Kevin Roberts - 64 Shots: Leadership in a Crazy World

Do not be concerned about the future;
keep your attention on today, and stay
in the present moment.

Don Miguel Ruiz

64 is a magic number.

Remember 1964? It was a landmark year that changed the world in many ways. The Beatles held the top five positions on Billboard, headed by Cant Buy Me Love. Bob Dylan recorded The Times They Are A-Changin. The Rolling Stones released their first album. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted the Civil Rights Act. Nelson Mandela gave his I Am Prepared to Die speech over three hours from the dock before being sentenced to 27 years. Cassius Clay became both heavyweight champion of the world and Muhammad Ali. BASIC computing language was introduced and the computer mouse was invented. Protests began against the Vietnam War. Andy Warhol began his most celebrated period.

1964I was 15 years oldand hungry for life.

It turns out that 64 is a super-perfect number. The square root of 64 is the lucky number eight. There are 64 squares on a chessboard, and the Karma Sutra has 64 positions (but you know that!). Sixty-four is the country calling code for New Zealand, my home on the edge of the world. And the title of a famous Lennon and McCartney love song from the greatest album of all time.

This book 64 Shotsa shot being a fast swing, an injection, a strong drink, an explosive charge, a Moon shot is designed to help leaders succeed in todays ultra-turbulent world. I wrote it to bring a sense of optimism to a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous era. VUCA forces are eroding the ground under every organization and individual. Technology, in particular, has sparked an incredible moment. Industries, companies, and entire societies are being reset at record pace. Falling behind or getting ahead in life is an intense high-speed contest.

I have distilled 64 shots for leaders and aspiring leaders to meet todays extraordinary demands. Leadership is the defining difference in any field, and leading people in a crazy world requires a wider range of skills and emotional capabilities than ever. A leaders skillset has to be meta, macro, and micro; soft and hard; strategic and creative; directional and executional.

The book is inspired by Saatchi & Saatchi which is the central current in my business life. I spent 20 years as a client, then 17 years as Saatchi & Saatchis global CEO, and one year as Executive Chairman, which evolved into Chairmanship. The Lovemarks book series was my means of reframing the industry I found myself in; leadership, however, is my passion.

These 64 shots assemble everything Ive learned in business to propel the 21st-century leader. They are the basis of my operating style, teaching method, frameworks and formats, and forward focus. Their launch pad is the wisdom of a pantheon of leaders across fields and time.

In these crazy times, everyone must lead. My goal with 64 Shots is to liberate you, the leader, from mind-numbing management literature. This book is meant to inspire, unleash, and entertain you. These 64 jabs to the solar plexus are quick sets of illumination, activation, and acceleration. Different shots will help different people. Go straight to what helps most, or read the book cover-to-cover for the full treatment on leadership. There is a linear logic to the shots but each set of four is a stand-alone idea.

Another meaning of shot is a photograph, an image, and the act of taking one. There are 64 shots in this book that form a parallel story, a book-within-a-book. These portraits are of people who have had a pervasive and inspirational impact on me. Some I know. They are all impact people. All are leaders who have been through it. The book feels complete with them because I stand on their shoulders on my own leaders journey.

64 Shots comes from the worlds of business and sport. It is for anyone leading any group of people anywhere. I hope there is something here that will inspire you, and help you set others free.

And whatever you do, make sure you take the shot.

KR

New York

January 2016

Years ago, Procter &Gambles CEO A.G. Lafley sent me a book for Christmas. It was The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by spiritual teacher Don Miguel Ruiz.

Every problem in business has its root cause somewhere in the Four Agreements. The genius is their simplicity: 1. Be Impeccable with Your Word, 2. Dont Take Anything Personally, 3. Dont Make Assumptions, 4. Always Do Your Best. The Four Agreements are bedrock. They underpin every word in this book.

Be Impeccable with Your Word

When I was 45, I had laser eye surgery because I couldnt handle glasses. I had eight pairs. I sat on them, broke them, lost them, and got totally frustrated. I found a surgery guy in New York, the best it seemedhed just done President Bill Clintons eyes.

The procedure was simple. Fifteen seconds for each eye. What is your success rate? I asked. He said: 100 percent. I said: Nonsense. No way can it be 100 percent. How? The response:

Im the best there is.

Ive got the best equipment, come and have a look.

Before I agree to take you, you have to do eight weeks training in a test program. Youre going to improve, build this muscle, that muscle, so that by the time you get through that program, Im 100 percent certain of success. Or I call it off.

I passed, it worked. A 100 percent record means a 100 percent record. Are you impeccable with your word? Think again; your pants are on fire.

Impeccable! Starting as kids, people tell white lies, fibs, porkies, or whoppers. We do this to save face, to get people off our back, to cover our ass.

Impeccable means do what you promise all the time, not almost all the time. It means unimpeachable, flawless, 100 percent. It means if you say Ill call you back in 60 minutes, you do. The 61st minute is too late. Plans made were for a minus-60 minute response, the time frame on which you gave your word. Knock-on effects? The idea was murdered, the competition beat us, the crisis went global, the brand dissolved.

Be impeccable with your word. When I worked for Procter & Gamble in the Middle East, my boss Herbert Schmitz told me: There are only two types of people in this world Kevin, those that deliver, and those that dont. That is being impeccable with your word. Its very hard to keep your word all the time, but every time people break their word it interrupts organizational Flow, and Flow sustains Peak Performance.