Session 8: Brad Anderson- "An Uncompromising Focus on People"

Brad Anderson, Vice-Chairman/CEO Best Buy

"An Uncompromising Focus on People"

• He worked in one of the stores for 2 days last year- he's willing to get on the front lines
• At one point, they told employees what to do and told stores how to operate- they hoped they were actually doing it-
• Feedback, 11-12 questions, twice a year from employees- they're able to measure engagement level- typically this produces a direct correlation to store sales and profitability...
• How do you increase engagement? Leaders are needed to raise the engagement levels of their team/employees for the store to increase profitability/sales-
• People are looking for affirmation of themselves- True leaders get a true, higher level of achievement by seeing others grow/succeed than out of their own personal success....
• Human capital- Are we building people or destroying people? It's one or the other-
• Geek Squad- They took the stereotype over-the-top... they knew, "Yeah, we're nerdy..but you need us..." They brought in their own culture into Best Buy...
• Much of what he does is simply working on the relationships within the company and with clients- he gets complex puzzles- (human beings) scheduled every day- So much of what he does it building into the people around him, handling their needs, pains, frustrations...
• He sees problems/issues in the eyes of his leaders usually well before it starts hitting the bottom line.... He tries to spend his time with the people with the biggest need/impact.
• 85% of his time is leading down, 15% up (to the board).... self admitted problem...
• Many times there aren't "villians" in the problems at hand...it's simply driven by the realities in the work at hand...
• To motivate: How are they "coding" what they're doing- helping them find the motivation with the reminder of the "why" behind what they're doing....
• Financial incentives work to an extent but they are "thin", they're not complete...
• ROWE- Result Oriented Work Environment.... You get the work done, you can have the flexibility you want.... currently, they're seeing better results from those who have more freedom-
• He feels he can share faith when given "permission" with employees/colleagues-

Thoughts:

• How often do we work so hard to be cool when we'd progress much better being the unique geek we really are?
• How difficult it seems to balance how to share faith in the position of leadership like Brad's and trying to measure and listen to the Holy Spirit-