Up Your Business!

Praise for the first edition of Up Your Business!



"Dave Anderson has hit another home run! Up Your Business! is an invaluable, highly readable guide that should be on the desk--and in the mind--of anyone demanding top-level performance from themselves and others."
--James Strock, author, Reagan on Leadership and Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership

"Up Your Business! is a powerful blueprint for companies looking to take their business to the next level. It is one of the most powerful books on business and leadership I have ever read and will be a major component of Saga Communications' leadership training."
--Warren Lada, Senior Vice President, Saga Communications, Inc.

"Once again, Dave Anderson puts it all together in a way that almost makes you think he's been looking over your shoulder all these years. Chapter two alone, 'Abolish Corporate Welfare: Create a Culture of Merit,' is worth the time it takes to read the entire book."
--Mike Roscoe, founder and President, Horizon Communications

"Finally . . . a business book that gets to the heart of what matters and creates usable templates that could help any business thrive."
--Roxanne Emmerich, author, Thank God It's Monday!

Foreword by John C. Maxwell vii

Preface ix

Author’s Note xiii

Introduction xvii

1. Always Remember, “It’s the People, Stupid!” 1

2. Abolish Corporate Welfare: Create a Culture of Merit 61

3. Develop Your Human Capital: How to Train, Coach, Mentor, and Retain Eagles 81

4. It’s All Right to Aim High if You Have Plenty of Ammo 127

5. Look in the Mirror: Executing Your Leadership Twelve-Pack 155

6. Survive Success: How to Overcome the Six Temptations of Successful Organizations 203

7. Build Long-Term Vitality: Steps for Execution and Follow-Through 243

8. Close the Gap between Knowing and Doing: Develop the Commitment to Do What is Easier Said Than Done 269

Notes 279

Bibliography 281

Index 283

Acknowledgments 289

About the Author 289

DAVE ANDERSON is an entrepreneur, columnist, trainer, speaker, and author of two other Wiley books, If You Don’t Make Waves, You’ll Drown and How to Deal with Difficult Customers. He is also President of Dave Anderson’s Learn To Lead and LearnToLead.com, a cutting-edge Web site that provides free training resources for business leaders.

Up Your Business!, Second Edition is a no-holds-barred manifesto on making your organization perform at the highest possible level. Straightforward, honest, and in your face, it doesn’t offer empty buzzwords or mysterious acronyms or questionable cure-alls. It outlines seven no-nonsense steps you can take to fix, build, or stretch your business. This revised edition is better than ever, featuring updated strategies at the end of each chapter. In addition, a new final chapter called “Closing the Gap Between Knowing and Doing” equips you with the tools and inspiration to successfully implement the book’s strategies.

Up Your Business!, Second Edition proves it takes quality leaders to build quality companies. If your business is struggling, look in the mirror first, then get to work with these seven vital steps:

Step one: Hire the right people. With tips and tools for recruiting and interviewing, you’ll learn to bring in the people who can take your business to a higher level—and get rid of the ones who can’t.

Step two: Replace your culture of entitlement with a culture of merit. Learn to produce positive pressure to perform and reward the people who can get you to the top.

Step three: Develop the talent you bring in. Use easy step-by-step methods and proven tools to train, coach, and mentor your people.

Step four: Think BIG and set unreasonable goals. Now that you’ve got the right people in place and built a culture of merit and success, it’s time to go for it!

Step five: Be the leader your business deserves. Ensure your company’s growth and vitality by executing the vital daily disciplines that only a leader can accomplish.

Step six: Survive success. Overcome the six temptations that undermine successful organizations.

Step seven: Get down to business! Follow through on the principles you’ve learned and institutionalize them for sustainable, long-term benefit.

Whether you lead a Fortune 500 company or a mom-and-pop small business, quality leadership is the key to unlimited success. Up Your Business!, Second Edition offers tried-and-true leadership principles and real examples that will help you take responsibility, take control, and take your business to the top.