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CLE Leadership & Management
Ideas, Resources, and Techniques for
CLE Professionals
A periodic e-newsletter
By Chuck Bingaman - chuck@chuckbingaman.com
#14 June
2004
Leadership  Frances Hesselbein, former CEO of the Girl Scouts
of America and The Drucker Foundation, says she seeks to inspire leadership
at each level of her
organization “through example, language, and inclusion. Also, understanding that people are watching,
and there’s nothing more inspiring than having a leader’s behavior match her
language. Then we must practice appreciation
and inclusion as we build tomorrow’s organization and
look at the customers we’re serving now and the ones we want to be
serving. A leader has really scanned
the environment and identified the one or two trends that will most affect the
organization, and explains the implications of those trends. We’re not flying on assumption; we’ve examined
the background of our planning. Then,
we look at the organization; we look at the diversity, the inclusion of a richly
diverse workforce, board and staff. One of the great questions for any organization
is: When the customers look at us, can they find themselves? We also manage for innovation, which I define
as ‘change that creates a new dimension of performance.’ Change shouldn’t be a threat but an opportunity,
and we help our people to see that.” David Neeleman is CEO of
JetBlue, the three-year-old airline that is leading the field in customer service
and, not
coincidentally, doing quite nicely on the financial side as well. What’s his key to great customer service? “You
have to remain focused on your people. That’s
the key to great service. I want our
crew members [JetBlue lingo for ALL employees] to feel that
they’re important and that we’re on a mission together, to put humanity back
in
air travel. That's where a strong culture
comes in. Hopefully, it makes them feel
this is the best job they’ve ever had. If they like coming to work, that gets passed on to the
customer. It all starts with hiring,
though. We had over 100,000 people apply
here last year, and we hired 1700. We’re
highly selective. We want people who
like people, not just certain people.”
Management
Have
you noted the recent articles heralding DESIGN as the discipline that
can set an enterprise apart from its competitors and inspire positive feelings
among its customers and potential
customers? Check out the cover stories
in the May 3 Business Week and the June 2004 Fast Company. Think about the feelings generated by the
Volkswagen Bug and the Honda Element. Or
Apple I-Pods. Few of us in CLE have invested
real dollars and time in making the design of our products and services
equal to—and enhancing of—the content quality we have. Those articles will inspire you to look at
upgrading your products and services with enhanced design. Note that design encompasses rethinking all
kinds of things besides graphics including physical design of premises, processes,
and structure of curricula and learning methods. Maybe ACLEA should offer an annual prize in
effective design in CLE. While we’re looking critically
at ourselves,
how is your organization doing in the R&D—Research & Development—area? An
organization is either
learning more about and adjusting to its customers’ evolving wants—both felt
and potential—or moving toward irrelevance. Are
you actively learning more about what lawyers in your constituency want today,
including those who are repeat users and those who never patronize
you? Are you trying new ways of attracting
their attention, testing new approaches and comparing responses to
older approaches? Do you have an
active ‘break out of the same old mold’ plan? You, your organization, and your customers deserve one! I could help you. Why don’t all CLE organizations
list their key staff people, with titles, phone numbers and email addresses,
on their web
sites? It would certainly make communicating
with them easier for customers and other CLE people. It would send the message to site visitors
that there are real people behind the site responsible for the
organization—real people with whom one can have a conversation, ask a question,
or send a proposal to. Few of us want
to deal with nameless, faceless organizations. And,
why doesn’t every CLE organization proudly list its governing board
members? They can add credibility to
the organization in competitive times. Sure,
listing names enables salesmen to call and headhunters to hunt
more easily. But even they have some
value to those they contact! I say
let’s clearly and proudly list our people and promote rather than hinder
communication!
Resources Seth
Godin, one of the most creative and hip marketers on the current scene,
has a best selling new book called Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by
Being Remarkable (Portfolio by The Penguin Group, 2003). You’ve all heard of the five (or however many
it is) P’s of marketing: product, pricing, promotion, positioning, permission,
etc. Godin now adds another: Purple
Cow. He argues that all cows, however
attractive, quickly look pretty much alike. To find any traction in crowded, competitive
markets, you need a purple cow—one that will be remarkable. His book is filled with examples, methods
and arguments for making your service or product “remarkable” so it stands
out
from the herd. It would be a perfect
book to read together and discuss with all of your CLE staff members. It’s short and inexpensive! Godin also echoes the importance and potential
for design to help stand out in competitive markets. He’s quoted recently as observing that, “Of
all the edges I know, embracing amazing design is the easiest, the fastest, and
the one with the most assured return on investment.” See www.sethgodin.com and
check out his blog. Do you want to see some really creative graphic design
in action? Check out my
friend James Goodchap’s website at www.goodchap.com. James does remarkable graphic design work
for
clients
in Northern California and beyond.
I
welcome your agreement, disagreement or alternative
views! Please keep in touch! CCB
Following 20 years as Executive Director of a major CLE
organization in the USA, Chuck now consults on strategic planning, marketing
and management challenges with CLE and other legal organizations, law firms,
law schools and others. He is currently
advising on new strategic directions with a national CLE provider, and advising
on marketing strategy for a new private bank and an investment company. He welcomes your inquiries on projects designed
to enhance your organization’s effectiveness. You can contact him at chuck@chuckbingaman.com, at 603-756-9268, or
at
P.O. Box 390, Walpole, NH 03068. Past
issues of this newsletter are archived at www.chuckbingaman.com.
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