May 7, 2010 - What Are You Testing?

Main Idea

What is the one significant difference between highly successful companies or individuals and people who just get by?  How do teenagers grow into responsible adults? 

Expansion of Idea

When you were growing up, you tested everything.  You may have tested eating dirt.  You definitely tested your parents.  For those of you who have teenagers, they test everything.  As a parent it frustrates you.  However, it really is a necessary part of learning.  It establishes things that work and things that don’t work.  It puts boundaries in place.  It enhances the curiosity of kids.  Testing is a great instructional tool. 

However, somewhere in our 20’s or 30’s a lot of us stopped testing.  We started getting comfortable with the status quo.  The impact of that is that we lead moderately successful but unfulfilling lives.  Instead of great success we have moderate success.  We have made the core assumptions in our lives sacred and untouchable.  This is a real problem in society and business today.  The world is changing so fast, that we have to constantly analyze our assumptions and test new ones.  We may need to decide if we should continue to offer a particular service.  It may be a system that worked in the past but doesn’t work so well now.  Why don’t we look at these alternatives?  Part of the problem is that we are comfortable.  The other part is that we are afraid of sticking our neck out.  However, there is an inherent link between risk and success.  The real issue is for you to decide what you want, comfort or success.

Points to ponder:

1. Are there assumptions in my business life that need to change?

2. Are there systems that you have a hunch need to be updated?

3. Do you have new ideas that you are afraid of trying? 

4. What tests can I set up to see if any of these ideas make sense?

April 7, 2010 - Are You Burning a Candle at Both Ends?

Main Idea

What happens when you burn a candle at both ends?  Does it serve its purpose?  Is its life shortened? 

Expansion of Idea

With the increased use of cell phones, I-pads, laptops and always on- demand service, we are all working harder than ever.  But are we more effective?  I see a lot of people who are tired, stressed out and generally not providing great customer service.  When we get in that mode, we normally are only performing at a percentage of our optimal level.  If you are only performing at 70% of your peak level, then how much time could you take off and still get the same performance?  Do you have to stay later to get that report out or should you make sure you get a chance to refresh and hit your job fresh in the morning? 

It is very easy to get into a downward spiral with work and other duties.  How often do we actually plan time to read a book, take the kids to the zoo or take our spouse to dinner?  It is virtually impossible for you to do a great job between 8 and 5 if you are completely out of control time wise between 5pm and 8am the next morning. 

If you are the boss, questions to ask yourself

1. Am I burned out?

2. Do I have regularly scheduled time for relaxing and improving?

3. Is there anyone working for me that needs work reassigned to remove pressure?

4. How can I help my team improve their work-life balance?

If you are not the boss, questions to ask yourself

1. Am I burned out?

2. Do I have regularly scheduled time for relaxing and improving?

3. Is there a way to help my coworkers with their workload?

4. Do I need to talk to the boss about systems to help workload?

March 31, 2010 - How Curious Are You?

Main Idea

How many questions per hour can your kids ask you when they are growing up?  How many questions per hour can you ask your teenagers?  Why do all of these questions pop into our heads?  How do they help?

Expansion of Idea

What is the value of asking questions?  When something or someone is important to you, you want to know more.  It is very easy to ask questions and then follow up on the questions and then follow up with more questions.  One time when my kids were about 5 years old, my wife was taking them by car from my office to the library which is almost next door.  She stopped counting the questions at 20.  They were very curious about something and the questions just flowed.  At that age it is really neat to see their personal growth and development. 

Questions are a key piece of this growth.  Why is it that this curiosity suddenly vanishes when we grow up?  The proper use of questions can really build relationships, fix customer service, help with personal development and gain wisdom.  This only works if you care about the answers.  However, if you ask a question about something and then have the follow up question, and continue drilling down, you will hit the core answers after 5 or 6 questions.  This is where the real important information resides.  If we settle on surface answers, we get surface solutions which are not really solutions.  Curious George does have it right when he is trying to see what is under the yellow hat.  We need to stay focused and keep looking for answers.

Questions to ask yourself

1. What do I need to know more about?

2. What problems do I have at work that could be avoided by asking more questions?

3. How can I raise sales or customer service by getting to know my customers in a deeper way?

4. How can I learn more about my coworkers and how to more effectively work as a team?

5. Make a list of your own questions.

March 17, 2010 - Do You Have Better Talent or Better Teamwork?

Main Idea

Have you filled out your NCAA bracket?  Can anyone really guess how the games will play out?  Who do you think will win it all? 

Expansion of Idea

This week of the year is one of my favorite times of the year.  (If it weren’t for tax season, it would be perfect.)  The main reason for my excitement is college basketball.  The NCAA championships start tomorrow and anything goes.  The games are exciting.  There is heartbreak and exhilaration.  There are upsets and blowout wins.  If you look at the wins and losses, you normally can see one of two things.  Either the team with the better talent wins, or the team, that plays better as a team, wins. 

It is really fun when a lower seeded team beats a favorite.  Why did they win?  Teamwork can beat talent.  However, talent wins most of the time.  The key is when you combine talent and teamwork.  Then you have some truly special games.  The same is true for our businesses.  When we hire talented people, train them, coach them, nurture them and teach them to work well with others, we can have truly amazing results for our businesses.  When we make the most out of our talent and teamwork, then we are winners.  It is everyone’s responsibility to develop their talent and teamwork and to work with the coach to improve.  That is what life is all about. 

Questions to ask yourself

1. How can I develop my talent?

2. How can I develop the talent of my team?

3. How can I better work with my team?

March 4, 2010 - Are You Juggling Too Many Balls at Once?

Main Idea

How many projects do you have going right this second?  Do you feel like you are standing in the batting cages without a bat just trying to not get hit by the baseballs?  What if there are two pitching machines, or three, or more?

Expansion of Idea

It is tax season.  There are approximately 20 things that I should be doing right this second.  And that is probably on the low side.  I know that tax season gets pretty messy and I am not looking for pity.  This is fairly normal for tax season.  The problem I always have is that I get caught trying to do too many things at once.  That does not work.  It is just like your computer when you keep opening applications.  At some point, the computer says, “NO”.  It freezes and then gets nothing done. 

We are just like that.  We need to keep things focused and get one thing done at a time.  All of us get backlogged with work.  We can get through it when we systematically open the application, finish it, close the application and move on to the next item.  That is always easier said than done.  Life comes at us so fast.  The key is recognizing when we have too many things going. In those situations, we need to prioritize the open items, restrict the new demands or ask for help from our coworkers.  Sometimes we have to do all three.  It is great when we are busy.  We just have to realize that it is a time that we can really serve our clients or we can really create some huge problems for ourselves.  The choice is ours. 

Suggested Questions to Think About

1. How many open tasks do you have?

2. Are there items that you should delegate to your team?

3. Are there items that you are doing that really should not be on your list or anyone in your organization’s list? 

February 25, 2010 - Where is the Current Taking You?

Main Idea

What do you floating on a raft down the Mississippi River, and you sitting at your desk at work have in common?

Expansion of Idea

The answer is that for most of us, we are going to go where the current takes us.  In other words, we are going to take the path of least resistance.  It is human nature to do a task in the easiest manner possible.  We do not like to create confrontations.  We are too busy and do not have time to finish the project properly. 

Do you take the time to make sure a customer or employee is really the right fit for your company?  Do you take the time to do your due diligence when evaluating a long-term partnership?  Do you ever take the time to stop and think about what you might need to reevaluate?  Do you tell your boss that you cannot take on another duty because your existing duties are going to suffer? 

We are afraid to rock the boat and question how things are done.  We are afraid to suggest a better way.  We are afraid to tell a potential customer that we are not the right fit for their business.  We are afraid to tell a customer that he really needs something different than what he is ordering.  WE ARE AFRAID.  As a result, we give the client what they order instead of what they need.  By doing this we sell everyone short.  We meet short term sales goals but we may miss guaranteeing a long-term client by providing a solution that is truly perfect for them.  We fail to have that tough conversation with an employee because we are afraid of hurting their feelings.  In the process, we guarantee mediocrity for the employee and for the business. 

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Think about where the current is taking you.

2. Are there any areas of your life where you have been riding the current instead of doing the tough job of fighting it?

3. Are you happy with where it is going?

4. Do you have the energy to change where you are going?

5. Should you change where you are going?

February 17, 2010 - Are Little Errors Driving You Crazy?

Main Idea

Do you struggle with little errors in your business?  Do you have a strong desire to do things perfectly?  How do you balance your desire for perfection with the fact that, as humans, we do make errors?

Expansion of Idea

There was a study of mountain climbing fatalities on Mount Everest from 1921 through 2006 and of the 212 fatalities, 56% of them died on the way down.  That is after they reached their goal.  Another 17% died on the way down after deciding that they could not get to the top. 

I thought about this after I had a discussion with a client recently who was struggling with his team members making little errors.  Overall, they are doing a great job and the number of errors is extremely small compared to the volume of transactions that they handle.  A lot of factors could be contributing to these errors.  Sometimes fatigue or hunger or a general lack of personal balance can create some issues. 

I personally believe that a lot of problems occur when we are not as busy.  If you go into a restaurant during a slow time, I think the odds of bad service go up considerably.  The waiters are not focused on you.  It is human nature.  My point is that we can make mistakes anytime.   During our busy times we have to be very careful.  However, we can probably control more of the mistakes during our slower times by careful focus on our goals and our jobs.  Those goals have to be that our jobs are critical to giving the customer service that our customers need and deserve.

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Brainstorm with your team about when you do make mistakes.

2. Decide if there are any systems that can be implemented to reduce the mistakes. 

3. Build awareness of potential problems during slower times by talking to your team about this.

February 10, 2010 - Are You a Good Coach?

Main Idea

How focused are you on developing your team members?  How focused are you on developing yourself?  Is this something that doesn’t get done because you are not sure what to do?  Do you struggle with coaching?  Do you struggle with accepting other’s ideas and direction? 

Expansion of Idea

I have been reading a new book by John Wooden called “Game Plan for Life”.  This is a book written by the former basketball coach of UCLA outlining his reasons for success. (His teams won 10 national championships in 12 years.)   He describes the mentors in his life and the people he has mentored.  The amazing thing about this book is, even though there is nothing revolutionary about any of the ideas, I instantly can relate to the stories and how my own coaching skills can be improved.  (And I am talking about a lot of improvement.)  I happen to love basketball which makes the stories very interesting. 

However, the ideas and applications are instantly useful in my roles as a business owner, parent, community volunteer and probably another role or two that I can’t think of immediately.  Coaching and/or mentoring are skills that tend to atrophy if you don’t work on improving them.  We need to look to get better in this area.  And the only way to get better is to learn from others, ask for advice and feedback, and to spend dedicated time working on these skills.  If you look at the best coaches in the business world or in athletics, they are constantly working on their skills. 

Suggested Areas to Start

1. Read “Game Plan for Life” by John Wooden

2. Ask yourself how much time you actually spend coaching your people.

3. Ask your team if you are coachable yourself. 

4. Do you need a personal coach?

5. Are there skills that you can learn?

February 3, 2010 - Are You Playing to Not Lose?

Main Idea

Do you play to win?  Or do you play to not lose?  Do you go full tilt forward or do you go slowly forward and are very careful about failing?

Expansion of Idea

As most of you may know, I am a pretty risk-averse person.  I am wired that way.  Part of that may be due to breaking so many bones when I was a kid.  About 15 years ago, my wife and I were on vacation with her family in Florida.  Someone had a brilliant idea to get some wave-runners and go up to a nearby island.  I had never ridden a wave-runner, the ocean was choppy, and I was not feeling great before I started.  (Needless to say, I really did not want to go.)  On the way to this island, I took it fairly slow and I really felt bad.  We then had lunch in a hole in the wall restaurant.  My brother in law looked at me and said “You really hate this, don’t you?”  I was really dreading getting back on the wave-runners and going back.  On the way back, I decided if I was going to die, I was going to die quickly.  I went faster and remarkably it was a much smoother ride.  The moral of the story is that there are some things that if you are going to do them, you need to go full tilt. 

The same is true in business.  How many of us are doing things that we are supposed to do but we are not giving it our best?  We aren’t necessarily trying to be lazy.  Instead, we may not understand exactly what we are trying to accomplish.  Or, the systems are not in place to do it well.  Or, we have not devoted enough time and money to accomplish the activity well.  When these barriers are in place, we hold back on our performance thereby guaranteeing mediocrity at best or failure at worst. 

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• What activity is not getting your best efforts?

• Why are you not giving that activity your best effort?

• Is there something you can do to improve your effort?

• Do you need help and resources to accomplish your goals?

And No, I have not been on a wave-runner since then.

January 27, 2010 - Do You Believe in the Vulcan Mind Meld?

Main Idea

Did you ever watch Star Trek?  Do you believe in the Vulcan mind meld?  Do you use that in your organization?

Expansion of Idea

I don’t know if you have every watched the old Star Trek series.  If you look at them now, they are very low tech and very corny.  (I know I just offended some Trekkies reading this.)  One of the things that would occasionally occur is what they called a Vulcan mind meld.   A key person in the series was Spock, who was from the planet, Vulcan.  He would do a Vulcan mind meld which was a complete transfer of the minds with another person on the show.  It involved some degree of risk because they never knew how it would be received. 

I am not sure why I thought of this.   However, if I questioned a lot of small business owners, I am pretty sure they think they have done a mind meld with their team members.  The reason that I know this is that they frequently give their team members duties, a computer, a brief introduction (which was interrupted by five phone calls) and then told to go do work.  Then they are frustrated by the employees not getting work done.  I know that I am guilty of this at different times.  I try very hard to spend time training my team but then I get pulled away and sometimes never really complete the training in a reasonable time period.  What should we do instead?  We need to really devote ourselves to the right training for each of our employees.  This does not need to be all day offsite training.  It can be regularly scheduled training for short periods that address specific issues.  It can be used to address problems that come up.  It can be used to raise customer service.  A particular employee may need some specific skills and technical training. 

If you are the boss, you need to carefully evaluate your plans here.  If you are an employee, you need to take charge of yourself and ask for specific training where you have problems.  The key is to develop a plan and stick to it as best you can.  When you have hired good people, train them, systemize the training and follow up on the training, you will have no choice but to succeed.

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• Are there skills that I need to acquire?

• Can we raise our collective skills by training?

• Can I share some knowledge with my coworkers?

• Do I have a plan to raise our skills?

• For the advanced application, are there skills that can help our customers use our product or service better?

• Have I scheduled the training?

January 20, 2010 - When Was the Last Time you Evaluated Your Risks?

Main Idea

If you woke up this morning, looked at your to do list and the only thing that you had to get done today was to evaluate your risk management, would you go back to sleep? 

Expansion of Idea

The only things less appealing to most of us than risk management are probably doing your tax return or getting a root canal without anesthesia.  Most of us would not know where to start in evaluating risk even if we knew that we needed to do so. 

First, I want to define what I mean by risk management.  When I use the term, I mean the process of evaluating your activities, looking at what could go wrong and setting up systems or policies to take care of the potential problems.  Most people just think that they need insurance to handle risk.  That is obviously part of the solution.  Another part is having the right legal structure.  But the biggest part is looking at your business and seeing what you could fix or improve.  When you have systems that keep breaking down, then that is hurting your business.  When your computer hard drive crashes, your business will be hurt.  We need to be prepared for the big disasters, such as an earthquake or fire. 

We also need to be prepared for the controllable disasters that happen when a customer is hurt by your product or service.  And I think that when my client is hurt by our products or services, it is in a lot of ways more of a disaster than if my business is burned to the ground.  I have backups of data and insurance policies for the fire.  But I may not be able to fix the loss of goodwill if we hurt a customer.  Yes, I can reimburse them for the financial loss because I have insurance.  But goodwill probably will not be restored.  And that can put me out of business.

Here are some things to think about:

• Is there anything in my business that needs to be fixed and will add value to my customers?

• What can go wrong with my business that may be out of my control?  Are there systems that can be put in place to minimize the damage to the business and to our customers?  Is this something that can actually add value to the relationship?

• When was the last time I met with my insurance agent and attorney?

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?

January 6, 2010 - Do You Embrace The Problems?

Main Idea

How do you handle customers that are upset or are returning product?  Is this a chore or an opportunity to give great service?  How does your team approach these areas?

Expansion of Idea

Possibly the only thing worse than the Christmas season for retailers is the two weeks right after when they have to deal with customers who are returning items.  Personally, I would rather have a root canal than return a gift to a store right after Christmas.  People can get rather irritable.  They wait in long lines to return items, they have out of town family staying with them that stayed one day too long, and their kids are telling them that they are bored with nothing to do.  Tension can run high. 

Every business has some of these times.  In my office, we have clients who have had their tax return finalized for two months and then they get to looking at it on April 12 and they realize that they forgot to tell us about a $10,000 charitable contribution.  We are scrambling to meet the April 15 deadline and we do not want to redo a return that we thought we were finished with.  These are the times that separate normal businesses from businesses that have great customer loyalty.  When people are upset or when tensions run high, opportunities exist to raise your service levels to new highs. 

If you think about the companies that you are most loyal to, it is very possible that you may have had a problem with them sometime in the past. The way that they handled it cemented your relationship with them.  Or alternatively, when they mishandle problems, you vow to never go back to them.  The point is that these are special occasions to build deeper and more long-lasting client relationships.  The choice is yours.

Here are some things to think about:

• What are your policies on customer returns or complaints?

• Do you view these situations as a marketing opportunity?

• Have you trained your team in how to handle the problems?

• Do you learn from the mistakes to improve your existing systems?

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 10, 2009 - What Mistakes are You Making?

Main Idea

When are you most likely to make mistakes?  When do good and bad things happen more frequently?

Expansion of Idea

I made a mistake this week.  It is not the first and I am afraid it won’t be the last.  I forgot to get something to a client that should have been there yesterday.  It was fairly easily remedied, but the point is it could have been more difficult to fix.  I do not like mistakes, especially my own.  Whenever I see mistakes, I look back at how they happened and try to determine why.  Occasionally there is no real reason.  But more often than not, the mistakes happen when something is in transition, is brand new or is unusual.  That alone should not be a problem, but we sometimes don’t have the systems in place to ensure that we perform properly.  This particular problem occurred because we were doing something new for a client.  The system fix was very easy.  I just had not put the system in place and therefore, I made the mistake. 

The real problem for me is that I did not spend the extra time to fully implement a system.  Whenever we are in transition, we need to stop and ask if there is anything we need to do to insure our performance.  Too often, because of the transition, we are scrambling to put out a fire and we don’t step back from the situation to see what else we should be doing.  This is really obvious when you look at a professional football game.  If the offense adopts a no-huddle offense, they do not give the defense time to implement their systems.  When this happens, a lot of good things happen for the offense.  The key part of this transition is creating the right systems to implement.  And those systems need to be set up in advance.   

• Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• Are you in transition in your job? 

• Have you been given some new duties?

• Is there a new or unusual transaction occurring at your business?

• Have you stepped back and looked at what could go wrong?

December 10, 2009 - Who Are You Getting Advice From?

Main Idea

How old were you when you learned that Santa Claus was actually your parents?   Do you remember who told you about Santa? 

Expansion of Idea

I vividly remember the discussion with Tim Mohan who lived up the street.  I was in fourth grade and I finally learned about Santa.  (Either I was naïve or I am seeing who really reads this.)  After Tim told me about Santa, I had to think about it for a while.  I finally went to my parents to see if this was true.  Of course, I was devastated. 

This situation repeats itself in business whether you are an owner or an employee.  Who are you getting advice from?  One of the keys to improving our businesses or our lives is making wise choices as I discussed last week.  The best way that I know to do that is to surround yourself with the right advisors and counselors.  Family members can be a great start.  Authors can also be your advisor.  Peter Drucker is dead but I count him as one of my key advisors.  We also need people that we can discuss ideas with and are not afraid of telling us we are wrong.  Who has better advisors, Stan Musial or Tiger Woods? 

This is not about getting the smartest people as advisors.  It is about getting advisors that have the same core values that can help you achieve your goals.  We have to be intentional about it.  We also have to create the right atmosphere so that the advisors are free to tell you what they think.  How many bad decisions are made by a group of people because no one will tell the leader that he is wrong?  When we get advice from the right people, we gradually start heading in the right direction.  And that shows up in creating a better and more enjoyable business.

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• Who am I listening to?

• Who should I stop listening to?

• Am I following the advice of the advisors?

• Who should I listen to?

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 28, 2009 - How Do We Give Extraordinary Customer Service?

Main Idea

How does a parent work two jobs to support their family?  What kind of fuel drives that person?  How does an exhausted employee take care of the last customer of the day as well as the first customer of the day?  Why do people volunteer to serve in the armed forces in Afghanistan?

Expansion of Idea

Extraordinary customer service can only come from people who can give of themselves.  When you are in a dark mood, afraid, worried, insecure or just in a funk, you do not have anything to give to the people you work with, your family and friends and your customers.  It is almost impossible to give great service if you aren’t properly prepared to give great service. 

The thing that fuels the mom, the dedicated employee or the soldier, is a spirit of thankfulness.  When you go into companies that give great service, you find employees that appreciate the opportunity to work, to serve and to help others.  That spirit is contagious and all of a sudden, you have a great experience.  You want to continue to do business with them.  This is an attitude that only you can fix.  Even the most thankful person in the world has to constantly work on this. 

I was reading this morning and was reminded of the need for me to stay thankful.  I thought about it and reminded myself what I am thankful for.  They are:

• My faith

• My wife and kids and the rest of my family

• My team at work, Stacey, Becky and Heather

• My clients and business relationships

You will have different things that you are thankful for.  But the point is to remind yourself what they are.   Only by focusing on your blessings can you be of service to others. 

                                            THANK YOU                                       

Start by Asking Yourself these Questions:

• What am I thankful for?

• Express your thanks to those people.

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?