you started to where you ended up must have been a hell of a story.”.

BHAG 150

BHAG Leadership Telecommunications Metrics 150

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 22, 2013

And, there have been adjustments that to the “no boss” position - in fact, the employees themselves asked for some “ official blessings ” from the executives on projects “ fitting with specific priorities” In Carson’s words: People wanted a wide fence to operate in. But they do want a fence.

Leadership 406

Leadership Ryan Project Drucker 406

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 17, 2014

Have employees repeat often. Note: “Value umbrellas” are simple mantras of the core company values that enable Step 6.).

Leadership 419

Leadership Metrics Policies Guidelines 419

Terry Starbucker

JULY 31, 2011

I was never a believer of Osmosis – when I was in the corporate world I had a requirement that EVERY employee in my department could recite our 3 key operating metrics (and the latest measurements), and our company values mantra, if I happened to see them and ask them. And oh yes, I asked.

Succession 390

Succession Leadership Metrics Travel 390

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

DECEMBER 4, 2016

Step 9: Establish the “Immutables” – You’re now ready to lay down a few operational “immutables” – your leadership lines in the sand. In my business those numbers were total customer counts, operational fault rates, and our Net Promoter Score. In my case, there were always 4: Quality, Service, Leadership, and Accountability.

Leadership 150

Leadership Mission Statement Metrics Survey 150

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 16, 2014

I will not have nattering nabobs of negativism as part of my operations. ” “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

JULY 27, 2011

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

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. Things that weren’t working. And things that were working beautifully.

Process 272

Process Webinar Loyalty Media 272

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. This job was a big leap for me, given that my previous position was an auditing manager at an accounting firm.

Mentor 369

Mentor Download Budgeting Learning-by-Doing 369

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 22, 2012

I was the SVP of Operations, and my office was in suburban New York. So 99% of the people that I was responsible for were many miles away. It was all too easy to stay pinned to my comfortable chair and my nice office, using all the wonderful digital tools at our disposal, even then.

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. I call it “checking all the boxes” – moving the machine hour by hour, day by day, and year by year, towards its ultimate goal.

Leadership 150

Leadership Operations Goal Planning 150

Terry Starbucker

JULY 19, 2015

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. But on the other hand, there was a deeper issue – the cable operator just wasn’t liked. It was on the record.

Leadership 150

Leadership Metrics Price Mass Marketing 150

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’ll never forget my first day as an executive. I previously was an Audit Manager for Ernst & Whinney and hadn’t managed more than 5 people at a time.

Download 256

Download Education Learning-by-Doing Operations 256

Terry Starbucker

MAY 22, 2016

One year on since our acquisition of our Rocky Mountain cable TV systems, there was a significant operational issue that needed our attention. In 1987, I was hired by a cable pioneer, Jack Kent Cooke, to be the VP of Operations for a cable company he had just purchased with over 400,000 customers scattered in 19 states.

Letter 171

Letter Leadership Call Center Long-term 171

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 31, 2011

“Would you be interested in the chief operating job for a cable company with 400,000 customers?&#. I was 27 when I got a call from an executive search company about a job in Los Angeles. I was an Audit Manager at a public accounting firm.

Hotels 304

Hotels Planning Execution Operations 304

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

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 7, 2016

And certainly, this metric can serve as a key operational measurement that can reduce expenses and improve profit. Where does the heart come in here? It once again hits the “ do we care about them? ” button. The third metric is the most important to the more human leader, and it’s the employee Net Promoter Score.

Metrics 150

Metrics Retail Bottom-up Company 150

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 6, 2011

A little black box that could possibly suck the life out of a customer care operation, if it isn’t careful. There’s a trap out there. It’s called Twitter. It’s hot. It’s sexy. It’s cool. It gets you some of that tech “street cred&# that you crave.

Operations 214

Operations Training Course Information 214

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 18, 2013

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. We were like mad scientists in a labratory, looking for magic formulas, clues, and problem solutions that would keep us on the path to greatness, and we loved it.

Leadership 313

Leadership Metrics Examples Report 313

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 29, 2012

Timely and accurate financial and/or operational reporting. Each question begins with “How directly does this change or modification effect”: Net Cash Flow generation. Customer retention (and/or repeat business). Employee retention.

CRM 282

CRM CEO Insurance Advertising 282

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 19, 2012

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. Enough times to keep our guards way up, and our trust level way down, when a new leader enters the room.

Long-term 346

Long-term Morale Policies Operations 346

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. Enough times to keep our guards way up, and our trust level way down, when a new leader enters the room.

Morale 150

Morale Policies Team Operations 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 3, 2011

That somebody else kept a pretty busy schedule of his own, working for a fine little cable company called Bresnan Communications in White Plains, New York, as Senior Vice President of Operations. It was a job he loved, because he got to be a leader – and travel to the beautiful Rocky Mountain region.

CPA 263

CPA Travel Media Blog 263

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.

Leadership 276

Leadership Leadership Styles Travel CEO 276

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 16, 2015

A brilliant (but oh so eccentric) entrepreneur who had already amassed a large fortune was looking for more, and tapped me to oversee the operations of his latest acquisition. My first executive leadership opportunity came very early for me – at age 27.

CPA 150

CPA Budgeting Open-book Long-term 150

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

This was a goal typically tied to an operating metric, like the Net Promoter Score, or the company’s “fault rate&# (i.e. the number of times a customer called in with any kind of problem with their service).

Goal 283

Goal CPA BHAG Kaizen 283

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.

Leadership 150

Leadership Metrics Video Newsletter 150