Blueprint to a Billion (inside-outside leadership)
A few weeks ago, I attended an impressive lunch conference that featured David Thompson, the author of the new book Blueprint to a Billion, as the keynote speaker. Going in to the event, I was interested in the topic but I hadn’t really heard too much buzz concerning the book — so I didn’t have too high of expectations. Coming out of the event, I was completely impressed with David, his research, and (now) his book.
Honestly, I could not believe the amount of research that David and his team had performed before writing the book. They spent “3 years of in-depth research to provide a quantitative assessment of the success pattern common across a distinct group of 387 blueprint companies that have grown to $1 billion in revenue.” If you’ve read Good to Great, I would compare it to that book.
Since that day, I have purchased the book and read most of the principles held within. One of the topics that I really enjoyed was that of Inside-Outside Leadership. The basic concept is that most of these successful companies had a dynamic duo at the head. One of the leaders (usually the COO) is completely passionate about leading the company from the inside (i.e. operations, innovation, product development, etc.), while the other (usually the CEO) is completely passionate about leading the company to the outside world (marketing, sales, biz dev, vision, etc.). “Their relationship was dynamic in their use of their complementary strengths” and “as a pair, they were the highest of performance teams.”
Examples included: Jeff Mallett & Tim Koogle (Yahoo!), Bill Gates & Jon Shirley (Microsoft), Meg Whitman & Maynard Webb (eBay), etc., etc.
I love this concept! Personally, I know that I have a weakness when it comes to details and operations. I need a person that can take a vision or strategy and develop the detailed process to completion. On the other hand, (not to toot my own horn) I feel like I have some strengths when it comes to vision, strategy, and business development.
Anyway, if you haven’t had the chance to read Blueprint to a Billion — I highly recommend it.
