Activestor Thoughts

Measurement of Meaningful Things

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Some years ago we created a new product and we wanted to meet with industrial buyers to test the market. We forecast what we felt might be realistic numbers and we planned actions. We created a small telemarketing operation to make contact with industrial buyers. We wrote scripts for the telemarketers. We gave them lengthy lists of potential client names and contact information. We set a Goal of 70 calls per day per telemarketer. The telephone action commenced. A few weeks passed. The results we desired did not arrive. We understood each telemarketer was making 70 calls per day. Yet, the number of meetings set up by our telemarketers was far below the target volume we had planned. The manager could not explain why results were falling so short of the target number and he assured us each telemarketer was making the planned 70 calls per day. This carried on until the next telephone bill arrived. A quick review of the bill confirmed our outgoing calls were far short of 70 calls per day per telemarketer...far less than 50%. So, we installed a telephone call monitoring device and told the manager about it. The very next day our outgoing calls increased to 70 calls per telemarketer.

I learned a valuable School-of-Hard-Knocks lesson that day.

It took a situation that graphic to help me fully understand why, for many years, business experts have expressed thoughts like "What gets measured gets done." and "What cannot be measured cannot be managed."

Now I know: meaningful things must be measured.

Now I encourage the use of SMARTACRE Goals.

About GOALS

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Do you regularly achieve the business goals you set?

If you do then Great! You are among the Highly Successful minority.

If you do not regularly achieve your business goals then this Thought Post provides some ideas that will help you if you take heed and then take Action.

Write down your goals.

Every business guru will tell you that. Business gurus have been telling business leaders that for at least 100 years. For at least 50 years, reputable scientific studies confirm it is sound advice....when you write down your goals you increase the likelihood you will achieve them.

Yet, most people do not write down their goals. And, based on what we have seen during our interviews of 400 businesses, very few people - I mean, very few people - write down goals in a manner that maximizes the likelihood of achieving the desired future results.

The method for setting MAXIMIZER GOALS is simple. And, it really isn't that time-consuming. Yet, for a number of reasons, people avoid it. It boils down to a matter of discipline.

We are living through a business era where discipline is being tested to its limits...and, more often than not, discipline is failing the test.

Inject some discipline into your business processes.

Inject some goal-setting discipline.

There are simple tools for goal setting. Spirited Leaders offers a number of free tools. Here are links to a couple of our 1-Page Tools: SMART Goals and SMARTACRE Goals.

Footnote:

Here's a link to Brian Tracy's 2010 book - GOALS! In this book he provides his thoughts about

"7 Keys to Goal Setting:

Goals must be clear, specific, detailed, and written down
Goals must be measurable and objective
Goals must be time bounded
Goals must be challenging
Goals must be congruent with your values and in harmony with each other
Goals must be balanced
You must have a definite purpose for your life"

INITIATIVE...TAKE IT!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0500

INITIATE.

Few people excel at it.

Why?

Probably because, at some point in their lives, they embraced once-burned-twice-shy thinking. Or maybe they succumbed to the criticism of some well-meaning authority figure.

Really, it doesn't matter why many people struggle to INITIATE.

What matters is, regardless of the past, people can learn how to overcome their reluctance to INITIATE.

Here are a couple of suggestions on how to help people INITIATE:

Understand, at least, the basics about the human brain. Understand the executive functions of the brain¹. Understand, INITIATE is one of the executive functions. For the most part, our brains operate along habit lines. INITIATE can be a habit. Or, it can not be a habit. That's a matter of choice. Like any other habit, it takes time to build the INITIATE habit.
Give yourself an INITIATE pep talk...or, better still, let Seth Godin² give you an INITIATE pep talk. Check out his recent audio-book 'Poke The Box'. In this book, Seth champions a new way to do business under 7 Imperatives³. Seth puts INITIATIVE at the top of the list of his 7 Imperatives.

And, of course, practice INITIATIVE...focus...think...make decisions...take Actions.

Sure, you will make more mistakes...that's the way to learn.

INITIATE: that INSPIRES people!

Footnotes:

A link to an article about Executive BrainSmarts^TM INITIATE.
A link to Seth Godin's video-introduction to his 2011 book 'Poke The Box'
Seth Godin's 7 Imperatives: (1) Be aware of the Market, (2) Be Educated, (3) Be Connected so People Trust you, (4) Be Consistent, (5) Build an Asset, (6) Be Productive, & most-important (7) Take INITIATIVE.

How to Build Self-Confidence - #1

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0500

This is the first in a series of Thought Posts about building self-confidence.

To get started, here is our definition of self-confidence:

Confidence is what you feel when you believe you have what it takes to excel, do well, or at least handle the task and situation at hand

Now, here are some facts about Confidence:

each of us has Confidence, at least some of the time
our Confidence levels ebbs and flows
many factors influence our Confidence: situations, other people's actions, amount of sleep

And, of course, a healthy level of Confidence is a very good thing.

So, how might we build Confidence?

First, let's check out some advice from experts.

Today, we will start that process with Jack Canfield's Six Confidence-Building Strategies

Every day remind yourself that you did some things well. Give yourself a mental pep talk at the beginning and the end of the day.
Read inspiring biographies and autobiographies: build a file of the stories that inspire you most.
Be thankful. Focus on the benefits you enjoy.
Build excellent support around you. Excellent relationships will boost you.
Push yourself to accomplish short-term goals. Get things done.
Do something for yourself every week. Celebrate your accomplishments.

What about Jack Canfield's 2nd recommendation: read inspiring biographies and read stories that inspire you?

Do you do that?

There is no question, Spirited Leaders do that. I imagine Spirited Leaders have always done that...from sitting around campfires listening to the elders and chiefs tell their stories to reading about Mahatma Gandhi or Alexander the Great to watching inspiring movies.

Great Leaders study the lives, the successes, and the defeats, of other great Leaders. They do this for several reasons. They do this to inspire themselves. They also do this to learn. Knowledge is a key to Strength and Strength is a key to Self-Knowledge and Self-Confidence.

Invigorating Imagination & Vivid Vision

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

The other day I read¹:

"The source and center of all man's creative power - the power that above all others lifts him above the level of brute creation, and gives him dominion, is his power of making images, or the power of imagination."

"Imagination pictures the thing you desire. VISION idealizes it. It reaches beyond the thing that is, into the conception of what can be. Imagination gives you the picture. Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own."

Do these quotes resonate with you?

Do those quotes help you understand what people mean when they say things like:

What's your Corporate VISION?
Can I see your VISION Statement?

Do you agree:

Leaders must have a Vivid VISION?
Leaders must capture and communicate their Vivid VISION?
Leaders must lead-by-example along the path to their Vivid VISION? Imagination?

What about IMAGINATION?

How important is it for Leaders to possess the power of IMAGINATION?

Do you agree, IMAGINATION is Invigorating...both to the owner of it and to those it affects?

How well do you understand the Leadership power sourced in Invigorating IMAGINATION?

***

I have been interested in IMAGINATION and VISION for many years. And, my interest increased as I took on supervisory, then managerial, then leadership roles. Now, looking back, I better understand the errors I have made in business and with People. One of those mistakes was not explaining things well enough: not explaining what I was thinking, assuming people heard and processed my words the same way I said and intended them, etc. That was a major communication problem. Often, the words we think we say are not actually the words we say. And, often, the words we say mean different things to other People....even when they are doing everything they know to try to listen, to understand, and to follow.

To help fix my communication problem I now define words. So, when I read words like those of Robert Collier, quoted above, I use those words to firm up and clarify the words we often use but rarely troubleshoot for shared meaning. As examples:

Definitions...

IMAGINATION: the source of creative power: creating images in the mind, picturing things in your mind's eye

VISION: holding the mind's-eye picture of the thing you desire, seeing beyond the things that are and conceiving and idealizing what can be, and communicating the desire you idealize to other People

Link to Vivid Vision #1

Link to Vivid Vision #2

Link to Vivid Vision #3

Link to an article about Creative and Synthetic Imagination

Link to an article about Creative Energy

Footnote:

'The SECRET of the AGES - Volume 3', Robert Collier (1926)

Inwords.

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Many important words begin with 'in'.

One important Inword that cropped up several times this week is: INITIATE.

Seth Godin cited Initiative as the #1 imperative for future business and Lorie Saxby and I spent time honing a definition...

INITIATE: to commence thought or action aligned with goals

Spirited Leaders defines words to maximize the likelihood of communication...we have found clarity of message is critical.

Spirited Leaders has defined another Inword - INTEGRITY. We saw a need for that. INTEGRITY - a word that too often is taken too lightly. For example, years ago Integrity was cited in the Enron website as a corporate Value. [Perhaps a clear definition of the word might have helped the folks at Enron.]

Here's another Inword that's at the core of Spirited Leaders: INSPIRE.

And our definition...

INSPIRE: to exert an animating, enlivening influence on; to encourage, impel & motivate; to excite and impart motion; to bolster focused action

Spirited Leaders' mantra is: INSPIRE PEOPLE, GROW PROFITS!

A few more important Inwords:

INTROSPECTION: this is all about self-analysis and self-knowledge, which paves the path for self-monitoring and self-regulation...key things for leaders who want to
INFLUENCE...and, of course, INFLUENCE is something leaders must do. Leaders also need to pay attention to their
INTUITION. The largest mistakes I have made in business have happened when I have ignored my INTUITION. Laziness and logic should not take precedent over INTUITION. When laziness kicks in, as it tends to do from time to time, Leaders need to figure out how to
INVIGORATE themselves and other people. The words INVIGORATE and INSPIRE cover similar territory...important territory. When people are INSPIRED and INVIGORATED their fears have less hold on them. They are more confident and that confidence enables
INVENTION and INNOVATION. Business Leaders know the status quo is not good enough. And, INVENTION and INNOVATION are remedies for the status quo. To quote Seth Godin, "The relentless act of invention, innovation, and initiative is the best marketing asset there is."

That's enough Inwords for now.

Do you have a "SELLING PURPOSE"?

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Business Leaders: do you have a Selling Purpose?

Here is the way Spencer Johnson¹ presented this concept in 1985:

"MY SELLING PURPOSE

is to help people get

the good feelings they want

about what they bought

and about themselves."

He went on to add:

"I quickly reduce my stress

because I no longer try

to get people to do

what they don't want to do.

When I sell On Purpose,

it's like swimming downstream."

(I did not add the underlining...that was in the book.)

Now, that advice can apply to:

Sales people,
Leaders,
Everyone who wants to sell an idea, &
Everyone who wants to inspire other People.

I propose it be applied to all 4.

Leaders need Purpose...and they should do things On Purpose.

Leaders need to explain their Purpose to the People who are following. And, Leaders need to repeat, repeat, repeat...ideally, using sticky stories.

Leaders should aim to have less stress...that applies to them and to their followers...that only makes good sense...Right? Purposeful, focused action generates less stress than haphazard, unfocused fire-fighting...Right?

And, the bottom line...

People want to feel good.

Footnote:

'The One Minute Sales Person', Spencer Johnson (1985)

Inspire People - Grow Profits!

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Two Facts:

When it comes to doing business, inspired People generate better results.
Business Leaders can inspire their People.

Another even-more-important Fact:

You can expand your ability to inspire the People who follow your Leadership.

This is an accurate statement, regardless of how well you inspired your People in the past.

The keys are:

Accepting the fact People will need your injection of Inspiration: they need and want that from their Leader.
Working at it: taking specific inspiration-actions designed to accomplish specific inspiration-results.

Wise folks have taught this throughout the ages.

Here is one example: about people who are struggling, in 1926, Robert Collier¹ wrote:

"For men and women like them do not need "Charity" - nor even sympathy. What they do need is Inspiration - and Opportunity - the kind of Inspiration that makes a man go out and create his own Opportunity."

Everyone struggles from time to time.

The People who follow your Leadership will struggle from time to time.

So - from time to time, your People will need an injection of Inspiration.

As a Leader, you can assume or hope somebody else will deliver that injection of Inspiration. Or, you can embrace it as part of your role.

Spirited Leaders will choose to embrace it.

HOW?

There are many ways...1-Page Tools are really helpful.

***

Spirited Leader's Definition of INSPIRE²:

to exert an animating, enlivening influence on
to encourage, impel, & motivate...to excite and impart motion, to bolster focused Action

Footnotes:

'The SECRET of the AGES', Robert Collier (1926)
based on Merriam-Webster's on-line dictionary definition
Were You Born to Inspire Action?
Inspired Measures

What to do when Confidence slips

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

I was about 30 years old when I learned that specific actions can be taken to build Confidence. I learned this from books, not directly from people.

Perhaps, that's unusual? Perhaps, most people learn about plans and actions for Confidence at a much earlier age? Perhaps, most people learn about plans and actions for Confidence through direct conversations with other people?

I did not...plans and actions for Confidence building just wasn't something people I knew discussed. And, it wasn't something I thought through and figured out on my own.

Likely, my experience is not singular; I expect some, perhaps many, people do not know planned actions can bolster Confidence.

This Thought Post is for those people...and for others who may need a reminder.

There are many ways to build Confidence.

Here is a summary-introduction to one example, from the work of Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Les Hewitt in their book 'The Power of Focus', (2000)¹.

Six Confidence-Building Strategies

Every day remind yourself that you did some things well: give yourself a mental pep talk at the beginning of the day
Read inspiring biographies and autobiographies: build a file of the stories that inspire you most
Be thankful: focus on the benefits you already enjoy
Build excellent support around you: excellent relationships will boost you
Push yourself to accomplish short-term goals: get things done
Do something for yourself every week: celebrate your accomplishments

***

Confidence is one of Spirited Leaders Values. When Confidence is healthy good things happen.

Here is a link to Spirited Leaders' definition of Confidence.

Here is a link to one of our favourite inspiring stories about Confidence.

Footnote:

'The Power of Focus'

What does CHANGE mean to you?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

My friend and I got into an interesting discussion of CHANGE the other day.

We ended up sharing thoughts about the definition of CHANGE.

Obviously, the word 'change' has a very broad definition, including: make different, alter, make radically different, transform, replace with another, shift from one to another, etc¹

When it comes to business, we must be able to provide a definition of CHANGE that is:

clear and easily understood
accepted by the business people who hear and see us use the word

About CHANGE, 2 parameters² must be considered as most-important:

Consciousness [Yes or No]
Origin [Internal versus External]

Now, to be clear, Spirited Leaders believe People Only Do 3 Things: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things.

These 3 Things register or show up as thoughts and actions. When Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things register or show up they are within the realm of at least one person's Consciousness. So, for business purposes CHANGE is a Conscious thing. And, for all involved it is has both Internal and External impact and implications. As we blend in Spirited Leaders' view that People Only Do 3 Things, it is clear, CHANGE is pretty much the opposite of Habit. In fact, CHANGE is so close to the opposite of Habit we can say Habits do not contain enough meaningful amount of CHANGE to justify further consideration.

So, for business purposes: CHANGE = the arrival of New Things. [that's our definition]

There are two types of CHANGES:

CHANGES For The Better
other changes

Business Leaders want to focus their energy on CHANGES For The Better.

Footnotes:

Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary
Origin: we are not going to get all philosophical here, debating chickens-and-eggs about what goes on in human brains etc. Nor will we get all metaphysical here. Those are topics for another day...or another week...or, is it, another millennium.

Finding the forest around the trees

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Can you imagine what it would be like to be an ant specialist?

I mean, can you imagine making a career of studying ants - being a myrmecologist.

That's what E. O. Wilson did.

What started as a study of ants led E. O. Wilson to some very-interesting conclusions on a variety of topics. He wrote a number of books, including 'On Human Nature'.

About human beings, E. O. Wilson said,

"We are drowning in information while starving for wisdom."

He went on to forecast,

"The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely."

This forecast makes sense.

The question is, how do we prepare ourselves to be the synthesizers E.O. Wilson describes?

One factor that cannot be ignored is SEEK SIMPLE: at least every once in a while, take the time to look for the simplest solutions.

And, as a piece of Seeking Simple, we must slow down enough to consider the obvious: as an example, we can learn from Obvious Adams. Obvious Adams is a book written by Robert. R. Updegraff almost 100 years ago. Updegraff wrote about common sense and he wrote about the fact simpler is almost always better.

Updegraff also wrote Five Tests of Obviousness. You can use that test when you analyse situations and problems.

That is one step toward becoming a synthesizer.

When your propeller stops turning...

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Some airplanes are still powered by engines and propellers.

Sometimes airplane engines fail and airplane propellers stop working.

This is a problem.

It is a problem that has only 2 solutions:

get the propeller working or
land the plane safely.

When I took some flying lessons 10 years ago, we used a little single-engine plane. Not that I was nervous or anything... I asked my instructor, "What happens if our engine fails and our propeller stops turning?" And, I asked about the relative safety of 1-engine planes [which have no engine when the engine fails] and 2-engine planes [which have 1 engine left when one engine fails].

I was surprised to learn - when an engine fails 1-engine planes have a better safe-landing track record than 2-engine planes.

Why?

Why would propellerless single-engine planes have better safe-landing results than 2-propeller planes with one propeller not working?

Was it something to do with engineering, pitch and yaw and all those things?

No.

It was due to a human factor.

Specifically, it was due to FOCUS¹.

Put simply, when a pilot is flying a single-engine plane and the engine fails the pilot immediately shifts full attention to finding a safe landing spot and finding it immediately. Immediate landing is the singular FOCUS. When a pilot is flying a 2-engine plane and one engine fails the pilot faces a less-urgent situation. With less urgency, some pilots seek ideal or almost-ideal landing sites. And, that splitting of FOCUS increases the risk of crash landings.

So...

When your propeller stops turning...you gotta FOCUS!

Footnote:

a link to a Thought Post about Executive BrainSmarts, an introduction to our thoughts about Focus

Wages in the world of work

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

As part of our BIG PICTURE, Spirited Leaders has 5 Values.

One of those 5 Values is: Labours of Enjoyment & Enthusiasm.

In simple words, we want our People to at least enjoy their work.

Why?

We have several reasons, here are 3:

work Enjoyment means People are putting their Strengths to productive use,
work Enjoyment paves the path for work Enthusiasm, which in turn paves the path for work Passion, and
work Enjoyment results in full wages.

Full Wages...what does that mean?

It means People, in return for their work, receive much more than money.

In the 100-year-old words of James Allen¹, People receive "the completion of wages in its sevenfold fullness as follows:

Money
Usefullness
Excellence
Power
Independence
Honor
Happiness"

Now, James Allen had strong thoughts about People and work. He wrote, "Work is of two kinds - it is either loving labor or enforced slavery". At one end of the spectrum, Allen described working People as slaves. At the other end of the spectrum he described working People as true workers. And, he didn't see much middle ground.

That's not the way we see working People.

We see working People experiencing a range of feelings about work. People's feelings at and about work change frequently. People's feelings at and about work tend to fluctuate within a range. We use a Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale to describe and measure People's feelings at and about work.

Our goal is to help People feel good about work...that is, at least Enjoy their work. Using our Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale, that means People score on average at least Plus4.

When People score at least Plus4 their enjoyment is contagious...

That's why we Value it!

Footnotes:

James Allen - an excerpt from his book 'Men And Systems' (1914)
link to a friend's thoughts about Workplace Passion

Some Questions about DELIVERS

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

The most-successful leaders take regular time outs to ask themselves tough questions.

The main reason they ask themselves questions is to better understand how well they are performing as leaders.

And the most-successful leaders write out the answers to these questions so they do not have to rely 100% on their memories when they perform periodic reviews of their leadership performance.

What sorts of questions do the most-successful leaders ask themselves?

Answer: here is a sampling of...

Some Questions about DELIVERS

Are my people making better choices than the choices my competitors are making? [Discipline]

Are my people expending their energies in constructive ways? [Energy]

Are my people learning from their mistakes? [Learning]

Do I really know what motivates my people? [Intention]

During a typical workday, what percentage of the time are my people focusing on business? [Vigilance]

Do I understand what my people are trying to communicate to me? [Empathy]

Do my people believe they will achieve their business goals? [Resolve]

How often do my people deliver near-perfect performance? [Strengths]

Plucky & Pithy...#2!

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

On November 17, 2010, I posted a short 'blog' titled 'Plucky & Pithy'... here's a link to that Thought Post.

Heading into the New Year, 2012, we decided to summarize our Top 5 Thought Posts for the last 4 years. It was interesting to note - of my well-over-300 Thought Posts the one titled 'Plucky & Pithy' ranked #2 in views. That means, of the articles I have posted 'Plucky & Pithy' has received more hits than all but one.

That's very interesting!

Considering 'social media'...it is interesting.

Considering 'writing & posting'...it is interesting.

Why do you suppose that brief 'Plucky & Pithy' posting received so many hits?

Change or Die

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:30:00 -0500

Most people have trouble making changes.

Even when faced with the choice of 'change or die' most people are unable to change.

I have heard experts say that for quite some time. And, I know from personal experience and from observing other people it can be difficult to make certain changes. So, let's accept that as a fact of Nature.

What should we do about that?

The answer depends upon the future you desire.

In the future, do you want:

changes for the better?
no changes?
changes for the worse?

To be clear, I am not questioning whether or not you want other people to change...[that pretty much goes without saying]. I am asking, do you want:

changes for the better?
no changes?
changes for the worse?

Unless I am missing something, those are the only 3 possibilities.

And,

most people would remove #3 from the short list and
many people, if not most people, would choose #1

If you choose #1 - if you choose changes for the better - then here is some advice that will help...

First: accept that facts, fear, & force will not lead to sustained changes for the better. Positive change, constructive change, has calmer and more comfortable sources. Relax yourself. Set aside time to think about yourself and the changes you desire. Think about baby steps of change. Think about what you want to accomplish...think about the end point. While you do that, set small achievable-action goals. But, don't expect immediate perfection. It takes desire and persistence and time to create Good Habits.

Educate yourself...using expert advice. For example, here is a recommendation from Alan Deutschman¹:

The First Key to Change: Relate -

Form a new emotional relationship with a person or community that inspires and sustains hope.

The Second Key to Change: Repeat -

The new relationship helps you learn, practice, and master the new habits and skills that you'll need. It helps tremendously to have a good teacher, coach, or mentor to give you guidance, encouragement, and direction along the way.

The Third Key to Change: Reframe -

The new relationship helps you learn new ways of thinking about your situation and your life. You change the way you look at the world.

Putting all of that together:

Relax, Relate, Repeat & Reframe

That's one way to create changes for the better.

Footnote:

Alan Deutschman, 'Change or Die' (2007)

Mentoring

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

The best of mentoring happens 'naturally' when an eager-to-learn business person 'connects' with a more-experienced business person who is eager to teach. For both people, mentoring is of value. This type of 'natural' mentoring tends to happen in cycles: over time, the student of the present becomes the teacher of the future.

One of my favourite examples of 'natural' mentoring is the story of 25-year-old Napoleon Hill meeting steel-baron Andrew Carnegie in 1908. At the time, Andrew Carnegie was well into his 70's and he was one of the richest men in the world. Yet, for some reason, when Napoleon Hill visited to interview him about business success, Carnegie took Hill home and spent 3 days with him. That was the starting point for Hill's labour of love...and the creation of his classic self-development books, including my favourite 'Think and Grow Rich'. This story does not end with the creation of books like 'Think and Grow Rich' in 1938. That's just the beginning. For example, one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century - Mahatma Gandhi - read Hill's book. The book was translated and widely circulated throughout India; I suppose supporting the good work of Gandhi.

Some business and education organizations promote mentoring. I am honoured to be able to participate in Conestoga College's mentoring program. Mentoring at the student level is a tremendous idea!

I am keeping my eyes and ears open for mentoring ideas, advice, and suggestions. If you have any then please share them.

Here is a sample of the things I have learned about mentoring. This is the advice of Eric Chester, the author of a recently-published book titled 'Reviving Work Ethic':

5 Tips on Mentoring

Find your style
Develop trust
Value tact and timing
Tell stories
Cast a vision

Good, simple, advice!

This is guaranteed to get your ATTENTION!

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

You know what gets your attention?

Pleasing and beautiful things,
Surprising things, and
Things that are out of place

Those 3 things get your attention.

But, those 3 things sure have a tough time getting your attention!

You know why those 3 things have such a tough time getting your attention?

Your FOCUS¹ and
Their COMPETITION²

ATTENTION, actually the lack of success in capturing it, has led to some rather bizarre business activity...marketing activity, social media activity, etc.

Footnote:

I am not picking on YOU here. When I say 'you' I mean almost all of us. The fact is, people have plenty of thoughts going on in their brains, all day, every day...some experts say as many as 50,000 thoughts/day. It is tough to FOCUS with all those thoughts keeping us so occupied.
When you look out at the world you observe lots of stuff...their COMPETITION outnumbers THEM by orders of magnitude.

Your Feelings & Your Bottom Line

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Business Leaders: how do you feel when your bottom line is positive, healthy, and growing?

When your bottom-line profits are pretty darned good, do you feel:

Terrible? or
Nothing? or
Pretty Darned Good?

I am going to hazard a guess and say, "When your bottom-line profits are pretty darned good you feel Pretty Darned Good".

So, to some degree, perhaps to a large degree, your bottom-line profits impact on how you feel.

There is a cause-and-effect at play here.

Good bottom lines lead to good feelings.

How about flipping it around...

Wouldn't you agree with the following: Good feelings lead to good bottom lines!

PS: In fact, isn't it impossible to imagine how bad feelings could ever lead to good bottom line profits?

Do Family Business People Have Better Work Ethic?

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

Here is the thought behind that Question...

Recently, I read Jim Estill's CEO blog¹ about work ethic. It reminded me of the stinging little Thought Post I wrote last year to address claims about attitudes of entitlement around the workplace. [Snakes & Ladders...and Entitlement]

Since reading Jim's blog, I followed his advice and I read the book 'Reviving work Ethic'.

And, I re-listened to the short version of Napoleon Hill's 'Think and Grow Rich'. [I do that quite regularly]

I like many of the points Eric Chester made in 'Reviving Work Ethic'. Particularly, I like his views about of Work Ethic Markers:

Positive Attitude

Reliability

Professionalism

Initiative

Respect

Integrity

Gratitude

Those definitely are facets of a good work ethic.

And, Leaders ought to lead by example as they promote and encourage those facets of good work ethic.

Here is another way to look at it - the Napoleon Hill way...

QQS

Napoleon Hill taught:

we must over-deliver on Quantity of service,
we must over-deliver on Quality of service, and
we must render that service with an enthusiastic Spirit².

That, in summary, is Napoleon Hill's QQS Formula ["QQS"].

We can use QQS as the guide for good work ethic.

And, we can quickly see how the institution and practice of QQS provides tremendous benefits, ranging from workplace harmony to differential advantage.

That said, the question remains:

Do family business people have better work ethic?

Footnotes:

Jim Estill's blog
Spirit, as in Spirited Leaders

Blinded by our own Brilliance

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0500

To what extent are we blinded by our own brilliance?

[Of course, I mean our perception of our own brilliance...whether or not we are anywhere near as bright as we perceive.]

An old friend of mine, George, talked to me many times about his early career where he worked at a multinational energy company that continually found itself 'blinded by its own brilliance'. In fact, some senior folks at the company used that expression almost as often as they use the expression 'paralysis by analysis'.

My memories of George's stories came back to me when I read the following last week¹:

"So, what can business managers do to become better estimators of their team members' skill and ability? Consulting with someone less experienced may do the trick." [Sian Beilock]

This reminded me not only of my friend George's 'big-company stories' but also the story of Obvious Adams². Obvious Adams was the unassuming fellow who saw obvious and simple solutions while all the people around him were confounded by visions of complexity and mired in unimportant details.

We will definitely take advantage of Sian Beilock's advice: it aligns with Spirited Leaders' philosophy 'Seek Simple'.

It is easy to believe business is more challenging now than it ever was...and it is easy to forecast that trend will continue. I have heard many people say that. I have said it myself as recently as last week.

But now, after rethinking, I have decided to make a change.

I will never say things like 'business is tougher than it used to be" again. Instead, I will spend the time seeking out and getting advice from more Obvious Adamses.

Footnotes:

Sian Beilock, 'Choke', (2010)
Robert R. Updegraff, 'Obvious Adams', (1916)

Hello. How do you do?

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Hello. How do you do?

Hi. How are you doing?

Where did these sorts of greetings come from?

Why do we do them?

[and...lurking behind the curtains of the business scenes...is this 'Networking'?]

Some traditions are wonderful things. I mean, there is a good reason behind the lingering of some traditions. These greetings are examples.

Consider the Bedouins...the desert-dwelling, Arabic nomads of the Middle East. There are some great Bedouin stories, which can help us understand why 'greetings' exist as they do today.

Here is an often-quoted piece of Bedouin philosophy:

"I against my brother, my bothers and me against my cousins, then my cousins and I against strangers."

About a dozen millennia ago, that thinking developed in the fertile crescent [at or close to Bedouin homelands]. And, that thinking has existed throughout the evolution of civilization. It is part of the human condition...our legacy, our present, and our future.

For millennia the Bedouins have asked questions when they meet or greet people.

Trust is earned or lost first at home: I against my brother

Then trust, if it can be gained, radiates from home outward.

That's the way civilization grew.

People wanted to explore. People wanted to own property. And, people did those things by conquering first and later by trading.

As people began to venture out into new territories greetings became a part of life...friend or foe was the first test performed by a greeting. As trading routes expanded the greeting tests expanded beyond friend or foe.

As an example, when meeting new people the Bedouins asked a series of questions...

Who are you?
Where are you from?
Where are you going?

Simple, straightforward questions, designed millennia ago to help strangers feel comfortable enough with one another to determine 'common ground'...including common ground for exchanging goods in trade.

[now I hinted above, some business thoughts were lurking here]

Isn't that more-or-less what Networking is all about?

Put another way, wouldn't it be OK to continue the habit well-proven by the Bedouins thousands of years ago.

Wouldn't it be OK to meet new people and ask:

Who are you?
Where are you from?
Where are you going?

Of course, you will be tempted to massage those words a bit to make them more-catchy.

Really, there is no need to do that.

If you could travel in time...

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

If you could travel in time...

... and if you could only meet one person!

Whom would you choose to meet?

I bet you've heard that question before. I bet you've thought about it. Maybe, you've answered it. Maybe other people have told you their choices? Maybe you've heard choices like Jesus and Einstein...I once read those were the top 2 choices when North Americans were asked that question. [Certainly, I have considered those choices.]

So many great people...it would be so tough to choose.

Probably, if I had the opportunity I would choose Lord Nelson, the flamboyant heart of the British Navy during its heyday...or maybe it would be Sitting Bull...or Cleopatra...or...

Maybe I would choose the great Roman philosopher and statesman, Marcus Tullius Cicero?

What an interesting fellow!

Cicero: Prior to his execution/assassination, legend has it, he looked his assassin in the eye and said something like "There is nothing proper about what you are doing, soldier, but do try to kill me properly." Then he offered his neck for the killing blow. Like Lord Nelson, Cicero illustrated courage in his last actions and words.

Marcus Tullius Cicero¹ was a successful lawyer and champion of constitutional law.

Cicero left us a long list of meaningful and memorable quotes.

Cicero, a little over 2000 years ago, created the classic Six Mistakes of Man.

The Six Mistakes of Man²

The illusion that personal gain or advancement is made up of crushing others.
The tendency to worry about things that cannot be changed or corrected.
Insisting that a thing is impossible because we cannot accomplish it.
Refusing to set aside trivial preferences.
Neglecting development and refinement of the mind and not acquiring the habit of reading and study.
Attempting to compel others to believe and live as we do.

It would be nice to spend a sunny afternoon, in Rome's senate building, sitting and chatting with Cicero...and I suppose, also keeping an eye open for Julius Caesar's and others' henchmen.

Footnote:

Cicero: the origin of this family name is the 'chickpea'...an old and important crop. Probably, Cicero's ancestors' family business was growing chickpeas.
There are several different interpretations, using slightly different words to convey these 'Six Mistakes of Man' messages. I have blended them.

Do you have what it takes to DELIVERS?

Wed, 28 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Recently, I was listening to an audio book about 'Courage'. When the audio used the words 'Vigilance' and 'Intention', I wrote those two words in my notepad - one below the other. For some reason, I felt the need to add the word 'Learning' to the bottom of the list. With this done, the sheet in my note pad contained:

Vigilance

Intention

Learning

I like lists and memory tools. When I see lists like this the first letters of the words jump out at me. The first letters of these 3 words caught my attention. While the natural order [top-down] of the first letters of these 3 words was well on its way to spelling the word 'VILE', I read them from the bottom up and saw the word 'LIVE'. And, that's when the word 'Energy' jumped into my mind. So, I reversed the order of the 3 words and added 'Energy' to the bottom of the list:

Learning

Intention

Vigilance

Energy

That was the start of a little list of important words for business people. But, too much was missing. For example, when it comes to business 'Discipline' and 'Strengths' are of about equal importance. One cannot thrive and deliver advantage without the other. I wanted to add both 'Discipline' and 'Strengths' to the list...and the first letters of these two words did not lend themselves to simple addition. If I was going to create a 'memory tool', I needed more words with just the right letters to deliver an important, concise, and memory-friendly message.

On the other hand, this isn't something you can force...at least, I cannot force it. Either words arrive and fit or they don't.

I allowed this to simmer for a few days.

And a few words came to me.

Here is where I ended up.

This list DELIVERS 8 Success Ingredients:

Discipline: knowing the choices are many and knowing the better and best choices are not so many

Energy: recognizing energy is the source of all growth and change, including that of attitude

Learning: viewing life as a long-term school of experiencing and discovering how to avoid hard-knocks

Intention: allowing wisdom, judgment, and volition to guide both thoughts and actions

Vigilance: focusing attention and observing, while keeping personal biases under control

Empathy: being able to understand other people, engage them, and build upon their differences

Resolve: fixing sights on a purpose and having faith about getting to that end point

Strengths: drawing on talent to consistently deliver near-perfect performance

Do you have what it takes to DELIVERS?

Footnote:

We have a 1-Page Tool, which helps people DELIVERS

Time for Learning!

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Do you spend enough time Learning?

Do you view learning as knowledge sharing?

Do you view learning as knowledge creation?

According to experts¹, learning is essential to Leadership.

Leaders with Good Judgment Are Committed Learners

They constantly evaluate their own performance.
They seek knowledge and build on experience.

Knowledge Creation for All Constituencies Is an Explicitly Stated Goal

Operating mechanisms support teaching and learning.
Judgment capacity is a key leadership development target.

Customers, Stakeholders, the Larger Community Are Tapped for Input

Everyone teaches. Everyone learns.
Front-line employees are the new knowledge workers.

That's how Tichy and Bennis introduce the importance of learning in the business sector.

Learning is one of Spirited Leaders' Values....part of our corporate culture.

We approach Learning this way:

Learning must be embraced naturally...curiosity is the best starting point.
Learning must be life-long...the fun of it must not diminish with age.
The majority of learning must be aimed at understanding and communicating with People.
For your work, focus much of your learning time on specialized knowledge.
For your work, concentrate specialized knowledge around your talent themes.
For your work, use specialized knowledge to hone your skills.
For your work, learn cutting-edge theory...and learn even more about practical things.
For your work, learn how to tap into your creativity.

Footnote:

'Judgment - How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls', Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis (2007)

Character & Courage

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

An excerpt¹, about Character & Courage:

To Sustain Good Judgment, a Leader Must Have Character and Courage

Character provides the moral compass.
Courage produces the results.

People With Character Have Clear Standards

They take responsibility and hold themselves accountable.
They value self-respect over public esteem.

Maintaining Standards in the Face of Obstacles Requires Courage

Character without courage is meaningless.
Courage without character is dangerous.

Spirited Leaders values Courage. I mean Courage is our highest-ranked personal/corporate Value. The above excerpt...well, we could not say it better ourselves...so we embrace and 'relay' the wisdom of Tichy and Bennis.

Footnote:

1. An excerpt from 'JUDGMENT - How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls', Noel M. Tichy and Warren G. Bennis, 2007

How Successful People Act

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Years ago I was full of fury. At least, that's how one professional assessment described me. While in that state, as a result of a corporate change, I was given a new boss. My old boss was just fine and I felt no need for a new one. Regardless, I was in my car driving to the first meeting with my new boss. The drive took an hour so I had plenty of time to build up a head of steam. So I did. That assessment was accurate: by the time I arrived at my new boss' office I was full of fury. After we had shaken hands, I sat down in a chair across from him. My new boss asked me to be candid and let him know what was going on. I gave him an earful. In fact, I gave him more than two ears full. When I was done, he had a very pleasant look on his face and he thanked me.

I will never forget that day...the day I received my first real-life lesson on leadership...the day I met a friend for life.

Emotions - Defined - Positive & Negative

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Napoleon Hill practiced and taught emotional control, seeing it as one of the keys to a pleasing and attractive personality.

He taught, feelings drive and hurl us...either up or down. It is a matter of self-control, actually - self-control over one's mind. It is as simple as accepting or rejecting emotions as they 'hit you'. It is as difficult as accepting or rejecting emotions as they 'hit you'.

Self-control: simple and difficult.

Difficult because, when it comes to actions and habits, emotions play such a major role.

As a starting point, Napoleon Hill defined 7 positive emotions and 7 negative emotions.

The 7 Positive Emotions

Love

Sex

Hope

Faith

Sympathy

Optimism

Loyalty

The 7 Negative Emotions

Fear^*

Hatred

Anger

Greed

Jealousy

Revenge

Superstition

Footnote

Napoleon Hill defined 7 Fears:

Fear of Poverty
Fear of Criticism
Fear of Ill Health
Fear of Loss of Love
Fear of Old Age
Fear of Death
Fear of Loss of Liberty [he added this fear to the original 6 later in his life]

Tonic for Toxic Business

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Business Contains Only 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.

When People are doing Processes in Situations - when People are doing business - the business culture can be described as:

as good as it gets
good
satisfactory
bad
as bad as it gets

A survey of business people, regular 'normal' folks, confirms:

Given a choice of work culture most people would choose 'as good as it gets' or 'good' or, at least, 'satisfactory'.

I would like to feel comfortable when I am working.

I would like to feel positive about my work environment.

I would like to enjoy my work environment.

I would like to be enthusiastic about my work environment.

I would like to be passionate about my work.

People say things like that.

People do not say things like...

I want to feel uncomfortable when I am at work.

I want my blood pressure to hit all-time highs every single workday.

I get a kick out of arguing with co-workers.

I like it when my boss takes a big strip off my hide...that's the way to keep me on track.

Hating the thought of another workday...that's what turns my crank.

Regardless, many business people struggle in a negative work culture every single workday.

Sometimes the work environment becomes so negative people become toxic. People become poisonous. Some people become infectious. And, sometimes work cultures become unhealthy.

When work environments become unhealthy people have choices:

complain, which feeds spreads the problem
be silent, ignoring the unhealthy culture and doing nothing to address it
depart...either quit or fire people in an effort to ablate the unhealthy parts, much like a surgeon does
make constructive changes

Constructive Change means Constructive People Change, which means Individual People making Constructive Changes by removing Bad Habits and adding Good Habits. And, it means Individual People sharing stories about and celebrating the arrival and spread of new Good Habits.

Carefully planned new Actions are the keys to change...new Actions are the tonic!

Positive Mental Attitude - Defined

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Napoleon Hill said, "Positive Mental Attitude means your actions and thoughts further your ends".

Hill's definition aligns with Spirited Leaders' concepts and philosophies...so; we have adopted it as the definition of Positive Mental Attitude.

Here are some links to examples of how this definition works with the education provided by Spirited Leaders:

Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale, particularly for measuring feelings & emotions
Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things
Leaders must Inspire People

Related to Positive Mental Attitude, Napoleon Hill also said,

Sow actions and you reap habits,

Sow habits and you reap character,

Sow character and you reap destiny.

Frisbee Business

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

"I wondered why the Frisbee was getting bigger, and then it hit me."

Steven Wright delivered that line in his somewhat-nasal, soft, and slow voice.

And, I laughed.

Whenever I think of that joke it reminds me of something I observe when I look at businesses and listen to business people.

I call it Frisbee Business.

Here are some Frisbee Business examples I have seen, over and over again:

I wondered why our accounts receivable were getting bigger, and then it hit me.
I wondered why our bank debt was getting bigger, and then it hit me.
I wondered why our supplier demands were getting bigger, and then it hit me.
I wondered why our partner problems were getting bigger, and then it hit me.

I will not argue, experience is the best teacher. Yes, the School of Hard Knocks is a very good school. But, sometimes the School of Hard Knocks delivers such knock-out blows. And, sometimes the knock-out blows are death-blows. We have seen lots of those death-blows during the past few years.

Business Frisbees, including the ones I wrote above, can deliver death-blows.

Once you identify a Business Frisbee address it quickly and definitely. Get your hands on Business Frisbees and wrestle them into submission while they are small enough to handle. If you find the Business Frisbee is too big to handle then do not think you can duck it...chances are 9-out-of-10 you cannot duck it. Immediately - get help from someone who can handle it.

I offer this advice in an effort to help people avoid the hardest of knocks.

Communitech's Iain Klugman visits our Centre For Family Business ["CFFB"]

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

"Family business is intertwined with our community."

That's one of the first things Iain Klugman, Communitech's CEO, said when he spoke at CFFB's October breakfast. He talked about the strong legacy of family business success in our community. We enjoyed hearing about how our community showed entrepreneurship from the outset...being off the major trade routes - that's how it all got started.

For many of our members, this was their first visit to the downtown-Kitchener 'Communitech Hub'...and they enjoyed the morning. Terrific venue, a great tour of the facilities, and the opportunity to be updated about our vibrant tech community....a key part of the entrepreneurship cluster that makes Waterloo Region such a special place.

Iain explained, "Communitech helps tech companies start, grow, and succeed". And he added, "Homegrown economies are made more durable over time" and "This community has a strong history of bootstrapping".

Some Communitech facts:

A National mandate...the plan is to be in every major community in Canada
A broad mandate...not just helping tech companies, also helping schools
An advocate for our community...recently opened an office in Ottawa
A champion for digital media...raised $107Million over the last 3 years
Currently house 40 companies and help 400 companies
Serve as a mentor for other communities: Niagara and Guelph, are examples

What has Communitech learned?

Iain's answer, Communitech has learned the most-important things are:

Intentionality,
Hard Work,
Pulling Together,
Thinking Big, and
Being Relevant and Valuable to the Customer

[Great lessons and great advice.]

In closing, Iain answered the question,

How can family businesses get involved?

His advice to family business was: do the best you can do at your business and get involved in community events.

Thank you, Iain!

When I think about the future...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

I was listening to 'Keys to Success' when the following picture popped into my head:

	I like It	I don't like it
I see
I don't see

In 'Keys to Success', Napoleon Hill was asking his readers/students questions like:

Where are you going?
How strong is your desire to get there?
What changes are you making to ensure you get there?

These are straightforward-enough questions.

And, straightforward-enough does not necessarily mean easy enough or simple enough.

One of the things we have noticed when we help people with Vision statements is: most people experience some difficulty. This is absolutely normal. About 19 out of 20 people experience difficulty describing in vivid detail the future they would like to live. For many people, it is difficult to be concrete about the future. After all, when it gets right down to it nobody can predict the future. On the other hand, most people have desires, wants, and needs. Often, those needs are strong, embedded, life-long needs. And, everyone has some level of imagination. Imagination exists in us. Why, it even works while we are asleep - creating various types of dreams...some quite fantastic. Yet, when it comes to people picturing their future, most people have difficulty. To help them, we have designed 1-Page Tools. for example, here is a link to one VISION: 1-Page Tool.

The picture above forms the basis for another 1-Page Tool...a simpler tool, which will help people who need help to get into the swing of visioning, envisioning, contemplating, and finally holding a Vivid Vision of their desired future, firmly in their minds. In relative terms, it should be easier to start by considering the near-term future...say tomorrow.

When you think about what you expect to live through tomorrow:

What do you see happening?
What don't you see happening?

How do you feel about those things you expect to happen and those things you expect will not happen tomorrow:

Do you like them?
Do you dislike them?

Use the results to help your imagination take baby steps farther and farther into the future.

Then you can answer those important questions:

Where are you going?
How strong is your desire to get there?
What changes are you making to ensure you get there?

How much must YOU CHANGE to realize your dreams?

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

You probably will not read the words in this sentence if:

you don't dream about achieving
you think change is overrated or
you think you are incapable of making personal changes.

It is times like this I wish I was the most-gifted writer...then you would still be reading and wanting to read more.

However, the reality is there are more people who 'turn off' to this topic than people who 'tune in' to this topic...let's call the business people who do not dream of achievement or embrace change with an open mind the Unchanging Majority.

Hopefully, you have less than the normal share of Unchanging Majority people at your business.

Regardless, you will have some of them. That's not 'bad news', it is just a fact. And, it is a fact you can deal with. You simply need to recognize people are different. Some people, due to past events dating back perhaps as far as the day they were born, for a huge range of reasons, do not dream of business achievement and do not embrace personal or business change with an open mind.

Is this a material problem for you?

You can get a better handle on the extent of the problem by rating yourself and rating others, using a Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale.

Rate yourself in 3 areas:

How vivid are my business dreams and how strong is my desire to achieve them?
How important is it for me to make personal changes for the better?
How willing am I to do the tough work of creating new Good Habits?

Rate your people, one by one, in the same 3 areas.

Compare yourself to your people...check out the gaps.

Consider the significance, the broad implications, of your Good Habits!

Strengths & Weaknesses

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

The great Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Our strength grows out of our weaknesses".

Ralph Waldo Emerson isn't a fellow I would want to debate. Well...let me re-state that. Actually, I would love the opportunity to exchange ideas with Emerson even if the only way to do it was debating him. And, I recognize the likelihood of me winning a debate with Emerson would be pretty close to absolute zero.

I know...more information than you needed...I could not help myself because I rarely disagree with the wisdom Ralph Waldo Emerson put to paper.

...back to the topic of Strengths and weaknesses.

Specifically, I am writing about Strengths and weaknesses people exhibit in workplaces...this is about business.

Speaking about my personal experiences and my observations of other people, I do not believe people's strengths grow out of weaknesses. I like the way the folks at and from the Gallup organization described the source of people's strengths: natural talent themes + specialized, pertinent knowledge + skills development = Strengths, where Strength is the ability to perform actions nearly perfectly almost all the time. [I have written, in some detail, about Strengths.]

The starting point for a person's Strengths is inborn, natural talent.

For the vast majority of people, Strengths are due to innate talents coupled with a lot of hard work.

***

That is not to say it is impossible to move from what we perceive as weakness to what we perceive as strength. Perhaps, Helen Keller illustrated this best. Helen Keller was born deaf and blind. She overcame these 'weaknesses' to be the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor's Degree. She authored many books. And, she served as an inspiration to millions of people.

Even still, it is difficult for me to agree with Emerson, "Our strength grows out of our weaknesses".

When I think of Helen Keller, I think "People can do amazing things despite what other people perceive to be weaknesses". And, I think, "Embedded in Helen Keller, deeper than those perceived weaknesses of deafness and blindness, was some innate gift of talent...perhaps it was - LEARNER". Clearly, Helen Keller also had an amazing desire to ACHIEVE.

Our Strength can grow despite our weaknesses.

Nobody can argue with that!

Having Values, Delivering Value, & Recruiting Great People

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Everyone knows personal values influence people's behaviour.

Most people know the interplay between people's personal values create culture, including the culture at their business place.

Some people understand and agree personal Values lead to business Culture, which must be Communicated well. When that's done it leads to the generation of Value: Value for the business [profit] and Value for its people, its Clients, suppliers, shareholders, etc. At Spirited Leaders, we call this concept VCCV. If you desire business success then the best starting-point, the strongest driver, is Personal Values.

Values-Culture-Communication-Value.

We speak about the many ways VCCV adds potency to business.

Consider, for example, the function of Recruiting Great People.

In a 2011 Canadian Corporate Culture study, 85% of respondents indicted that cultural fit is more important than necessary skills when hiring¹.

When you are hiring a person to join your business you must work to understand whether or not they will 'fit in' your business Culture.

That means at least 3 things:

You must understand our business Culture and the details of its embedded Values and your rules [our Master Rules],
You must understand the employee-candidate's personal Values, and
You must determine whether or not the employee-candidate is compatible with our business Culture.

And, if you are not in a position to complete the first step then you do not know your business Culture.

If that's the case then that's the first thing to remedy.

If you are the Leader at your business then you must remedy that immediately.

Here is a link to get you started Leaders Personal Values Fuel Everything

Footnotes:

Waterstone Human Capital, "2011 Canadian Corporate Culture Study"

10 Tips to Running Scared

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 13:55:00 -0500

10 TIPS TO RUNNING SCARED:

How to do business with a Scarcity Mindset

Embrace the Win-Lose Mentality: aim for 100%/0% transactions, always
Be Subversive: sabotage and undermine the efforts of your co-workers
Yell a Lot: screaming messages get heard & remembered
Withhold Information: but, make sure you spring it on people just before the last minute
Parade Your Position: never assume people know you are important...show & tell it
Lie a Lot: know you possess the ability to succeed with even the biggest & fattest lies
Steal the Limelight: whatever it takes - get your face in the pictures
Stick With Sticks: ignore all that advice about motivational carrots
Trust No One: ever
Own Many Mirrors: place them strategically so you can always enjoy the view

The Master Rules - Part 2

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Part 1 of The Master Rules can be summed up just the way my 2nd boss taught it to me: He who carries the gold makes the rules.

Part 2 of The Master Rules is about the importance of setting over-riding rules to help people understand:

HOW things are to be done and
HOW & WHAT the Right Things means when it is used in that admonition `Do the Right Things` and other admonitions like `Managing is about doing things right - Leadership is about doing the Right Things`.

The Master Rules are simple, clear, top-down Rules.

The Master Rules reflect the core values of the business leader.

Every successful business has a culture, wrapped around high-quality core Values.

At successful businesses, those core Values act like an internal compass, which helps keep People comfortable. That comfort derives from the fact People feel - not just think, People feel - comfortable about their Actions and about their Situations.

When People feel comfortable and guided their action is offered with more enthusiasm and their performance is more productive. And, business is more successful.

The purpose of The Master Rules is to provide the guidance which sets the stage for People comfort and People Action.

Here is one example, close to our own hearts.

One of Spirited Leaders` Values is Labours of Enjoyment & Enthusiasm. At Spirited Leaders, we want our People to at least enjoy their work. We know People who enjoy their work perform more and better Actions. We also know enjoyment precedes enthusiasm. When People enjoy Actions they are much more likely to be enthusiastic about repeating those Actions. We also know the feeling of enjoyment is closely linked to personal strengths: when personal strengths are engaged People feel good.

One of Spirited Leaders` Master Rules is Embrace Strengths! When People know one another`s personal strengths and then work in harmony to put those different personal strengths to best use the likelihood of Labours of Enjoyment & Enthusiasm increases. That is one example of how our Master Rules mesh with our Values.

Footnote:

At a prior Thought Post we explained Commander`s Intent underpinning Goals. The Master Rules are conceptually similar to Commander`s Intent...that`s a topic for another day.

The Master Rules - Part 1

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 07:00:00 -0500

My second boss taught me `The Golden Rule`.

He explained it this way: He who carries the gold makes the rules.

Some people might have been annoyed...

like...

Who does he think he is!
The boss thinks he gets to tell me what to do!
Huh, we will see about that!

For some reason, I was not annoyed. (It might have had something to do with that little new mouth to feed in our family.)

For some reason, I liked the idea of the boss telling me some rules and telling me what he wanted done. I liked the clarity of his communication too:

He was the boss.
I was not the boss.
He carried the gold.
I wanted some of it.
OK - I get it.

For some reason, I embraced the subordinate role...the role of a follower.

While it would be an exaggeration to say I understood any of the details of it at the time, I had a general sense that to be a good leader a person must first be a good follower. And, to be a good follower a person must respect the authority of others. Acceptance alone is not enough. A follower must respect and admire the people who have the authority. I am not talking about admiring every single aspect of the boss` character or admiring every single action the boss does or every decision the boss makes. I am talking about recognition of the fact the boss has some admirable qualities and capabilities. If that were not true then the boss would not be the boss.

Good followers learn from all their bosses: maybe a little, often a lot.

Followers who do not accept, respect, and at least to a degree admire authority do not learn from their bosses.

Followers who do not learn from their bosses do not become leaders.

The Master Rules - Part 1: He who carries the gold makes the rules.

Auftragstaktik

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

A little over 200 years ago Napoleon Bonaparte's army crushed the Prussian army in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt.

In summary, Napoleon's French army was nimble and flexible in comparison to the more-bureaucratic forces of his enemies. The Prussians learned 'the hard way' about Napoleon's organizational genius and his inspired, almost invincible, followers.

The 1806 defeat stung so badly it caused the Prussians to review their military methods.

The resulting Prussian military thought is now known as 'Auftragstaktik'.

Auftragstaktik is one of many legacies/tributes to Napoleon.

In English, we call it 'Commander's Intent'.

Commander's Intent has been taught in military schools throughout the world for two centuries. And, more recently, it has found its way into business literature.

Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia, which will clarify how Commander's Intent works in the military:

"Auftragstaktik can be seen as a doctrine within which formal rules can be selectively suspended in order to overcome "friction". Carl von Clausewitz stated that "Everything in war is simple but the simplest thing is difficult". Problems will occur with misplaced communications, troops going to the wrong location, delays caused by weather, etc., and it is the duty of the commander to do his best to overcome them. Auftragstaktik encourages commanders to exhibit initiative, flexibility and improvisation while in command. In what may be seen as surprising to some, Auftragstaktik empowers commanders to disobey orders and revise their effect as long as the intent of the commander is maintained."

Here is a more-succinct definition, provided by Sanjay Mishra:

"Commander's Intent is "the commander's stated vision which defines the purpose of an operation, the end state with respect to the relationship among the force, the enemy and the terrain; it must enable subordinates to quickly grasp the successful end state and their part in achieving it"."

Now, with a few tweaks [like replacing the words 'commander' & 'enemy' with the words 'boss' & 'clients'] all of that applies perfectly to business...

In 'Made to Stick' the Heath brothers, Chip and Dan, made the following point about Commander's Intent:

"Commander's Intent: it's about elegance and clarifying priorities...the unmistakable core of the message."

Commander's Intent is an essential part of business communication.

This applies everywhere in business, but I am particularly aiming my thoughts at 3 business communications:

Leadership communications
Marketing communications, &
Sales communications

You will gain advantage if your communications in these 3 business areas contain Commander's Intent.

As the Prussians did 200 years ago, we can learn from the example set by Napoleon:

we can strive to excel at vividly envisioning the desired end state [Vivid Vision],
we can strive to think through, in advance, hurdles our people may encounter,
we can strive to excel at organizing the roles and actions of our people,
we can strive to inspire our people to use their ingenuity, and
we can strive to deliver concise & clear core-messages about the desired end state [Commander's Intent].

Footnote:

I want to impress many things captured [and perhaps hidden] in the above Thought Post, but I will limit it to 2:

That Carl von Clausewitz quote..."Everything in war is simple but the simplest thing is difficult." I suppose we are saying the same thing when we claim 'Murphy's Law'. At Spirited Leaders, we promote Seeking Simple. That's a Spirited Leaders' concept. Find the simple things that go wrong before they go wrong...find the simple things that work before wasting time 'going wrong'.
As Chip Heath and Dan Heath taught in 'Made to Stick', if you want people to understand and remember your messages make them sticky - Sticky SUCCESs Stories - Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Story. Commander's Intent is embedded in Simple.

Here's a question for you...

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

Measurement serves a key role in business: we all know that.

Plan, Lead, Organize, & Control...those are the keys to good business and Measurement is the mechanism of Control.

Some say, "If you cannot measure it then do not do it".

Marketing experts, including Jay Abraham, teach that. Business coaches, including Brad Sugars, teach that.

Quality control experts and ISO experts live and breathe control and measurement.

As a business leader, you recognize the importance of measurement.

I promised a question for you, here it is...

How do you help your people rise up the Ladder of Great Measurements?

Where the ladder works like this:

The Highest Rung - everyone looks forward to measuring the vital stuff and everyone is absolutely thrilled every time things are measured
The Middle Rung - people are inspired, self-driven to measure important stuff with timeliness and accuracy
The Lowest Rung - people must be policed...otherwise they avoid measuring stuff

How do you inspire best measurement practices?

The Wonderful World of Sales

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

As you can see from my book reviews, I just read a sales book and re-read an old one.

The two books are called:

Stop Whining! Start Selling!

Profit-Producing Strategies for Explosive Sales Results

Stop Selling & Do Something Valuable

Stop whining, start selling, stop selling, & do something valuable.

What end's up & what's a salesperson to do?

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Sales.

No end to the sales advice...almost all of which is good advice.

***

Question: Why so much appetite for sales advice?

Answer: Because, for most folks Sales just keep getting tougher and tougher.

***

I am working at creating a simple & fool-proof recipe to help Salespeople.

Here are the primary ingredients in my Sales-Success Recipe:

A compelling and precise answer to this question: 'Why are you in a Sales role?'
A definite Purpose...a clear picture of a Career Goal.
An emphatic commitment to Self-Discipline.
A commitment to Life-Long Learning...about People.

Footnotes:

The answer to the question 'Why are you in a Sales role?' is always 'telling'. Few answers cut the mustard. So, we need to keep our eyes and ears open for the answers that do cut the mustard. [All the less-than-acceptable answers signal future failure in the making.]
Sales must be done 'on Purpose'...it is as simple as that.
Self-discipline is essential because Sales roles tug at the Salesperson's emotions and emotions pull and shake Salespeople every which way but rarely point them in the successful direction.
Life-Long Learning about People...remembering, People really do want to buy...buying stuff - well that's a perk enjoyed by most human beings.

'Being Evocative'...that's the new Starting Point

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

People get bored real quickly these days!

Probably, I have lulled you to sleep already and I have only begun to write.

If you will just hang in a bit more I will try to be quick with this message.

Maybe bullet points will help?

People get bored real quickly these days!
So, we need to do special stuff when we want to communicate with them!

The experts say, "You must be evocative". [translation - "You must pluck at people's emotional chords."]

That's the way to get people's attention.

How do you do that?

How do you pluck at people's emotional chords?

Here are some suggestions:

Be Authentic: If you have a magnetic personality then use it. If you don't have natural charisma then work at improving your personality traits. Pick traits you desire to have then work at incorporating them into your character...I mean - want to improve and then work at it for the rest of your life.
Be Intentional: Know exactly why you want to pluck at people's emotional chords. Your intent must have more substance than just trying to cram a sale or an idea down somebody's throat. A purely self-serving intent will not succeed.
Be Colourful: Emotions have little interest in logic. Emotions like shiny objects, fast-moving things, colourful things, sharp sounds, funny things...stimulating things. Emotions like all these types of things but emotions do not like logic.

This is just an introduction.

If your communications are not achieving the results you seek then make some adjustments.

If you think your people are not 'getting it' then make some adjustments.

If you think younger folks don't listen then make some adjustments.

After all...your goals are important!

And...

'Being Evocative' is the new Starting Point!

In the Clutch of Ideas

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

People are fond of their own ideas.

As a rule, the attachment is strong: I like my ideas and you like your ideas.

That`s the way normal people feel and think. And, those normal feelings and thoughts influence people's behaviour.

When you come up with an idea, say a solution to a problem, you tend to like your idea better than alternative ideas presented by other people. Your idea is your invention, your 'brain child'.

Your ideas clutch you.

If you do not self-monitor and self-regulate then you can find yourself held firmly in the clutches of your own ideas.

While the clutch of ideas can lead to great innovations and inventions, more often than not, it also adds a repulsive flavour to your personality. Of course, that's not a good thing. A repulsive personality is not a good thing because it reduces your ability to gain the cooperation of other people...which is necessary for your success.

A magnetic personality is a good thing.

So, no matter how terrific your ideas are you must self-monitor and self-regulate their delivery.

Some say you should use pre-thought-out series of questions, designed to trick or manoeuvre other people so they come to the conclusions you desire. Socrates used those techniques. That was over 2400 years ago. It is clear, this in-the-Clutch-of-Ideas problem has been around for quite some time. It is part of the human condition.

Other people take advantage of various forms of power to cause people to accept their ideas. This worked really well for millennia, however, it is becoming increasingly less effective....for a number of reasons beyond the scope of this article.

The points are:

People are prone to find themselves in the clutch of their own ideas.
It is much harder than it used to be to bulldoze your ideas through other people.
Better solutions are required to succeed in the 21st Century.

The 1st Action steps are:

Self-monitor...understand the extent of the clutch your ideas have on you, then impose limits on that clutch.
Self-regulate...be at least a little bit more open to other people's ideas.
Allow your thinking to be more creative...for example, take a lesson from Edward de Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats'.

Baby Steps

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 07:00:00 -0500

When babies learn how to walk they make all kinds of mistakes.

I don't remember making mistakes when I learned how to walk but I do remember our boys making walking-mistakes when they were about a year old. And, I know this is common because I have seen every one of my friends' and relatives' babies do it.

Sometimes babies' little legs give out and they fall straight down, onto their little behinds. Sometimes they trip over the smallest of obstacles. Sometimes their little feet just slip right out from under them...and down they go. Sometimes their little hands cling to things like tables, they walk a bit while they are holding on then fall down as soon as they let go of the tables.

Babies fall down a lot.

And while that is going on people applaud them...especially parents and grandparents and other close relatives. They don't mind it at all when babies make all those baby-step mistakes. In fact, many of them seem to derive great joy from these experiences. Often, people carry on in celebration of the failed baby steps...encouraging all the babies to keep on taking more and more baby steps.

I suspect this is a world-wide phenomenon...a baby-step pandemic.

Why?

Why do people put up with let alone derive great joy out of all these baby-step errors?

Perhaps, the answer lies in a 200 year old quote from William Drayton, American politician and author:

"Change starts when someone sees the next step."

Maybe people see the baby's next step?

Maybe, when people see that next step it is a fine step?

Maybe people always see a fine next step?

Maybe it doesn't matter if the baby makes a mistake...it is always a fine step?

Maybe babies, who illustrate to us just how challenging a baby step can be, help interested people see Change before it happens?

Entrepreneur - Defined

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 06:30:00 -0500

3 forces drive entrepreneurs:

Entrepreneurs have this burning feeling inside them…a Need To Achieve something. I describe it as ‘a wanting’.
Entrepreneurs have a desire to create and Build Things Of Value.
Entrepreneurs have a need to Be Recognized As Different – a different type of contributor.

These are defining internal forces driving An Entrepreneur.

In addition, An Entrepreneur is a business leader who:

Recognizes, uses, & develops People Strengths…first in self and then in others,
Clicks with other People [has self-control & a pleasing-enough personality], and
Is ready, willing, and able to lead change…first in self and then in others.

These are the defining characteristics of – the key Personal Strengths of - An Entrepreneur.

These 3 forces coupled with these 3 characteristics form Spirited Leaders’ definition of An Entrepreneur.

Emotions - Defined

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:30:00 -0500

In this Thought Post I consider dictionary definitions around the word ‘Emotion’ then adopt what I find to be a much-more-helpful description of Emotions, provided by the world-renowned psychologist and pioneer in the study of Emotions, Paul Ekman.

I go into this detail because:

I believe People Only Do 3 Things: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things
I believe Emotions play a huge role in day-to-day business life

First, I looked at the on-line Merriam-Webster dictionary to obtain their definition of Emotion. I have copied below Merriam-Webster’s definition of ‘Emotion’ and their definitions of two words used in their definition of ‘Emotion’ [‘Affective’ and ‘Feeling’].

It seems to me the Merriam-Webster definition of Emotion is cumbersome and circular. And, it is inaccurate.

So, Spirited Leaders has adopted Paul Ekman’s definition of Emotion [see below].

***

From Merriam-Webster’s on-line dictionary:

Definition of EMOTION

1a obsolete: disturbance b: excitement

2a: the affective aspect of consciousness: feeling b: a state of feeling c: a conscious mental reaction (as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed toward a specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body

Definition of AFFECTIVE

1: relating to, arising from, or influencing feelings or emotions: emotional <cognitive and affective symptoms>

2: expressing emotion <affective language>

Definition of FEELING

1a (1): one of the basic physical senses of which the skin contains the chief end organs and of which the sensations of touch and temperature are characteristic: touch (2): a sensation experienced through this sense b: generalized bodily consciousness or sensation c: appreciative or responsive awareness or recognition

2a: an emotional state or reaction <a kindly feeling toward the boy> plural: susceptibility to impression: sensitivity <the remark hurt her feelings>

3a: the undifferentiated background of one's awareness considered apart from any identifiable sensation, perception, or thought b: the overall quality of one's awareness c: conscious recognition: sense

4a: often unreasoned opinion or belief: sentiment b: presentiment

5: capacity to respond emotionally especially with the higher emotions

6: the character ascribed to something: atmosphere

7a: the quality of a work of art that conveys the emotion of the artist b: sympathetic aesthetic response

8: feel 4

***

Definition of EMOTION [Paul Ekman’s, which we have adopted]

According to Paul Ekman, and to a degree I am simplifying and paraphrasing here, Emotions are defined by 7 characteristics:

1. Signals: Emotions are mental states, most of which exhibit consistent visible cues.

2. Automatic Appraisal: Emotions occur automatically and very fast...1/4 second.

3. Lack of Awareness: Consciousness plays little role if any...most Emotions are opaque to consciousness and thought. Nature did not want us to be able to consciously control Emotions. However, thoughts can re-trigger Emotions.

4. Not Unique to Humans: Other animals exhibit the same Emotions as Humans. There is no Human Emotion that cannot be seen in at least one other animal.

5. Short Duration: Emotions can last for extremely short periods (seconds) or longer, but they never last longer than a day. (longer-lasting ‘states of mind’ are defined as Moods)

6. Conscious Awareness of Emotions is a Skill: using special exercises, it can be developed. We can become skilled at self-monitoring, being present, and self-regulating. We need to explore the motivation and intent behind our Emotions. Knowledge and skill around motivation and intent will help us understand and control our Emotions.

7. Emotions can get us into trouble..."I lost my head". In fact, it seems Ekman thinks Emotions do present-day Humans little, if any, good. Emotions, all of them, are vestiges of evolution.

Footnotes

To learn about Paul Ekman
Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary

Defining A Goal

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:30:00 -0500

Some time ago I found the following quote:

“A goal is not the same as a desire, and this is an important distinction to make. You can have a desire you don't intend to act on. But you can't have a goal you don't intend to act on.”

Then I found the author of the quote…here is a picture of the fellow – ‘Old Tom’ Morris:

Then I learned a bit about the fellow:

Many consider Tom Morris to be the Father of Golf.
Born 1821 – St. Andrews, Scotland
Died 1908 – St. Andrews, Scotland
4 major championships in the 1860’s
World Golf Hall of Fame - 1976

Upon examining Tom’s quote, I uncovered a concise definition of ‘A Goal’:

“A goal is not the same as a desire, and this is an important distinction to make. You can have a desire you don't intend to act on. But you can't have a goal you don't intend to act on.”

A Goal is a desire you intend to act on.

That’s Spirited Leaders’ definition of A Goal.

And, when we teach that definition we bear in mind the advice of Old Tom Morris.

***

Another Goal quote: “In moving toward, fighting for and completing goals, energy is renewed and released, and as Blake said, "Energy is Bliss!" Laurence G. Boldt

Laurence G. Boldt

William Blake [“Energy is Bliss!”]

Robin Todd visits our Centre for Family Business [CFFB] - “Confessions of a Bad Boss”

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:30:00 -0500

Robin Todd, President/CEO of Marks Supply Inc., was the special-guest speaker at CFFB’s October breakfast.

Robin shared her family-business story and she shared her ‘boss’ experiences. That title “Confessions of a Bad Boss” send many messages. Here are some of the thoughts that went through our minds as we listened to and talked with Robin:

No Boss is perfect…all Bosses make mistakes
Owning up to those mistakes…that involves self-awareness, courage, and a desire to improve
All Bosses can learn…it starts with self-monitoring
Bosses can learn from their mistakes

Robin has a habit of testing herself with tough questions…here are a few samples:

What if you impede the success of your company?
Great people have options: how do I find them? Entice them? Keep them?
What did you do wrong to allow this person to leave?

Robin’s key message was:

How much better would your company be if you were a better boss?

About Marks Supply Inc. – a local Family Business Success Story.

Marks Supply is a wholesaler of top-quality Plumbing, P.V.F., Hydronics and HVAC products.

Recognizing their products, to some degree, are viewed as a commodity, Marks Supply strives to out-service its competition.

Robin joined the family business when she finished schooling. That required an adjustment on the part of her Dad. He wanted to separate family and business. None of Robin’s 3 older sisters worked at the family business. Robin was the first and only to join her father. They agreed to a one-year period. After the year, when her Dad agreed to keep her full time he provided this piece of advice:

“Show up earlier, stay later, work harder, and be happier than everyone else. Don’t embarrass me.”

What clarity and candour of advice. What valuable Father-to-Daughter advice. Particularly the part about being happier, what a way to lead by example: working hard and being happy while you do it!

Working for her father, Robin moved through a number of jobs…as her career unfolded and her responsibilities grew.

In 1995, when her father decided it was time to sell, he sold the business to Robin. That was a surprise to Robin and others in her family and her business.

At this ‘transition’, Robin’s Dad provided another excellent piece of advice:

“Don’t be trapped…make sure you have money…there will be surprises that require money.”

Robin followed her father’s advice. She repaid her ‘buy-out’ debts in 5 years.

During the last 16 years, Robin has led Marks Supply to impressive growth - from $8Million to $71MM.

Robin was very candid. She plans for continued growth.

Why?...

”Because you grow or die!”

It was very clear to all of us…Robin isn’t a Bad Boss…Robin balances the numbers side of business [impressive growth of revenue] with the personal side of business [the Human side]. She thinks a lot about the people who choose to follow her at Marks Supply. She has learned from the people-mistakes she has made. She takes full responsibility for her errors…and her self-development.

Robin closed with:

“If you care about your people, you should let them know”

***

Congratulations on your personal and business achievements, Robin!

THANK YOU for sharing your Family Business Success Story with our CFFB.

PS: Robin Todd was recently has selected as one of Canada’s 100 Top Women Entrepreneurs in the 12th annual PROFIT W100 ranking. This, of course, is far from the first time Robin’s leadership has been recognized…and there’s no question – it will not be the last.

Link to Marks Supply
Link to CFFB

Why should I buy from you?

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 06:30:00 -0500

After all…I have lots of choices:

I can buy from one of your competitors
I can buy stuff nobody in your market sector sells
I can keep my money

So, with all those options…

Why should I buy from you?

Picture yourself as a salesperson.

You are supposed to be selling…and you want me to become your customer, your Client.

Then, right out of the blue I spring this question on you,

Why should I buy from you?

How, on a Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale, do you feel when I ask that question?…

…where:

Minus10 means you have a panic attack right on the spot…when you are revived you are pleased to see that I have left the building

Minus5 means you squirm a bit, look down, and then look over my shoulder in hopes of finding a more-reasonable shopper

Zero0 means you don’t really understand the question so you smile politely and feign poor hearing, offer you hand, I shake it, and you walk away

Plus5 means you really like sales work and you are pretty sure you know the right answer…you move into selling mode while I am looking puzzled

Plus10 means you are thrilled…you know your company’s Differential Advantage and you know exactly how to communicate it with enthusiasm to people like me

***

In an effort to help you get to Plus10…

Answer these questions:

What makes your company different from your competitors?
What’s special about your company?
Why would I even give a care about that special thing?
What’s special about your products or services?
Why would I need that special thing?
What feelings make me want that special thing?
How do you package a communication that excites and magnetizes buyers?

Of course, you should ask yourself many more questions before you finalize your company’s Differential Advantage.

PS: A suggestion from Michael Gerber: Make a promise your Clients want to hear. Make a promise your Competitors wouldn’t dare to offer.

Footnote

Our definition of Differential Advantage: a company’s Differential Advantage is a concise statement that answers the question, “Why should I buy from you rather than buy from one of your competitors, buy some other thing, or do nothing?” Even if you have the best answer in the world, your answer, your Differential Advantage, will not appeal and magnetize everyone. It will appeal and magnetize your Ideal Clients…and that’s the whole point.

Making Change

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 06:30:00 -0500

From time to time, you want people to change.

For example, you want them to change the way they act at work.

I am thinking about what you may be thinking: you may be thinking about two extremes:

You cannot assume people will change their actions…even when people say they will change
You cannot demand people to change…even though people say they accept your demands

I mean – you must have noticed people say they will change their actions then later you observe they have not changed. And, you must have noticed you have made demands of your people and those demands fell short of getting done.

After noticing these things, you probably would like to do better in the future. When people say they are going to do something you rely on their word...so, you would like people to live up to their word. When you have authority, as a business leader, from time to time you need to make demands of people. You don't overdo your position of authority. On occasion, you make 'executive decisions' and demands of people. When you have the need and you make the executive decision followed by a demand you want the demand to generate the action you desire.

Regardless, too often the action you expect does not happen.

So, in order to generate the action you desire you must help people change. To help people change you need to find the middle ground.

WARNING: The middle ground probably isn’t where you think it is.

It isn’t situated in logic discussions and arguments.

It is situated in simple tools, which get around the emotions that cloud over logic.

About Spirited Leaders & our Unicorn logo

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 06:30:00 -0500

WHO are we?

Our Vision: Canada’s best source for entrepreneurial business education

WHAT do we do?

Our Purpose: We educate entrepreneurs.

HOW do we do that?

Our Values: Courage, Confidence, ‘The Differences’, Learning, Labours of Enjoyment & Enthusiasm

Our Branding Proposition: Inspire People, Grow Profits!

WHY are we doing what we do?

We enjoy learning. We enjoy business. We enjoy teaching.

WITH WHOM – Who receives benefit?

Our Ideal Clients are entrepreneurial business leaders who want to champion change.

WHAT DO OUR CLIENTS GAIN?

With enjoyable and helpful business education, action lessons, and tools - we help our Clients inspire practical business.

WHY THE NAME SPIRITED?

Spirited is defined as: full of courage, energy, and action. We like the adjective - spirited.

WHY THE UNICORN LOGO?

Unicorns are spirited creatures. Perhaps…if not likely…they are creatures of mythology. Regardless, they are symbols of inspiration for many cultures around the world. Some say unicorns are the only mythological creature not created out of fear. We really like that last part.

[Sure, we know unicorns have some weaknesses…but wow, what Strengths!]

Business people are struggling with Networking

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 06:30:00 -0500

If you think that is hogwash then – Congratulations!

[I would love to hear your stories.]

***

If you are still reading this Thought Post then you know some business folks who are struggling with networking.

Here is the advice I gave at a recent Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce networking event:

If you are uncomfortable networking, that's contagious. If you enjoy networking, that's contagious….so
If you are uncomfortable networking, either:
- Don’t do any more business networking [business networking is not a necessary evil…it is not an interpersonal exercise where misery enjoys company] or
- Figure out how to get comfortable before you do any more business networking [a little creative thought can go a long, long way toward making business networking an enjoyable experience]

In addition to those ‘basic rules’…

If you haven’t given much thought to whether or not you are comfortable with business networking then don’t do business networking until you are prepared to check your networking pulse. Again, business networking is not a necessary evil…if you view it that way then what you see is what you’ll get.
If you have no networking goals then don’t do business networking until you are prepared to set some business networking goals.

Whatever you do – do not settle with going through the business-networking motions.

Just going through the business-networking motions will be unsatisfying for you and for the all the business folks you encounter while you are doing it.

***
The Good News: regardless of how you feel today, you can learn to get comfortable with and maybe even enjoy business networking [if that is something you want to learn].
***

What is Networking? I have written several articles on the topic…here’s a link.

In summary, Networking is a way to meet other business people. Networking is a way to accomplish ‘personal branding’. And, from time to time Networking may become the step in a buying process connecting with a step in a selling process [and, of course, vice-versa].

An unbelievable ‘selling’ experience

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 05:30:00 -0500

A few months ago, it was mid-afternoon and I was sitting alone at a table in a coffee shop. I was trying to put the 15 ‘free’ minutes between meetings to good use….i.e., some coffee and some reading. I looked up just in time to see my friend Jim enter with another fellow. Jim walked over to my table and said, “Rick, meet Bob. Bob, meet Rick. Bob, this is the fellow I was talking to you about last week. How about I get the coffees while you talk with Rick. Bob…maybe the two of you can hash out a deal so Rick provides the service we discussed.”

Jim got in the coffee line-up and Bob sat down at my table, across from me. Bob summarized the situation at his business. He outlined his understanding of what Jim had told him about my services and asked what it would take to have me sitting in his office providing the first piece of my service within 2 weeks. I told him. He extended his hand and we shook on the deal. We both put the first meeting date and time into our BlackBerrys. Bob thanked me. Then Bob got up to join Jim in the coffee line-up.

The entire interaction took perhaps 2 or 3 minutes.

I had a sip of coffee, looked up at the coffee line-up and a question popped into my mind….what can I do to deliver experiences of that quality?

My Uncle Jack’s Plus-Minus Theory

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 05:30:00 -0500

On a warm summer afternoon a couple of months ago, I was sitting on my Uncle Jack’s porch…chatting with him about many things, some serious and some definitely-not.

That’s when he surprised me by asking, “Haven’t I ever told you my Plus-Minus Theory?”

I said “No” and sat back to catch a little more shade and listen to my Uncle Jack’s Plus-Minus Theory.

He explained, “At the end of the day we should think about the ‘pluses’ of the day and the ‘minuses’ of the day. If we find the ‘minuses’ consumed more than 75% of the day then we better make changes.”

Now, since that afternoon, I have thought about pluses and minuses every single day.

And, I have shared my Uncle Jack’s ‘theory’ with a number of folks.

Each time I share the story and the theory I talk about the thoughts I have had for several years about feeling good and feeling bad at work and the thoughts I had about measuring these feelings. I talk about the fact I have worked at teaching and helping people learn the importance of doing these things. I talk about the Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale we use to measure feelings.

And, I never fail to mention I had no idea my favourite Uncle had already established a ‘theory’ on this topic, beating me [and many of the motivational gurus by decades].

Clearly, this is proof we need to spend more time with our Favourite Uncles!

Footnotes:

At Spirited Leaders we use colours as visual signals:
- green = good things…especially Good Habits
- blue = New Things
- red = Bad Habits
Minus10-to-Plus10 Scale: like my Uncle Jack’s ‘pluses’ and ‘minuses’ we are talking about monitoring feelings throughout the workday. Negative feelings are feelings that signal you are not in situations or taking actions aligned with your goals. Positive feelings are feelings that signal you arein situations or taking actions aligned with your goals.
- Plus 1-4: you are at least accepting the situation and have some comfort about your action
- Plus 5-7: you enjoy the situation and the action you are taking
- Plus 8-10: you are enthusiastic about the situation and your actions

Link: How do you feel when you are at work?

Buried Treasures – Inspired Measures

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 05:00:00 -0500

Buried Treasures - Inspired Measures

It’s fun to measure your steps when you know the path leads to gold!

***

That’s the title of Spirited Leaders’ workshop on ‘Measurement’. The workshop is an introduction to our views about and tools for measurement of business things. In the workshop we guide business Leaders toward the measurement of most-important Actions.

Our introductory workshop covers two of the most-important aspects of Action:

the cause-effect linkage Actions have with business Goals and
the interpersonal implications of Actions…specifically, the implications in the areas of self-monitoring, self-regulating and Inspiring others.

These aspects of business are vital to Leaders’ success.

For our workshops, we make an effort to provide at least a little theory & creativity and at least two practical tools, which we call 1-Page Tools.

Intentionally, at workshops we do not get too deep into our theories or philosophies.

Some people ask us for more details, more details about the theories and philosophies.

The following is an effort to explain a bit of the thinking behind the workshop title

Buried Treasures - Inspired Measures

It’s fun to measure your steps when you know the path leads to gold!

First, here is a quote from the 2009 revision of ‘ZEN and the art of making a living’ by Laurence G. Boldt:

“If we limit our knowledge to that which can be quantified, we miss not only the wonder of the Mystery but also the possibility of the revelation.”

We are in 100% agreement with Boldt.

To confirm we are giving more than lip-service support to his statement…check out a little piece I wrote about 6 months ago titled ‘Marvel & The Mysteries of Life’.

We marvel at the wonder of the Mystery.

And, we know the most-important things are un-measureable. Certainly, at this time they are un-measureable. We can neither measure the details of the tiniest things like atomic particles nor the secrets at work in the simplest of animal brains.

That said, most of us must go to work and earn livings.

That said: we can approach our work as:

a great-big-necessary-evil part of life or
an opportunity to fulfil our life-purpose or
a confusing thing lying between or waffling between (1) and (2)

From those options, we choose (2).

Our workshops are our effort to help business Leaders who also choose (2).

About…

Buried Treasures – to the extent we are on a business quest, why not think in terms of looking at rolled up maps and taking measured Actions…in search of treasure?
Wouldn’t that sort of thinking make the journey a little more exciting and cause one to take the time and care to perform Inspired Measures?
Won’t it be more fun to measure your steps when you know your path leads to gold?

Footnote…about the coloured fonts

At Spirited Leaders, we use colours to signal & highlight certain things:

green = good things… Good Habits
blue = New Things…which can lead to Good Habits
gold…well…gold = Gold!

What are your Intentions?

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:30:00 -0500

Intention may be one of the most underrated forces.

I recently listened to a CD where Deepak Chopra said: Intention has organizational power…in a way; Intention is the most powerful force in the universe.

If that is even partially true then, definitely, Intention is one of the most underrated forces.

Intention is closely linked to Inspiration.

When I use the word Intention, I mean – ‘a determination to act in a certain way’.

When I use the word Inspiration, I mean – ‘a power to influence emotions and move action’.

Putting that together…

Be determined to act in certain ways and that will give you the power to influence emotions and move action…your emotions and actions – and – the emotions and actions of other people.

Be determined to act in a certain way.

What way is that? [you might ask]

Seems to me the choices are unlimited! [you might think as you ask]

True - the choices are unlimited.

So – we need to figure out a way to do this sort of exercise quickly…before we get bored or annoyed or distracted by easier and perhaps more immediately-rewarding things.

Get a piece of paper and write across the top:

Actions I Do at Work

Draw a line down the middle of the page

On one side of the line write Feel Good when I do them and on the other side of the line write Do Not Feel Good when I do them.

Then, think about the actions you do at work… consider the specific actions you take as you perform tasks. Think of the specific actions you take as you interact with other people. Think of the specific actions you take when you are working on your business goals. Think of 30 or so specific actions.

Write those actions on the page…on one side or the other.

Now, circle the actions you believe contribute to you work goals.

Take a close look at the actions you have circled on the side of the page titled ‘I Feel Good when I do them’.

Focus on these actions as you begin to plan how you will be determined to act in certain ways that will give you the power to influence emotions and move action…your emotions and actions – and – the emotions and actions of other people.

That’s a good 1st step toward acting with Intent and acting to Inspire.

Actions I Do at Work
I Feel Good when I do them	I Do Not Feel Good when I do them

the Transporter of your messages

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 05:00:00 -0500

You ship messages…

…every waking moment

…every single day.

Why not spend 30 seconds or so, right now…thinking about “the Transporter of your messages”?

Before you present your messages to the Transporter of your messages you flavour your messages with your Mood and with your Thoughts, particularly your assessment of the Situation at hand.

Then, your message is delivered by your appearance, your body language, especially your facial expressions, your tones, and the gestures you make with your hands and arms.

Those are the transporters of your messages.

Business Problems…Will $ help?

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 05:30:00 -0500

Most people think money solves most business problems.

Our experience says otherwise.

An injection of money, in most situations, either delays solutions or obscures problems so they appear to be solved. But, root problems are tough things…like weeds in a garden. You can cover them over. But, somehow they manage to sprout back. You can cut them down. But, somehow they manage to sneak back at you. Business problems are like weeds. Strong roots. Hidden roots. Tough-to-get-at roots.

While it is much less widespread in Ontario than it used to be, you can get rid of weeds by applying chemicals to them.

But, as a general rule, you cannot apply chemicals to business problems.

And, as a general rule, you cannot apply money to business problems.

Money cannot find its way to the roots of business problems.

You can apply money to businesses.

However, that money does not filter its way to the roots of business problems.

So, after the money arrives the roots of the business problems are doing what weeds do to re-sprout.

Doing - things right, right things, & less things

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 05:30:00 -0500

Focus on doing the right things, not doing things right.

That’s now conventional wisdom.

Focus on the important things rather than the urgent things…‘The 80/20 Rule’ wisdom.

Here’s our take…

Combine all 3:

Do the right things
Do things right
Do less things

And, if this ‘strategy stuff’ seems foggy then remove some of the fog by starting with the simplicity of: Business Only Contains 3 Things: People, Process, & Situations.

When you want to improve the performance of your business, start by asking & answering 9 questions…

An exercise of 9 Questions

People

What does doing the right things to, for, & with People mean to us?
What does doing things right to, for, & with People mean to us?
What can each Person in our business stop doing…right now?

Process

What does doing the right Processes mean…especially, from our Clients’ shoes?
What does doing Processes right mean…especially, from our Clients’ shoes?
What are our Clients telling us we can stop doing…right now?

Situations

What right things do we need to do to create better Situations for our People?
What things do our People need to do right when they face potentially-challenging [personally challenging] Situations?
What Situations must we remove in order to allow our People to feel better?

Those 9 questions… a good start.