Are We Poor or Are We Broke?

Due to the economic conditions hitting this country and the world I have heard many opinions lately on the impact on the poor, how the government needs to take better care of the poor, and how the poor in this country are getting a bad deal. This is a leadership opportunity right in front of us!

As a wise man once told me; "There is a difference between being broke and being poor. Being broke means you are temporarily out of money. Being poor is a mindset." This is a mindset that will not be corrected by government handouts. It needs to be corrected by a change of attitude and opportunity.

The timing is perfect for this!

In America over the next ten years we are going to have a short fall of available people to fill skilled labor jobs. In fact, the short fall is predicted to be around 10 million open jobs without the skilled people to put in those jobs. Here is the opportunity for the government to do something about this!

Instead of weekly checks and food stamp programs, the government should pay to enroll these people in training for those jobs that need to be filled such as manufacturing, construction, plumbing, and other skilled labor jobs. Organizations get to fill jobs with qualified workers, the poor get to develop self-esteem by providing for themselves, and this is their opportunity to change the direction they are heading.

If money is the problem then being broke can be rectified by this approach. Welfare started out as an effort to give hardworking people financial support because there were no jobs available. We now have jobs available; therefore, we need to shift our support to funding the training for these jobs. Not just give out money to be squandered.

If poor is the problem, then we need to make strides to teach the poor how to make better life choices, how to learn to create a better focus on the right path, how to regain the strength, commitment and discipline to make some positive changes for themselves, with the help of the rest of us!

The worst thing we can do as a society for the poor, is to just take care of the poor. Like any business situation, merely throwing money at a problem doesn't solve a problem. And if welfare and government housing was the answer to solving this problem, then why are we still in this situation? Bad choices. Bad decisions. Bad habits that repeat themselves generation after generation are what cause the poor to be poor. I hear comments about how life is against them and they have no opportunity. Here it is! This is the opportunity to take care of people in need of self-sufficiency.

If we really want to help the poor and at the same time help out country we need to establish some skills training and accountability and separate the broke from those with just poor attitudes. The broke we can make whole again. Those with their hand out not looking to help themselves, not looking for a break, not looking for an opportunity, not looking to change bad life choices and just expecting someone to take care of them will be left to deal with that decision.

We have the opportunity to make poor simply a bad choice and on the other hand help those looking for opportunity to change their situation.

We can either feed the poor until they become completely reliant on someone else to take care of them, or we can teach them how to care for themselves and turn around their lives. Which choice do you think makes the most sense?

Which choice is your business model to get through this recession?

Are You Leading Like its 2009 BC?

In the work place we have two separate cultures working together that are as disconnected in communication as an immigrant “stepping off the boat” into the new world. The cultures I am referring to are those raised BC (before computers) and those raised AD (after digital.)

Ever wonder what it was like in Edison’s time when electricity and lighting became the norm? How about when motor vehicles replaced the horse? Think there was a dramatic shift in how our culture interacted? What about when the television first entered the home? When telephones became common in a person’s home? All of these technology shifts no doubt caused a quantum shift in our society and culture. But none of them can compare to the shift in how the computer and the digital age have changed our world today.

Currently most managers are from the BC culture, who learned by reading in classrooms, studying to regurgitate information back onto tests, and learned job tasks by apprenticeship. They entertained themselves by playing neighborhood pick-up games of sports, watching three channels on TV and on weekends occasionally going to the theater for a movie.

The employees have a greater number of those from the AD culture, and they are fluent in digital speak and learn by video input. In fact today’s college grads have spent less than 5,000 hours of their lives reading and over 10,000 hours playing video games and another 20,000 hours watching multiple channels of television. They entertain themselves with multi-tasking of listening to music, while the TV is on but muted, texting on their phones and chatting in a chat room on the computer – all at the same time!

Ask the younger generations about school and work and they are bummed because they have to “power down” to participate in these activities. Why the mismatch of attitudes? The BC culture is trying to fit AD employees into the old way of doing things.

At a recent national program I delivered I spoke with many managers who refuse to allow their workers to talk on their cells or text message while on the job. Can you imagine 40 years ago going to work and your boss placing duct tape over your mouth for the entire work day? It’s the same effect and the same response: This sucks!

How can the gap be bridged between the BC and AD cultures?

1. Go digital

As a leader and most likely of the BC culture you want to learn how to speak digital and understand your AD employees. Forcing someone into a box they just don’t fit into will not make for a better employee; in fact, it will make for an employee looking to move on. Step into their view, from their perspective. Digital technology isn’t the next new fangled gadget – it’s a birthright. Computers have been in their homes as long as some employees have been able to walk. It’s their culture to participate with technology. Learn how to use technology to your advantage. Put training into podcasts.

Email or text instructions. Have them create web sites for your organizations to interact with customers. Getting them involved in projects especially technologically driven projects and they can power up and enjoy their digital world while balancing that with working in your labor-driven world.

2. Keep the information coming

Because of the internet, information is literally at this younger generations finger tips. Where the BC culture uses a phonebook as a way of locating the number to call for a local restaurant, the AD culture uses the phonebook as a door stop and Googles for the number they are looking for. Along with that number they will also find directions to the location, the menu, the store hours and what other customers thought of the dining experience there. Just the phone number isn’t enough. The volume of information this group craves is much greater than what the BC culture is used to giving and here is another opportunity to bridge the cultures.

Be as open with information as you can be. Fishbowl transparency of what needs to be done, why it needs to be done and how you want it done, is going to be welcomed and appreciated by the AD culture. When a BC boss demands, “You need to work over two hours tonight.” and starts to walk away, the AD worker immediately is wondering what he did wrong. For the BC culture overtime meant extra cash and it was a positive event. To the AD culture employee overtime means detention and fewer hours with family and friends. The communication is lost and the messages are confused. The more detailed the explanation the better the communication works between these cultures.

3. Respect

“Back in the day” stories are lost on the AD employees and most of the times they don’t understand why you tolerated such things you talk about in those stories. Because the younger generations didn’t have to deal with the hardships some of the BC culture had to tolerate doesn’t make them less of an employee or a person. I hear a small business owner talk over lunch about how he dressed down a younger employee in front of customers. Said he did it to get the kids attention. I asked him what his turnover rate was like. He told me if they stay 90 days he was surprised. It was almost said with pride as if being a hard nose was a good thing. Maybe “back in the day” that was a mark of excellence in some corners, but today if you want to reach younger employees treat them with respect, inform them completely, and ask them to teach you about the digital age – it will help you both to better connect.

In fact, you want them to be pumped up about what they are doing! Get them involved, give them multiple tasks to do, train them to do the tasks successfully and then move out of their way and don’t hover.

All Hat and No Cattle

Have you ever worked for a boss who was more concerned where his office was located and how it was furnished than in what he actually was able to lead others to accomplish? Have you even been faced with a corporate leader who was more interested in making a good impression than in possessing sound advice and preparation for a meeting? In Texas they say that person is “All hat and no cattle.”

Part of the debt problem in this country has to do with this same issue: People wanting to impress others with their material goods and having nothing to support it. Corporations have gone the same way with over extending themselves and creating hollow companies build on a shaky foundation of impressing stockholders while ignoring sound business practices.

Leadership is about being the “Real McCoy.” Leave the posing to models and the posturing to those who have no substance. Leadership is about bringing substance to your followers so they trust your instincts, intelligence and ability to make the best decision available.

When Emmitt Smith, the great running back from the Dallas Cowboys, was asked why he never did an end zone dance when he scored a touchdown, he replied, “Because I want to act like I’ve been there before.” Leaders who are more concerned with results and growth in the companies become less concerned with showing off and trying to impress people.

Are you more concerned with measured growth or with your bonus? Be careful, you may be the one that is all hat and no cattle.

No We Can’t! No We Can’t! No We Can’t!

Are you possibly worried about how the stock market is doing? Are you having elevated concerns about economic woes in 2009? Have you thought about thrashing expenses, laying-off employees, and just hunkering down in hopes of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in 2010? NO WE CAN’T!

No We Can’t – Make knee-jerk reactions

I hear business owners crying about the economy and making more poor decisions as a knee-jerk reaction. Leadership attitude is critical to setting the tone for the rest of the organization. Wholesale slashing of expenses, reducing payroll, and simply hoping for the best sends a message to your workforce that you’ve given up, gone for easy pickins, and just want to weather a short-term storm. The storm is not short-term and leadership can’t afford to send that message to the workforce.

Recessions and economic downturns are actually a good opportunity for organizations to reflect and see where they are not performing very well. Instead of the 10% cut across the board (the lazy leader’s decision) investigate your organization and find where the shortfalls, low performances and poor execution are happening. Spend your efforts on how to strengthen these areas.

In boom times we are so busy we are focused on making money and some bad habits can develop that are overshadowed by the good times. The recession actually provides the opportunity to strengthen the organization. Use that time wisely to strengthen the organization, not implement cross-the-board cuts.

No We Can’t – Give up

Business has always been an up and down ride, although the hills seem to be steeper and the pace required to succeed has increased. Giving up is just not an option. What do I mean by giving up? Doing everything the same as you always have in hopes the economy and the world of business will return to “normal.” Deciding technology is moving too fast and you can’t keep up and just focusing on the old ways of marketing. Once leadership throws in the towel, the business will fail or at least suffer dramatically until a new leader is brought in.

Are times tough? Sure they are in some respects. Are we at a doom point? No. Actually now is the time for leadership to establish how good they really are. In easy times all organizational leaders can demonstrate positive results because the rising tide lifts all boats. But in times that are challenging real leaders demonstrate their skills and abilities. Now is the time for great leaders to dig deep into their organization and themselves and find that strength that will elevate the organization above the competition.

Buzzed Bagels

Fresh ideas can be created to meet needs the consumer hasn't even felt yet! Take for example: A Durham, NC molecular scientist has developed a way to add caffeine to baked goods. He has figured a way to add 100 milligrams of caffeine (the equivalent of a 5-ounce cup of coffee) into baked goods he plans to market as "Buzzed Bagels" and "Buzzed Donuts."

Big Idea Alert

What talents reside in your organization, when given the chance to try something radical may find something new your customers would crave, yet don’t even know they want it yet? Renegades enjoy walking the edge to create the new and different. Who should you turn lose on a wild idea?

Are You a Pro?

I was online in a social network and I saw someone talking about forming a group of social media professionals. It got me to thinking what is the definition of a professional? In my opinion, a professional is someone who makes a living at their chosen profession. I know of no one (or maybe there are a select few) who can truly be called a professional at social media by my definition; although they had 300 people sign up for membership in the first hour.

It reminded me of professional speakers making the same claim yet most professional speakers I meet at our speaker conventions could never live on their speaking earnings. So what do you call these people? I feel in today’s world we have three categories of workers.

The Hobbyist

This is the person that has all the markings of someone making a living at a profession, and claims the profession as their livelihood, yet they don’t make enough money at it to live on, or they are trading on past accomplishments but the title of professional no longer fits. These people also exist in the workforce and pose at jobs.

The hobbyist falls into three categories of its own.

The person who just can’t make it on what they are making but loves the perks of calling themselves professionals. In the day of downsizing many managers are calling themselves professional consultants, and what they really are, is a job seeker trying to make a buck between jobs. Beware of the faux-professional in your ranks. Because if you have an employee searching hard for a new position outside of your organization posing as a dedicated employee, they are hobbyists until they move along and you aren’t getting your bang for your investment dollar.

The person who was a professional at one time who just can’t hang it up. People don’t retire anymore they just fade away. They don’t want to give up what they do and were once good at, but they are long past their prime and coasting on past accomplishments.

Do you have anyone who is counting the days until they can leave? I had a client whose CEO literally counted the days until he could retire with full benefits. This is not a leader no matter how strong he was 15 years ago. He is now a hobbyist and a drain on corporate resources, morale and is in anti-growth mode because it is easier to exist as a hobbyist in status quo.

The third hobbyist is just that someone enjoying a hobby. These hobbyists can actually help your business if they are part-time or volunteers. Maybe these hobbyists are retired people looking for things to do and make a bit of side money. This can be an effective use of a true hobbyist – doing something they enjoy more for the value of doing it than the pay that may or may not come with it. These are not professionals but hobbyists that can be a positive addition to your team.

The Wannabe

In the speaking business these are the people who show up at speaker meetings wanting to be speakers but have no clue on what topic or what their message is. They just know they love to talk in front of an audience and their friends have told them they are funny. There is no talent or topical passion or expertise just raw enthusiasm. Because the job is more non-glamour that glamour and requires hours and hours of hard work to get started most wash out.

In the working work wannabes are those in the interview process full of puppy dog enthusiasm for the job opening even though they have no real understanding of what it takes to be successful at it, or whether they even have the skill set for it. Sadly, because some companies are so desperate for talent and to fill critical job opening they make a hasty decision and hire the enthusiasm without the talent. This wannabe is now in a position that causes them to be filled with insecurities and out of those insecurities will make judgment errors and mistakes they won’t want to readily admit to. Experienced interviewees can still be wannabes; therefore don’t be fooled by a well-written resume.

Make sure your hiring process actually gets to the details you need to know to see if this person is a good fit, is just looking for an experience or is truly a professional that will be an addition to your team.

The Professional

By pure definition a professional is a person who gets paid to perform specific duties. As we know not all who get paid to perform deliver. A real “professional” not only earns what they make but they create a reputation of being a good value for the investment. Some speakers earn $50,000 a speech over and over because what they deliver is considered a value at that price. In your workplace a professional is someone who knows their job, delivers good value and understands how to build on a previous performance and grow. This is someone you can count on to deliver.

Professionals are not looking to be covered in accolades, yet they expect to be appreciated. They want to work with other professionals and be given the opportunity to make a difference for you. A professional is going to cost more than a hobbyist and a Wannabe but focusing on cost is missing the bigger picture. You are looking for return on investment and the right professionals deliver that return.

Who in your workplace would you deem a Hobbyist? A Wannabe? A Professional? Who is making the best contributions to growing your business? Who is a deficit employee taking more than they are giving? How do you think professionals feel working around deficit employees? It’s time to weed out the hobbyists and wannabes who are gunking up your growth systems and let your professionals grow your business.

Cripple a Competitor

When I speak at conventions and conferences in breakout sessions, one of my main goals is to shut down one other concurrent session. I want to have such a large audience eager to hear my information that I have standing room only and one other speaker has an audience of 3 or less. Does this sound cruel to you? Does this sound like I have my priorities all askew? I am in a competitive world just as you are and everyone should be looking for ways to make your business such a draw it cripples your competitor.

I learned this years ago when I was working a cable television trade show and part of my compensation was to have a booth. It just so happens my booth was in between HGTV and the Playboy channel. Because of my antics in the booth, the games I was running and the prizes I was giving away created an excitement that drew a critical mass of people. Once there was the critical mass, people started to noticed and wondered what they were missing and the crowd grew even more. In fact for that show I out drew both of my neighbors purely because I created the right excitement and enthusiasm and had a plan to draw a crowd. Isn’t that the purpose of a trade show? It’s the same purpose for your business.

Create excitement

What are your employees doing to create excitement to draw in customers? Every day is a challenge to grab customers and the excitement and enthusiasm of your employees can become contagious in drawing in customers! Make sure you have the right people with the right attitude to create the right atmosphere for customer growth! Have what your competitors don’t have – employees that want customers.

Draw your target

Business growth is all about survival of the fittest. Who is the weakest in your industrial pack? Target them to cripple the business by creating such a draw in your own business that their customers prefer you. There is nothing wrong with taking down a competitor in the right way. The right way being creating such a demand for what you have to offer they no longer can stay open. The only way you gain market share is to take it from someone else. Keep in mind there is a competitor who should be approaching you the same way. Fortunately for you, most of those weak businesses will end up closing and use the wimpy excuse of blaming the economy.

Be consistent

Growth only happens with a consistent expectation of growing, measuring growth and making every action a step in the growth direction. I’ve watched companies put on a growth push and everything went successfully! Then they say ”that worked well” and start high-fiving each other and sit back and rest. All the growth advantage they gained starts to drift away over time until the next growth panic attack. Leave that approach to your crippled competitor because panic attack growth is exhausting and not sustainable and eventually they just can’t make that one last push because they see growth efforts as exhausting.

In sports people love to be with a winner, and business is the same way. Customers want to be aligned with a company that is exciting, vibrant and growing. Be that company.

How's Your Bounce

I remember growing up playing with a Super Ball. I could bounce this ball from shoulder height on the driveway and have it bounce higher than the rooftop on my two-story house! People and companies need to have that type of bounce ability when facing tough times.

We are well versed in people and companies who struggle in bad times. It’s almost become sport in this county to see who falls on their face next. The falls make the headlines but what about the rest of the story after the fall? Those stories rarely make the headlines and that is actually where the greatest lessons exist in how well people and companies recover from their falls. Whether it’s personal or corporate there is going to be adversity in our journeys and how we respond and how quickly we respond demonstrated out bounce. You have options in your bounce ability.

What about the people who fall, fail or flounder only to bounce back stronger than ever? Robert Downey Jr. has good bounce. Vanessa Williams has good bounce. Starbucks has good bounce. How about you?

The Deflated Basketball Bounce

For some people and companies they get hit with adversity and it knocks them down and their response is that of a deflated basketball – no bounce at all. You know these people and companies. They get hit with tough times and they turn bitter and angry and collapse under the weight of the world. These people and corporations are waiting for someone else to bail them out and set them back up because they feel unable to on their own. When in fact, they are only being propped up for another fall they’ve never learned to recover from. Boomerang children, government bailouts, and dependent employees are the result of a lack of ability to bounce.

The Super Ball Bounce

Most highly successful entrepreneurs have gone through at least one previous company failure. Many successful leaders have had to overcome adversity that was either physical, financial or occupational. In fact, success is more predicated on your bounce ability than in your raw intelligence and skills. Persistence through challenges, focus through distractions and confidence in your ability to overcome adversity are the core foundation to success! As I’ve heard it said many times before, failure is only failure if you stop at that point and stay defeated. Without bounce we’d have no innovation, we’d have no experience (since we gain that from our failures) and we’d have no joy. Our greatest joy comes when we’ve accomplished a task that was in overcoming on obstacle. It’s why we love to see the underdog win! We love that they can overcome the odds and bounce back from a defeat and are spectacular.

Looking For Stupid

In talking with a group of managers about the Next Generation I was trying to explain the differences between the generations and this guy from my audience says, “I don’t know what’s up with my younger employees but someone was handing out stupid and they were grabbing all they could get!.” Sure everyone laughed, but he failed to see the joke – because he didn’t have a mirror in front of him.

This new generation of workers is more intelligent, more technologically savvy, and better able to accomplish a multitude of tasks than generations prior. They are not stupid.

They also will not tolerate boorish managers, incomplete information and lack of proper training. There is where the stupid lies – in how managers are treating this generation that have the potential to make your organization soar!

What the older workers tolerated and grumbled about (still do) are things the younger generation just won’t tolerate. The older generation felt that if they made a mistake even though they never received proper training it was somehow their fault and they would accept the dressing down mangers gave out.

The younger generation feels if you don’t take the time to properly train them and teach them the job then the mistake is the company’s fault and no need to sweat it. If the company doesn’t care enough to take the time and make the effort to train, why should I bust my hump to learn it on my own, is an attitude that honestly is hard to argue with.

Stupidity rarely lives in the workforce. If you feel you have stupid employees, check the following areas for where stupid really lurks.

Training

Because of the current economic times companies are eliminating training positions, shortening training times and generally hoping employees learn new tasks by speed osmosis. Then they wonder why there is no buy in and mistake happen? An old computer term was “Garbage in and garbage out” It still applies to training. Saving money in training is like saving car expenses by not changing your oil or rotating your tires. You have to invest in the important areas of your business. Skill, talent and knowledge are the most important areas of business that bring growth. Technology is worthless of you don’t have the right people to use it and know what they are doing.

Hiring process

Are you attracting the right people? Do you know the makeup of what the right person is? Do you know how to get in front of the right person? Does your company deserve the talent you desire? What do you offer that keeps the right talent excited about what they are doing for you?

Most organizations are begging for help, expecting disappointment and failing to hire exactly what they need as well as preparing the workplace to maintain the interest of the talent you want. If you are simply filling positions and hoping the new hire lasts 90 days then look in the mirror and you will see stupid. Any manager that sets that low of expectations is never going to get the right employees to fill the right jobs and it has nothing to do with the Next generation of employees.

Managers

In the food service industry the greatest problem is keeping good employees. The average annual turnover in this industry is 300%. That means for every 50 jobs you have to fill you have to hire 150 people just to keep the jobs full, and that’s the average! In light of this I’ve been asking every good waitstaff I encounter if anyone thanked them for coming to work today. It has been five years and hundreds of waitstaff asked and I have yet to find one, just one tell me their manager thanked them for coming to work today.

Do you thank your customers? What about your regulars who do business with you over and over, do you show appreciation to them? Your employees expect a daily appreciation of some sort for working. Not because they are needy, not because they are insecure and want to be loved, but because they are giving you their time talents and efforts and they could be giving it to anyone they want to. Calling them stupid is NOT how you earn their loyalty, respect and best efforts.

Bring It On

The first step of business growth is in your mind. If you believe you have a fighting chance to grow your business this year you will have an infinite better possibility of doing so. If you know you have a good business model, are a good leader, and continue to do the right things – you will experience business growth this year.

I challenge all executives, managers and leaders of all kinds to begin daily with the right mindset for growth and opportunity. That mindset is “Bring it on” because you are ready for whatever the competition throws at you. You are ready for whatever obstacles happen inside the workplace. You are ready to deliver a performance that will make a difference to your bottom line today.

Accept the challenge of figuring out what works in this economy and make things happen. Does it take time? Yes. Is it tough? Of course it is, business isn’t supposed to be a cake walk ride to riches. The satisfaction comes from winning when the determination, drive and perseverance pays off.

Set your mind to grow your business and you’ve taken the most important first step to making that growth a reality. Bring it on.

The BSO Syndrome: Basic Cause of the Recession?

A television camera changes angle on average every 3.4 seconds during a program.

We are exposed to 3500 advertisements a day.

The internet has put a wealth of distractions at our fingertips.

The Bright Shiny Object (BSO) Syndrome is a term I use for how we have been trained to be distracted by new stimulus. As I sit here at my work desk typing this I have Twitter open, Gmail open, playing music on Pandora, my Bluetooth in my ear, and Yahoo messenger open (which is use as my interoffice communication.) The Twitter has a bird tweet sound every time someone I follow “tweets.” After an hour of using the new twitter app I had to find how to turn off the sound because I felt I was working in a bird sanctuary! It’s so easy for us to be distracted at work and we expect work to be just as interactive and exciting as the news stories that arrive every minute from your personalized Google Desktop to your Crackberry phone.

With all of these desired distractions calling on our attention, and with work being such a grind in the eyes of most employees, it begs the question: Are we just so unproductive that our work ethic created our own recession? This doesn’t even include the distractions that are not desired BSOs. Time spent in meetings, gossiping about co-workers, scrambling to read or produce meaningless reports and the general chit chat that goes on in the workplace. Kind of makes you wonder how we get anything done!

Recently, a fellow speaker who loves to write established a writer’s marathon day. Colleagues came to a room with their laptops and spend 8 hours uninterrupted -- just writing. Imagine the work that could get done! Imagine the creativity that could pour forth. Imagine how surprised some participants were when after an hour their brain was tired and looking for distractions?

This is where our workforce has landed. We lack the ability of long-term focus. We lack the intent to be maniacal about our jobs (with the exceptions being entrepreneurs and those in love with the projects they are working on.) Generally speaking, the workforce is not engaged. When the workforce is going through the motions of the job without real mental engagement productivity and quality fail. Organizations lose profitability, cut labor which only increases the distractions and unlike the 80’s these employees are not capable of picking up the duties of those laid off so there is virtually no savings.

So what do you do?

1. Create your own BSO!

The reason something is a desired distraction is because it is deemed worthy of my attention. It either excites me on some level or I feel compelled to be in the know about it. How can you create that excitement in the workplace? Side note: Baby Boomer executives typically resist this effort because their thinking is “work is work” and you shouldn’t have to appeal to trying to bother make anyone excited about their jobs. If this is a familiar thought in your mind you have two options. Stay in your current mindset and be frustrated at the new ways of the current workforce.

Quit your managerial position and become an entrepreneur, or shift to the required thinking of today’s business climate: Create excitement by first asking the employees what can be done to get them excited and create a desire within themselves to get personally involved. Today’s workers like pet projects, they like to know the difference they are making on an individual basis and they want to be associated with something that has significant appeal.

2. Get them bought in – literally

Employees today need to have input and feedback on how things are going with the organization. So why not make them part of the bottom line. Profit sharing and incentive pay are not new ideas, but they can be handled in a new way. Be transparent and show them what’s going on. When the company makes profits, the employees share in those profits. When the company loses month during a month the employees are asked for suggestions on how to turn things around. By getting them so involved they take on the attitude of being entrepreneurial they are creating their own BSOs that will give them something to focus on. If you have a technical issue you can’t resolve, find the resident geek squad and put them on it. If you have a service problem, get the employees who are people-people involved. Whatever you can do to get them involved and bought in, the less the desired distractions become desire able.

Time to Tweet

Hi tweeple! To those who tweet, go to tweetups and live in the twitterverse you understand these words. For those of you who have only heard of Twitter or have no clue what I am talking about, make 2009 a time to get to know this web opportunity.

Years ago when I performed my services only locally I knew where the best places were to network and meet the people I needed to know that could teach me and hire me. Once I went international and no longer did business locally, I lost my tight networking connections and wondered aloud how do you network internationally and where it the network I need to be tuned into.

I had heard of twitter and I am active on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and LinkedIn, so I figured what was one more? How twitter works is very simple. What it can do for you is astronomical. Twitter.com is a place where you can create an account for free similar to the other online networking options and you gain followers and select those who you want to follow. It takes some time to work through the process before finding those who can truly feed you, but well worth the effort. With twitter you only have 140 characters to express yourself. Not 140 words, 140 characters. Meaning two sentences ago would be too long of a “tweet” or comment. How can such a short delivery have any meaning? It forces the writer to be brief, specific and if necessary include a link in the sentence if you care to learn and read more. Ever see the length of some of those url strings? That’s why you use link shortening devices such as tinyurl.com which will take any length url and turn it into 25 characters. To find me on twitter go to http://twitter.com/GrowthSolutions and follow me!

What can this do for me?

I have been active on twitter a couple of months and I already have hundreds of followers and have found hundreds of people to follow. People I want to network with who serve different purposes for me. Twitter is becoming the main source of news for me. I follow the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo buzz, the Drudge Report, MSNBC, and for a local flavor the Charlotte Observer to name a few.

For information that feeds my business I follow those who can help me in my business weaknesses in search engine optimization, network marketing, and web design. I have already received valuable information in all of these areas. I also follow fellow speakers, business experts, and writers. I am connected to a Charlotte area network and every other week we meet up for a “tweetup” lunch to talk generally or on table topics. All discussions are informative and I like being around good brains who help me think.

There is also the celebrity fun of conversing directly with Shaq, MC Hammer, Tony Robbins, Richard Branson, Natalie Gulbis and the Governator. The Obama campaign had the most followers on twitter this year, but has gone silent since election night.

Twitter can become a great new source, a place to ask techie questions since the geek quotient is high, and get inspired and learn from other smart people. Not to mention, make new friends, promote services (carefully) and in my case enjoy tweeting with some celebrities on the cutting edge. Feed your business. Feed your brain. Join the “twitterverse” and become one of the tweeple who write tweets on twitter.

Grow in Your Body, Brain and Business

This year taking care of these three most important aspects of your life are critical to creating personal and professional growth. On a daily basis you want to take steps to grow in your life and here are a few ways to focus that growth on the 3B’s.

Body

When you are busy, pressed for time and under stress it seems body maintenance goes lacking let alone actually trying to create positive growth in this area. Want to adjust your food intake? Don’t crash into a drastic diet plan that only is going to give you a short term result. Take it easy on yourself as you grow. Just change one food at a time. For example, if you find yourself hitting the Starbucks drive thru for your morning coffee and frequently throw in a bagel, cinnamon roll or scone, shift that one habit. Instant oatmeal takes two minutes to prepare in the microwave and five minutes to sit down and eat. Think you can build in ten minutes into your morning routine to make this significant adjustment to grow your body better?

Exercise is the other priority that quickly falls off the list. Forget the gym. It can be inconvenient and for some people once you are home for the day – you are home for the day! With an inexpensive exercise ball and a pair of good walking shoes, getting in 30 minutes of good exercise a day is purely a matter of choice. There are tons of at home exercise programs online if you need that guidance. But a brisk walk through the neighborhood, some ab crunches on the exercise ball, push-ups, and good stretching are going to give you great daily progress toward building your body.

Brain

Turn off the TV. Walk away from the Guitar Hero. Feed your brain. Daily growth isn’t about huge dramatic “look at me” type changes you will have a hard time holding onto in the long run. Make a minor shift in the right direction. For example, what do you read? The newspaper is a dinosaur that will disappear. Besides, it usually is loaded mostly with bad news information that doesn’t help you grow. The most popular magazines also are more along the entertainment avenue than the mental growth avenue. My favorite magazines that grow my brain are cheap and packed with mind expanding information. Inc, Fast Company and Wired are my monthly mental fix that I enjoy as much if not more than my Sports Illustrated. Also make the effort to read a book a quarter that is business based that will help your business brain grow. I keep a stack of four in a back log that I work through. I read with a note pad and a highlighter to capture ideas that I want to implement, review and hold onto.

Another way to grow your brain is to network with people that expand your thinking. Small steps here as well. Find a monthly meeting to attend that you feel expands your mind. I know there are certain people that can drain the energy out of a room and there are certain people who stimulate my thinking and I no longer network with the brain drains and I seek to get to know the mental stimulators. Find that local group for you and plug in your brain for a recharge.

Business

Growing your business has already begun if you have done the stuff I mentioned previously in this article because it will make you a more alert, more energized leader and that translates directly to the bottom line. To grow your business incrementally takes subtle positive steps just like in the other areas of growth. One positive step to grow your business is to challenge your managers to engage their minds in a growth mentality. For example, I was advising a board chair of a non-profit on some planning issues for the coming year and he mentioned to me the board was concerned about the current economy and there was going to be a short fall on the budget so they were going to have to either leave staff positions unfilled or cut programming. I asked him how far off are they from the budget and he told me roughly $40,000. I said next board meeting post on the wall in very large type the number $40,000 and tell the board they have a responsibility to go find that much money.

Why focus on the short fall and eliminate a position? You don’t grow with that thinking. Set the expectation of growth and set the tone of responsibility to go find that money by being creative, by accepting nothing less than a full effort and commitment to get that short fall covered. It doesn’t take genius to grow a body, a brain or a business. It takes drive, commitment and perseverance to be a growth entity. Set the tone.