What is your level of TMI?

Chip Conley, the CEO of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, shared his internal struggle with posting his Burning Man pictures on his Facebook page at http://bit.ly/2qIml5 His pr advisors told him those pictures and his CEO persona could cause a misunderstanding about what is proper behavior. (I think it was his tutu picture that was the point of the discussion.)

Burning man is a one week retreat in the middle of a dust bowl with no food, no water, no showers, no cars, just what you carry in on your back or bike. It is intended to be an “out there” experience and from what people who have attended told me, you will see anything and everything going on at this retreat. When I say everything, suffice it to say, it is impossible not to be shocked at Burning Man because it attracts the freest of the free spirits and the edge is pushed more and more each year. I would guess not many CEOs attend Burning Man.

Which brings the question for all executives: What is proper to share on social media? The challenge with social media is that your personal and professional lives collide and for the “In the full disclosure of who I am” category it is actually a great resource for people to investigate who you are. Everything about who you are.

Employers are looking at social media pages such as facebook, twitter, and linkedin to see what employees and prospective employees are saying. The same goes for executives who are being “checked out” by employees, clients and competitors.

I have a number of clients who follow me on my personal pages as well as my fan page www.facebook.com/russelljwhite2 and they get the full me. But where is the Too Much Information (TMI) line drawn?

Would I share about my Saturday night in the strip club where I got 5 lap dances, had 8 beers, and was escorted out of the club by the bouncer for rude behavior? Would I share my disappointment about my employees letting me down? Would I go on a rant about how I hate Mondays?

Curiously, I have read each of these remarks by people who at that moment were employed somewhere. Is there a different standard for executives? I don’t think so.

Based on my observations the level of TMI has more to do with the age of the person posting than anything else. The younger people feel more open with their expressions and are willing to broadcast an almost open stream of consciousness. Conversely, some executives resist any contact with social media and prefer to remain a closed book. In either case, this is a misuse of a medium that is here to stay in some form or another.

Everyone needs to find their comfort zone. As with all media, there are the extremists on both ends of the spectrum who enjoy the shock value of what they put out there. Everyone has their hot points where they enjoy a good rant. For some people social media is their bullhorn to the world. Just keep in mind each post is an entry into your internet record which has public access.

The best advice I’ve heard about social media postings is to consider everything you write, link, or post would appear on the scroll at the bottom of a TV program and everyone you know or has contact with you is watching.

As a three year old I apparently walked into the middle of a ladies group home meeting and announced, “This is what my daddy does in the bathroom.” And I started to grunt. A three year old doesn’t know the difference between what public knowledge is and what should not be shared. As a three year old doing this, the ladies’ laughter to the point of tears was an expected reaction. What if I had been 18 year old? I image the reaction would’ve been very different.

Some things are best left unsaid in an open forum. As a guide for your social media postings, find where you audience is comfortable with your level of TMI, instead of where you are comfortable with your level of TMI.

3 Ways to Avoid “Map Wars”

In other words: How to prevent the competition from telling everyone about your weakness.

The Verizon map ads seem to appear on TV every 10 minutes. Their unrelenting message caused AT&T to fight back with Luke Wilson ads that just don’t work. Why? Because Verizon found the glaring weakness of their competitor and cleverly got the word out to potential customers while the AT&T ads are just attacks on a competitor. Sour grapes does not gain market share.

What is AT&T going to do about this?

AT&T Will Spend $2 Billion To Improve Wireless Network http://bit.ly/d8db63

Now they are making upgrades they should’ve done before. Instead of gaining momentum with upgrades it appears they got caught with their pants down and appear to be reacting to the competitor’s ads. Meaning, instead of gaining customers for the upgrades they appear to be simply trying to keep the customers they have. That is a dramatically different return for a $2 billion investment.

How could they have prevented this from happening?

1. Be honest with yourself about shortfalls

When I work with organizations on strategic planning we often discuss the problems they have in-house and problems the competitors have. Which list do you imagine is longer? Many executives are blind to their own in-house problems and seem more focused on justifying why their situation is like it is.

You must take the objective look at where your competitors are beating you. If you can’t see it, get someone to help you. Because, if you are myopic enough to miss your weak spots, don’t worry your competitor will show them to you and all the customers you have or had.
Identify the critical areas you must improve quickly to be more competitive. Remember, sometimes you have to ask someone outside of the family whether your baby is ugly or not.

2. Know when the game has changed

People with knowledge have a great understanding of how to be successful in the way things used to be. Still advertising in the phone book? Still think social media is for fun and games? Still think if you build it they will come?

How do you know when the game has changed? When the traffic patterns in front of your location (that you rely on for business) reduces to a mere shadow of what it once was, you need to recognize you are in a new game. Once upon a time people wanted a bank branch on every corner, now they want those services on their phone.

AT&T fell asleep on the importance of 3G upgrades and it gave the advantage to their competition. How has your game changed? New technology? New competitors? Your energy isn’t what it used to be and the job is more demanding now than it ever has been? These are all import things to evaluate because the game changes daily, and last time I checked it isn’t getting any easier.

Once you can grab an understanding of how the game is played today, you have half the battle over. The next step is what you are going to do about it.

3. Proactive is under your control, reactive is under their control

I used to have a picture on my wall of a stampede with the caption: “If you don’t make dust, you eat dust.” The ones in the front only make dust, the rest are eating dust. Making proactive change and getting in front of the curve is where success happens. Once upon a time in the 90’s the economy was so good everyone did well regardless where you were in the herd. Not today.

Today only those who are proactive in making changes, anticipate customer needs, and take the risk to be in front are the only ones making the success we all used to see. Laying back and following the lead of others means by the time you “arrive” the customers have already moved on. That is how fast business is traveling. Are you being proactive or are you like AT&T having to spend too much money to simply keep what you have?

The Learning Trap

To hear executives, never has a budding workforce been so unprepared for work. How can this be? Today's high school graduates are more technologically savvy than any generation prior, they have the capacity to receive information faster than ever before and they can process that knowledge faster than ever before. The gap isn't in the preparedness of this generation; it's the unwillingness of business to work on bridging that gap.

Apprenticeship is an old school idea of preparing people for their careers by allowing them to work under the tutelage of a seasoned veteran of the trade. Giving them the time to grow in their skills and eventually assume the role of the retiring employee. In management we used to have such titles as assistant plant manager, assistant branch manager, and assistant vice president -- grooming positions for the long-term stability of the company.

Black Monday of 1987 dramatically shifted corporate focus on preparation. Suddenly business was more concerned with showing short-term profits than long-term stability and the word "downsizing" became a common loathsome term. No one was concerned with employee learning and all of those "soft" positions were eliminated. Survival mode occupied the corner offices and semi-panic rippled through businesses. How much can we get out of the people we have left was the concern. Who had the money for training? Who was even hiring new people? It was a time to hunker down and weather the storm.

The rebirth following that storm was a strong one. Add in the speed of emerging computer technology to the robust 90's economy where profit-taking was as easy as picking a peach from a tree, and companies were suddenly short-staffed and orders were piling up! Employees were overwhelmed with the expected work loads placed upon them. Who has time for learning and development? The motto was, "Teach the bare basics as fast as possible" and let the new employees learn on the fly, because we have orders to get out, profits to make, and shareholders to satisfy.

This is how business created the Learning Trap. Companies vacillated between not having enough money to teach and then not having enough time to teach. Business is now bipolar when it comes to employee development. We have stripped all of the learning slots from companies and now place people in positions where they have to learn on the go in order to succeed without an opportunity for failure. Any wonder why we have such a large number of obesity, diabetes, and other stress related illnesses. Businesses are placing everyone in high stress situations and telling them "Don’t screw up!" There is a better way.

Relax, breathe, and get a grip. It's time for executives to reclaim their work environments from the stockholders and the accountants and return it to the profit makers -- the employees and the customers.


1. Start by asking yourself: Who are the key people if lost tomorrow would cripple your success?

Key players are not always in the highest profile of positions. Everyone in touch with their organization can quickly name these individuals. Next ask yourself: Who are the successors with time, learning and development could step into those positions to not only maintain our progress but make it better? Creating learning opportunities or positions for these people isn't a needless expense as your CFO's are telling you; it's an investment in your organization's future. It's part of your legacy in creating a lasting company.

2. Identify your workhorses

Who are the key players in your organization that have their tongues hanging to the floor in near exhaustion trying to give you what you want even though you've not given them what they need? First of all, write each of them a hand written note thanking them for all they do. Secondly, ask them what skills they want to learn to improve and what training they want to give to their employees to achieve even greater success.

The reason 78% of the American workforce is unhappy is because they want to succeed but aren’t being given the opportunity. Job hoping today has less to do with chasing money than it does with chasing opportunity, chasing better work environments, and looking for belonging in a corporate setting.

Mr. Executive, do you want to create an environment for success and profits as well as a satisfied motivated workforce? Lock the door on your CFO's office and create a work environment where knowledge is fresh and excitement abounds because people actually have the tools to work with they need. Make learning a cornerstone of your organization. You will attract the best a generation has to offer because they want to learn. You will attract the best customers because people buy from those like themselves, and you will create profits because your efficiency and ability to perform will far outgrow the investment you made in educating your employees.

5 Best Practices for Retaining Your Top Talent

Companies have a tradition of luring away top executive talent from the competition. Free agency has changed the entire landscape of professional athletics as teams constantly fight for talent. The talent wars are now reaching the trenches, and companies are taking off the gloves and aggressively going after top talent at all levels, regardless of who they are currently employed by.

Because employees now know they are potential free agents, they are looking for the best package, not just more money. Who are the people you would hate to lose? It's time to use these five best practices for retaining your top talent so they aren't as eager to see if the money is greener on the other side of the fence.

1. Give them a quality team.

Top talent wants to work with other top talent. The best talent wants to be part of a team awash in great talent. Why? Because they know they will be challenged to improve, they know the best coworkers understand how to pull their own weight, and they will respect those they work with.

Your top talent is looking for more top talent, and so should you be, if you want to keep what you currently have.

2. Provide perks they value.

The best expect to be treated that way. Top talent expects to be treated like they matter to an organization. Google is on the fast track, and they know without top talent they can't stay the course. They offer their employees free car washes and oil changes in the parking lot while they are working. Other top talent organizations frequently offer exercise facilities free for use during working hours. They know it keeps the employees alert and fresh and demonstrates that employee health is important.

One executive in one of my audiences told me he provides a break room for his employees. In fact, he proudly offered, "It is a profit center for my company!" I challenged him to consider offering break room contents for free so more profits could appear on the bottom line and not the break room line item. Take care of the people taking care of you!

When I work with Duke University and stay at their R. David Thomas Business Center, I know at the end of the hall is a break room filled with snacks ranging from coffee, to granola bars, to Dove bars in the freezer -- free of charge. It is not abused or raided, but it is appreciated and almost expected. When you are the best, you expect to be treated as such.

3. Keep the job exciting.

This is the biggest challenge for business leaders because it has never been as important to keeping good talent as it is now. Not only are competitors better at making job opportunities sound fantastic, but we are becoming a society where everyone is A.D.D. We constantly are looking for the excitement, the adrenaline rush, or the thrill in our entertainment and our personal lives. Television programs shift the camera angle every 3.4 seconds, on average. Cruise lines now offer constant activities such as rock wall climbing rather than just lounging by the pool. Sporting events fill breaks in the action at stadiums with music, cheerleader routines or on field-entertainment. If every part of our lives is filled with this stimulation, why should work be any different?

Leaders need to share their excitement for work. If the manager is downtrodden, the workforce will reflect that and the top talent will be looking for the exit door. Exciting leaders encourage excitement in others and create work environments that buzz with excitement. Top talent thrives in top working environments. Great sales people love the excitement of "fresh meat." Give them new clients to work with, new elephant prospects to try to land, keep them in the field and out of meetings. Ask your best people: What adds excitement to your work day? They will let you know how to create a work environment that will keep them.

4. Challenge them regularly.

When I talk about creating challenges I am not referring to constantly giving them higher quotas, or being a manager who is very "challenging" to work with. In fact, those two ways are sure to drive off top talent.

To challenge your top talent, get them involved with problem solving. Not reaching the market share you desired? Ask them what they are seeing in the field. Not maximizing your line efficiency? Don’t ask the engineers to study it -- ask your top operators how to achieve that maximization. Your best people enjoy the challenge of finding answers and want the opportunity to offer ideas and suggestions. When their input is used for innovations, they take ownership and pride and become more linked to your organization as a result.

Another way to challenge your best talent is let them play on pet projects with pay. Top talent is usually thinking many steps ahead, so why not let them do that for you. 3M allows some of their employs to play on projects that are different from their day to day assignments. PostIt Notes, a result of a pet project, became the company’s top selling product. What could your talent be doing for your organization this way?

5. Morph jobs.

Once upon a time people tried to hire employees to fit a pre-molded job description. Today you need to be molding the job to the talent, and let your talent run free!

In front of an audience full of sales people, I asked them what was the worst part of their jobs. Almost as if rehearsed in unison, I heard: Paperwork!

Why do top sales people hate paperwork? Because sales people are people-oriented people, not task-oriented people, and they don't like sitting in a cube. They would rather be in the field bringing down big game than sitting in the office on Fridays pushing papers. Companies are essentially benching their best talent for 20 percent of the week! Hire paper pushers so your top talent goes out and do what they do best -- sell. Morph the job so the company and the employee get the best from their day.

Retaining top talent is critically important in these predatory times. Be sure you are doing what it takes to have them hang up on those trying to poach your people.

Living in Beta Times

Gmail turned 5 years old yesterday (and still considered to be in beta testing.)

On September 26, 2006 Facebook was opened to everyone of ages 13 and older with a valid e-mail address. In less than 3 years it now has 175 million users.

Twitter was opened to the public in March of 2006 and is currently growing at 1382%.

The Blackberry smartphone was released in 2002 and now has 21 million subscribers.

Technology is changing how we interact as a society, how we process information and how we think. In other words, we are a completely different society than we were on September 10, 2001. That's not even including the social trauma impact we felt in this country the next day. I'm just looking at the technological impact.

Where are you in the transition of society?

When I hear employers talking about having to adjust to employees having "cell phones" I cringe at how slow they are adopting to the changes going on around them. I have witnessed technology speakers asking their audience members to turn off phones and laptops during their presentations. I see savvy business leaders refusing to blog, get involved in social media online and claim to be cutting edge because they have a static page on LinkedIn.

Business executives in this country need to be using the technology available to them to revamp, retool and reposition their businesses in these dormant economic times. Instead of wring hands and gnashing teeth wondering where the next order is coming from, focus on what this time is presenting you with: the best opportunity to recreate your business without losing significant market share.

Traditionalists moan and wail over the loss of how things were.

People leading organizations at the top of their industries resist change because the are the best at the old rules.

Innovators always create and embrace change because they believe life should never settle into a rut.

It was brought to my attention from a twitter colleague that Gmail is still considered to be in beta testing five years into the process. It got me thinking; as rapid as life is changing, aren't we living in a state of constant beta? With Gmail, facebook and twitter all less than five years old, what changes do the next 5 years have in store for us? Life in beta indeed. Lead the charge to new technology applications or lose customers to those who are.

My view on living is I'd rather have life in beta than life in boring. You can quote me on that.

Strap on the Horse Blinders

The good thing is we can have access to all the information available in the world through internet technology. The bad thing is we can have all the information available in the world through internet technology.

How do you focus? We are like a 10 year old in a toy store with a moving van and unlimited cash -- we want to grab all we can. For some it's the personal stuff like gaming, self help and chatrooms. For others its sports pools, polls, fantasy updates and instant news as if you could almost smell the locker room. Then you have the news junkies, the TV/movie junkies, the foodies, well you get the drift.

To use this wonderful tool without letting it take us off task, derail our momentum or cost us productivity we have to focus like never before. Set up a few rules for yourself.

1. Avoid Bright Shiny Objects

It is so easy to find the new and cool and chase those bright shiny objects that will take you far off course. If you see something in your internet travels that really grabs your attention bookmark it for a later visit. Set up your bookmark folders for personal and work related distractions but, don't forget they are all distractions from the task at hand.

2. Social Networking

The growth of sites such as facebook and twitter and all the apps that can overwhelm your desktop can keep you in a constant stream of information and updates from friends and followers, not to mention the links to stories and related information. As much as I love these tools, I find myself losing hours at a stretch when I get sucked into online conversations and threads of discussions. Either find the discipline to participate only on a work related level or turn it off until you have recreation time to participate. For home-based businesses I see these sites as killing productivity under the guise of business networking. Monitor your social networking time.

3. Email monitoring

With my blackberry, google groups, twitter and facebook activities I am getting roughly 300 emails a day. This becomes an overwhelming flow of information that makes it impossible to focus if I feel each new email must be checked. Set aside times to check in to monitor your email. If it is that critical for an immediate response you would've received a phone call. Email can sit until you finish your train of thought, project or meeting.

I have no issue being disconnected while delivering a program for a client because I know my presentation would be awful if I kept stopping to check email, respond to a tweet or post something on facebook. The flow of work at your job is just the same. Work to build momentum, and if need be, put on horse blinders so you can focus and really get meaningful work accomplished.

Grow Your Business the Easy Way

Many organizations are afraid to spend marketing dollars these days claiming no one is buying. Some organizations are "hoping" for growth but not willing to make the effort to grow, or try new things to grow.

Normally, I try to teach the cutting edge and challenge executives to try new things, but today here is a reminder of a tried and true technique that need dusted off, that's old school, but still works.

Growth strategies are not always new and innovative; sometimes the growth opportunities can be easily accessible and right in front of you. In advising a fellow speaker about growing her business I told her the easiest sale I can make is to one of my audience members. They have heard my information, delivery style and feel a connection. They know me and my approach to growth strategies. When they come up to me afterward and start asking about available dates on my calendar I know it's mine to lose. Why does this happen? It's the connection.

The same thing goes for my corporate clients who use me year after year -- They know I am good; therefore, it's easy for me to get to the point of sale. What about your current clients or customers? Do they feel comfortable enough with you to open up and share what’s really going on in their organization?

Get Interested

Every company is experiencing its own unique economic ride these days. How well are you tuned in to the specific journeys of your customers? Do the research, interview key executives of the client, get to know their situation. Trust me, right now people want to talk and tell their story. Whether it is a go-against-the-flow story of having a great year, or telling a tale of woe, people like to be heard. Show interest, listen and do not sell. That's right don't sell, just be the friend with the ear. Not only are you gathering information for a later sales call, you are being the friend they need right now. The more they know you, like you and trust you, the more they will want to do a greater amount of business with you.

Of course this is nothing new, but I see few organizations grabbing this opportunity. They are still pressing the sales staff to find new sales, to bring home the big new contract, when the best thing these sales people can do is grab a box of Krispy Kremes and a few coffees and make a call on a good current client and talk about the state of the industry, the economy, and that client's tale to tell.

Be the friend, and set down the order pad for a couple of visits. Be the ear they want to use to brag, let off some steam or just chat with.

People buy from those they are most comfortable with and we all know it's easier to sell to a current client than go find a new client. The key is you don't just want current clients, you want current clients who find you indispensable, and not just because of the products and services you offer, but because you are someone they need.

Opinion Polls Are Just That -- Opinions

Whether it is CNN or Cbssportsline.com or any of the other news outlets, opinion polls are used excessively to keep the pulse on what we think. Even popular television shows pick winners largely based on audience opinions. The technology is easy to use, it spits out instant data that can be charted or graphed and makes for instant conversation which is what a 24-hour news cycle needs.

The pitfall of overuse of opinion polls is not only the rash of meaningless numbers produced but it sets a tone of that is how decisions should be made.

Executives and people in positions of authority, ostensibly our leaders, are people who possess the ability to gather information and make decisions based on the analysis of that information. They are the people who have visions and plans to lead their organizations toward better performance, market share and profitability. If they succeed they should be handsomely rewarded.

If they fail, they should be removed from office. Leaders are asked to make tough decision with new clear "right" answer and yes sometimes those direction choices go wrong, but to replace leadership skills and accountability with consensus voting will surely cripple decision making.

Why are opinion polls a bad decision-making tool?

1. The masses are often wrong

Innovators and leaders ride the cutting edge and strive to accomplish the impossible. They push for excellence and have the capacity to take measured risks for their organizations. Majority voting is usually a middle of the road, slow processes that doesn't drive risk, innovation or aggressive growth. There is no one driving at all, only a bus full of people trying to agree where they want to go. Organizations need a bus driver who knows the destination, the path to reach that destination and takes the responsibility of getting the bus there safely.

2. Diversity of thinking

Typically, when we talk about diversity in the workplace we talk about race or ethnicity. The diversity I am referring to is diversity of ideology. Our country is more fractured in ideology than ever before. Religions are splitting apart because of passionate ideology, work force divides are occurring because of different ideology, and special interest groups are growing rapidly, each with a passionate voice about their cause. Should any of these ideologies be ignored? Not at all, in fact, they should all be considered by the leader responsible for the organization.

Without a leader to distill this information into a workable plan, the factions within organizations each try so hard to prove their own point, chaos rules and firm direction never comes together.

There is no substitute for effective leadership to provide a sound direction and strategic plan with clearly states goals and objectives. To accomplish this someone must be in charge and take the forefront of the effort. Let's not confuse anecdotal information gathered from opinion polls for sound decision-making.

What Am I Doing Here?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself that question? It seems with the world spinning at such a faster pace, we lose days, weeks, months and sometimes we lose years and look up and realize its already one quarter deep into 2009. Anyone else remember Y2K like it was yesterday?

What am I doing here -- at work?

Inertia can keep you in jobs you no longer are suited for and you find yourself simply going through the paces from day to day. You may not have noticed your robotic pace but I'm sure your employees have. If you feel you are sleepwalking doing the same routine, you need to really address this question. If you are dreading Mondays and begging for the weekend to get here in a hurry (as I talked about in yesterday's blog) you need to ask yourself this question.

If you are not feeling that you are performing meaningful work or realize you are not making great efforts to inspire your employees in these turbulent economic times, then the question really fits: What are you doing?

What am I doing here -- with my family?

If you were a workaholic before this recession, you are an ever greater workaholic now and the stress meter is about to hit the bell at the top. Think your family has seen a difference in your behavior? Think the work stress is spilling over into your family? Stop. Think. What are you doing here? Under stressful working conditions, domestic violence increased, depression increases and family tensions can seriously increase as well.

Sure money is tight, but some solid family time or a road trip can do wonders for getting away from the stress. Turn off the phone, leave the laptop at home and put the watch in the suitcase and take a four days trip to a fav spot you and your family can drive to, and enjoy some relaxing family time. I hear it from executives far too many times how they sacrifice family for the sake of occupational achievement. Now is the time to question your behaviors and time demands, and move the family to the front of the priority list.

What am I doing here -- with my body?

Anyone else a stress eater? Anyone else already lost that New Year's resolution of hitting the gym at least three times a week? Anyone having a difficult time getting a good night's sleep? Stress will tax your body and sap your energy. In addition to that, when we are stressed we eat poorly and on the run, exercise takes a backseat and we get to bed late trying to entertain ourselves with late TV and then toss through the night dreaming of work. Ask yourself, "What am I doing here?"

Now more than ever is the time to grab some discipline in these health areas. I know in my case I need an accountability partner and about three or four exercise buddies. Because we all travel at least a couple of us can get together. If I am meeting someone I will be there for sure. If I am on my own, that snooze button looks too good and then hitting the drive thru for breakfast starts the whole bad cycle once again. What are the body maintenance habits you need to shift today?
If you never stop to ask the important question of "What am I doing here?" You will never make the necessary changes to keep you traveling the right path for your life.

Being sidetracked can be subtle and suddenly two years down that wrong path you realize how far off you are. Add this question to your weekly routine, and constantly search for your success path.

10 Ideas to Make Today a Kick Ass Friday

1. Embrace the day and stop saying, "I'm glad tomorrow is the weekend -- it's finally here."
2. Pick one project you are working on and make a focused effort to take a giant step to move that project forward.
3. Consider removing all meetings from any Friday so everyone can drive business on the last day of the work week.
4. Plan to come in Monday renewed, reinvigorated, and thrilled to tackle a new week.
5. Call a customer or client today to thank them for their business this year.
6. Make lunch count. Who do you need to take to lunch today? Client? Boss? Employee who never gets to go out for lunch?
7. Create a list of 5 things you must get done by next Friday. Go for some hard stuff.
8. Make today a no whining, no bitching, no complaint day. Ask everyone to focus on the positive.
9. Refuse to listen to the news or read a paper. Take a day off from the "News Terrorists."
10. Give your best effort until the very last minute of your work day……no coasting. THEN you can celebrate a great work week.

The Dilemma of Tough Choices

As AIG gets caught in the media blender, once again they are faced with choices that are no win situations. Do they ignore contracts and then face the legal battle of not paying contracted bonuses or do they fulfill contractual obligations and get hammered by a governing body that is looking for an example to hang from the yardarm for all to witness?

As a leader of business organizations you are going to be faced with choice dilemmas that appear to have no winning option. When faced with such options make a selection and defend your choice. The heat will be on and the rush to judgment will be swift and most likely misinformed. But making tough choices comes with the territory.

Do I think AIG should pay those bonuses? The contracts should be honored otherwise they are imitating the home owners who are not honoring their mortgage contracts by not paying and fulfilling their obligations. Should such non-performance based contracts even exist? Absolutely not! And this is the advantage of such economic corrections we are living through. Such times force organization to review behaviors that have gone astray in boom times and make corrections for better business practices.

In some cases, business with egregiously bad business practices pay by going under. Some get a second chance to correct their mistakes. Enron wasn't so lucky, let's hope AIG recognizes their errors and rebounds.

I know this country appears to be out for blood and a pound of flesh from bailout corporate executives. We as the American public have a choice dilemma of our own. Do we castigate these leaders and tear them up every chance we get, or do we assist them in correcting the course as fast as possible so we all can benefit from a renewed economy? We gain nothing in economic recovery with executive bashing even though we may feel better doing so. We need to make the choice where we all benefit from renewed economic strength.

Ask yourself: Does it make sense to abuse those who we want to lead us out of the recession? Will they deliver their best efforts this way? It's time this country get solutions-focused and let go of the blame-focus, so we can move ahead. It is often said the reason people who are miserable, are in fact miserable because they are more comfortable in that state of mind. The longer we are miserable the less likely we are driven to get beyond it. Leaders set the tone for finding solutions and now is the time to look ahead instead of looking how we got here.

Expect the Amazing, If You Are Properly Prepared

I've been doing strategic planning for years. Working with executives and boards of directors can be challenging, inspiring, frustrating, exasperating and unbelievably rewarding. Sometimes even in the same process!

Saturday I met with a wonderful on-going client on a planning retreat. To the credit of the CEO she trusted me to implement my new Fast Forward Strategic Planning process and the step up in the workload, time commitment and effort from her managerial team was going to be extensive, yet she allowed me to take them on this ride. After hundreds of hours invested by her team it was time to present to their work to the board.

This board has been very typical of boards in this industry: conservative, steady and somewhat of a micromanager. What we were presenting was going to require a real step out for the board to embrace change, embrace a potential shift in direction and to rise to the challenge to pick up the pace significantly and move forward fast.
With the support of statistical data, the proper presentation of "scary" ideas and the gentle support of the management team the board were presented an aggressive new type of planning proposal. Prepared for battle the management team waited for the rebuttal. An amazing thing happened! The board of directors (average age of 64) not only didn't offer rebuttal but galloped ahead of the management team in talking about change. The managerial amazement was palpable! How did this happen?

1. Proper preparation

To create great shift requires the absolute right approach. The management team spent those hundreds of hours gather information, discussing the possibilities, the competition and the direction they knew they needed to go. Statistical information as well as a thorough market analysis can make the unknown easily understood.

2. The Compelling Argument

When trying to lead change it is critical to develop what I call the compelling argument. Paint the picture so it's easily understood and points the direction the organization must go to thrive in this new economy and intelligent board members will be able to easily embrace the concept. Hammering home tough ideas will only create resistance and eventually dissolve into taking sides where no one wins (See Congress.)

By taking the time to create the compelling argument, questions can be asked, critical data clarified and the coming together of the proper direction evolves throughout the discussion.

3. Get commitment

Throughout the presentation to the board I constantly asked for them to offer agreement or opposition verbally. If they oppose, we have more discussion and clarity of our differences. If they agree, this becomes a type of commitment and contract with themselves based on the information they possess at the time. I also think the managerial team needed to hear in the words of the board members that they supported this new managerial-driven direction and were ready to participate in making it happen. Once the verbal commitment is in the air it lends more stability to that commitment. Does that mean there isn't back-sliding? Not at all, but it does create a firmer foundation to return to as the process of change is hopefully more forward than backward, but steps in both direction are natural.

This process works, and I tip my hat to the management team of my client for their hard work and effort. I also tip my hat to the board of directors of this organization for not only supporting change, but actually jumping in front to lead the charge. I wish all my clients could be such a class act.

3 Ways Business Can Benefit From the Recession

I am tired of hearing from the News Terrorists in the newspapers and on the airwaves about the constant flow of negative information.

A recession is a necessary economic event to correct bad behaviors. The reason this recession seems so harsh is because we had a tremendous amount of bad behavior going on that needed corrected. Fortunately, the good news is the bad behavior was confined to a few companies. The bad news is that those few companies are large and many are tired directly to the financial structure of this country which impacts all businesses.

If you are one of those impacted businesses who didn't cause this but are being affected by this recession you have an opportunity to capitalize on it. The following three opportunities are the steps good organizations are using during these recessionary times to actually benefit from the recession.

1. Resources have never been cheaper

So many companies are going into spending hibernation trying to survive this year. Smart business owners realize resources will never be as inexpensive as they are now and are using this opportunity to capitalize on this opportunity to retool, upgrade and properly position themselves for outrunning the competition.

2. Businesses are improving processes

In fast money times production is at full speed ahead and the money machine is printing profits.T he attitude is no time to slow down and tweak and implement major improvements, just keep the profit makers up and running. This is why a slowdown is the perfect time to make process improvements, cross train and retrain employees, and increase your organization knowledge about the business so better informed employees will be ready to serve more demanding customers.

3. Encourages innovation and creativity

As sad as it is, the cliche "If it ain't broke don't fix it" really is the way many businesses run in this country. Well my friends, it's pretty obvious the economy is broken. The way many organizations have been conducting their businesses has been broken and the results are self evident. When times are good, executives are not prone to adding more change to the organization and some laziness sets in to just ride the wave. In this economy the innovator, the organization driven for creativity, is the organization finding new and better methods of conducting all aspects of their businesses and they are the organizations who are gaining market share and growing.

Instead of going through meetings with all of the bad number reporting, instead of beating salespeople over the head to drum up sales, instead of counting the days you can hopefully make payroll, shift the attitude within your organization. The doom and gloom on the lips of too many people will not energize anyone. Talk about how this is a great opportunity to try new things, and refocus and retool. Build the excitement of the opportunity. Put those improved attitudes to work on innovation and creativity and watch your organization migrate from negative to energized as you put these ideas into action.