“The value is not in having the answers. It’s in being able to facilitate discovery.”
– Karen Mangia, VP at Salesforce and Best Selling Author (episode 112)
Welcome to a new issue of the Supermanagers TLDR, fellow managers and leaders!
Today, we’re sharing exclusive interviews with two best-selling authors: Roger Martin (author of “Playing to Win”) and Karen Mangia (VP at Salesforce and author of “Success From Anywhere”):
- The Difference Between Strategy and Planning (with Roger Martin, author of Playing to Win)
- Don’t Hog All the Problems: Why You Need to Include Your Team When Problem Solving (with Karen Mangia, Salesforce Executive)
Here’s a sneak peek at what we covered ⬇
🔵 Roger L. Martin (Author of Playing to Win) on The Difference Between Strategy and Planning
TLDR: Most people talk about strategy, but what they actually mean is planning. According to Roger Martin, strategy is the act of making an integrated set of choices, which positions the organization to win; while planning is the act of laying out projects with timelines, deliverables, budgets, and responsibilities.
“My framework for thinking about strategy says you have the core of strategy, the heart, as I call it, as the ‘where to play, how to win’ choice,” says Roger Martin. “If we’re Four Seasons, we’re going to play in the luxury hotel space, and we’re going to win on the basis of superior service.”
In this episode, Roger Martin explains how this framework helped Four Seasons reduce employee turnover to only 10%… compared to the average 80% in the hotel industry. But how did they do it? 
Four Seasons actively invests in recruiting and training their employees:
- Getting hired requires 4 separate interviews
- There is a clear promotion and development ladder
- Employees get more perks the more senior they become in the organization
- And much more…
Four Seasons deliberately built their operation around answering the question of how to build long-term retention. They understand that long-term retention allows them to build the best experience for their guests.
Roger was named the “World’s #1 Management Thinker” in 2017, and this episode of the Supermanagers podcast does not disappoint ⬇
🔴 Don’t Hog All the Problems: Why You Need to Include Your Team When Problem Solving
TLDR: Leadership is lonely. Reality or Myth?
Karen Mangia (VP of Customer Sales & Market Insights at Salesforce) says this is a myth:
“What I came to understand over time is that leadership is listening. And leadership is about asking great questions and tapping into your curiosity, not going off into a corner, having all the answers or trying to come up with them, and then presenting this perfect-looking package. So very often, I found that I felt stuck because I was trying to operate in isolation and have answers, rather than ask questions, engage those around me, and create possibilities that ultimately lead to shared ownership.”
Karen used to think that being a great leader meant having all the answers. But trying to have all the answers in isolation can be lonely. In episode 112, Karen tells us about a time when she decided to be open and honest with her team about a challenge. These were people invested in the outcome, and when given the opportunity to contribute – they rose to the occasion. The eventual outcome was remarkable! Instead of a loss of people and programs, the team grew to 2x the size AND became self-funded.
Episode 112 of Supermanagers podcast is a great listen – tune in below 👇
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… and that’s a wrap! We hope that the content we curated inspires you to continue growing as a leader.
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Thanks for being part of our community,
Manuela & the Fellow.app team
