Warrior Management

1
Warrior Management

• Using World Conquering Techniques to Achieve
  Business Dominance

2
Who Was Genghis Khan?

• Born around 1162 near the current capital of
  Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar
• Mongol empire governed by a civilian and military
  code, called the Yassa
• Came to power by uniting many of the nomadic
  tribes of northeast Asia
• Pursued aggressive foreign policy eventually
  occupying most of Asia
• Dies in 1227
• His descendants stretched the Mongol Empire
  across most of Eurasia conquering all of modern
  day China, and substantial portions of modern
  Russia, southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and the
  Middle East

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Genghis Khan Business Genius

• Recognized as one of the most successful world
  conquerors
• Instituted practices, rules, and operational
  philosophies that are relevant today for business
  success
• In all, there are 17 warrior management
  principles each a reminder of how success is
  achieved
• How many of these warrior management principles
  do you actively use?
• What would be the impact to your business if you
  adopted the way of the warrior?

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Presentation Topics

• The 17 Warrior Management Principles
• The rationale of using each principle in the
  context of your business
• The benefits/downsides of implementation
• Are you an effective conqueror?

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Warrior Principle 1

• Accomplish One Objective at a Time
• Genghis Khan
• Genghis Khan had scarce resources and could not
  fight numerous opponents simultaneously.
• Targets were selected, pros and cons weighed, and
  only when victory was assured were resources used
• Once selected, all the resources and energies
  went to defeat that one enemy
• Failure was not an option

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Warrior Principle 1

• Accomplish One Objective at a Time
• Current Business Environment
• Strategic Plans focus on completing a myriad of
  objectives most that never get accomplished
• A 70 sales win rate is considered exceptional
• Customers are captured but never fully leveraged
  most businesses only realize 6 of their
  potential revenue
• The majority of mergers and acquisitions fail to
  achieve any level of anticipated success

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Warrior Principle 1

• Accomplish One Objective at a Time
• Resolution
• Strategic plans should have no more than 3
  objectives for any stated period
• Business development resources should only be
  consumed for opportunities that will yield a 100
  win rate
• Customers should be put on a product/services
  continuum that seeks a destination allows for a
  maximization of revenue
• Acquisitions occur for a single purpose what is
  it?

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Warrior Principle 2

• Establish a Central Position for Unifying
  Strength
• Genghis Khan
• Warriors needed a location to recover and
  refresh before re-entering a battle environment
• Referred to as a safe place
• Focus on reinvigorating the body, spirit and
  mission
• Reinforced culture and sense of belonging to a
  purpose that was greater than any one individual

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Warrior Principle 2

• Establish a Central Position for Unifying
  Strength
• Current Business Environment
• Many businesses have lost their culture
• Tele-working, independent contractors, and
  multiple office locations have diluted corporate
  culture
• No employee or employer allegiance no sense of
  belonging or recognition of a larger purpose
• No safe spot for employees
• It is all about short-term productivity

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Warrior Principle 2

• Establish a Central Position for Unifying
  Strength
• Resolution
• Define your business culture
• Eliminate the use of independent contractors
  except for pure support functions
• Insist on face-to-face interaction with employees
  providing them with an inviting environment
• What is the value proposition for your
  employees? Beyond a paycheck, why should they
  work for you?

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Warrior Principle 3

• Protect Subsidiaries that Provide Core Resources
  to Front Line Personnel
• Genghis Khan
• Troops travel on their stomachs
• Traditional military tactic is to separate
  warriors from support systems
• Lack of resources erode confidence, strength and
  competitive spirit

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Warrior Principle 3

• Protect Subsidiaries that Provide Core Resources
  to Front Line Personnel
• Current Business Environment
• Employee training, paying health care insurance
  premiums, and childcare reimbursement have been
  taken away in response to short-term profitable
  objectives
• Cuts in marketing, research and development and
  competitive research limit effectiveness of sales
  staff
• Organization operates at a competitive
  disadvantage

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Warrior Principle 3

• Protect Subsidiaries that Provide Core Resources
  to Front Line Personnel
• Resolution
• Protect the support functions that allow
  employees to focus on business productivity
• Fully equip your teams with effective
  information, up-to-date tools and supporting
  documentation
• Operate at a competitive plateau not trying to
  make do with existing resources

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Warrior Principle 4

• Maintain Infinite Patience Wait for the Right
  Time
• Genghis Khan
• Waited patiently for the right time to attack
• Constantly sought current information on the
  target enemy, troop movements and political
  nuances
• Attacked enemies when at weakest and when his
  forces were peaking
• Battles were quick, decisive and victorious

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Warrior Principle 4

• Maintain Infinite Patience Wait for the Right
  Time
• Current Business Environment
• The world does not revolve around your business
  a fallacy of the dot.com era
• Ignores impact of changing environment what
  changes have you made to leverage the recession?
• Growth must occur every business quarter
  regardless of the cost
• Over analysis of situations also impedes
  effective action

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Warrior Principle 4

• Maintain Infinite Patience Wait for the Right
  Time
• Resolution
• Every business has a natural business cycle.
• Cycle duration can be 18 months to 15 years!
• Cycles for services businesses is 5 to 7 years.
• Research Develop new market offerings
• Release The Market Bet
• Reward Revenue Growth
• Reinvest Investments made to infrastructure
• Review Get ready for the Next Cycle

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Warrior Principle 5

• Share the Booty
• Genghis Khan
• Shared the rewards of battle with his warriors
  (land, wealth and slaves)
• Recognized importance of not keeping the spoils
  of war
• Keeping it all would create dissension in the
  troops, try loyalties and result in backlash or
  retribution

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Warrior Principle 5

• Share the Booty
• Current Business Environment
• True caste system where very few share the
  business bounty
• Has resulted in low employee retention rates and
  a desire for employees to find a better work-life
  balance
• CEO compensation continues to climb while
  rank-and-file lose purchasing power
• Businesses are no longer monopolies with
  sustained power

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Warrior Principle 5

• Share the Booty
• Resolution
• Create compensation structures that share greater
  proportions of the spoils
• Dont limit upside compensation
• Lets not kid ourselves people work for the
  money

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Warrior Principle 6

• Adapt to the Ever-Changing Environment
• Genghis Khan
• Environmental variables were always changing
• Climate, terrain and troop locations decided
  tactical battle plans
• Troop confidence, political struggles, affinity
  to engage local township were necessary for
  after-battle occupation
• Combination of variables required different
  approaches to victory

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Warrior Principle 6

• Adapt to the Ever-Changing Environment
• Current Business Condition
• Businesses follow staid and predictable
  strategies and tactics regardless of the
  situation
• Try to re-use previous success tactics silver
  bullet theory
• There are no such thing as tried and true
  business strategies
• Business failure occurs when looking down

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Warrior Principle 6

• Adapt to the Ever-Changing Environment
• Resolution
• Environmental conditions impact business
  decisions
• Utilize Corporate Component Model to understand
  cause and effect
• Environment variables you cannot change
• Strategy your answer to the environment
• Operations the perfect business model
• Technology speeding up the model
• Organization staffing the model
• Making a change to any component requires a
  corresponding change

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Warrior Principle 7

• Single Language for Communication
• Genghis Khan
• Single form of communication necessary to ensure
  orders are followed in predictable manner
• Nuances in dialects could spell disaster
• Orders had to be followed exactly not best
  guess
• Certain cultural dialects were used - but not in
  battle

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Warrior Principle 7

• Single Language for Communication
• Current Business Environment
• Mis-communication bounds
• Strategy directives from the Board are mangled
  down to mid and lower level employees
• People hear things based on their
  predisposition (financial people hear numbers)
• CRM systems have a problem with definitions of
  customers again causing problems with firms
  with dispersed sales forces

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Warrior Principle 7

• Single Language for Communication
• Resolution
• Develop templates for certain sales and
  operational activities
• Eliminate individual expression at the
  operational level recognize its value during
  strategic discussions
• Correct mis-interpretations immediately
• Dont foster renegade practices even if appear
  effective

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Warrior Principle 8

• Fastest Form of Communication Both Ways
• Genghis Khan
• Relied on sending information quicker than the
  enemy
• Fast horses were used to speed riders across
  great distances
• Like the Pony Express, Genghis Khan used horse
  chains multiple horses, single rider
• Unfortunately, horses had a short life

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Warrior Principle 8

• Fastest Form of Communication Both Ways
• Current Business Environment
• Cellular and wide band technologies allow for
  fast communication
• Have too much information to make expeditious
  decisions
• No filters to extract most important facts
• Increase in spam, viruses and identity theft
  makes information suspect

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Warrior Principle 8

• Fastest Form of Communication Both Ways
• Resolution
• Implement effective filters to pull-out most
  important facts
• Implement single technology platforms instead
  of trying to piece together various solutions
• Confirm receipt of information too many
  messages get lost in cyberspace
• Believe it or not, phone calls still the fastest
  form of communication

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Warrior Principle 9

• Sizing in Units of Ten
• Genghis Khan
• Span of organizational control was based on units
  of 10
• Leaders could be in charge of anywhere from 10 to
  10,000 warriors depending on the level of the
  individual
• This system of 10s was universal

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Warrior Principle 9

• Sizing in Units of Ten
• Current Business Environment
• Lack of consistent span of control guidelines
• Divisional fiefdoms occur within siloed
  business structures that wields its power based
  on the number of employees
• Government agencies associate importance with the
  number of FTEs assigned/funded
• Decisions get made based on the influence of
  larger business units sometimes counter to
  agreed-upon business direction

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Warrior Principle 9

• Sizing in Units of Ten
• Resolution
• Establish consistent span of control rules
• Deconstruct fiefdoms bringing equity to
  divisional roles
• Never base business decisions on the rights of
  a single employee group

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Warrior Principle 10

• Absolute Prohibition of Personnel Transfers
• Genghis Khan
• Assignment to a single leader ensured loyalty
• Attempting to change divisions was met with death
  to both the warrior and the leader
• Working with the same warrior allowed the leader
  to predict performance in battle and rely on
  certain expectations
• Constant testing under battle conditions created
  parallel thinking to occur

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Warrior Principle 10

• Absolute Prohibition of Personnel Transfers
• Current Business Environment
• Employee loyalty has disappeared
• Employers are circumspect when employees stay
  more than 5 years
• Employees move freely within corporate frameworks
  learning all aspects of a business
• Without loyalty, these employees leave taking
  their unique knowledge to the competition

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Warrior Principle 10

• Absolute Prohibition of Personnel Transfers
• Resolution
• Create career paths for every employee
• Test employees constantly under live conditions
  correcting actions when necessary
• Predict employee reactions to business situations
  realize that emotions and tendencies never
  change
• Never let an employee transfer within a firm
  instead let them go

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Warrior Principle 11

• Foolproof, Permanent Security Systems
• Genghis Khan
• Used highly trained security guards to protect
  self and treasures
• Security guards were treated as trusted allies
• Willing to sacrifice life for leader
• Were rewarded lavishly to ensure enemies did
  not outbid for their services

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Warrior Principle 11

• Foolproof, Permanent Security Systems
• Current Business Environment
• Security remains a focal point of most businesses
  both technological and personal security
• Outside computer hackers put corporate
  information at risk
• Suicide bombers put physical structures and
  inhabitants at risk
• The enemy to businesses is constantly changing

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Warrior Principle 11

• Foolproof, Permanent Security Systems
• Resolution
• Conduct frequent security risk assessments
• Obviously, maintain computer networks with
  up-to-date virus protection, firewalls and
  security passwords
• Realize your cell phone and laptop are easy marks
  for your competition
• Look at forward thinking solutions think like
  the enemy

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Warrior Principle 12

• Insight into Human Character
• Genghis Khan
• Had strong insights into human behavior
• Leaders selected not based on experience but
  possessing leadership characteristics
• Leadership based on future potential, not past
  history
• Believed great leaders were born, not made

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Warrior Principle 12

• Insight into Human Character
• Current Business Environment
• Managers are selected based on past experience
  same is true for hires from the outside
• Looking to replicate past successes not achieve
  new objectives
• Previous high performers often fall short of
  ability to replicate their past achievements
  becoming an organizational liability
• Most businesses hire for the position and not the
  future

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Warrior Principle 12

• Insight into Human Character
• Resolution
• Understand the characteristics it takes to be
  successful in your business
• Hire individuals with an eye towards them taking
  a leadership position in the future
• Realize that past successes may have been
  supported by ideal circumstances including
  other employees
• Quickly identify when you have made a hiring
  mistake and limit exposure

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Warrior Principle 13

• Speed of Order Execution
• Genghis Khan
• Successful conquests relied on speed of order
  execution
• Battles were initiated with very small windows of
  opportunity when all the conditions came
  together to ensure victory
• Waiting for a battalion to act could spell
  disaster
• Since electronic forms of communication did not
  exist speed to deliver orders face-to-face was
  necessary

42
Warrior Principle 13

• Speed of Order Execution
• Current Business Environment
• Moving large firms to action is akin to steering
  an aircraft carrier takes a lot of planning to
  make a move
• Small firms are more nimble able to leverage
  new opportunities quickly
• Bureaucracy forces firms to miss out on ideal
  conditions
• Getting resources to a troubled client site
  often an ordeal, as well

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Warrior Principle 13

• Speed of Order Execution
• Resolution
• Seek ways to minimize bureaucracy
• Establish SWAT teams that can immediately jet
  into a troubled client site with full autonomy
  for resolution
• Large firms may want to create small, nimble
  divisions that can act like a traditional small
  firm
• Realize that tomorrow may not be soon enough

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Warrior Principle 14

• Information Through Spying
• Genghis Khan
• Competitive information allowed for strategy,
  timing and tactics of battle
• Spies were used to provide information
• Data omissions represented substantial risks
  leading to potential downfall
• Had to wait for all the information to be
  gathered and verified prior to any action

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Warrior Principle 14

• Information Through Spying
• Current Business Environment
• Competitive information is only based on
  historical events
• Limited information available on competitive
  objectives, targets and overall corporate
  aspirations
• Strategies focus more on exploiting corporate
  strengths than executing counter-tactic assaults
• Market direct strategies are expensive and have a
  low win rate

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Warrior Principle 14

• Information Through Spying
• Resolution
• Objective is not to win the customer but to
  defeat the competition
• The customer is the booty
• You must be in the mind of your competitor
  understanding and predicting their actions
• Use counter-tactics to increase win rates and
  reduce cost of customer acquisition

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Warrior Principle 15

• Mis-Information as a Tool to Defeat Enemies
• Genghis Khan
• Knew enemies were seeking information about his
  troops so would spread false information
  regarding troop size, strength and readiness
• Bad information led to erroneous strategic battle
  plans on part of his enemies
• For example, a single warrior may light 5 torches
  to signify size or only have every 5th warrior
  light a torch to signify a small battalion
• Mis-information was used to create an illusion

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Warrior Principle 15

• Mis-Information as a Tool to Defeat Enemies
• Current Business Environment
• Do not practice overt levels of deception
• Again, direct market assault is used as typical
  business strategy relying on sheer size for
  victory
• This approach not suited for smaller firms that
  need to rely on cunning to win
• Unfortunately, many small firms find only way to
  win is to team with larger firm employing direct
  market assault

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Warrior Principle 15

• Mis-Information as a Tool to Defeat Enemies
• Resolution
• Using mis-information can help smaller businesses
• Makes larger firms spend even more money to
  overcome marketplace illusions
• Focus on indirect market tactics not direct
• Will increase overall win rates

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Warrior Principle 16

• Numerical Superiority Never Won a Battle
• Genghis Khan
• Absolute warrior numbers were not a predictor of
  battle success
• Information coupled with predictable warrior
  practices ensured battle success
• Warriors were merely live characters carrying out
  an envisioned battle plan

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Warrior Principle 16

• Numerical Superiority Never Won a Battle
• Current Business Environment
• Many businesses choose to throw people at a
  problem as opposed to solving the problem
• Delivery schedules not being met add more
  people
• Unfortunately, inefficient operations and poor
  support systems usually are basis for ineffective
  performance
• More people only add to the cost not output

52
Warrior Principle 16

• Numerical Superiority Never Won a Battle
• Resolution
• Remember the Corporate Component Model
• Find the root of the problem
• Look at employee utilization to determine areas
  of possible waste
• Never assume that throwing people at a problem
  will make it go away

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Warrior Principle 17

• The Interests of the Unit Outweigh the Individual
• Genghis Khan
• Decisions were made for the benefit of the
  cultural sect not the individual
• Realized that his wealth and power relied on the
  larger foundation of warriors and supporting
  cultural members
• Focused on building the larger community
  knowing it would increase his individual wealth

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Warrior Principle 17

• The Interests of the Unit Outweigh the Individual
• Current Business Environment
• Practice the me, me, me philosophy
• Decisions are based on the direct impact to the
  decision-maker
• Short-term views override long-term expectations
• Public companies view long-term as a fiscal
  quarter

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Warrior Principle 17

• The Interests of the Unit Outweigh the Individual
• Resolution
• Focus on corporate value as the basis for making
  decisions
• Eliminate individual greed including re-working
  compensation programs at senior levels
• Dont allow loud factions of organization to
  over-ride good corporate governance
• Look at the long-term

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Summary

• Genghis Khan employed many techniques that are
  useful in building a business empire
• Understanding the impact of competition, the need
  to maintain and foster strong warrior forces, and
  the focus on the larger community all have a
  positive impact on corporate value and business
  success
• These approaches are time-tested
• Are you ready to be a conqueror?

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Questions!
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About LTV Dynamics

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  business owners to increase corporate value
• Executive Advisory Services
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