Micheal J. Burt - Zebras and Cheetahs: Look Different and Stay Agile to Survive the Business Jungle

Cover image: Cenker Atila/iStock Photo (zebras)
Cover image: Ismael Montero Verdu/iStock Photo (cheetahs)
Cover design: Michael J. Freeland

Copyright 2013 by Micheal J. Burt and Colby B. Jubenville. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Burt, Micheal J.
Zebras and cheetahs : look different and stay agile to survive the business jungle/
Micheal J. Burt and Colby B. Jubenville.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-118-63180-5 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-64478-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-64477-5
(ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-64470-6 (ebk)
1. Organizational change. 2. Organizational effectiveness. 3. Organizational behavior.
4. Leadership. I. Jubenville, Colby B., 1971II. Title.
HD58.8.B8836 2013
658.409dc23
2013001368

From Micheal

To my new beautiful daughter, Ella Grace. Heres hoping that one day you become the Zebras and Cheetahs Leader we discuss in the book and beat to your own drum, stand out versus fit in, and get better versus merely getting along.

From Colby

To my parents, who taught me to look different, my children, who help me run faster, and my wife, who challenges me to be agile.

Foreword

Most forewords tell you about the book youre about to read. Id rather you just read it for yourself.

Let me tell you a little about why you should be interested in what Micheal and Colby have to say in this book.

Everybody needs a coach. Whether youre trying to lose weight or build a business, a coach can make all the difference in the world, all the difference between success and failure. Micheal is a coach in the best sense of the word. He challenges, he encourages, he provokes, he supports, he calls you on your stuff, he helps you discover strengths that you didnt even know you had.

Colby is a strategist. Colby helps answer the tough question. First lets identify the easy question: The easy question is What should I do? I think that on some level, almost everybody knows what to do. The tough question is How do I do it? Thats strategy, and without a sound strategy the knowledge of what to do is useless.

The combination of a great coach and a great strategist creates a unique perspective for understanding and a powerful force for action.

The metaphors of Zebras and Cheetahs, the Concrete Jungle, the 10,000-pound Gorilla, and more that are used in this book make perfect sense. Micheal and Colby have taken concepts like dominant aspiration and made them useful, and thats the difference between this book and so many others about success in life, career, and business.

Theres great skill involved in making challenging ideas simple and understandable. Whether in their speaking, their consultative work with clients, on their radio show, or in this book, Micheal and Colby demonstrate that skill in spades, and the beneficiary (in the case of this book) is you. If youre like me, youll find yourself nodding your head in agreement and recognition as you read this book. Youll have that sense of Hey, thats exactly what Im going through throughout the text.

But the true payoff isnt just that Micheal and Colby feel your painits that theyve got the cure. Its not silver bullets. Its not secrets of success. Its in ways of looking at, thinking about, and taking action on your challenges and opportunities that make absolute sense. The real payoff is when you find yourself thinking Hey! I can do this stuff! Its the inspiration and the how-tos that move you to take action that can change your career and your life.

I read a lot of books. Heck, Ive even written a few myself. My hope is that the books I write have the kind of meaningful, positive impact on people that this book has had on me, and that Im confident it will have on you.

Welcome to the jungle.

Joe Calloway, author of Becoming a Category of OneHow Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison and Be the Best at what Matters Most: The Only Strategy You Will Ever Need

Preface

Im 30,000 feet in the air on a flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, to work with one of the top 50 builders in the United Statesthe second of the top 100 that my firm has landed in the past two years. I always carry a good book with me wherever I travel; for this trip, Ive decided to reread Tim Ferriss famed The 4-Hour Workweek for the fifth time. I think the concept of Lifestyle Design is about to sink in as his book has forced me to not only look at the drivers of the business Models I evaluate but also the actual vehicles people use to advance their strategy. Im starting to understand that sometimes its not the vehicles driver that poses the major problem in getting from point A to point B; rather its the actual vehicle the driver is using to get there. Its important to look at both the strategy and the people as they relate to growth, and many times it takes a fresh perspective and someone who specializes in finding and filling the missing structures companies have to take complicated growth and make it simple and engaging.

Ive been working as a coach and thought Leader to small entrepreneurial firms and multibillion-dollar companies over the past several years. During this time, Ive witnessed a constant problem that keeps people from breaking through their own ceilings of successa problem that stems from two places: their Model (or lack of one) and their people. Even if they do have the right Model, theres often a substantial gap between what their people know theyre supposed to do and what they actually do. People nowadays seem to be more confused than ever; theyre living in chaotic environments with little or no direction on how to achieve growth. In short, they dont know where to go or what to do. This is the infamous and oft-cited execution gap. And its also the reason they need someone who specializes in activating their potential.