Material Monster

How many times have you heard a business owner or manager say that they spend their workday “always sweating at putting out fires?” I hear it all the time.

Think of a raging forest fire. There are sweaty fire fighters working hard, just yards in front of the flames. There is one person in a helicopter 10,000 feet above the flames. Those on the ground and the one in the helicopter are all looking at the same fire but they have totally different views. Those on the ground are “putting out fires.” The one in the helicopter is directing the fire fighting effort.

In business, even the smallest of businesses, the CEO directs the fire fighting effort. That person must have a vision of the future and direct the troops on the ground in the proper direction. If the CEO gets down on the ground and picks up an axe to put out the current fire, while that effort may be beneficial, who is insuring the future?

In small businesses, owners and managers must spend time and effort at work on the front lines, but many are so busy “putting out fires” that they never make the time to go up in the helicopter and see the whole fire. To do it, the CEO must discover the changing winds of the marketplace to best utilize the assets available so they are not overspent on dying embers (completed projects) when they are needed on a flare-up (hot opportunity) somewhere else. The CEO must look beyond today and prepare for tomorrows battles whether fluctuations in the cost of fuel, changing whims of fashion, or increased competition.

If only for a little while every week, get into that helicopter. Look towards the future, plan for it, and guide your troops to contain the fires. You might not get so sweaty but you’ll be doing a great job for your company.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, “Front Lines with Larry Galler” Sign up for his free newsletter at www.larrygaller.com

The goal of perfection is a challenge. It is often viewed as an expensive process requiring large investments. Yet one company has realized a 53% reduction in orders that have to be set aside for additional Quality Control checks. How did they do it? They used communication techniques - not capital outlay!

The secret to there success revolved around team skills and communication. The company’s Production Manager formed a focus group to discuss comprised of members from each department that was affected in some way by the rejects. Using a proven “problem identification” process, the production manager was able to facilitate a brain-storming session separating symptoms from root causes. The team was quickly able to identify the main reason for the rejections.

“Using this process lead us very quickly to a cause that we never would have even thought of otherwise,” the Production Manager stated.

Parts were being rejected due to what Union members saw as an insignificant variation in the specifications. They did not understand managements was rejecting the part because of one or two degree differential in the temperature during one phase of production. Union members had grown to view the rejections as a management scheme to pick on shifts or individuals. Management knew the impact of the temperature on the finished product and the ultimate reliability of the part in the final product.

As the Quality Control Manager pointed out, “We had been working on what we thought the problem was for quite some time. We were addressing symptoms and never even got close to the root cause.”

The success came after a Team Skills program was presented by Rochester Hills based Max Impact. During the program members of management learned through vivid examples and experiential learning how to use individual talents to generate synergy as a team.” We learned how to work together in a way that will have long-term rewards,” according to the company’s President.

“Using the team problem solving model we learned in the Team Skills program, and the tools we received from the program, we saw the rejection issue in a different light,” added the Production Manager said, “The problem has been haunting us a long time and was getting worse. With just three meetings we were able to reverse the trend dramatically.”

Although pleased with this success, the company’s President says, “it is exciting to know that we can use this same process to handle even more problems.” He has his eyes on nearly a quarter million dollar savings he hopes to see within the next six months. “As good a success as it was, it is more rewarding to see that my manager now truly believe that things don’t have to be the way they always have been. They know that even though we were good, we can do even better.”

If you would like more information about the problem identification system used in this success, contact Max Impact at 248-802-6138 or via email: info@getmaximpact.com.

Rick Weaver is President of Max Impact, a national leadership and organization development company based in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Rick is an accomplished business executive with experience in retail, market analysis, supply chain and project management, team building, and process improvement. He has worked with hundreds of companies to improve sales, processes, and bottom-line results. MaxImpact offers leadership and organizational development services along with employee assessments and background checks. Contact Rick at 248-802-6138 or via email, rick@getmaximpact.com. MaxImpact is on the web at http://www.getmaximpact.com

The senior flight attendant on the WestJet flight was starting the routine safety talk: the bit about flotation vests and emergency exits that we ignore at the beginning of every flight.

“If we could have your attention, please, we would appreciate it - in fact we’d be downright shocked,” she said. The passengers and the rest of the crew laughed along with her and then, having captured our attention, she went on with her instructions.

That event, on my second flight with the airline, may have been the point when I became a fan of this upstart, discount carrier. The flight attendant’s small joke was just one of many good-spirited remarks I heard from station staff and cabin crews.

Guess what? I like travelling with people who enjoy their work. And that point is made, too, by Lance Secretan in an IndustryWeek article (May 15, 2000) that argues employees should be treated as well as customers.

Using Southwest Airlines as his example (and WestJet modeled itself on Southwest), Secretan says management needs to put the same commitment and resources into internal marketing to employees that it puts into external marketing to customers.

That’s not an unreasonable idea, considering that companies sometimes have to fight harder to get and keep good employees than to get and keep customers. Put another way, can you serve customers well if you don’t have good employees? And, don’t forget the maxim that employees treat customers like they’re treated by management.

So, if we were going to build an internal marketing program for employees, where would we start? What would we do? How would we do it?

Well, we’d probably start in much the same way that we start with external customers: by finding out what they wanted. By identifying the benefits that they consider most important, and communicating about those benefits.

As we articulate our reasons for internal marketing (setting objectives), as we figure out the goals of employees, and identify the best medium, we’re setting out a communication strategy.

Once we have a strategy we can go on to the tactics, which outline how we will implement the strategy: what will we discuss, how often we’ll discuss it, and what presentation style we’ll use.

What we’ll discuss refers to our subject matter; how often refers to the number of times in a specified time period that we will communicate the subject matter, and presentation style refers to the tone we’ll take in sending our messages.

Once both the strategy and tactics are in place, we act. We implement the plan. And good internal marketing, like external marketing, would involve gathering feedback afterward.

In the case of external customers, feedback is immediate and obvious; they buy or they don’t buy. When we turn to internal customers, though, the feedback will be less obvious. In general, though, we will have set objectives based on having employees do certain things; in the feedback phase we can ask whether they did it, and how well, and how often.

In summary, to get and keep good employees, cater to them as you would to important customers, through internal marketing.

Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott’s Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at:
http://www.communication-newsletter.com

Communication is the basis of who you are as a manager/leader in business. The rules are simple and the good news is that you can learn them and develop your skills…and it’s quite easy! Here’s the low-down on great Communication:-

The best communicators…

1. Keep It Simple

   Great Communication is about making what you say very easy to understand. Just realise that important messages get across better without loads of technical jargon or 4 (or more!) syllable words. Less is definitely more.

2. Know Their Audience

   It is important to understand that there are different levels of message for different groups of people. This is not demeaning those different groups - indeed, it honours them that you have taken the time to think of them. Be aware of who you are talking to and pitch the message accordingly.

3. Listen Well

   The best Communication is as much about listening, as what you say. It’s the ‘two ears/one mouth’ thing - keep how you use them in proportion. People love it when you listen to them and you will learn much more about them and their situation. Check out Dale Carnegie’s ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ - a fantastic little book that’s stood the test of time.

4. Pay Attention

   It is important that when you are in dialogue with someone, be it on the phone, face-to-face or in a group, that you give them your full attention. If you go off-message because of interruption or distraction you will lose them and your credibility.

5. Honour The Audience

   All inputs from others is valuable, very valuable. So ensuring that when folks have taken the time, effort and, yes, courage to speak up, that you treat them with respect and gratitude.

6. Realise Their Responsibility

   Getting the message across is the responsibility of the person giving the message. It is no good saying, ‘Well, I meant that…’. You need to sharpen your Communication skills up, if things go wrong and look inside yourself at the possibly mixed messages you are giving and refine them in the future. Learning is good!

7. Follow Up

   By writing up important messages and circulating them, just to confirm. It’s a bit of a chore, but it makes sure that things are really clear - especially great for those who are less auditory and more visual.

8. Are Heard

   You speak with authority and in an easy to understand language - and you captivate. People leave you thinking - ‘hey, I can go for that’ and ‘what a nice guy (or gal!)’ Great communicators have this innate skill.

9. Build Rapport Easily

   It’s like an old friend pops by for a chat. The best communicators truly have a charismatic skill which enables them to settle in very, very easily. Hard to learn, but very noticeable.

10. Check Understanding Frequently

    ‘What did you take from that message?’ or ‘Was what I said clear?’. Two simple yet key questions which activate that feedback loop. Never assume that your message is the one that everyone has received - it’s worth checking out.

So there it is - Communication in Ten easy steps. Get these right and it will significantly help your management performance, that of your people and your business overall.

Copyright 2005 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide,
mainly by phone, with small business owners, executives and corporate leaders. He
has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website,
coaching-businesses-to-success.com. and a regular blog right here

(Note to editors. Feel free to use this article, wherever you think it might be of value - it would be good if you could include a live link)

…helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow…

Are you too busy? Are you always in a hurry, juggling work and family tasks like balls in the air? Are you ready to snap?

You’re not alone. Millions of successful adults are being swept up by today’s frenetic, globalized, technology-driven lifestyle. We have plunged into a mad rush of activity, aided by high-speed Internet, cell phones, instant messaging, BlackBerries and email 24/7. We work longer hours, with escalating demands at work and home.

We expect our brains to keep track of more than they can handle and then find ourselves losing and forgetting thingsimpatient, anxious, worried and plagued by short attention spans. Modern life, for all of its timesaving conveniences, is sapping our creativity, humanity, joy and, occasionally, our sense of humor.

The speed of our lives threatens to destroy our most important connections. Unless you deliberately set aside time for what matters most to you, your connection to it will erode. When it does, you’ll find yourself less energetic, less optimistic, less hopeful, less confident and less enthusiastic than beforeand you won’t even know why.

ADD Nation?

Since the mid-1990s, people have increasingly complained of being chronically inattentive, disorganized and overbooked. Most complaints originate from individuals who do not have clinically diagnosable attention deficit disorder. Instead, they suffer from what Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, author of CrazyBusy (Ballantine Books, 2006), calls “severe cases of modern life.”

People have developed environmentally induced attention deficits, he assertsa phenomenon he describes as the “F-state”: frantic, frenzied, forgetful, flummoxed, frustrated and fragmented.

For many people, the F-state is fun. They use email, BlackBerries and other devices to remain stimulated at all times. Doing everything faster feels exciting. But living life faster, always coveting more data, won’t increase your sense of fulfillment or deepen your connections to what really matters. Instead, you create the overload you complain about and wind up craving it when faced with moments of stillness.

Human Deficit Disorder

Too much electronic time, coupled with a dearth of human moments, will lead to an as-yet-unnamed medical condition. Symptoms include loss of personal vitality, an inability to converse, a craving for a screen when separated from one and low-grade depression.

Email communication is a poor substitute for authentic human interaction. Electronic messages lack what makes communication interesting and emotional. We send an email because a phone conversation requires too much time, energy and complexity.

At the end of the day, the amount of time spent interacting with others is greatly reduced. While you may, indeed, produce more in less time, you’ll be faced with a gnawing feeling of emptiness and lack of fulfillment.

Solutions

No one would suggest giving up laborsaving devices and the conveniences of email and the Internet. You do, however, need a system to stay on top of what matters most to you.

Here are 10 principles to help you stay on track, adapted from CrazyBusy:

1. Do what matters most to you.

2. Create a positive emotional environmentwherever you areby developing meaningful connections with people and eliminating negativity.

3. Find your rhythm through astute time management and careful planning of your day.

4. Invest your time wisely by paying attention to how you use it.

5. Don’t get caught up in screen-sucking.

6. Identify and control sources of distraction.

7. Delegate what you don’t like or aren’t good at, and become interdependent with others.

8. Slow down. Stop and think.

9. Don’t multitask ineffectively.

10. Play.

Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D. writes articles for business and executive coaches and consultants. She writes articles on leadership and executive development, blogging and Internet marketing. Subscribe to get her ezine Savvy eBiz Tips for the inside edge to grow your business online. http://www.savvyebiztips.com

A willingness to change first is one of the major pre requisites for leaders!

If the situation is deadlocked or blocked, they need to find the best opportunity, shift their personal perspective to accommodate it and take action from there. This is no matter how personally attached they are to their current position!

Three sixty degree feedback is a great example. The manager/leader is given feedback from their management, peers and reports; expected to take it on board, and integrate the necessary changes to become more effective within the team!

Sometimes the feedback is very concise and confrontive.

The program manual’s documentation on how to make change happen is almost non-existent. We are very poorly aware or educated about what to do here. Many leaders are left with a desire to change and no information on what to do to make it happen other than manipulate themselves, this is painful, energetically draining and not sincere.

So how do we do it?

By analogy it is based in energetic principles of physics and chemistry. When we take something that is negative and something that is positive and add them together they neutralize each other and we end up with something else instead.

In our personal lives we can see this in the break down of relationships especially with divorce: the strength of the original attraction becomes the force of the repulsion for the ex partner. If both the attraction and the repulsion were added together they would neutralize each other out and there would be no need for action, anger or pain.

In business, a recent senior client summarized their use of information as either a weapon or a gift. They were insightful, and presumed others were too, about a particular set of circumstances. When the other party seemed to be not getting the ‘common sense’ of it, they would use their information as a weapon to inflict harm. In their more patient moments, or more equal relationships they used information as a gift, to enable the other person to move forward freely.

Through our work this client took the energy they held for both issues, the weapons and the gifts, and added them together. What surprised them was the sense of the transformation and the moment of profound realization - their “ah ha!” about the difference.

These opposite and equal forces are called polarities. Love and fear are polarities of each other and represent two of the most potent forces for creation or destruction on the planet. We make tremendous efforts to keep them apart from each other to create results and to limit opportunities with our fiercely held unconscious assumptions!

The key here is that we need to work out what we love and what we fear that are equal and opposite forces, we then need to bring their energies together within us and allow them to meld, neutralization will occur and a moment of profound “ah ha!”.

You actually already know how to do this unconsciously. It is what actually happens when we are really stuck and it matters. If we really don’t know how to make it happen, but ‘it’ really matters, we often let go of knowing how and allow the outcome to present itself! Our role then is to take advantage of the opportunity! Most of us know how to do this!

Think about times you have run out of ideas, options and actions on what to do yet the outcome or contribution still has your full commitment. What has happened? Write to me and tell me your experiences (email address on web site).

My example is that I have gluten intolerance that has involved much disturbed sleep due to cramping of my digestive tract. When I have eaten well and still have insomnia I have been very intolerant, as my sleep bank is already regularly overdrawn!

I remember once being awake three nights in a row for many hours for no apparent reason. I thought I knew all about how to work with polarities, bringing the energies together and neutralization. On the third night I ran out of ideas about what the poles might be before I got distracted and fell asleep again. I distinctly remember giving up knowing how to do this, but still deeply desiring my sleep. In the morning the last thing I could remember before falling asleep was this thought.

My body is a machine to some extent that ‘runs’ programs; my job is to choose a useful program! Given it has all the usual associated stimuli, it is dark, it is quiet, everyone else is asleep, then it has the potential to ‘run’ the sleep program or the insomnia program. Clearly, something unconscious is giving it directions which one to select. In letting go of knowing how, we can enable our innate wisdom to come to the fore and sleep returns.

As part of my personal coaching business, I set homework for clients to integrate their new perspectives and skills into their lives. Information is only useful when it works for them and they can use it to acquire wisdom in their lives.

I am constantly surprised at the tough circumstances in which they choose to ‘give it a go’! Areas I would be fainted hearted to suggest, as I know how committed they are to their unconscious assumptions (their love).

What I often fail to concurrently perceive is their constant and deep frustration at being stuck so often at this common point (their fear). Their need to move beyond this barrier of assumption is so profound, that the first opportunity to do so is taken with both hands and ridden to success!

Next time you are really stuck, work out what you love about the situation, it may be the rush from the fear! Work out what you fear about the situation, it maybe that you will never have this level of rush again. Bring the two energies together in you.

If the result is neutralization, you have dealt with a polarity and now practice of the choice is required to reinforce the new ‘programming’. If it hasn’t shifted then you need to look further for the equal and opposite nature of the two poles.

Change at this level is profound and sustainable. Your choice has been enabled for this issue and you can now deliver modulated behavior rather than only on or off results. For example my client can now be wise about the use of the information, rather than only use it as a carrot or a stick.

This article may be reproduced in printed or web format, provided the resource box below is included.

Rosemary Johnston is a professional corporate and personal coach. Working with executives from some of Australia’s largest and most successful companies for over 15 years.

Rosemary’s new book, “How To Develop Your Leadership Style and Skills to take charge of your life and career” is now available to download at her web site. Read about some of the success Rosemary has had coaching leaders in Australian blue chip companies. http://www.leadershipfirst.com.au

According to the dictionary choice means “to select freely after consideration, to have a preference for, to take an alternative and of high caliber.” Based on this definition, I believe choice is the act of careful selection, identifying preferences and exploring quality alternatives that lead to freedom. How often do we approach our choices in such a deliberately thoughtful way?

As a business owner, it’s important to note that choice speaks to your commitment to building and growing your business while looking at all possible available options. Choice involves thoughtful decision-making and focuses on doing and being your best in life. More importantly, choice implies that there is an opportunity to have freedom and victory in all that you do. Here’s an approach to mastering the art of choice so you can propel your business and life forward:

• Consider your business mission. Use your mission as a guide for what’s appropriate in, and specific for, your business. By the way, making the right choices for your business is nearly impossible if you don’t have a mission. (It means you also have no framework with which to operate your business.)

• Consider your business priorities. This consideration will help you focus on what’s important and tie your choices to these priorities. Review and repeat this consideration to account for changes in priorities based on other factors like timing, market information, or new opportunities.

• Have clear business goals; match them to your business mission. Your mission partnered with clear business goals are guidelines for clear targets like your ideal client and defined niche. Revisit and revise your goals regularly so that your choices are consistently aligned with your mission and priorities.

• Identify what you’re willing to do to support your business mission and priorities. These intentions represent your commitments to act. Keep these intentions at the forefront of your choices and ultimately your actions. Intentions reinforce your responsibility to build and maintain your business.

• Exercise courage by acting on your mission, priorities, goals and intentions. Engage others to hold you accountable to your actions. It’s easy to think we can do it alone but why would you want to when you have others who are able and willing to support you. Are you your best accountability partner?

• STRETCH — Take risks and expand opportunities to do “one more thing” to act on your mission, goals, priorities and intentions. Look at how you build “one more thing” into your daily, weekly and monthly tasks. It’s all about moving forward.

By mastering the art of choice, you recognize the power you have to choose what happens in your life and business. It sounds simple and easy…and it truly is! When you underscore what’s really important you’re well on your way to mastering the art of choice. Prepare yourself for the freedom and fulfillment you’re creating. Remember, it IS a choice!

Wendy Y. Bailey is a Personal and Business Coach with Brilliance In Action Enterprises, Inc. This professional coaching organization helps women business, entrepreneurs and business professionals blend their personal and business lives successfully while creating a profitable business. This article is an overview of the audio workshop entitled, Choose Your Best Life. The CD containing the principles for mastering the art of choice may be purchased at http://www.ebrilliance.net.