Dan Carrison > Quotes

“Qualities such as honesty, determination, and a cheerful acceptance of stress, which can all be identified through probing questionnaires and interviews, may be more important to the company in the long run than one's college grade-point average or years of "related experience."

Every business is only as good as the people it brings into the organization. The corporate trainer should feel his job is the most important in the company, because it is.

Exalt seniority-publicly, shamelessly, and with enough fanfare to raise goosebumps on the flesh of the most cynical spectator. And, after the ceremony, there should be some sort of permanent display so that employees passing by are continuously reminded of their own achievements and the achievements of others.

The manager must freely share his expertise-not only about company procedures and products and services but also with regard to the supervisory skills he has worked so hard to acquire. If his attitude is, "Let them go out and get their own MBAs," the personnel under his authority will never have the full benefit of his experience. Without it, they will perform at a lower standard than is possible, jeopardizing the manager's own success.

Should a CEO proclaim that there is no higher calling than being an employee of his organization? Perhaps not-for fear of being misunderstood-but it's certainly all right to think it. In fact, a CEO who does not feel this way should look for another company to manage-one that actually does contribute toward a better life for all.

Every corporate leader should communicate to his workforce that its efforts are important and that employees should be very proud of what they do-for the company, for themselves, and, literally, for the world. If any employee is embarrassed to tell his friends what he does for a living, there has been a failure of leadership at his workplace.

Loyalty is not demanded; it is created.

Why can't a CEO put out his own suggested reading list to reinforce the corporate vision and core values? An attractive display at every employee lounge of books to be freely borrowed, or purchased, will generate interest and participation. Of course, the program has to be purely voluntary, but many employees will wish to be conversant with the material others are talking about. The books will be another point of contact between individuals, who might find themselves conversing on topics other than the weekend football games. By simply distributing the list and displaying the books prominently, the CEO will set into motion a chain of events that can greatly benefit the workplace. For a very cost-effective investment, management will have yet another way to strengthen the corporate message.

The very existence of many companies hangs not on the decisions of their visionary CEOs and energetic managers but on the behavior of its receptionists, retail clerks, delivery drivers, and service personnel.

The manager must put himself and his people through progressively challenging courage-building experiences. He must make these a mandatory group experience, and he must lead the way.

People who have confronted the fear of public speaking, and have learned to master it, find that their new confidence manifests itself in every other facet of the professional and personal lives. Managers who hold weekly meetings in which everyone takes on progressively more difficult speaking or presentation assignments will see personalities revolutionized before their eyes.

Command from a forward position, which means from the thick of it. No soldier will ever be inspired to advance into a hail of bullets by orders phoned in on the radio from the safety of a remote command post; he is inspired to follow the officer in front of him. It is much more effective to get your personnel to follow you than to push them forward from behind a desk.

The more important the mission, the more important it is to be at the front.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“By emphasizing its screening procedures, instead of its training, management rarely experiences that pleasant surprise of watching a leader emerge from an unlikely recruit.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“How many companies can say they have sent their “best knights” out onto the college campuses and job fairs to represent them? More often than not, management hires out this critical responsibility to a third party. Headhunters represent the company, taking on the perceived burden of interviewing and screening so many candidates.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“The training of new personnel, whether they are Marines or corporate “soldiers,” simply costs too much to be thrown away on the uncommitted.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“They have spoken, perhaps for the first time in their young lives, words that cannot be retracted. There is no turning back. They are in the Marine Corps, for real.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“If the world’s finest fighting force assigns only its best people to a three-year challenge in recruiting, and then rewards them afterwards with promotion, why shouldn’t corporate America make HR a similar rite of passage for its most promising managers?”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“It must be remembered, however, that everything looks good on a resume and that previous experience is difficult to verify and to quantify.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“belief in the product may be the single most compelling factor in that exchange of trust we call a sale.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“A proper training and management culture will cultivate the leadership qualities desired.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“Employees, too, could sign on for a year’s tour of duty, at a certain department, branch, or product line. Having the option to extend their stay or to apply for a lateral move into another assignment would give most employees a much appreciated sense of autonomy. Tours of duty could also be mandatory.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“These kinds of programs require a commitment from the company, which must invest time and energy into the community.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“In a metaphorical sense, Marine Corps recruiters are the kingdom’s best knights, sent back from the battlefield into the villages to gather volunteers.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“The headhunter, generally paid by commission only, must place his applicant somewhere, and soon. He is motivated by a successful placement, rather than by a successful matching of individual talent to companies.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“It’s the training, not the screening, that can put a high school graduate, who may have never driven a car, at the wheel of a fifty-million-dollar tank.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“The recruiter is confident that the transformation will take place. He can cast a wide net because of his faith in the best training in the world.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“In private enterprise, the human resources office is the prospective employee’s first introduction to the corporation. Management must realize that the company is being appraised from the moment a bright, discerning candidate enters through the door. If he is greeted by a cheerful receptionist and led to an office that exhibits signs of good taste and stability, he will be pleasantly biased before the interview even begins.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“If the company has a reputation for offering the most complete, albeit rigorous, training in the world, one will feel cheated by working anywhere else. A corporation cannot develop and sustain this kind of attitude purely through PR.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“Are poor recruiting practices less consequential to the fate of a corporation? Clearly, every business is only as good as the people it brings into the organization. No function is more important to the ultimate survival of the company than human resources.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“If we want to be the best company for our customers and investors, we must first be the best company for our employees.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“Every drill instructor knows that leadership is something to be cultivated and that virtually every recruit has the potential.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“When you think about it, it makes sense,” says Lt. Colonel William Leek, commanding officer of the Los Angeles Recruiting Station. “Recruiting and basic training are two sides of the same coin. Why have two commanders for what is essentially one process, the making of Marines?”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“It’s the training, not the screening, that creates Marine Corps leaders of all ranks.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“Whenever an HR representative speaks of “snagging” a prospect, or of “stealing” somebody from another company, he runs a substantial risk of losing his “catch” once the new employee has had time to consider the ramifications of a hurried decision. Another approach, one that uses less overt pressure but a great deal of “wining and dining,” has its own traps. HR should never confuse an applicant with events that will never be repeated. Too much attention, while flattering to a prospect, does not prepare him for the day-to-day work ethic he will be expected to follow.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way

“Qualities such as honesty, determination, and a cheerful acceptance of stress, which can all be identified through probing questionnaires and interviews, may be more important to the company in the long run than one’s college grade-point average or years of “related experience.”
― Dan Carrison, Semper Fi: Business Leadership the Marine Corps Way