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Everybody lives by selling something

There is no cynical get-out here. You can take all the short cuts in the world but in the end your career depends on your customers doing business with you and expressing their delight with your performance. Keep them at the front of your and your team’s thinking.

Keep up to date with what the customer needs.

‘Through here pass the most important people in the world – our customers.’ This notice is above the door of one of the worst garage workshops through which it has been my dubious pleasure to pass. The thought is right. Everyone has customers on whom they depend for their livelihood. You get to the top echelons of management if you actually deliver on that statement and treat the customer as king. Make them drive every stage of your plan. Try to think ahead of what they will require in the future. There are two kinds of manager in this respect: those who are always trying to catch up because they become aware of changes in their customer’s needs after the event, and those who make changes in anticipation of this. When you get yourself ahea....