Happy Holidays!

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” Virginia Woolf

Yesterday was the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year. We are visiting friends in Taos, New Mexico and took a walk in the twilight as the year’s first snow here fell around us. Most other days of the year we hardly stop to enjoy things like that: but the snow twinkling in the glow of the streetlights was just plain magical.  This is the time of year – from now until the end – when there’s no need to hurry, or sparkle, or to be anybody but ourselves. Other times we’re busy working and being professional, but during these next few days let’s remember to slow down and enjoy family and friends.  Hanukah just ended, Christmas and Kwanzaa are a few days away, and the New Year is just around the corner: be thankful, be happy, and be yourself.  Enjoy!

Adeline Virginia Woolf (1882 –1941): English writer and pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device

Work together....

Successful people collaborate with others to create successful businesses. This is even more important in start-ups: working on something new requires a lot of different perspectives to get things right. There were lots of new and challenging things at all of Wynn’s projects and getting the right professionals in the right jobs was a critical challenge. We made sure that people were paired appropriately and encouraged inter and intra-departmental collaboration. We knew that it would be easier to achieve our goals if we put together cross-functional teams that had diverse ideas, backgrounds, skills and styles. We never would have successfully launched the Mirage’s volcano, baggage handling system, Siegfried and Roy show, dolphin habitat, crowd-handling strategies and so many other innovations if we didn’t collaborate. There are challenges – big and small – in every phase of every company that can benefit from a collaborative work style. Be the best professional you can be by including others in your quest for excellence today.

John R. Wooden (1910-2010): Basketball Coach, and Author

Hire for Attitude and Train for Skills....

One of my first challenges when planning the Mirage was deciding what to look for in applicants: skills or attitude. If applicants had done the job they applied for we assumed they had the skills; but what if they also had bad habits related to those skills: in either case we’d still have to get them to unlearn what they already knew and teach them the way we did things. Attitude on the other hand was ingrained and couldn’t be taught: they either had it or they didn’t. We decided to hire for attitude and train for skills. Professionals in any job want to know exactly what’s expected and appreciate it being communicated simply and directly: getting employees to unlearn something occurs naturally when you train them. Take the time to train your employees and help them become the kinds of professionals you need to help your business succeed today.

Antisthenes (445 – 365 BC): Greek philosopher and a pupil of Socrates

It starts with YOU....

This quote could apply to any of the casino opening projects I (or anyone else who’s done one) did. When we recruited our initial team for the Mirage we had to start where we were: evaluating plans, developing budgets, and creating timelines. We interviewed people that had opened companies in the then recent past: the information they gave us proved invaluable in finalizing our plans. These provided the foundation for all of the programs and processes we developed and became part of the orientation we gave to everyone hired for this project. This approach was how we learned the value of strategic planning, effective communications, and a professional approach to our work. Professionalism brings the structure, discipline and drive that make any project successful. You are most likely an integral part of the team you’re on and your colleagues surely rely on the professionalism you bring to the job everyday. So remember to start where you are, use what you have and do what you can today.

Arthur Ashe Jr. (1943 –1993): American professional tennis player who won three Grand Slam titles.

Be yourself....

Professionals have lots of role models: the challenge is developing their own personality and style rather than trying to be a copy of someone else’s. In a large organization you have to be good at projecting a message to lots of people: Steve Wynn was great at this and I tried to watch and learn from him. I found that to seem like a speech was extemporaneous meant you had to know the topic so well that you could speak about it easily, and to keep an audience’s attention you had to gesture and look like you were speaking to a small group of friends. I developed my own style instead of trying to be a second-rate version of his. Look for people you admire and note the traits that make them what they are and then practice putting those into your own style. Being a first-rate professional means being the best you can be every day.

Judy Garland (1922 –1969): American singer, actress, vaudevillian, and recording artist.