Leadership Smarts

Today we have a guest blog from Jim Hessler:

Your computer would like you to be more like it. Don’t do it.

You are not a computer. Don’t try to operate like one.  The intelligence that fosters leadership is very, very different from the “intelligence” of your computer.

What constitutes leadership intelligence?

1. A well-rounded intellect. Reading To Kill a Mockingbird or Moby Dick might help you lead as much as repeated readings of Good to Great. Don’t be a “business savant;” the type of intelligence required to understand spreadsheets and design processes is fed and supported by a broader awareness of the world.
2. Studying human nature. When you go to the ball game, are you more interested in the players’ statistics than in the amazing panorama of human behavior in the stands?  Great leaders are fascinated with what makes humans tick.
3. Awareness of political and social issues. What’s going on in the world around you affects your business.  If that doesn’t make sense to you, you’re not thinking strategically.  One example:  as fossil fuels get harder — and more expensive — to extract from the ground and the oceans, have you considered the impact on your business 10 years down the road?
4. Spirituality. Whatever form this takes, I believe a leader has to have a spiritual life. It grounds you, challenges you to consider your values in every decision, gives you time for reflection and contemplation, and opens you to depth in your relationships. Whether you commune with the gods or the sparrows, remember that you are a whole human being and your organization will benefit if you are bringing a bigger “you” into the workplace.
5. Physical intelligence. Understanding what your body needs and meeting those needs is a form of leadership intelligence. It improves not just your physical, but also your intellectual, emotional, and relational “posture” in countless ways.

YOUR PATH FORWARD: To what extent do you spend focused time, every week, developing each of the five kinds of intelligence above?  On a scale of 1 to 10, rate yourself on each.  (1 is “no time at all”; 10 is “the ideal amount of time for becoming steeped in this kind of intelligence.”)  Then take your two lowest scores and create a plan for engaging in activities that develop those two capacities.

You are not a computer. Don’t just plug yourself in, power up, and spend your day processing. Be a human being. Be a leader.

Jim Hessler:

Jim brings over 25 years of business management and executive leadership experience to Path Forward, which he founded in 2001.

Jim has been an award-winning salesman, sales manager, general manager, and executive. He has specialized in turning around underperforming operations, and in the mid 90’s he helped lead a massive national reorganization for a Fortune 150 company.

Jim’s experience in general management has resulted in broad and deep knowledge of nearly all aspects of a well-run business. From building and managing a sales organization, to managing complex inventories and delivery systems, to generating vision and trust in demoralized organizations, to leading complex restructuring efforts, Jim has earned a depth of knowledge and insight that serves his Path Forward clients exceedingly well, regardless of the leadership challenges they face.

Jim lives in Issaquah, Washington, and has been married for 32 years to Paula Weiss, a teacher in the Issaquah School District.

Act Now to Reduce Risk and Stress by Systematizing Process

Today we have a blog from Earl Bell:

I have observed over the years that companies who are consistently Winning in the Game of Business have systematized what works. Great managers ensure that best practices and processes are documented, teachable, repeatable and institutionalized.  Inversely, companies that struggle with scalable success in execution typically have silos which are built within positions in departments where individuals do not share key knowledge.  By the way, silos are meant for grain and not business! 

Having key knowledge locked in the minds of an individual is risky for the company and stressful for many; especially when a company is growing!  However, there is a solution which can be implemented with time, energy and commitment.

Towards that end, below is checklist you can use to reduce business risk while systematizing business process:

1. Build an organization chart with job descriptions for each position.  Ask each department head to work with your Human Resources leader or engage an outside professional to help get this done.  Without a formal job description, it is hard to assign responsibility and accountability for work that is being done.  To build greater alignment between strategic initiatives and tactical execution, be sure to define how each position and work being done aligns with company-wide strategic goals.
2.   With each department head and for their respective employees:

a.   Document key business processes.  Documentation is complete and sufficient when others in the company can do the work without oversight.

b.    Ensure that at least two employees in the company can do every task required within the company.

c.     Coach employees who refuse to share knowledge on how to do their jobs.  Help them recognize that business is a team sport.  Keep team players, and find ways to shed individual performers that want to work solo, unless you are comfortable assuming this risk.

d.    In the same spirit, make sure key customers and vendors have at least two people in the company they know and want to work with, thus developing depth in your company’s ability to serve these key relationships.

e.    Coach employees who are reluctant to help build relationships between key customers/vendors with others in the company.  Again, business is a team sport and you need team players.  Sometimes, changing team members is necessary to build a healthy and sustainable company.

Albert Einstein once said that, “everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”  So in that spirit, my question is… “Will you accept the challenge in 2014 of taking the journey to build redundancy and reduce risk in your organization?”  If not, “Will you at least take the time to quantify the potential risk to your company by not taking action?”

My belief is that those accept this challenge will likely find that customers and vendors will thank you for making doing business with your company easier while team-oriented employees will give thanks for making work less stressful and more fun!

EARL BELL

EARL BELL is the author of, Winning in Baseball and Business, Transforming Little League Principles into Major League Profits for Your Company, which provides a roadmap to success for leaders that desire to build thriving companies in a very competitive 21^stcentury business environment.  Earl believes that “everything you need to know about business, leadership and team building can be learned from Little League baseball.”

Earl conducts workshops, coaches and consults with owners, business leaders and their teams, teaching them how to dramatically reduce the time it takes to improve profitability, customer experience, employee engagement and company value, while simultaneously increasing discretionary time and reducing both stress/employee burnout.  He believes the secret to winning in baseball, business and life can be summarized in a simple formula:  Winning = Service + Humility. His motto is that Winning in Business is a Team Sport!

Earl has served in the Chief Financial Officer role for numerous companies throughout North America. His personal passion is youth sports and he has coached 28 teams since 2002.  Earl is a CPA, graduated from SU (Seattle University) with a BA in Accounting and from the MILL (Mercer Island Little League) with a Master’s in Youth Baseball.

Earl Bell can be reached at  earl@earlbell.com and 206-420-5946

Name one thing that larger business do better than small businesses?

Almost all business news focused on publicly traded companies, ends up talking about how they are forced to look at short quarterly cycles, and that this charge to quarterly earnings has negative consequences.  Frankly, the framing of this issue by the business media is a disservice to both businesses and the public and, what is more…. It is not an full reflection of what is happening. 

When I have talked with executives of larger companies, especially CEOs, they frame their focus on managing perceptions around quarterly earnings.  They are more concerned about staying the course on longer range plans. 

This may be a subtle difference to most of us and it is one that is profound.  Fleshed out, this means that the large company CEO believe their value to their companies is to set and maintain a long range course. 

Stay with me here…. This means that when plans are set, they are focused on letting the plan play out, rather than being reactive.  They know that to stay on course, they have to have most of their team and employees focused on executing the plan (not on managing quarterly earnings). 

There my friends is where smaller businesses are different.  Often, the CEO/Owner/Executive Team switch back and forth from tactical to longer range plans and too often, end up in the weeds and being reactive.  One of the places that hurts a smaller business and is too often neglected is in the CEO either focusing on shiny objects (whatever is in front of them) OR in letting others undermine a course that they have set. 

So, what can a small business owner/CEO do to not get sucked in to detail, where they are likely to be reactive?  Am I suggesting that a small business owner should not pay attention to cash flow , accounts receivable and the weekly/daily activities? 

What I have found and what I recommend is that you balance and separate.  First, balance how much time you spend on day to day with focusing on what will get your company to achieve its next set of goals.  At the same time, figure out what makes sense for you and your company…. How many hours spent on tactical and how many on longer range execution. 

There are a number of ways you can separate short term from long term.  First, make arbitrary separations.  Make sure you never mix agendas for your meetings.  I even went to the extra effort of having a break between tactical and longer term meetings. 

Next, ask yourself and your staff to always ask the question (I mean out loud): Are we being reactive?  Is this something that needs to play out because we have a plan or is “it” side-tracking us? 

I’ll bet you have some strategies and tools you use to separate and balance.  What are your strategies or suggestions? 

  

Prof’s hit 10,000 golf balls to get to their level. What are you doing to get to the Pro levels of leading your company?

A large number of aspiring executives and owners are working toward their MBA’s.  Like most professional training (doctors, lawyers, etc.), you come out of a program with technical knowledge and almost no trained skills to practice the professional training. This is why doctors go through internships and residencies.  As a young attorney, I learned a good deal in my first couple of years of practice, from secretaries who really knew their stuff (this is the informal legal residency and while most attorneys don’t talk about it, it is for real). 

Back to business types… two questions: What are your strengths and where are you going to get your training?  At Excell, we believe in practicing with frequency, regularity and consistency the skills required to lead a company.  Whether you think of leadership as soft skills or not; whether you are a whiz at inspiring people; whether your planning skills let you see around corners, there is always a next level to achieve. 

So, let me ask you the ultimate question…. How are you going to get your 10,000 practice swings, in order to achieve mastery?  If you do not plan on how you will get mentoring, feedback or accountable practice, then an MBA won’t do you much good.  A high school graduate with a disciplined program, desire and commitment to practice will outshine you any day, whether on the golf course or in business. 

What is your plan? 

Reading List for 2014

Excell Puget Sound has compiled a reading list  for entrepreneurs and business owners.   Our Recommended Book List provides tools and insight for a strong and successful 2014.

 Shannon Bruce, Executive Coach and Group Leader of Excell Puget Sound Kitsap has reviewed her top three all-time books on leadership.

 

Shift: A Guide-book to Above-the-Line Positive Thinking—Cathy & Gary Hawk

I highly recommend this book as a must read resource to create a culture of positivity among leaders and teams. Because this book is based on how to improve your engagement with self and others, it’s applicable for all types of ecosystems and will benefit individuals, families and companies. You will learn a new operating system for interacting with yourself and others that shifts the focus away from negative thinking and drained energy to positive thoughts that restore well-being, vitality and results. The book is both context and content rich, providing the brain science behind the work, while providing instructions on how to use the tool to support ongoing and sustainable behavior change. The greatest impact of this book is that it will support you in taking ownership of your own thoughts and energy to increase your vitality, deepen your relationships with individuals and teams and improve the quality of your outcomes in both life and work. 

Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization Dave Logan, John King, Halee Fischer-Wright

People are wired to be in relationship and as a result automatically form tribes. Each tribe has a unique culture that thinks, feels and acts a particular way. This book provides a solid framework for understanding the culture of the five tribal cultures, as named by the authors, to supports leaders in expanding their own leadership capacity as well as understanding how to engage and interact with others at the stage of culture they are operating. The natural result is teams and organizations thrive as you learn now to leverage the culture of the tribes you are interacting, either at home or at work.

The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything—Stephen M.R. Covey

Trust acts as an exponential dividend that accelerates results. This book is a comprehensive resource that looks at trust through multiple lenses starting with self-trust, relationship trust and stakeholder trust (organizational, market and stakeholder trust). It also explores how to develop a solid foundation of trust by strengthening the four cores of credibility which include integrity and intent (character) along with capabilities and results (competencies). As the title suggests, this book will change everything.



Lauren Owen,  Co-founder and Partner, Redpoint Succession and Leadership Coaching,  and Group Leader of Excell Puget Sound SouthSound Group reviews her top 3 books of all times:

Every Family’s Business, by Tom Deans, PhD

I like this book because Deans takes a different approach to family business. Dean’s view? If the majority of your wealth is tied up in your family business, treat it like the important investment it is. Don’t assume that the best thing for your kids (or the business) is having them work in it (and eventually lead it in the future). Deans advocates having yearly tough conversations between you and your successors about what each wants out of the business, including if and when the business should be sold. He includes a list of the questions that should be asked and answered by both parties. Told in a story format, it’s an easy read.

Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work, by Chip and Dan Heath

The Heath brothers have taken the best of existing research on decisions-making and boiled it down into a four step process. I liked this book so much that I bought it for all my Excell group members, who now incorporate many of the points from the book into how they make decisions (and how they coach each other).

Land on Your Feet, Not on Your Face: A Guide to Building Your Leadership Platform, by Jim Hessler with Steve Motenko

Written by former Excell facilitator and current Boss Show Host, Jim Hessler, this book is entertaining, inspirational and practical. Each chapter, or Plank, starts with a case study and incorporates real life stories from the author’s background in corporate leadership with key points from the best of current psychological studies in leadership effectiveness. The reader is challenged in each plank to apply the principals into his or her leadership practice with assignments called “Making It Real.”

3 Marketing Myths that are Stifling your Company’s Growth

Today we have a guest blog from: Elizabeth Andreini

When talking to CEOs I often find that there is confusion about marketing, which is often not the CEO’s core area of expertise.  Sometimes I hear statements that are misconceptions about marketing, so I thought I would highlight a few, leaving you something to think about as you plan for the coming year.

Myth #1: We don’t really do marketing.

The follow-up question I ask when I hear this statement is: “When you say you don’t do marketing, how to you tell prospective customers about your company?” I may hear the response, “We just focus on building relationships, we don’t advertise.” What is marketing? According to the Oxford dictionary: Marketing is defined as “the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising.” And what is promoting? Promoting is simply publicizing a product to increase public awareness and sales. The fact that you don’t advertise in magazines, newspapers or online doesn’t mean that you don’t do marketing. You just don’t advertise. Advertising isn’t marketing; it is only part of how you can communicate when marketing. Building a relationship with potential customers and communicating with them to create awareness and preference for your company is another way of saying that you are indeed marketing. 

Myth #2: I know what our customers want.

Really?! Are you exactly the same as your target audience? A 45 year old male product manager planning to expand his product line to include an offering more targeted to women once explained to me that he knew his sales would increase because now he was going to offer it in pink…and even purple. I was so stunned at his assumptions that I was speechless. (Yes, this really happened!) What CEOs need to keep in mind – and ensure other decision makers remember is: Your opinion while interesting, may not be relevant. That sounds harsh, but remember that you probably aren’t your target audience, may not match the profile, have the same needs and your level of product or service knowledge is different from your potential customers.  Reach out to those that are a closer fit to your target audience in the company or friends/colleagues outside the company to better understand what prospective customers values and perceptions are. You might be surprised at what you find out!

Myth #3: I don’t understand this frenzy over social media; we don’t need to do anything with those sites since that’s not how customers buy from us (today). 

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Yelp, Pinterest…the list goes on and on. It seems there is always a frenzied rush to jump on the latest social media trend – or completely ignore it. Companies can easily devote too much time and energy to social media because they want to be seen as innovators that get there first: “We have to get a presence on the new “FaceYouYelpterest” site before our competitors!”  But companies are more likely to ignore these sites because they don’t think their customers interact much using social media. Social media is just a vehicle for communication, and is ONE component in a carefully considered communication strategy. However what does get overlooked and why this is Myth #3, is that the changing demographics of your customers may mean that your future prospective customers will use social media sites to gather product/services information and learn about businesses, even if your current prospects aren’t. Older decision makers are being replaced with younger more internet savvy, smartphone-carrying decision makers. And employee demographics are changing as well. Participating in social media should be a well-considered strategy that plans not just for today’s customers but to attract future customers as well as key employees based on changing demographics.

Here are some myth busting questions you should be thinking about:

1.     How do prospective customers learn about our company and our products or services? How does that align with our “marketing” activities? How can we better communicate to build more awareness?

2.     When we think about our prospective customers, are we assuming we know what they really want because we know the product and service so well? Are we really the same demographic or psychographic profile and how can we get broader feedback which might better inform and improve our perspective?

3.     Are our potential customers looking at and using social media now and which sites are they looking at for information? Which social media sites might future employees be using? How might mobile phones be used to accessed information on our company and its products?

ELIZABETH ANDREINI

As the President of Accelerate Marketing, LLC, Elizabeth Andreini, is the “secret weapon”

CEOs turn to at key growth points when they need to transform marketing and product

management to grow their customer base, increase revenue & scale their business. In

addition to providing experienced executive insight and guidance, Elizabeth often works

as an interim CMO or VP to provide the hands-on leadership needed to rearchitect

marketing and product management and improve execution from the inside.

Elizabeth Andreini, founder & president of Accelerate Marketing, LLC 

Accelerate Marketing, LLC

206-769-3420 or elizabeth@accelerate-marketing.com

www.accelerate-marketing.com

Twitter: @acceler8mkting

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethandreini

Are You A Leader Who Wants to Improve? Learn to Get (and Give) Feedback

Today we have a guest blog from Lauren Owen:

Chances are most people who are really, really good at what they do have gotten a lot of feedback along the way, not all of it good.  Recent research confirms that while beginners benefit from the motivation that comes from positive feedback, people with greater expertise gain more from the negative kind.

If you've ever played a competitive sport, I am sure you had a coach or
trainer who didn't just praise you for the good stuff but was especially
adept at pointing out your deficiencies, and sometimes in not an especially diplomatic way.  The better we get the more critical the feedback should be and the harder praise should be to come by.

We know that while some leaders are born, most good leaders didn't start out
that way. As in any other proficiency, there was skill development, practice, training, mentoring, coaching, and yes, some less than positive feedback, welcomed or not, that they received along the way that molded their professional development.

So why is it then that as leaders who profess to want to improve our leadership abilities, do we not actively seek out the very thing that would help us be better: feedback, both positive and negative?

For example, I'm guessing that none of us got up this this morning and said to the heavens, "Please bring a heaping boat load of negative feedback my way today AND KEEP IT COMING."

From my personal experience and my work with leaders of closely-held companies, here's my list of what stops us from seeking feedback:

I am afraid of what I might hear. We're afraid, we're very, very afraid of what we might hear. We are especially afraid to learn something new about ourselves; something that does not fit with what we already know about ourselves. We fear discovering our blind spots; the things that bother others that we didn't even knew we did.

I am content with how things are. We might not feel that we really want to take action and change. We might feel obliged to act on the feedback if we invite it and we either don't want to do anything or we don't know what to do about it.

Ego. We don't want to show our weaknesses. Doesn't being a leader mean being
strong and invulnerable? People won't want to follow me if they think I don't know what I'm doing.

I am the way I am. It's worked well for me in the past and will keep working for me in the future.

If I ask my people for feedback on my performance, it would mean I would have to provide it to them in the future as well and I don't want to do that.

Personality Type. The highly detailed, AKA Perfectionist-types, don't just dislike negative feedback, it's actually their worst fear. They are their own worst critic, so what's to be gained for asking for more? Nothing good,surely.

The highly sensitive, AKA Why Can't We All Just Get Along-types, don't like to risk offending people by giving straightforward feedback and we don't especially like getting it either.

So, there are lots of reasons why we need it and lots of reasons why we'd rather not get it. It's like trying to get more chard in our diet.  We know chard is really, really good for us but it's rather an acquired taste for most. Like negative feedback, does anyone wake up craving it?

How to get more feedback Here are some ideas to get more feedback in your
life:

Like chard, find ways to sneak a little into your daily diet. Pick one thing you'd like to get better at. For example, if one of your goals is to be a better listener, ask your co-workers to tell you after every meeting how you did at.you guessed it. listening.  Ask them for specific suggestions of how to improve next time. When they give you this feedback and ideas for how you can do better in the future, just listen, be open, say thank you and use their suggestions to get better next time. 

And then keep asking!

Giving and receiving honest feedback is a skill like any other. You can and will improve with practice.

Get over yourself! The world will not come to an end if we hear some suggestions on how we can improve (or give some to others.)

Realize the some of the skills and behaviors that got you to your current place of success might, in fact, be the very things that will hold you back in the future. For more insights on this, read top executive coach (and our mentor) Marshall Goldsmith's insightful book, What Got You Here Won't Get You There. (This type of feedback, because it focuses on how we can improve in the future, is called feedforward. Doesn't that sound just a little more
appealing?)

Get help/Reach out! Admit you have challenges that are holding you back from being as successful as you could be and call in a professional coach with a plan and a measureable process. Make it someone you enjoy working with.

Instilling a culture of open feedback and feedforward is like injecting a good virus into your organization. Be a good role model and show your own vulnerability by encouraging feedback/feedfoward on your performance as the leader. Your people will see you making positive changes as a result, and it will have an incredibly positive impact on your entire organization. We have seen this process go viral in some of our client's organizations. It becomes all about continuously improving yourself, your company, and everyone in it.

LAUREN OWEN:

Lauren Owen, Redpoint Succession and Leadership Coaching

Lauren works with businesses leaders who want to develop and execute succession plans, sharpen their business practices, strengthen their leadership, and create long-lasting value in their businesses. She is a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Leadership Coach. She is also a leader of the Excell Puget Sound Southend Group.

(206) 427-2856, (253) 245.3518

 lauren@redpointcoaching.com

www.redpointcoaching.com