Tom Peters: "If Today Was Your Last Day"
This Week's Guest: Tom Peters
ABOUT THIS EPISODE
The last time we had Tom Peters on this podcast, the world was roughly one month into a pandemic that would change practically everything as we know it—and he had plenty to say about how managers and organizations should deal with what was ahead. Nearly three years later, things have calmed down just a bit, and we’re delighted to have him back on to (finally) close out our fourth season.
Those familiar with Tom know about the groundbreaking and massively influential management book he co-authored, In Search of Excellence, first published in 1982. Nearly four decades later (and with dozens of published works now under his belt), Tom has put out another book: Tom Peters’ Compact Guide to Excellence, a collection of quotes he developed in collaboration with iconic designer Nancye Green. Albeit different from his previous releases, this book upholds Tom’s inherent and core belief that treating one another humanely is the best path forward.
Listen as Tom explains the story behind the book, his reasons for creating it, and one particular quote he wishes he had included. And, as always, we veer off into plenty of other avenues, covering everything from why Tom is so apprehensive of “managing by text,” a famous football coach who was once his neighbor, and what he means when he says, “if you piss away your work life, you piss away your entire life.”
LINKS AND ARTICLES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Tom Peters’ Compact Guide to Excellence: Tom’s new book in collaboration with Nancye Green
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”
More About Our Guest
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 is 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.”
