5 Characteristics You Can Learn From a Vet

Veteran's Day is a day of recognition of those who serve our country and protect our freedoms. In honor of those honorable soldiers I want to talk about five characteristics that every good military person must possess and coincidently every good business leader as well.

1. Loyalty

In the military loyalty is required to be a successful unit. A soldier must be loyal to the cause he or she is fighting for, must be loyal to the commanding officer to follow duty assignments and must be loyal to fellow soldiers because literally their lives are in each other's hands.

Business loyalty is needed for the same reason. Without loyalty to the cause the team isn't working toward the same end in mind and goals are not accomplished. Loyalty to leadership means buying into the vision and the focus of the organization. Loyalty to fellow employees means the workplace is more harmonious and works well together as a unit. Without these loyalties in the workplace goals are missed, in-fighting occurs and distractions misdirect people from the primary purpose of the organization. On a scale of 1 to 10 with ten being the highest, where would you rate the loyalty in your organization? You success is probably at the same point on that scale.

2. Discipline

I doubt a soldier would ever tell his commanding officer, "I didn't sleep well last night, missed my morning coffee, and really don't feel like going in to battle today." Sounds almost comical doesn't it. How disciplined is your staff in coming to work ready to make a difference, ready to fight for what is important, eager to face the obstacles of the new day? Can you imagine one morning you walked in and your staff was at the ready in advance of the day, prepared with mental toughness and eager to face the day? This is how you become successful.

3. Courage

Courage is being assigned a forward position and preparing yourself for life and death situations. Courage is knowing your responsibility to protect the freedoms of people who are unable to fend for themselves. Courage is being able to make hard decisions for the good of your organization without side agendas and political games. Courage is taking responsibility for your actions even when things go sideways. Courage is not a fool's game as some want to tell you. Courage is what makes leaders.

4. Commitment

Think about your staff around you. Would you say they are committed to maximizing their effort in the workplace? A soldier knows that without full commitment, he or she could end up dead, or those counting on them could end up dead. Commitment is what wins battles, wins wars, and beats the competition. If you have staff working with half-effort and aren't committed to their role, you are getting far less results than you deserve. Whining is not commitment. Commitment is about "Shut your hole and know your role."

5. Dedication

One definition of dedication is the act of binding yourself to a course of action. Dedication is not about wavering, and it is not playing each side it's about a full onslaught of connection with a action to be taken. If you are going to try to take a hillside you have to be dedicated. If you are going to drop into a hot zone, you must be dedicated, if you are going to accept the responsibility of being an executive you have to be fully engaged and bound to the cause, the mission and the vision of your organization.

Our veterans demonstrate these five characteristics to survive, to make a difference to protect the freedoms we all too often take for granted. We need these people, we count on these people and without our armed forces we would not enjoy the success we have in this country. As an executive are you willing to accept the challenge to live to this standard? Get to it.

3 Ways Pacing Wins Racing (Especially for Businesses)

In basketball, teams have scoring bursts where they post a bunch of points on the opponent in a short period of time. It happens in almost every game. In car racing the driver determines the times in the race to make a move to the front, and in marathons runners know if they charge too hard early they won’t have the right amount of energy for the final kick. It’s all about pacing.

Athletes who study their sport know what it takes to win and they are intimately aware of the critical role pacing plays in winning. So why does business think it can push full bore all day, every day, every month?

If a marathoner uses a sprinter’s training and techniques he will surely lose his long distance race. The strategy doesn’t fit the intent.

1. Use the right strategy

The economy is down, revenue is down, you’ve laid off workers and you are demanding more from the staff you have left trying to squeeze every ounce of profit you can from every month. Does this sound familiar? You will not get your best effort from people if you are asking them to sprint through a marathon. Fatigue will cause mistakes, poor customer interaction and low morale which turns the marathon into a marathon slogging through mud. Find the right strategy to win the race you are in.

2. Decide the race you are in.

For athletes they know the race they have entered and they understand the competition. Are you running a marathon or a 100 yard dash? Are you in a 500 mile race or 250 mile race? Are you playing to out-score your opponent every quarter or just have a higher score at the end of the game?

In business you must determine if you are trying to achieve a particular monthly financial statement or looking at a yearly goal? Are you only seeing a one year vision or are you trying to work with a three year vision? Are you asking your employees to sprint and maximize their effort every minute of every day, or are you running a marathon where they are encouraged to adjust their pace for the long run?

3. Train the pace you expect

Basketball players get to rest during the game as a way to pace their on-court activities and those scoring runs happen when one team is better rested than the opponent. It’s the ebb and flow of the game. Runners give themselves “breaks” during a race and slow down. Elite runners are constantly monitoring their pace because they know how critical it is for them to stay on task to execute the proper strategy at the end of the race. Race car drivers ride laps in the middle of a race maintaining position to save their intense positioning maneuver efforts for the last laps. They can’t win without proper pacing. Where do you encourage your employees to pace themselves?

Asking every employee to give their maximum effort all the time is asking them to burn out and make mistakes and ultimately cost you more than you gain. Teach them how to pace. Let them know a break is needed and encouraged. Design into the job a mental break from the tasks they grind away at. Set the tone for the race you are in and make sure you are using the right techniques and training to win the race you are involved in and trying to win.

14 Questions for Thoughtful Thursday

When was the last time you took one full hour of a work day to be uninterrupted by anything and you just sat and thought about your business? No phones, no computer, no walk ins; just you and your mind and maybe a notepad and pen. Here are a few questions to ponder in your hour.

1. How are you taking advantage of the financial recession?

2. What are two things you could do out of character to encourage and motivate employees?

3. Where are you accepting less than the best in your organization? Why?

4. If you could start this year over, what would you do differently?

5. How will you take this knowledge into next year?

6. What scares you about the business?

7. What excites you about the business?

8. How can you generate more excitement?

9. Why should your employees care about where they work?

10. Why should you customers care about your products?

11. What did you have more energy for 10 years ago you let slide today?

12. How can you regain that energy or delegate that task to someone who has it?

13. What three words can you change to your slogan or marketing campaign to totally reposition your products for a new market?

14. When will you schedule another hour on the calendar like this one?

George Clooney on Rosanne?

I was flipping channels one evening and ran across a rerun of an early episode of Rosanne. The few minutes I saw had them in a bowling alley and Rosanne was giving her sister hell for making a bet with a guy to see who was the better bowler. In that short moment in that episode stepping up to roll a bowling ball down the lane was a young actor by the name of George Clooney.

How did George Clooney go from a bit player on Rosanne to one of the most bankable actors of our current times? Perseverance.

There is no fast buck. There is no free opportunity to the land of plenty. There is no easy ride. However, there are great rewards and satisfaction when we persevere.
In studying successful people I find it isn't always the smartest people who reach the top. It isn’t always the beautiful people who reach the top. It's the people who persevere in working to improve, make a difference and are fueled by passion.

The comedian Bill Engvall bounced around the comedy club circuit for over a dozen years before joining Jeff Foxworthy’s Blue Collar Comedy Tour. Even then the tour was only moderately successful, and he was still working the clubs, but the video of the tour on Comedy Central was his big break. After years of toiling away at his craft and getting his start on Star Search, Bill Engvall became noticed by the right people and he now has movies, television shows and comedy specials. Over night success? Hardly.

Touring comedy clubs is a brutal existence. The pay is lousy, the travel is hard and the audiences can be brutal. Bill's perseverance eventually paid off, and you can bet every night he give it his best performance and persevered on to the next show.

There are times in our jobs when perseverance is the only way to keep going, and that one more step will always get us closer to the success we are driven for. To grow your business you need to take those tough steps, those steps that feel impossible but you know must be taken.

There is a fine line between success and failure and that perseverance Clooney and Engvall demonstrated to reach the top of their careers could've been skipped and where would they be now? Persevere and reach the top of your career.

The Extra Mile Week: Is Your Marketing an Endangered Species?

I remember the first time I read Seth Godin's book Purple cow. I still find that one of the best rereads I own. Because every time I read it again my mind is in a different place and more new ideas spring forth. We are in Purple Cow marketing times.

Also, marketing is in such evolution, companies need to be looking down the road an extra mile to see where they need to be reaching out and how is the best way to make that happen.

Video marketing

Remember when YouTube was a curiosity site for home film makers posting their version of America's Funniest Home Videos? Now YouTube is a marketing force that millions are using for resumes, promotional videos, and yes pitching products. Imagine making commercials you don't need to buy air time for?

The instant feedback of this type of marketing also answers the old question of which marketing ideas are working. If your commercial or video on YouTube goes viral it rides a wave of the greatest feedback you could ever get in marketing -- word of mouth support and resending the link to the commercial to friends. If it sits there with no views, you are getting cold honest feedback the networks will never provide. Your ad sucks.

Information marketing

Brochures are an endangered species. In fact, print marketing is pretty much no longer necessary with how well society is linked in to mobile information technology. Obviously, everyone knows they need a fantastic website. But what about your website information is attractive and sticky? Sticky means people visiting will stay to read what information you have available. Marketing departments need to spend hours on taking advantage of technology options and forget the traditional marketing methods. They no longer apply.

Information also needs to be information worth hearing! We are so bombarded with information we tune out all but the most attractive. Blogs you write should be attention getting. Your research needs to be up to the minute, and your delivering needs to be spot on for the people you are trying to reach. One size no longer fits all in the information marketing game. Segment and diversify your message. Go that extra mile to be sure your technology-driven information marketing is hitting the target instead of just being "out there" for people to finds.

Social network marketing

The companies who are using facebook and twitter effectively to market what they have to offer are the companies that understand the new age of marketing. Do you have a facebook fan page? As a leader of an organization are you working on the cult of personality for your company?

Google strategies are all about proper positioning within the algorithm to hit front page status. Social media marketing is all about positioning yourself in a core group of fans, customers and business friends. This is the direction marketing is moving because everyone knows word of mouth is the best marketing and the social media marketing program capitalizes on that premise.

Walk that extra mile in the new shoes of marketing and watch your organization capitalize on growth in any economy.

Going the Extra Mile -- Actually 120 Extra Miles

This week's posts will be about going the extra mile in four different aspects of the business to generate, encourage and facilitate growth.

Actually, this was more like an extra 120 miles.

I landed at the Nashville airport once again on my way to serving a client in Bowling Green, KY. I like the Nashville airport because it is clean, bright and frequently has live music playing at a small stage just outside of security check in.

I'm on my way to the Avis lot to get my rental car and I stop by the window in the garage since I didn't see my name on the preferred marquis. They informed me they were out of my class of vehicle and were giving me an upgrade. Great. Only one problem, I was unable to locate my driver’s license. In fact, I left it at home and didn't realize it because I use a passport for security check.

They tell me it is a state law and they can not give me a rental car without an actual license, a faxed copy wouldn't be acceptable. Sure, I fully understood but what was I going to do? I needed to get to Bowling Green in Kentucky.

The manager told me there was a shuttle that made a run there and maybe I should also check with a taxi. As I walked away he told me if those don't work out come back and let me know.

No one was working the shuttle desk -- anywhere. I asked a taxi driver the cost for a one way to Bowling Green and he rolled his eyes and told me it was going to be around $130, That wasn't going to work either.

I walked back to the Avis manager and shared with him what I found out. He put his finger in the air and told me he'd be right back. Within 3 minutes a gentleman walked up to me and asked if I was Mr. White. I replied yes and he smiled extended his hand to shake mine and said, "My name is Leonard and I am here to drive you to Bowling Green." At that point the manager walked up and asked if this would solve my problem. Stunned I only asked one question: How much? The manager smiled and said, "Just keep on using Avis." I thanked him a hundred times and off we went, Leonard and I.

I got to know Leonard as we had wonderful conversations. He knew he'd be getting home late as a result of this trip but he said he was more than happy to help me out.
Years later, I still use Avis exclusively for my rental cars. I will never forget the extra mile they went to overwhelmingly satisfy this customer, who is now a customer for life.

What extra miles should you be taking to get customers for life? The little extra effort will pay huge dividends for your organization.