Dude, his mentor was a Dell! Working alongside one of the world's most admired CEOs, George picked up a knack for "pinging" for competitive insights.
When Dell is getting his mind around a problem, he blankets employees and friends with e-mails, George says. "That's what I learned with Michael. He would reach out one-on-one. He's the most intellectually curious person I've met. He was always daring us to get better - to get more information, get more insight."
Lesson learned: At QVC, George convenes round-table meetings twice a month with workers drawn from the company's crazy quilt of operating groups - from jewelry buyers and control-room operators to Web designers and affiliate relations people.
So they won't just say what they think the CEO wants to hear, he invites criticism and vows confidentiality. "When you're in this role, you need to find a way to be connected," he says. "You do anything you can to keep the information flowing."
A theme that's been coming up in the sprawling QVC enterprise: Employees feel that they're holed up in departmental "silos," and that this stifles innovation.
Pinging outside the box: "Every time I meet with a vendor, I start by saying, 'What can we do better?' " George says. "Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to help you see things in a different way."
Reaching out to the entrepreneurs is also critical because QVC launches 250 new products a week to fill the maw for its round-the-clock shopping shows. "We have this constant thirst for new items," George says. In the past year, the company has evaluated merchandise from 6,000 small businesses.
