January 13, 2010 - Are You Getting the Details Right?

Main Idea

Are you a detail person or a big picture visionary?  When you go on vacation, do you have the complete itinerary figured out in advance or do you wing it?  What takes longer to fix, big problems or little leaks?  Does your company operate under the motto “Close enough for government work”?

Expansion of Idea

Today was not a picture of perfection here in my office.  Our computers have been operating very slowly, especially one particular computer.  Part of the problem is that we have a new CPA who started yesterday.  She is not the problem.  The problem is that, when I set her up as a user on her computer, I failed to set her up with the correct user rights.  When she started to open our tax software today, the system really did not like that.  It froze the whole system and we had to bring down our server.  In the back of my mind, I vaguely remember having had this problem before.  Since I have not had a new employee for a couple of years, I forgot about this.  As I was waiting for the computer to reboot, it dawned on me that the devil is in the details. 

How many of our problems are related to not getting something completely set up?   When you think about the details in your business, do some of those details determine whether or not you succeed and truly delight your customers or employees?  Or by not getting the details just right, do you create problems and upset your customers?  The details can set us apart from our competition or can bury us.  The key is how we process them.  A lot of this can be systemized and these problems can be eliminated.  However, a big part of the problem is committing to finish a job or project.  All of us are scrambling for time.  Then we wonder why we are not getting referrals from customers for jobs that are almost finished. 

Here are some things to think about:

• What are you not completely finishing?

• Are you setting aside enough time to do the job?

• Are you properly planning your job?

December 23, 2009 - Is Busyness Controlling You?

Main Idea

How busy are you right now?  Does the Christmas season force activity and busyness?  Do you have trouble focusing on issues that need to be addressed?

Expansion of Idea

The Christmas season should be one of the best parts of the year.  It is designed to celebrate Christ’s birth.  But it has come to mean more.  It is a time to have parties or to catch up with friends.  That has led to a lot of business for retail stores, restaurants, florists and a myriad of other business establishments.  All of this can be very good.  But the down side is that we get so busy that it becomes a quest to get through the season.  I watched Christmas Vacation over the weekend and it is a great illustration of all of the things that can go wrong. 

Instead we need to enjoy the present.  We need to celebrate our faith, our family, our friends, our coworkers and life.  We need to focus on others.  This is a philosophy of life.  But it is equally a philosophy of business.  When you go into a store, you know if the clerk has a positive outlook on life or is just trying to get through the day.  Who would you prefer to deal with?  What message are you sending your customers?

Here are some things to think about:

• ·Am I living in the present?

• Do you feel generous and put your change in the Salvation Army bucket or do you keep it?

• Do you stay focused on yourself or do you wish strangers Merry Christmas?

• Is there someone you regularly come in contact with that needs a special word of encouragement at this time of year?

December 3, 2009 - What is the Next Wise Move?

Main Idea

How fast does the world around you change?  Are you bombarded by new demands on your time?  How do you prioritize the different demands?  Are you trying to plan and at the same time all the facts change?

Expansion of Idea

About ten years ago, my kids got really involved in chess.  They went to some chess tournaments and they played it a lot.  Of course, I ended up playing with them.  Chess is about strategy, planning and being creative.  They were having fun with it.  And then someone introduced them to a team chess game called Bughouse.  There are two games going simultaneously and partners can pass captured pieces to their partner who can on their turn place the pieces anywhere they want.  I played it with my kids and their friends and it is a pretty wild game.  You never know what is coming at you.  The key to the game is to have a general game plan, watch your defensive strategy, and then focus on one move at a time.  (And you play it with a pretty short timer.) 

The pace of life right now reminds me of those games.  We can navigate through these times, but we have to watch our defensive strategies and then we have to focus on what is the right next move.  You can’t worry about what you would like to do.  You have to look for the next wise move.  Generally, there is a wise move that you should do.  These moves may go against your emotional wishes, but normally it is clear what should be done.  Most of the time, these moves will not be so significant that they are clearly winning strategies.  Instead, they are moves that advance us in our businesses.  Then we have to ask what the next wise move is.  Then the next and the next.  The moves can be as simple as thanking a customer for their business, or double checking the order to a customer who had a problem the last time.  It may be to ask someone for help or advice.  It could be resigning from a major customer who is creating havoc with your whole organization.  The key is that we do what is wise, even if it upsets us.  A very famous person said that wisdom is worth more than gold. 

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• Am I pursuing wisdom in my job?  (And my life?)

• Are there decisions or actions that are not wise?

• Can I fix those decisions? 

• Should I get advice or counsel on how to improve my decision making?

November 25, 2009 - How Do I Handle Life's Curveballs?

Main Idea

How often do you have a good idea and a good plan and then life gets in the way?  What happens to your plan?  Do you abandon it and find another plan?  Or do you restart it?   

Expansion of Idea

I haven’t written my weekly business idea the last four weeks simply because I have been overloaded with stuff to do.  Some of it is business, some of it is personal.  As a result, I was not able to follow through on my weekly business ideas.  I realize that they are not critical for your success.  Hopefully they do help.   However, it is part of my business plan.  That is the way life is.  We get thrown a few curveballs along the way.  The key is how we handle them. 

With all of the problems and opportunities over the past few weeks, I kept telling myself one thing.  I have been tremendously blessed.  I appreciate the struggles because they help me stay focused on my priorities.  When life is too comfortable, we take too much for granted.  In a lot of situations, it is our family, close friends, coworkers and customers that we take for granted. 

Actually, I told myself a couple more things. 

• What can I learn from this situation?

• Can I do something different in the future to avoid it? 

Those are questions for another idea.  The key is that we keep a spirit of thankfulness.  I think that is a big key to serving others in the community, in our workplace and in our lives.  And that is a competitive advantage.

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• What am I thankful for?

• Have I told anyone recently that I appreciate their support, help or business?

• Work on your spirit of thankfulness.

October 21, 2009 - What Can I Learn Today?

Main Idea

How many times have you asked someone what’s new and they have said “Nothing”?  Yet how often do you look at the news on television or the internet and you are surprised by some new world event?  (Notice I did not include your morning newspaper.)  How fast is the world changing?  How fast are your customers changing?

Expansion of Idea

The world and our lives are a constant source of new information and dynamics.  Time does not stand still.  Yet very often, in our work lives, we think it stands still.   We react to changes and take care of our customers or employees.  And we do this day in and day out.  I would propose that if we are standing still, we are probably losing ground.  Have you seen a kid going the wrong way on an escalator?  They do it to prove that they can.  (I have seen two.)  Life is a lot like going up the down escalator.  We have to keep moving to get to the top.  Otherwise we are going to keep getting moved back down.  

How do we move forward? 

I think one of the surest ways is to keep learning new things.  This could be learning a new system at work, or learning more about a customer, or a fellow employee, or about a product or service.  Depending on your job, it could be anything.  Where would you be if you learned one little thing each day for a year?   It could be that the best time to call a customer is Wednesday at 10:45. Or, it could be someone’s birthday.  Or, it could be that your boss likes the reports a certain way.  It doesn’t matter what it is.  The point is that if you focus on learning something new every day, you will continue to improve.  And that adds value to you and to your business.  That is the competitive edge that all organizations need.   One of my favorite characters growing up was Sherlock Holmes.  He says in one of the books, “My name is Sherlock Holmes.  It is my business to know what other people don’t know.”  What do you know that others don’t?

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• What should I know more about?

• What would benefit my customers, my business and me?

October 15, 2009 - Are You Running On Fumes?

Main Idea

Have you ever watched an Olympic runner who just ran out of gas on the last turn? Are you out of gas? Is your company out of gas? How long can you keep pressure going?

Expansion of Idea

Business is a nonstop adrenaline rush in the current economy. Life comes at you so fast that you frequently are not sure what the next step is. This is when a lot of people and systems break down. They start running at full speed and they can keep up for awhile. Then, they struggle to keep up. They become like the dog in the first Vacation movie. (For those of you who don’t know, the dog was accidentally tied up to the rear bumper and then Chevy Chase took off on the highway.) Most of us are not prepared for the long haul. We do not have sustainability built into our lives and our businesses.

This can impact each of us in different ways. Some of us are just working too much and we cannot keep up the pace. Others have situations where someone in our organization is so critical that we do not have a replacement for them. If that person leaves, we are in trouble. Others of us have systems that worked very well when our organizations were smaller, but as we grew, we outgrew the systems.

We need balance in our lives and our systems. This does not mean we have to go slow. My son, Mark, recently ran in the Columbia, Missouri marathon. (Yes, he is nuts.) His time was right around 10 minutes per mile. I thought that was pretty good. Then, we checked how fast a world class marathoner can run. The time is approximately 4 minutes per mile; almost a world record for a one-mile race. Obviously, the marathoners figured out how to sustain a very quick pace for 26 miles. They know what carbs to eat and what to drink. They figured out the systems to keep their bodies going at optimal conditions for 26 miles. Do you know what is needed for you to sustain your pace? When was the last time you refueled your engine?

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

1. Am I keeping a sustainable pace?

2. Are my team members keeping a sustainable pace?

3. Is the pace fast enough to win the race?

4. Are there systems that are vulnerable to breaking down?

5. Do I have backups for all key processes and people?

October 8, 2009 - Are You Keeping All Your Commitments?

Main Idea

When was the last time you told somebody you would do something and then when the time came, you physically could not fulfill the commitment?  How often do you disappoint your spouse, your kids, your boss, or your employees? 

Expansion of Idea

We all disappoint some people close to us at different times.  These people can be employees or coworkers or customers at work.  It can be friends and family members.  It can be someone at church or at a nonprofit organization that you are a part of.  Disappointment generally is a result of our failure to do something that we agreed to do.  This agreement may be explicit or it may be implied.  An explicit commitment is one where we have clearly said what we will do, such as saying that we will send a report to someone by a certain date.  An implicit commitment is one where by not saying we disagree, we are actually committing to do something.  An example would be when our boss tells us to do a certain job, tells us when he needs it done by and then leaves.  If we do not say anything, we have agreed to do it. 

Most of us do not have very good systems to monitor our commitments.  Our systems generally consist of an internal voice that says we can do something or not.  We may not have or be able to afford a personal assistant to keep us organized.  But we can at least agree to spend 30 minutes a week looking at the upcoming week and month to determine where there are going to be problems.  The first advantage of doing this is that we stop making future commitments during the problem times.  The second advantage is that we can sometimes move commitments to free up some time or we can find someone to fill in for us.  And if we are going to have to disappoint someone, then we can tell them in advance what happened.  It minimizes the damage from broken promises.  What would happen to your business if you and all of your employees fulfilled all of your commitments to each other and to your customers?    

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

1. Clarify and verbalize your implicit commitments.

2. Evaluate your outstanding commitments.

3. If you cannot accomplish your commitments, discuss it with the other party as soon as possible.

4. Slow down the commitment process.  Make sure that your “YESSES” Mean YES and your “NOES” mean NO.

5. Set up systems to evaluate open commitments.  Find someone to help you evaluate your commitments.

September 2, 2009 - What Are Your Priorities?

Main Idea

Do you have a clear idea of what you need to get done every day to succeed?  What do you have to focus on?  What are the critical areas that you need to work on but don’t have the time?  Have you gotten away from your core responsibilities because life has gotten in the way?

Expansion of Idea

My first job in high school was working in an Italian restaurant named “Luigi’s”.  There were four locations and they had the best pizza.  (Yes, it was thin crust.)  This was a normal restaurant that even had a huge banquet facility.  It was always busy, especially on Friday and Saturday.  The owner never really associated himself with any part of the operations because he had people to handle those things.  I remember a few times such as New Year’s Eve where the kitchen would get really backed up.  On those rare occasions when things were really a mess, he would come down from the office and help the pizza line.  I always thought it was strange that would be his focus. In reality, it made perfect sense.  That was his signature dish.  He could survive if the steaks were bad.  He could survive if the lasagna was bad.  He could not survive if the pizza quality and times were not outstanding.  He always checked with Willie the Pizza Guy whenever he came into the building.  His priorities always reverted to the pizza line.  He had a great business for many years because of the laser like focus on his number one priority.  (Ultimately, he failed because he got on the wrong side of the IRS and the Department of Labor.  Not a good combination.) 

Most of us get sidetracked by life and we tend to lose sight of what is important in our businesses.  This leads to a gradual deterioration in the business.  What do you need to do to get those back in your consciousness? 

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

1. What are my priorities in business?

2. Are you focused on the priorities?

3. What do you need to do differently today to get back in alignment?

August 12, 2009 - What Energizes You?

Main Idea

When was the last time you jumped out of bed on a Monday morning right when the alarm clock went off?  Were you excited to go to work?  Why?  Or when was the last time that you were excited to go home so you could attend your son’s monthly cub scout meeting?

Expansion of Idea

Most of us are not brimming with excitement to go to work or attend a child’s function that we know will be boring.  Why is that?  A lot has to do with our energy levels.  We are running so hard and we are so drained and we know that we do not have enough time to get everything done.  And knowing that we can’t get everything done drains us further.  What can we do? 

All of us have to find something that re-energizes us.  For me, the best thing I do all year is go to a conference called the Leadership Summit.  It does the following:

• I take a break from work and spend it with clients, friends and family

• I learn about leadership and management topics that can help me in all aspects of my life.

• I get my priorities back in line.  They can get pretty far from where I want them to be.

This is not necessarily the right thing for you.  The point is everyone needs to find out what is right for them.  And we all need something like this because we are running so hard.  Most small business owners, managers, and employees would say that they do not have time for something like this.  However, if you can become a better leader or manager, you might be able to avoid mishandling an employee situation or a customer situation.  The time savings on maintaining an employee can be huge.  And if you can reenergize yourself, then you effectively re-energize your team members, which then reenergize your customers and your business.  As leaders, everyone else gets their energy from you.  If your energy is zero, guess what the energy level is around you.  Who wants to do business with a company with zero energy????

If you still think this is a waste, think about the last really bad decision that you made.  I will bet that you were worn out and you agreed to something that if you were in a strong energy state you would have said no to.  How much time did that decision cost you?                       

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

1. What is my energy level?

2. What am I doing now to re-energize myself?

3. What can I schedule in the future to help myself?

4. If you think Tim was thinking of you when he wrote this send him an e-mail!

July 1, 2009 - Happy Mutual Interdependence Day!!

Main Idea

Is Independence Day a good idea?  Do you truly want to be completely independent and not rely on anyone else?  Can you have a business when you are the sales person, the production person, the bookkeeper, the janitor and the customer service person?  What happens when you are sick?

Expansion of Idea

On July 4th, we celebrate our nation’s independence.  That is a great thing.  Most of us are proud to be Americans.  We are not perfect but we try to do the right thing.  It is good that we have our freedom to worship God in the manner that we would like.  We have freedom of speech.  We have a truly great theoretical system.  (The actual system is less than perfect, but no system is perfect.)  But independence should not be the end goal of our society. 

Five years ago, through a series of coincidences, mismanagement on my part and just plain bad timing, I was left at my office with one employee (Stacey) and she primarily worked during tax season.  This left a two to three-month period where I was the only one in the office.  I was independent, but for some reason I felt more tied down than at any other time being in business for myself.  I was in control but it was hard getting work done.  It wasn’t much fun.  And I did not have a business.  Instead I had a job.  I now have a much better team that helps me service clients.  Or is it that I help them service clients?  I am dependent on them, but they are dependent on me. 

Mutual interdependence is where we should actually aim.  We are social creatures and we need social interaction.  Businesses do not need 20 isolated employees but a finely tuned team of 20 people that can work together to serve their customers.  We can accomplish so much more when we use our individual gifts and abilities in conjunction with our coworkers to really help our customers or society.  HAPPY MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE DAY!!!! 

Areas to Look At

1. Make a list of who is dependent on you

2. Make a list of who you are dependent on.

3. Make notes on how you can strengthen those relationships and the systems

4. Read Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, especially the 4th, 5th, and 6th habits. 

June 17, 2009 - Are You Investing in the Right Places?

Main Idea

What do you think of when you hear the word investment?  Is it good or bad or ugly?  Do you associate the word with stocks, bonds, houses, businesses and retirement plans? Do you ever associate it with people? 

Expansion of Idea

When we think of investments we normally think of our savings, our house and our retirement plans.  But I would argue that those are minor compared to the true treasures in our lives.  What happens when you invest in yourself?  Or what happens when you invest in an employee or a relationship with your future spouse?  How much time do we invest in our kids?  There is no immediate payback and our whole goal is to get them off the payroll when they graduate from college.  But the real benefit is the joy we get when they grow up, serve others and become self sufficient. 

We make those kinds of long-term investments and we never look back.  We go to college to prepare us for the real world.  (I know I am stepping out on an edge here.)  The point is that in our personal lives we make very long-term investments in people but that mindset does not carry over to our businesses and our professional lives.  The current view is frequently, “What have you done for me lately?”

Everyone is so impatient and then we wonder why there is no customer or employee loyalty.  What would happen if we changed our mindset a little and started to invest in ourselves, our team members, our customer relationships and other key business partners?  How can we add value to that relationship?  If we can develop the people around us, including ourselves, we will be much more effective, we will have more fun, and we will probably have more time.  By developing close relationships, we also improve our odds for success.  As the ancient King Solomon said, “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” 

Areas to Start:

1. Take a few minutes and think about someone you could help or would like to improve your relationship.

2. Schedule some time and go do it.

3. Go do it again and make it part of your daily or weekly lives.

May 13, 2009 - Are You Growing or Dying?

Main Idea

What is your business’ most important asset? Where would your company be without the people who run your operations everyday? What have you invested in them? What have they invested in themselves? Beyond that, what is your own personal development plan?

Expansion of Idea

Wikipedia defines personal development as activities that improve self-knowledge and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and employability, enhance quality of life and realize dreams and aspirations.

Most small business owners have realized their aspirations of going into business for themselves. But what areas of your life could you use development? Maybe it’s as simple as taking a college course, or attending a seminar on a relevant topic to you. It may be necessary to rearrange your schedule to make time for development activities. Some may get up excruciatingly early to squeeze in a workout session to achieve fitness goals, or make child care arrangements to study a professional development book.

What about the people you employ? When was the last time you met with your employees to see what skills they want to learn or further develop? Maybe there is a work skill that needs fine tuning. Whether you send them to a one or two-day seminar, or a semester class, it is important to help your people grow. Helping them feel confident in their role in your company will provide tremendous results.

Personal development is something everyone should invest in. As the old Chinese proverb goes, “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” You won’t ever reach perfection, but one should always strive to be the best they can be.  The benefit for the company is very clear.  When the company encourages personal growth, business growth will follow.  Nature tells us that we are growing or dying.  That is a choice only we can make.  

Areas to Start:

1. Ask your employees what areas they need to develop, and help them follow through.

2. Set a good example by developing your own skills and talents.

3. Read a development book in the area of your choice.      

4. Attend a seminar to develop your skills.

February 25, 2009 - How Much More Negativity Can You Handle?

Main Idea

Did your parents ever tell you that TV would rot your brain? They were probably referring to your morning cartoons or after-school sitcoms, but what about the news? We are surrounded by media everyday with the newspaper, television, and even the internet; all of which filling our heads with negativity. What has this done to your attitude? In turn, what has your attitude done to your life?

Expansion of Idea

Even though there isn’t much we can do about the financial state of the country, simply improving your attitude can have an enormous effect on your business and your personal life as well. After all, do you have a car? Do you pay a mortgage? What about a job? If so, you should have a joyful spirit of thanks, as a growing number in this country are going without. My guess is you have many reasons to be thankful.

The financial experts in the media shower you with reasons to be worried and depressed. Do you have to listen to them? As Thomas Jefferson put it in 1825, “How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.” A positive attitude and thankfulness can be contagious, and the same is true with negativity and pessimism. You have a choice in how you react to our world. Improve your mind-set and everyone from your spouse to your best customer will thank you!

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Turn off the news!

2. Read a book that inspires you.

3. Make a list of what you are thankful for.

September 18, 2008 - Failure is a Necessity

Main Idea

What is your view of someone who has declared bankruptcy?  Or someone who has flunked a test?  Have you tried selling a great idea to one person and then another and then another and no one wants to buy?  How many sports teams go into a prevent defense when they are winning and go on to lose because they are afraid to take any risks?  On the other hand, do you know people who never fail because they are safe in their own world?

Expansion of Idea

I heard a speaker recently comment that failure is a necessity.  This guy has built a large multi-site church and is tremendously successful.  I thought the comments were a little odd.  However, the more I thought about it, the more I agreed.  I thought about my own public speaking which does not come naturally to me.  In the sixth grade my parents pushed me to join the speech club.  I was reluctant but I memorized the speech and went to the meet.  Suffice it to say, I had a bad experience. 

That stuck with me until about 8 years ago.  I was making some changes in my accounting practice and had an opportunity to do a seminar that I really thought would help clients.  Suffice it to say that I was terrified of doing the seminar.  Yet I was excited because I knew I needed to do it and it provided some great business opportunities.  Because of the failure when I was 11, which I will not forgive my parents for, I knew I needed to really prepare for the seminar.  The seminar was a turn key program that did not need a lot of preparation.  I prepared anyway.  I focused on areas that I was passionate about.  The failure drove my actions in a way to ensure that the future public speaking was successful.  This is an area that I will always have to work on, but I know how to overcome those limitations and succeed. 

We are all afraid of failure but we should be more afraid of never trying anything new.  As Thomas Edison said after failing 10,000 times to invent the light bulb, “I did not fail, I just learned 10,000 ways not to design the light bulb.”

Suggested Areas to Start

1. List a few failures in your business or life

2. Make a note about what you learned

3. List one thing that you are currently afraid to do but you know you should do

4. Discuss this with your boss, coworker, spouse or other adviser and determine how to approach the problem

September 11, 2008 - What are the Positives in Your Business?

Main Idea

Do you see the glass as half full or half empty?  Is your business doing well right now?  What is the status of your customers?  Are they doing well?  Is it all doom and gloom?  Or, are you just planning on riding the storm out (to use a song from the 70’s)?

Expansion of Idea

I had to think twice about whether or not to send this idea out today.  But the more I thought about it, the more important it is.  Today is 9/11 and for most of us it is a very sobering day as we remember where we were when we heard that the planes hit the twin towers.  We are facing a global financial crisis.  We are in the middle of a war that is going to last a while.  Unemployment is looming for our nation.  Most of my clients have seen competitors that either have closed or will close.  And we are going to get some changes in Washington that may not be good (both candidates have some problems with their tax proposals). 

Enough with the bad!!!

We are living in the United States which is based on a fundamental premise of opportunity.  Just because there are a few negative economic indicators, doesn’t mean that we can’t have a positive attitude.  We will get through this period and when we do, there is no reason that your organization can’t thrive.  With all of the bad things out there, I see tremendous opportunities for small businesses that are proactive.  Customer service is at an all time low because businesses are cutting back.  You can pick up current sales and market share by focusing on the positives and helping people.  People may not be buying stuff right now, but that does not mean you can’t acquire them as customers. 

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Say thank you to a policeman, a firefighter or soldier.

2. Pray for the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

3. Talk(Listen) to a customer that you don’t normally interact with. 

4. Ask your team if there have been any positive surprises this month. 

5. Follow up on all positive surprises. 

August 22, 2008 - Is Coaching Part of Your Culture?

Main Idea

Have you been watching the Olympics?  Do you wonder why certain athletes rise to the top?  What is the difference between those athletes that make it to the Olympics and those who just dream about it?  How often do you hear about not just the athlete but also their coach?  Is the coach critical to excellence? 

Expansion of Idea

Coaches are an integral part of all high performing teams.  Between 1964 and 1975, UCLA won 10 national championships in basketball.  This is the best extended performance in college basketball and probably in all sports ever.  I can’t imagine that this record will ever be broken.  Why?  The key is a humble man named John Wooden.  In my opinion, he is the greatest coach ever.  The number one thing that I focus on when I think about John Wooden is that he rarely called timeouts during the game to discuss strategy or execution with his team.  They were ready before the game and he trusted them to do the right things.  His teams were prepared and as a result they won. 

We do not fully realize the impact that coaching in all aspects of our lives can have.  This is as true for businesses as it is for elite sports teams.  If you want to perform at your highest level, do you have a coach?  What about your team?  Have you been coaching them?  Or do you practice mental telepathy?  How is that working for you?

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Read a book about John Wooden. (A great book outlining his philosophy is “Be Quick But Don’t Hurry“)

2. Evaluate the culture in your business.  Is coaching part of the culture?

3. Develop a coaching plan for the people that report to you.

4. Evaluate your performance and decide if you need a coach. 

5. Find someone to hold you accountable for following through.

July 18, 2008 - Do You Have a Communication Problem?

Main Idea

Do you have problems with communication?  Is your business not going as well as you would like?  Has anyone told you that you are just not listening to them?  It is most likely that you answered yes to one of those questions.  All bosses, employees, partners, spouses, and parents have been told that they don’t listen sometime during the past year.  (Maybe in the last 24 hours!!!)

Expansion of Idea

The famous management consultant, Peter Drucker, is quoted as saying “When it’s obvious we’re not being heard, it’s time to listen.”  This is true for us in business or in our personal lives.  Too often, I think it is someone else’s problem because of a miscommunication, but in reality, it is my problem.  I wasn’t listening to what was really going on with a client, a coworker, my spouse, or my kids.  They will tell me about some problem and I will nod, say I am sorry and then jump into my problem or topic that I wanted to talk to them about.  I have found myself doing that.

I hope that I have gotten better but I still find that I have to suppress my desire to say something.   This is critical for helping our businesses and our lives.  Customers want to be heard.  Employees want to be heard.  When we can tap into those two pools of information, our businesses can thrive, even in the current economy.  Right now, there is huge opportunity because people do not take time to listen.  Go out and practice this.  If you need duct tape to keep your mouth shut, go buy some. 

Areas to Start to Apply the Art of Listening

1. Customers & Employees

2. Vendors & Service Providers

3. Spouses & Children

June 27, 2008 - Are You Accountable?

Main Idea

In your business who are you accountable to?  Do you have a board of directors, a management team, or a spouse that holds you accountable?  Is your bank the only one who holds you accountable?  

Expansion of Idea

Most small business owners are in business for themselves because they want freedom.  And freedom is very good.  However, most of us need some structure and deadlines to get things done.  Our spouse is generally the wrong person to hold us accountable in this area of our lives.   

One of the best business decisions that I have ever made was to start an advisory council that is composed of one of my team plus two outside directors.  After my dad died several years ago, there was no one who would hold me accountable.   I was making okay decisions but was not following through.  This council has helped improve my decisions, brought outside input, and held me accountable for follow through.  I am not quite as transparent as I would like to be, but I am a lot closer than before.   

How far you go with this depends a little on the size and complexity of your business.  However, almost everyone would benefit from increasing the level of accountability.  And there is one other huge benefit from doing this.  You are creating a culture at the top which will spread throughout your organization. 

Areas to Look At

1. Personal accountability

2. Peer accountability

3. Management team

4. Board of Directors

5. Overall culture of accountability

June 6, 2008 - Do You Have Balance In Your Life?

Main Idea

Do you have balance in your life?  Are you working too much?  What would your spouse or kids say to this question?  Or is this a problem for someone who works for you?  Can you improve your business and at the same time get better balance in your life?  What are you doing that you should not be doing? 

Expansion of Idea

Sometimes the lack of balance is a big red flag that things aren’t working right.  It is easy to see in others, such as our kids or family members.  However, it is a lot harder to see this in ourselves.  When we do not have balance, mistakes happen and we don’t spend as much time planning the future.   Busyness creates problems and masks the truly important things that we should be doing. 

Areas to Look At

1. How you spend time

2. Priorities

3. Goals

4. Unrealistic expectations

5. Staffing levels at work

6. Systems

7. Business plans

8. Changing business dynamics

9. Customer profitability analysis

10. Employee/manager training

11. Feedback and accountability