469 - Jim Weber - Outpacing Goliath, Impressing Warren Buffet, & Leading With Purpose

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Ryan Hawk

Careers, Management, Business

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2022

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Text Hawk to 66866 for "Mindful Monday." A carefully curated email sent each Monday morning to help you start your week off right!

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Jim Weber joined Brooks Running Company as CEO in 2001 and is credited for the Seattle-based running company’s aggressive turnaround story. The business and brand success caught the attention of Warren Buffett, who declared Brooks a standalone subsidiary company of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 2012. He’s the author of a new book called, “Running With Purpose, How Brooks Outpaced Goliath Competitors to lead the pack.”

Notes:

A purpose is a forever cause that can permeate everything from the business to the brand to the culture. It is a choice, not an outcome.
The secret to success is “constancy of purpose” - Instead of a mission statement, Jim decided that a purpose was preferable to a mission. A purpose is a forever cause that can permeate everything from the business to the brand to the culture.
The riskiest path is to look like your competitors. You can't just chase trends.
They have distinct points of view:
- Focus
- Excellence in execution
Trust: Charlie Munger has often spoken about the “seamless web of deserved trust” as a life pursuit.
- The Berkshire culture is built on trust
  - Brooks is completely empowered
  - Brooks is completely accountable
  - There are no required meetings
  - People choose to self-select into it
"You're an outcome of your journey."
What Jim looks for when hiring a leader:
- Competitive
- Culture driven - "Cultures are behaviors in action."
- Likes being part of a team
- Functional excellence
Values:
- Word is bond
- Be active
- Authenticity
The process Jim has in place to continue learning:
- He was involved in YPO in the early years
- His wife Mary Ellen
- A board of advisors - It's 6 former CEOs
The one-page strategy that you relentlessly message to your team – Jim made the decision to walk away from non-premium running to concentrate on performance-running, eliminating 50% of his product line and 40% of his retail partnerships. He didn’t try to be all things to all people.
Expectations and Messaging: After becoming CEO, Jim lowered revenue and profit projections so that he could establish some credibility by hitting his numbers. He brought in a new CFO, David Bohan… He shared a one-page strategy and told everyone they would get sick of you repeating it.

Transcript

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0:55.9	Go to marketingarchitects.com slash book to get your free copy today.
1:06.0	Welcome to The Learning Leader Show, presented by Insight Global. I am your host, Ryan Hawke.
1:14.5	Thank you so much for being here, text. Hawke, to 66866 to become part of Mindful Monday. You
1:23.0	along with tens of thousands of other learning leaders from all over the world will receive a
1:28.3	carefully curated email from me each Monday morning to help you start your week off. Right,
1:34.0	you'll also receive details about how my book, The Pursuit of Excellence, will help you become a more
1:42.1	effective leader, text. Hawke, to 66866 now on tonight's featured leader, The Great Jim Webber,
1:50.9	joined Brooks running company as CEO in 2001 and is credited for the Seattle-based
1:58.2	running company's aggressive turnaround story. The business and brand success caught the attention
2:04.8	of Warren Buffett, who declared Brooks a standalone subsidiary company of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
2:11.5	in 2012. He's also the author of a new book called Running with Purpose. How Brooks outpaced
2:18.2	Goliath competitors to lead the pack during this enlightening conversation we discuss. What he's
2:25.1	learned from working directly with Warren Buffett for the past decade. And then how to differentiate
2:32.8	yourself from others and why it's critical you do it. And then how do you competition with others
2:40.3	versus competition with your previous self. So good, ladies and gentlemen, it's Jim Webber.
	...

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