Imagine an organization that does a patchwork job marketing its products for a year because it wants to save money. Little was sold and then there is no money to put in the budget for next year to market products. Then it cuts salaries across the board by 10% until "things improve." How are things going to improve -- by divine intervention?
Leadership is about taking the tough situations and turning them into growth successes.
Stop looking only at expenses
Cutting salaries of critical members of your organization will not have any positive outcome. It will either cause those under-appreciated (in their minds) employees to look for other employment, or provide more than 10% less performance. Cutting salaries says to the employee, "You are not important and I care more about my bottom line than I care about you." Trust me, it will not improve the situation and it will only make it worse.
Instead of taking the less courageous way out and cutting expenses, why not solve the real problem in the first place? The problem isn't these salaries are too high. The problem is, not enough money is coming in to pay for the well-deserved salaries. So what are your alternatives?
1. Determine your financial shortfall.
How much additional revenue would be needed to replace the 10% you think you need to cut? My guess, it's not going to be that much -- so go get it! Cutting salaries is the lazy way out, a stroke of the pen and as long as it's not your own salary (and it rarely is) problem solved pain-free. Wrong. Restore those cut salaries and restore those employees faith in your leadership, and then go find a way to pay for them. How?
2. Be creative.
The old quote says if you want significantly different results do something significantly different. It still holds true! Don't listen to; "It's a slow economy, unsavory or unfortunate conditions, and the old ways aren't working." Those are the excuses of people in positions of leadership not invested in the solution. Look for alternative ways to generate income. Look for new ways to market, sell, and position and work to drive new revenue. Instead of spending hours thinking how to cut your expenses, spend that time thinking of ways to increase revenue.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
When the Tide Goes Out You Can Tell Who is Swimming Naked
Down economic times are a great test of how well you've been operating your business and how mentally strong you are to thrive in such times. As Warren Buffet says, "When the tide goes out you can tell who is swimming naked." Great businesses and business leaders embrace these challenging times to rise to the top and show how they are better positioned for growth. Now is the time to take advantage of weak competitors who have been swimming naked and now are being exposed.
Distinctive competence
What is it you do better than everyone else in your industry? What is your business known for?
What is it that sets your business apart from the competition in your customers' eyes? Capitalize on that one thing.
A distinctive competence can be as simple as your location or as complex as your product tracking systems abilities to track inventory inside your customer warehouses. The key is to identify that competence and broadcast its virtues to your market base. You want to pound on that specific item that will have a positive impact for your customers and prospective customers. Everyone is looking for answers. Teach them the answers you are offering better than any of your competition.
Get the word out
The common reaction in a down economy is to cut costs and that is counter intuitive to bringing in more sales and growing your business. You have to get the word out above the noise of the doom and gloom and above all the competitors screaming their own virtues. How can you do this?
Television, newspaper and radio advertising are expensive and drastically losing market share. Simply, it's costing more to talk to fewer people. It's time to look at alternatives. How about something that is -- FREE! Does that make your accountant smile? Do you think that's a marketing budget you can live with? Now, do you think that's an impossibility? Think again.
I'll assume every organization has a website on the web. Your hosting costs are the same if it just sits there or becomes active. Make it more active. A web page is not a Yellow Pages replacement. It is an opportunity to be very interactive with your visitor and easily up datable, and it should be updated constantly.
You want to get the word out? Word of mouth marketing and the speed at which this viral marketing happens is a gift in these economic times. Maximize the benefits of this gift by updating important information multiple times a week. Just to clarify, important information isn't how good your business is; its information the customer is going to value. Better uses for your products. New ideas that help customers. A wham bam new product announcement that your competitors don't have. A YouTube video of you talking with excitement about what you do! Create energy on your web site, tell the people, the world, what you do, what your distinctive competence is, and how they the customer can benefit from it. Get working on making your website sticky (people want to keep coming back to it.)
Distinctive competence
What is it you do better than everyone else in your industry? What is your business known for?
What is it that sets your business apart from the competition in your customers' eyes? Capitalize on that one thing.
A distinctive competence can be as simple as your location or as complex as your product tracking systems abilities to track inventory inside your customer warehouses. The key is to identify that competence and broadcast its virtues to your market base. You want to pound on that specific item that will have a positive impact for your customers and prospective customers. Everyone is looking for answers. Teach them the answers you are offering better than any of your competition.
Get the word out
The common reaction in a down economy is to cut costs and that is counter intuitive to bringing in more sales and growing your business. You have to get the word out above the noise of the doom and gloom and above all the competitors screaming their own virtues. How can you do this?
Television, newspaper and radio advertising are expensive and drastically losing market share. Simply, it's costing more to talk to fewer people. It's time to look at alternatives. How about something that is -- FREE! Does that make your accountant smile? Do you think that's a marketing budget you can live with? Now, do you think that's an impossibility? Think again.
I'll assume every organization has a website on the web. Your hosting costs are the same if it just sits there or becomes active. Make it more active. A web page is not a Yellow Pages replacement. It is an opportunity to be very interactive with your visitor and easily up datable, and it should be updated constantly.
You want to get the word out? Word of mouth marketing and the speed at which this viral marketing happens is a gift in these economic times. Maximize the benefits of this gift by updating important information multiple times a week. Just to clarify, important information isn't how good your business is; its information the customer is going to value. Better uses for your products. New ideas that help customers. A wham bam new product announcement that your competitors don't have. A YouTube video of you talking with excitement about what you do! Create energy on your web site, tell the people, the world, what you do, what your distinctive competence is, and how they the customer can benefit from it. Get working on making your website sticky (people want to keep coming back to it.)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Think outside of the box? Get rid of the box!
I'm tired of the term "Think outside of the box." What if we just got rid of the box completely? We have to be so nimble in today's pace of business, by the time we build the box it's outdated. For example, 25% of the college freshman class will be working in jobs that don't currently exist when they graduate. The college curriculum box is broken because it isn't flexible enough.
GM commits to producing Hybrid cars and as the words are coming out of their mouths gas prices drop to where the American driver is once again comfortable in big rides. The manufacturing box is broken.
Our model of business is based on structure and consistency and that is the broken box. What's the alternative? It is very scary indeed. We have to be more fluid and nimble by not just recreating product lines but recreating the business.
We have to be better tuned in with the shifting times to be better at predicting or guiding consumer behavior. We also have to learn, as Tom Peters told us many years ago, how to thrive on chaos.
In my humble opinion we need to abandon the box mindset in business leaders and embrace the fluidity of non-manufacturing companies who can retool at high speed electronically and don't necessarily need the same constraints of the old system. Even in the service industry, do banks really need a branch on every corner? In fact, do banks even need branches? Technology takes us out of the box if we let it and are willing to embrace the New business model.
GM commits to producing Hybrid cars and as the words are coming out of their mouths gas prices drop to where the American driver is once again comfortable in big rides. The manufacturing box is broken.
Our model of business is based on structure and consistency and that is the broken box. What's the alternative? It is very scary indeed. We have to be more fluid and nimble by not just recreating product lines but recreating the business.
We have to be better tuned in with the shifting times to be better at predicting or guiding consumer behavior. We also have to learn, as Tom Peters told us many years ago, how to thrive on chaos.
In my humble opinion we need to abandon the box mindset in business leaders and embrace the fluidity of non-manufacturing companies who can retool at high speed electronically and don't necessarily need the same constraints of the old system. Even in the service industry, do banks really need a branch on every corner? In fact, do banks even need branches? Technology takes us out of the box if we let it and are willing to embrace the New business model.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Irsymcaibmkgbfbiasapciaetc
Does that string of letters look familiar to you? Look harder, do you see any recognizable patterns in there? Do you see the most dreaded government agency, a place to work out and a large organization often referred to as Big Blue? Got it now?
That string of letters is our economic situation: A jumbled mess that is unrecognizable, totally confusing and frustrating.
But once you spend some time trying to find understandable patterns you find bits of information than suddenly become obvious. Once you find that first bit of recognition in that string of letters (irs) you gain confidence to venture forward a bit more and you discover the ymca. Once you get to ibm you easily figure out the rest of the recognizable bits of information and suddenly that string of letters no longer is mumbo jumbo.
Finding the solutions to growing in this economy is the same exercise: Look for familiar patterns and solutions. Business has been traveling at transonic speeds these last few years and we've been tripping over signs this economic wreck was coming and ignoring sound business practices until our armored car filled with cash ran off the road into a ditch. Now what?
It's time to regroup and return to the basics so we can take the steps needed to get the money wagon back on the road and start gathering momentum once again.
Basic #1 Trust
Without trust you have no relationship with customers, employees, regulators and with the person you see in the mirror. We have shattered trust in investments, in executives, in politics and most importantly -- in the American way. It doesn't matter how many bail outs are made or stimulus packages approved, until trust is restored it will not have the desired effect. Wall St. knows it and Main St. knows it and we just need to convince Pennsylvania Ave of it.
Basic #2 Shortcuts are usually down the wrong paths
In our hurry to keep up the pace, we have taken shortcuts that have taken us down the wrong paths. Ethics are sacrificed to make more money. Universities are offered weekend MBA degrees that cheapen business schools to becoming degree mills. Microwave management means everything has to be fixed in three minutes. Our financial institutions were instructed to be an equal opportunity lender regardless of credit scores and bad loans went from a rising tide to a tsunami in a matter of months.
Doing your due diligence, investing the time to learn, and following sound policies are what will get us back in the right direction. No, we will not be able to careen down the highway at the same speed we were, but we should be able to return to a level of progress that is manageable and controllable.
That string of letters is our economic situation: A jumbled mess that is unrecognizable, totally confusing and frustrating.
But once you spend some time trying to find understandable patterns you find bits of information than suddenly become obvious. Once you find that first bit of recognition in that string of letters (irs) you gain confidence to venture forward a bit more and you discover the ymca. Once you get to ibm you easily figure out the rest of the recognizable bits of information and suddenly that string of letters no longer is mumbo jumbo.
Finding the solutions to growing in this economy is the same exercise: Look for familiar patterns and solutions. Business has been traveling at transonic speeds these last few years and we've been tripping over signs this economic wreck was coming and ignoring sound business practices until our armored car filled with cash ran off the road into a ditch. Now what?
It's time to regroup and return to the basics so we can take the steps needed to get the money wagon back on the road and start gathering momentum once again.
Basic #1 Trust
Without trust you have no relationship with customers, employees, regulators and with the person you see in the mirror. We have shattered trust in investments, in executives, in politics and most importantly -- in the American way. It doesn't matter how many bail outs are made or stimulus packages approved, until trust is restored it will not have the desired effect. Wall St. knows it and Main St. knows it and we just need to convince Pennsylvania Ave of it.
Basic #2 Shortcuts are usually down the wrong paths
In our hurry to keep up the pace, we have taken shortcuts that have taken us down the wrong paths. Ethics are sacrificed to make more money. Universities are offered weekend MBA degrees that cheapen business schools to becoming degree mills. Microwave management means everything has to be fixed in three minutes. Our financial institutions were instructed to be an equal opportunity lender regardless of credit scores and bad loans went from a rising tide to a tsunami in a matter of months.
Doing your due diligence, investing the time to learn, and following sound policies are what will get us back in the right direction. No, we will not be able to careen down the highway at the same speed we were, but we should be able to return to a level of progress that is manageable and controllable.
Monday, February 23, 2009
It's Not Just a Job -- It's an Adventure!
We all have options on how we approach the times we are living in. Leadership is still about inspiring excitement, enthusiasm and determination. Maybe now more than ever leaders need to take control and set the tone for the culture of their organizations.
Show me the love
Tough times can bring out the worst in people. Stress levels are high, worries are numerous and people are angry. Mix in some cold weather, gray skies and negative news in the morning paper and rage is just under the surface for millions of American customer and workers. It's a great opportunity to show some love and appreciation. Recently, I sent my long-term clients Peace Lilies to remind them I'm here to help them grow and to thank them for their business in these difficult times. It stood out and they knew it was sincere. It was a show of love that is in short supply.
Show the love to your customers.
If you have heavy customer walk in traffic, put a coffee pot in the lobby with some flavored creamers and a sign beside it -- "Although times are tough, we still, love you! Have a cup of Joe on us."
Show the love to your employees.
Take extra care to thank employees for coming to work. Thank them for their positive attitudes. Thank them for their hard work. During challenging times workplace appreciate counts double! Show the love.
Make conflict constructive
Because of the edge of emotion people are riding, conflicts are going to be meaner and happen more often. You can't just tell people to behave. It's in them and it has to come out. That's OK -- channel it.
Remind your entire workforce you are a solution-based organization and not a blame-based organization. Constructive conflict is a good thing. It's how innovation happens. It's how creativity is improved and it's how problems get solved. If you are successful at channeling conflict behavior into creating improvements in the workplace, in the interactions between employees and in the communications throughout the organization, you will benefit greatly from the conflicts that happen.
It's not just a job -- it's an adventure.
I remember that recruiting slogan for the military a while back and it applies perfectly to today's work environment. Do you know anyone who loves to go camping? I never go camping. I work hard to have a nice comfy bed with air conditioning and electricity and running water. I like those things. But I have friends who hike into the mountains, fight the bugs, freeze in tents and have restless sleep in a sleeping bag lying on the ground with no bathrooms, no electricity -- and they love it. Why? Because it's an adventure! Imagine if those same people will be thrown out of their homes and had to live like that for a while because they got laid off? Are they still all happy about camping? No, because the mindset is different. It's no longer camping -- it's hardship.
Which are you experiencing at work -- an adventure or a hardship? It's all in your mindset. That mindset will determine how you move forward this year in your efforts, commitments and drive. People like adventures because that are fun, unpredictable, exciting, and it is unstructured. One of my buddies has a camping story where a bear showed up at their camp site one night and sniffed the tent he was in trying unsuccessfully to sleep. He was scared to death and exhilarated at the same time, and it's his favorite story to tell. That is what adventure means -- scared to death and exhilarated at the same time!
Adventures are always challenging and adventurers live for the challenge and to overcome the obstacles of that challenge whether it is climbing Pike Peak, whitewater rafting the Colorado or backpacking into bear infested mountains. Can you feel the excitement?
On the other hand, hardships are oppressing, suppressing and depressing. They are something you hope to simply survive and make the best of a bad situation.
How are you looking at our economic times? Do you see the adventure or the hardship? Those who see it as an adventure will come out on the other side of this turmoil as a much better business leader and person, not to mention how much they will enjoy the journey. Embrace the adventure.
Show me the love
Tough times can bring out the worst in people. Stress levels are high, worries are numerous and people are angry. Mix in some cold weather, gray skies and negative news in the morning paper and rage is just under the surface for millions of American customer and workers. It's a great opportunity to show some love and appreciation. Recently, I sent my long-term clients Peace Lilies to remind them I'm here to help them grow and to thank them for their business in these difficult times. It stood out and they knew it was sincere. It was a show of love that is in short supply.
Show the love to your customers.
If you have heavy customer walk in traffic, put a coffee pot in the lobby with some flavored creamers and a sign beside it -- "Although times are tough, we still, love you! Have a cup of Joe on us."
Show the love to your employees.
Take extra care to thank employees for coming to work. Thank them for their positive attitudes. Thank them for their hard work. During challenging times workplace appreciate counts double! Show the love.
Make conflict constructive
Because of the edge of emotion people are riding, conflicts are going to be meaner and happen more often. You can't just tell people to behave. It's in them and it has to come out. That's OK -- channel it.
Remind your entire workforce you are a solution-based organization and not a blame-based organization. Constructive conflict is a good thing. It's how innovation happens. It's how creativity is improved and it's how problems get solved. If you are successful at channeling conflict behavior into creating improvements in the workplace, in the interactions between employees and in the communications throughout the organization, you will benefit greatly from the conflicts that happen.
It's not just a job -- it's an adventure.
I remember that recruiting slogan for the military a while back and it applies perfectly to today's work environment. Do you know anyone who loves to go camping? I never go camping. I work hard to have a nice comfy bed with air conditioning and electricity and running water. I like those things. But I have friends who hike into the mountains, fight the bugs, freeze in tents and have restless sleep in a sleeping bag lying on the ground with no bathrooms, no electricity -- and they love it. Why? Because it's an adventure! Imagine if those same people will be thrown out of their homes and had to live like that for a while because they got laid off? Are they still all happy about camping? No, because the mindset is different. It's no longer camping -- it's hardship.
Which are you experiencing at work -- an adventure or a hardship? It's all in your mindset. That mindset will determine how you move forward this year in your efforts, commitments and drive. People like adventures because that are fun, unpredictable, exciting, and it is unstructured. One of my buddies has a camping story where a bear showed up at their camp site one night and sniffed the tent he was in trying unsuccessfully to sleep. He was scared to death and exhilarated at the same time, and it's his favorite story to tell. That is what adventure means -- scared to death and exhilarated at the same time!
Adventures are always challenging and adventurers live for the challenge and to overcome the obstacles of that challenge whether it is climbing Pike Peak, whitewater rafting the Colorado or backpacking into bear infested mountains. Can you feel the excitement?
On the other hand, hardships are oppressing, suppressing and depressing. They are something you hope to simply survive and make the best of a bad situation.
How are you looking at our economic times? Do you see the adventure or the hardship? Those who see it as an adventure will come out on the other side of this turmoil as a much better business leader and person, not to mention how much they will enjoy the journey. Embrace the adventure.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Its Kick Ass Friday :10 Ways to Be Who They Can't Be
Forget coasting into the weekend, make today Kick Ass Friday and dominate the competition today.
I hear clients bemoan the competition all the time. The whining sounds like…They are bigger. They have larger budgets. They have more man power to get things done. They have a bigger market share. They. They. They.
Forget playing the game THEY play. Figure out what they are not doing and be the one to deliver that.
Answer these 10 questions for your organization and you will be who THEY wish they could be. After you make millions of dollars from the answers to these questions remember where you got it from and let me know about your success.
1. What is the marketing approach in your industry no one has tried yet? Do it.
2. What relationships do you want to establish your competition wish they had? Go for it.
3. What service could you improve to remarkable levels? No waiting, act today. In fact, right now.
4. What are the trends of your industry changes over the next five years and how could you be there next year? You have a full 8,760 hours to make it happen. Make it happen.
5. What is the most creative marketing idea you could smack the competition upside the head with? Think how good that would feel.
6. How could your salespeople out-smart, out-hustle, and out-maneuver everyone else in the industry? It's there for the taking. It's up to you how bad you want it.
7. What is the one product you produce or sell better than anyone else? Scream to the heavens about it like your hair was on fire.
8. What online technology hasn't reached your industry and how can you capitalize on that fact? Go find it because it's probably something you can do for free.
9. What is the biggest customer complaint about the competition? Be the superstar to those customers in that one area.
10. Where are you not giving your full effort and passion? Ask someone who reports to you and you'll get a better answer than the one you came up with – unless they are afraid for their job.
11. What are the next ten questions you need to ask yourself as a leader who needs to grow?
I hear clients bemoan the competition all the time. The whining sounds like…They are bigger. They have larger budgets. They have more man power to get things done. They have a bigger market share. They. They. They.
Forget playing the game THEY play. Figure out what they are not doing and be the one to deliver that.
Answer these 10 questions for your organization and you will be who THEY wish they could be. After you make millions of dollars from the answers to these questions remember where you got it from and let me know about your success.
1. What is the marketing approach in your industry no one has tried yet? Do it.
2. What relationships do you want to establish your competition wish they had? Go for it.
3. What service could you improve to remarkable levels? No waiting, act today. In fact, right now.
4. What are the trends of your industry changes over the next five years and how could you be there next year? You have a full 8,760 hours to make it happen. Make it happen.
5. What is the most creative marketing idea you could smack the competition upside the head with? Think how good that would feel.
6. How could your salespeople out-smart, out-hustle, and out-maneuver everyone else in the industry? It's there for the taking. It's up to you how bad you want it.
7. What is the one product you produce or sell better than anyone else? Scream to the heavens about it like your hair was on fire.
8. What online technology hasn't reached your industry and how can you capitalize on that fact? Go find it because it's probably something you can do for free.
9. What is the biggest customer complaint about the competition? Be the superstar to those customers in that one area.
10. Where are you not giving your full effort and passion? Ask someone who reports to you and you'll get a better answer than the one you came up with – unless they are afraid for their job.
11. What are the next ten questions you need to ask yourself as a leader who needs to grow?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
I Want My Mommy
I learned how to ride a bike by falling off my bike. I’d wobble down the street until I lost my balance and end up knee down in the street. After a number of times doing this I was determined to learn how to stop skinning my knees because it hurt!
Although, not knowing how to ride a bike and leaving it in the garage just wasn’t an option. Eventually, I learned how to ride and rode with reckless abandon and soon I loved riding my bike. I still fell off and got hurt at times but only when I was pushing the envelope of my skills and daring do.
The consequences of falling helped teach me the importance of learning to ride the right way. I didn’t like the hurt because I knew what the hurt felt like. Today we are creating a society and workplace that doesn’t understand the hurt. If you are protected from the consequences of your actions or someone swoops in and removes the pain from you by bailing you out – what did you learn? Did you learn to ride your bike or call for your mommy? We are becoming a society crying for their mommies.
Every watch someone hit their thumb with a hammer? Who do you think learned the better lesson about hammers and thumbs; the guy who felt the pain or you watching the guy in pain?
Most successful entrepreneurs have had a failed business attempt in the past, in fact many reached the point of being penniless and bankrupt, yet they came back with a resounding success the second or third time because of the painful lessons learned the first time. What if they had been prevented from that first failure, would they have learned those lessons that created their later success? Ask them and they will tell you no. Mommy saving you doesn't teach you anything.
To grow your business, it’s time to remove the mommy strings from your organization and your employees. In these scary times, playing it safe is sure failure and a good way to lose your bike. You have to take some measured risks to be successful. Small failures and injuries such as skinned knees are part of the learning process and the growing process. In order to grow and improve your organization you need to allow for lessons to be learned.
Make today Thursday’s Lessons day and invite your employees to offer new ideas to try new things and sure there is going to be a skinned knee in the process but the benefit to your organization over all will be far greater. And will no longer need to count on your mommy.
Although, not knowing how to ride a bike and leaving it in the garage just wasn’t an option. Eventually, I learned how to ride and rode with reckless abandon and soon I loved riding my bike. I still fell off and got hurt at times but only when I was pushing the envelope of my skills and daring do.
The consequences of falling helped teach me the importance of learning to ride the right way. I didn’t like the hurt because I knew what the hurt felt like. Today we are creating a society and workplace that doesn’t understand the hurt. If you are protected from the consequences of your actions or someone swoops in and removes the pain from you by bailing you out – what did you learn? Did you learn to ride your bike or call for your mommy? We are becoming a society crying for their mommies.
Every watch someone hit their thumb with a hammer? Who do you think learned the better lesson about hammers and thumbs; the guy who felt the pain or you watching the guy in pain?
Most successful entrepreneurs have had a failed business attempt in the past, in fact many reached the point of being penniless and bankrupt, yet they came back with a resounding success the second or third time because of the painful lessons learned the first time. What if they had been prevented from that first failure, would they have learned those lessons that created their later success? Ask them and they will tell you no. Mommy saving you doesn't teach you anything.
To grow your business, it’s time to remove the mommy strings from your organization and your employees. In these scary times, playing it safe is sure failure and a good way to lose your bike. You have to take some measured risks to be successful. Small failures and injuries such as skinned knees are part of the learning process and the growing process. In order to grow and improve your organization you need to allow for lessons to be learned.
Make today Thursday’s Lessons day and invite your employees to offer new ideas to try new things and sure there is going to be a skinned knee in the process but the benefit to your organization over all will be far greater. And will no longer need to count on your mommy.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
You Suck!
Last night at the hockey game during the introductions of the opposing team, after each player’s name was announced some fans would holler “You suck” until the last player was announced and the fans chanted “You suck, too!” By the third period of the game and the home team up 3 – 0 a few fans were heckling the opposing team’s goalie with three chants of his name and then a loud “You suck!” During a break in play the goalie came over to where the hecklers were sitting and made a gesture toward them. Then the fans started chanting “We’re in your head!”
Can you imagine having a bad day at the office and dozens of people hollering at you “You suck”? Can you imagine making a significant mistake like letting the competition score a client (goal) and hundreds of people started booing you? Sports spectators can be brutal, and that behavior is making its way into the workplace as well.
Managers are calling down employees with harsh behavior, in some instances threatening their jobs if they don’t improve. Employees are challenging each other and pointing fingers toward each other. We have become a society who wanting zero defects, which are tense over the economy and insecure in our futures and are quick to point out where someone else failed.
Leaders need to recognize these challenging economic times are causing insecure behaviors in the workplace that could have lasting damage if not controlled immediately. Do you think one of those fans standing on his own with no glass protection between him and that goalie would still scream in his ear “You suck”? No, the protection of the glass and having other fans join in with them allows everyone to vent their anger. It becomes a culture. Leaders need to protect healthy work cultures so they are not taken into a “You suck” direction.
Now is the time for people in the workplace to tighten their connections, create a solution-focused environment instead of a blame-focused environment. Those leaders who replace the “You suck” culture with another sports chant: “You da Man (Woman)” culture is going to have more secure workers more focused on making improvements instead of sending each other to counseling or retribution behavior.
Can you imagine having a bad day at the office and dozens of people hollering at you “You suck”? Can you imagine making a significant mistake like letting the competition score a client (goal) and hundreds of people started booing you? Sports spectators can be brutal, and that behavior is making its way into the workplace as well.
Managers are calling down employees with harsh behavior, in some instances threatening their jobs if they don’t improve. Employees are challenging each other and pointing fingers toward each other. We have become a society who wanting zero defects, which are tense over the economy and insecure in our futures and are quick to point out where someone else failed.
Leaders need to recognize these challenging economic times are causing insecure behaviors in the workplace that could have lasting damage if not controlled immediately. Do you think one of those fans standing on his own with no glass protection between him and that goalie would still scream in his ear “You suck”? No, the protection of the glass and having other fans join in with them allows everyone to vent their anger. It becomes a culture. Leaders need to protect healthy work cultures so they are not taken into a “You suck” direction.
Now is the time for people in the workplace to tighten their connections, create a solution-focused environment instead of a blame-focused environment. Those leaders who replace the “You suck” culture with another sports chant: “You da Man (Woman)” culture is going to have more secure workers more focused on making improvements instead of sending each other to counseling or retribution behavior.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Have You Lost Your Identity?
So many companies are trying to be all things to all people and they end up being nothing for nobody. They have no clearly defined culture because it is totally fractured into mini-segments trying to serve the masses. They also no longer are able to differentiate themselves from the rest of the competition and are considered by customers to be a commodity.
Where is the appeal?
Where is the uniqueness?
When do you find passion is such organizations?
I see leaders making the same mistake in these recessionary times. They want to blend in, they are willing to do whatever the boss wants and conform to whatever the organization says because of fear of being the renegade, drawing attention to one’s self and being let go.
Renegades are what we need now more than ever!
We need leaders to break from the pack and try new things. We need renegades to shake things up and let go of the status quo that got us here in the first place. Leaders need to create their own identities and unique differentiations to stand out to customers and following employees. Uniqueness creates passion and passion creates commitment and commitment creates new ideas to solve problems. Now is the time to claim your identity as an organization and as a leader.
Overcome the desensitization
If you see enough ads on TV they all begin to blend together and become meaningless. If you see enough action in a movie there no longer is the spike of adrenaline from yet another car chase. We are becoming very desensitized to what we witness daily as a society and especially in the workplace.
As a leader you must reinvigorate a desensitized workforce!
Call a stand up meeting of employees to get them involved in solving a particular problem they've never had input on before yet deal with the problem regularly. Involve some of your front line employees in gathering ideas for a new customer contact campaign. Ask employees to suggest ways to stand out in the service to your customers. The key is to try new things and create a work culture that has meaning and importance.
Create your identity in the marketplace!
Stop being one of the pack!
Be the unique leader of a unique organization!
Most work cultures today don’t inspire employees to act, only to hide and blend in. Inspire your employees by creating some uniqueness in your organization and begin the process of building momentum for the emerging economy. Sales may be stagnant and orders may be off, but now is the time to be the renegade and out run your competition – by recapturing the real you and giving your organization a real identity.
Where is the appeal?
Where is the uniqueness?
When do you find passion is such organizations?
I see leaders making the same mistake in these recessionary times. They want to blend in, they are willing to do whatever the boss wants and conform to whatever the organization says because of fear of being the renegade, drawing attention to one’s self and being let go.
Renegades are what we need now more than ever!
We need leaders to break from the pack and try new things. We need renegades to shake things up and let go of the status quo that got us here in the first place. Leaders need to create their own identities and unique differentiations to stand out to customers and following employees. Uniqueness creates passion and passion creates commitment and commitment creates new ideas to solve problems. Now is the time to claim your identity as an organization and as a leader.
Overcome the desensitization
If you see enough ads on TV they all begin to blend together and become meaningless. If you see enough action in a movie there no longer is the spike of adrenaline from yet another car chase. We are becoming very desensitized to what we witness daily as a society and especially in the workplace.
As a leader you must reinvigorate a desensitized workforce!
Call a stand up meeting of employees to get them involved in solving a particular problem they've never had input on before yet deal with the problem regularly. Involve some of your front line employees in gathering ideas for a new customer contact campaign. Ask employees to suggest ways to stand out in the service to your customers. The key is to try new things and create a work culture that has meaning and importance.
Create your identity in the marketplace!
Stop being one of the pack!
Be the unique leader of a unique organization!
Most work cultures today don’t inspire employees to act, only to hide and blend in. Inspire your employees by creating some uniqueness in your organization and begin the process of building momentum for the emerging economy. Sales may be stagnant and orders may be off, but now is the time to be the renegade and out run your competition – by recapturing the real you and giving your organization a real identity.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
A Shark Won’t Let You Park
The average American watches 30 plus hours of television in week. That's a little over four hours a day parked on the couch, letting your mind idle making no progress to be better. Ever wonder if your life feels stale? Maybe it's time to turn off the TV and get into some shark infested waters.
The Japanese population enjoys fish as a steady diet, and to feed this population fishing boats had to venture further and with larger holding tanks to catch enough fish. Freezing the caught fish wasn't an option as frozen fish doesn't suit the Japanese palate. So the problem facing the fishing industry was how to transport large holds of fish without the fish arriving stale tasting. The fish in these large holding tanks on the boats for days became listless and sluggish without a predator in the tank and actually tasted poorly and people stopped buying fish.
So how did the fishing industry solve this problem? They put a shark in the holding tank on the ships. Although the sharks would eat their small share of the caught fish in the tank, the rest of the fish would arrive alert, and quite lively, and yes, very tasty.
We are creatures of habit. If our habits are sitting on the couch watching TV, then we are embracing listlessness and our minds dull in the process. Put a challenge in your life and you will be livelier, alert, and be able to rise to overcome more obstacles.
What shark do you want in your tank?
The Japanese population enjoys fish as a steady diet, and to feed this population fishing boats had to venture further and with larger holding tanks to catch enough fish. Freezing the caught fish wasn't an option as frozen fish doesn't suit the Japanese palate. So the problem facing the fishing industry was how to transport large holds of fish without the fish arriving stale tasting. The fish in these large holding tanks on the boats for days became listless and sluggish without a predator in the tank and actually tasted poorly and people stopped buying fish.
So how did the fishing industry solve this problem? They put a shark in the holding tank on the ships. Although the sharks would eat their small share of the caught fish in the tank, the rest of the fish would arrive alert, and quite lively, and yes, very tasty.
We are creatures of habit. If our habits are sitting on the couch watching TV, then we are embracing listlessness and our minds dull in the process. Put a challenge in your life and you will be livelier, alert, and be able to rise to overcome more obstacles.
What shark do you want in your tank?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Creating The Insider: Every Customer Wants "In"
Back in the dark ages I owned record albums with “hidden” soundtracks and “backmasking.” Monty Python’s Matching Tie and Handkerchief album had a second, or “hidden,” groove on one side of the album that only played if the stylus hit it accidentally. We called this the “third side” of the album.
The Beatles White album has a message recorded backwards under the song Revolution Number 9. I had access to a radio studio turntable, so I could play the album backwards and hear what the words really said. These were the surprise prizes that were shared from person to person; the “inside” information made us feel in the know, clever for having figured it out, and part of a special crowd.
DVDs now do the same thing with Easter Eggs. They are exciting to discover, and the customer feels special and rewarded. And the best part for the customer -- sharing the “secret” with someone else! For example, the Cars DVD has hidden treasures aficionados enjoy. If you’ve seen “Boundin’ with Mater,” you are an Insider!
What are you doing to create the buzz of word of mouth marketing for your surprise prizes?
Do you know about the “secret menu” at In and Out Burger? Have it “Animal Style!” Are you a Maker’s Mark Ambassador with your own barrel of private stock bourbon? Now you want to be an Insider don’t you?
Define the “Insider”
Insider: A customer who feels special. A customer possessing special knowledge. A customer who has been given a unique and remarkable gift. A person who resists the invasion of the masses.
Insiders are going to be the best salespeople you have -- and they will sell your company and products for free, and with greater enthusiasm than many in your paid sales force. With the speed information now travels across the Internet, a single person can create a tidal wave of information and buzz!
Create the “Insider”
Resist the temptation to overexpose an Insider opportunity. Let your customers do it for you! Avoid publicity. This flies in the face of conventional marketing wisdom, which is, in fact, its special power. It is non-conventional. It creates selectivity. Here are steps to consider in creating your Insider:
1. Define who you want to “qualify”
Who you want to qualify establishes your parameters. Are you looking to create buzz through a “membership” program? Correct mistakes overwhelmingly? Let your customers create the “inside” information? Have customers occasionally have discoveries and tell others where to find them? Your Insiders need to reflect the culture you are creating with your organization and products.
Maker’s Mark is a small distributor of high quality bourbon that is worth the extra expense to their clientele. Maker’s Mark’s “Ambassador” program is focused on those loyalists who want to be part of the Maker’s Mark family. Both the company and the loyal customer like the family feel and status identification of their product.
2. The discovery
Insiders love the discovery. It’s the surprise prize. The discovery has to be exciting, remarkable, and of value. In the early days of HBO, the movie channel used to offer a gift movie at midnight one night during the end of year holidays. In the listing it simply listed it as “movie” with no fanfare or promotion. One year, it was the movie Ghostbusters, which was a real surprise because it hadn’t been released on videotape and was barely out of the theaters. The unexpected discovery was exciting! I got to tell everyone the next day what they missed. I was an Insider who got a treat others missed out on! The discovery creates buzz, creates scarcity and makes the Insider feel special.
3. The gift
Maker’s Mark sends gifts unannounced. They just appear in my mailbox. Surprise! They are always gifts of quality that I can display, use and share with friends and are linked to the use of their product.
Some are gifts of immediate practical value such as engraved glasses and stirrers, and some are gifts of prestige. I’m proud to say there is a barrel of Maker’s Mark in their warehouse with my name on it. It’s a gift of recognition that my “Ambassador” status has significance.
I received a certificate announcing the birth of my barrel. I receive updates on its progress. My barrel will not be ready to be tapped for 7 years (how’s that for anticipation marketing!) -- and notice how I say it is “MY” barrel. Roughly 18 names are on the 50-gallon barrel, but it’s mine! I can even have special engraved bottles made to share with friends. The extra expense for these VIP bottles? Who cares -- I look like I am “The Man!” giving those away. This is what most Insiders value: the peer recognition of owning such a gift. I have given some of my Insiders golf towels from Augusta National, home of the Masters. It’s not the towel -- it’s the comments from their friends that are the gifts.
4. The access pass
Insiders like special access. Whether it’s the password to a special website page or access to a “forbidden zone,” Insiders like the special treatment. On a distillery tour, the tour guide decided to take the small group where “we really shouldn’t go” through a door that read “No Unauthorized Admittance.” The buzz of the group at the end of the tour was being able to see behind the scenes.
It was doing the forbidden that made us feel special. It’s the backstage pass. It’s the press credential to get onto the field. All insiders want to feel special. It’s what we tell our friends about.
5. Keep it fresh
McDonald’s Happy Meals regularly change the toy inside with savvy movie tie-ins. The kids may not be in the driver’s seat but they make the fast food selection. They are the Insiders who were able to get the “limited edition” Mater toy.
You need to keep your Insider’s attention fresh. Your Insiders want to be intrigued. If every year you send out pocket knives (as one of my vendors still does), they lose their appeal. Since I fly so much, a pocket knife is now actually undesirable because if I forget it’s part of my normal pocket contents, not only will I lose it at airport security but I now have the inconvenience of getting pulled for a special security check. I no longer feel special. The vendor is no longer in touch with my needs, therefore I no longer feel like an Insider.
Insiders want to be appreciated, pampered and know the company is in tune with them. The minute you lose freshness with your Insiders they will feel less appreciated.
6. Listen to the Insiders for what they create
If your organization is lucky enough, your customers will create their own Insider information (I mean the good kind.) Nothing is better than word of mouth you never had to initiate. It’s information that takes on a life of its own. Be familiar with the buzz, enjoy it, and work to keep it for Insiders only without trying to overly capitalize on it. Why?
7. How to lose Insider buzz
A. Allowing the masses in.
Waffle House once had its Insider lingo: Scattered, Smothered, and Covered. It was the inside way to get special treatment to your hash browns for the after-midnight crowd. Word traveled fast about the lingo, and people knew there were options but not sure what they meant. Sadly, now some menus actually explain the words’ meaning and promote those options. Insiders no longer feel part of the inside few because now everyone is an Insider.
You will lose your Insider once the masses become the Insiders and the buzz will be lost.
B. Easy entry premium clubs
Airlines have their premium clubs trying to make frequent flyers feel special but the clubs have lost much of their meaning. What good is early boarding for premium club members if 85 percent of the passengers are in the club? What good are upgrades to first class seating if, as a flight attendant told me, the bean counters are removing 25 percent of the first class seats and replacing them with coach seats to make more money once they realized 25 percent of first class seats were being filled with premium upgrades? Thanks, USAirways! Now I feel so special!
A premium club has no meaning unless it has scarcity.
What are your scarcity items Insiders crave? What is the Top Secret information only given to Insiders? How are your customers creating buzz about your company or products? What are you allowing Insiders to discover? It’s the multi-million dollar marketing advantage you need to get in on.
The Beatles White album has a message recorded backwards under the song Revolution Number 9. I had access to a radio studio turntable, so I could play the album backwards and hear what the words really said. These were the surprise prizes that were shared from person to person; the “inside” information made us feel in the know, clever for having figured it out, and part of a special crowd.
DVDs now do the same thing with Easter Eggs. They are exciting to discover, and the customer feels special and rewarded. And the best part for the customer -- sharing the “secret” with someone else! For example, the Cars DVD has hidden treasures aficionados enjoy. If you’ve seen “Boundin’ with Mater,” you are an Insider!
What are you doing to create the buzz of word of mouth marketing for your surprise prizes?
Do you know about the “secret menu” at In and Out Burger? Have it “Animal Style!” Are you a Maker’s Mark Ambassador with your own barrel of private stock bourbon? Now you want to be an Insider don’t you?
Define the “Insider”
Insider: A customer who feels special. A customer possessing special knowledge. A customer who has been given a unique and remarkable gift. A person who resists the invasion of the masses.
Insiders are going to be the best salespeople you have -- and they will sell your company and products for free, and with greater enthusiasm than many in your paid sales force. With the speed information now travels across the Internet, a single person can create a tidal wave of information and buzz!
Create the “Insider”
Resist the temptation to overexpose an Insider opportunity. Let your customers do it for you! Avoid publicity. This flies in the face of conventional marketing wisdom, which is, in fact, its special power. It is non-conventional. It creates selectivity. Here are steps to consider in creating your Insider:
1. Define who you want to “qualify”
Who you want to qualify establishes your parameters. Are you looking to create buzz through a “membership” program? Correct mistakes overwhelmingly? Let your customers create the “inside” information? Have customers occasionally have discoveries and tell others where to find them? Your Insiders need to reflect the culture you are creating with your organization and products.
Maker’s Mark is a small distributor of high quality bourbon that is worth the extra expense to their clientele. Maker’s Mark’s “Ambassador” program is focused on those loyalists who want to be part of the Maker’s Mark family. Both the company and the loyal customer like the family feel and status identification of their product.
2. The discovery
Insiders love the discovery. It’s the surprise prize. The discovery has to be exciting, remarkable, and of value. In the early days of HBO, the movie channel used to offer a gift movie at midnight one night during the end of year holidays. In the listing it simply listed it as “movie” with no fanfare or promotion. One year, it was the movie Ghostbusters, which was a real surprise because it hadn’t been released on videotape and was barely out of the theaters. The unexpected discovery was exciting! I got to tell everyone the next day what they missed. I was an Insider who got a treat others missed out on! The discovery creates buzz, creates scarcity and makes the Insider feel special.
3. The gift
Maker’s Mark sends gifts unannounced. They just appear in my mailbox. Surprise! They are always gifts of quality that I can display, use and share with friends and are linked to the use of their product.
Some are gifts of immediate practical value such as engraved glasses and stirrers, and some are gifts of prestige. I’m proud to say there is a barrel of Maker’s Mark in their warehouse with my name on it. It’s a gift of recognition that my “Ambassador” status has significance.
I received a certificate announcing the birth of my barrel. I receive updates on its progress. My barrel will not be ready to be tapped for 7 years (how’s that for anticipation marketing!) -- and notice how I say it is “MY” barrel. Roughly 18 names are on the 50-gallon barrel, but it’s mine! I can even have special engraved bottles made to share with friends. The extra expense for these VIP bottles? Who cares -- I look like I am “The Man!” giving those away. This is what most Insiders value: the peer recognition of owning such a gift. I have given some of my Insiders golf towels from Augusta National, home of the Masters. It’s not the towel -- it’s the comments from their friends that are the gifts.
4. The access pass
Insiders like special access. Whether it’s the password to a special website page or access to a “forbidden zone,” Insiders like the special treatment. On a distillery tour, the tour guide decided to take the small group where “we really shouldn’t go” through a door that read “No Unauthorized Admittance.” The buzz of the group at the end of the tour was being able to see behind the scenes.
It was doing the forbidden that made us feel special. It’s the backstage pass. It’s the press credential to get onto the field. All insiders want to feel special. It’s what we tell our friends about.
5. Keep it fresh
McDonald’s Happy Meals regularly change the toy inside with savvy movie tie-ins. The kids may not be in the driver’s seat but they make the fast food selection. They are the Insiders who were able to get the “limited edition” Mater toy.
You need to keep your Insider’s attention fresh. Your Insiders want to be intrigued. If every year you send out pocket knives (as one of my vendors still does), they lose their appeal. Since I fly so much, a pocket knife is now actually undesirable because if I forget it’s part of my normal pocket contents, not only will I lose it at airport security but I now have the inconvenience of getting pulled for a special security check. I no longer feel special. The vendor is no longer in touch with my needs, therefore I no longer feel like an Insider.
Insiders want to be appreciated, pampered and know the company is in tune with them. The minute you lose freshness with your Insiders they will feel less appreciated.
6. Listen to the Insiders for what they create
If your organization is lucky enough, your customers will create their own Insider information (I mean the good kind.) Nothing is better than word of mouth you never had to initiate. It’s information that takes on a life of its own. Be familiar with the buzz, enjoy it, and work to keep it for Insiders only without trying to overly capitalize on it. Why?
7. How to lose Insider buzz
A. Allowing the masses in.
Waffle House once had its Insider lingo: Scattered, Smothered, and Covered. It was the inside way to get special treatment to your hash browns for the after-midnight crowd. Word traveled fast about the lingo, and people knew there were options but not sure what they meant. Sadly, now some menus actually explain the words’ meaning and promote those options. Insiders no longer feel part of the inside few because now everyone is an Insider.
You will lose your Insider once the masses become the Insiders and the buzz will be lost.
B. Easy entry premium clubs
Airlines have their premium clubs trying to make frequent flyers feel special but the clubs have lost much of their meaning. What good is early boarding for premium club members if 85 percent of the passengers are in the club? What good are upgrades to first class seating if, as a flight attendant told me, the bean counters are removing 25 percent of the first class seats and replacing them with coach seats to make more money once they realized 25 percent of first class seats were being filled with premium upgrades? Thanks, USAirways! Now I feel so special!
A premium club has no meaning unless it has scarcity.
What are your scarcity items Insiders crave? What is the Top Secret information only given to Insiders? How are your customers creating buzz about your company or products? What are you allowing Insiders to discover? It’s the multi-million dollar marketing advantage you need to get in on.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Step Forward or Run Scared
Right now companies are falling into two different camps on how they view the economy. Which group do you think has more members in it? Which group do you think has a better chance of corporate growth in 2009? Which group are you leading your organization toward?
Run scared
This is the group that will sit back, wait and see then hope a light at the end of the tunnel appears soon. This is the common choice, this is the choice for those companies who desire (Based on their actions) to be a commodity, a middle of the pack company who have no interest in attracting more customers and are more interested in just letting the economy buoy or sink their bottom line. These organizations have executives and boards of directors looking at budgets with Samurai swords looking to slash costs, worried how their organization is going to fare and essentially looking at the next 12 months with the expectation of how hard it’s going to be to just sustain. They collectively shake their heads about how bad “everything” is. They have accepted they are staring at a hill too big to climb and would rather run scared than run up the hill to move forward.
Step forward
The few leaders who honestly believe in the core of their being they can make 2009 a great year for profits are rolling up their sleeves, laughing at the competition and getting ready to make quantum leaps in their industries. Instead of taking out the Samurai swords to slash budgets, they are planning and making strategic choices on how to spend MORE money on development, advertising and innovation. How can they afford to take this approach?
Lance Armstrong is a fast racer but everyone else in the peloton could keep up with his pace in almost all stages of the Tour de France. Where Lance became unbeatable and won each of his 7 Tour De France races was in the mountain stages. He knew in the roughest terrain in the most challenging stages, was his opportunity to move forward. To take control. To teach the competition that in the toughest stages the best was able to gain great ground and move forward to be the leader of the pack.
Those companies who are looking to run forward in 2009 know that this is the year to make those hard decisions to invest time talent and finances in making great steps forward. While the rest of the pack is thinking negative thoughts on the way up the mountain, the best leaders are thinking about how they are gaining a competitive advantage.
Was it purely mindset that put Lance Armstrong in the lead in the mountain stages? No, the mindset was the foundation of the preparation, the planning, the diligence, and the hard work. He knew it would pay off dividends after the first race it worked. Great leaders know the payoff when an opportunity like 2009 comes along. Do you? Are you ready to set you mind and follow with your actions to step forward?
Have you ever seen this behavior before in your life? Sure. These are the students in school who are always hoping for a teacher curve to adjust test scores so enough people will get a passing grade. These are the football players who show up for practice every day, go through their work outs knowing that are not going to start in the big game and they’ve accepted that spot on the sidelines. When the team wins they are happy! When the team loses they drop their heads to listen to the coach’s locker room comments just like those who actually played the game.
Run scared
This is the group that will sit back, wait and see then hope a light at the end of the tunnel appears soon. This is the common choice, this is the choice for those companies who desire (Based on their actions) to be a commodity, a middle of the pack company who have no interest in attracting more customers and are more interested in just letting the economy buoy or sink their bottom line. These organizations have executives and boards of directors looking at budgets with Samurai swords looking to slash costs, worried how their organization is going to fare and essentially looking at the next 12 months with the expectation of how hard it’s going to be to just sustain. They collectively shake their heads about how bad “everything” is. They have accepted they are staring at a hill too big to climb and would rather run scared than run up the hill to move forward.
Step forward
The few leaders who honestly believe in the core of their being they can make 2009 a great year for profits are rolling up their sleeves, laughing at the competition and getting ready to make quantum leaps in their industries. Instead of taking out the Samurai swords to slash budgets, they are planning and making strategic choices on how to spend MORE money on development, advertising and innovation. How can they afford to take this approach?
Lance Armstrong is a fast racer but everyone else in the peloton could keep up with his pace in almost all stages of the Tour de France. Where Lance became unbeatable and won each of his 7 Tour De France races was in the mountain stages. He knew in the roughest terrain in the most challenging stages, was his opportunity to move forward. To take control. To teach the competition that in the toughest stages the best was able to gain great ground and move forward to be the leader of the pack.
Those companies who are looking to run forward in 2009 know that this is the year to make those hard decisions to invest time talent and finances in making great steps forward. While the rest of the pack is thinking negative thoughts on the way up the mountain, the best leaders are thinking about how they are gaining a competitive advantage.
Was it purely mindset that put Lance Armstrong in the lead in the mountain stages? No, the mindset was the foundation of the preparation, the planning, the diligence, and the hard work. He knew it would pay off dividends after the first race it worked. Great leaders know the payoff when an opportunity like 2009 comes along. Do you? Are you ready to set you mind and follow with your actions to step forward?
Have you ever seen this behavior before in your life? Sure. These are the students in school who are always hoping for a teacher curve to adjust test scores so enough people will get a passing grade. These are the football players who show up for practice every day, go through their work outs knowing that are not going to start in the big game and they’ve accepted that spot on the sidelines. When the team wins they are happy! When the team loses they drop their heads to listen to the coach’s locker room comments just like those who actually played the game.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Mine, Mine, Mine!!!
Those words were once the domain of the sea gulls in the movie Finding Nemo and a 2-year old learning how to play well with others. Who knew it would be the cry from corner offices atop large downtown office buildings.
Although I disagree with President Obama’s cap on TARP-receiving corporate CEO’s, sometimes you have to protect people from themselves when they don’t know any better. The free market system only works when there are self-governing checks and balances. Trust is the foundation of the free market for it to run successfully.
Oil companies having record profits with triple digit price increases, executive compensation in the 8 figures during blood-letting bottom line years, and athletes rejecting annual salaries of $25 million to play a silly game says the “Mine, mine , mine” game needs placed under control and those playing that game put in a time out.
Business who want to restore order to our economy and business environment have to understand that the first step isn’t refilling the credit buckets so loans can once again be made, it isn’t going to happen by creating infrastructure-building jobs, and it isn’t going to happen because Congress says so.
The only way to restore a long standing, growing, economy is to begin by restoring trust to those who lead the economy. Once the public again has faith in our governmental, corporate, and local leaders then we can build a strong business foundation. This will take years and lots of hard work and cleansing of people from jobs who no longer deserve the positions they have abused.
Begin the process of restored trust and we begin the process of restoring the lifestyle we love in this country.
Although I disagree with President Obama’s cap on TARP-receiving corporate CEO’s, sometimes you have to protect people from themselves when they don’t know any better. The free market system only works when there are self-governing checks and balances. Trust is the foundation of the free market for it to run successfully.
Oil companies having record profits with triple digit price increases, executive compensation in the 8 figures during blood-letting bottom line years, and athletes rejecting annual salaries of $25 million to play a silly game says the “Mine, mine , mine” game needs placed under control and those playing that game put in a time out.
Business who want to restore order to our economy and business environment have to understand that the first step isn’t refilling the credit buckets so loans can once again be made, it isn’t going to happen by creating infrastructure-building jobs, and it isn’t going to happen because Congress says so.
The only way to restore a long standing, growing, economy is to begin by restoring trust to those who lead the economy. Once the public again has faith in our governmental, corporate, and local leaders then we can build a strong business foundation. This will take years and lots of hard work and cleansing of people from jobs who no longer deserve the positions they have abused.
Begin the process of restored trust and we begin the process of restoring the lifestyle we love in this country.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Scary Wins in Scary Times
Industries are shrinking, profits are getting smaller and the global competition is getting scary good. You have three options on how to go forward.
A. Close the doors, give up and curl up into the fetal position and hope everything gets better – eventually.
B. Continue doing what has worked for the last 20 years because it has always served you well to this point
C. Get scary in these scary times
The NEW economy is here and to grow and thrive requires a different approach to employees, customers and how and what you offer in the marketplace. But first a few scary statistics.
One in ever five people lives in China. With 1.3 billion people, China has 20% of all of humanity within its borders.
India’s prime minister has committed the next big wave of government investment into higher education with the goal of producing over 500 million technology skilled workers by 2022.
The entire population of the United States is 300 million.
When you have 20% of humanity on this planet within your borders, you have a workforce size that is indomitable. China is beginning to emerge on the global scale as a corporate player not for lowest cost minimal quality goods as we have seen in the past, but with top quality goods and the commitment to play the business game better than anyone else. That also means they will have the buying power and resource demand to completely reinvent global competition. If you saw the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics, you know with practice and commitment this country can mobilize and synchronize a juggernaut of immense proportions.
As far as GDP or purchase power parity based on 2006 data:
United States $13.13 trillion
European Union $13.06 trillion
China $10.17 trillion
This is the foundation of the new economy where the US is fast being approached by the competition which means all businesses need to adopt the Olympic slogan of “Faster, higher, stronger.”
You might be thinking this only applies to Fortune 500 companies who are multi-national organizations what does this have to do with my small business? Are you aware small businesses (less than 500 employees) make up 99.7% of businesses in the United States? Were you also aware that small businesses employee over 50% of the American workforce? Small businesses are the engine that drives this country and the global economy and competition have everything to do with your business!
If you’ve recently filled your tank on your car, gone to the grocery store, watched the news on television or picked up a newspaper you know we are in different, some would call scary, times. So Mr. Business owner, entrepreneur, executive how do you react? Do those first two responses offered previously in this article inspire employees and encourage customers? Of course not, yet they are becoming a common scene across the business landscape in this country because business leadership is running scared.
Don’t be scared – just get scary. Scary wins in scary times because traditional well-worn efforts no longer work in this new economy so leadership needs to make the commitment to try scary steps in order to win in these scary times.
Scary Sales
Having a sales staff of order takers calling on the same customers hoping for renewed orders is old school that functioned satisfactorily in the good times of the 90’s. It’s a new economy that requires sales staffs to be high energy, product smart and prospect savvy. High energy is a must for the salesperson to be able to expend the needed energy and effort daily to locate the best opportunities, dial in the best approach to get to the decision maker and leave them breathless with the opportunity being presented. Does your sale staff have this attitude? This standard for every sales opportunity presented? Are your sales people ready to ramp up the effort and energy level at least three notches in order to compete?
High energy will get sales people in the door and potentially to the right person but it won’t close the deal. They also need to be product savants. One sales man in one of my audiences stopped me in my presentation to tell me he offers thousands of products to customers, it is impossible for him to know them all in detail. How true he is! A person selling thousands of products is nothing but a walking catalog. That is useless today! Get rid of your sales force, put all the products and descriptions on your website, post an order form and tickle the customers with an email once in a while if that’s all you want your sales people to do. It won’t work but you will sure save on your labor cost!
Sales people today need to know their products as if they invented it themselves. They need to know the applications for each customer, the potential challenges, the proper pricing, and billing schedule that best suits the customer and be able to answer any question the prospect or customer has, without the BS lights flashing and horns sounding.
Run free trials, do experimentation with the customer, assist them with their R&D efforts and identify better ways to use the products more efficiently before the customer even asks to be able to. In other words, provide a “Shock and Awe” campaign in your sales efforts. You may have to actually add more sales people to accomplish this, and you will for sure have to add more training for your sales people. Is that a scary thing to do in this economy? You bet it is, and it’s what you have to do to win, that is if you want to win.
Scary Leadership
I’ve been hearing for ten years about the multi-generational workforce, and how people are so different and how the younger age workers just don’t have the same work ethic as we boomers and geezers had and no loyalty, blah, blah blah. Business executives are still trying to cram the workforce of the new millennium into a 1950’s style of management box. It doesn’t work! So why do they keep trying? Because it’s what they know and what they understand and what worked for them for a long time. And, the new ideas scare them.
Scary leadership involved removing time clocks and time sheets and expecting people to get their work done and accomplish what they need to do. It involves offering a flex time schedule that truly means flexibility! Organizations who offer day care services, gym membership benefits, time off with pay to experiment on new ideas and projects are doing the scary stuff and making it profitable. Who needs an annual review when you are giving weekly performance feedback and developing better habits and practices along the way? Scary leaders don’t wait for job openings to find new employees, they are in a constant talent search and when someone with top talent is located they hire that person and then find the right fit for them in the organization.
One of my clients had it all figured out. Their conference room didn’t have a table it had a bar, complete with a keg and a tap that operated by pass key that everyone had to get in and out of the buildings. On the bar sat a name tent that read: This is a conference table. Many evenings a week the CEO, department managers and shift leaders of this call center would gather for a “meeting” in the conference room and no one had more than two beers and the conversations hardly ever revolved around sports, or jokes or idle chit chat. It was all about business. How many accounts they sold, what the wait times were, how many customers they handled on this account, how many new people were signed up, what problems they dealt with and victories they wanted to celebrate. These guys were all young guns and they worked hard, had high energy and were savvy about customer development and employee management. In over 25 years in the workplace, those were the most constructive, beneficial and profitable management meetings I’ve ever witnessed. It was leading in the new way. A year later the entrepreneur sold his company to a large holding company and one of the first steps they took was removing the bar and analyzing the financial reports for ways to cut costs. Sadly but predictably, that company immediately lost revenue, profits and their best talent. The new ideas scared them. The employee freedom scared them. They just couldn’t allow themselves to be scary leaders because it was too much to expect from people stuck in the past and doomed for the future.
The responsibility of business owners and executives is to legally do what it takes to stay on the cutting edge and make the organization the best it can be for the employees, stock holders and customers, no matter how scary it can get.
A. Close the doors, give up and curl up into the fetal position and hope everything gets better – eventually.
B. Continue doing what has worked for the last 20 years because it has always served you well to this point
C. Get scary in these scary times
The NEW economy is here and to grow and thrive requires a different approach to employees, customers and how and what you offer in the marketplace. But first a few scary statistics.
One in ever five people lives in China. With 1.3 billion people, China has 20% of all of humanity within its borders.
India’s prime minister has committed the next big wave of government investment into higher education with the goal of producing over 500 million technology skilled workers by 2022.
The entire population of the United States is 300 million.
When you have 20% of humanity on this planet within your borders, you have a workforce size that is indomitable. China is beginning to emerge on the global scale as a corporate player not for lowest cost minimal quality goods as we have seen in the past, but with top quality goods and the commitment to play the business game better than anyone else. That also means they will have the buying power and resource demand to completely reinvent global competition. If you saw the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics, you know with practice and commitment this country can mobilize and synchronize a juggernaut of immense proportions.
As far as GDP or purchase power parity based on 2006 data:
United States $13.13 trillion
European Union $13.06 trillion
China $10.17 trillion
This is the foundation of the new economy where the US is fast being approached by the competition which means all businesses need to adopt the Olympic slogan of “Faster, higher, stronger.”
You might be thinking this only applies to Fortune 500 companies who are multi-national organizations what does this have to do with my small business? Are you aware small businesses (less than 500 employees) make up 99.7% of businesses in the United States? Were you also aware that small businesses employee over 50% of the American workforce? Small businesses are the engine that drives this country and the global economy and competition have everything to do with your business!
If you’ve recently filled your tank on your car, gone to the grocery store, watched the news on television or picked up a newspaper you know we are in different, some would call scary, times. So Mr. Business owner, entrepreneur, executive how do you react? Do those first two responses offered previously in this article inspire employees and encourage customers? Of course not, yet they are becoming a common scene across the business landscape in this country because business leadership is running scared.
Don’t be scared – just get scary. Scary wins in scary times because traditional well-worn efforts no longer work in this new economy so leadership needs to make the commitment to try scary steps in order to win in these scary times.
Scary Sales
Having a sales staff of order takers calling on the same customers hoping for renewed orders is old school that functioned satisfactorily in the good times of the 90’s. It’s a new economy that requires sales staffs to be high energy, product smart and prospect savvy. High energy is a must for the salesperson to be able to expend the needed energy and effort daily to locate the best opportunities, dial in the best approach to get to the decision maker and leave them breathless with the opportunity being presented. Does your sale staff have this attitude? This standard for every sales opportunity presented? Are your sales people ready to ramp up the effort and energy level at least three notches in order to compete?
High energy will get sales people in the door and potentially to the right person but it won’t close the deal. They also need to be product savants. One sales man in one of my audiences stopped me in my presentation to tell me he offers thousands of products to customers, it is impossible for him to know them all in detail. How true he is! A person selling thousands of products is nothing but a walking catalog. That is useless today! Get rid of your sales force, put all the products and descriptions on your website, post an order form and tickle the customers with an email once in a while if that’s all you want your sales people to do. It won’t work but you will sure save on your labor cost!
Sales people today need to know their products as if they invented it themselves. They need to know the applications for each customer, the potential challenges, the proper pricing, and billing schedule that best suits the customer and be able to answer any question the prospect or customer has, without the BS lights flashing and horns sounding.
Run free trials, do experimentation with the customer, assist them with their R&D efforts and identify better ways to use the products more efficiently before the customer even asks to be able to. In other words, provide a “Shock and Awe” campaign in your sales efforts. You may have to actually add more sales people to accomplish this, and you will for sure have to add more training for your sales people. Is that a scary thing to do in this economy? You bet it is, and it’s what you have to do to win, that is if you want to win.
Scary Leadership
I’ve been hearing for ten years about the multi-generational workforce, and how people are so different and how the younger age workers just don’t have the same work ethic as we boomers and geezers had and no loyalty, blah, blah blah. Business executives are still trying to cram the workforce of the new millennium into a 1950’s style of management box. It doesn’t work! So why do they keep trying? Because it’s what they know and what they understand and what worked for them for a long time. And, the new ideas scare them.
Scary leadership involved removing time clocks and time sheets and expecting people to get their work done and accomplish what they need to do. It involves offering a flex time schedule that truly means flexibility! Organizations who offer day care services, gym membership benefits, time off with pay to experiment on new ideas and projects are doing the scary stuff and making it profitable. Who needs an annual review when you are giving weekly performance feedback and developing better habits and practices along the way? Scary leaders don’t wait for job openings to find new employees, they are in a constant talent search and when someone with top talent is located they hire that person and then find the right fit for them in the organization.
One of my clients had it all figured out. Their conference room didn’t have a table it had a bar, complete with a keg and a tap that operated by pass key that everyone had to get in and out of the buildings. On the bar sat a name tent that read: This is a conference table. Many evenings a week the CEO, department managers and shift leaders of this call center would gather for a “meeting” in the conference room and no one had more than two beers and the conversations hardly ever revolved around sports, or jokes or idle chit chat. It was all about business. How many accounts they sold, what the wait times were, how many customers they handled on this account, how many new people were signed up, what problems they dealt with and victories they wanted to celebrate. These guys were all young guns and they worked hard, had high energy and were savvy about customer development and employee management. In over 25 years in the workplace, those were the most constructive, beneficial and profitable management meetings I’ve ever witnessed. It was leading in the new way. A year later the entrepreneur sold his company to a large holding company and one of the first steps they took was removing the bar and analyzing the financial reports for ways to cut costs. Sadly but predictably, that company immediately lost revenue, profits and their best talent. The new ideas scared them. The employee freedom scared them. They just couldn’t allow themselves to be scary leaders because it was too much to expect from people stuck in the past and doomed for the future.
The responsibility of business owners and executives is to legally do what it takes to stay on the cutting edge and make the organization the best it can be for the employees, stock holders and customers, no matter how scary it can get.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Character has Left the Building
The feel good story of the Olympics is now the puff, puff pass story of a celebrity athlete who let his young swimming fans down. The most gifted athlete in baseball has now gone from a lock for the Hall of fame as A Rod to another athlete who cheats as his new moniker A Roid will forever remind us. Throw in a little Madoff, mix in a bit of TARP bail out junkets and you have to wonder what happened to good judgment?
The Enron scandal of ancient history seems to have not been the corporate lesson we hoped it would be, instead becoming the jumping off point of a landslide of a loss of leadership character. Remember character? The ability to know how to make good decisions. The ability to control yourself for the benefit of those who follow you? Abuse of power and money is not a new story, but we seem to be awash in poor judgment. How do we right the ship?
Set the Tone
If you ever expect your staff to be honest, upfront and consider the greater good, you as the leader have to demonstrate the behaviors you want to see in your staff. The auto execs begging for money in DC and deep concessions from the unions while travel in corporate jets and accepting large bonuses in a profit bleeding year – are you kidding me? It doesn’t take an MBA to see the mixed message being sent.
We’ve reached a point where ethics, decision-making and what is means to have personal character should be topics of managerial training. Assuming “they already know that stuff” is an assumption that could cost your organization millions. Think I’m wrong? You probably also thought a food vendor knew not to ship salmonella poisoned peanut products as well.
We need a return to the basics of leadership that have been lost. Having good character, caring for employees and complete honestly are the only ways to restore trust in this country that is being shaken worst than a 9.2 earthquake. Begin the restoration process today.
The Enron scandal of ancient history seems to have not been the corporate lesson we hoped it would be, instead becoming the jumping off point of a landslide of a loss of leadership character. Remember character? The ability to know how to make good decisions. The ability to control yourself for the benefit of those who follow you? Abuse of power and money is not a new story, but we seem to be awash in poor judgment. How do we right the ship?
Set the Tone
If you ever expect your staff to be honest, upfront and consider the greater good, you as the leader have to demonstrate the behaviors you want to see in your staff. The auto execs begging for money in DC and deep concessions from the unions while travel in corporate jets and accepting large bonuses in a profit bleeding year – are you kidding me? It doesn’t take an MBA to see the mixed message being sent.
We’ve reached a point where ethics, decision-making and what is means to have personal character should be topics of managerial training. Assuming “they already know that stuff” is an assumption that could cost your organization millions. Think I’m wrong? You probably also thought a food vendor knew not to ship salmonella poisoned peanut products as well.
We need a return to the basics of leadership that have been lost. Having good character, caring for employees and complete honestly are the only ways to restore trust in this country that is being shaken worst than a 9.2 earthquake. Begin the restoration process today.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Statistics that Frighten Me
Smoking is down for 8th graders
I'm sure that is good news for all parents but the fact we actually have this statistic is frightening. USA Today had a graph showing the steady decline of smoking among 8th grade students. At first I thought it was a joke, some clever ad campaign, but no it was an actual study. Heaven help us if start seeing birth control pills that are chewable and in the shape of Fred and Wilma.
$253.4 million Vioxx verdict
No, that wasn't for an entire class action case; it was awarded to one woman for the loss of her 59 year old husband. Yes, Merck should pay if they were found negligent, and yes punitive damages should be given to deter irresponsibility by corporations, but a quarter of a billion dollars? Our courts are being turned into lottery tickets, and the other 4,200 Vioxx cases waiting in the wings are not longer looking for justice; they are looking for riches. I guess justice will be left to criminal courts…as soon as O.J. finds the perpetrator.
$380 a barrel in 10 years
A report prepared by energy economists at the French investment bank Ixis-CIB has warned crude oil prices could touch $380 a barrel by 2015.
Analysts Patrick Artus and Moncef Kaabi said in the next 10 years demand for oil will outstrip supply by around 8 million barrels per day (mbpd). Between lower oil production and the juggernaut of China's economic growth, the world will be fighting for crude.
When the average gasoline price in the United States is $2.55 for regular when oil is $65 a barrel, what would it be if oil was at $380 a barrel? How abut $14.90 a gallon. Yes, we got a reprieve from the prices of this last summer, but have you noticed the recent price creep because refinery workers may go on strike?
What are the statistics that scare you? Let me know at RJWhite@PinnacleSolutions.org
Thursday, February 5, 2009
I Gotta Be Me (So Do All Leaders!)
I had a message on my desk the plant manager wanted to see me. As a newly promoted fresh-faced department head I hadn’t been jaded to the fact I was wanted in the plant manager’s office. To my eagerness this was an opportunity for face time. To shine. To please my boss.
He asks me to close the door and have a seat. The tone was stern and unemotional. His first question to me was, “Russell do you want to be a success in this business?” Of course! There was never a doubt. How could he question this? I answered immediately, “I’ll do what ever it takes to be the best manager I can be.” He smiled, sat forward in his seat and said, “I knew you’d see it my way.”
He continued, “The first thing you need to do is get rid of the boots. I don’t care how polished you keep them and how nice they are, they’ll always be sh*tkickers in my book and no one in management in this company wears those things to work. Second, you have a personalized license tag on your car and your car is a Cadillac. That just won’t fly here. No one needs to be calling attention to themselves with anything other than a regular license plate and let your wife drive the caddy and you get a pick up or smaller car – like mine. Now, what’s this I hear you have a solid gold monogrammed chewing gum case?”
I laughed at that and showed him the brass gum case my wife found in a newspaper supplement for 88 cents. I tell him it keeps my gum from getting wet in my pocket and… He cuts me off in mid-sentence and tells me to get rid of it and that is all he had to say and I am excused.
When I get back to my office I am a different person than the one that left there fifteen minutes ago. I’m stunned. My success is predicated on my footwear?
For the next two years I tried to fit in. I complied with all the requests except the car – and I quit being who I really am. Finally, I took a stand when I was asked to “quit being me” when it came to an ethics issue. Enough was enough. After ten years with the company I walked away and the biggest mistake I made in my career happened the day I quit being me and tried to be what someone wanted me to be.
1. Be who you are and find the right fit
Have you ever been forced into a mold you didn’t really fit? How did it make you feel? How much did it carry over to your personal life? How did it impact your self respect and confidence? How fast did you want to get out of that situation?
I see many people wedging themselves into jobs they fit into about as well as I would into a Speedo. What an ugly sight! Why do you do this? For the paycheck? For the sake of your careers? To get ahead?
If you aren’t being true to yourself you are being a fraud and deep down inside your spirit knows it. You hear it in your mind no matter how hard you try to ignore that inner voice.
Have you ever laid off a worker and knew the reason this worker was being laid off was because the president of the company was making bad decisions and the worker just happened to be an employee someone thought expendable? How did that make you feel? How many times have you taken actions at work under the title of “That’s just business” and felt a bit guilty about it later? These are all signs of how we are compromising ourselves as managers, and not being leaders as a result. If you find yourself making more and more decisions deep inside you don’t feel right about, then you are being given direction to find a better fit.
2. Hold Your Ground
In the 1960s, Stanley Milgram conducted a now-famous laboratory experiment in order to study obedience. After recruiting male volunteers, he set up a task in which someone called a "teacher" would administer electric shocks to a "learner" in order, ostensibly, to help them learn a list of words. When a "learner" missed a word, the "teacher" would administer an electric shock. An experimenter was in the booth with the "teacher," and would encourage the "teacher" to push the volt-delivering button when the "teacher" expressed reluctance. In fact, the experimenters would tell the "teachers" that they had no choice but to deliver the shocks.
In Milgram’s experiment, no shocks were actually delivered. The "learners" hidden from sight from the “teachers” were confederates of the experimenter. But the "teachers" thought that they were delivering shocks. And more than 65 % of the teachers were willing to administer the maximum voltage to the point of death, in spite of the cries of pain and screams for mercy. I’m sure you are thinking I’d never do that. Really?
Middle managers are being asked to do a lot of dirty work they don’t agree with and doesn’t benefit the greater good. As demonstrated in the Milgram experiments we will do things against our better judgment in order to please. Any idea how many times do we do exactly that in the workplace? We use excuses to justify our decisions to ourselves, such as, “I have to take care of my family,” and “I’m only doing what I was told to do,” and my personal favorite “Hey, what are you gonna do?” Eliminate these “reasons” for making decisions that just don’t serve a greater purpose and don’t fit you.
3. Leaders don’t sell out
Leadership is about doing the right things and holding firm in that approach. Why is this so hard to do? Maybe you are worried about losing your job. Or, worried about not having enough money to feed your family? Or, worried about being the rebel. Maybe we should worry less about these things and worry more about how willingly we give up on being ourselves. Standing your ground doesn’t mean you have to give up on success. It may mean you find even great success, just in a different place than you have been looking.
I used to look for success in the manufacturing management world. My experiences told me I wasn’t in the right place and it surely wasn’t the right fit. Once I listened to that inner voice, I found the job I was created for and have experienced success I never knew I could reach.
Three speaker colleagues I admire tremendously have abandoned the molds of the world and decided to just be themselves. It doesn’t mean they don’t work hard at what they do, it doesn’t mean they don’t sharpen their skills and make efforts to constantly improve. It means they don’t compromise themselves for anyone or anything, and their success is the proof of how effective this way of living can be.
Think about it. You know which decisions during the day are the ones that ring true to you and which ones are going against your grain. Leaders make the right choices because they can feel it within themselves. Be who you are and care enough about yourself to be the best you, you can become.
He asks me to close the door and have a seat. The tone was stern and unemotional. His first question to me was, “Russell do you want to be a success in this business?” Of course! There was never a doubt. How could he question this? I answered immediately, “I’ll do what ever it takes to be the best manager I can be.” He smiled, sat forward in his seat and said, “I knew you’d see it my way.”
He continued, “The first thing you need to do is get rid of the boots. I don’t care how polished you keep them and how nice they are, they’ll always be sh*tkickers in my book and no one in management in this company wears those things to work. Second, you have a personalized license tag on your car and your car is a Cadillac. That just won’t fly here. No one needs to be calling attention to themselves with anything other than a regular license plate and let your wife drive the caddy and you get a pick up or smaller car – like mine. Now, what’s this I hear you have a solid gold monogrammed chewing gum case?”
I laughed at that and showed him the brass gum case my wife found in a newspaper supplement for 88 cents. I tell him it keeps my gum from getting wet in my pocket and… He cuts me off in mid-sentence and tells me to get rid of it and that is all he had to say and I am excused.
When I get back to my office I am a different person than the one that left there fifteen minutes ago. I’m stunned. My success is predicated on my footwear?
For the next two years I tried to fit in. I complied with all the requests except the car – and I quit being who I really am. Finally, I took a stand when I was asked to “quit being me” when it came to an ethics issue. Enough was enough. After ten years with the company I walked away and the biggest mistake I made in my career happened the day I quit being me and tried to be what someone wanted me to be.
1. Be who you are and find the right fit
Have you ever been forced into a mold you didn’t really fit? How did it make you feel? How much did it carry over to your personal life? How did it impact your self respect and confidence? How fast did you want to get out of that situation?
I see many people wedging themselves into jobs they fit into about as well as I would into a Speedo. What an ugly sight! Why do you do this? For the paycheck? For the sake of your careers? To get ahead?
If you aren’t being true to yourself you are being a fraud and deep down inside your spirit knows it. You hear it in your mind no matter how hard you try to ignore that inner voice.
Have you ever laid off a worker and knew the reason this worker was being laid off was because the president of the company was making bad decisions and the worker just happened to be an employee someone thought expendable? How did that make you feel? How many times have you taken actions at work under the title of “That’s just business” and felt a bit guilty about it later? These are all signs of how we are compromising ourselves as managers, and not being leaders as a result. If you find yourself making more and more decisions deep inside you don’t feel right about, then you are being given direction to find a better fit.
2. Hold Your Ground
In the 1960s, Stanley Milgram conducted a now-famous laboratory experiment in order to study obedience. After recruiting male volunteers, he set up a task in which someone called a "teacher" would administer electric shocks to a "learner" in order, ostensibly, to help them learn a list of words. When a "learner" missed a word, the "teacher" would administer an electric shock. An experimenter was in the booth with the "teacher," and would encourage the "teacher" to push the volt-delivering button when the "teacher" expressed reluctance. In fact, the experimenters would tell the "teachers" that they had no choice but to deliver the shocks.
In Milgram’s experiment, no shocks were actually delivered. The "learners" hidden from sight from the “teachers” were confederates of the experimenter. But the "teachers" thought that they were delivering shocks. And more than 65 % of the teachers were willing to administer the maximum voltage to the point of death, in spite of the cries of pain and screams for mercy. I’m sure you are thinking I’d never do that. Really?
Middle managers are being asked to do a lot of dirty work they don’t agree with and doesn’t benefit the greater good. As demonstrated in the Milgram experiments we will do things against our better judgment in order to please. Any idea how many times do we do exactly that in the workplace? We use excuses to justify our decisions to ourselves, such as, “I have to take care of my family,” and “I’m only doing what I was told to do,” and my personal favorite “Hey, what are you gonna do?” Eliminate these “reasons” for making decisions that just don’t serve a greater purpose and don’t fit you.
3. Leaders don’t sell out
Leadership is about doing the right things and holding firm in that approach. Why is this so hard to do? Maybe you are worried about losing your job. Or, worried about not having enough money to feed your family? Or, worried about being the rebel. Maybe we should worry less about these things and worry more about how willingly we give up on being ourselves. Standing your ground doesn’t mean you have to give up on success. It may mean you find even great success, just in a different place than you have been looking.
I used to look for success in the manufacturing management world. My experiences told me I wasn’t in the right place and it surely wasn’t the right fit. Once I listened to that inner voice, I found the job I was created for and have experienced success I never knew I could reach.
Three speaker colleagues I admire tremendously have abandoned the molds of the world and decided to just be themselves. It doesn’t mean they don’t work hard at what they do, it doesn’t mean they don’t sharpen their skills and make efforts to constantly improve. It means they don’t compromise themselves for anyone or anything, and their success is the proof of how effective this way of living can be.
Think about it. You know which decisions during the day are the ones that ring true to you and which ones are going against your grain. Leaders make the right choices because they can feel it within themselves. Be who you are and care enough about yourself to be the best you, you can become.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Don’t Just be Optimistic, Be Opportunistic!
Lately I’ve been listening to people who are always upbeat and excited about life and their optimism is great but it’s missing something. “Sure the economy will turn around.” “I have my health.” “There are a lot of people a lot worse off than me, so I have nothing to complain about.” Some of the optimism seems Pollyanna to me and wishing and hoping optimistically isn’t enough! You need to be opportunistic!
When I bought this house I live in on the lake I was looking for not just a nice house but a good deal and great investment opportunity. That fact that we found a house underpriced because of an acrimonious divorce just wanting to get rid of the last connection they had was my good fortune! Had we not signed the papers the day we did the opportunity would’ve been lost because literally there was a couple flying across the country from Seattle to come put a contract on it. They were in the air when we inked the deal! Oh yea! That’s opportunistic!
Those reading this can scoff but winners take control and grab opportunity when it presents itself. I got to watch the Panthers beat the Packers at Lambeau Field because I grabbed opportunity. I got to see a Styx concert in Vegas for free because I grabbed opportunity. I met my breakeven figure for the year before the year started because I grabbed opportunity.
Opportunistic seems to have a negative connotation to it, I figure that’s because there are more people who miss out on opportunities than those who grab it. Be the one to grab opportunity and elevate your optimism to opportunism.
When I bought this house I live in on the lake I was looking for not just a nice house but a good deal and great investment opportunity. That fact that we found a house underpriced because of an acrimonious divorce just wanting to get rid of the last connection they had was my good fortune! Had we not signed the papers the day we did the opportunity would’ve been lost because literally there was a couple flying across the country from Seattle to come put a contract on it. They were in the air when we inked the deal! Oh yea! That’s opportunistic!
Those reading this can scoff but winners take control and grab opportunity when it presents itself. I got to watch the Panthers beat the Packers at Lambeau Field because I grabbed opportunity. I got to see a Styx concert in Vegas for free because I grabbed opportunity. I met my breakeven figure for the year before the year started because I grabbed opportunity.
Opportunistic seems to have a negative connotation to it, I figure that’s because there are more people who miss out on opportunities than those who grab it. Be the one to grab opportunity and elevate your optimism to opportunism.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
As the song by the Clash says, "If I go there will be trouble, an' if I stay it will be double…" How many people are waking up Monday through Friday wishing they could go some place else or do something else than the job they are facing. But too often you think the problems you know if you stay are easier to deal with than the problems you don't know if I leave.
Sometimes the decision is made for us. Good people are being let go at all levels of an organization, and for many it is a shock and the first thought is how can I get money flowing back into my account! Quick! Grab anything, something I just need a paycheck!
Whether you want to leave or have been relived of duty now is the time to think BIG. Play the "What if" game. If you leave this job what would be the perfect job you want? After you answer that question, figure out what you need in the bank to make that jumping point possible? Do you want to move to the perfect city and look for the job you always wanted to do? Do you want to go out on your own and be a sole-practioner at something? Do you want to open that deli you always dreamed about? Map out a plan, set a target date, discipline yourself to put away money each month to reach that point of readiness. Then comes the gut check. Is now the time?
Jump ahead into your future. You are 72 years old and you are looking back on your life. Do you regret making the effort at your occupational dream? Or, are you regretting never taking the chance?
The biggest reason people don’t take the leap to try to chase their dream is the fear of failure. Failure is not death. If you fail at your business venture all the way to bankruptcy you still wake up the next morning. You still have marketable skills. The failure isn’t in making the effort; it's in the not trying.
Many of the most successful business leaders have faced a personal or business failure. The key is to recover.
This is the worst case scenario. In my case almost fifteen years ago I made the right step and I am enjoying my choice every day. As Harvey MacKay once told me, "Do what you love to do and you'll never work another day in your life." Life is good.
Sometimes the decision is made for us. Good people are being let go at all levels of an organization, and for many it is a shock and the first thought is how can I get money flowing back into my account! Quick! Grab anything, something I just need a paycheck!
Whether you want to leave or have been relived of duty now is the time to think BIG. Play the "What if" game. If you leave this job what would be the perfect job you want? After you answer that question, figure out what you need in the bank to make that jumping point possible? Do you want to move to the perfect city and look for the job you always wanted to do? Do you want to go out on your own and be a sole-practioner at something? Do you want to open that deli you always dreamed about? Map out a plan, set a target date, discipline yourself to put away money each month to reach that point of readiness. Then comes the gut check. Is now the time?
Jump ahead into your future. You are 72 years old and you are looking back on your life. Do you regret making the effort at your occupational dream? Or, are you regretting never taking the chance?
The biggest reason people don’t take the leap to try to chase their dream is the fear of failure. Failure is not death. If you fail at your business venture all the way to bankruptcy you still wake up the next morning. You still have marketable skills. The failure isn’t in making the effort; it's in the not trying.
Many of the most successful business leaders have faced a personal or business failure. The key is to recover.
This is the worst case scenario. In my case almost fifteen years ago I made the right step and I am enjoying my choice every day. As Harvey MacKay once told me, "Do what you love to do and you'll never work another day in your life." Life is good.
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