Building People

A Tough Year in Business: Finding a Way Through

2010-12-22T09:15:00.000+13:00

The power of "Focus"

It is fair to say that the last 12 months have continued to be a challenge for all in business. A flat economy, lack of finance and in Canterbury the disruption of an earthquake.

I have been lucky enough to work with many business owners as they set their strategy and the all important "execution" of that strategy. It is just so easy to get caught up in everyday business life. It is hard not to be completely absorbed by those immediate problems that come up. It is easy to lose sight of the fact that the business is not moving forward with the "plan" because the current reality is more important than the future.

Here are 5 things that I have found useful for those running businesses;

1. Focus on your top performers. Instead of getting dragged into the problems your non performers create, work at getting your good staff performing better. Understand why they are high performers so you can use the information across the team. Challenge them and reward them.

2. Get your meeting structures right. So many organizations have dysfunctional meetings. Even more amazingly some have no weekly meetings at all. Write an agenda, ask those who attend to review it, set times against each item, chair it properly and have outcomes (a "to do" list) with people accountable for completing the tasks. Keep meetings to 45 minutes. Your team should want to attend because it makes their job easier!

3. Take time out. A week per quarter is ideal but may not be possible. Take 3 weeks at least once per year. It allows you to recharge, stay fresh, think, reflect and most of all it highlights to you the systems you need to work on. If you business can't operate daily without you then it is not valuable nor scalable. You are the bottle neck.

4. Spend a lot of time getting your target market customer right. Once you understand this person (or people/business) you can build not only your marketing messages but your sales process.

5. Do not accept average results and performance. Engage the team with the plan, set targets together, measure all the key numbers and make them visible each week. Get those involved to explain their results. Celebrate like hell when you achieve great results or when people perform. Free up the future for those who cannot perform.

2011 is a year for focus. There is a lot of opportunity and a good plan and an engaged team will deliver good focused financial results.

Amen For a few Battle Scars in Life!

2010-09-23T20:17:00.001+12:00

This is a great video and highlights the value the experience of failure can bring. Better, stronger, smarter with empathy for others. There are some great stories here.

Focus and Leadership: A Lot Has Changed in the Last Week

2010-09-11T12:38:00.003+12:00

In Canterbury a lot has changed in the space of a week. The big earthquake and the damage and disruption it has caused will impact on every business in the region in some way.

There are many businesses out there right now that do not have offices or are in temporary accommodation. Others have lost their key suppliers or clients and for most the tight cash flow environment just got a whole lot tighter.

Lead generation events (such as the Womens Expo) have been delayed or cancelled. There is currently huge demand in the construction industry for repairs and tradesmen. Some businesses have lost their forward work whilst others have never had more. Some have had huge losses due to gaps in their insurance cover.

If you do not take decisive and focused action to take advantage of new opportunities then others will!

There are some 5 things that any business leader should focus on right now;

Leadership. It is back to basics. Make sure your team and their family are OK. Touch base with them, spend time understanding what is happening for them. Give them reassurance and brightness of future. Get in and lead your team.
Over Communicate. Take time to make sure everyone is working together. Make sure the whole team is well informed about the things they need to know.
Conduct planning on the "changed" situation. Right now a lot has changed in the market. There are opportunities and there are risks and uncertainties. Review the strategic plan and conduct a detailed S.W.O.T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, opportunities & Threats) analysis so you can adjust your plan for the next 12 months.
Review your marketing strategy and advertising to get your message right.
Execute the plan once you have adjusted it. Keep the team focused, measure progress and hold people accountable.

Over the next week or two as things return to relative normality there is a big opportunity for those business organisations who are well led, are responsive to change and who can plan, focus and execute for success.

Are you one of them?

Jack Daly In Action: The 3 Sins of Sales Management!

2010-07-31T15:17:00.001+12:00

Jack Daly was live in Auckland yesterday to 430 attendees. As one of the best Sales Trainers in the world, this was Jacks second trip down under thanks to RESULTS.com who recognised the need for Sales skills in todays economy.

Jack talks about the three "Sins" of Sales Management that Company owners make and sees them as follows;

1. Having the Managing Director of the company also fill the role of Sales Manager. Two specialist areas and the time cannot be spent in two roles requiring two different sets of skills. Which one always takes priority in everyday business? The Directors role, leaving sales people without proper development.

2. Taking the best sales person the company has and making them the Sales Manager. Understanding that these are two different roles. Sales offers a different challenge and the buzz of instant gratification. Sales Management on the other hand is about growing, training and managing sales people. It can take 6-12 months to see results and the challenge has a much longer lead time.

3. The ultimate sin: Taking the best sales person the company has, making them Sales Manager and keeping them selling as well. The initial sales job was full time, now they have a split focus, can't do both effectively and if they are incentivised by commission to sell what will they focus on?

It seems logical when Jack lays it out and gives some real life examples but to many it is counter intuitive. You see these "sins" being played out in most businesses you deal with each day. I'd say this common problem is one that can be avoided and in doing so the devastating consequences of losing your top sales person to a competitor can be avoided. In my opinion working out "how" to grow the business is more important than "when" to grow your business.

There will be some interesting conversations with business owners as we discuss this over the next few weeks.

Thanks Jack!

Swearing: One of life's Pleasures or a "NO GO"?

2010-06-16T09:51:00.000+12:00

Isn't swearing and cussing one of the pleasures in life? As an ex soldier I can assure you I have had some good practice at it! Coming from a farm there is always a use for "colourful" language especially when there is a team of sheep dogs that need clear and immediate direction! I think even the most prim and proper of us utter the odd cuss. Even if it is a forcefully delivered "Blow it all" or a classic "What the f@*k".

But as a business leader is swearing something that should be done only in the privacy of our own home or away from our place of work? This link outlines some research into swearing by business leaders (Harvard Business Review: Should Leaders Swear?) and whilst is is apparent that cussing does occur world wide in the work place there is suggestion from the research that corporate leaders should refrain. Does it undermine a leaders credibility or damage their standing? Obama has used a cuss over the BP oil spill and we saw it last night when MP Chris Carter used the "F" word.

Surely common sense applies here. There is a time and a place to use strong language and it is important not to offend those we are trying to lead or influence. Leadership is after all the art of getting people to do things that you want them to do. An important issue can be sidelined because someone takes offense at a profanity or deems a comment to be inappropriate.

One thing I have learned about leadership is the importance of adjusting your style to the environment or team you are leading. That includes adjusting the way you speak or the words you choose. The "when in Rome" rule applies in that if the team uses strong language then you too could use it to good effect. As a consultant many of the Company owners I work with have their favorite profanities. Is this open license to unleash with a barrage of my own? No but if I can pick up on some of their words and deliver a different point of view in language they use it can be very effective.

Surveys and analysis aside, there is a place for swearing and cussing as a leader but it is a judgement call as you work to get the best out of your team. After all everything a leader does is a judgement call and this applies to the language you use.

Personally I think a good cuss in the privacy of your own office is one of the absolute pleasures in life!

A Brand on the Edge: Four Reasons BP Have Damaged Their Brand!

2010-06-13T11:22:00.000+12:00

I don't consider myself to be a "Greenie" as such. I am however someone who respects nature and enjoys the wonders this world has to share. I feel that everyone sharing this planet, either individually or as a corporate, has a responsibility to leave it no worse (ideally better) when their time is done. Right now I am beginning to be concerned about the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the effects on the human population who live, work and love the place is only part of this concern. In fact if I'm honest I am more concerned about the long term prognosis for the wildlife, fish and the coastlines that will be damaged throughout the region.

That said accidents happen. It is many weeks since the BP oil platform blew up killing a number of workers (that seems to be well forgotten now) and we have become well used to the image (attached courtesy of www.bp.com) of oil billowing into the sea unabated. We have watched as the various options to stop this oil leak have played out on the news, most at depth with robots and submarines and various "capping" options. I have no doubt it is very specialist, difficult and dangerous stuff to try and do.

Recent media reports show that protest against BP is growing worldwide. Even here in New Zealand there is a growing movement to show your protest against BP by filling your gas tanks at other providers such as Shell or Mobil. The Facebook brigade are firing up the masses! The only station near to me is a BP station. In fact it is really the only fuel stop on this side of town and I normally try to fill there when I can to support the business and to ensure ongoing convenience (support local business). BP stations are also "owner operators" and so by being aligned to this global brand there are presumably thousands of family owned businesses worldwide that are in the gun because of what is playing out in the Gulf of Mexico. But I am getting pissed off with it and I am even considering moving my (tiny) weekly need for fuel elsewhere.

So why is this brand being trashed before our eyes? Here are four reasons that BP have damaged their brand;

Management of the Media: In any crisis there is media interest. In this disaster there is huge media interest and with so many people, industrys and groups affected by this the "experts" are being wheeled out left right and centre to add to a mixed message. BP have not managed the media message well. I am sure there has been a huge company response but the perception is they have been tardy. Perception is everything, nothing else matters!
Lack of Leadership: The CEO of BP has been portrayed as weak and even self seeking (quoted several days ago a saying "I want my life back" and this got President Obama angry!). Whether he is weak or not perception is everything. If you had a strong character leading this who could inspire confidence and lead from the front the perception would be different. This is not an issue for engineers and scientists to lead, rather one for a pragmatic and strong inspirational leader and the Government of the United States is one of the main critics of BP's leadership and response. Not a flash situation!
Brand Arrogance: The BP brand is huge. It has always portrayed itself as strong, wealthy, powerful and most of all as a responsible (almost green) guardian of our planet, tapping the raw materials yet leaving no footprints. Well right now it has been caught raping the resources and it has left the biggest footprint ever. The plans to contain such a disaster (everyone trusted they were real) have proved to be almost theoretical and indeed the required response has been at the very edge of current engineering capability. The little people will talk with their feet and this on a global scale could bring BP to its knees!
Disregard for their own Industry: This disaster has trashed the trust not only in BP but the wider oil industry. I'll bet right now the CEO's of the other major oil companies have been on the phone to BP saying "What do you need? We need to help you with this or our future contracts are screwed!" Even here in New Zealand where the Government recently signed an oil exploration deal for the East Coast of the North Island people are concerned the same thing could happen to our piece of paradise. I'll bet many countries that look out to sea at the "twinkle" of off shore oil rig lights have dragged out the "Disaster Containment and Response Plans" and actually read them! BP have damaged the image of the Oil industry and as a certainty the cost of finding and "harvesting oil" has gone up significantly. This means the cost of oil overall will rise too in the medium term and will speed up the desire to find that "alternative" fuel source the world so desperately seeks.

This is by no means an easy problem to solve for BP and it is going to be interesting to see it all unfold. They will be doing this containment, clean up and brand rebuild all under the scrutiny of the worlds media. Not an enviable task!

If BP survives.

Business Execution with RESULTS.com Summary: A Simon Mundell Presentation

2010-06-08T17:37:00.001+12:00

This is a summary of the key points of the fundamentals of Business Execution.

Keep It Simple Stupid: 5 Ways to Keep Plans Simple

2010-05-16T19:51:00.001+12:00

There is a lot to be said for keeping business strategy simple.

This Power point slide showing the increasingly complex military situation in Afghanistan was first uncovered by NBC's Richard Engel (link to article here). To be fair it was produced primarily to highlight that it is sometimes just not possible to show a complex problem in "bullet points".

To me it highlights a problem in modern business. Business plans that lack focus and simplicity are the norm. The military use the term K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) to great effect. This is applied at the completion of planning. If every person in your team can look at the plan and say "I get it" then they will be able to deliver the outcome. Stephen Lynch of RESULTS.com outlined why businesses are more effective when they focus on doing less, but doing it well, in his article published in "The Economist". The article was based on the research of a number of experts and it is generally accepted "best practise" that focus is a powerful success multiplier. It is just not well known "best practise".

So how do we keep it simple when being in business has arguably never been more complex. Here are five ways to keep it simple;

Commit your plan to writing and restrict it to one page. Most people can take in one page of information. A 20 page document or 45 slide powerpoint presentation will cause instant glazing of the eyes!
Take time each week to work on the plan. Isolate yourself from the phones, computers and e-mail and review the plan and what you are going to do next to execute it. Constantly ask "How will I move this plan forward".
Continually communicate and reinforce the plan. Chances are just when you feel your team is sick of hearing about the plan, this is the time they are starting to get it. Over communicate and keep over communicating. In doing so you will be forced to review it and keep it simple. Tom Peters is a huge fan of this approach.
Focus your resources on achieving the single most important aspect. Just focus and nail what needs to be done to move the plan forward. Business as usual will continue but make the focus exactly that.
Work out what you are going to stop doing. Then make sure your team stops doing it. A huge amount of time and resource goes into business systems that are not used. Constantly question why things are done a certain way and continually update systems to increase efficiency or better still simply stop doing them.

In summary a simple focused plan will move your business forward. At a time when the trend is towards complexity try another approach.

Oh and remember to have some fun doing it!

Core Values or Snore Values? Four Good Reasons to just get Serious!

2010-04-21T15:45:00.000+12:00

Much has been written about Core Values and like many I have probably not paid them as much attention as they are due! In these changed and challenging business times it is an area of the business that is very relevant.

The source I have found, that offers fact based analysis of this, is in this blog "How to bring your company vision to life" by the RESULTS.com Chief Operating Officer. Stephen Lynch is currently based and working for RESULTS.com in the USA. He refers to Tom Peters thoughts on this subject and I have have heard Tom Peters speaking on the subject myself. He places a huge emphasis on the full "engagement of all your team". In a nutshell, having an engaged team is a "priceless" asset to any business. Aside from getting more done with less (and being more productive and successful) the workplace is fun. This itself builds a culture of winning and confidence.

Karl Varley has written on this subject with "Honesty and Integrity" and more recently in "Working for a Higher Purpose" which refers to the unique set of values that the company Isaac Construction Limited have. I blogged recently about an Isaac open day I attended where I saw the Isaac Core Values in action. It really does set them apart and gives the whole team a "purpose" as the company celebrates 60 years of operation in a tough industry.

I think in the current market a unique set of living core values are important for 4 reasons;

Change is needed; Change is hugely unsettling to teams and the people in them. A good set of living Core Values offers comfort to the team members in stormy waters.
Guides Leaders; Strong Core Values also guides the leaders of the team/company. It guides decisions and this in turn means they are made for the right decisions.
Message to market; Core Values are the start of the external communications of the organisation. If the team is aligned and engaged with living Core Values there is a united message. This flows into daily communication (internal and external) and marketing and attracts the like minded. People want to work with a company that has good, focused people who enjoy their job.
Foundation Blocks; Core Values are the lifeblood of the company and they are the foundation for building strong productive teams that can handle change and in turn negotiate tough times.

Right now there seems to be a trend to take things back to basics. Company's are examining what their offer is to their market, defining their market to get the best results with reducing marketing budgets and this leads to close examination of how they are structured to deliver their products (or services) profitably.

It is time to take them seriously because Core Values are integral to this process.

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Tom Peters tips to RESULTS.com clients.

A clients team members thoughts on Core Values: Cam Finlay from Christchurch Company: Rock Star Recipes