“Last year was a tough one for many organizations, with smaller workforces required to do more with less. The new year looks to be more of the same. How can leaders of such organizations motivate their people as they head into 2010?”
Besides this being somewhat pessimistic about what the year holds in store for us, I found it a pretty broad question with varied answers from the team of business executives chosen to respond. The reply that got my attention came from Beth Brooke with Ernst & Young. She’s also a fellow Corporate Ambassador with Vital Voices. Her answer can be best summed up in her own words: “If cost-cutting wrapped up the last decade, this decade should be launched by innovation stimulated by the friction of diversity.”
She goes on to clarify that she’s about talking diversity not just along the traditional lines of
race and gender, but diversity of thought and experience. And I especially like her use of the word friction because it sounds better than conflict and tends to indicate less hostility. So many thought leaders in management have pointed out (and I learned the hard way) that a team without friction is not likely to be a very innovative team. Why? Because either everyone is thinking alike (not good) or folks are afraid to speak their minds (even worse). Good ideas don’t evolve out of those types of environments.
Instead, out of a confluence of different ideas emerges the next GREAT opportunity when the exchange is handled right. By handled right I mean the different ideas and opinions are productively managed and focused on a positive outcome. Productive conflict.
So the next time you’re in a meeting or talking with a colleague and disagree, remember that it’s a good thing. Diversity of thought can lead to incredible opportunities for innovation.
My father did not believe in failure. He once relayed a story about a conversation he had with a high school teacher (a priest, for whatever it is worth). He was not doing well in the class, and his teacher asked my father how he would feel if he failed. My father’s response: “I can’t fail.” Indignant at his seemingly arrogant retort, the teacher came back “Oh, you can fail my class, boy. I can see to that.” My dad’s reply: “You can give me a failing grade, but I can’t fail if I’ve learned something.”
I’m happy to say that I’ve inherited or adopted (or a combination of both) his outlook on failure.
My nephew was bemoaning (over Facebook) his recent holiday retail fiasco. He had hoped to clean up on an entrepreneurial opportunity that didn’t quite work out. My words of wisdom (though he might have seen them as something else at the time): You can’t fail if you’ve learned a lesson, though sometimes lessons can be expensive. And that ‘expense’ doesn’t always have to be money – sometimes it is our time. When I talked to him, we discussed what he learned. Where the experience was costly from a monetary perspective, he learned some tough lessons he’s not likely to repeat. So was his foray into holiday retail a failure? Hardly.
So many people talk about ending a year by thinking back on their accomplishments, what a great year they had. This year, I’m recommending something different.
Think back on the things that didn’t work out the way you planned or didn’t produce the result you wanted or expected. What did you learn from them? What can you do differently going forward? And if you can’t recall anything, think about that too. Maybe you held back on taking a risk? The problem with being afraid of failure and not taking risks as a result is: how do you know how far you can go unless you test your limits? If you’re not experiencing at least a little failure, are you really stretching yourself to reach your full potential? Failure happens…it is how you look at it and what you do with it that makes the difference.
So what lessons have you learned this past year? How have these outcomes revealed changes you need to make or new opportunities you should pursue? Embrace these lessons, however painful, and you’ll find yourself growing as a result.
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”
- Michelangelo
Once a year for the past 3 years I’ve had the privilege of being on the radio show of Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate. Every time I talk to Jim I have a blast and this morning’s show was no different. Jim has no problem keeping up with my ADD, taking our conversations all over the place but always someplace GOOD. I’m honored that he’s asked me to come back as a regular guest, starting with quarterly in early 2010.
His shows contain a lot of great (free!) content so after listening in to our chat via the link below, check out some of his other interviews! You’re bound to learn a lot…
Following is a guest post provided by Anne Barber and Lynne Waymon. I’ve seen Lynne speak and not only is she engaging and fun, but her advice is immediately actionable and valuable!
Taking a scattershot approach when networking to find clients is the biggest mistake we see people make. Joining all the area Chambers of Commerce and an alphabet soup of civic and service clubs and then attending once, just doesn’t work! Only strategic networking can bring in the business. Use these tactics to help you become more focused and strategic.
Profile Your Prospects
What kind of people, exactly, do you want to work with? Write a client description. One private bank determined that women over 60 were their targets – but women with a certain level of assets. What would these women be interested in? Perhaps antiques. Their marketing included a very posh “cream tea” at an elegant hotel with a speaker from Southby’s and a free antiques appraisal. Current clients were invited to bring their friends – and did.
Know What Networking Is
Think of networking as teaching people (who might become clients or refer clients) who you are and what to come to you for. The first question that comes up in any conversation with a new contact is, “What do you do.” Most people give their industry (I’m in financial services.), their company (I’m with Principal.), their occupation (I’m an insurance agent.), or their title (I’m a Wealth Management Advisor with TIAA-CREF.) If you’ve been saying one of those things, you’re getting the conversation off on the wrong foot. Instead, say one sentence that tells one specific thing you want people to remember. If you wear many hats, take them all off but one. Then say a second sentence that gives a short example of you solving the problem, serving the client, or saving the day. A CPA says, “I’m a CPA who negotiates with the IRS. I just convinced the IRS that my client’s horse farm is a business, not a hobby.” This 2-sentence model guarantees you’ll give people something to talk with you about, rather than just responding, “Oh, nice.” when you give your title.
Teach People To Trust You
You’ve heard it before: “People want to do business with people they trust.” Before people will come to you, they want to be assured of your character and competence. Everything you say and do reveals your character and competence. Most people wn’t be there when you have your shining moments, so it’s only through conversation that people find out what you’re good at, what to send your way, and what to count on you for.
Pursue Your Passion
Target potential clients based on common interests. One former pro baseball player targets professional athletes for is financial advisory business. Instant credibility and rapport. One young lawyer, who had competed in ballroom dancing, found clients when he attended tea dances on Sunday afternoons. The senior members of his firm sat up and took notice as his dancing partners began to show up on his client list.
Take your networking to the next level. Be strategic.
Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon are co-authors of Make Your Contacts Count (AMACOM 2007) and co-founders of Contacts Count, the nationwide training company specializing in business and workplace networking. For more information, visit them at www.ContactsCount.com Hone your skills in a webinar with Lynne by going to http://www.contactscount.com/webinars.html
These past several weeks have been absolutely crazy for me. I’ve been working almost non-stop and, honestly, I have loved every minute of it.
When working with current and aspiring entrepreneurs, I talk a lot about finding your passion. I used to say that you know you’ve found your passion when you’re engaged in a task and time passes quickly.
I don’t believe that anymore. After all, time passes quickly when I drive the repetitive 40-mile route home from teaching 2 nights a week. More than once I have arrived home somewhat surprised that I didn’t remember the drive. Has that happened to anyone else? Sure. But does that mean we’re passionate about driving? Not necessarily.
Likewise on occasion I’ve had to dig into getting my office organized or my financial records in order. I can get to a place where I’m so focused I don’t even realize I’m hungry or that so much time has passed. Does that mean I’m passionate about those activities? Hardly.
Time can pass when you’re NOT having fun. Time passes when you’re focused. So how can you identify the difference between being able to focus on a task and being passionate about it? It’s about the energy.
Last night, I gave a workshop at UMBC on Finding Value in Ideas. Following our 3-phase model for entrepreneurial innovation, Get Sparked, Get Real, and Get Results, I talked for over an hour about a topic I am passionate about. Sure, the time passed, but there was something different about this time passing and my commutes home.
My energy was MULTIPLIED, not drained.
It struck me as I was driving home that I was PUMPED. Even though I expended a great deal of energy to be “on” for the group, I actually felt MORE energetic than when the session had begun. I started thinking about past occasions when I felt that way. Teaching an ACTiVATE class. Empowering a group of women. Giving an individual a much-needed empowerment “Boot in the Butt”.
Although these tasks often require considerable energy to conduct, I am left feeling more powerful, more energized, than I did before I started. THAT, I realized, is what passion does.
Passion for what I do has allowed me to function with less sleep, to get excited about the future, and to realize, day after day, that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be. Sure, there are aspects of my “work” that I don’t get excited about (like finances) but because I’m able to focus on the goal – the path forward – those less-than-fun tasks are now inconsequential. It’s magic.
So how do you find out what you’re passionate about? Notice the next time you get that sudden surge of energy, of power. Stop and take a moment to think about the cause. It could be a particular task or the meaning behind it. I guarantee you if you pay more attention, the answers will become clear.
Special thanks to Carol Coughlin, CPA and Principal of Bottom Line Growth Strategies, Inc. for this guest post. Great information everyone can use!
Businesses love sharing news about their successes. Not only do they enjoy tooting their organizational horns, but they should share good news. It’s good business to tell customers, stakeholders and the public in general about the great things that are happening.
However, with a large number of businesses now in adverse financial situations, many owners are questioning whether sharing is such a good idea right now. They are asking:
• Should we tell our employees about our financial situation and, if so, what exactly should we tell them?
• How should we manage our Boards, banks and investors?
• What do we tell our vendors?
• When and how do we tell them?
Before we get on the loud speaker, call in the troupes for a state of the union or even consider blasting an email, we need to consider one question very seriously: What do people really want to hear?
Regardless of whether or not our own actions are the cause of the company’s current unfavorable financial results, there are significant economic forces above and beyond our control. The question isn’t necessarily who’s at fault? The critical question on our stakeholders mind is this: What are you, Person In Charge, going to do about it?
The answer to this is what’s desperately needed right now: for owners and leadership to fess up to what is happening and clearly state what they’re going to do to change it.
Generally, in communicating adverse financial information, Bottom Line Growth Strategies advocates transparency to key constituents. We are not suggesting you should advertise to the world that you are currently losing money or, perhaps more aptly, having cash flow problems. What we are saying is that your stakeholders want to hear what you are doing to correct your company’s financial hardships and when that correction will occur. And how you send that message depends on which type of stakeholder you are talking to.
Following are the key stakeholder categories and a guide to communicating Not-So-Good Info to each:
Your Staff: We’ve listed your employees first because they are your lifeblood and, as crazy as it may seem, the same employees who have been with you during good times not only can but want to help you to improve the company’s financial situation. All you need to do is give them the opportunity by including them in the discussion. Employees rally around those leaders who allow them to feel part of the inner circle.
You don’t need to hand out printed financial reports; instead give an update on how the company did in the past year, how it is currently doing, current factors influencing the results and, ESPECIALLY, the actions you are taking to fix the situation. Avoid making promises you can’t keep. This includes telling your folks there will be no layoffs or salary/benefit cuts. Making this promise and then needing to break it destroys your credibility. Instead, take this opportunity to emphasis teamwork and how you will all “get through this together.”
Right before you is an opportunity to get feedback on areas of waste, cost savings or, even better, increasing revenue. If you don’t talk, endless speculation and back channel communication may result. If you do talk, that time may be spent brainstorming new solutions and ways of working with the current reality. Take advantage of your employee’s knowledge.
Your Board, Your Bank, Your Investors: When managing and working with a Board (or other vested parties), honesty is always a good policy. But again don’t over- or under-promise by creating overly optimistic or pessimistic projections. Prepare projections you believe your company has a good chance of achieving. Boards, investors and the like don’t want surprises, especially bad ones. They want to know that you have a handle on the issues and, again, what you are doing to fix the problem. Always be one step ahead by anticipating their questions and hot buttons. It’s likely many of your Board members and/or investors have been (or are currently in) your exact shoes and you will build super-solid credibility with them by being honest and open during this time.
Your Vendors: Every business has key strategic vendors that need to be included in the Not-So-Good Info communication loop specifically so that they can assist your company in getting through tough times. If you communicate appropriately with vendors during financial adversity, not only telling them what is going on, but also what you are doing about it, they may be more flexible and collaborative about payments and other issues than you would have imagined. You do not need to go into a great detail with this group – just give them the bottom line – most importantly, your action plan.
Employees, vendors, Board members and investors have one thing in common: They are PEOPLE. And, generally, people are more than willing to work with and support someone in difficult times if they believe that person is honest, credible and, most critically, has a plan.
Communicating in business is not so different from communicating with friends, family or any other group that is in some sense vested in you. Human qualities like compassion, teamwork, perseverance, commitment, empathy and even love, rise up to meet the business owner who has the guts to face tough times head on with honesty and with integrity.
Certainly, we want you to be strategic in your conversations, but when you are sitting at your desk pondering whether silence really isn’t golden, remember this: You, them, us – we really are in this together.
I recently organized a reception to introduce prospective members to the DC-Chapter of the Women Presidents’ Organization. In addition to discussing the awesome organization and the power of peer advising, I wanted to provide some business value at the session. To that end, I invited Gloria Bohan, Founder and CEO of Omega World Travel, to an informal discussion about how innovation helped her grow the business she founded over 34 years ago into its current 800+ employees and over $1B in sales.
Gloria never really set off to start her own business. She became enamored with cruising on her honeymoon. They had been upgraded to a suite on the QE2 and had such a delightful time, Gloria caught the cruising bug. The next cruise she took, however, didn’t include an upgrade to a suite, but she couldn’t help but notice all the upgraded travel agents. She wanted what they had – access to travel opportunities. And that is how the idea for Omega World Travel was born. As she framed it, “Inspiration carries us where we didn’t even know we wanted to go”.
Over the 34+ years that Gloria operated and grew her company, innovation in all forms was at the core of the company’s success. Gloria credits their “gearshift” mentality – flexibility with ability to change directions – as crucial to survival and sustainable growth. They had to continually understand and tap into their clients’ evolving needs. She also saw huge benefits in making everyone in the company think entrepreneurial – a philosophy that we both share.
In fact, attitude is so important at Omega World Travel that Gloria wore a pin given to all employees that has the word “Attitude” on it as a reminder. She shared her belief that it is up to you to “decide how you’re going to meet challenges.” Indeed, the right attitude coupled with action can make all the difference!
We were privileged to participate in the launch of the newest ACTiVATE program at Texas State. My former co-instructor here in Maryland, Terry Chase Hazell, is leading up the awesome instructional team there and has done a fantastic job recruiting a sharp group of incredible women to join our ACTiVATE community.
ACTiVATE at Texas State
In the all-day session we led, we focused on helping them get to know each other and build community while exploring their personal goals for starting their own business. In addition to having a lot of fun, we saw some real potential. I have no doubt there will be some great new technology-based businesses coming out of that program.
At the end of the day (which FLEW by!), I asked the ladies how the day would have been different if it had been mixed gender. While I’ve seen first-hand the benefits of having ACTiVATE be a women’s-only program, I was honestly pleasantly surprised by some of their answers.
If the class had included both men and women, all agreed that the day would have had a different dynamic. One woman observed that when men are in the room, some women tend to let them take over, especially when they’re unsure about something. Having men in the room can make them more self-conscious, especially when learning new skills or trying something new – like starting a tech business.
With the single-gender focus, the women noted the free flow of ideas as well as the team spirit that began to develop among these accomplished, driven women. One woman mentioned that they “get” each other – the decisions they’ve made and challenges they’ve experienced throughout their lives and careers. Certainly, as we all agreed, the volume level in the room throughout the day remained at a higher level than it would have in mixed company.
The day left us all energized and pleased to welcome our Texas friends into the ACTiVATE community of women entrepreneurs. The whole trip left me personally jazzed about the program and prospects of helping it continue to expand.
My daughter and I had an interesting conversation the other day about her PE class at school. She’s a sophomore in high school and is taking team sports for PE. As one of a handful of girls she is, not unexpectedly, in the minority with a LOT more boys in the class.
Normally, my daughter is fairly aggressive on the sports field. She enjoys getting dirty and doesn’t shy away from a
challenge. In this class, however, she’s been holding back. Playing flag football, she would be open and never get the pass. In volleyball, the ball would be coming right at her and a ball hog (guy) would come from behind and take the shot, never giving her a chance. She got tired of fighting, and decided it wasn’t worth it. It wasn’t worth the fight.
How many times do we decide, too, that giving up is easier than fighting? And is that always a bad thing?
You see, some obstacles are WORTH fighting for but are they all? I know I try to save my energy for the battles that are worth taking on. As a parent of teenage girls, this is crucial, but also as someone who tends to take on a lot…I need to conserve my energy.
How do you know which battles are worth your energy? By focusing on your path. What is it, ultimately, that you’re working towards? Are there ways to go around the obstacle rather than pushing THROUGH it? There’s a time to plow through but there’s also a time to find another way around. Choose where to expend your energy. Next time you find your energy being sapped by a fight, make sure it is battle-worthy and that you’re focused on the right thing…the path.
I get frustrated every time I hear stories of women who are unwilling to help other women. In fact, I’ve heard hushed confessions from successful women who have realized that they are actually harder on other women than on men in the same role, such as competitors or potential partners – even customers. Why is that? I think I’ve figured it out.
Success Scarcity.
Although it isn’t limited to women, success scarcity is an inherent and subconscious belief that someone else’s achievement will somehow limit our ability to be successful.
It doesn’t.
I see this, unfortunately, among many women’s groups. If you stop and look, collaboration among women’s groups is unfortunately uncommon. Tsk, tsk. There’s no shortage of success opportunities, ladies!
To the contrary, I’m a true believer in the old adage that success begets success and that someone else’s success can rub off on you. Being around and learning from successful people actually does increase your success while does nothing to diminish their accomplishment. After all, a lighted candle loses nothing by lighting another.
The other excuse I have heard is I worked hard without any help so you should to.
Ok – I admit – after paying my way through college by working nonstop since I was 15 (the first time I took more than 1 week off work was when I gave birth!), I carried this concept with me for a while.
I could do it, why can’t <insert name>.
A good friend helped me see that I really did get more help than I thought, by way of encouragement from friends and family. What I retained in my mind as “without any help” was really just without any monetary help, but plenty of love and emotional support. My thinking now is that is almost more important!
So the next time someone asks you for help, or you see someone struggling whom you can assist with your experience and advice, reach out to them. If your company has a women’s support or leadership support group, get involved. Whether you need it or not, or know it or not, helping others to be successful almost always ensures your own success in ways you can’t even imagine. Iif you’re not paying attention, you might not even see it but I guarantee you, it’s there.
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teaching 2 nights a week. More than once I have arrived home somewhat surprised that I didn’t remember the drive. Has that happened to anyone else? Sure. But does that mean we’re passionate about driving? Not necessarily.![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8a0a6536-a6f8-4778-bb6b-ad121294d23d)
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