Terry Starbucker

APRIL 22, 2012

So I traveled to the Rockies, and I spend 40-50% of my time out there, doing a lot of conversing. And I’m so glad I made that commitment, because it really was a difference maker. But I felt that in order to do my job most effectively, I had to have real conversations with my team. A LOT of them.

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Leadership Technology Commitment Travel 385

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 26, 2017

There’s a high smile to frown ratio – When you are leading by walking around, or traveling to remote offices, take the time and mentally note the “ smile to frown ratio “. Or do they keep them on the table, letting you know that you are one boring sentence away from a total attention drift.

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Travel Information Quality Leadership 150

Terry Starbucker

DECEMBER 26, 2011

I know, for most people it’s going to be Winter – not a pleasant time to travel, by any means – but at least the fares are lower). Hit the road, and make that speech “in-person” to as many people as you can. (I

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How To Metrics Energy Travel 325

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 13, 2014

I got out of my office and traveled to where the transactions took place, and our customers were served. I wanted to make a personal connection with every employee, even though there were 1,100 of them, scattered around four states in the western US. I listened to their dreams and their fears.

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Leadership Download Learning-by-Doing Metrics 343

Terry Starbucker

MAY 31, 2015

I’d traveled a lot a miles and drank a lot of bad coffee. Going ‘Jim Collins’ By the time my travels took me back to Billings, a couple of months later, I knew what I had to do. I’ve been traveling a lot these past six years, and this would give me a chance to spend more time at home. It was time.

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Collins Leadership Operations Travel 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 26, 2017

(My favorite message that gained traction through Terry’s Rule was the mantra “ serve our customers and support each other “ It got to the point that during my many travels to the field, nearly every one of the 1,100 teammates that I had responsibility for would say the mantra to me, unprompted, as I approached them – before (..)

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Leadership COO Long-term Course 150

Terry Starbucker

MAY 21, 2017

They had no idea who I was, or why I was there (by then I had changed my travel wardrobe from jackets and collars to polo shirts and casual slacks, so I didn’t stick out in these places like a sore thumb). I traveled to Alamosa once again on the very last part of the trip, and had my usual sit-down with the Fab 5. One More Picture.

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Succession Leadership Commitment Travel 253

Terry Starbucker

JANUARY 29, 2012

Over the past year here in Portland I’ve been talking to a lot of startup leaders trying to make their fledgling businesses fly, and the image that always comes to my mind when I have these conversations is that of a race car traveling at 200 mph, and getting a tune up at the same time.

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CRM CEO Insurance Advertising 282

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 6, 2011

I fondly remember several instances where he would travel to see some of the customer-facing employees in the field, after not being there for over a year, and totally delight them by calling them out by name, AND asking about their spouses, or kids, or dogs, by name as well.

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Leadership Leadership Styles Travel CEO 276

Terry Starbucker

JULY 16, 2017

Sure, I would keep traveling, and yes, I would keep connecting, but I knew the numbers (and the demands of the business) were working against me. Back then I wasn’t traveling to the field. The Leadership File And The Spreadsheet Assassin. Finding A Leadership Voice From The Vice President’s Desk.

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Leadership Budgeting Newsletter Bottom-up 196

Terry Starbucker

JULY 6, 2014

And, as I continued my travels to the field (I was going out about 2 weeks a month), they were all over the walls and bulletin boards, and I rarely encountered someone who didn’t know the latest numbers.

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Metrics Leadership Operations Report 214

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 9, 2015

At that time I was spending a lot of time traveling back and forth from my home in Connecticut to the Rocky Mountain region for my cable TV company, and Boulder was always a welcome resting and recharge place during my western journeys. This post was written in August of 2008, after a trip to Boulder, Colorado.

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Open-book Learning-by-Doing Taylorism Taylor 150

Terry Starbucker

OCTOBER 8, 2017

I traveled to the field extensively. Or should I be “just me” – the person my teammates would expect to be emotional at such a time? There was a lot of the “just me” in the past 6 ½ years – I finally got my chance to be the leader I wanted to be, and I certainly took advantage of it. I had team meetings. I danced (strange, but true).

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Leadership Bottom-up Metrics Mentor 192

Terry Starbucker

JULY 23, 2018

I got out of my office and traveled to where the transactions took place, and our customers were served. Principle #1: Crossing The Bridge From “I” to “We” I decided I was going to make a personal connection with every employee, even though I had 1,100 of them in those 4 states.

Leadership 181

Leadership Learning-by-Doing COO Follow-up 181

Terry Starbucker

FEBRUARY 23, 2014

On the latest More Human Podcast, my guest is Chris Guillebeau , writer, entrepreneur, world traveler, and author of the recent NY Times Best selling book: “ The $100 Startup: Reinvent the way you make a living, do what you love, and create a new future ”. Highlights: How his non-conformist bug took root.

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Travel Entrepreneur Books Goal 300

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 14, 2015

I saw so much unhappiness out there on my initial travels during the last 12 months, and it really bothered me. It became obvious that I need to do something. I needed to listen. I wanted to build trust. And in the back of my mind, something else was starting to bubble up.

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Follow-up Hotels Company Retail 150

Terry Starbucker

MARCH 26, 2019

I traveled many thousands of miles to test our knowledge absorption. And oh yes, I asked. But it was worth it, because in the end I didn’t assume that they knew. I KNEW they knew. Consequently, the company was much better off, and more successful, and I never heard those classic lines.

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Leadership How To Metrics Travel 236

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

Even though our headquarters was 2,000 miles away from our field operations, I still spent 40-50% of my time traveling there to be physically present with my teammates. This cure was certainly familiar to me personally, because I was a regular practitioner of the 3-steps during my executive career in the cable TV business.

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Banking Travel CEO Media 322

Terry Starbucker

JULY 1, 2010

Not everyone will quit work and travel the world; rather they will find another avenue for pursuing passion, giving back, changing the world, starting a business. Scott Peck. Back then I was looking for my path and purpose, and so that line hit me a little differently than it does today. This scenario causes one to prioritize.

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Learning-by-Doing Travel Blog Magazine 281

Terry Starbucker

NOVEMBER 24, 2010

Since we only had a few days before we had to be back in class, we had decided to travel these many miles straight through, stopping only for food, gas and drop offs. It was a cool and sunny morning, and I was very much looking forward to getting home to Milwaukee to be with my family and celebrate Thanksgiving together.

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Blog Learning-by-Doing Class Follow-up 312

Terry Starbucker

JULY 11, 2010

Travel out to your remote sites and hold team meetings. Increasing your presence sends a strong signal that even though it’s summer, it’s still time to get things done. 4) Increase the wandering around – Get out from behind your desk and do a lot more walking around.

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Incentives Blog Seminar Short-term 232

Terry Starbucker

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

And so it goes…… My life has recently “accelerated” to this dizzying pace (not that it was calm before this, but let’s just say I’m now traveling at Warp 2 instead of Warp 1), and this morning, something finally dawned on me. I forgot to take my happy pills.

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Pharmaceuticals Ethics Self-aware Blog 243

Terry Starbucker

JULY 18, 2010

High smile to frown ratio – When you are leading by walking around, or traveling to remote offices, take the time and mentally note the “ smile to frown ratio “ In my 28 years in the business world, I can tell you one thing that is absolutely true: Faces don’t lie.

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Blog Learning-by-Doing Download Audience 294

Terry Starbucker

APRIL 3, 2016

With Larry and his customer service experience fresh on my mind, I traveled to Billings, Montana for some regional management meetings, and scheduled one of my usual 8AM chats with the local technical staff. If they can, then you’re onto something meaningful and memorable. If they can’t, then, well, it sucks.” – Guy Kawasaki.

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Leadership Operations Policies Hotels 150

Terry Starbucker

MAY 23, 2010

Travel becomes tough because of the expense and communication eventually breaks down. I actually did a blog posting on this: [link] Scot Herrick May 24, 2010 at 1:19 pm That’s the problem with “face-to-face&# meetings to get everyone on the same page — teams today are geographically spread way apart.

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Letter Blog Follow-up Conference 268

Terry Starbucker

AUGUST 1, 2010

As I continue to remind my blog readers, if you aren’t excellent, you’ll soon be put out of business by social media. Thanks for the inspiration. Starbucker August 2, 2010 at 7:23 am Hi Todd, thanks for stopping by.

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Blog Metrics Learning-by-Doing Handbook 246

Terry Starbucker

JUNE 22, 2014

Similarly to how I support Kure Juice Bar, Capital One Spark traveled across America to tell the story of small businesses. Note: This is my third and final post in my series on small businesses & entrepreneurship, part of my partnership with Capital One Spark and their “I Am Small Business Proud” campaign.

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Productivity Products Process Follow-up 293