Customer Reviews

Running the Gauntlet: Essential Business Lessons to Lead, Drive Change, and Grow Profits

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Written in a no nonsense style it's the rare business book that is logical, practical and easy to take the core concepts and actually do something with them. Jeff has been around the block in a wide variety of businesses both large and small and his insights and solid, smart and a bit of a smack in the head that we all need given the state of the markets and the business world the last few years.

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I heard the author of Running the Gauntlet, Jeff Hayzlett speak at a conference in February 2012. Jeff is an awesome speaker and received a standing ovation. A lot of his character/persona from the speech carries over to the book. Below are ten quotes that are takeaways from the book that I found valuable:

1. If something sucks, get rid of it. If it isn't working, change it and own those changes. Refuse to tolerate problems and passivity. Period.

2. In the end more businesses can sustain a little "ready, fire, aim" when they are changing... Push like crazy, and be persistent... One mistake or setback does not mean total failure.

3. I was willing to get over myself and be a beginner... Being a beginner does not mean being unprepared... You stand in the way of a winning attitude when you refuse to stretch yourself to be a beginner.

4. In all the companies I worked with and for, they all had one thing in common: whether they were small business or Fortune 1000, at some point they forgot about the basics.

5. Now, ROI is an essential measurement tool that I see being used everywhere these days. And overused... Some things cannot be measured with numbers.

6. Yet I can tell most of what's wrong with a business by walking around the place and sizing up the energy of its people... Put simply, bad mood can ruin a company faster that bad business.

7. It's always easier to change the person in the job than to try and change the person.

8. Unless you are truly unique, the only difference in most industries between you and your competitors is your people.

9. The best decisions are made after you look at the problem or program from the customer's point of view.

10. ...it all comes down to my "Rule of Thirds." For everything - marketing programs, initiatives , and beyond.

< < a. A third of the people will get it immediately.
< < b. A third of the people will get it eventually.
< < c. A third of the people will never get it.

Executing points 4, 8 and 9 all but assure success IMHO!

> > Point number 4 - not forgetting the basics and creating the equivalent of organizational muscle memory to assure the basics are always executed at a high level.

> > Point number 8 - not only taking care of your people at a high level, but better than your competitors and continually developing/motivating your people. It has always struck me as odd that in tight economic circumstances organizations immediately sacrifice the care and development of their people.

> > Point number 9 - always look at every circumstance from the customer's point of view before a course of action is decided.

There is no magical, groundbreaking or new revelation in the three points above because there is really no magical revelation for success. The true test for success is whether your organization has the discipline to do it given all the other constraints and pressure. Without that discipline whatever success your organization has is only fleeting.

Dr. James T. Brown PE,PMP,CSP
Author, The Handbook of Program Management, McGraw-Hill

Big fan of Jeff Hayzlett's the first book "The Mirror Test" and this book "Running The Gauntlet" takes it to the next level. Love chapter 28 that focuses on Social Media and the four Social media "E's" - Engage, Educate, Excite and Evangelize. From Jeff Hayzlett: "You may not think your customers are always right, but thanks to social media, they are now always in charge. Social media, e-mail, and intranets are the primary tools for connecting with and understanding your customers. The goal is to get your customers to talk about you--whether good or bad. The worst thing that can happen is that people say nothing about you." I head up a New Product Development team and personally run the gauntlet every day. Thanks Jeff for helping make my daily run a bit easier!

I've been looking forward to Jeff Hayzlett's follow up to The Mirror Test, and I'm certainly not disappointed by it. Running the Gauntlet is a wake up call for all business professionals, providing tools that will motivate them to kick passivity to the curb, take action, and "go." Hayzlett's tell-it-like-it-is, no-nonense approach to providing business insights and storytelling is refreshing, compelling, and entertaining. In addition, the SnapTags incorporated at the beginning of each chapter seamlessly integrate engaging mobile content into the "traditional" reading experience. This is a page-turner for sure.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jeffrey at a conference recently, and while I can appreciate that there are a dearth of books on change management on the market, I appreciate real passion and experience. Here are five random reasons I'd ignore the (very few) mediocre reviews and consider it for your library.

Executive-perspective stories guide us in how to lead, sell, and lead change.

Facts and simple Tweet-sized soundbites are nice, but context and application are both illuminated most poignantly in the context of story. And how many people have sat in the C-Suite of a Fortune 100 company and can teach from that perspective? Dang few.

Experience Snap tags. Books aren't just books any more.

Even if you're not a huge user or social media or mobile marketing, it's worth testing this simple-but-powerful concept. Books aren't just books, they're gateways to experience.

Get an executive-eye view of making a pitch (see the "118")

How many ways are there to get an executive's attention and deliver your message? Plenty, but execs wouldn't keep saying this stuff if people talking to them had mastered it. One successful interaction using this technique's worth more than the price of a book. No brainer.

You ALMOST like the idea of crowdsourcing.

Hayzlett has a twist he calls "friendsourcing." The idea might make a lot of sense if you almost like the idea of crowdsourcing, and the use of friendsourcing as a recurring theme gets you inside the head of the guy behind the book.

You're a student.

Seriously, if you're not going to take an idea and take action on it, you're wasting money on any book. You won't likely agree with every point, but it will kick you in the butt and make you think. If, on the other hand, you're a learner, you can't help but nab an idea or three here that makes it well worth your time.

Roger Courville
TheVirtualPresenter.com

In Running the Gaunlet, Jeff teaches the value of taking action, making difficult decisions, learning from mistakes and most importantly, follow through. Having worked with Jeff for many years, I can say with certainty that he is the type of business leader who not only talks the talk, but also walks the walk. The book is a direct reflection of Jeff's straight forward, no-nonsense style, and it's an excellent motivator for anyone looking to lead more effectively, create change and build a better business.

Running the Gauntlet is yet another book on change management. As with most other books in this range the author is able to talk with the authority that can only be gained through business. However in this case that may not be good. Hayzlett's examples and insights come from his time at Kodak which recently filed Chapter 11 due to its inability to make the change into a modern digital company. Not a good example of change management.

Pros - This book was very nicely package. The cover art was good, the snap tags were fun and the tweetable chapter titles were a relevant touch.

Cons - Change management is a common topic of conversation these days and this book really reveals no new information to advance the conversation. Much of it is a restating and repackaging of The Mirror Test also written by Hayzlett.

In conclusion, this book is a great motivator for someone considering change and is packaged in the most relevant manner I have seen from a business book in a while. Though it could definitely benefit from some new insights on Hayzlett's part it is still a worthwhile read.

Pick one up.

This is one of the best sales / business motivation books I have read. I am not an avid reader but found this book extremely hard to put down. I have read many motivational business sales classics but have found most of them boring, not relevant entirely, or too common sense detailed. Running The Gauntlet however, had relevant topics, engaging stories, and some fresh motivation & ideas on how to get started. I give it a 4 out of 5 because I never give 5's & there was almost too much info to keep my full attention as a struggling A.D.D. victim.

Call me biased, I've met Mr Hayzlett on several occasions, where he's lost his cool and brow beaten underlings, as well as insult waitstaff, but these have nothing to do with his book. They were enough for me to say 'well i'm never buying any of his books' but that doesn't preclude me from reading a friend's copy. There wasn't much in the book that I actually agreed with from Jeff's point of view, not completely. But this is his way of redeeming himself to the public for running an iconic American company into the ground. Jeff is marginally charismatic, and almost likable, unless you know of what the man has actually done. Buying this or his other book 'The Mirror Test' The Mirror Test: Is Your Business Really Breathing? is a misguided move for anyone who actually seeks cogent business advice (from a book). But could be a great way for subtle sabotage of a competitor disguised as an act of good faith.

Change is hard, and Jeffrey Hayzlett doesn't sugarcoat the challenges involved in being a change agent.

What I liked about Running the Gauntlet is that it's a good primer on the mindset you must have to be a change agent. The book highlights a number of strategies to break through organizational resistance and get change moving, from being relentless in pushing forward to empowering your employees to lead to putting the right processes in place.

What the book lacks, however, is truly actionable advice. It's more a series of vignettes than a cohesive progression that helps you understand how to do the hard work. There is an appendix that includes "20 Questions You Must Ask Before You Begin," but it feels tacked on rather than incorporated into the narrative.

The Bottom Line: Running the Gauntlet offer a useful reality check on what it takes to push change forward in your business. But it's not a "how to guide" for doing the hard work.