Last weekend Patti and I went Christmas shopping at Kohl’s. While at the check-out the young man who was cashing us out was distracted by the young women associates around him and missed a $20 item, so I reminded him. He thanked me for my honesty (nice move on his part) and then energetically handed me the slip, reminded me of the on-line survey, and wished us a happy holiday. All in all, a typical America shopping experience, right?

Of course, being the curious businessperson I am, I had to check-out the on-line survey. Ten minutes and 26 questions later, I was done. One thing was clear to me; this business had not adopted the one-question, “net-promoter system” as a means of understanding their customers’ satisfaction with their shopping experience.

The Question. Last week I was working with a group of human resource professionals who were working on their association’s annual strategic plan. They were discussing how to get regular feedback from their association’s members. I said, “You know, you could ask just one question?”

They looked perplexed - none of them had heard of the concept before. ”Really, just one question, what is it?”

“On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend the Association to a close friend or family member?”

The Net Promoter Score. This one question comes from the book The Ultimate Question 2.0 by Fred Reichheld and Rob Markey. They have done global research on customer satisfaction and have created a widely used and successful program call the Net-Promoter System. In a nutshell, here’s how it works.

Companies and organizations like Verizon, Enterprise, and Apple retail stores ask customers to score this one question. They then add up all the 9s and 10s (“promoters”) and subtract from that amount all the 0 to 6 scores (“detractors”) and determine a “net promoter score.” (A 7 or 8 score doesn’t count because the score neither promotes nor detracts from the business.) They have found that if a customer scores a store a 9 or 10 they are likely to “tell” a close friend or family member about their positive experience. This, we all know, is the best form of promotion or advertising. And, if they scored the store a 0 to 6, they are likely to “tell” a close friend or family member (or anyone else who will listen) about their negative experience.

The goal of all these companies is to raise the “net promoter score.” They embed new practices into their operations so they can measure these scores by location every day. They make the scores available to their managers and often include the score as part of their evaluations and bonuses.

How to Use the Question. One of the things you learn from the book is that to use this system correctly you need to change the way you collect, evaluate, and use customer feedback information. There has to be an arms’ length way to collect the responses because you don’t want the data to be easily manipulated by people whose evaluations and bonuses depend on it.

Also, it is very important to respond to detractors and try to satisfy them. If you do this effectively, former detractors can make great future promoters. And this is one of the important findings and suggestions in the book.

I thought it was interesting to read that many organizations, including Apple, use the one question to get employee feedback about the organization.

One final advantage is that the system is fast and convenient for the customer, which likely increases the amount of feedback you receive.

So, when you really think about it, you only need to remember this one question.

Last week, I told you that at the end of a recent semester Trina, a grad student, asked me to write a Blog post about my list of top 10 leadership books. Because there are so many good books, this was a difficult assignment.

To come-up with my list I decided to re-frame Trina’s question into this one – What 10 books most changed the way I think about leadership? In my last post, counting down, I gave you my 10th through sixth choices – the top five are highlighted below

5. Leadership is an Art by Max De Pree. This book, which can easily be read in two hours, will inspire you to lead more effectively right away. De Pree was the CEO of Herman Miller when he wrote this book. Herman Miller is a high-end office furniture manufacturer that is well known for its great culture and results. Max uses real stories to teach us how to lead more effectively. I was captured by the book in the first few pages when he told us the story about the death of the company’s first millwright. I’m always amazed at how once you read this you become more aware of how many other leaders have read it and why they quote him.

4. The Defining Moment by Jonathon Alter. A great story about what Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) faced when he took office in 1933 and what he did about it. Very few leaders have faced what he faced in 1933. This gave me a real appreciation of the special leadership skills of FDR and what strategies a leader might use when facing what appear to be insurmountable challenges. We learn about the importance of positive communication, optimism, and giving followers hope.

3. Good to Great (Also, Great by Choice) by Jim Collins. This is one of those books that completely changes how you look at leaders. Collins introduces us to the Level-5 leader. This is a leader who is humble and pushes to put the long-term interests of the organization ahead of him/herself. These leaders display the professional will to select the right people, put them in the right seat on the bus, and give them credit when things go well. The book is based on factual research and looks at companies that perform better than average over an extended period of time (15 years). If you are not a charismatic leader, this book gives you hope. Collins postulates that charismatic leaders rarely build enduring teams and organizations – quiet, humble leaders do.

2. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin. You must read this! Okay, this is a thick book, sorry. The slow or busy readers in my audience might want to get the audio book. This is a wonderful account of how Abraham Lincoln chose his cabinet and then led them afterwards. The leadership lesson here is how important it is for a leader to choose the most talented people for certain positions even if they disagree with you sometimes. Lincoln looked at his adversaries as candidates for his cabinet. What was really brilliant about this was that (1) by having adversaries in his cabinet he would have fewer adversaries outside to contend with and (2) he would have people close to him that could provide different points of view.

1. Leadership and Self-Deception (Also, The Anatomy of Peace) by the Arbinger Institute. This book should be read by every manager or leader. Cleverly written as a story, it held my attention throughout. It is really a book about awareness. It teaches us how easily we deceive ourselves into making certain decisions. The book also teaches what the side effects are when we do this, especially if you are a leader. Once aware of the concepts, we can quickly realize when our brains/egos are leading us down the wrong road. I think about the concepts in this book every day and know it has changed my decision-making. If you like Leadership and Self-Deception, I recommend you go deeper and read The Anatomy of Peace.

I trust you will enjoy and benefit from these books as much as I did. I have another 10 books stacked-up on my desk right now to read. Next I think I’ll read Boomerang again (I listened to the audio book). Why? Because it gives me more insight into what is happening in the world debt markets and what could happen to our cities, towns, and states in the coming years. An uncivil war may be heading in our direction; I can only hope this is not the case.

At the end of a recent semester Trina, a grad student, asked me to write a Blog post about my list of top 10 leadership books. Because there are so many good books, this was a difficult assignment. Thank you, Trina, for getting back at me!

To come-up with my list, I decided to re-frame Trina’s question into this one – What 10 books most changed the way I think about leadership? Counting down, here are my 10th through sixth choices – the top five will be highlighted in my next post.

10. The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. This book really changed how I looked at organizations and why all leaders should try to build “learning organizations.” Senge teaches us about how organizational leaders can develop the first four disciplines in their organizations – mastery of personal skills, understanding mental models of people, building shared vision, and team learning. The fifth discipline we learn about is “systems thinking” and it is this point that had a huge impact on my understanding of organizational leadership. As a visual learner myself, I found using his conceptual flow charts or “archetypes” helpful in leading problem-solving discussions.

9. Defining Moments by Joseph Badaracco, Jr. Leaders today are faced with many decisions that challenge us ethically. Badaracco calls these “defining moments” because these decisions define who we are as leaders. In this short book (131 pages), he uses three cases to help us think through the elements of different ethical decisions. I found the book helpful because he teaches how intuition, emotion, and personal judgment impact our ethical decisions.

8. Outliers (Also, Tipping Point and Blink) by Malcolm Gladwell. I first became a Gladwell fan when I read Blink. He is a great story-teller and very effectively connects the dots to help us understand why only a few people emerge at the top of their professions – he calls these people “Outliers.” A few examples include Bill Gates and the Beatles. While many outliers become leaders by their very position on top, he makes the case that outliers (1) are smart, (2) work hard and spend at least 10,000 hours in their profession or area of success, and (3) luckily collide with an opportunity that is unique to when they were born and other demographics.

7. First Among Equals by Patrick McKenna and David Maister. If you want one book that can teach you what you should do as a leader of professionals, read this one. I find myself referring back to this book all the time for tips on what to do in certain circumstances. The sections are easy to follow and well organized. The most helpful sections to me were the ones on “Coaching the Individual” and “Coaching the Team.”

6. Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy. I believe every American and especially every current U.S. Senator should read this book. It is short and easy to read and you will learn important lessons about U.S. history. Published by then Senator Kennedy in 1955, this Pulitzer Prize winning book describes how eight U.S. Senators had the courage to do what they thought was right for our country knowing they might not get re-elected. This is one of the few books I’ve read multiple times. Why? Because it teaches me that sometimes leaders need to have the courage to paddle upstream against the popular current to do what is right.

In my next post, I’ll present to you the top five leadership books that changed my thinking, so stay-tuned!