Engaged Leadership Advisors
Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami?

Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami?

Just miles from the beach, Sears Executive, Steve Goldstein, was shocked to find four snowblowers for sale in the Garden Center of their Miami store. Speaking with a salesman, he learned that this was not a one time mistake – they were being shipped to and returned from the same store for thirty years. This story became a metaphor for Steve for the dysfunction in most companies, large and small.

Whether it has snow blowers for sale in a place where it never snows or a more pervasive issue like having so many meetings scheduled there’s no time left actually to solve problems. Dysfunction within large organizations is so prevalent that most people accept it either as an inevitable fact of corporate life, or they assume that someone else will deal with it. But must it be this way?

Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami?

Goldstein’s answer is a resounding No! Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami? He explains the nature of dysfunction present in most companies and other organizations, why it occurs, and, most importantly, what leaders, at all levels, can do to tackle these issues and improve performance.

A seasoned business leader with more than three decades of experience, he has discovered that almost all dysfunction is caused by a lack of engagement and that it is fixable.

Goldstein outlines his unique five principles of engagement and demonstrates how top-level leaders can use them to improve the way they interact with their teams, employees, and customers. He offers pragmatic, proven techniques for solving problems most leaders face, including a revolutionary time-saving meeting model, a new process for making more efficient decisions with all participants having greater accountability, a new system that impels leaders to really know their employees and customers, and other ground-breaking tools.

Inspiring, entertaining, and refreshingly honest, Why Are There Snowblowers in Miami? It is filled with true stories from the author’s own experience as well as anecdotes and insights culled from interviews he has conducted with some of the world’s most influential CEOs. From these real-life examples, readers will learn how understanding and utilizing the Five Principles of Engagement can lead to powerful and positive change in their own organizations and their lives.

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THE FIVE PRINCIPLES OF ENGAGEMENT

FRESH EYES

Learning to adopt an outsider’s perspective leads to creative insight and problem-solving.

HOT BUTTONS

Focusing on one or two pertinent metrics in any situation facilitates action.

CONNECTING

Interacting with employees and customers on a regular basis is the key to success.

SPEED

Whatever speed you are going is too slow.

TRANSPARENCY

The more people know, the better they can do their jobs.

Testimonials

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Steve speaks from a wealth of personal experience in private equity, as well as top executive positions… He defined five key engagement principles that resonate with me as just as relevant for new business founders as mature business executives.

— Roger Trapp,

The Huffington Post

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A pithy treatise on everybody’s favorite subject of engagement… A straight-talking look at why big companies typically fall short with an introduction to some smart principles..

— Marty Zwilling,

Forbes

Winner of Thinkers50 Leadership Award 2015 New York Times best-selling author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and Triggers

STRAIGHT-FORWARD AND TRANSFORMATIVE AT THE SAME TIME, GOLDSTEIN’S BOOK OFFERS BRILLIANT NEW STRATEGIES TO RESOLVE EVEN THE MOST ENTRENCHED AND COMPLEX PROBLEMS. FOLLOWING HIS WISE ADVICE WILL ENABLE YOUR WORKFORCE TO BE ABLE TO FOCUS MORE CLOSELY ON THE BUSINESS AT HAND—RESULTING IN A NIMBLE, FORWARD-THINKING, AND SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATION!

—MARSHALL GOLDSMITH

Winner of Thinkers50 Leadership Award 2015 New York Times best-selling author of What Got You Here Won’t Get You There and Triggers

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WE LIVE IN AN INCREASINGLY COMPLEX AND CHANGING WORLD; YESTERDAY’S FORMULAS FOR ATTAINING SUCCESS SIMPLY NO LONGER APPLY. STEVE GOLDSTEIN’S FIVE PRINCIPLES TAKE US OUT OF OUR COMFORTABLE ROUTINES—PROVIDING US WITH THE COURAGE TO ACT ANEW AND A STRAIGHT-FORWARD WISDOM THAT WILL LEAD TO MEANINGFUL REWARDS.

—PETER GEORGESCU

Chairman Emeritus, Young & Rubicam

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STEVE IS ONE OF THOSE LEADERS WHO CAN OPERATE EQUALLY WELL IN LARGE AND SMALL COMPANIES, FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS TO SILICON VALLEY START-UPS. NOT ONLY IS HE EQUALLY ADEPT AT OPERATING UP AND DOWN THE SCALE OF BUSINESSES, HE’S ALSO GREAT AT BOTH STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION, A VERY RARE COMBINATION. THIS BOOK IS THE DISTILLATION OF A LONG, SUCCESSFUL, BUSINESS CAREER, AND IS A MUST READ FOR ANY LEADER WHO UNDERSTANDS THAT ENGAGEMENT IS ESSENTIAL FOR SUCCESSFUL RESULTS. EVERY LEADER WILL FIND THAT STEVE’S FIVE PRINCIPLES OF ENGAGEMENT BREAK IT DOWN IN A WAY THAT THEY CAN EASILY SEE WHAT THEY NEED TO DO.

—ALLEN MORGAN

Director of Idealab; Former Partner, Mayfield Fund; Former Partner, Wilson Sonsini; Startup Sherpa

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WHY ARE THERE SNOWBLOWERS IN MIAMI OFFERS A TREASURE TROVE OF LEADERSHIP INSIGHT. DISCOVER WHY YOU SHOULD QUESTION EVERYTHING, BREAK THE MEETING HABIT, AND RECOGNIZE THAT THE BEST SUGGESTIONS OFTEN DON’T COME FROM INSIDE THE C-SUITE BUT FROM THE WINDOW WASHERS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLASS. STEVE GOLDSTEIN IS A NATURAL STORYTELLER WITH A LIFETIME OF EXPERIENCE AND WISDOM TO BOOT.

—RON FRIEDMAN

PhD, author of The Best Place to Work: The Art and Science of Creating an Extraordinary Workplace

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HAVING KNOWN AND WORKED WITH STEVEN FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS, I HAVE SEEN FIRST-HAND THE POWERFUL EFFECTS FROM APPLYING THE PRINCIPLES LAID OUT IN THIS BOOK. STEVEN IS A WONDERFUL STORY TELLER WITH A GIFT FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH OTHERS AND THE CHALLENGES AT HAND. AND, HIS STORIES ARE THE BEST POSSIBLE KIND: FUNNY AND WISE.
 

—DOUGLAS K. SMITH

Author, The Wisdom of Teams

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I LOVED WHY ARE THERE SNOWBLOWERS IN MIAMI? FROM THE FIRST TIME I HEARD ABOUT IT, ESPECIALLY SINCE I OFTEN ENCOUNTER DYSFUNCTIONAL COMPANIES. STEVE’S VAST CORPORATE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE SERVES THE READER WELL BY AVOIDING CONSULTANT JARGON, BUZZWORDS AND COMPLEX THEORIES AND INSTEAD OFFERS A STRAIGHTFORWARD, ACCESSIBLE AND HANDS ON APPROACH TO MANAGING PEOPLE, CUSTOMERS AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS THAT EVERYONE IN BUSINESS CAN RELATE TO AND LEARN FROM. HIS OFTEN AMUSING AND ALWAYS INSTRUCTIVE STORIES ARE A BONUS! ENJOY!
 

—DAVID NOUR

Growth strategist Best-selling author of Relationship Economics

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STEVE’S BOOK PULLS YOU IN RIGHT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING WITH A HILARIOUS (BUT UNFORTUNATELY NOT UNCOMMON) STORY OF CORPORATE DYSFUNCTION. HE THEN GOES ON TO DESCRIBE AND ILLUSTRATE FIVE PRINCIPLES OF ENGAGEMENT THAT WILL GUIDE EXECUTIVES, MIDDLE MANAGERS AND LEADERS OF ALL STRIPES IN SUCCESSFULLY RUNNING THEIR ORGANIZATION. THROUGH ENGAGEMENT WITH THEIR EMPLOYEES, CUSTOMERS AND EVEN THEMSELVES, LEADERS WILL FIND A GOLDMINE OF INSIGHTFUL AND PRACTICAL ADVICE IN THIS BOOK.
 

—JAMES M. KERR

Management Consultant; INC Columnist; Author of The Executive Checklist