Ron Johnson, the former Apple executive, was hired as CEO in 2011 by struggling retailer JC Penney to revive the organization. He embarked on an aggressive vision - something he labeled a "transformation" - that ultimately ended with his recent firing.

What happened? Danielle Sacks provides her thoughts in an online Fast Company article I read recently during some down time between flights. It got me thinking about some of my own experiences with change management.

In late 2005 I joined Gibson, in part because of its private and independent ownership structure. I had been collecting a mental notebook of ideas and strategies during my time at the national firms and was just itching to put them into practice. As one of my clients said when I told him I was going to buy in to a smaller firm, "Tim, there's nothing like owning a piece of the rock!"

With Mother's Day on Sunday, I feel compelled to devote this post to our Moms. A short blog won't do them justice, but it would be worse to miss them all together.

My three favorite Moms are my lovely wife Kimra, my mother Ruth, and my mother-in-law Marilyn. I have, of course, listed them no particular order. Obviously if you're my favorite you know who you are so really no need to spell that out here, right?

I'm not perfect and I've learned a lot from these ladies. What I've realized is that the more I handle situations the way they would, the better off I am. They make it look effortless, but for me, it's real work.

“I need to know whether you’re going to be part of the 20% out there that actually gets things done?”, said Don Wood as he paused and looked me directly in the eyes. It was 2007 and Don had just finished telling me his previous experiences with salespeople – specifically insurance salespeople.

I knew Don had named his company “80/20” with a nod to the Pareto Principle, but I didn’t know, until that very moment, exactly how he applied it. Turns out Don’s been in sales himself for most of his life and has definitely been on the side of “getting it done”.

History Of Success

"Well the simplest answer is that we are constantly trying to manage our role as a key contributor", answered David Findlay, President & CFO at Lake City Bank, as we discussed why his organization is so involved in the communities it serves. Findlay continued, "The only way to survive is by helping our clients and communities be successful too. We believe that we have a depth of commitment that is stronger than any of our competitors. We serve the community in every market we’re in and have committed our people and resources to our clients and communities to support their success.”

Lake City Bank was founded in 1872 in Warsaw, Indiana. It serves Indiana with 45 branches located in northern Indiana and now in Indianapolis as well. The holding company, Lakeland Financial Corporation, has over $3 billion in assets. That's over 140 years of continuous service under the same name.

This long term record of success got me thinking. Are you and your organization committed for the long haul? A few years ago a joint study by researchers at Thunderbird School of Global Management, ASU and, Penn found that when leaders balance the concerns of customers, employees, and community their employees see their organization as more visionary and participatory. Employees report being more willing to put in extra effort. The engagement drives better corporate results.

John Torinus sure thinks so. He’s the current Chairman and former CEO of Serigraph, a one thousand employee custom graphics manufacturer in West Bend, Wisconsin. In 2004, John began a successful mission to drive down the cost of health care at Serigraph – for his employees and the company – and even wrote a book about it named The Company That Solved Health Care. I’ve become a big fan.

If you run a company or are charged in some way with managing the health insurance plans, this book is for you. Serigraph has kept its costs virtually flat over the last ten years by following several key principles.

An Old List

“If you are walking, you are doing it wrong!” I read the words on a stained dog-eared piece of paper and could still hear Coach Dubach shouting across the practice field.

Ron Dubach was the linebackers coach for the Leo High School football team. There was never a time when it was okay to walk. When you went for a drink of water, you ran. When you moved from one station to another, you ran. When you went to get your injury taped by the trainer, yep, you ran.

It Helps To Catch A Break

Ask just about anyone that has had success in life or business how they did it and you’ll probably hear some of the following. It was due to hard work, or innovation and creativity. They diligently prepared and had laser-like focus on a plan. And they were surrounded by great people.

But, it’s been my experience that whatever mix of attributes and planning are mentioned, they always finish with something like this:

A Lot Of Effort And Hard Work
Is work ethic becoming passé? It seems much of today’s “leading” business thinking focuses only on working smarter not harder.

Well, one person determined to keep “work ethic” alive is William “Bill” Kennedy. He’s the owner and leader, of Hartson-Kennedy Cabinet Top Company, in Marion, Indiana.

Kennedy, 90, is still very involved with the day-to-day operations of the company he co-founded with his father-in-law in 1948. Sure he’s slowed down a bit in recent years, “only” coming into work from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., but I bet he could tell you, down to the dollar, what his payables and receivables are for the week.

When I asked about how he’s survived and prospered all these years, Kennedy said so many companies make things way too complicated. “I’ve kept it simple”, he said. “You got your account receivables and you got your payables. What’s left is what you have to work with. You have to watch it every day!”

March Madness
Down by one point with 2.1 seconds remaining, Grant Hill threw a 75-foot pass to Christian Laettner. He dribbled once, turned around and shot. Swish. Duke 104, Kentucky 103.

If you’re a fan of college basketball then you likely remember the 1992 NCAA regional championship game between Duke and Kentucky. It’s widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball games ever.

At Gibson, March Madness typically comes the second week of the month when we hold our Human Capital Summit (HCS) for area employers. We put on several major seminars for employers throughout the year, but the HCS is our largest event.

Have you ever written an email, text or letter, or made a Facebook post that you wish you could get back? The funny thing is you knew better before you sent it, didn’t you? I repeated this mistake recently.

It’s been twenty years since I graduated from high school. I went to a small public school with about 100 students in my grade. My class is getting together this July in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and I’ve been helping the reunion planning committee. Turns out the party is getting bigger every day. So much so, that we’ve outgrown the restaurant originally selected by our committee and are moving it to a larger place.

We were required to pay $200 to the original location to reserve a meeting room. A few weeks ago, we canceled our reservation, giving them 4 ½ months of advance warning. Unfortunately the general manager of said establishment is refusing to return the deposit money unless he is able to rent the room above his bar & grille to someone else.

This didn’t sit right with me. I told the committee member who had personally fronted the money not to worry. I would straighten this out.