CMI

Being Uncomfortable

2013-06-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Patagonian adventure took me out of my comfort zone, and this concept is the essence of “getting away.” We hiked for days, doing 8- to 10-mile hikes that took between 7 and 9 hours each. This challenged my head and my body. At the beginning of the trip, I saw myself as being “in shape” and a good hiker. Yikes! It is all so relative. Given the group I was in, I was at the back of the line. Me? Brucie? I tripped. I fell. I was the last to arrive. Here, I was not the star. When I returned home, I found that I was more compassionate to my clients who are uncomfortable and challenged by the work we do together.

Learn more about CMI and our services >>

Go Live with Whales

2013-06-11T11:47:00.001-05:00

Climb Mount Rainier.

Organize an expedition to the North Pole.

Build a house for Haitian refugees living in New Orleans.

Have a big adventure.

It is not an option or a good idea. It is a must. Your physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing is critical to growing your business. The message here is that getting away—physically and mentally— is good for you and good for your business. Growing a business is not for sissies. In fact growing and developing an organization is like competing in the “Business Olympics”: it is the ultimate challenge, and it attracts the best of the best. If you understand this point and are actively getting away in your life, rock on. But, if you are not getting away, read on. You might learn a few things.

Now, by the term “getting away,” I am not talking about just a vacation. Vacations are good. I recommend them. But to achieve the experience I’m talking about, you must completely remove yourself from familiar surroundings and land in genuinely unfamiliar territory. The goal is to learn and adapt, not just rest and relax.

Three personal examples of this type of “getting away” come to mind: a trip I took to the Caribbean on a sailing yacht, a 12-day hiking trip and 10-day hiking/biking/rafting expedition through the lakes and mountains of Patagonia. These are examples of total immersion adventures.
What does not fit this category of experience is the week I spent at a resort in the American Virgin Islands for my 25th wedding anniversary or the time I spent hiking in the Cascades during summer vacation. Those were fun, relaxing, and rejuvenating experiences, but they were designed to be comfortable and real vacations.

Over the next couple weeks I will describe the value of "getting away"

Learn more about CMI and our services >>

A, B, C Quick Summary

2013-06-04T00:00:00.000-05:00

Over the past month I outlined a methodology guaranteed to drive mediocrity out of your organization, from the bottom up. Below is a quick summary.

1. Whenever you engage with this process, it is very important that you hum Michael Jackson’s “ABC” song. That really is the secret to success.

2. Introduce the process to your organization by asking managers to read the recommended articles: “ABCs” by Bruce Hodes or “A New Game Plan for C Players” by Beth Axelrod, Helen Hadfield-Jones, and Ed Michaels.

3. In a scheduled group session with your managers, rank your employees on as A, B or C.

4. Deal with any C-Players you may have. Remember the options: put them in a new role, coach them, or ethically and honorably move on to better options.

5. Treat your B-Players as resource.

6. Identify the A-Players on your team. A-Players need plans that develop and train them so they are indeed ready to be promoted; I advise incorporating A-players as full partners in developing those plans.

7. Follow up with the leadership group in two months to ensure that issues are actually being addressed.

Watch me talk about A, B, C Players at a conference >>

The Next Steps for A, B, and C Players

2013-05-28T00:00:00.000-05:00

What’s good about CMI's A, B, C system of ranking employees is that the issues are on the table, and managers can act accordingly.

A Plan for C-Players
Once an employee has been identified as a C-Player, there can be three resolutions:

1. He/She can be put into a new role, where his/her skill set might allow him/her to become a B-Player. For example, the engineering manager for a company I worked with was, at best, marginal in his position. He was moved from having direct reports into being part of the sales team. Since then, company sales grew dramatically, and new customers are better cared for. With an open mind and strong knowledge of an employee’s strengths, placing an employee in a new role can greatly improve outcomes.

2. The manager can take the employee on for development and coach him/her into becoming a B-Player. At this point, the employee understands that his/her job is on the line, and the manager clearly outlines the required behavioral changes. For the next few months, the manager coaches and supports the employee. Turnarounds can happen.

3. It might be decided that the only alternative is to move on and replace the employee. The decision then is how to proceed in an ethical and honorable manner. A question I ask is: “Does the employee know that his or her job is on the line?” Managers often hem and haw and say they “think so” or that the employee “should know.” The standard I set is higher: “Did you say to the employee that these performance issues need to be addressed and if they are not, he or she will be let go?” If the issues are not on the table with the employee, the first order of business is to put them there. Surprising an employee about performance issues is un-ethical. After an employee is aware of the gravity of the situation, the manager should have two months to resolve the issue one way or another. A time constraint is important in order to establish urgency.

Getting Clear
Sometimes a company’s leadership team designates a C-Player as a “sacred cow.” There has been a decision to tolerate the employee’s mediocrity. I have seen this phenomenon primarily with older workers who have a long-standing history with the company and who have been real contributors in the past. Now, for whatever reason—sometimes it is technical, sometimes it is age—the employee is not able to contribute at a higher level, but sacred-cow status remains. The employee may be coached, but it is understood that even if the employee remains a C-Player, he or she will retain employment with the company. In these rare cases, you do the best you can with the employee on a daily basis. The situation should be moderated and reviewed at least once a year.

Do Not Leave the B Players Alone
B-Players are incredibly valuable. They deserve training, development and rewards. Do not take them for granted or assume that they will necessarily remain B’s. Treat them as a real resource. Check in with them regarding their aspirations and what they want to accomplish. Find a way to help them grow in their role.

Take Ralph, a manufacturing manager, for example. He was a very loyal and dedicated employee that absolutely contributed to and embodied the culture. He successfully managed his seven productive direct reports. However he was not going anywhere else in the organization due to education, knowledge, and analytical skill limitations. Ralph preformed his job quite well and was appreciated for his overall contribution to the organization. Ralph was the epitome of a solid B player.

In order to enhance his role in the organization, the leadership group appointed him head of the safety committee. While others, mainly the HR manager and Vice President of Manufacturing needed to support Ralph in this role, it worked. The safety committee, under Ralph’s leadership, made real progress. The company received a safety award and other companies are emulating their approach. Ralph is quite proud of what the committee accomplished. He has also been asked to coach and be a resource for safety programs in other organizations. Ralph found this role to be an exciting use of his talents. He is a great example of how to take care of and developing your B players

Coming Up Short
Another positive feature of the A, B, and C process is that it can be used to identify A-Players. Once an A-Player is identified, the manager should consider creating a training and development program to be laid out in a subsequent meeting with this employee. On the other hand, if the ABC process reveals an absence of A-Players, that issue must be addressed as well. A common solution is to start intentionally hiring only potential A-Players and thus developing some real managerial growth potential within the company.

Defining the Players

2013-05-21T00:00:00.000-05:00

The following is what I mean by A, B, or C Players

What were you thinking?
If you are a CEO or manager with direct reports who would come up with D’s and F’s in a school grading system, I cannot help you. Tolerating employees of this quality in your company, does not allow you to respond appropriately to—let alone thriving in our current business environment. These low-grade employees (and the managers who tolerate them) are impacting the rest of your organization. Not only do low-grade employees drag down the company, but they also negatively impact on your great and superstar employees.

In short, if you have more than a few D and F employees, sell the firm and do something to save yourself. Your prognosis (and that of your company) is—at the very best—grim. In the next minute, you will be falling off a high cliff. Good luck and start to pray!

Out with Mediocrity
From now on, I’ll refer to mediocre employees as “C- Players.” These employees are marginal in their performance and unremarkable in any positive attribute they bring to the workplace. They exist, take up space, and just get their jobs done, sort of.

A test for “C-ness” is putting yourself in this scenario: if one of these employees came up to you and said they were quitting, would you be relieved? Would your relief be because you’re certain you could do better by recruiting a new employee from the open marketplace? If so, you have a classic C-Player on your hands. Know anyone like this? Grab a piece of paper and make a list of those people. You will need it later on.

I’ve heard C-Players defined as employees who have bad attitudes and cannot collaborate; employees who do not have the skill sets needed to develop and execute what the job requires; and employees who do the same thing day after day and year after year. Again, Mr. or Mrs. Manager, you know you have mediocrity around you when you envision a particular employee leaving and can’t imagine feeling anything but thrilled.

In my work, I have seen companies where no one was average. Mediocrity was simply not tolerated, and because these companies set higher standards, they achieved better results in the marketplace.

Most Valuable Players
“B-Players” are great employees, real keepers, and absolutely worth their weight in gold. They are in alignment with the organization’s mission and values. As corporate citizens, they care deeply about their internal and external operations. They are probably not being promoted, but that is fine because they are doing great right where they are.

“A-Players” have all the attributes of B-Players. They also have the talent, desire, and ability to be promotable. They are interested in professional growth and development. These players, with development, could be moved to leadership either within or outside their current departments.

Warning! Pitfall
A pitfall I’ve often seen with classifying employees in this way is that managers want shades of gray. They want to rate employees as C+ or B-. They want to make excuses and dance around the issue. It is important that they stick to the A, B, and C buckets. In this process, there are no minuses or pluses allowed. Do not permit gray. Managers need to make choices and deal with the consequences. Employees are either making it as credible A- or B-Players or not. Managers need to be responsible for whom they are allowing to play in their sandbox; there are no “maybes” on the invitation.

Open Assessments

2013-05-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

The “ABC” process I’m going to tell you about is designed to give your company both a people and a performance edge.

During my clients’ strategic planning meetings, I have each manager stand in front of the room. The managers are then asked to rank—one at a time—their direct reports as an A, B, or C-Player. Now, the group has to be mature, sophisticated and responsible enough for this type of activity. I ask managers to read several articles about the process in advance, so everyone already understands the process. Once the manager ranks employees and explained his/her rational, others at the table can give their views. Only those who have real work-related experience with that person state their rankings and justification.

I’ve seen very positive results from the dialogue that managers hold with the leadership team about key employees. Managers realize how others perceive their direct reports. Below the surface issues are brought to light. The team can then design actions to deal with those issues.

Another disclaimer: this exercise is not about hearsay and gossip. Participants must have adult sophistication. For example, absolute confidentiality is a must. What goes on in the meeting room stays in the meeting room; all participants need to understand and honor this. To take the discussion out of context and share with anyone outside of the room is a fire-able offense.
Next week I'll define what each type of player is.

ABC's Oh Baby Now

2013-05-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

A lot of factors impact the long-term success of a business entity, and achieving success is complex. As businesspeople, we cannot control the economy, our competition, taxes, healthcare plans, or national events. However, I think we can agree that the quality of employees within an organization directly affects that organization’s performance. Even with unions, executives and managers do ultimately control who works in the company. Leveraging the “people piece” is essential to enhance a company’s performance advantage. People are one of your most important business assets. By calling people “assets,” I do not mean to objectify them—but maximizing resources is one of the responsibilities of business leadership. The “ABC” process I’m going to tell you about is designed to give your company both a people and a performance edge.

An article called “A New Game Plan for C Players,” by Beth Axelrod, Helen Hadfield-Jones, and Ed Michaels, helped crystallize my ideas about working with management teams. The article also reinforced solutions that I am successfully implementing with my clients—namely, improving companies by driving out mediocrity. By raising the bottom of a company, you automatically raise the top.

Before we go on, let me make a disclaimer. Management’s ranking of employees is controversial. Forced ranking is something that many large, publicly traded companies do. I am not endorsing this methodology or that of Jack Welch, who supposedly advocates culling the bottom 10 percent of the GE herd each year. What I am endorsing, and heartily proposing, is that you only have truly outstanding and incredible employees in your company. Now there is a radical thought. If you have this attitude, then process I outline in my next couple posts will be of significant value.

Making Green From Green

2013-04-30T00:00:00.000-05:00

You look good in green

I strongly encourage your organization to adopt a direction towards sustainability. This is not a political statement but one that reflects the reality of the times. Of course, there needs to be authenticity. Just saying you are sustainable by your attempts to recycle is not sufficient. If there is not sincerity in the actions your company takes, customers will see this for what it is: an attempt to take advantage of the latest fad. By the same token, you do not need to be perfect. This is a new direction for mainstream businesses, and there will be mistakes and false starts. The payoff for attempting to create a net zero environmental impact is worth it.

For example, a client of ours recently installed solar panels on its roof. The electricity generated will not be much—maybe enough to power their offices. They are in the Midwest, after all, which is known for long overcast winters. These solar panels, however, look impressive and have great buzz value. Supporting the solar industry also creates a feel-good value for the company. Five years ago, solar panels were not recommended for Chicago, but now, after dramatic improvements in price and function, they make sense. The panels will pay themselves off in ten years.

Make this year your “green” year. Consider your options in manufacturing, packaging, and recycling products. Think about the savings you can achieve from a green facility. Research government grants and funding available for sustainability initiatives. Look to see where, by cutting costs and differentiating your products, you can make green from green. When your customers see the value that your environmental actions have for them and their world, they will embrace your company with new vigor.

Green on! Let us know what you've done.

Making Green From Green

2013-04-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

The field is yours to take

Two of our clients have earned the position of being the environmental leaders of their industries. They were not particularly looking for this distinction; it was thrust upon them by the inertia of their industry and competition. It helped that they were proactive and up to date with the best environmental practices.

When one of these clients, an asphalt contracting company, modernized its existing facility, the organization paved the parking lot with water permeable asphalt. Because water runs through the pavement, there is no need for drainage, sewers, or a retention pond. With permeable asphalt no additional land is needed for runoff and drainage from the parking lot. Additionally, the company does not need to deal with pollutants that collect in retention pond water. Adding permeable asphalt was only one of the changes that contributed to the company becoming certified by LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

Now, if you only consider what it costs to pave the parking lot with water permeable asphalt, in the short term it’s more expensive to pave with this material. However, when you factor in that you no longer have to build a retention pond and incorporate a complicated drainage system, paving this way is less expensive in the long run. In addition, the project comes without the environmental damage and complications that come from building a retention pond and other supportive drainage.

Additionally, this asphalt company has given numerous presentations to the Illinois Tollway Authority and recently won a project because of its knowledge and expertise on permeable and green asphalt mixes.

Will municipalities and counties follow the same lead? Is state and federal spending friendly to this kind of thought? The answer to these questions is yes. It is no longer a question of “if.” It is now simply a question of when. The concept of making green from green is coming into its own.

Another client of mine that embraces sustainability provides commercial and industrial laundry services. The company modernized its facility in the middle of Chicago’s west side. This state-of-the-art facility uses recycled water in its cleaning process. Heat from the washers is captured and used to clean clothes, and non-polluting chemicals are used by the electrically efficient washers. The benefits included saving 50,000 therms of natural gas, 5.5 million gallons of water, 3,000 gallons of chemicals and lower operating costs. This plant is an example of a green solution.

The new plant gives the organization environmental leadership status. Lots of prospective customers have been on plant tours, and its positive environmental impact on Chicago has been a selling point. In fact, an entire marketing campaign highlights this sustainable direction. These efforts have improved customer relationships and contribute to the bottom line.

Making Green from Green

2013-04-16T00:00:00.000-05:00

In honor of Earth Day on April 22, this month's blog posts will be centered on how to make your business more environmentally friendly. Let’s start this article with a disclaimer: I do not consider myself an expert in business sustainability. However, I probably know enough to be dangerous.

In my view, sustainability means your business is conducted in such a way that it can exist without being environmentally destructive. At the very least, environmental neutrality is what your company wants to achieve. An even better aspiration is to positively impact the environment.

There are dozens, hundreds of ideas, large and small, that organizations can implement to positively impact the environment. Additionally, your company can make money as you create a green reason for customers to buy from your organization. When real dollars can be made from environmentalism, then environmentalism is good for you and good for business. This epitomizes “making green from green.”

Let's Take the Family Out of Business

2013-04-09T14:18:00.000-05:00

Rules for relatives

Business Leaders and Executives will slow and potentially destroy the growth and development of their companies if they have lower standards or different rules for family members than they have for their other employees. If you have family members in your business, and you truly love and support them, do the following:

1. Set the highest possible standards for family member behavior. Make sure they know their responsibility is to exemplify the company values beyond what any other employee does. Make it clear to family members that because they are family, more will be expected from them. For family members to remain at the company, they will be expected to work harder and longer hours.

2. Only place family members in roles where it is obvious they have the essential abilities and talent to excel and bring real results to the company.

3. Actively encourage family members not to work at the company; if they decide to do so, reinforce that it is a choice they are making.

4. If you have any unresolved issues with your siblings, cousins, children, spouse, etc., and you hope to figure them out by working together, forget about it. Go see a therapist and leave the business completely out of the equation.

Taking the “family” out of “family business” is a rich topic. Not managing family relationships in a business can have disastrous results, not just for the business but also—especially—for the family. In my view, the destruction of family relationships is tragic. Use the principles within this article to stay within the light to promote family and business harmony and growth.

Let us know what you think. Click here or leave your comments below.

Let's Take the Family Out of Business

2013-04-02T14:06:00.000-05:00

Why you may not be the best choice

Often the best move for family business owners is to replace themselves as president. They need to bring in someone else with more leadership skills, ability, and talent who can build and develop their biggest, most important asset: the company. Family membership is not a necessary qualification.

Johnny is a case in point. For years, he complained of the burden of running the $250 million company that he had grown from scratch with his dad. He did not like having to teach and support everybody. Finally, he made Laura—his operations VP and a very talented woman who was not a family member—the president. She proceeded to work with the company’s great leadership group and grow the organization despite a poor economy. The company achieved all their financial targets and opened a new plant.

Johnny is still chairman of the board and is semi-retired. “I exercise and do a lot of fishing,” he recently told me. “I like the Green River, but sometimes I go fishing in Colorado.” I spent several days with him on a trip overseas and had never seen him so relaxed and emotionally available; all because he recognized he was not the right person for the job and replaced himself in the role.

For more information about family business coaching click here.

Let's Take the Family out of Business

2013-03-26T02:00:00.000-05:00

Choosing your work

Whenever possible, parents owe their children food, shelter, love, medical care, education, guidance, and coaching to become independent adults. However, they do not owe their children a job. Families and businesses have distinct and very different dynamics. When these different systems compete with each other, prepare for catastrophe.

Ernest, the chairman of the board for a manufacturing company, died. He left a series of directives in his will dictating how the company should be run: one son would be CEO and one daughter would be senior vice president of manufacturing. However the directives were not fulfilled. Instead, elderly Mom, who historically had little to do with the business, was now the majority owner and the one in charge.

Mom as business owner turned into a disaster. She made wrong business decisions in a changing environment and put the company at financial risk. Meanwhile, the son and daughter did not get control or ownership of the company they have spent their lives building. Turning this company around would be a lot easier if it were not so encumbered with family issues. The point is the leadership in your company should be based on talent and ability. If it turns out that family members actually qualify, consider it a dividend and karmic reward.

For more information about family business coaching click here.

Let's Take the Family Out of Business

2013-03-19T14:02:00.000-05:00

My mother the boss

In another situation, the CEO and her daughter, Sally, both lived and worked together. Sally was making $40,000 a year and complaining about not making enough. The CEO—or simply “Mom”—was trying to find something for the 25-year-old marketing major to do. The CEO admitted that if her daughter were just an employee and not a family member she would let her move on.

“She should look for another job,” the CEO told me. “If I change her from hourly to salary, she would not work forty hours. What do I do with this kid?”

The CEO was in pain because she was operating from a “mothering” state and applying it to business. Mothers do not fire their youngest daughters. It can’t be done—though it is, however, acceptable for moms to complain about their daughters’ behavior

Looking at situations like this as a parent is difficult. The little darling, also known as “your baby,” is born with limitations and gifts. You have the rest of your lifetime to deal with those, and deal you must; connected by birth, blood, and genetics, you are family. As a parent, your only choice is dealing with the child you have.

But if this woman put on her “CEO hat” and looked at the situation from that point of view, a pathway would open up. As CEO, the decision about who belongs in the company is of primary concern. In Good to Great, Jim Collins says it’s all about the right person being on the right seat of the bus. In other words, it is essential that you have the right people doing the right stuff. If CEOs do this, Collins says, their companies will invariably win. In this case, the CEO needed to honestly evaluate whether Sally was a fit for the company without considering that Sally is her daughter.

For more information about family business coaching click here.

Let's Take the Family Out of Business

2013-03-12T02:00:00.000-05:00

Pretending in order to please you

Often, children join a company because they feel they owe it to a CEO parent to carry on the family tradition—despite having little talent, passion, or ability to succeed in the business. The children spend their time attempting to hide this. Meanwhile, other employees go along with the pretense to protect their own jobs. You can imagine the problems that arise from this scenario. Here is an example.

Roberto was an artist. All he really wanted to do was paint, be with his young son, and sell his artwork. Unfortunately, he inherited a failing company, which was co-owned by another family. Roberto became the head of marketing and web design, though he had little experience or education in either. His staff—both experienced and talented—did their best to cover for Roberto, fearing their jobs would be at stake if Roberto did not succeed. The staffs’ attempts at covering for Roberto only accomplished one thing: making the whole company look bad. Brochures were sent out with the wrong pricing. Total sales decreased. Employee morale and productivity suffered. The company continued to limp along, barely surviving. This is a situation in which a business directly suffered from everyone’s good intentions.

For more information about family business coaching click here.

Let's Take the Family Out of Business

2013-03-05T02:30:00.000-06:00

The head of the pack

Family members can lead businesses successfully. Take the case of Ralph and Samantha, a brother and sister team who are successfully running and growing their commercial laundry service. They are second-generation owners who grew up working at the business their parents started. They drove trucks, brought in clean uniforms, and took out used ones. They filled washers and hung pants. They answered phones. They have been cussed at and complimented and, in the process, have mastered both operations and customer service.

Both Ralph and Samantha are capable businesspeople who learned their industry from the ground up. They also gained experience outside of their industry and applied their experiences to their family firm. Ralph has an MBA from Harvard and worked as a financial analyst. Samantha has a Master’s in education and taught special education in the public school system. Their ability to lead and develop their family business is obvious. If they were not top executives and owners of their company, they would be CEOs and executives of someone else’s company.

For more information about Family Business Coaching click here.

Context is Decisive

2013-03-04T10:28:00.005-06:00

I was on a trip, surrounded by water. I slept in a room that was one sixth the size of my room at the Hampton. There was not even room for storage so my suitcase and I shared my bed. From our sleeping quarters, we had to go up ladders and then down ladders and that just got us to the dining room for meals! I also had to share a very, very small bathroom shower with no sink with seven other people. For all of this we paid several hundred dollars a day – sounds horrible – right?

Well horribleness depends on the context because context is critical. Context is the background conversation which surrounds circumstances and gives the circumstances meaning.

What was the context here? I took a cruise in the Caribbean with my 87 year old dad. We did something that he loves, sailing. I had the best time ever; it was a great experience. My dad and I went on an adventure together – and given his age – that was so very precious.

What is the context of your day’s activities? Are you surviving and going through the day or are you up to something? What is the meaning your work activities? The down side of being a human is that we create meaning automatically, without any conscious thought, just through reaction. However, the magic of being human is that we CAN create meaning consciously for the activities in our lives. Our activities can have meaning that lights us up and excites us. We do not have to settle for our automatic ways. We can ascribe meaning to circumstances.

Victor Frankl made being in concentration camps meaningful. In his book Man’s Search of Meaning. Frankl described his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp and seeing his wife and relatives killed. During a grueling and cruel march Frankl realized that love was the ultimate human expression. After he was liberated Frankl dedicated the rest of his life to establishing a psychotherapy school and working with people to find true supportive meaning out of disparate circumstances.

Nelson Mandela used his time in jail to support bringing down the South African Apartheid. While there, he established a university in prison that helped train leaders in the freedom movement. After eighteen years in prison he was offered his Freedom if he left South Africa and renounced the movement. He refused to leave because his imprisonment was making a difference both nationally.

While these examples are about extraordinary people, their ability to bring meaning to circumstances is something all of us can do. We do not call ourselves “beings” for nothing.

With these as examples imagine what you can do with your everyday circumstances and actions. What meaning for your work and your organization can you create? Then take action consistent with the meaning you create. Let us know what meaning you are bringing to your work life and organization. We look forward to hearing about it.

Let's Take the Family Out of Business

2013-02-26T02:00:00.000-06:00

Consider this question: if you were chartering a private plane, would you rather it was flown by a competent pilot or by a member of the business owner’s family? In this scenario, who really cares about family affiliations? You most likely want the best person for the job of getting you in one piece from Point A to Point B.

By thinking about this question, you are beginning to grapple with the issue of families in business. If you have family members in your company, you need to proceed with caution; along with potential benefits, there are clear pitfalls the savvy business owner and executive should guard against.

What do owners and CEOs want?

Business owners and CEOs want their companies to be run in the best possible way. The next question is: who can best provide this direction for their organization? Could the best candidate be a member of family? After all, these employees may have grown up in the business and been schooled by the founder. They may be steeped in specialized knowledge, fit into the company culture, and understand the company’s winning formula. They could know and love the business and its customers. It is possible that a family member really is the best candidate. Over the following weeks I will cover stories from four different family business and offer advice to family business owners.

Great Service: A Bottle of Water at The Right Time

2013-02-19T02:00:00.000-06:00

Fifteen years ago, I experienced the pinnacle of great customer service. On a hot August day, after running for hours in Central Park, I entered my hotel really sweaty. As I walked in, gasping, the doorman at my hotel offered me cold water and a towel. I was taken back, taken in and delighted by the service. For years, during presentations, I have used this story as an example of great customer service. It totally delighted me the customer and it was cheap. You have got love that.

This year, the day after Thanksgiving, I was in California at a resort. It was 80 degrees. I went out running and as I left the entrance I was offered water. No biggy you are offered water a lot these days. So off I went. As I was jogging back, panting my way up a hill, a resort van driving down the hill approached me. The van stopped right by me, the driver leaned out and said, “Hey you! Want a bottle of water?” I was impressed. I got the feeling that at this resort vans always carry water and that I was not the first jogger to be offered it. Offering water to runners had reached to a whole new level.

These stories exemplify a basic tenant of customer service; it never stays static and can always improve. Remember how continental breakfasts at the Hampton were at best comprised of some hard rolls? Now free breakfast at the Hampton is at least two hot entrées, an assortment of bread, bagels, cereal, fresh fruit and more. In addition now Hamptons are offering breakfast to go pre-packed in bags at the front desk. What will they come up with next? I see more and more dogs in hotels; I think hot breakfasts for the dogs are next on the service frontier. There could also be a canine turndown service - now there is a visual!

Recently, I also noticed that after checking in at swanky hotels, the clerks come around in front of the desk, greet you and give you your key card in a very personable way. Apparently this was adopted from Nordstrom’s. In my fantasy the next step for this customer service strategy is that the receptionist will cry tears of joy as they come around from behind the counter, hug you and welcome you to your hotel. I can hardly wait……..

So as I said service does not say static. Great service is appreciated and makes customers loyal. What can you do to add value to your service proposition? Remember these service innovations do not have to be costly. Heck great service can be just a bottle of water – timing is everything.
For more information about developing great customer service, click here.

Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing

2013-02-12T02:30:00.000-06:00

Rule Number Seven

Rule number siete is by far the coolest. This reglo says: It is critical that the team show discipline and do the work. Remember the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.” It is important that the leadership team does complete work. In this endeavor, it is better to do less with better quality than to do a lot with mediocrity.

Some companies have a heck of a time getting out of the firefighting mode. Others never do get out of that stage.

Sometimes members of the leadership team are addicted to firefighting. They are addicted to the way things are and not to dreaming up ways the company could improve. To participate in a good breakthrough planning/guessing process, the planning team must commit time to this endeavor. Real thinking and dialogue must exist.

Once you have created the plan, you need to make sure it is acted upon. Monthly meetings of one to three hours and spending time on objectives and action plans will ensure focus. Then, once a quarter, the planning team should meet offsite, preferably with a coaching resource like yours truly. (Bonus points if the coach is bald-headed. It makes the coach smarter and buffer—really.) At the session, the group will look at what happened in the quarter and then focus on what needs to happen in the next quarter. This will keep everyone aligned on what needs to take place to push the company forward.

Well, there you have it: seven rules that will support you in establishing a successful planning process. Put another way, it is the plan to producing and implementing good strategic planning/guessing. Using these rules will help you create a bright business future—and when you get there, let everyone know that the Brucie sent you.

This series of blog posts are excerpts from the chapter “Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing” from Bruce Hodes first book Front Line Heroes: Battling the Business Tsunami While Developing Performance Oriented Cultures.

Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing

2013-02-05T02:30:00.000-06:00

Rule Number Six

El fantastic numero seis is that the planning group must be able to actually work and create together. This has to be much more than “plays well in the sandbox” kind of behavior. The planning group needs to be creative, productive, and able to move quickly to implement change. They have to be collaborators, problem solvers, and change agents within their organization.

A company with a high-performance planning/guessing team has many advantages over its competition. One of my clients has grown remarkably in these past, very challenging, business conditions. This company experienced growth of 60 percent in spite of changing marketplaces and customers. Members of the high-performance leadership planning team at this company trust each other. People can speak their minds, and communication is taken as straight communication about the business, rather than as personal commentary. This type of focus gives the leadership team a great advantage when competing against other business leadership teams that are rife with gossip, mistrust, and miscommunication.

For more information about creating the optimal planning team click here

Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing

2013-01-29T02:30:00.000-06:00

Rule Number Five

The incredible rule number five is that you must face the brutal facts confronting your company. This is a command, if you will, given to us by Jim Collins in Good to Great. It means honestly facing the issues that challenge your organization, determining solutions, and implementing them in an intelligent way.

Your planning team can do this by defining critical issues facing the growth of the company both now and in the future. Let’s say you’re a training company that utilizes technology. Some of the questions you ask your planning team might be:

How is the organization going to transition from our old CD-ROM technology to the new “streaming” technology? How are we going to fund this transition?
What new products are we bringing out in the next year?
How are we going to grow 20 percent per year for the next three years?
What improvements do we need to make for us to reduce costs by 10 percent?

Typically, these types of critical issues are addressed by writing a white paper.

“What is that?” you ask.

“Good question!” I respond.

A white paper is a three- to five-page paper that addresses the critical issue. Sometimes a white paper will take on a number of critical issues that are similar in nature. For instance, the white paper “What is Our 2012 Sales and Marketing Plan?” might address the issues of (a) what new products are being introduced next year and (b) how to grow by 20 percent. However, it would not explore the question of what improvements need to be made in the plant to reduce costs by 10 percent. This issue would need a white paper of its own.

White papers are written between planning sessions by the members of the leadership group who are best suited to address the problem. This group can also include members outside the planning team who have useful knowledge to contribute.

The paper outlines research and analysis for the issues and provides the “answer” submitted by the smaller group to the entire planning team. The entire planning team will read the paper prior to the second session; everyone is invited to bring feedback, questions, and concerns. In the second session, the critical issues are dealt with and problem solving can occur.

For more information about writing white papers click here.

Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing

2013-01-22T02:30:00.000-06:00

Rule Number Four

By far, my favorite rule is el grandote numero quatro: start big by creating a vision of the future of the company. It is important that the breakthrough guessing/planning process allows for dreaming and looking at what is the organization needs for a bright future. This is critical. When you have a vision, you are creating a future for the company that employees can then fulfill.

Typically, I do this by asking the group to envision three to five years into the future and record their thoughts on a flip chart. I ask the following questions to arrive at a future vision. If you were already standing three to five years in the future, what would the world look like? What are the important trends affecting your industry at that point?

Once a futuristic scenario is developed, the group should look at what it would like the organization’s image to be in this future. What are customers saying about the organization? Why are customers loyal four years from today? What goods, services, and new products have been brought forth? How much revenue will the organization bring in, and how many employees will it have?

This part of planning can be used to run growth scenarios. Have at least one for aggressive, medium, sluggish, and no growth. Play with the numbers and have some fun with what could be. The planning team should get familiar with the possible territories and futures that could be facing the organization.

For more information about creating a company vision click here.

Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing

2013-01-15T02:30:00.000-06:00

Rule Number Three

For the third amazing rule, it is important that you complete the previous year. A powerful completion process will allow you to put that year behind you as you welcome a new one. It’s important for the organization to distinguish the previous year and discuss what occurred during that time, good and bad.

At the very first session of the planning process, the past goes into the past. When I coach these sessions, the group lists the previous year’s information on flip charts. The past is broken down into a number of categories, such as BREAKDOWNS FOR THE YEAR, BREAKTHROUGHS, FIASCOS, DISAPPOINTMENTS, ACCOMPLISHMENTS, and the like.

One of the great aspects of this exercise is that the executives and key employees of the organization get to review all the work that was accomplished during the past 12 months. What aspects of this year are we taking into the next? What aspects are we leaving behind? It’s all included in the meeting minutes and brings completion to the year. One season completes and the next opens up. Excuse me while I get a little weepy. This exercise is worthwhile and useful; everyone is now ready to invent the organization’s future.

For more information about CMI's strategic planning process click here

Seven Rules of Strategic Guessing

2013-01-08T16:16:00.000-06:00

Rule Number Two

The second golden rule of planning is to make sure the design of the planning is one that will yield a good result. I am not a believer in leadership teams locking themselves in a room at a resort for two or three days. This type of planning may be sprinkled with some golfing, gambling, or other “fun stuff.” From this design, a strategic plan is supposedly born and created.

The problem with this design is that it curtails critical thinking. This process begins to smell of Plan-In-Binder Syndrome, which is exactly what it sounds like: the leadership group ends up developing a “plan” that then ends up securely contained in a nice plastic binder that is then lost and forgotten. These binders tend to become nestled in the executive bookcases. After the year begins and the fires start raging, no one looks at the plan. Poke me in the eye with a hot stick; Plan-In-Binder Syndrome is such a waste of time and resources. In addition, if you do all your planning during one session, you risk just doing more of what you are currently doing. There is no opportunity for research or involving other employees within the organization who are not at the planning session. I find that these plans run the risk of superficiality and being UN-implementable. Is that a word?

Here is what to do. The process should take place over two to three months and take three to four days. It is predicated on white papers and dialogue. Listening and understanding are critical. Better research ensures better debate and thinking. “What is a white paper?” you ask hysterically. “Hang tough,” I say. That is covered in rule five.

For more information on designing your strategic planning process click here.