Lesson #5: Build a Strong Team
Lesson #5: Build a Strong Team
In the hiring process, Murdoch claims that his number one priority is to find people who embody the entrepreneurial spirit. “That’s key to the culture of the company,” he says. “All our division heads are expected to be entrepreneurial and look for opportunities, to take risks.” Without that characteristic, says Murdoch, the company stagnates and cannot keep up with its competitors. “We’re not overlaid with these sort of business-development groups,” he says. “We have one or two people who help trouble-shoot in the finance department, but too often you get a group of very brilliant Harvard MBAs in a company that are set up to study strategy or whatever, and it tends to slow things down.” Murdoch also claims that without this entrepreneurial spirit, decisions tend to get political: people would rather say no than take a risk on something.
Once he has assembled his A-team, Murdoch strives to cultivate company loyalty by assigning significant responsibility to each staff member as well as paying slightly better than the market rate. But, this is not a failsafe solution and Murdoch has lost key team players along the way. “If somebody gets a great opportunity and they’re the No.2 or 3 executive in their division – and they can see it’s going to take a long while to get to the top – it’s inevitable that you lose a few,” he says. “But those are the people you bring back.”
Overall, Murdoch’s strategy has worked – more people are promoted from within his own company than hired from the outside. This not only demonstrates the company loyalty Murdoch’s staff feel towards him, but it also gives Murdoch a significant edge over his competitors in that he knows and trusts everyone in his company from the mailroom on up to the boardroom. “You might say that sometimes we can reach out a bit more, but if you know people, you make fewer mistakes,” he says.
Murdoch’s low staff turnover rate also ensures stability throughout his company. “It’s very difficult to bring in a high-powered executive, a new one,” he says. “Unless they’re just absolutely in the life of that industry, they’re rejected by the system. It’s like a body rejecting an organ – it’s very difficult. You might find a great executive in the textiles business, but it's going to be very, very hard to translate that to what we do.”
One of the great secrets to Murdoch’s success was his ability to do more with others and increase his own value regardless of his own level of authority. He succeeded because he had a team of people around him who also wanted to succeed and together, nothing was going to stop them.
Lesson 5 Build a Strong Team
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Reflecting upon his success, Murdoch commented, “I feel proud but it’s been a long and bumpy ride.” It was not a ride that Murdoch took alone. From his early days working on Adelaide’s The News to his current position at the top of the multi-billion dollar News Corp., Murdoch has learned the importance of surrounding himself with qualified people who can help him achieve his goals.
In the hiring process, Murdoch claims that his number one priority is to find people who embody the entrepreneurial spirit. “That’s key to the culture of the company,” he says. “All our division heads are expected to be entrepreneurial and look for opportunities, to take risks.” Without that characteristic, says Murdoch, the company stagnates and cannot keep up with its competitors. “We’re not overlaid with these sort of business-development groups,” he says. “We have one or two people who help trouble-shoot in the finance department, but too often you get a group of very brilliant Harvard MBAs in a company that are set up to study strategy or whatever, and it tends to slow things down.” Murdoch also claims that without this entrepreneurial spirit, decisions tend to get political: people would rather say no than take a risk on something.
Once he has assembled his A-team, Murdoch strives to cultivate company loyalty by assigning significant responsibility to each staff member as well as paying slightly better than the market rate. But, this is not a failsafe solution and Murdoch has lost key team players along the way. “If somebody gets a great opportunity and they’re the No.2 or 3 executive in their division – and they can see it’s going to take a long while to get to the top – it’s inevitable that you lose a few,” he says. “But those are the people you bring back.”
Overall, Murdoch’s strategy has worked – more people are promoted from within his own company than hired from the outside. This not only demonstrates the company loyalty Murdoch’s staff feel towards him, but it also gives Murdoch a significant edge over his competitors in that he knows and trusts everyone in his company from the mailroom on up to the boardroom. “You might say that sometimes we can reach out a bit more, but if you know people, you make fewer mistakes,” he says.
Murdoch’s low staff turnover rate also ensures stability throughout his company. “It’s very difficult to bring in a high-powered executive, a new one,” he says. “Unless they’re just absolutely in the life of that industry, they’re rejected by the system. It’s like a body rejecting an organ – it’s very difficult. You might find a great executive in the textiles business, but it's going to be very, very hard to translate that to what we do.”
One of the great secrets to Murdoch’s success was his ability to do more with others and increase his own value regardless of his own level of authority. He succeeded because he had a team of people around him who also wanted to succeed and together, nothing was going to stop them.
Lesson 5 Build a Strong Team
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
|
I've created this section on my site to share some of the incredible tools that I've used to build my business. I hope you too can benefit from them and look forward to hearing your feedback on the reviews! - Visit Evan Carmichael's Website |
|||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
|
 | ||
|
||
 |
||
 |
||
 | ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
 |
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
 |
 Dream Boards Life Purpose Adopting Creative Thinking Radical Green Business Increase productivity |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Blogs For Startups
Top Blogs To Watch In 2008 | |
 |
Top 50 Franchising Blogs
Top 50 Franchising Blogs | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
