Tom Peters: "Til a Tear Becomes a Rose"
This Week's Guest: Tom Peters
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
When the whole world got flipped upside down due to the Coronavirus, we found ourselves wondering what some of our past guests would have to say about the state of the business world.
Today we welcome back best-selling business author and speaker Tom Peters to ask him how managers should handle the tough decisions they’re facing right now. Tom describes himself as an “Extreme Humanist” and he has bold words for those who aren’t prioritizing empathy and people in this moment unlike any other.
In this episode, Tom hopes that just one of you listening will make the choice right now to put people first in your business. Together, Tom and Melinda issue a warning to businesses that are not behaving in people-first ways, and how it may affect them long-term.
The day we recorded Tom’s episode, we learned that songwriter John Prine had passed away of Coronavirus.
So we have dedicated this episode to him, and we encourage you to listen to this song.
Til a Tear Becomes a Rose
”Darling, I can see the clouds around you,
And in your heart I know a sorrow grows,
But if you weep I’ll be right there to hold you
’Til each tear you cry becomes a rose.”
Show Notes
BOOKS AND ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Tom Peters’ 2019 Stayin’ Alive in Tech episode, entitled: “Don’t Stop Me Now”
Washington Post: “The surprising thing Google learned about its employees — and what it means for today’s students”
Managing By Walking Around: Tom’s YouTube clip describing MBWA
More About Tom Peters
Business Author, Speaker, and “Extreme Humanization” advocate
Tom Peters is co-author of In Search of Excellence—the book that changed the way the world does business, and often tagged as the best business book ever. Sixteen books and almost thirty years later, he’s still at the forefront of the "management guru industry” he single-handedly invented.
His latest endeavors are the work-ever-in-progress “Sorta Manifesto” paper, named Extreme Humanization/ Extreme Employee Engagement” and the 2018 book The Excellence Dividend: Meeting the Tech Tide with Work That Wows and Jobs That Last. In 2017, Tom received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Thinkers50 and the Jack Covert Award for Contribution to the Business Book Industry from 800-CEO-READ.
As CNN said, “While most business gurus milk the same mantra for all its worth, the one-man brand called Tom Peters is still re-inventing himself.” A mainstay on podcasts, lectures, and the ever-unpredictable Twitter, Tom’s bedrock belief is: “Execution is strategy—it’s all about the people and the doing, not the talking and the theory.”
