Today, I am going to tell you how to set and accomplish all of your goals in 3.5 easy steps (this works great for businesses, teams or individuals).

1 – Make your goals SMART

 S – Specific – Each goal should answer what, why, who and when. For example, let’s say you want to increase sales from the current the 2012 level of $2 million to $3M in 2013. Your goal should read something like this: “Increase Acme’s sales revenue to $3 million in 2013.”

 M – Measurable – You do not want any confusion when you are setting the direction of your organization. Refer back to our example goal of $3M of revenue in 2013. Is the goal to collect $3M in 2013, to make $3M of sales or to raise sales to an annualized $3M before the end of 2013? Each of these goals is very different. Make sure everyone in your organization understands and agrees to how the goal will be measured.

 A – Attainable – Perhaps the most important aspect of any organizational goal. Stretch goals pull an organization in the direction it should go. They drive innovation because you can’t keep doing what you have been doing to reach the goal. But, goals that are so big that the organization cannot create an achievable plan to reach them are not motivating and can in fact be demoralizing to your team. Make sure that you and your team believe in and have a plan to reach your most audacious goals.

 R – Responsible Person – If one person is not responsible for achieving the goal, no one is. Don’t get me wrong, being the responsible party does not mean you must reach the goal on your own. It simply means that you are responsible for pulling together the team to reach the goal. The buck stops with you!

 T – Time Specific – Due dates drive your most important goals to the top of everyone’s to do lists. Goals without a time specific plan to achieve them are simply dreams.

2 – Only set 1 or 2 key goals

Research has proven that once an individual or an organization sets more than 1 or 2 goals, the likelihood of accomplishing any of your goals greatly decreases. I can hear you now. We need to accomplish fifteen things this year, not one or two! I’m not telling you that you cannot set more than a couple goals. Just know what your number 1 goal is and make sure everyone on your team knows that accomplishing that goal supersedes all other goals.

Your number 1 goal should be the next most important step you can take towards executing your strategy. You can move on to your other goals once you accomplish your number 1.

3 – Break down your goal

The only way to have the slightest chance of achieving your long term goals is breaking them down into measurable, short term goals. Refocus your team at your daily, weekly and monthly goal sessions. If you are not on track to reach your goal, make adjustments early. Missteps and adjustments are normal. Expect them, look for them and make the needed changes.

3.5 – Never, Never, Never Give Up!

If it was easy everyone would do it. Expect little failures on your way to success. Dust yourself off, change your tactics if necessary, but never, ever give up just because accomplishing your goal is not easy.

Follow these easy, 3.5 steps and you and your organization will accomplish your biggest, most important goals.

What has gotten in the way of you accomplishing your goals in the past? Leave a comment and let us know how you overcame the obstacle.

Want to see how you are doing? Take our quick quiz to find out!

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/28430474@N05/6156635313/ 

The post Achieve Your Goals in 3.5 Steps appeared first on Fowler & Company.

Asking the right questions will keep your team focused on the right goals and dramatically increase how quickly your business can reach its primary objectives.

What questions do you ask first when you get into the office? Do your questions reflect the values and purpose that your business was founded on? How often do you ask about people versus profits? Remember that business is all about the people and the people, if treated right, produce the profits.

Below are the five questions that will drive your growth strategy (if you take the time to ask them):

1. How are you?

Seems simple and it is. Tons of people ask the question, but few actually care to hear the response. Be different. Ask the question and shut up. Listen to the response and if there is a need you can meet, do it. Your people must first know that you care about them before they can be fully engaged in the company’s goals.

2. What is our organizations’ number 1 goal?

Leaders and organizations are constantly diverted from their primary goals by the urgent tasks of the day. Too many goals divert attention from the most important goal. Everyone in your organization should know the answer to this question without thinking. If they don’t, what are you doing to fix that problem?

3. What are you doing to get us closer to our number 1 goal?

Most employees find it very difficult to connect their day to day tasks towards the grander goals of the entire organization. As a leader, this is your job. Make sure that every single person in your organization (and your suppliers and shareholders) knows how they can support the accomplishment of your primary goal.

4. What is our progress?

Weekly, if not daily, updates from your team on their progress toward the primary goals of the organization keeps everyone focused on the right things. Make “micro-meetings” a habit in your organization to keep your team motivated, focused and feeling appreciated.

5. How can I help?

After setting and recasting the vision, the leader’s primary responsibility is to support those that are actually doing the hard work. Always be asking what you can do to help them be more effective. Don’t be afraid to ask this question because you know you don’t have the time to pick up the slack for someone else. There is most likely some way for you to help that will take very little of your time. As a leader, the productivity and effectiveness of your people should be your primary concern.

Take a moment to write down your own version of the above questions. Make a checklist and put it on a card in your wallet or as a note in your smart phone. Become aware of the questions you are asking and create the habit of asking the right questions.

You will be amazed at the growth you’ll see.

What other questions do you feel leaders should be asking? Join the conversation at our blog and let us know.

 Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogil/  

The post 5 Questions That Deliver Growth appeared first on Fowler & Company.

For detailed instructions on how to use the plan sign up for our “7 Steps to Dynamic Growth” eCourse!

The post The One Page Strategic Plan appeared first on Fowler & Company.

Today, I am going to tell you how to set and accomplish all of your goals in 3.5 easy steps (this works great for businesses, teams or individuals).

1 – Make your goals SMART

 S – Specific – Each goal should answer what, why, who and when. For example, let’s say you want to increase sales from the current the 2012 level of $2 million to $3M in 2013. Your goal should read something like this: “Increase Acme’s sales revenue to $3 million in 2013.”

 M – Measurable – You do not want any confusion when you are setting the direction of your organization. Refer back to our example goal of $3M of revenue in 2013. Is the goal to collect $3M in 2013, to make $3M of sales or to raise sales to an annualized $3M before the end of 2013? Each of these goals is very different. Make sure everyone in your organization understands and agrees to how the goal will be measured.

 A – Attainable – Perhaps the most important aspect of any organizational goal. Stretch goals pull an organization in the direction it should go. They drive innovation because you can’t keep doing what you have been doing to reach the goal. But, goals that are so big that the organization cannot create an achievable plan to reach them are not motivating and can in fact be demoralizing to your team. Make sure that you and your team believe in and have a plan to reach your most audacious goals.

 R – Responsible Person – If one person is not responsible for achieving the goal, no one is. Don’t get me wrong, being the responsible party does not mean you must reach the goal on your own. It simply means that you are responsible for pulling together the team to reach the goal. The buck stops with you!

 T – Time Specific – Due dates drive your most important goals to the top of everyone’s to do lists. Goals without a time specific plan to achieve them are simply dreams.

2 – Only set 1 or 2 key goals

Research has proven that once an individual or an organization sets more than 1 or 2 goals, the likelihood of accomplishing any of your goals greatly decreases. I can hear you now. We need to accomplish fifteen things this year, not one or two! I’m not telling you that you cannot set more than a couple goals. Just know what your number 1 goal is and make sure everyone on your team knows that accomplishing that goal supersedes all other goals.

Your number 1 goal should be the next most important step you can take towards executing your strategy. You can move on to your other goals once you accomplish your number 1.

3 – Break down your goal

The only way to have the slightest chance of achieving your long term goals is breaking them down into measurable, short term goals. Refocus your team at your daily, weekly and monthly goal sessions. If you are not on track to reach your goal, make adjustments early. Missteps and adjustments are normal. Expect them, look for them and make the needed changes.

3.5 – Never, Never, Never Give Up!

If it was easy everyone would do it. Expect little failures on your way to success. Dust yourself off, change your tactics if necessary, but never, ever give up just because accomplishing your goal is not easy.

Follow these easy, 3.5 steps and you and your organization will accomplish your biggest, most important goals.

What has gotten in the way of you accomplishing your goals in the past? Leave a comment and let us know how you overcame the obstacle.

Want to see how you are doing? Take our quick quiz to find out!

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/28430474@N05/6156635313/ 

The post Achieve Your Goals in 3.5 Steps appeared first on Fowler & Company.

Asking the right questions will keep your team focused on the right goals and dramatically increase how quickly your business can reach its primary objectives.

What questions do you ask first when you get into the office? Do your questions reflect the values and purpose that your business was founded on? How often do you ask about people versus profits? Remember that business is all about the people and the people, if treated right, produce the profits.

Below are the five questions that will drive your growth strategy (if you take the time to ask them):

1. How are you?

Seems simple and it is. Tons of people ask the question, but few actually care to hear the response. Be different. Ask the question and shut up. Listen to the response and if there is a need you can meet, do it. Your people must first know that you care about them before they can be fully engaged in the company’s goals.

2. What is our organizations’ number 1 goal?

Leaders and organizations are constantly diverted from their primary goals by the urgent tasks of the day. Too many goals divert attention from the most important goal. Everyone in your organization should know the answer to this question without thinking. If they don’t, what are you doing to fix that problem?

3. What are you doing to get us closer to our number 1 goal?

Most employees find it very difficult to connect their day to day tasks towards the grander goals of the entire organization. As a leader, this is your job. Make sure that every single person in your organization (and your suppliers and shareholders) knows how they can support the accomplishment of your primary goal.

4. What is our progress?

Weekly, if not daily, updates from your team on their progress toward the primary goals of the organization keeps everyone focused on the right things. Make “micro-meetings” a habit in your organization to keep your team motivated, focused and feeling appreciated.

5. How can I help?

After setting and recasting the vision, the leader’s primary responsibility is to support those that are actually doing the hard work. Always be asking what you can do to help them be more effective. Don’t be afraid to ask this question because you know you don’t have the time to pick up the slack for someone else. There is most likely some way for you to help that will take very little of your time. As a leader, the productivity and effectiveness of your people should be your primary concern.

Take a moment to write down your own version of the above questions. Make a checklist and put it on a card in your wallet or as a note in your smart phone. Become aware of the questions you are asking and create the habit of asking the right questions.

You will be amazed at the growth you’ll see.

What other questions do you feel leaders should be asking? Join the conversation at our blog and let us know.

 Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogil/  

The post 5 Questions That Deliver Growth appeared first on Fowler & Company.

Let’s say you are in the enviable position of leading a growing enterprise. Step back and take a critical look at the growth. What is causing it? Are you a young company that is spreading its wings into new products or territories? Is your market growing and your business is rising on the tide with all the other boats? The problem with these methods of growth is that the music will stop. You’ll reach the geographic ends for your business or your market will take a downturn. When these things happen, only true, organizational growth will help you out-compete your rivals.

There are only three methods to achieve true organizational growth:

1. Your product or service is improving. The only way to know this is by asking your customers on a regular basis about their impression of your product or service. Are you and your team actually providing a better product or service to your core customers? If you are not asking the question, you are missing out on a huge growth opportunity.

2. Your customers are doing more business with you. In other words, you are gaining a larger share of your customers’ wallet. This is very good news and can only be occurring if you are getting better or your competition is getting worse. Make sure it is the former if you want to survive the tough times ahead (You know tough times are coming, right? They always do.)

3. Your customers are recommending you to their trusted friends and colleagues. Where are your new customers coming from and why are they choosing you? If you don’t know the answer to this question, you cannot do more of the things that are working and eliminate those things that are not. Understanding the sources of your new business is critical if you want to keep the growth coming.

Don’t be the cricket frolicking away the spring. Be the ant. Measure how you are growing and you’ll be much happier when winter comes. Thankfully, measuring your customers engagement and satisfaction is more affordable than it has ever been. Need help setting up a customer engagement system? Contact us and lets create a plan.

Not sure where your growth is coming from? Take our growth quiz to see how you are doing.

What do you think? Join the conversation by posting a comment below.

 Photo Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesjordan 

The post How Do You Grow? appeared first on Fowler & Company.

Jobs, products and services will quickly become a commodity without trust.  Quickly traded to the next provider for a slightly lower price or flashier packaging

Trust can stop this rush to the lowest cost or highest salary.  Trust builds loyalty from customers and employees

How do you build trust?  Values (not just having them, but sticking to them!).

Everybody has values.  Just ask them.  They may not be able to tell you what they are off the top of their heads, but they certainly have values!  How could you dare to ask?  If you give them a little more time they will probably start to list some of the most common values like honesty, hard work, self-reliance or the one that everyone seems to use…integrity!  Dig a little deeper and you may find that your friend has a little more trouble easily defining what these values mean to them.  Generally you never get to know a person’s true values until you know them really well.  Even then, we are often surprised by our friend’s actions that seem so out of line with the values we thought they had

Companies are different.  Companies display their Mission, Vision and Values as wall art!  Right there for everyone to see when they walk by the front desk.  Most people in the organization don’t know where these statements came from or what they mean.  For all they know, Moses himself must have brought them down from the mountain and hung them there!  Certainly they couldn’t have been produced by any of the leaders in the company.  Nobody ever mentions them.  Of all the training sessions most office workers have been through, a thorough review of the company’s core values is most likely not one of them

Regardless of what hangs on the wall, just like people, all companies have a purpose and core values.  Their purpose may be to make next quarter’s numbers no matter what it takes or, my personal favorite, growth of x% by blank year…  People hear what the motto de jour is but rarely how it affects or is affecting the core values and reason for being of that company.  So what is the problem with that, you say?  Companies have got to set goals, they have to grow.  What do you want them to do?  Sit around and hold hands while chanting core values while their competitors beat them to a pulp?

No.  That is not what I’m suggesting.  But just like you chose your friends based on the values you assume they have and will seriously considering changing friends when they act differently, companies must act in line with their core values.  Their customers expect it, their workers and their investors do also.  If Merck, who has a core value of Improving Human Life, stops producing a drug that could improve millions of lives simply because they discovered the profit margins were not where the “markets” wanted them to be, the employees at Merck might start to really question the integrity of the corporation they work for.  A company that has lost the trust of its employees will have a very difficult time accomplishing the goals it has set for itself.

Ask yourself.  Do the values that drive your organization match the wall art?  Do you have mechanisms in your organization that hold employees accountable to those values?  In the words of Warren Buffett, eventually the tide will go out, and everyone will know what you are wearing!

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrispiascik/ 

The post Why Values Matter appeared first on Fowler & Company.

Growth is what is known as a lagging indicator.  In other words, lots of things cause growth to happen or not to happen, but you can’t just make growth happen!  For instance, an innovative new product, new customers or more purchases from current customers would all drive growth, but you can’t do anything about growth without these other things happening.  Growth is not what you should be tracking and growth should not be your goal.  Growth is the consequence of executing your strategy every day!

It’s like trying to lose weight.  You want to lose pounds and you know you can’t “manage what you don’t measure” so you do the right thing and go buy a scale.  Every morning you measure your weight diligently with hopes of moving that needle (or most likely digital readout) just a bit, but nothing happens!  But why?  I’m measuring; therefore I think I’m managing.  Why am I not losing weight?  You are not losing weight because you are measuring the wrong thing!  What you must measure to lose weight is how many calories you burn in a day via a complicated thing called your basal metabolic rate plus the calories you burn doing any additional exercise versus the number of calories you intake.  Make your caloric intake 3,500 calories less than what you burned and, congratulations, you lose one pound!  Measure your weight all you want.  You’ll most likely never lose any pounds until you start measuring and managing the right things.

Just like trying to lose weight, the reason we are caught off guard by our growth or lack thereof is because we are measuring the wrong things.  It is understandable that we do.  Growth or increase in top line revenue is very easy to measure.  It’s staring at you each month right there on the top of your financials!  Measuring the things that lead to the growth you desire is much more difficult, but it must be done.

So, if growth is one of your goals this year like it is for so many other leaders, take the time to determine what factors drive your growth.  Measure them and manage them and you are much more likely to get the growth you are after!  I heard it said one time by a very wise CEO, “Don’t focus on getting bigger, focus on getting better.  If you get better, your clients will force you to get bigger!”

Pretty good advice.

The post Chasing Growth or Executing Your Strategy? appeared first on Fowler & Company.

Pabrai’s checklist started from his lifelong study of Warren Buffett and the “mental checklist” that Warren uses to make his investment decisions. Over the years, he has added to the checklist from mistakes he has made and the mistakes he has observed others make.

His checklist isn’t complicated, but it includes all the basic checks that can be easily overlooked. Checks include things like review the fine print of mandatory stock disclosures and the footnotes of the financial statements. It’s simple stuff, but things that are often clearly overlooked. The Enron debacle could have been easily uncovered with a thorough review of their financial statements, but nobody did it!

Their checklists allow these investors to evaluate more investments in less time and greatly reduce mistakes, which greatly increases returns. Despite the constant search for even the smallest edge in the financial world, these investors find very few people interested in using checklists to improve their returns. Everyone seems to think they are too good for a checklist!

Most people hate checklists. We feel that if our job is so simple that it can be broken down into a checklist, then our job is somehow less important.

In a great illustration of resistance to checklists, Dr. Gawande surveyed members of the staff at eight hospitals about a checklist developed by his research team that nearly halved the number of surgical deaths. 20 percent said they thought the checklist was not easy to use and did not improve safety, but when asked whether they would want the checklist used if they were having an operation, 93 percent said yes!

In fact, Guwande reported that a five point checklist implemented at Intensive Care Units in Michigan decreased infections by 66% within three months and saved an estimated 1,500 lives within a year and a half.

If a checklist used by physicians with years of specialized training and excellent native intelligence can save 1,500 lives, what could a checklist do for your organization?

Think about it. A 5-point checklist saved 1,500 lives (real actual people) in a year and a half. That was just in one state!

This checklist was not used by high school drop outs, but trained medical professionals – doctors. Doctors who are incredibly bright and have been studying how to be great at their jobs for at least 8 years!

How could doctors with as much training as surgeons have make mistakes that are simple enough to be fixed with a 5-point checklist?

The answer is clear. Even the brightest among us are overwhelmed with information. All this knowledge and experience is great when we need to make split second decisions, but we often make the simplest mistakes in our routine tasks. Checklists help us get the “stupid” stuff right. They can’t help us make the split second, high-level decisions that only experience and knowledge can prepare us for, but they can make sure we get the other 80% of our jobs right!

The usefulness of checklists is not limited to the medical field. Checklists are used to save time and money (and sometimes lives) in the airline, construction, restaurant and even private equity industries. In my work in industries ranging from telecommunications to manufacturing, I have seen checklists and processes save tremendous amounts of time and money by helping people get the simple stuff right. When working to close real estate projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars, I always used a checklist to make sure I got the countless little things right (or at least didn’t make the same mistake the next time!). After a deal was closed, I would always update my checklist to improve it for the next deal.

Making and adhering to a checklist enforces discipline and reduces the errors that humans will always make. They improve training and help to capture institutional knowledge. They are simple and they are cheap. They save lives, money and time.

Is your organization utilizing the power of checklists? Do you know when to use them and how to create great ones? I’ve linked to a simple (you guessed it) checklist below that you can use to get started.

The Checklist Checklist

The post Improved Outcomes without an Increase in Skill appeared first on Fowler & Company.

So, how do you increase the value of your enterprise?

Let’s start from the end and work our way back.  To increase the value of your organization you need to increase the cash flows that a reasonable buyer can expect from your company in the future.  What drives cash flows?  To start, sales (and collections) are the beginning of all cash flows.  I know this is beginning to sound very elementary, but stick with me for a minute

What drives sales?  Purchases from new and current customers drive sales.  What prompts them to buy?  Lots of things like your price, brand, your people, your product, your customer service and even your company’s values can affect a customer’s reason to buy.  To drive those factors that drive sales you need to be looking at a lot of different activities within your firm.  Only then, can you turn your eyes towards costs and margins.

So, how do you drive the value of your company?

Alignment & Execution

Every company that wants to create better than average returns must have a clear direction (strategy) and values that will guide the decisions of everyone in the organization (alignment).  Only with clear alignment towards the company’s goals and objectives can execution take place.

Execution is the day to day carrying out of the tasks that will push the organization to achieve its strategic objectives.  Once the entire team is aligned to the goals, each team member must know their responsibilities to make it happen.  This occurs through business and individual plans that go from yearly, to quarterly and in many execution driven companies to weekly plans.  In execution driven companies there is continuous feedback on the progress towards goals.  Roadblocks are acknowledged and removed or worked around.  Regardless, the focus remains on the companies goals.  The economy will change, your industry will change, but your company must stay focused

If your company can achieve this level of focus, it will create value much greater than your competitors.

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