Stay Healthy

Businesses are tough to run.  Business leaders have challenges coming out of every corner practically every day.  This is why business leaders need to be in tip-top shape with a body and mind able to handle the rigors of a life in the lion's den.  Dealing with vendors, managing costs, organizing tasks, leading employees, and reeling in customers all takes tons of energy and a machine (our bodies), that can handle the stress that is above normal levels comparatively.  Our employees can go home at the end of the day, customers can shop us out and government officials can put more restrictions on an already taxed business.  The stress levels of these people is minimal compared to business leaders.  That is why a leader's body and mind should be in the best condition possible.  When time constraints prevent us from exercising, there are still some things we can do to create a healthier body for the battles we face.

First, if you smoke, quit.  I know it sounds simple, but it is so important to do all that you can to stop.  Smoking not only takes years off your life, it weakens your immune system which weakens your ability to handle stress.  Eating right, taking vitamin supplements, and getting eight to ten hours of sleep is the bare minimum that you should be doing as well.  When it comes to beating smoking, you have to be tough, but fortunately there is help.  Begin today taking these simple, basic steps toward building a healthy foundation better equipped to deal with everything thrown your way when trying to succeed at your business.

Where You Lead, They Will Follow

"If your thinking is sloppy, your business will be sloppy. If you are disorganized, your business will be disorganized. If you are greedy, your employees will be greedy, giving you less and less of themselves and always asking for more."  --- Michael Gerber

In his book, The E-Myth, Michael Gerber explains that most business owners tend to work in their businesses and not on their businesses.  He calls this person the technician, which is needed in a business.  However, the business owner also needs to be three people: the entrepreneur, for creativity, the manager, for running things, and the technician, for doing what must be done.

Even while incorporating all three characteristics, the business leader needs to keep in mind that team members are watching how you handle yourself throughout the day.  By definition, as a leader, you have followers.  These followers will mask or emulate your work habits.  There are at least three key points to keep in mind throughout your workday to let your actions teach your team members:

1.) Know thyself.  Know what your limitations are and be aware of what you can and cannot handle.  For example, if you are not a natural-born organizer, delegate what you can't or are not willing to do.  This allows you to avoid being put in a situation of doing a sloppy or poor job.  It sends the message to your team members that when needed, they should call for help instead of poorly completing a project.

2.) Know how to learn.  Always be on the lookout for new learning opportunities.  Keep a well-stocked library in your office and offer materials to team members when requested or if you believe it will help them in their roles.  Set an example of figuring out how to be the best in your leadership role.

3.) Know when to apologize. One of the most overlooked, yet most simple gestures is to say, "I'm sorry."  Business leaders screw up things too.  It is called being human.  When it happens, continue along that same vein of being human and apologize.  The message this sends speaks volumes to your team.  Most employees will give instant forgiveness and some will begin to realize that they are working with a real person.  

It is difficult enough to keep up with the three roles you are playing without the pressure of many eyes on you.  But, if you do these simple things, you take the pressure off so you can continue leading a team that is proud to follow you.

Costly Employees

"Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss.."  --- Lee Iacocca
 

In a typical small business, labor is your biggest expense of the business.  The cost adds up when you factor in attracting ideal candidates, interviewing and orientation costs, training expenses, and compensation and benefits.  If so much is being spent on employees, why do we miss opportunities for continual development of talents and skills?  Why do we get so frustrated with employee retention efforts and keeping our team members' eyes on the ball?

In order to keep the employees you want to keep and create a better, more dedicated team, there are at least four things you can incorporate into your monthly schedule for 2013 that are painless and not too time consuming.  Be diligent in applying these and you should begin seeing immediate returns on your employee investments:

1.) Initiate true performance reviews.  No, not the annual forms that rate an employee from 1-5 where almost everyone is a 3.  Those have little value.  Instead, review every employee's performance (at least your top leaders if you have too many employees to review yourself) and personally and in confidence address any issues with the employee.  The reason for the performance meeting is to see how the two of you can help to improve the employee's performance.  Solicit feedback from the employee and together come up with a six-week plan addressing the particular issue.  Be sure to follow-up with the employee at the six week mark.

2.) Communicate employee's role.  This is a biggie that is usually overlooked in many businesses.  This simple process helps to eliminate headaches down the road.  Explain, in writing, what the role of the employee is.  Some call these job descriptions, but whatever you label it, make sure that the employee understands what his or her job is at the company.  Explain in detail how their job affects others and how what they are doing impacts the success of the business.

3.) Communicate your role.  Let your employees know what they can expect from you in terms of honesty, transparency, a good paying job, training, benefits, rewards for value added, etc.  This is another area some business leaders overlook.  Yes, it's true that they took the job assuming these things, but it is good, and necessary to remind team members from time to time about the relationship and what is expected of each other.  Leaders, as well as employees, become too relaxed in their positions and lazy in the relationship.  Communication will restate the reason for being at the company.

4.) Money IS a motivator.  Don't fall for the studies that say employees want more than money.  Of course they do, but they are working in order to make a better life for themselves and their family.  Reward your team members handsomely and especially after a value-added event.  Recognition, growth, personal development, purpose--- all of these are necessary, but money does motivate.  If you've hired the right person and want to keep him or her, pay them what they are worth to your business, and then some.

Wisdom Meets Passion

Great Read!

Wisdom Meets Passion, by Dan Miller and his son, Jared Angaza provides great insight, and yes, wisdom for anyone looking to combine both wisdom of experience with on-fire passion.  I found the book to offer great advice and tips for improving creativity as well as for stirring passion for business and life.  Miller's and Angaza's writing style makes the book a quick read (a few hours) while providing good information for starting a business as well as going outside of my comfort zone.  It was strange at first because I too have believed in a linear approach to business and career, but the father and son author combination helped to open my eyes to new avenues.  I highly recommend this book to every business leader as well as those considering a business start-up.  The writing style of both Miller and Angaza lends to the effect of listening in to a father and son share life ideas from two very different perspectives:  Miller's wisdom of life experiences and Angaza's passion for life and his "being different" in his pursuit of a simpler life helping entrepreneurs in Africa.  Both styles help the reader, at least it helped me, to grasp a better understanding of what others see as a generational gap, but the authors see as a wonderful combination for living.

Lincoln Leadership Lessons

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other."  --- Abraham Lincoln

There is a new movie about Abraham Lincoln simply titled, Lincoln.  I haven't seen it yet, but the reviews are favorable.  If they portray him correctly, some really good leadership qualities should be revealed.  I know we can apply at least four of them this week.

1.) The first one that we should consider is Lincoln's tenacity for patience and perseverance.  He had an end goal in mind and he saw it through to the truly bitter end.  Lincoln refused to compromise on any front and kept his eye on his ultimate goals.

2.) Lincoln lived up to the nickname Honest Abe.  He refused to pay cash for votes on the 13th Amendment, which was the custom at the time. Instead, he paid personal visits to key figures from both parties going after their hearts with personal pleas for justice rather than filling up their pockets with cold hard cash.

3.) Lincoln had a humble heart, what most business management consultants and writers, including Jim Collins, say is part of the makeup of a great leader.

4.) Finally, Lincoln kept communication short and to the point.  The Gettysburg Address, which is perhaps the most famous speech of all time, was a mere 246 words and took two minutes to deliver.  As Abe himself once said: “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool then to speak out and remove all doubt.”

Firing Your Own Mike Brown

"I could never have imagined that firing 67 people on national television would actually make me more popular, especially with the younger generation." --- Donald Trump

Los Angeles Lakers Basketball Coach Mike Brown was fired last week. The grounds for termination: 1-4 record. That's right, the team he coaches lost four basketball games. Doesn't seem like grounds for termination so early in the season and if it were not for a signed contract, he might have an unfair termination case. The issue is not whether he is good at his job, but whether he can rack up an impressive season for the Lakers franchise. This is the case for most coaches in the professional world of sports. Though you might be a good coach, you are only as good as your current season.

What about your coach? (translated manager, supervisor, team leader, COO, CFO, or president). What has he or she produced for the company lately? Are they providing what was agreed upon in relation to profits, productivity, increased customer base? Is there a win/loss record of 1-4? Do you need to fire them? Can you fire them?

Most business leaders are facing these questions on a regular basis. Though they might not verbalize them or see them in any particular sequence, they are always there, waiting for answers. How do we analyze these questions to put them in perspective for our overall mission? Here are four tips to use for determining if we need to replace our "coaches":

1.) Use bench marks. Regardless of whether you have a signed contract with your manager or other leader, agreed upon bench marks are extremely helpful in determining the performance of your leader. If you and the leader know what those bench marks are, there is no confusion on what is expected.

2.) Use regular meetings. Communication, that nasty word that is always blamed for most business problems, is the best tool to use with your leaders. Two-way communication cuts off problems before they arise. Issues of performance are addressed and reasons for mistakes are communicated and resolved before more damage can occur.

3.) Call time out. When serious problems seemingly appear out of nowhere, it is usually because you haven't made the time or taken the time to pay closer attention or the information you've been given hasn't been all that accurate. This is the time to halt the presses, call time out, take a break and look around. Identify the problem or issue, uncover why it happened, then take action. The action may need to be termination, but if you've stayed the course with tips #1 and #2, you probably won't have to resort to firing.

4.) Determine needs. Be on the constant lookout for helpful information, training aids, classes, seminars, needed technological equipment, anything that can help your leaders to do a better job. Ask them to help you help them. If they lack training in an area or feel uncomfortable performing a particular task (this should have come out during multiple interviews, but too late now), provide the necessary skill training to get them up to a better level. Too often I see business leaders work against their own leaders as if it were a competition. This is a business you are trying to improve, perfect, and make productive and profitable. Take these four tips to heart and know that your leaders are worthy of second chances, and of salvaging for the next season.

Trick or Treat

Whenever I am asked by business leaders if they should reward employees or make them feel like they are about to lose their jobs, I always have the same response: "Uh?"  What are they talking about?  Why do we business leaders feel we must trick our employees into doing the right thing?  The principle I teach in this respect is to treat employees how you would want to be treated.  Too simple?

Let's look at the choices that we have.  We can either trick our employees into submission or treat them well and expect a good outcome.  If we've prepared properly going way back to the time we saw the need for an employee, we would have properly sought the right candidate, interviewed several times, providing the proper training and orientation, and then continue to treat the employee with respect.  If we've hired the right person, all is well.  If the employee still takes advantage of us and turns out to not be who we thought we hired, then we let that person go, learn a lesson, and move on.

Keep it simple and treat your employees with respect.  Don't trick them into anything.  The smart ones will reciprocate and offer respect and the other ones will either not like the culture and leave or you will have to remove them.  Stick to your integrity guns and don't play games.  Your wise, good employees see right through that.