“Quicken Loans Turns Success into a Philosophy - Huffingtonpost.com” plus 1 more

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Quicken Loans Turns Success into a Philosophy - Huffingtonpost.com Posted: 21 Jan 2011 02:10 PM PST Dan Gilbert has figured a few things out for us. It is possible to be from Detroit and be successful. It is possible to create a workforce that is positive in this economic climate. It is possible to revitalize Detroit's downtown. And it is possible to go against the dominant statistics of an industry. But it is not easy -- it takes strategy and a philosophy that is understood by the full organization. Top lenders in the mortgage industry currently have the lowest referral rating of any business sector: 11%. That means 89% of mortgage customers are dissatisfied. Put me in that group. But Quicken is doing something obviously different. Quicken sits today with a 94% referral rating. They, and Detroiters by association, seem to have hands something powerful enough to overcome the dominant themes of an industry that imploded. I research Detroit creativity and had an opportunity to be included as an "outsider" to Quicken's new employee orientation called "ISMs in Action." I brought a pair of fresh eyes with me to this session just like these 240 new employees -- since we collectively had not been around the Quicken culture. We were like new friends coming to Gilbert's apartment for the first-time. We could see things that he couldn't: little changes that might need to be made. Gilbert knows this phenomenon and tries to harness its energy. Gilbert and Bill Emerson (CEO of Quicken Loans) lead this all day session and make a perfect duo. They are smart, but not too textbook smart for their own good. They know success, but both question if excel spreadsheets and pie charts are required to detect what works in an organization. This duo is pumped. And unique. And not afraid of putting some serious cash on the line for innovation's sake. They say if you chase pennies, you will find pennies. If you invest in big ideas, skills, innovation, talent, design, marketing, technology: your return will be more than pennies. These two executives aren't penny pinching. Together, these leaders spoke for ten hours straight and utilized a staff of over 20 to keep things streamlined -- showing the priority and high expectations that are bestowed upon these new recruits. What other company has top executives that are willing to wipe a day off their calendar for the newbies--and also, what other companies have top executives who have that type of energy to command an audience on the edge of their chairs for that length of time? This isn't normal--but neither is having net revenue exceed net expenditures in 2011. The difference is working. Although 98% of the new 240 Quicken recruits wear black shoes, that seems to be the only similarity. People of all races, sizes, and ages filled the elevator with black loafers, pumps, and high heels as they are beamed up to the 15th floor of the Compuware Building. These 240 new employees are becoming orientated to organizational philosophies that are miles away from mortgages and lending. Quicken team members work in a diverse array of industries from online realty to sports posters to fashion trending to biotechnology. But the beauty is that good core fundamentals don't change from job to job--and leadership traits are the same in all industries. Taking in Gilbert's and Emerson's presentation, I was sitting by the founder of Xenith concussion resisting helmets, Vincent Ferrara, MD. Ferrara was a former quarterback at Harvard who, after becoming a doctor, had an idea on making a better, more protective helmet which drastically reduces concussions. Quicken likes big ideas and, in turn, Xenith likes Quicken. One more winning relationship pioneered from these fundamental philosophies. Over the course of a very full day, 18 separate ISMs were covered. The ideas all focused on their biggest commodity--people. Quicken people aren't riveting metal together producing bombers at Willow Run airport--instead their people, over 4,000 of them, are using their heads, becoming leaders, and, in turn, producing success. Quicken's special sauce is their people--and their special ingredients are creativity and innovation. That is the exact same creativity and innovation that China, Japan, and India wholeheartedly acknowledge that they lack. This trifecta of mass producing mite might be good at streamlining existing processes and selling for 1/10th the American equivalent--but they are a long way away from harnessing this sort of energy. Quicken seizes on the last American virtue: our brain. Thank goodness someone is thinking. Follow Jason Schmitt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jason_schmitt This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

Possum Philosophy: Deserving of honor - Southwest Virginia Today Posted: 21 Jan 2011 02:39 PM PST By Stephanie Porter-Nichols Published: January 21, 2011 By ROBERT "ROCKY" CAHILL/Columnist "To be a Virginian either by birth, marriage, adoption, or even on one's mother's side, is an introduction to any state of the Union, a passport to any foreign country, and a benediction from Almighty God." —My friend and former editor of the Smyth County News & Messenger Tim Thorton used to have this motto hanging above his desk. Both of us, being native sons of Virginia, liked it very much. Neither of us has been able to identify the author of the quote. Jan. 19 is the anniversary of Gen. Robert E. Lee's birthday. Virginia celebrates a state holiday, Lee-Jackson Day, honoring Gen. Lee as well as Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. Virginia originally began celebrating this day in 1889 to honor Lee, then in 1904 Jackson was added as well. According to the website timeanddate.com, "Martin Luther King Day became a federal holiday on Jan. 15, 1983, which was close to Lee-Jackson Day. The days were later combined in Virginia (known then as Lee-Jackson-King Day) until 2000 when they became separate holidays again. It was arranged so that Lee-Jackson Day was to be held on the Friday before Martin Luther King Day." As with many holidays, the date was set to give a four-day weekend, at least for Virginia's state employees.  While the Civil War was without a doubt a horrible occurrence, and Lee became the symbol of the Confederacy, I have read more than one reference to the fact that General Lee, though commander of a losing effort, was both during and after the war, the most respected leader from either side. Lee was offered the command of the entire Union Army by then President Abraham Lincoln. Lee was well aware that, though he believed it was the wrong thing to do, his Virginia that he loved dearly would, without a doubt, secede. He also was well aware that Lincoln intended for his army to invade Virginia, forcing it to return to the Union and to free the slaves within its boundaries. According to Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, "The evidence cited in favor of the claim that Lee opposed slavery included his direct statements and his actions before and during the war, including Lee's support of the work by his wife and her mother to liberate slaves and fund their move to Liberia and the success of his wife and daughter in setting up an illegal school for slaves on their Arlington plantation." In 1862, the slaves from Lee's family plantation received their freedom. In 1864, Lee, then in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, insisted that slaves be allowed to join the Confederate Army with the promise they would receive freedom from slavery for serving in the army. He let it be known that he felt these slaves would make good soldiers and deserved their freedom after serving. In April of 1864 Lee was up against a, by then well-armed and well-provisioned Union army under the command of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Could he have fought on? Yes, but at the expense of his war-weary men. His troops were practically starving. Many were barefoot, had little or no ammo, practically no medical care and no means to adequately re-provision. This was due in part on the failure of the Confederate government whose member states did not cooperate as they should have and often withheld arms and provisions in warehouses for local troops rather than supplying the Army of Northern Virginia, which did the brunt of the fighting. It was also due to the fact that many of his soldiers were worn out from battle and lack of necessary provisions and knew that their homes were ravaged and their families, mostly on small farms, needed them home for spring planting. Without them to help, their families would suffer when winter came. So they left. They did not consider it desertion. They felt they had done their part and their families now needed them. So they simply started walking home as it would take days, even weeks, for many of them to get back to their families and time was of the essence as the summer growing season approached. Yet numerous accounts say that as Lee rode Traveler, his magnificent war horse, into Appomattox Courthouse to surrender, his rag-tag army pressed around him just to salute him and to touch Traveler. Reports also tell that as word of the surrender spread throughout the remains of the Army of Northern Virginia, many of the soldiers began to weep. As Lee rode away after signing the surrender, tears ran down his face. His troops, exhausted and starving, pressed around him begging Lee not to give up, promising him they would fight on as long as he would lead them. However, Lee realized he had done the right and honorable thing. He urged his loyal troops to accept the terms of surrender. He is said to have told them, "We have fought together. Now I have done the best I could for you." To his credit, Grant ordered his men to see that the Confederate troops be treated humanely and that they be fed and provisioned for their trip home. Lee's men were required to surrender their weapons. After the war, Lee applied for the amnesty and pardon offered to Confederates by President Andrew Johnson who as Lincoln's vice president, had assumed office after the President's assassination. He filled out the paperwork as required and signed the required Amnesty Oath. However his oath was "lost" and never reached Johnson. Later Johnson made a full pardon of everyone involved in the secession and war. However, it would be 1975 before Lee would be restored posthumously to American citizenship by President Gerald Ford. Robert E. Lee wished to retire to live on a farm. However, he was convinced to accept the presidency of Washington College in Lexington; the college conducted a very successful fund-raising campaign. The college was originally a small school, starting life in 1749 as Augusta Academy, then with the start of the Revolutionary War it was renamed Liberty Hall Academy and moved to Lexington. It was a somewhat less than successful school with financial difficulties. President George Washington made what was at the time the largest endowment to a school when he presented it with $20,000 worth of stock. Naturally, the school was renamed Washington Academy, then chartered as Washington College. According to Wikipedia, funds from this endowment continue to pay part of the cost of each student's education today. Lee thrived as president of Washington College, and the college thrived under his guidance. Lee died on Oct. 12, 1870 due to complications from a stroke he suffered two weeks earlier. He is buried in Lee Chapel on the school's campus. The school was soon renamed to honor him, as Washington and Lee University. Robert E. Lee was and remains the epitome of a true Virginia gentleman. He was not fighting to preserve the inhumane institution of slavery and human bondage. He and his family did what they could to see that slaves became free men and women and were treated as such. He fought to protect the home he loved, the Commonwealth of Virginia. I cannot imagine anyone more deserving of a state holiday honoring them and their service to the Old Dominion. A freelance journalist, Robert "Rocky" Cahill writes regularly for the News & Messenger. His Possum Philosophy column appears in each Saturday edition.  This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?.

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