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Bob Sutton – Author of Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less and The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t, Professor of Management Science and Engineering in the Stanford Engineering School, IDEO Fellow, ranked one of the “50 Best B School Professors“.

What we discuss in this episode:

• What makes a great professor? What makes a great boss?
• Can leadership be taught? Learned?
• How do you maintain a good corporate culture as a company grows? How does a company grow/scale effectively?
• As a company grows, how does it maintain it’s fundamentals, while also allowing individuals to be creative and unique?

Quotes we liked from Bob:

[shadowbox]“People want to be entertained.  If they’re not entertained, they’re not going to listen to you.”

“A great boss must be in tune with the people he/she leads.”

“The reason I find Donald Trump so offensive is because he finds a way to use the word “I” in every situation.  There is a level of greed and selfishness in that.”

“If you’re going to be incompetent, be nice! It’s amazing how hard it is to fire someone you like.”

“When you want to spread excellence amongst your company (or group), focus on instilling a constructive way of thinking.  Focus on the mindset.”

“The hallmark of organizations that spread and sustain excellence is that they are very vigilant of getting rid of the bad stuff first.”

“An organization needs to agree on a few basic sacred beliefs or guard rails. Let everyone in the organization know what’s sacred and what’s taboo.”

“Effectiveness means to do good work and to treat people with respect along the way.”

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Resources for you:

• Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less
• The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t
• http://bobsutton.typepad.com/

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