Business Management Counseling Services

Emotional Well-Being (part 1 of 4)

2012-01-23T09:33:00.000-05:00

The Misconception: There is nothing better in the world than getting paid to do what you love.

The Truth: Getting paid for doing what you already enjoy will sometimes cause your love for the task to wane because you attribute your motivation as coming from the reward, not your internal feelings.

Money isn’t everything. Money can’t buy happiness. Don’t live someone else’s dream. Figure out what you love and then figure out how to get paid doing it.

Aphorisms like these often find their way into your social media; they arrive in your electronic mailbox at the ends of dense chains of forwards. They bubble up from the collective sighs of well-paid boredom around the world and get routinely polished for presentation in graduation speeches and church sermons.

Money, fame, and prestige – they dangle just outside your reach it seems, encouraging you to lean farther and farther over the edge, to study longer and longer, to work harder and harder. When someone reminds you that acquiring currency while ignoring all else shouldn’t be your primary goal in life, it feels good. You retweet it. You post it on your wall. You forward it, and then you go back to work.

If only science had something concrete to say about the whole thing, you know? All these living greeting cards dispensing wisdom are great and all, but what about really putting money to the test? Does money buy happiness? In 2010, scientists published the results of a study looking into that very question.

The research by Daniel Kahneman and Angus Deaton, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed the lives and incomes of nearly half-a-million randomly selected U.S. citizens. They dug through the subjects’ lives searching for indicators of something psychologists call “emotional well being,” a clinical term for how often you feel peaks and valleys like “joy, stress, sadness, anger and affection” and to what degree you feel those things daily. In other words, they measured how happy or sad people were over time compared to how much cash they brought home. They did this by checking if the subjects were consistently able to experience the richness of existence, by whether they tasted the poetic marrow of life.

The researchers discovered money is indeed a major factor in day-to-day happiness. No surprise there. You need to make a certain amount, on average, to be able to afford food, shelter, clothing, entertainment and the occasional Apple product, but what spun top hats around the country was their finding that beyond a certain point your happiness levels off. The happiness money offers doesn’t keep getting more and more potent – it plateaus. The research showed that a lack of money brings unhappiness, but an overabundance does not have the opposite effect.

According to the research, in modern America the average income required to be happy day-to-day, to experience “emotional well being” is about $75,000 a year. According to the researchers, past that point adding more to your income “does nothing for happiness, enjoyment, sadness, or stress.” A person who makes, on average, $250,000 a year has no greater emotional well-being, no extra day-to-day happiness, than a person making $75,000 a year. In Mississippi it is a bit less, in Chicago a bit more, but the point is there is evidence for the existence of a financial happiness ceiling. The super-wealthy may believe they are happier, and you may agree, but you both share a delusion.

If you don’t already have it, money can improve your life and make you happier, but once you have enough to go to Red Lobster on Tuesday night without worrying about paying the water bill that month, you’re good to go. Or, as Henry David Thoreau once said, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone.” In the modern United States the ability to let most things alone, according to Kahneman and Deaton’s research, costs about $75,000 a year.

If you find that hard to believe, you aren’t alone. A study in 2011 at Cornell asked Americans which they would rather have, more money or more sleep. Most people said more money. In a choice between either $80,000 a year, normal work hours, and about eight hours of sleep a night versus $140,000 a year, routine overtime, and six hours of nightly dreams – the majority of people went with the cash. It’s unfortunate, because although it looks good on paper and feels right in your gut, the research has never agreed. No matter how you turn it, the science says once your basic needs are taken care of, money and other rewards don’t make you happier, and you can appreciate why after examining a psychological jewel called the over justification effect. To understand it, we must travel to 1973 when a group of psychologists poisoned a few children’s love of drawing in the name of science.

(To be continued)

The Art of Termination

2012-01-16T09:09:00.000-05:00

Unless you're a natural bully, firing someone is never fun. It is, of course, a necessary part of being a manager, and it's a skill that can be honed. The worst mistake according to experts is going through the motions like a robot. "Act like a human being. One day it may be you on the other side of the desk and you'd appreciate being handled like one.

Avoid the following missteps, and you'll become as proficient as possible in the skill of laying someone off with respect:

Not Looking Your Soon-To-Be Ex-Employee In The Eye

One of the best ways to show respect is to make eye contact. "This is a big deal - there's another human being across the table from you and being human at this time will make a huge difference to them after they've left and recall how this was handled (perhaps for years to come)," says McKee.

Being Cagey About Your Reasons

Explaining your reasoning -- briefly -- is the fastest way to give your move to fire someone a silver lining. You can help catapult someone's career instead of paralyze it. Helping them excel in a different environment if they don't fit yours is a gift of a real leader.

Being Too Friendly About It

I once fired someone and was so nice that they didn't realize they were actually fired! Getting fired is tough, but you can soften the blow by making your message clear and as concise as possible. This means leading right away with your unfortunate message, and then adding any "thank you for your contributions" or "I'm sorry this position wasn't a good fit for you." Of course, this latter step will depend upon the situation.

Not Involving HR

Whether your human resources team is ever-present or stays behind the scenes, this is one time that it can often help to have your HR member in the room with you. If you can have an HR rep in the meeting with you or waiting elsewhere, it allows the person being terminated to talk afterward with the HR person who can explain things like final pay, ongoing health benefits, that will become very important to the individual.

Not Shutting Up

After giving someone notice, give them 30 seconds to digest the blow. Talking while the message is being processed doesn't help [and] can hinder the person's ability to get through this moment, avoid getting into a very detailed discussion of the situation (beyond a brief explanation). You could unintentionally say something that may come back and bite you. Having an HR person helping can prevent you from saying too much, or too little.

The Art of the Highly Effective Leader

2011-12-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

Are you a leader? Whether you're an executive or an entry-level employee, leadership is a truly essential skill that can propel you and your career to bigger, better things. That holds true for both leaders of large teams and self-employed people who are guiding a team of one.

What are three habits a competent leader practices regularly?

The first habit is asking different questions. This is about expanding your curiosity. The second habit is taking multiple perspectives. This habit is about listening well and understanding the perspectives of others. The third habit is looking at systems, and that one reminds us that while the human brain likes to break things down into manageable parts, it is the unwieldy combination of those unmanageable systems that opens us up to new possibilities.

Do even the best leaders make mistakes?

Yes. They'll get mad and make mistakes and hurt people. And sometimes they won't even recognize that they've done that. But the best leaders never stop learning, never become so arrogant or complacent that they stop believing they have room to grow. They never become so hopeless or discouraged that they believe it's not worth the effort. John F. Kennedy wrote "leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." The good leaders never forget this.

What else separates great leaders from everyone else?

They create environments where people can be at their biggest. We all have the experience of people who make us smaller and less capable versus those who make us more capable in their presence than we are without them. Good leaders remember that their perspective isn't the only truth, and they welcome entire human beings into the workplace -- inconvenient emotions, vague hunches, thoughtless mistakes and all. When people see us in our messy wholeness, we can spread out and become bigger.

If I want to become more of a leader today, how should I start?

The most important thing; Believe that you can change and begin to look for the ways you might need to by asking for feedback from others. Forgive yourself for your limitations (rather than denying them or beating yourself up about them), and then seek to grow beyond the way you understand the world today.

Business Etiquette and Conduct

2011-12-12T09:21:00.001-05:00

I stand up when a lady arrives at or leaves a table. I know, that is nostalgic and even possibly risky, as it might be perceived as sexist. However, it is one of a set of manners I was taught as a child that I still follow. Holding doors, taking hats off indoors, pulling out chairs and lowering voices all seem to be quaint throwback ideas that are dying rapid and unceremonious deaths.

Because of diversity training, political correctness and the changing mores of society, I think the clarity of what are considered to be "good manners" has become murky. The basic guideline of "treat others as you would wish to be treated" is less of the clear path to follow as individualism changes the interpretation.

Manners are still important and can be differentiating, often times in the negative. When you make a mistake, it sticks out and is memorable. For that reason, there are certain things that you must get right.

1. Use of names -- Get the names right. Phonetically write them down and make certain that anyone who is prospect or client facing knows their names. Spelling, correct titles and deciding whether to use a nickname or proper name are all on the "must-get-right" list. I have seen big sales blown up because of a repeated misspelling of a key player's name.

2. Confirm before you proceed -- Ensure that you have agreement at each step in a meeting, tour, phone call or visit and that all of the participants have their questions answered before going to the next set of ideas or concepts. Adults not only stop listening to you when they get stuck or are in disagreement with what has been put forth, they also begin building resentment towards the speaker who proceeds without clearing up the issue.

3. Declare your accountability and keep it -- At the end of each meeting, visit, or call. It is your responsibility to declare what comes next. It is rude to ask the typical question, "What are the next steps?" You asked for the meeting, now you need to be able to provide an encouraged path to follow.

4. Host well when you host -- If you are feeding your visitors, feed them well. Creature comforts including temperature, lighting, drinks and room conditions are all noted. In the better sales organizations, even when those companies are tiny, the handling of a visitor is handled like a guest at Sunday dinner. Even the little details can make the person feel honored and valued.

5. Be gracious as a guest -- Diana Ross may be able to pull of a diva routine, but you can't. Your goal is to be gracious for what you receive. I am amazed at the number of people who miss the most basic of "Please" and "Thank you" courtesy when support staff brings them water or provides help with the projector. Buyers notice and cast a broad net of perception as to what you and your company is like based upon how you handle the simple courtesies of interacting with support staff. Be gracious in every contact.

These manners probably seem like common sense. They are to the degree you get them right. They are deal killers when you get them wrong.

Mentoring: The benefits for all!

2011-12-12T08:59:00.000-05:00

For a young entrepreneur, a close mentoring relationship is like having a big brother in the office. The big brother knows the ropes, has a large network of friends and is bigger than the bullies. There are countless benefits of having an experienced, fully engaged business mentor on your team. Here are a few of the highlights.

First of all, if you can find an experienced mentor in your field, then you'll gain access to that person's extensive network of contacts. Building an effective professional network is still one of the hardest parts of starting a new enterprise, even with social networking Web sites like LinkedIn. If you're looking for a vendor, supplier or investor, the mentor knows exactly who to call. And unlike you, his call will actually be returned. That's priceless.

If you can establish a trusting and mutually beneficial mentor relationship, your mentor will not only share his or her ideas, but also a long and valuable list of "lessons learned." Mistakes are a great way to learn, but some are so costly and time-consuming that it is best to let someone else do the "learning" for you. By analyzing your business plan and keeping track of your major upcoming decisions, a good mentor will help you steer clear of the biggest blunders.

A healthy mentor relationship is really an informal education. You can learn a lot in an MBA program, but there are some lessons that can only be gleaned from real-world experience. In an Inc. magazine article from 2000, a small-town businessman named Kent Sutherland described the unique mentoring relationship he shared with billionaire and Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Sutherland met Walton as a 23-year-old salesman peddling health-care products for a national supplier. Even though Sutherland never worked for Wal-Mart, CEO Walton took the young man under his ample wing. When Sutherland talks about the benefits of the relationship, he cherishes the nuggets of common sense wisdom -- like "always diversify" -- that helped him make a small fortune in unglamorous businesses like insurance, storage units and mortgage brokerages.

The best way to find a business mentor is to get out there and network. Start by combing through your connections on LinkedIn or searching the online alumni directory at your alma mater. You'll have a better chance of making a solid connection if you already have friends, colleagues or colleges in common. Local mentors are best, so consider joining the local chapter of the Rotary Club, Toastmasters International or Entrepreneurs' Organization. Attend some meetings, identify potential candidates, and start asking people out to lunch or coffee.

There are also national small business organizations designed to help connect entrepreneurs with resources and mentors. The National Association of Women Business Owners and the National Federation of Independent Business are good places to start. The U.S. Small Business Administration partners with a Web site called SCORE.org, which connects small business owners with online mentors. There are also regional SCORE offices across the country where you can seek out offline mentoring relationships.

What characteristics should you look for in a potential business mentor? First, your mentor needs to have experience with your exact business situation. If you are trying to raise venture capital for a tech start-up, find someone who's successfully funded and launched a profitable start-up (or six). The important thing is that your mentor has done what you want to do and gone where you want to go. Otherwise, you might get a lot of good general business advice, but nothing you can apply directly to your current situation.

Secondly, your mentor should have an established network of industry contacts. This is one of the greatest benefits of having a mentor -- instant access to a Rolodex of savvy investors, trustworthy vendors and potential partners. For this reason, a business mentor doesn't necessarily have to be older. It's his or her years of experience in your field that matter most.

Thirdly, your mentor should actually care about you. Your mentor needs to be someone who is deeply invested in your success; not financially, but intellectually and emotionally. If your mentor truly cares about your success, he or she will be more committed to regularly scheduled meetings, feedback and networking on your behalf. Of course, a crucial aspect of caring is honesty. The best mentor shouldn't be worried about hurting your feelings. Your mentor should tell it like it is, pointing out the weak parts of your business plan along with the strengths.

Risk Management-Business

2011-12-05T08:47:00.000-05:00

Recognizing the Complexities of Risk Management:

The concept of risk management seems simple; perhaps that is why it is often overlooked. The unfortunate results of insufficient risk management are serious losses in dollars and management time. Risk management, crucial to all businesses, can be extremely complex.

In today's economy, parties are more litigious and businesses must understand and address issues that can lead to corporate as well as personal liability. Often risk can be limited or transferred through insurance, contract or proper documentation. The key is to track all contingencies and implement a comprehensive plan to monitor them. Missing one component could result in a catastrophic loss and make all other efforts futile. There is less room for error as businesses strive to survive in this economy.

Injury and Business Claims:

Insurance is crucial to protecting a company against inevitable claims. The type of coverage needed varies by industry. Professional service companies such as law firms, accounting firms and medical practices will need professional liability coverage. Construction industries will need policies to cover site injuries and auto accidents. Retailers will need general liability insurance in addition to "umbrella policies" that covers a number of risks such as personal property, liability, fire, theft, and medical. Workers compensation insurance covers your employees, but not third parties, independent contractors or employees of others.

The implementation of policies and procedures designed to prevent accidents and insurance claims are as equally as important as maintaining insurance policies. Maintenance on work equipment, comprehensive safety procedures and rules can limit accidents. Implementing investigation and documentation procedures minimizes exposure and ensures accountability. Warnings and safety rules should be posted and included in employee handbooks. If procedures are implemented, they must be followed and enforced.

Business claims are expensive and, in most cases, a negotiated resolution is preferable to litigation. Contract, environmental, intentional torts and intellectual property claims may not be covered by insurance. Clear documentation of all agreements can help avoid confusion and limit future disputes.

Business Structure and Corporate Maintenance:

A company should generally operate as an entity (Corporation, Limited Liability Company (LLC), Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Partnership) for asset protection of both the company and its owners. Many legal and tax benefits also exist. Selecting the proper entity and maintaining it are essential. Due to their combined tax and liability benefits, LLCs have been the entity of choice for those companies that qualify. Corporations must be properly maintained to shield their shareholders. Establish separate corporate bank accounts, keep minutes, prepare State filings, and authorize transactions in minutes. If corporate form is not followed, the "corporate veil" could be pierced. The rules vary for LLC's and other entities.

Other potential business structure problems exist such as mixing LLC's and corporations, unwittingly exposing a parent company to the financial troubles of a project subsidiary, dissolution issues and securities law issues.

Insurance:

Carefully analyze your insurance policies so you are aware of the scope to which you are insured. Are the limits of liability and deductibles appropriate for your business? Does you CGL (Commercial General Liability) policy exclude coverage for your "work product" or for damages that first manifested prior to inception? Are there contractually assumed liability exclusions? Be careful when renewing policies as new riders or exclusions may enter the contract. Time spent regularly reviewing all of your insurance policies is essential.

Contracts and Administration:

Business contracts generally contain a promise by one party to defend and indemnify the other against claims of third parties. The extent of the indemnity obligation depends on the specific contract language. How the provisions are drafted is critical. Many indemnity agreements are too broad and, therefore, void and unenforceable. If shifting risk contractually, then the provisions must be specific.

Many contract provisions have a great impact if there is a dispute. Care in negotiating or drafting indemnity, warranty, attorney fee, and damage limitation provisions is essential. Courts routinely reject "boilerplate" provisions. All contracts should be kept available and reviewed. Dates or milestones in contracts should be calendared.

Employment Issues:

As an employer, you have obligations to your employees that can lead to liability if those obligations are not met. The establishment of clear and fair written company policies can be an invaluable tool in avoiding employee confusion and complaints. However, one of the worst mistakes an employer can make is to establish a policy and not follow it consistently. An employer can actually create liability for itself by establishing a policy and not abiding by it.

Appropriate investigation of employee complaints and adequate disciplinary action can shield an employer from liability even if a complaint is valid. Formal training and regular refresher courses for all "management" employees regarding their responsibilities to identify and resolve potentially inappropriate behavior are necessary. Again, consistent and thorough documentation is invaluable.

State and Federal regulations require employers to confirm citizenship and work eligibility for employees and submit I-9 forms to the appropriate agencies. Failure to comply can result in penalties as well as potentially forfeiting valid defenses to termination claims.

Typical employment-related lawsuits are generally not covered by a company's CGL policy. Because of the growing number of lawsuits, many insurance companies offer Employment Practices Liability coverage tailored to cover claims for wrongful termination, discrimination, and harassment.

Succession and Estate Planning:

Succession planning is the transfer of business interests upon retirement, death or sale. All businesses need to ensure that ownership interests are transferred effectively, with minimal taxation. There are many planning tools available, such as buy-sell agreements, family limited partnerships, living trusts, life insurance, annuities and disability policies to fund a business upon sale or transfer. Failure to plan for orderly business succession can result in monetary loss. Estate taxes alone range from18 to 55%, frequently resulting in liquidation or additional debt.

All business has risk. Understanding the extent of risk, planning around it and minimizing it will ensure a smooth running business and help avoid catastrophic losses.

If any of the aforementioned gives you cause to question your coverage of Risk to your business, give me a call at 502/599-8313 or e-mail me at stevehomola@gmail.com . I can help!

The Amoral “Boss/Supervisor/Manager”…

2011-11-28T09:16:00.000-05:00

We’ve all had bosses do things we didn’t like, appreciate, or respect. And every manager has done things they later regret. The business world is, by necessity, one of real-time decisions and judgment calls that sometimes turn out to be bad choices, in retrospect.

After all, nobody’s perfect. We all make mistakes. And that’s a good thing, since that’s are how we learn lessons, including how to do our jobs better. That goes for every employee, manager, executive, business owner, CEO, everyone.

But sometimes a mistake can become a slippery slope. An exception can all-too-easily become the rule. Simply put, there are lines that managers should not cross, behavior they should not exhibit, and not to be overly dramatic, pathways that lead more or less to the dark side.

In 10 things great managers do. I went back in time to the best characteristics of the best CEOs I’ve worked for and with over the past 30 years. I decided to do the same thing here for the simple reason that I learned as much from the negative experiences as I did from the positive ones.

Keep in mind, this is not meant to be a whine-fest to get employees riled up and ticked off at their bosses. Think of it instead as a standard that employees and managers alike can agree upon and, perhaps, a wakeup call for those who need one.

10 Things a “Boss/Supervisor/Manager” Should Never Do

1. Order people around like dictators. Contrary to popular belief, managers are not dictators. Every manager has at least one boss. Even CEOs serve the customer, board of directors, and shareholders. Any manager who thinks he can order people around or abuse his authority because he’s the boss is a terrible leader. Employees are not soldiers or children. You can tell them what their job is and even fire them, if you want, but if you order them around, the good ones will up and quit, as they should.

2. Forget about customers. It never ceases to amaze me how many managers forget that organizations and companies exist for just one reason - to win, maintain, and support customers. Business is about business, and when you make it about you - your issues, your fears, your empire, your thin skin, whatever - you cease to be an effective manager.

3. Behave like arrogant jerks that are better than others. Just to be clear, I am not saying managers or bosses can’ not be jerks. A lot of people are jerks, including plenty of employees, and almost everybody’s a jerk under certain circumstances. I’m specifically talking about the arrogant “I’m better than the little people” thing. It makes you look like a little brat and completely neuters your authority and credibility.

4. Let their egos write checks that reality can’t cash. Oftentimes, leaders attain their position because they believe they’re special - a fascinating misconception that’s nevertheless often self-fulfilling. The problem with that is the slippery slope of drinking your own Kool Aid. Either you grow up or, sooner or later, things end up unraveling. I’ve seen it time and again and it isn’t pretty.

5. Publicly eviscerate employees. Of all the things I’ve experienced over the decades, this is not only the most dehumanizing but also the most demoralizing to employees. I had a couple of CEOs that practiced this on a regular basis and both were universally despised, as a result. Moreover, both self-destructed in the end.

6. Wall off their feelings. This may sound touchy feely, but it’s far from it. Researchers are fond of classifying executives and leaders as psychopathic, but the mechanism by which that happens is compartmentalizing of emotions. If you’ve ever wondered how people who seem to lack any semblance of humor or humility can behave the way they do, the answer is, if you’re not connected to your emotions, you’re far less human.

7. Surround themselves with bureaucrats, B’sers, and yes-men. When you encourage the status quo and discourage dissent, you doom the organization to stagnation and eventual decline.

8. Threaten. Threats don’t work. They’re just as likely to motivate the opposite behavior of what you’re trying to achieve. They diminish your authority and make you appear weak and small. You should communicate what you want and why, then act on the results. That works. Threats don’t. And for God’s sake, never threaten an employee with his job or a vendor with your business. That’s just out of control.

9. Act out like little children. Everyone goes through the same stages of human development on the road to adulthood and maturity. Unfortunately, some of us get stuck in one stage or another, stunting our growth and rendering us dysfunctional. We look just like ordinary adults, but we actually behave a lot more like children, acting out, throwing tantrums, and generally making life miserable for everyone around us.

10. Break the law. America is a nation of laws and, civil or criminal, they’re black and white for a reason. For some reason, executives will sometimes risk everything - power, wealth, careers, families, everything - for motives most of us will never understand. We’re talking accounting, securities, bank, wire, and mail fraud; insider trading; bribery; obstruction of justice; conspiracy; discrimination; harassment; it’s a long, long list.

Doing Things Differently; Meeting Your Obstacles Head On

2011-11-21T08:12:00.000-05:00

Whenever I’m discussing a challenge — oh, all right, whenever I’m whining about something — my friend only lasts about 30 seconds before he says, “Okay, I get it. What are you going to do differently?”

Hearing the same thing time after time could be pretty irritating… except he’s right. The only way to overcome a problem is to do something differently.

But here’s an even better approach: Instead of waiting until you’re forced to make a bad situation better, why not turn a decent situation into a great one and tackle your challenges head on?

Let’s call this business — and personal — strategy The Five A(s) of Awesomeness. (Then again maybe not; I might have just gone all Tony Robbins on you.)

All you have to do is pick a few of these to do differently:

Analyze

1. Switch measurements. Over time we develop ways to measure our performance. Maybe you focus on time to complete, or quality, or end result. Each can be effective, but sticking with one or two could cause you to miss opportunities to improve. Say you focus on meeting standards; what if you switched it up and focused on time to completion? Measuring your performance in different ways forces you to look at what you do regularly from a new perspective.

2. Shift benchmarks. If you create apps it’s fun to benchmark against, say, the runaway success of Angry Birds. Setting an incredible goal is fine — since if you don’t aim high you won’t reach high — but failing to hit a lofty goal can kill your motivation. Choose a different benchmark; look for companies (or people) with similar assets, backgrounds, etc. and try to beat their results. For a motivation boost, consider, finding the enemy.

Accept

Be who you are. I would like to climb like this guy. Or, ride a motorcycle like that guy. Or, change the world like Steve Jobs. I won’t. And for the most part I’m okay with that because I can always be a better me. I can climb better or ride faster or make a bigger difference in the lives of my family and friends. Think about whom you admire and pick a few of their qualities to emulate, not necessarily their accomplishments. You can’t be them — and they can’t be you.

Let others be who they are. Your boss isn’t going to change. The company you work for isn’t going to change. Your customers, your vendors… they aren’t going to change. Don’t expect them to. Pick one source of frustration and decide what you will do differently, including, possibly, walking away. When you stop focusing on negatives you may start to notice positive qualities you missed. No one is as bad or as good as you make him or her out to be — and that’s okay.

Assist

Help a coworker. Don’t wait to be asked. Pick someone who is struggling and offer to help. But don’t just say, “Is there some way I can help you?” Be specific: Offer to help with a specific task, or to take over a task for a few days, or to work side-by-side. A general offer is easy to brush aside; a specific offer shows not just that you want to help but that you care.

Help a superstar. Counterintuitive? Hardly. Compared to others, the best-performing people don’t need help, so they rarely get it, and as a result they’re often lonely, at least in a professional sense. Ask if you can help with a specific task. Not only will you build a nice interpersonal bridge, you may create a connection that helps improve your own performance.

Help anyone. Few things feel better than helping someone in need. Take a quick look around; people less fortunate than you are everywhere. For example, I did an interview skills seminar for prison inmates (after all, who needs to know how to deal with tough interview questions more than a convicted felon?) It only took an hour of my time and was incredibly rewarding. Most were touchingly grateful that someone — anyone — cared enough to want to help them.

Approach

Go opposite. If you haven’t reached a goal, what you are currently doing isn’t working. Instead of tweaking your approach, take an entirely different tack. If traditional advertising isn’t working, try cold calling. If you aren’t getting the promotions you want, start a small business on the side. Pick one goal you’re struggling to achieve and try a completely different approach. Sometimes adjustments will eventually pay off, but occasionally you just need to blow something up.

Drop one thing. We all have goals — often, too many goals. It’s impossible to do ten things extremely well. Take a look at your goals and pick at least one that you’ll set aside, at least for now. (Don’t feel bad — you weren’t accomplishing any of your goals to your satisfaction anyway, so what can it hurt?) Then put the time you were spending on that goal into your highest priority. You can’t have it all, but you can have a lot — especially when you narrow your focus to one or two key goals.

Change your workday. Get up earlier. Get up later. Take care of emails an hour after you start work. Eat at your desk. Pick one thing you do on a regular basis, preferably something you do for no better reason than that’s the way you always do it, and do it in a different way or at a different time. Familiarity doesn’t always breed contempt. Sometimes familiarity breeds complacency, and complacency is an improvement and progress killer.

Adopt

Pick a habit. Successful people are successful for a reason, and that reason is often due to the habits they create and maintain. Take a close look at the people who are successful in your field: What do they do on a regular basis? Then adopt one of their habits and make it your own. Never reinvent a wheel when a perfect wheel already exists.

Pick someone to mentor. I’m convinced I learn more from teaching than the people I teach. (Hopefully that says more about the process of teaching than about my teaching abilities.) Not only will you help someone else, you’ll build your network and learn a few things about yourself.

Pick a couple and do things differently. (And if you have ideas you’d like to add, feel free to share in the comments.)

When you do, tomorrow will be better — or at the very least more interesting.

The Penn State Scandal and What We Should Learn

2011-11-14T08:39:00.000-05:00

Who decides when the CEO or leader must go? That is a question that Penn State has faced for at least a decade in its decision about how long should Joe Paterno remain as its head football coach. Today, in the wake of a horrific child abuse scandal, the answer is clear: it is now! Joe Paterno and the university’s president were fired late Wednesday.

Paterno followed the letter of the law in disclosing an allegation of child abuse but in failing to follow up on those allegation - as it would seem a man of his principle would - he and his fellow administrators allowed an accused sexual predator to remain free of investigation for nine years.

Mindboggling? No, heart breaking to the Penn State faithful - student, alumni, faculty, staff, administration and most of all to the children who were allegedly preyed upon by Paterno's former coach and rumored heir apparent.

The problem is larger than what Paterno did or did not do. Penn State seemingly acted more in the spirit of self-preservation than in child protection. But there is a pattern. The university, for decades, has put football, or especially Paterno, in a separate category, seemingly exempt from close scrutiny, and to be fair until now Paterno acted in an exemplary manner. He seemed beyond reproach: his players graduated; he donated over $5 million to the school, most of which was used for a new library; and he was a genuine father figure to his players.

But there were cracks in the legacy. In 2004, the university president sought to have Paterno retire. But Joe Paterno paid his supposed boss no heed. And the university backed down and in the process, sublimated its rightful authority to his whims.

The lesson for boards of directors, university trustees and public officials are clear. Never allow one executive to loom larger than the institution he or she represents.

Here are some suggestions:

Set limits on tenure. Make it clear that the time of service is measured in increments of three to five years. The contract may be renewed regularly but it must be done so with a clear ending point. That prevents leaders from staying on indefinitely.

Groom successors. A leader's legacy begins on the first day of service but it is cemented by the people he grooms to succeed him both as successors and as members of future leadership teams. A deep bench negates the feeling that we have only one person in charge.

Insist on accountability. Leaders who remain in charge are those that deliver the goods. They produce returns that enrich the fiscal and social well being of the institution. Included in accountability must be personal behavior. That is, how do they treat others - colleagues, employees, and other stakeholders? As the saying goes managers get things right; leaders do it the right way.

Will there be exceptions to these guidelines? Certainly. An exemplary leader can extend his length of service. This may be especially true if the institution - more than the leader himself -- could benefit from his leadership for an additional period.

A more serious problem occurs when the reputation of a long-serving and well-intentioned executive becomes so entwined with the reputation of the organization they become synonymous. This is exactly what happened at Penn State. Joe Paterno became the public face of the university.

In good times, that may serve the institution well, but when trouble strikes the institution looks weak and vulnerable, not to mention culpable for failing to hold the leader accountable.

So much for my opinion, I welcome yours.

The End of a Business Relationship

2011-11-07T09:04:00.000-05:00

The good news is most business relationships can work for years, and many, for a lifetime. The bad news is that some are doomed and it is best to cut bait early.

There are several obvious reasons to walk away, including illegal behavior, violence (you’d be surprised how many times I’ve heard of coworkers throwing items at each other), or psychopathic behavior.

But the single most important indicator that it’s time to end the business relationship is much more subtle, which is why people ignore it for years. It is when your core values, and those of another person, cannot coexist. Before anyone starts packing, let’s make sure you see have a real core values clash, as this situation is surprisingly rare.

The technique to use is called “click down.” To see how it works, let’s go to a setting where the stakes are high and people are smart enough to have tried just about every strategy before deciding to leave the organization. I’m talking about museums. Unlike many organizations, museums run on core values. People study art history-a doctorate in the field is a prerequisite to leadership in many museums-because they love art. They stay in the field for the same reason, and larger museums attract hundreds of volunteers that fill their free time by educating visitors about the museum’s collections. When personal values of leaders collide with those of others, the result can derail the organization. People often choose sides, the museum fragments into silos. The rates of gossip soar, and people use spies and networks to find out what the “other side” is doing. Volunteers sense the disharmony and many stop showing up.

Within the most difficult of situations, let’s pick one of the most toughest clashes: A nonprofit CFO and an Executive Director (ED) hate each other, and everyone in the museum seems to know about it. The CFO values a balanced budget while the ED values growth and expansion of the museum’s collections. Every time the ED brings up expansion, the CFO turns red and shakes his head. Likewise, every time the CFO brings up “reining in expenses,” the ED tells her why that approach is wrong. In some museums, this problem has been boiling for years.

Here’s how to use “click down.” Start with the ED, and ask him to identify his value that the CFO violates. He’ll probably say, “She doesn’t understand the need for growth.” Deepen the conversation by asking what about that value is so important. You might ask: “what about growth is so important?” Many EDs will say, “Because that’s how we become better known as a museum.” Continue to deepen by asking about that statement-why is becoming better known important? You might hear: “because our mission is to educate, and we can’t do that if no one knows who we are.” There’s a good chance we’re now dealing with a core value, rather than something more superficial. You can verify that “the mission” is a core value by trying to deepen it. If you ask: “and why is the mission so important?” you’ll probably hear something like, “because it is.” When asked why a core value is important, people circle back to it because there is nothing deeper. A core value is the bedrock of a human being-there’s nothing below it.

Now let’s turn to the CFO. When asked to identify the value that the ED violates, she’ll probably say, “He doesn’t see the need to operate with a balanced budget.” Click down by asking why a balanced budget is so important, you might hear: “because that’s how we stay open.” If asked why staying open is important, she might say, “because that’s part of our mission-to educate.” And, like the ED, when trying to deepen “the mission,” it loops back to the same value.

In this case, the two people were fighting over values that weren’t core values. A little dose of “click down,” and it turns out they have found a shared commitment that is deeper than the conflict. The question to ask them now is: “how do we serve our mission of education, while managing responsibly and finding ways to grow?”

If you can find shared core values, you can work together. In fact, some of the best partnerships have shared core values while clashing on non-core values.

If you go through “click down,” and end up with core values that cancel each other out, then it’s time to pack your bags. Clashes I’ve seen include:

1. Efficiency vs. excellence. One person will want to get a lot done at 80% quality, while the other wants to do less to perfection.

2. Impact vs. quality of life. One person wants to work 20-hour days to make history, while the other wants to leave at 6pm and take the weekends off to spend time with his family.

3. Professionalism vs. pragmatism. One person wants to set the bar on doing things in a way that adheres to professional standards while the other wants to just do what works.

If you want to sacrifice everything in service of a core value the other person doesn’t share, time to pack your bags. Most workarounds will not work, and no amount of team-building, strategic planning, or therapy will help. Better to learn from the clash and find people to work with who share your core values.

Entitlement: The Good; The Bad; and The Bored

2011-10-31T09:25:00.000-04:00

People who feel entitled may think performing dull tasks is a waste of their precious time, resulting in a perception that time passes slowly, according to a new University of Michigan study.

Most people complete at least some dull and routine tasks daily. But if they feel entitled, they are more likely to view them as a waste of time, says Ed O'Brien, a graduate student in the Department of Psychology. This results in the perception that time drags while completing them.

The perception of the "waste of time" could affect time-related interpersonal tasks that might be considered dull, such as volunteering, recycling or driving. It could also extend to how much a person is willing to commit his or her time in a relationship (or his/her job), O'Brien says.

Entitlement is the sense that one deserves more than others. It does not have to involve resources, such as possessing materials or being rich.

"It is the feeling that you are owed something without necessarily putting in effort to attain it," O'Brien said.

For example, an entitled student expects that he "deserves" an "A" regardless of whether he studied for the test. An entitled employee expects that she should get extra vacation days regardless of whether she worked overtime or not. The research suggests that these students and employees more generally perceive their time as valuable and so are more likely to perceive time as wasted or dragging while doing tasks that do not benefit themselves.

The research looks at the link between self-focus and time perception. Three separate studies were conducted: the fun/boring word game, the online survey, and the word-flash experiment. All participants were college students, but each study was completed by a different set of individuals.

For Study 1, students saw a giant block of letters and were asked to copy it repeatedly word-for-word. Researchers asked students to rate how fun the task was from 1 (not at all) to 7 (extremely). The average score was 2.8. Even though all students did this task for 10 minutes, entitled students thought it took much longer.

For Study 2, researchers designed "dull" survey questions involving day-to-day things. Students were asked 27 questions such as, "What is your favorite day of the week," "In which campus building do you spend the most time?" and "How many meals do you tend to eat per day?"

Participants in the entitled group thought it took more time to complete the survey than those in the control group: 11 minutes and eight minutes, respectively. The entitled group also said the survey was a greater waste of time than those from the control group.

"Consistent with our theory, dull tasks crawl for entitled people because they view them as a waste of time," O'Brien said.

For Study 3, students stared at a computer screen for 12 minutes, every once in a while there was a flash of light, which were actually subliminal words. In the control group, the words included "water," "something," "another" and "little." The other group had entitled, self-focus words such as "special," "important," "deserve" and "superior."

Next, the students were told to exit the laboratory and walk down the hall where an experimenter was waiting to give them credit for taking the survey. Unknown to the students, the experimenter timed how long it took participants to walk to where he was sitting.

Participants, who saw the flashes of entitled words, rated time as passing more slowly, thought the task was less interesting, and thought it was a greater waste of time. In addition, the entitled group walked faster when exiting the laboratory (12 seconds) than the other group (13 seconds)—presumably because they felt they had wasted their time and were more anxious to get on with their day.

Informally, when researchers asked participants to describe the study after they finished, everyone reported that the task felt dull.

The study, which was co-authored by Phyllis Anastasio of Saint Joseph's University and Brad Bushman of Ohio State University, appears in the October issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin: http://psp.sagepub.com/content/37/10.toc.

Your Tongue; The Enemy Within You!

2011-10-24T09:26:00.000-04:00

Comedian George Carlin famously spoke about the “seven words you can never say on television,” but the following seven seemingly innocuous words/phrases might be even worse. To say them is almost like dousing your goals, hopes and dreams with sulfuric acid.

Creating a better life is hard work! It takes little effort to maintain the status quo, but if you have a dream of making more money, getting a promotion, starting a business, becoming healthier, or improving your relationships, you’re going to need as much support as you can get. Strike these seven deadly words/phrases from you lexicon today:

1. When. This is a filthy word when it comes to improving your life. It sounds like this . . . “When I lose 10 pounds I’ll start dating again. When I’m a little older I’ll go for that promotion. When I complete my degree I’ll start that side-business.” Most of the time, our “when’s” just don’t happen, or if they do, they take so long that we’ve forgotten what it was we wanted in the first place. “When” is rarely necessary, but just to be sure, ask yourself this: “Would it be illegal, unethical or immoral to start now?” If the answer is no, don’t wait for when.

2. Someday. There’s nothing wrong with having a “someday” list of things you want to do and places you want to go, but when you find that your “today” list is empty, you’d best start moving some of your future goals into the present. Someday is such a deceptive word. It makes you feel good by proclaiming you’ll someday achieve something, but months, years, and even decades can pass and you may find that your someday is still a long way away.

3. Willpower. According to behavior change expert Dr. BJ Fogg of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab, “Imagine willpower doesn’t exist. That’s step number one to a better future.” The problem with willpower is that most people either think they have it or they don’t. They’ll say, “Well, of course I ordered the double-fudge sundae. What did you expect from someone who doesn’t have any willpower?” Your genes determine the color of your eyes, NOT whether you order dessert.

4. Want/Wish/Hope. Don’t be a wimp! Stop wanting, wishing, and hoping to do something or for something to happen. If you want more control over your fate, you must take more responsibility for your actions and their outcomes. Don’t sit around expecting change to arrive in your mailbox. It takes a decision and it takes action, not wishful thinking.

5. Not good enough. How can a phrase with “good” in it be so bad? These two simple words will keep you from hitting the publish button, making that important phone call, or trying out for the audition. The solution? Flip it around. Instead of “This isn’t good enough…” change it to “It’s not perfect but it’s good enough.” Don’t wait for everything to be perfect. Just put it out there and see what happens. For more insight into this, listen to my interview on RicherLife.com with Peter Sims as we discuss his book, Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge From Small Discoveries.

6. I don’t have the time. The same guy who doesn’t have time to go to the gym with you after work will miraculously be able to free up an entire evening if you present him with free Laker’s basketball tickets. It may feel like you do not have the time, but with some focus and pruning of non-essential commitments (e.g., TV), you can free up 20 minutes to two hours every night to work on those actions that will help you create a better life.

7. It’s not the right time. If not now, when? No, really? If you are waiting for the stars to align, it’s not going to happen. Instead of waiting for the right time, shift your thinking and look for the least worst time to get started.

Think back to an achievement or goal you’ve accomplished. It took vision, dedication, and perseverance. Not excuses. Stop castrating your future with these seven deadly words/phrases and start working toward a richer life.

Becoming the Perfect Product

2011-10-18T09:01:00.000-04:00

Breakfast with orange juice; every day of your life, sweet, tangy orange juice; perfection in a glass. It works. It delivers. It does the job.

What’s that got to do with anything like business, management, leadership, or your career? Everything.

You want to be like orange juice. You want your product to be like orange juice. You want your company to be like orange juice. It delivers on a promise, day in, day out, every time. You want to be like that.

Think about it. In a hypercompetitive world where everybody has a voice and every product has a level playing field called the Internet, in a business environment where differentiation is priceless, if you can deliver the way orange juice does, you can make a dent in the world.

Not convinced? Okay. How about this? There’s something called too much of a good thing. You can max out, play out, and overdo pretty much anything. Can you imagine watching Casablanca every day for your entire life? How about listening to Tony Bennet, or eating pizza?

You might love it that much, but you’re the exception. There are very few things that so perfectly do the job that, day in, day out, most people can eat, drink, watch, or listen to it, know it will always deliver on its promise, and never get sick of it. That’s orange juice.

You can say that’s a matter of personal preference, but it’s not. Not good old OJ. It’s so widely accepted as the morning breakfast drink that every hotel in every city in every country serves it with its morning buffet. It’s in just about every refrigerator. It’s perfect.

If you - as a manager, executive, business owner, marketer, leader, or whatever - can deliver the goods the way orange juice does, then you’ll go far in this world. Here are some recent and noteworthy examples:

President Obama. Talk about failing to deliver on a promise. He promised change, that things will be different, that Washington won’t be politics as usual. He promised to bridge both sides of the aisle. He promised us OJ, told us it was OJ, put it in an OJ container, but to me, it tastes like Kool Aid.

Say what you want about Bill Clinton, but he delivered the OJ. Not right away. It took a while for him to get the process right, but he listened to his constituents and ultimately, he delivered the goods. And he’ll always be remembered as a president who ultimately delivered, even if he did have his … issues.

That’s the first important point about OJ. You can have some glitches or make some mistakes along the way - we all do - as long as you deliver the goods, in the end. Nobody’s perfect.

Carol Bartz. She definitely made OJ as long-time CEO of engineering software-maker Autodesk. And she seemed to be making all the right moves out of the gate at Yahoo, but in the end, she couldn’t deliver. Guess she didn’t have the chops for the brave new world dominated by the likes of FaceBook, Apple, and Google.

Which brings us to the second important point. A CEO, a leader, pretty much anyone, can make OJ at one company or in one situation, but not necessarily at another. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Some have managed to pull it off - Lou Gerstner at American Express and IBM, Steve Jobs at Pixar and Apple, Mark Hurd at NCR and HP - but they’re few and far between.

Sony. Back in the day, Sony made fantastically good OJ. Trinitron TVs. The Walkman. The Beta-max. The creation of the Compact Disc player (with Philips). Today, Sony says it makes OJ, but if so, it’s not the good stuff, like fresh squeezed or anything. It’s like reconstituted frozen OJ, the kind anyone can make. It’s sad, really.

That’s the third important point. Not only is it not good enough to have made it in the past, you can’t just say you make it, either. You’ve got to deliver and keep delivering the goods if you want your customers to keep coming back. The same goes for keeping your job, getting hired, or even getting reelected.

Now, don’t make the mistake of thinking this juicy little analogy is simplistic or trite. It’s not. It’s entirely accurate in describing what it takes for a company, a business, a manager, a CEO, a leader, pretty much anybody, to consistently deliver the goods and maintain a strong brand in a competitive market.

If you look back through history, every great company has had its glitches: Coca Cola, IBM, Toyota, Cisco, there are no exceptions because, in time, stuff happens. The same goes for every great leader or executive. Nobody’s perfect.

Still, we’ve all got to strive for something. So we set our sights, lock in our trajectory, and try our best to deliver the goods. If you can do that - make a promise and deliver on it on a consistent basis - then you’re a rare commodity in this world, that’s for sure.

Reasons Your Employees Don’t Care Anymore

2011-10-10T10:06:00.000-04:00

Pay only goes so far. Higher salaries are like the bigger house syndrome: Move into a bigger house and initially it feels roomier, but after awhile larger becomes the new normal.

Employees don’t automatically perform at higher levels if wages are higher because commitment, dedication, and motivation are not based on pay. No matter how high the salary, if you treat employees poorly they won’t care — about their jobs or your business.

Here are eight reasons employees don’t care:

· No freedom. Best practices are definitely important, but not every task deserves a best practice or micro-managed approach. Autonomy breeds engagement and satisfaction. Autonomy also breeds innovation. Even manufacturing and heavily process-oriented positions have room for different approaches or paths. Decide which process battles are worth fighting; otherwise, let employees have some amount of freedom to work they way they work best.

· No targets. Goals are fun. (I’ve never met anyone who wasn’t at least a little bit competitive.) Targets create a sense of purpose and add meaning to even the most repetitive tasks. Without a goal to shoot for, work is just work.

· No sense of mission. We all like to feel a part of something bigger. Striving to be worthy of words like “best” or “largest” or “fastest” or “highest quality” provides a sense of purpose. Let employees know what you want the business to achieve; how can they care about your dreams if they don’t know your dreams?

· No clear expectations. While every job should include decision-making latitude, every job also has basic expectations regarding the way certain situations should be handled. Criticize an employee for providing a refund today even though last week refunds were standard procedure and you’ve lost the employee. (How can I do a good job when I don’t know what doing a good job means?) When standards change, always communicate those changes first — then stick with them. And when you don’t, explain why this particular situation is different.

· No input. Everyone wants to be smart. How do I show I’m smart? By offering suggestions and ideas. (Otherwise no matter how hard I work I just feel like a robot.) Deny me the opportunity to make suggestions, or shoot my suggestions down without consideration, and I’m just a robot — and robots don’t care. Make it easy for employees to present ideas and when an idea doesn’t have merit take the time to explain why. You can’t implement every idea, but you can make employees feel good every time they make a suggestion.

· No connection. The company provides the paycheck, but employees work for people. A kind word, a short discussion about family, a brief check-in to see if they need anything… person-to-person moments are much more important than meetings or formal evaluations. Employees want to be seen as people, not numbers. Numbers don’t care. People care — especially when you care about them first.

· No consistency. Most employees can deal with a boss who is demanding and quick to criticize… as long as she treats every employee the same way. (Think of it as the Vince Lombardi effect.) While it’s okay — in fact necessary — to treat employees differently, all employees must be treated fairly. Similar achievements should result in similar praise and rewards. Similar offenses should result in similar disciplinary actions. The key to maintaining consistency is to communicate; the more employees understand why a decision was made, the less likely they are to assume favoritism or unfair treatment.

· No future. Every job should have the potential to lead to something better, either within or outside the company. I worked my way through college, during the evenings, at an engineering/manufacturing company as a draftsman. I had no future with the company because everyone understood I would only stay until I graduated. One day my boss said, “Hey, I think it is time you begin to work in the engineering design group.” I looked at him oddly; why show me instead of someone else? In response he said, “Someday, somewhere, you’ll have the opportunity to expand your skill set. Might as well start learning now.” Take the time to develop employees for jobs they hope to fill — even if those positions are outside your company. They will care about your business because they know you care about them.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish. Rest in Peace Steve Jobs (and Thank You!)

2011-10-06T11:01:00.000-04:00

It should not have surprised me that I received the word that Steve Jobs passed away on my iPhone, but it did. This is a man that has been called the “Edison” of our time. And, indeed he was.

The death of Steve Jobs, 56, Wednesday, October 5, 2011, marked the end of a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. Despite his highly publicized struggle, Jobs never failed to inspire and enrich those around him.

In 2005, Steve Jobs' commencement speech inspired a crowd of young Stanford University graduates. The visionary Apple co-founder recounted crucial moments of his life and legacy, while imparting wisdom to the next generation. In revisiting the speech on the night of his death, Jobs' own words shed light on a legend. It is worth your time to sit back and read (perhaps even learn).

This is the prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal, just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that college graduates should adopt me, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, and karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents’ garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT; another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited; so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice, and, most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. A fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park created it, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

What an Employee Needs Most

2011-10-03T09:16:00.000-04:00

What is the difference between what an average employer provides and what a great employer provides? The answer is not higher pay, better benefits, more extensive training, or greater opportunities.

The answer is dignity.

At well over 35%, our city school system in Louisville, Ky. has the highest percentage of English as Second Language (ESL) students in the state. Initially immigrants sought jobs in agriculture, mainly at local tobacco farms and in the construction trades. Over time others were drawn to the area by the presence of family or friends, or simply by people who share a common language and culture.

I had befriended two Hispanic men who did a project for me. They were applying for a position at a manufacturing facility and asked if I would review their employment documents. (They had been burned before by unfair employment agreements they didn’t understand.) Nothing was wrong with the forms but everything was wrong with the way they were treated. The HR manager and supervisor made jokes at their expense and were dismissive of their questions.

For example, in halting English one asked where they would clean up before their lunch breaks. The supervisor said, “You only get 20 minutes for lunch so there really isn’t time. But don’t worry about it. You boys will still be cleaner than what you’re used to where you come from.”

As I drove away I thought, “I would never treat anyone that way.”

Then, with a sinking feeling, I realized I have treated employees and peers that way. I’ve raised my voice. I’ve rolled my eyes. I’ve exchanged smirks and knowing glances. I’ve responded to suggestions or comments with sarcasm not just because an idea lacked merit but also because I wanted to show how smart and insightful and oh so terribly witty I was by comparison.

I’m guessing you have, too.

Employees aren’t equal. Some are less smart. Some work less hard. Some make more mistakes. Some simply can’t cut it and deserve to be let go. Regardless, each deserves to be treated with respect. Sarcasm, eye rolling, and biting comments shift the focus away from performance and onto the person instead — and dignity is the casualty.

If you talk to me about a mistake I made I may be embarrassed, but I will quickly forget, especially if I learn from that mistake. If you make me feel stupid, especially in front of others, I will never forget. (And I’ll probably never learn from my mistake because I will only focus on how you treated me.)

Dignity is a lot like trust: Once lost, it is almost impossible to recover.

And do not assume pay or benefits or opportunities make employees feel valued. Sure, those have an impact — but treat employees with a lack of respect and no pay can overcome the damage to feelings of self-worth.

Later I asked my friends whether this experience was unusual. They looked down and didn’t say anything for a few moments. Finally one looked up and said, “Here they let us have jobs… but here they do not let us have dignity.”

The most important thing you provide employees is not a job — it’s dignity.

It is also the easiest.

When Failure Leads to Success

2011-09-26T10:26:00.000-04:00

From the moment we’re born, we are told that time heals all wounds. But nobody tells us it’s only half true. When somebody else inflicts the wounds, fine. But when wounds are self-inflicted - also known as mistakes - all the time in the world won’t heal them if we don’t acknowledge them.

Failure is a little bit different, but the concept is similar. Failing to admit and learn from failure will only lead to more dramatic failure. The converse is also true: admitting and learning from failure will ultimately lead to success.

Unfortunately, many leaders seem to be allergic to the whole idea of admitting failure. I’ve seen it dozens of times with business leaders, political leaders, CEOs, and executives. Why that is, I don’t know, but it may have something to do with how success gives leaders a big head. Regardless, systemic business failure, corporate failure, and personal failure, typically comes down to leaders or managers sticking their heads in the sand. Don’t be one of them. Instead, master these …

10 Ways Failure Leads to Success

1. Change management. Ever try changing a company system or process that involves lots of people? If you have, then you’ve failed. And if you didn’t learn from it, then you’re still no good at it.

2. Employee. What, you were a great employee out of the gate? (Come on and tell the truth.) You made mistakes; that’s how you learned how things work, how to get things done, when to take a stand, and when to suck it up. Or maybe you didn’t. Hmm.

3. Turnarounds. Turnarounds start by clearly stating the problem, what went wrong. Sometimes it takes a few iterations, as with IBM, Apple, and HP. Some boards wait too long, as with Nortel. Are Sprint, Sony, and Dell next?

4. Managing people. I don’t care what business schools say; you don’t learn this in school. You learn it on the job by making mistakes and learning what works and what doesn’t. Period.

5. The scientific method. It’s built on the concept of making an assumption, experimenting, proving it wrong, and continuing until you can’t prove it wrong.

6. Innovation. The whole startup innovation loop is a learning curve based on trial and error. Sure, we love the Google and FaceBook founder’s stories, but far more common are entrepreneurs who failed multiple times before nailing it.

7. Consulting. Um, not to get too specific, but the only reason I have any success as a consultant is because I made dozens of mistakes over two decades in corporations. It’s called “learning the ropes.”

8. Strategic planning. Any strategic planning process must begin with an analysis of what’s working and what isn’t. The “W” in SWOT stands for weaknesses, and with good reason.

9. Post mortems. If you don’t do post mortems on lost customers and failed product launches and marketing campaigns, you’re far less likely to get it right the next time.

10. Relationships. If you need me to explain how failed relationships - personal, business, whatever - make you a better partner and team player, then you have bigger problems than I can help you with.

It may seem like a contradiction and it certainly is ironic, but thinking you are always right is a sure path to failure, while admitting and learning from failure inevitably leads to success.

How to Advance Suggestions

2011-09-19T09:20:00.000-04:00

Whether you own a business or work for someone else, differentiation is tough. Local and global competition, coworkers, others in a similar industry… it’s really easy to get lost in the crowd.

Here’s a simple way out of the “similar” rut: Pick an always. An always isn’t based on style; an always is something you will do, without fail, no matter what.

In time you will be known by your always — and you’ll start to stand out.

If you own a business, you can start small and decide you will always:

· Respond to calls or emails within 30 minutes

· Follow up the day after every sale

· Suggest alternatives

· Proactively caution customers about potential drawbacks or risks

Or you could go bigger and always:

Deliver early

Charge the lowest prices

Maintain the most comprehensive inventory

The always you choose is up to you; just make sure customers will value and appreciate the difference your always creates. For example, if I decide to always provide a formatted PDF along with every Word manuscript I send to clients, that’s a nice but basically worthless gesture. But if I decide to always provide ideas for subsequent books — not a bad idea, actually — most clients will appreciate the fact I’ve given real thought to build on their current book to create future opportunities.

The same is true if you work for someone else. You could decide to always:

Be at work on time

Respond to emails and calls the same day

Attend meetings (this one would have killed me)

Praise others when they do something well

Say thank you

Or you could go bigger and always:

Be at work early

Stay until important tasks are complete

Respond to emails and calls — even when you’re off

Volunteer for the worst assignments

Again, the always you choose is up to you but must be based on what your organization values. If measurable output is more important than adhering to set work hours, deciding you’ll always get to work early is much less valuable than deciding you will always outperform your peers.

It may take time, but your always will eventually make you stand out. For example, I’ve worried about whether a critical shipment would arrive; it’s powerful when someone says, “Don’t worry, it will be here. They always deliver on time.” I’ve wondered if an important task was completed the night before; it makes a real impact when someone says, “Tom was working on that, so I don’t even need to check. I’m sure it’s finished.” I’ve worried about whether an installation by a vendor would go smoothly; when someone says, “We’ll be fine — they would have let us know ahead of time if there were any potential concerns or pitfalls,” that level of trust, based on an always, really stands out.

If you’re struggling to differentiate your business or yourself, pick an always, whether large or small — based on what your customers or your organization values, not just on what you value or want to do — and deliver, every time.

Soon you’ll stand out just fine.

The Effectiveness of the Peter Principle

2011-09-12T08:19:00.000-04:00

Everyone’s heard of the Peter Principle - that employees tend to rise to their level of incompetence - a concept that walks that all-too-fine line between humor and reality.

We’ve all seen it in action more times than we’d like. Ironically, some percentage of you will almost certainly be promoted to a position where you’re no longer effective. For some of you, that’s already happened. Sobering thought.

Well, here’s the thing. Not only is the Peter Principle alive and well in corporate America, but contrary to popular wisdom, it’s actually necessary for a healthy capitalist system. That’s right, you heard it here, folks, incompetence is a good thing. Here’s why.

Robert Browning once said, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” It’s a powerful statement that means you should seek to improve your situation, strive to go above and beyond. Not only is that an embodiment of capitalism, but it also leads directly to the Peter Principle because, well, how do you know when to quit?

Now, most of us don’t perpetually reach for the stars, but until there’s clear evidence that we’re not doing ourselves or anyone else any good, we’re bound to keep right on reaching. After all, objectivity is notoriously difficult when opportunities for a better life are staring you right in the face.

I mean, who turns down promotions? Who doesn’t strive to reach that next rung on the ladder? When you get an email from an executive recruiter about a VP or CEO job, are you likely to respond, “Sorry, I think that may be beyond my competency” when you’ve got to send two kids to college and you may actually want to retire someday?

Didn’t people who wanted a better life for themselves and their children found America? God knows, there were plenty of indications that they shouldn’t take the plunge and, if they did, wouldn’t succeed. That’s called a challenge and, well, do you ever really know if you’ve reached too far until after the fact?

Perhaps the most interesting embodiment of all this is the way people feel about CEOs. Some think pretty much anyone can do a CEO’s job for a fraction of the compensation. Seriously, you hear that sort of thing a lot, especially these days with class warfare being the rage and all.

One client asked straight out in an email: “Would you agree that, in most cases, the company could fire the CEO and hire someone young, smart, and hungry at 1/10 the salary/perks/bonuses who would achieve the same performance?”

Sure, it’s easy: you just set the direction, hire a bunch of really smart executives, then get out of the way and let them do their jobs. Once in a blue moon you swoop in, deal with a problem, then return to your ivory tower. Simple.

Well, not exactly.

You see, I was a Sr. Principal Engineer in the early 80s for Computer Sciences Corporation, the company was founded in April 1959. Roy Nutt and Fletcher Jones, both in their late 20s, formed Computer Sciences Corporation with $100 and a contract from Honeywell to develop a business-language compiler called FACT. Assembling a small staff of talented people, CSC soon gained a reputation for innovative design and high-quality work. Nutt and Jones were the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates of their time. Both were innovative, extremely intelligent, and had a vision not for just a company but the future.

As time moved forward CSC was at the top of their game until the 80s when executive leadership hiccupped and eventually the company was run by, let’s say, individuals who had no vision and rode their careers on inertia of the business. The company survived and, in my opinion, overcame the incompetence of their leaders and was eventually replaced by visionaries once again.

Today CSC is one of the best-run corporations in the world today with over $16 billion in revenue ad assets and a net income of $834 million. Michael Laphen is their current CEO and I would put him as one of the most effective CEOs in the world today.

I’ve seen what a strong CEO can do for a company, its customers, its shareholders, and its employees. I’ve also seen the destruction the Peter Principle can bring to those same stakeholders. But, even now, after 30 years of corporate and consulting experience, the one thing I’ve never seen is a CEO or executive with an easy job.

That’s because there’s no such thing. And to think you can eliminate incompetency from the executive ranks when it exists at every organizational level is, to be blunt, childlike or Utopian thinking. It’s silly and trite. It doesn’t even make sense.

It’s not as if CSC’s board knew ahead of time that their executives in the 80s weren’t the right guys for the job. They had long, successful careers at the company. But the board did right the ship in time. And that’s the mark of a healthy system at work.

The other day I read a truly fantastic story in Fortune about the rise and fall of Jeffrey Kindler as CEO of troubled pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. I remember when he suddenly stepped down amidst all sorts of rumor and conjecture about the underlying causes of the shocking news.

What really happened is the guy had a fabulous career as a litigator, climbed the corporate ladder to general counsel of McDonald’s and then Pfizer, had some limited success in operations, and once he was promoted to CEO, flamed out. Not because he was incompetent - he wasn’t. And certainly not because he was a dysfunctional, antagonistic, micromanaging control freak - he was.

He failed because it was a really tough job and he was in over his head. It happens. It happens a lot. After all, this wasn’t just some everyday company that’s simple to run. This was Pfizer - a pharmaceutical giant with its top products going generic and a dried-up drug pipeline in need of a major overhaul.

The guy couldn’t handle it. And when executives with issues get in over their heads, their issues become their undoing. It comes as no surprise that folks at McDonald’s were surprised at the way he flamed out at Pfizer. That was a whole different ballgame.

Now, I bet those same people who think a CEO’s job is a piece of cake will have a similar response to the Kindler situation at Pfizer. Why take the job if he knew he couldn’t handle it? The board should have canned him before it got to that point. Why didn’t the guy’s executives speak up sooner?

Because, just like at CSC, nobody knows ahead of time if people are going to be effective on the next rung of the ladder. Every situation is unique and there are no questions or test that will foretell the future. I mean, it’s not as if King Solomon comes along and writes who the right guy for the job is on the wall.

The Peter Principle works because, in a capitalist system, there are top performers, abysmal failures, and everything in between. Expecting anything different when people must reach for the stars to achieve growth and success so our children have a better life than ours isn’t how it works in the real world.

The Peter Principle works because it’s the yin to Browning’s yang, the natural outcome of striving to better our lives. Want to know how to bring down a free market capitalist system? Don’t take the promotion because you’re afraid to fail.

Signals: Your Employees Think You Are a Jerk

2011-09-06T09:03:00.000-04:00

Q: Steve, I work for a guy who is just a jerk. He yells at employees all day long, fires people every week — seemingly to keep people on edge — never gives raises, etc. And the worst part is, I can’t afford to quit. Why do people act this way?

– Alan

A: It never ceases to amaze me how many employees work for really bad small business owners. It is surprising for two reasons: First, how anyone can think that berating people works is just strange, but more importantly, the very nature of a small business is that they are intimate, close-knit affairs. Small businesses typically work in confined spaces and with only a few people. Under those circumstances especially, being a good boss is all the more important — to your staff, your business, and yes, to your bottom line.

But that doesn’t seem to stop the jerk small business owner:

▪ One guy wrote me, explaining that he told his boss that he would have to miss some work because his wife went into premature labor by about month. He was fired for his “a lack of commitment to the job.”

▪ One woman shared the story of how she was afraid to miss her shift at the local restaurant because the boss valued “team players.” So she showed up sick with the flu, contagious, but was praised for her work ethic. Most everyone got sick later that week.

Strangely, most of these small business owners probably think they are just doing their job to the best of their ability, helping out their business, but the truth is, they stink as managers. So how do you know if you’re doing something valuable to help your team and move the collective ball forward, or you’re just thinking of yourself and preoccupied with things like getting the right cover sheet on the TPS reports?

Here are the top 7 signs that, behind your back, your employees think you are a jerk:

1. You don’t know the difference between managing and micromanaging: A good small business owner knows about more than just how to run his or her business and make a profit. Good bosses manage their employees, allowing them to do their jobs the best they can. Jerk bosses try and tell their staff how to do their jobs, down to ridiculous detail. If you spend more of your time on silly minutiae and less on the big picture, your employees probably don’t like working for you.

2. You engage in petty office politics: Of course all businesses have their share of politics, but it is the bad boss indeed who ends up in the middle, playing favorites, pitting one player against another, all in a bid to build their pathetic little empire. You should have more important things to do with your time — like actually running your business.

3. You hide the ball: I once had a boss who gave me two days to do a project that really needed about three weeks. When I walked into her office 48 hours later, disheveled and with hardly any of the work product finished, she laughed and said, “I was just testing you.” Bad bosses have unclear motivations, strange priorities, and have no problem obfuscating.

If you don’t shoot straight, your staff probably mocks you behind your back.

4. You are a bully: It is like the boss in this question, bad bosses don’t inspire. They bully and humiliate people. They try and get people to do things their way by threatening them with a loss of their job, or by verbal attacks, or other similar methods that have nothing to do with making people feel and do their best. People who work under constant threats and fear hate their job and their boss and the business.

A sure way get your staff to resent you and undermine your business when you are not looking is to bully them.

5. You do not give credit where credit is due: Great bosses love to praise people for a job well done. Bad bosses are not only incapable of positive reinforcement; they also love to take credit for others’ work.

6. You lack consideration: Maybe you think nothing of giving a ton of work to someone late on a Friday, or you refuse to make accommodations to the schedule based on people’s real life needs. Whatever the case, you can be sure that your employees do not like working for you if you care more about whether the trains run on time, and less about them as people.

And the irony is, the more you care about them as people, the more the trains will run on time, not vice versa.

7. You are just a creep: Maybe you touch too much. Maybe you say inappropriate things. Maybe you tell off-color jokes. And you do these things because, hey, who can fire you?

Guess what? You are really a jerk to work for.

How a Great Leader is Defined

2011-08-29T09:35:00.000-04:00

Passing the Big Issue test doesn’t require making brilliant strategic decisions. The Big Issue test is all about your employees. Here’s why;

Every day you make hundreds of decisions, most minor, a few major. Dealing with major problems can consume your entire focus, especially when the future of your business rides on the outcome.

That’s when a Big Issue is most likely to pop up.

Say you run a factory. A component shipment just arrived and the defect rate in tested samples is too high. Normally you would reject the shipment and let the vendor inspect and sort, but you need to meet a ship date for your largest customer. Sorting in-house means shutting down other operations. Do you eat the cost and the delays on other jobs and satisfy the customer, or do you miss the ship date?

You sit staring at your desk, knowing no matter what you decide you’re kind of screwed…

… And that’s the moment an employee walks in and says, “I really need to talk to you.” You automatically start to say, “Let me get with you a little later…” but you look up and see he is visibly upset.

He continues. “I used to be able to call our babysitter to make sure she got the kids home safe from nursery school, but our lunch period was changed to an earlier time this week so now that doesn’t work. My supervisor won’t let me leave the line to call, so all I can do is worry until we take our break…”

Inwardly you wince. You empathize but you have your own problems to deal with: Deciding whether to eat thousands of dollars in cost or upset your biggest customer.

That’s when you take the Big Issue test: Can you deal with the employee and his problem as if it was a Big Issue? To you it’s not a big issue; to him it is a very Big Issue.

Give his problem the attention and consideration he feels it deserves and you pass. Assume your issue is more important and brush him aside — no matter how politely — and you fail.

Every employee perceives issues differently. To a shop-floor employee, break schedules, interpersonal problems with team members, lack of proper tools… all can be Big Issues. To you, losing a major customer or incurring thousands in additional expense is a Big Issue.

Both of you are right.

Great leaders treat employee issues, no matter how “small,” as Big Issues. Great leaders give employee concerns the same attention they give “larger,” business-critical concerns.

When an employee comes to you with a problem, no matter how minor it may seem to you, to them it is a Big Issue. You only pass the Big Issue test when you can view problems from the employee’s perspective.

The Creation of a Brilliant Idea

2011-08-23T11:10:00.000-04:00

In competitive environments, businesses need fresh, creative ideas to stay on top.

Unfortunately, it can seem like coming up with a brilliant new idea is a matter of luck or talent — neither or which you have, especially when you need it most.

Brothers Kevin and Shawn Coyne think otherwise. In their new book, “Brainsteering: A Better Approach to Breakthrough Ideas,” the authors lay out a method for generating new ideas that anyone can learn.

Business owners often fail to come up with great ideas because they are using the wrong approach — too broad and unfocused — say the authors. According to their book, two principles lead to fruitful idea generation: asking the right questions and adding enough structure to focus efforts.

While at the consulting firm McKinsey and Company, Kevin worked on a project to improve the firm’s own ability to generate ideas. He looked at extremely successful businesses: ones that had either reshaped the entire industry or went from zero to a billion dollars in sales in under six years.

In 42 of the 43 businesses, says Shawn Coyne, “the founder had asked a single question at outset — or could have asked a certain question — that would have led you to same idea.”

Arm and Hammer Baking Soda is one of the authors’ model companies. Until the early 1970s, according to Shawn, Arm and Hammer was mostly used for baking. Then the company asked, “Who uses our product in surprisingly large quantities and how can we get more people to use our product that way?” When the company noticed a small number of customers using its product to deodorize refrigerators or to aid in washing clothes, it created a campaign to encourage customers to expand their use of baking soda. Today, the majority of its business comes from these other uses, he says.

The brothers deduced a set of guidelines based on such examples that can help other businesses come up with similarly groundbreaking ideas:

Acknowledge your constraints upfront. Brainstorming often fails because it is too unfocused, scattering participants’ creative energy. In the real world, constraints exist.

Ask focused questions. A good question forces you to look at a problem from a different angle. Instead of asking an overly broad question such as “How can we increase profits?” ask a more focused question like, “What’s the biggest hassle customers face when using products/services in our category, and how could we eliminate that hassle (in ways that others haven’t done already)?”

Don’t assume that you (or your staff) can’t come up with creative ideas. The stereotype that some people are analytical and others are creative, but that people can’t be both, is not true. These are complementary forces that work together to produce better ideas. One helps you evaluate whether ideas are good or bad, while the other gives you perspective to help identify a new category of ideas.

Shawn says that the brain steering method can be used for all types of businesses, but he has one note of caution. “If you are not willing to put real time and energy into brain steering, don’t waste your time”.

Essential Duties of a Great Manager

2011-08-15T09:05:00.000-04:00

Great managers are great based on their actions. Actions reign supreme. Intentions are meaningless —results are everything. Just not the results you might think.

Consistently accomplish these five missions and everything else follows: Fame, fortune, promotions, bigger offices, and snazzier business cards. You, your company — and most importantly your employees — benefit greatly.

Don’t, and no matter how hard you work, you will eventually fall short.

Mission #1: Develop Every Employee

Focus first on hitting targets, achieving results, and accomplishing concrete goals and you’ve placed your management cart well before its horse. Without great employees no amount of focus on goals and targets will pay off. Employees can only achieve what they are capable of achieving, so it’s your job to make every employee more capable.

Plus, even the most self-starting employees can only do so much to improve their skills. As a manager you owe it to your employees to provide the training, mentoring, and opportunities they need and deserve. In the process you listen, guide, and develop loyalty and commitment. Reviewing results and tracking performance is transformed from enforcement into personal progress and improvement — both for the employee and for business.

Employee development is not an item on your to-do list. Employee development is your primary responsibility. So don’t worry about reaching performance goals. Spend the bulk of your time developing the skills of employees and goal achievement will be a natural and long-term by-product.

Mission #2: Deal With Issues Immediately

Nothing kills team morale quicker than issues that don’t get addressed. Interpersonal squabbles, performance issues, inter-departmental feuds… all negatively impact employee motivation, enthusiasm, and even individual work ethics.

Small problems never go away. They always fester and grow into bigger problems — and when you ignore an issue employees immediately lose respect for you. Without respect you can’t lead.

Never hope a problem will magically disappear (or someone else will deal with it.) No matter how small, deal with every issue head-on.

Mission #3: Take on a Rehab Project

Every team has an employee who has fallen out of grace: Publicly failed to complete a task, blew up in a meeting… or just makes particularly slow progress. Over time you see by his peers — and that employee — as a weak link, when that happens, while he probably would love to “rehabilitate” himself it’s almost impossible. The weight of team disapproval is just too heavy for one person to move, but not too heavy for you.

Before you remove a weak link from the chain, put your full effort into trying to rehabilitate that person instead. Say, “John, I know you’ve been struggling but I also know you’re trying. Let’s find ways together to can get you where you need to be.” Express confidence. Be reassuring. Most of all, tell him you’ll be there every step of the way.

Don’t relax your standards. Just step up the mentoring and coaching you provide.

Granted, sometimes it won’t work out. That’s okay. The effort is its own reward. And occasionally an employee will succeed and you will have made a tremendous difference in a person’s professional — and by extension, personal — life.

Mission #4: Never Be Self-Serving

You can get away with this once or twice… but that’s it. Never say or do anything that in any way puts you in the spotlight, however briefly. Never congratulate employees and digress for a few moments to discuss what you did. Never say, “This took a lot of work, but I have finally convinced upper management to let us…” If it should go without saying, don’t say it.

Your glory should always be reflected, never direct. When employees excel you excel. When your team succeeds you succeed. When an employee rehab project turns into a superstar, remember they should be congratulated, not you.

You were just doing your job the way a great manager should.

Consistently act as if you are less important than your employees and everyone will know how important you really are

Mission #5: Be Gracious With Your “Fame”

Hear of an autograph seeker blown off by a celebrity and you probably think, “If I was in a similar position I would never do that.”

Wrong. You do. To some of your employees, especially to new ones, you are “famous.” Even if you’re well down the management food chain you’ve still reached a level they someday hope to reach.

That’s why an employee who stops to talk about what to you is inconsequential isn’t always trying to avoid work or ingratiate him or herself; sometimes they just want to spend a few moments with you. When that happens you can blow them off… or you can see the moment for its true importance: A chance to inspire, motivate, reassure, or give someone hope for greater things in their life. The higher you rise, the greater the impact you can make — and the greater your responsibility to make that impact.

Everyone is a “star” to someone. Make sure you are generous with your stardom.

Undermining Team Innovation

2011-08-08T10:19:00.000-04:00

According to the old saying, success has a thousand parents but that failure is an orphan. But leadership expert, consultant, and venture capitalist John Hamm says that managers are often partly to blame. They either miss signals or neglect to take the corrective action that puts projects on track, or they create situations that make failure inevitable.

Hamm, who wrote Unusually Excellent: The Necessary Nine Skills Required for the Practice of Great Leadership, said in an interview that when pursuing aggressive goals, teams often lose faith in what they can accomplish. When that happens, they look for elegant ways to explain away the failure. A leader has to see what is actually going on, Hamm says: “a set of symptoms not obvious to the untrained eye, but obvious to that person.”

Set the impossible goal

“Big hairy audacious goals are amazing in terms of getting people to really go beyond where they thought they could,” Hamm says. But set too aggressive a goal and a leader can make it impossible for the team to succeed. Hamm calls it the three-minute mile principle. “If you try to get people off the couch to train for the three minute mile, they’re not interested,” he says. “They have to believe that the goal is just out of grasp.”

Leaders have to establish credibility by creating goals that are compelling but not impossible. “If you have a tyrannical boss … they might not say it to his face, but no one’s on that plan,” Hamm says. A good metric is that everyone should feel the goal to be about 10 percent out of their reach. Much more, and the team shuts down at the beginning because the members think success can’t possibly happen.

Measure the wrong things

A second management mistake is to choose the wrong metrics and encourage a team to deliver censored data. Hamm offers an example of a manufacturing company in which the salespeople kept asking for product changes because the customer requested them. But the CEO checked to see how many of the change requests resulted in orders, very few. So the CEO asked the sales team to track that conversion rate by salesperson. Suddenly, the practice stopped.

Measurement ties back directly to the goals, as well. “There’s a lot of human behavior that goes to work every week in organizations, but it goes to work attempting to achieve something,” Hamm says. “So you should make sure that they’re clear on what they’re supposed to achieve. If you get those goals 20 percent wrong, you should go to the woodshed. You can’t blame the construction crew for building to the blueprints and not liking the house.” Proper measurement helps determine whether the efforts or the underlying goals are off.

A related problem is the manager who embraces optimism and hates hearing bad news. Employees will tailor their reports to better fit the expectations and prejudices of the leader. That may be comforting in the near term, but the practice will undermine all goals and performance.

The USA: Still the Best Business Managers in the World

2011-08-01T08:21:00.000-04:00

It’s not a contest exactly, but it might be interesting for you to learn that American firms are the best managed in the world.

That’s one finding of a research team from Harvard Business School, London School of Economics, McKinsey & Company, and Stanford. The group surveyed over 10,000 firms in 20 countries about management practices across operational management, monitoring, targets, and people management. The result: The first global database of management practices.

The group ranked US managers the best in the world, followed by those in Japan, Germany and Sweden. Brazil, China, and India were at the bottom of the management chart, managers in the UK, France, Italy and Australia somewhere in between.

What American managers and their employers do better than any other group in the world is manage and motivate people, according to the study.

“American firms are ruthless at rapidly rewarding and promoting good employees and retraining or firing bad employees,” according to the World Management Survey. Why?

More competition. Large and open US markets generate the type of rapid management evolution that allows only the best-managed firms to survive.

Human capital is important. America traditionally gets far more of its population into college than other nations.

The US has more flexible labor markets. It is much easier to hire and fire employees.

China is a study in contrast when it comes to people management.

“Many developing-country firms, even while trying to implement new techniques like Lean Management, ignore the fact that labor is different from other ‘inputs.’ the authors write in a Harvard Business Review blog post. “Many of the Chinese firms surveyed did not even employ managers who spoke the same language as the workers, relying on interpreters or basic sign language for communication. As you can imagine, this does not lead to a feeling of mutual support between management and workers.”

Read the full study and come back to tell me why you think American managers are world class — or not.

Character Traits Every CEO Needs

2011-07-25T08:47:00.000-04:00

The first six months of this year have been among the most complicated in my life. I’ve watched several business leaders make bad decisions that likely will plunge their companies into decades of decline.

Wrestling with these personal disappointments, I’ve listened to some advice and reread books on leadership and psychology. My desk is covered with books, including Drucker’s The Effective Executive, Bennis’ On Becoming a Leader and Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, all marked by dozens of post-it notes.

Here’s what I’ve gathered from this reading: there are two qualities that leaders must have, be they presidents of nations, CEOs, or informal influencers of others. There’s no crime in not having these qualities, but it is an ethical lapse to not develop them, once their absence is made apparent.

The failure to develop and demonstrate these qualities should be a deal-killer to someone’s promotion, and if you work at an organization run by leaders who lack these qualities, that should be a sign it’s time to move on.

1. Intellectual curiosity: People associate leadership with bold action, but most bad decisions comes down to one simple fact: you’ve made a bold decision before having all the facts. Curiosity includes getting to the bottom of what’s going on, why it happened, and what the underlying causes are.

Curiosity implies a desire to learn. As Warren Bennis says, great leaders are “conceptualists.” They dig into big ideas and see how they apply. Without curiosity, leaders make decisions based on politics and expediency.

Curiosity includes a love of listening. My colleague Mark Goulston, a leadership expert and psychiatrist, wrote a book that is perfectly titled: Just Listen. (The book is available from the American Management Association as a free ebook.) Many of the worst leaders I know don’t listen, don’t like to listen, and hide in their offices talking to a small circle of people who think like they do.

Companies that lack curiosity don’t see the need for change coming until it’s too late. Circuit City, Sears, and Blockbuster come to mind.

2. Courage to stand by values: The–say it with me–”Weiner affair” shows us what happens when people act on impulses rather than values. Courage goes far beyond avoiding moral lapses. It means finding a set of principles that the leader will use to make decisions, so that no one doubts where they stand. Courage is what gives leaders the intestinal fortitude to make decisions that will draw fire from naysayers.

Companies that lack courage strike people as spineless or lacking a conscience. The list includes Enron and WorldCom, but also Whirlpool, Kmart, and Nokia. In all three cases the companies failed to take bold actions that could have redefined their markets.

Leaders lack the resolve to stop doing something unethical, or don’t venture out in bold new directions.

Reading Warren Bennis reminded me that change has no constituents. A courageous decision will result in critics shooting spit wads of cynicism and sarcasm. The leader must demonstrate curiosity to fully understand the situation, and then courage to make the best decisions for everyone. If the leader caves into criticisms prematurely, then the naysayers start running the place. Vision is discarded and mediocrity is the future.

Curiosity and courage have a tension between them, and neither is an end in itself. Too much curiosity and the leader is weak and indecisive. Too much courage and the leader is brazen and thoughtless.

Of course this leaves us with two questions: how can you develop these qualities? And what is the effect if one quality, or both, are underdeveloped in the leaders where you work?

Rather than point out a few steps from all these books around me, let me ask you. How have you developed curiosity and courage? And if leaders around you lack these qualities, what is the result-for you, others, and the organization?

12 Steps Toward a Successful Business

2011-07-18T09:04:00.000-04:00

Here are a few tidbits I have observed that is common place to those business entrepreneurs I have been blessed with to encounter in my life:

1. Play to win. Coming in second means the other guy won. There really is no consolation prize in business. Business is war, a zero-sum game. Only one company can win the deal just as only one person can get the job, the promotion, whatever.

2. Build game-changing strategy that solves a big hairy problem. If it’s not going to make a real dent in something important, you have no business doing it. Build a bold, game changing strategy to win big. Slow and steady does not win the race. Niche is fine, as long as it’s a strategy to gain a foothold.

3. Surround yourself with confident, competent people that tell the truth … and listen to them. Most mistakes stem from subjective sources, limited information, and inaccurate assumptions. Surround yourself with confident, competent people - no yes-men, sugar-coaters, or BS’ers - and get the unbiased truth from enough sources to make objective decisions.

4. Success builds confidence, but life-lessons come from failure. That means real personal and professional growth comes primarily from failure and losing. Moreover, you’ll never truly understand that until you’ve been on the receiving end of a few knockout punches.

5. Bounce back fast. When you get knocked down - and you will, over and over again - the sooner you get up, brush yourself off, learn what you can, get your chin up, and get back to business, the better. Not just for you, but for everyone to see, including your competitors.

6. Challenge conventional wisdom. Things change. That means challenge the status quo, authority, sacred cows, “the way it’s done,” anything that sounds even remotely like a generalization that your gut tells you may not apply in the current situation.

7. Results count, intentions and excuses don’t. It’s shocking how many experienced leaders and managers waste time explaining why things didn’t work out and making excuses or placing blame for failure. Nobody cares, except that you own up to it, get over it, and move on.

8. Know when to quit. Killing projects, quitting jobs, pulling the plug on investments, terminating partnerships, firing people, even shooting customers - they’re all things nobody likes to do, and yet, they’re just as critical as starting something new. If you’re not good at stopping things, they’ll drain your resources, kill your productivity, and limit your opportunity.

9. There are times to be focused and times to be flexible; the key is to know when to switch from one to the other.

10. Trust your gut and do the right thing. Whatever compass you use, moral, or otherwise, trust your instincts and everything you’ve learned along the way, and do what you think is right, not what anyone else tells you to do.

11. Do what you’re great at or passionate about, whatever makes you happy. Otherwise you won’t be successful and whatever you manage to achieve won’t be worth it.

12. Set some goals, come up with a plan, execute, see how you did, learn from it, repeat. That’s how everything is done.

“Bossypants” Lessons for the Workplace via Tina Fey

2011-07-11T08:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, I admit it. I really love Tina Fey. No, not the way I love my wife and family, but in a way of admiration for one of those intellectual phenomena that crosses our path rarely in life.

Fey, the first woman to head the writing team for Saturday Night Live, the producer, writer, and star of 30 Rock, the youngest recipient of the Mark Twain award for comedy, and the woman who does a better Sarah Palin than Palin herself, continues her conquest of all media with her new book Bossypants, a comic memoir. Mixed in with her stories about bad jobs and worse dates, she has some important lessons about work — getting a job, doing it well, using the “Sesame Street” approach to obstacles (”over, under, through”), and creating a successful business, brand, and career.

It’s all material: Despite the self-deprecating humor that often has Fey telling stories about her own cluelessness, one theme that emerges from this book is the way that she is constantly observing everyone around her and making use of what she learns from the good and bad examples, sometimes in guiding her own career and sometimes inspiring some of her funniest scripts.

Find a way to like it — but not too much: After college, Fey worked as a, 5:30am-to-2:30pm, receptionist at the YMCA. Instead of thinking of it as beneath her, she found a way to like her job. She was not snarky or disdainful about the work or her co-workers. “I’m the kind of person who likes to feel like part of a community,” she writes. “I will make strange bedfellows rather than no bedfellows.” She genuinely appreciated the lessons the job had to teach her about the importance of professional courtesy and consideration. But finding much to like in the job did not make her lose sight of her goals. When an opportunity came for a promotion, she took it, even though one of her colleagues wanted the job. And when the opportunity came to leave the YMCA, she did.

Yes, and: Fey’s discussion of the rules of improvisation should be handed to every business student and new hire. The key rule of improvisation is “yes, and.” It means, “don’t be afraid to contribute. It’s your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you’re adding something to the discussion.” Whatever is thrown at you, you are supposed to agree and add something of your own? “In other words, whatever the problem, be part of the solution. Don’t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles.”

Don’t ask stupid questions. Do ask good questions: A stupid question to ask Tina Fey: “My whole life, people who ask about my scar within one week of knowing me have invariably turned out to be egomaniacs of average intelligence or less.” She is not wild about questions about the role of gender in humor, either. If you want to make a good impression think of an interesting, unexpected — and un-intrusive question.

Give credit to the people who do the work: Fey says her advice to bosses is to “hire talented people and then get out of their way.” She explains why the Saturday Night Live writers are a combination of Harvard nerds and Chicago improvisers. She describes the writing staff of 30 Rock affectionately — and then lists the best joke contributed by each of the writers. It is an astute and instructive guide to what makes jokes funny, what makes people funny, and how different specialties, backgrounds, and perspectives contribute to their creative contributions. It is a classy acknowledgment of the people who play a critical role in the show’s success. And it is hilarious.

What You Should Never Say to Employees

2011-07-05T08:53:00.000-04:00

Your employees constantly watch you. Say the wrong thing, no matter how unintentionally, and at the very least you send the wrong message. Sometimes what you say can even destroy employee morale.

Here are a few things a good leader should never say to employees:

“I’m in charge, so this is what we’re going to do.” Dealing with different opinions or even open dissent is challenging for any leader and can make you feel defensive and insecure. When that happens you might be tempted to fall back on the golden rule: She who has the gold makes the rules. Don’t. Everyone knows you’re in charge; saying you are instantly destroys any feelings of collaboration, teamwork, and esprit de corps. When you can’t back up a decision with data or logic, possibly that decision isn’t the right decision. Don’t be afraid to back down and be wrong. Employees respect you even more when you admit you make a mistake.

“I have a great opportunity for you.” No, you don’t; you just want the employee to agree to take on additional work or the project no one wants. If you say, “Mary, next week I’m assigning you to work on a new project with our best customer,” she immediately knows it’s a great opportunity. If you say, “Mary, I have a great opportunity for you; next week I’m assigning you to sort out the problems in our warehouse,” she knows she just got stuck with a less-than-plum assignment. Any opportunity that really is great requires no preface or setup. Don’t sell.

“Man, this has been a long day. I’ll see you guys. It’s time for me to get out of here.” No employee wants to feel your pain. From your perspective, running a business can be stressful, draining, and overwhelming. From the employee’s perspective you have it made because you make all the rules. Don’t expect employee empathy; instead talk about how today was challenging and everyone pulled together, or how you really appreciate that employee’s help.

“Hey, that’s a great idea — and if we do it this way…” (Unsuccessful people do too, by the way.) You may be able to improve an employee’s idea and lay out a specific path for implementation, but in the process you kill their enthusiasm. Instead, say, “Hey, that’s a great idea,” then ask questions: How they came up with the idea, the data or reasoning they used, how they think the idea should be implemented, etc. In the process the employee may identify small tweaks on her own, and if not you can gently guide him in the right direction. The best ideas, from an employee’s point of view, are not your ideas. The best ideas are always their ideas, and rightfully so. Make sure employees’ ideas stay their ideas, and everyone benefits.

“Sure, I’ll be happy to talk to your brother about a job.” The smaller the company the less you can afford interpersonal problems, especially those created by cliques and “alliances.” (Doesn’t running a small business sometimes feel like an episode of “Survivor”?) There are certainly exceptions to the rule, but think carefully before you hire an employee’s family member. Blood is always thicker than business.

“No.” Actually, “no” can be okay — as long as it is always followed with an explanation. Still, better choices are “I don’t think we can, and here’s why…” or “I would like to, but here’s why we can’t…” or “That sounds like a great idea, but we’ll need to do a couple of things first…” Explain, explain, and explain: As a leader, explaining is near the top of your job description.

“I can’t wait to go to Cancun next week.” Don’t assume your employees will be inspired by and hope to emulate your success. They won’t. Leave your Porsche in the garage. I’ve consulted for a number of family-run businesses, and in every instance (sometimes when I was on-site less than a day), at least one employee spoke of resenting how “good” the owners have it — at the expense of underpaid employees. Is resenting your success, even if you don’t flaunt it, fair? No. Is it a real issue for employees? Absolutely.

“We.” This one is conditional: Use “we” when it fits, but never use the royal “we.” Employees are aware there is no “I” in team, but they know when you are paying lip service to “we.” Just as it’s incredibly obvious to employees when you take an insincere, obligatory tour to “check in” and show how much you seem to care, it’s just as obvious when you say “we” just because you think you should. Build a real sense of teamwork first and using “we” comes naturally. Teamwork actions speak much louder than any theoretically inclusive words.

I know there are plenty more. Feel free to share things on your “do not say” list — and things you wish had never been said to you.

Business Owners-Train Managers, not Leaders:

2011-06-27T09:18:00.000-04:00

We have all known someone we consider to be a “born leader”. But can leaders be made as well as born?

Maybe yes, maybe no… but definitely not within a time frame you can afford.

If you own a small business, don’t waste time and money trying to develop leaders within your staff. Since the average person is likely to have 11 different jobs by the time they are 44 years old, any skills an employee gains from money you spent on leadership training is almost guaranteed to benefit some other company, not yours.

And there’s another reason to stop trying to teach your employees to be better leaders. Leadership “skills” are traits that are difficult to develop. The ability to stay cool under fire and make smart decisions is hard to teach. The ability to motivate and inspire employees is very hard to teach. Charisma is impossible to teach.

Leadership skills are also extremely difficult to measure. “What” is easy to measure; “how” is another proposition entirely since soft skills are involved. Compared to leadership skills, management skills are more easily measured because they produce measurable outcomes. The act of managing a process might be difficult, but measuring the results of that process should be straightforward.

So as a small business owner, what should you teach your staff?

Teach management, not leadership. Teach employees, whether in “leadership” positions or not, to follow processes and guidelines: Processes and guidelines you establish and maintain. Teach skills like decision making (within parameters you establish) and attention to detail (based on metrics you develop) and follow-up and feedback (based on goals and targets you set).

That doesn’t mean managers or supervisors must be automatons that rigidly follow checklists. Regardless of position, every employee can make judgment calls as long as their decisions fall within established parameters. The farther up the food chain, the broader the parameters and the greater the latitude. Then every employee, but especially managers who should be allowed to operate with broad authority, can be creative within boundaries you establish.

For example, every manager can be cool under fire if taught to prioritize effectively and make smart decisions. What is a smart decision? The decision you want your employees to make.

So quit trying to create leaders. Pass on ropes courses and experiential training and transformational leadership retreats. You don’t need more leaders. You are the head of your company. Teach employees in positions of authority to extend your ideas, your approach, your goals, and your vision to the rest of your team.

Setting Your Goals:

2011-06-20T08:57:00.000-04:00

Setting goals is a popular topic: Google lists nearly 20 million results for “goal setting” and Amazon.com lists 1,600 results for “goal setting” alone.

Clearly millions are desperately trying to achieve their goals.

Too bad most of the advice they get is wrong: Otherwise every guy would be fit, trim, erudite, wealthy, and married to Pamela Cruz and every woman would — well, I don’t know other than I’m sure my name wouldn’t show up on that particular list.

Most people fail to reach their goals — and then beat themselves up for lacking the willpower, drive, and persistence to achieve their goals.

If that’s you, stop. Now. The problem isn’t a lack of willpower or drive; the problem is how you’ve been taught to think about goals.

For example, did you get to work on time today? Did you get the kids to their activities on time? Did you get dinner on the table and cut the grass and do the laundry and all that other stuff? Of course you did. Why?

You didn’t really have a choice.

That’s the main problem: Most goals give us a choice.

Tasks are what we have to do. Goals are things we want to do. That’s why we fail to achieve goals. We make it to work on time because we have to; punctuality is non-negotiable. We don’t make it to the gym because we don’t have to; we can negotiate, if only with ourselves, and make other choices.

Other poor goal setting advice:

We’re told, “Make goals meaningful” (the “M” in the SMART goals approach.) No goal can be “made” meaningful. A goal either has meaning or not. The more you work to find or contrive some meaning the less likely you are to achieve the goal. Face it: It’s impossible to “find” the meaning in a particular goal. Meaningful goals always find you.

We’re told, “Setting goals helps you focus.” Goals tend to make an already complicated life even more complicated. Think about the last time you wrote a list of business or personal goals. When you finished did you think, “Wow, this is awesome because I have a clear direction and purpose,” or did you think, “Oh crap, how will I ever get all this done?” I’m guessing you thought the latter — if not right away, certainly after a day or two.

We’re told, “Make goals personal.” Every goal has a personal component, but it’s a lot easier to achieve a goal when you share and work towards that goal with others. Watch youth swimmers: Almost every kid swims faster when part of a relay team than in solo races. Why? If nothing else, they don’t want to let their teammates down. It’s a lot easier to let us down than it is to let others down. Peer pressure — and peer support — is a wonderful thing.

We’re told, “Make goals attainable” (the “A” in SMART.) There’s nothing inspiring about an attainable goal. Attainable goals are targets, not goals. “I will cold call twenty prospects today” is a target; just pick up the phone twenty times and you meet the target. Valuable, but not inspirational.

Think of it this way: Your boss tells you to finish a report by noon. Meaning, focus, personal, attainable… your boss provides all the “important” aspects of a “great goal.” But anything your boss asks you to do is a task, not a goal.

Only you can set a goal. Here’s a better way:

Make a list of all the things you currently consider to be goals: Career, business, personal, health… whatever. Now look at each entry. How many are really tasks? For example, basic health — eating well, getting a little exercise, and keeping your weight under control — is a task, not a goal. Basic health should be non-negotiable. (World-class athlete?-Goal, Basic level of health?-Task.)

Same with career or business: The steps you take to succeed are tasks, not goals. (If you have to work, shouldn’t you get the most out of it you possibly can?)

When you turn what you thought was a goal into a task, and treat it as a non-negotiable item (like getting to work on time), completing the task will be a lot easier. That’s what we’re programmed to do.

I realize you’ll probably end up with a seemingly overwhelming number of tasks on your list. That’s okay. Cut some of the stuff you currently do that is unnecessary. You’re smart. You can figure out what should go.

Then list your dreams. Review your list, think big, and pick one dream. Pick a dream that won’t feel like work to try to achieve. Pick a dream you can share with someone, even if from afar. Pick a dream you would “work” for because you feel like you have to, that if you don’t chase it will someday cause you to feel your life was incomplete. Pick a dream you would strive for even though the odds of success are slim.

When you have to — when you’re compelled to because it comes from inside — then you’re chasing a real goal, not jut completing a task.

When you chase a goal that comes from inside you, when you chase a goal that finds you, the effort itself becomes a reward, even if ultimately you “fail.” Weed out the tasks so you can see your goals for what they really are — dreams you will do anything to achieve.

Will you achieve the goal you choose? Maybe yes, maybe no… but at least the trying part will be easy.

Expos and Conferences-Your Point?

2011-06-13T08:54:00.000-04:00

I recently attended a business conference and from the minute the conference ended, I started asking myself why I had spent the time and money to attend. The conference had all the right pieces that typically make a successful conference — big name speakers, a fabulous location, a fancy resort, and lots of like-minded people from similar industries. So why did I leave with a sense that I would have been better off just staying at home?

I realized that I had accepted the invitation without fully thinking through whether the event would be worth my time. I flew halfway across the country, lost three days in the office, and had to incur the cost of a plane ticket and three nights in a hotel; All for not much in return.

In order to not repeat this mistake again, I’ve laid out the six questions I’m going to ask myself before I commit to another corporate conference.

1. Who will you meet at this conference?

Will you find potential career contacts, new clients, new products, or innovations that could make your firm more efficient or more profitable? The best conferences provide plenty of time for networking at receptions, happy hours, and mixers. Some conferences will even make introductions for you before the conference begins. If the agenda shows little time for networking opportunities, be skeptical.

2. Will you learn something?

Good speakers can teach you about industries, opportunities or trends that you would never know about otherwise. Or they can stimulate your thinking in new ways and help get your creative juices flowing.

Conferences that seem to only offer a bunch of big name speakers raise a red flag for me. Recently, a conference in my area featured Bill Cosby, Laura Bush and Colin Powell all speaking at the same event. Though I’m sure they are all great speakers, what are these three disparate “celebrities” really going to teach me about how to improve my business?

The best speakers at events are often ones that might not necessarily grab the biggest headlines. Politicians, CEOs, athletes, and movie stars might get people excited, but they rarely leave audiences with the most concrete knowledge. I look at the speakers just below the headliners — they are more likely to impart real knowledge and advice that will be most helpful.

3. Will you gain a new skill or certification?

Many conferences are geared around teaching a particular skill or offering certification to perform a particular procedure. This is most often the case in the healthcare field where doctors, dentists, or physical therapists spend a weekend learning a new procedure. If you’re going to refresh your skills or learn something new that will help improve your bottom line and give you an advantage over your competition, go.

4. What are the intangible benefits of going?

Let’s be honest — many people use conferences as an excuse to play golf, relax by the pool, or hit the ski slopes in some fabulous location. But just because you are having fun while at a conference doesn’t mean you or your team won’t benefit.

Getting out of the office can promote new thinking and creativity. I know that when I’ve gathered with co-workers in one of these settings, our meetings seem to be much more insightful and productive than if we were all sitting in the office. Plus, riding in a golf cart together or sitting on a ski lift with a colleague can create bonding time and teambuilding without having to resort to trust falls or cheesy icebreaking exercises.

5. What is my opportunity cost if I don’t attend?

Will your competition gain an advantage because you weren’t there representing your product or service? Will this be the year that your dream client shows up and you won’t be there to make the deal? Will all of your colleagues be talking about how much better this year’s conference was than last year’s?

Consider, too, the opportunity cost in the other direction. What are you going to miss by being out of the office for a few days? What will you not be able to accomplish due to your attendance at the conference? Will you miss key events at home with family or friends? A simple cost-benefit analysis works for me every time.

6. What will attending this conference do for your bottom line?

Ultimately, it all comes down to the bottom line. The most important question to ask when considering if you or your team should attend a conference is, will it have a positive impact on your bottom line. If there’s no connection — however distant — to your bottom line, what’s the point?

Taxes…The Everyday Business Agenda!

2011-06-06T08:42:00.000-04:00

Sandy Botkin the author of “Lower Your Taxes — Big Time 2011-2012.” Botkin shared 10 common tax misconceptions that both fledgling and experienced small business owners are guilty of. How many of these phrases have you uttered?

1. “I can do it myself.” “Most small business owners do not have the tax knowledge they need to stay out of trouble, but they won’t pay for planning,” says Botkin. “They’re cheap so they use TurboTax. But TurboTax won’t represent them if they get into trouble.” Sure, as a member of the profession, Botkin has a vested interest in recommending that you hire a CPA. Maybe you really are capable of doing your own tax planning. Maybe you can also rewire your office, build your own website, and represent yourself in court. That doesn’t mean you should. Just saying’.

2. “I keep my receipts so I don’t need a tax diary.” Every small business owner must keep an accurate tax organizer, says Botkin, and it’s not the same thing as an expense log. “A tax organizer has all the questions that the IRS requires you to answer about travel, entertainment, and other expenses. It will bulletproof your records and eliminate procrastination, and if you’re audited, it shifts the burden of proof to the IRS,” he says. Anything that allows you to feel smug in the presence of an auditor has got to be worth its price, which is not cheap in this case. You’ll spend over $100 for a decent tax organizer/diary.

3. “YES! A big fat refund.” Many people are thrilled when they get a big check from the IRS. Wrong reaction, says Botkin. “A refund means you’ve given the government interest-free money for a long time,” he says. “If you have withholding, you want to adjust it to the point where you get very little refund.”

4. “I’ll just borrow a little from employee withholding.” When they’re short on cash, it’s often tempting for small business owners to dip into the trust fund that’s used for employee withholding and Social Security. “Many employers think ‘ this is my money,’” says Botkin. “It isn’t. If they borrow from withholding or Social Security, they are personally liable, with huge potential penalties.”

5. “Let’s make everyone an independent contractor.” Employees are expensive, Independent contractors, not so much. So why not make everyone independent contractor? It’s not that easy, says Botkin. “If you’re going to designate a worker as independent you have to treat him as independent,” say Botkin. Typically, independent contractors can make their own hours and have control over where, when, and how work is completed. If the IRS determines that you incorrectly designated an employee as independent, you may be subject to penalties for not collecting Social Security taxes, and for more than 40% of workers compensation for the specified time period.

6. “I can pay myself whatever I please.” If you’re incorporated, this is not a reality. Say you typically pay yourself $100,000 a year. After a good year, you decide to increase that to $300,000. “You have to substantiate a reason for the increase, or part of the money can be disallowed by the IRS as unreasonable compensation,” says Botkin. “Then it can be taxed at the corporate level, and distributed as a dividend. And then you’ll pay tax on the dividend.” Ouch!

7. “My bookkeeper would never steal from me.” “It’s vital for every small business person to have one person who writes the checks and another person doing the accounting, and never the two shall meet,” says Botkin. He says that he’s met hundreds of small business owners who have had their bank accounts cleaned out by embezzlers. So unless you have a trusted family member handling all your finances, make sure that you have different people handling accounting and accounts payable. Nope, this isn’t a tax tip per se, but drop the ball on this one and you won’t have to worry about paying taxes because you may not have a business.

8. “That can’t possibly be deductible.” Not so fast! The dry cleaning for the suits you wore at that business conference in Duluth? If you were away overnight, it’s deductible, says Botkin; A movie and dinner with friends, with whom you also talked business? Also deductible he says, even if your business discussion didn’t occur at dinner, but within the same 24-hour period as the social engagement. Just make sure it’s all documented in your tax diary (see #2). Educate yourself on all the deductions you may be missing.

9. “This isn’t a hobby, it’s a business.” Say the “business” you started, selling seashell picture frames online, consistently loses money (those trips to Cape Cod are expensive, after all). The IRS may decide that you don’t have a business at all, but merely a hobby. In that case, you’ll no longer be entitled to the same deductions. “They’ll also disallow your losses,” says Botkin. “The government is the biggest bookie — they’ll subsidize your losses, but they want part of your profits.”

10. “I can’t afford to hire my kids.” Well, sure you can, especially your kids who are in college. Pay them a reasonable wage for the work they perform (Botkin paid his daughter to build and maintain his website, for instance), and you’ll be able to deduct their wages as a business expense. Then, suggests Botkin, have them use the wages to pay for college. Voila! You’ve just made college tuition deductible. Also, remember that up to $5,800 in income is tax-free for your children.

Do you have some tax advice to share with your fellow entrepreneurs? Let’s hear it.

Understanding When You Are The Problem

2011-05-31T08:07:00.000-04:00

You have bad luck. You keep getting fired, you never get the good projects, or you have really warped coworkers; or maybe, just maybe; (it’s not them, it’s you)? Here are 5 ways to tell if you’re the problem.

You have had multiple micro-managing bosses.

We all know that micro-managing bosses exist. But, if you’ve had two or three in a row, there’s a real possibility that they aren’t so much micro-managers as they are managers who recognize that you need to be micro-managed. Some employees don’t know how to get from step A to Step E without a manager spelling how exactly how to do B, C, and D.

Some employees are sloppy with their work. Formatting is unprofessional. Typos. Important questions are left unanswered.

Take a close look at what kind of things your manager is saying to you. Instead of bristling under the “micro-managing” make an effort to fix those problems before your manager appears. You may find that as you are more careful and thorough in your work, your manager backs off.

You Get Punished For Behavior Your Coworkers Get Away With

If you show up for work 15 minutes late, the boss reams you out, but if your coworker gets in 20 minutes later than you do, no one says anything to her. Sometimes that’s an example of managers playing favorites, but sometimes it’s an example that the employee is clueless as to the effects of her actions.

If your job is to answer phones, or you play a critical role in a group project, it matters when you show up at the office. If, on the other hand, you work independently, have few meetings, and consistently get your work done before the deadline, your manager is less likely to care when you show up.

If your manager is punishing you for behavior that your coworkers do as well, it’s highly likely that he’s attacking this behavior because you’re doing something else wrong, like missing deadlines, holding up other people’s work, or ignoring customers. Check and see what problems are caused by your mistakes.

Your Coworkers Never Want to Eat Lunch with You

Yes, the office can sometimes have “mean girls” who will pick on people and purposely exclude them. But, if it’s not just the “cool” people that are not inviting you, but that no one is, and furthermore, when you invite people to go with you, there is hesitance or the just flat out no, then you might be the problem.

Do you have a bad sense of timing? When everyone else is heads down on a major project, are you the “hey let’s go to lunch”? Person.

Are you a restaurant complainer? If you’re the type that sends your meal back three times because something is wrong with it, other people don’t want to go out with you.

Do you “order expensive” and then split the check evenly? Do you order steak, wine and dessert while your coworkers order sandwiches and soda and then you say, “Hey, let’s just divide the bill evenly. It’s easier.” Yes, it’s easier to exclude you for your tacky behavior.

Are you a whiner? Yes, misery loves company and coworkers frequently complain to each other at work, but the topics are generally limited to topics of shared misery–the bad boss, the crazy deadlines, etc. If you’re talking about your loser boyfriend/girlfriend (dump him/her, or get over it, sweetheart), your crushing debt in the same breath as you brag about your new motorcycle, or tell your gruesome childbirth stories to your not similarly enthralled coworkers, then you’re the problem here.

Are you a bit gross? Do you chew with your mouth open? Forget to use your napkin? Pack lunches that are excessively smelly?

You Had Multiple Run Ins With Different Racists/Sexists/Ageists

We all know that these people exist, but it’s not ever-present. If you’re constantly encountering people who are treating you poorly because of your race, gender, age, or other characteristic, it may well be that you’re perceiving something that isn’t there.

Sometimes people are jerks. Sometimes you’re getting “picked on” because you’re a low performer. Sometimes people mean no offense when they say things.

It’s a better idea to assume that people aren’t being racist/sexist/whatever, but are rather acting in good faith. Try to assume this going into your relationships with other people. If your manager corrects you, honestly evaluate if you need correcting before jumping to the conclusion that you’re being singled out because you’re not 24 and beautiful.

If someone says something that you find offensive, gently correct him or her. Don’t assume that because you think the statement is racist that the speaker thinks it’s racist.

If your boss or coworker truly is an “…” giving them the benefit of the doubt won’t cause you any harm and it will become obvious later on that they are the true problem.

Everyone You Work With Is Really Stupid

Your boss is an idiot. His boss is an idiot. Your coworkers are dumb as rocks. And, we won’t even talk about the completely incompetent HR department.

Now, there’s a really good chance that you’ll work with one or two people who are dumber than a box of hair. But, if everyone is, you may need to rethink your definition of stupid. Are you defining these people as incompetent because they disagree with you? It may well be that they just disagree with you.

Are you defining them as not so bright because they don’t understand what you are saying? Is it possible that you are not a good communicator? Is it possible that you don’t understand what they are saying, and not the other way around?

Whenever there is a problem at work, you need to look at the possibility that the world isn’t out to get you–that you just may be the person who needs to change.

Loyalty

2011-05-26T08:40:00.002-04:00

For all the good news emanating from the elimination of Osama bin Laden, there is one aspect of the mission that is receiving relatively little coverage. And it is too bad because there is a lesson in what is being overlooked.

Last summer U.S. intelligence sources noted the possibility a “high value target” may be living in walled luxury in a remote town in Pakistan. In September the President, chief aides, national security officials, CIA officials and military leaders began holding regular meetings. In time it was learned that the target might be bin Laden. Yet not once during this long period of meetings – when not everyone was in agreement – was security breached.

Loyalty to the Big Cause

In Washington where leaking information is blood sport, this is remarkable. It is a tribute to the President’s ability to head a multi-disciplinary team and keep everyone focused on a single goal. But it also is a tribute to the men and women – military, civil servants, and yes, politicians – maintaining a code of secrecy in pursuit of a mission. Why did they do it?

The obvious answer is national security and the ability to bring the world’s most high profile outlaw to justice. But that’s not the full story. And here’s where it matters to leaders outside government. These men and women were loyal to a cause greater than themselves. From this cause they drew hope and applied their professionalism to see that the job was well done.

Loyalty to the Cause Means Shared Values, Not Blind Obedience

While you probably won’t be party to such a high stake gambit as the search for bin Laden, you can strive to instill a sense of shared purpose so that you inspire a loyalty to the mission. Many leaders make the mistake of conflating loyalty to a cause with obedience to the leader. Big mistake. In fact such misapplication is what fuels breakdowns – be it in security or in failure to complete a project.

Most people follow leaders they admire and are loyal to them, but as James MacGregor Burns has written so eloquently, this kind of loyalty stems from shared values; followers and leaders believe in the same things.

Leader Becomes Facilitator

How a leader engenders commitment to the cause is the subject of a forthcoming book but it can be summed up by stating simply that the leader becomes the facilitator, allowing followers to channel their energies and organizational resources toward getting the job done right.

The cause needs to be big but not grandiose. For example, human resource professionals work hard to make their companies employers of choice. As such talent comes to them. Think Google or Whole Foods. But also many companies large and small that you never heard of but which people want to work for because employees feel like contributors, not hired hands.

Put People First

As facilitators of the cause, it falls to leaders to live the purpose of the organization. They lead by example by doing what is necessary to keep the operation running smoothly. Such leaders also put people first, not simply in words but in actions. They coach and develop as well as challenge and cajole. They put them in positions where their talents and skills match the job and so the employees have the opportunity to prove themselves.

Creating and sustaining common cause is never easy but as seen with the success of the mission to capture bin Laden the rewards can be high.

Have you inspired loyalty to a goal in your organization? What worked?

The Argument for the Older Applicant/Employee

2011-05-16T08:38:00.000-04:00

Although there are laws designed to protect workers over 40, age discrimination is often subtle and very difficult to prove. In many cases, the best defense is a proactive campaign designed to shift attention away from the fading color of your hair and to the value you offer an employer.

Corporate recruiters outlined the top advantages to hiring people over the age of 50 — attributes that could be highlighted during the interview process:

▪ Work ethic

▪ People skills

▪ Good judgment

▪ Emotional stability

▪ Business knowledge

▪ Credibility in the field

▪ Decision-making ability

▪ Wide range of contacts

▪ Politically savvy/influential

▪ Customer service perspective

▪ Depth and breadth of experience

▪ Commitment to organization goals

Executives who prove to interviewers that the benefits of hiring midlife executives outweigh the negative perceptions are likely to succeed in the job market. Midlife professionals are, often found to be, more committed to company goals, more reliable; and they carry greater credibility with stakeholders, says Jean Erickson Walker, author of The Age Advantage, Making the Most of Your Midlife Career Transition and facilitator of the monthly Portland, OR ExecuNet networking meetings.

According to Walker, younger employees tend to make decisions more quickly than older workers, but their lack of experience often prevents them from identifying the correct issue. “They explore and take risks, but if things don’t work out, they rarely have a back-up plan.”

Older workers, on the other hand, may be less impulsive, but they nearly always make the right decision. “And when they don’t, they always have a back-up plan,” notes Walker. “In the long run, organizations are going to save time and money with experienced employees.”

In addition to demonstrating unique senior-level experience, executives have to work hard to thwart common misconceptions. The survey revealed specific misperceptions held by many hiring officers when evaluating a more senior executive — despite the fact that the average age of those placed by search firms was 47.3 in 2008, up from 46.2 in 2007. Among those common misperceptions:

▪ Focus

▪ Health

▪ Lacks energy

▪ Costs too much

▪ Difficult to work with

▪ Just waiting to retire

▪ Lacks technical skills

▪ Lack academic credentials

▪ Desire for flexible work schedules

▪ Ability to mentor younger employees

▪ Inflexible/unwilling to deal with change

▪ Uncomfortable working for a younger boss

▪ Corporate mentality; expects a lot of support

“Inflexibility needs to be addressed because that is a big concern about the senior workforce. What is perceived as inflexibility may, in reality, be experience,” says Walker. “Senior executives have the ability to evaluate the potential of a situation. They may seem inflexible because they have the experience and expertise to know ‘This isn’t going to work.’ Experience, observation and wisdom tell you that there is a better way of doing something.”

Opting out of a typical 9-to-5 role for a contingent position demonstrates flexibility as well. “Executives who focus on solving issues could wind up in contract, project or consultant positions,” notes Walker. “These ‘fixer’ roles could lead to terms that are as long as full-time positions.”

Walker recommends an easy method for addressing the “lack of energy” perception. “Casually refer to activities that show energy, or make comments and references to your energy level,” suggests Walker. For instance, mentioning a recent marathon run or sailing adventure will demonstrate an active lifestyle. Asking the interviewer about a nearby gym would also suggest a high activity level.

“It’s important for candidates to refer to long-term professional goals,” says Walker of the “just waiting to retire” perception. “Since job tenures overall are shortening, the senior worker is more likely to remain with the company longer than the younger employee.”

“Employers write programs to sort through candidate résumés, and ‘year of graduation’ enables them to eliminate anyone over a certain age,” says an ExecuNet member.

Whether age screening is real or imagined, senior executive candidates have developed some creative methods for avoiding exact dates; but experts agree that this is not the best — or most truthful — method.

“I’m 57 years old. My résumé shows the date I graduated from college as well as all my employment dates,” says an ExecuNet member in the online networking forums. “It has been suggested that I remove all dates except for the last decade or so. The thinking is that a 57-year-old executive will find it harder to secure a job than a 40-year-old executive will. I’m up in the air on this. I don’t want to ‘date’ myself out of a possible interview, but I also do not want to mislead a prospective employer.”

Master résumé writer Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter responds, “My advice, which repeatedly I have seen work well on clients’ résumé documents, is to go back 10 to 15 (sometimes even 20) years — depending upon the pertinence of the further-back information/achievements, etc.”

“Sometimes, company affiliations or job roles dating 21 to 30+ years back need to be mentioned based on the target audience. In these instances, a summary section showcasing key information (names of companies/positions/key accomplishments) ONLY should be listed. Omit the dates,” says Barrett-Poindexter.

“I see younger workers focusing heavily on the plain vanilla duties and degree listings versus expounding on concrete evidence of their actions and results,” says Barrett-Poindexter. “They often ‘forget’ what their target audience’s needs are and pack the résumé with non-relevant dates. Remembering that the résumé is a marketing document to sell your unique skills and attributes related to the company’s needs and wants will take you a long way toward gaining interviews.”

Barrett-Poindexter also outlines a straightforward approach. “You might say something to the effect that you are sensing potential concerns about age, and then reassure the interviewer that you are fully prepared to master all requirements of the position — that you are committed to bringing a wealth of education, training and experience that few could equal, or some such similar response (such as answering the question indirectly but meaningfully).”

Walker points out that incomplete résumés are a common mistake, and they don’t present a realistic history. “Don’t leave off the early years of your work experience. This signals that you don’t think your age is an advantage.”

“Use dates only when the education is current,” advises Walker. “Don’t put dates for education, training or certification unless it falls within five years. Any education before then is background for what you were able to accomplish in your career. Companies want people who are continually learning and growing,” says Walker.

Omitting dates to get an interview can damage credibility and leave the interviewer feeling betrayed.

“I believe so strongly in the integrity of relationships, and it is a key point in hiring. People expect integrity and values from midlife workers. Trust is essential in building integrity; and if I make you doubt me, you won’t trust me enough to be part of your organization.”

Loyalty

2011-05-11T08:50:00.001-04:00

Loyalty to the Big Cause

Loyalty to the Cause Means Shared Values, Not Blind Obedience

Leader Becomes Facilitator

Put People First

Creating and sustaining common cause is never easy but as seen with the success of the mission to capture bin Laden the rewards can be high.

Have you inspired loyalty to a goal in your organization? What worked?

Perception About Your Web Site

2011-05-09T09:13:00.000-04:00

Check your stats: Your About Us page is probably one of the most visited and highest ranked pages on your website.

For most small businesses, the About Us page is what most powerfully establishes credibility.

That is, unless yours stinks.

Writing about you is hard. Writing about your business can be even harder. That’s why many companies end up with About Us pages like this:

“Acme Consulting is a global network solutions provider, redefining enterprise networking and connectivity by consistently providing outstanding customer experiences and innovative, world-class services.”

Sounds impressive. Says nothing.

Imagine you channeled your inner Bernie Madoff and desperately need a lawyer. What do you want to read on a law firm’s About Us page? Would you hope to see this?

“The stability and continuity of Acme Law Firm provides a perspective that considers both your immediate and long-term interests through wisdom borne of participation in thousands of legal scenarios…”

Or this?

“If it’s humanly possible, we’ll get you off. In the last ten years we’ve won 97% of our cases. We’re all divorced because we never go home. Granted, we do socialize, but only with judges we’re actively corrupting. We regularly face ethics violation proceedings because we only recognize a line when we’re stepping over it…”

Sure, intentionally over the top to make a point — but unless you like the thought of “three hots and a cot”, you’ll call those guys.

Potential customers who click your About Us page are already interested; now they want to be reassured you are the right choice. Here’s how to be sure your About Us page gives potential customers what they need:

Think customer first. What do potential customers want to know? At a basic level, first-time visitors want to know you own a real business with real capabilities. What questions are you asked during sales calls? What information tends to seal a deal or win over a hesitant customer? If I’m looking for a fulfillment center, “providers of outstanding customer experiences” means nothing to me, but “99.3% on-time shipping with a .002% error rate” sounds pretty good, because …

The Facts are compelling and superlatives are not. Lots of About Us pages are filled with words like outstanding, excellent, world-class, visionary, cutting edge, etc. If your business truly is outstanding, prove it with facts. If your business truly is visionary, talk about innovative products you’ve developed. If you don’t have many facts and figures (yet), admit it. Describe what your business hopes to achieve, and how.

Don’t try to be something you’re not. As a general rule, the smaller the business the “fluffier” the About Us page. Trying to make your small business look bigger is a natural impulse but can also create awkward moments when a potential client asks for references or specific examples. Own the fact you’re a startup and show why new clients will benefit: Greater focus on individual customers, shorter lead times, a burning desire to prove yourself in a new market, etc. Candor is compelling. Turn who you really are into an advantage.

Describe qualifications, but be brief. Certifications and awards are great, but pick a few that resonate the most with potential customers. (Stick the rest on a separate “Industry Awards” page.) If you won an Emmy you can probably leave out your “Best Supporting Actor in a Non-Speaking Role at the Roadhouse Dinner Theater and Swap Shop” award.

Kill the stock photos. We’re all expert stock photo spotters. Use real photos or no photos at all. Seriously: Will anyone believe these fine folks work for you?

See your About Us page as a continual work in progress. Most About Us pages stay static for months or years. Whenever you land major customers, add expertise and capabilities, enter new markets, open new locations, etc., update your About Us page. Keep it fresh for prospective clients and for SEO purposes.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I was asked to give a critique on a client’s web site, but it was awful. Ask someone to read your About Us page and then describe back to you what you do. If they can’t immediately answer most of the five Ws (who, what, when, where, why), get back to work.

Final thought: If you’re fairly modest and writing an About Us page feels “sales worthy” or self-congratulatory, focus on facts, figures, and accomplishments. Objective information is a lot easier to write and a lot more powerful as well. Think about the needs you fulfill and the problems you solve for your customers. Then use plain language to describe how you fulfill those needs and solve those problems.

And put a monthly reminder on your calendar to revise your About Us page. It can always be improved.

How To Master Any Skill

2011-05-02T10:19:00.000-04:00

The intersection of talent and effort is a funny place. Think about a skill you’ve tried to develop, whether business, sports, or personal.

At first you improve at a rapid rate. Then your improvements slow down. Eventually, no matter how much effort you put in, you just don’t seem to get better.

So you do one of two things:

You decide channeling your inner Mozart is impossible and you quit, or

You decide maybe you haven’t really worked hard enough, and you keep digging.

Most of the time we stop trying to improve because we assume our talent has taken us as far as we can go. We decide, “We can never be the Mozart of our field”.

If we keep digging, we still don’t tend to improve, mainly because doing more of what got us to the level we have reached rarely results in further improvement. Think of that as my Modified Einsteinium Definition of Insanity: Doing (more and more) of the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

At some point the problem isn’t effort; the problem is how we apply that effort.

Why? Say you’re trying to improve a physical skill. Over time your skills become automatic. Automatic is a good thing, because it means you’ve internalized a skill, but automatic is also a bad thing because anything automatic is hard to adjust. The key to improvement is to find ways to adapt or modify what you already do well so you can do that even better.

We learn best from making mistakes. To improve, find ways to make mistakes:

Slow down. Forcing yourself to go slower breaks habits as well, and is a perfect way to uncover adaptations that weren’t apparent at normal speed.

Speed up. Go much faster than normal. Sure, you’ll screw up, but in the process you’ll break up old habits, adapt to new conditions, and find improvements.

Break a complex task into component parts. Almost every task includes discrete steps. Pick one, deconstruct it, master it… then put the whole task back together. Then choose another component part.

Measure differently. Pick a different measurement than you normally use to analyze performance. Measure speed instead of accuracy, for example, or use video or audio. (A friend taped four initial meetings with prospective customers and identified several bad habits he was unaware of. Watching yourself isn’t particularly fun, but it’s darned objective.)

The cliché “perfect practice makes perfect” is accurate because each time we practice perfectly we perform a task as well as we possibly can. When we try to do our best, every mistake is obvious — and then we can learn from those mistakes, adapting and modifying our techniques so we constantly, even if only incrementally, improve.

That’s where talent and effort intersect. Skill, like talent, isn’t an end result. Skill is a process.

Take Mozart. Everyone knows the musical prodigy Mozart composing and performing by the age of six. Less well known is the Mozart who put in thousands and thousands of hours of focused practice starting at age three. His genius lay not just in talent but also in effort. Talent took him far; hard work and focused practice took him a lot farther.

Here’s a business example, one that might surprise you. A friend of mine runs an excavating firm. He spends a lot of time on a backhoe. Speed and efficiency are critical in his business because he’s paid by the job. The longer it takes to dig footers for a new building, for example, the less money he makes. He’s constantly trying new techniques and experimenting in unusual conditions like muddy or frozen ground or different types of soil. He approaches excavation like it’s an Olympic sport — and he’s gotten darned good at it.

Whatever you do, you can do better. It doesn’t matter if it’s a physical task, or making sales calls, or managing employees, effectively doing a performance appraisal, or conducting interviews. Any task can be performed better and more efficiently. To improve, don’t make the mistake of simply working harder. Shake things up. Reinvent a skill that has over time become automatic — but not perfect.

If you do, the results will be messy and frustrating at first, but with the right kind of effort your skills will improve. And then you can have your own Mozart moment.

(If you’re not familiar with the movie “Amadeus,” in this clip Salieri composes a welcome piece, the king performs it, then Mozart schools Salieri.)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ciFTP_KRy4&feature=player_embedded

Want to know more about how to develop your own skills? Check out Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code, Gladwell’s Outliers, Matthew Syed’s Bounce, or Colvin’s Talent is Overrated. Read a little, and then practice a lot.

Political Fiction and the Economy 2011

2011-04-25T06:16:00.000-04:00

We want to balance the budget.

Who Tells It: Republicans: Despite the fact the claims that Republicans want a balanced budget, it's clear from the nature of their actual proposals that they aren't serious. If they were, their proposals would insist, among other things, that the government bring the pointless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a screeching halt, end the ineffective and absurd war on drugs, completely terminate oil subsidies, and radically reduce military spending. Instead, what they surface are nickel and dime ideas (like defunding NPR) and budget-breaking absurdities, like tax cuts for the super-rich.

The gender pay gap is real

Who Tells It: Democrats: Liberals pander to the feminists by insisting that men are paid more than women. But here's the truth: when you factor out the time that women spend having children and caring for them, and then compare apples to apples (i.e. same job, same start date), the gender pay gap shrinks to statistical insignificance. This lie is pernicious because it distracts people from looking at the REAL pay gap, which is insane accumulation of wealth and earnings between the super-rich. As long as politicians can keep middle-class men and women squabbling over table scraps, nobody will notice that ALL of the economic gains of the past three decades have gone to those who were already obscenely wealthy.

The U.S. has high corporate tax rates

Who Tells It: Republicans: While it's true that the U.S. tax rates (on the books) is among the highest in the world, there are so many tax breaks available to businesses (especially large ones) that the ACTUAL tax rate is lower than many third world countries. The only companies that pay the full tax rate are small businesses that can't pay accountants to squirrel away money overseas and can't pay politicians to enact preferential treatment and special breaks. The result is a huge advantage for large companies, even though they employ a tiny (and declining) fraction of American workers.

We support small businesses

Who Tells It: Republicans and Democrats: Politicians give lip service to small businesses, because small businesses actually comprise most of the economic activity in the United States. But small businesses have no political power and therefore no influence. A small business can't raise enough money to get on the radar screen of any one politician (except maybe the hometown congressman), which means that the interests of small businesses will always get short shrift. The problem is made worse by the fact that many small business owners foolishly believe that the CEOs of huge firms will influence politicians to become more "business-friendly". What they don't understand is that a business climate that's friendly to huge multinationals can easily be one that's toxic to small businesses.

We have the best healthcare in the world

Who Tells It: Republicans: The way the Republicans talk about it, you'd think that any substantive change in the current healthcare system would bring American businesses to utter rack and ruin. But the truth is providing the current system in the United States is extraordinarily inefficient, with costs that are higher (relative to actual results) than anywhere else in the world. While the current system is great for two industries -- insurance and healthcare -- every other industry operates at a disadvantage in the United States because either they, or their workers, have to pay for the inefficiency of a system where expensive procedures are more profitable than keeping people healthy.

Free trade creates jobs

Who Tells It: Republicans and Democrats: Free trade creates jobs...in places where labor is cheap. In the United States, free trade has created massive outsourcing that has, in turn, gutted entire sectors of the economy. It's not just the manufacturing jobs that have gone away. There are hundreds of thousands of highly trained engineers, for example, who are being put out of work by engineers abroad who will work for what in the United States would be minimum wage. The collapse of the American job market was hidden for years by a massive glut of borrowing and consumer spending, but now it's come home to roost, to the point where gaining back a tiny fraction of the jobs that were lost is considered a huge victory.

Nobody is above the law

Who Tells It: Republicans and Democrats: Corporations that are deemed "too big to fail" are routinely given a free pass when they commit crimes. The executives who commit criminal acts are allowed to walk and the companies themselves given a nominal fine; in order to make certain that the company survives. As a result, executives at huge firms know that they can continue to commit crimes, because they know they will not be held accountable. Any attempt to regulate such firms so that they can't wriggle out is quickly squelched, primarily by Republicans, but aided and abetted by those Democrats who are also sucking at the corporate teat.

What's good for big business is good for the country

Who Tells It: Republicans and Democrats: It used to be that "What's good for GM is good for the country." But that was when large companies actually employed a large number of American workers. Today, many huge companies are deployed so heavily overseas that they're not really American at all. Many multinationals are, for all intents and purposes, sovereign states. Some even have their own standing armies. Even so, U.S. politicians in both parties continue treat such corporations as if they were American entities, and are more than happy to accept their campaign contributions, even though this is tantamount to accepting money from a foreign country.

We feel your pain

Who Tells It: Democrats: Politicians at the federal level, including Democrats, are so far removed from poverty, or even from the middle-class, that it's impossible for them to have any idea what it is actually like to try to survive in the current economic climate. Many members of congress are millionaires and multi-millionaires, as are most of the senators. Many come from families with inherited wealth. They are all highly paid, with the world's best health insurance, and lifetime job security as lobbyists or industry consultants. The idea that anyone in this position can "feel the pain" is sickeningly absurd.

Supply side economics really works

Who Tells It: Republicans: It's been decades since George H.W. Bush gave Supply Side Economics the "Voodoo" sobriquet, and yet there are still politicians (Republicans mostly) who insist that this crack-brained idea is valid, even though there is not a single shred of evidence that this is the case. Why the persistent denial of reality? It's a classic case of wanting to have your cake and eat it, too, combined with willingness to belief any old thing that makes you feel good. It's probably not a coincidence that the most vocal proponents of this particular brand of economic snake oil also hold other absurd beliefs contrary to history and observable reality. Show me a tried and true supply sider, and I'll show you somebody who believes that every word of the Bible is accurate, that global warming is fictional, and that Obama was born on the planet Mars.