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The Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training.

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Jamie Dimon is the Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase. He's had an amazing career as a banker, including the recent takeover of Bear Stearns.

I've always thought he was one of the most commonsensical business leaders around, in addition to being one of the most successful. So I was thrilled when Charlie Rose aired an interview with Dimon taped at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

The interview was studded with the sort of little gems of insight that I've found in other Dimon interviews. I've selected several to share.

Here they are as I wrote them down, perhaps not word-perfect, but true to the sense of quote. I've also added some of my own comments.

Jamie Dimon: "At JP Morgan, we try to prepare for all kinds of weather. We don't guess what the weather will be and prepare for that."

Wally's Comment: That's the essence of sensible strategic planning, but it's also the essence of sensible leadership development. Don't prepare just for the future you think is likely. Prepare so you'll be able to handle any future. As Peter Drucker told us about the future, it cannot be known, but it will be different.

Jamie Dimon: "We stayed away from structured investment vehicles because they had no business purpose for real clients."

Wally's Comment: That's something of a shorthand for how JP Morgan Chase stayed out of the investment market crisis while others got sucked under. Many firms joined the bandwagon and invested in things they didn't understand, figuring that someone else had absorbed the risk or that the risk had magically disappeared. JP Morgan Chase and some other institutions didn't invest because just couldn't figure out and verify the business case.

Jamie Dimon: "Buying a house and buying a house that's on fire are two different things."

Wally's Comment: Dimon was asked why he only offered $2 per share for Bear Stearns. Circumstances change the value of investments. Changing circumstances cause people to be willing to part with things they never thought they'd sell for prices they never thought they'd pay.

Jamie Dimon: "The only reason for size is to do something better for the client."

Wally's Comment: There's a line from Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology that Dimon's statement called to mind. "Hear me ambitious souls! Sex is the curse of life." could be rendered as "Hear me ambitious souls! Growth for growth's sake is the curse of business." The reasons were summed up in another Dimon statement from this same interview.

Jamie Dimon: "Sometimes you can't grow. Sometimes you don't want to grow because growing means you're taking on bad clients or you can't hire people fast enough."

Wally's Comment: If hypergrowth is your goal, read that. Then read it again.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

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Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.