Leading With Passion

Light a match in a dark room and watch as the light instantly overcomes the darkness. Observe the power and grace of that single, solitary flame dancing with life. Now light several candles or kindle a fire and experience the added warmth and comfort extending from that first, vulnerable flame through others. This is the heart and soul of leadership - the essence of inspiring others. It is about courageously casting off fear, doubt and limiting beliefs and giving people a sense of hope, optimism and accomplishment. It is about bringing light into a world of uncertainty and inspiring others to do the same. This is what we call passion, the fire within.

Passion is a heartfelt energy that flows through us, not from us. It fills our hearts when we allow it to and it inspires others when we share it. It is like sunlight flowing through a doorway that we have just opened. It was always there. It just needed to be accepted and embraced. Under the right conditions, this "flow" appears effortless, easy and graceful. It is doing what it is meant to do. It is reminding us that we are meant to be purposeful. We are meant to be positive. We are meant to be passionate. We feel this when we listen to and accept our calling in life. We feel it as inspiration when we open the door of resistance and let it in.

Inspiration springs forth when we allow ourselves to be "in-spirit," aligned with our true essence. Stop and think about it: When you feel truly passionate and inspired about someone or something, what frame of mind are you in? What are you willing to do? What kind of effort are you willing to put forth? How fearful are you? Chances are, you feel motivated to do whatever it takes, without fear or doubt, to turn your vision into reality. You grow in confidence. You believe you can do it. You are committed from the heart and soul.

These "essentials" serve to guide and remind leaders how they can "open the door" and facilitate flow. By practicing these essentials, you will tap the extraordinary potential in yourself and others and realize results you may never have dreamed possible. Look to any inspiring leader and you will see these key factors in action. Observe the best of the best and you will witness the power of passionate leadership. Make no mistake - leading with passion inspires world change. It is the only thing that ever really has.

Use these essentials - to:

•             Clarify purpose, context and meaning

•             Create a compelling vision to focus intention and attention

•             Gain commitment from the heart, not just agreement from the head

•             Set priorities and focus efforts on what matters most

•             Recognize and accept the power of grace

•             Foster more creativity and innovation

•             Demonstrate integrity and build trust

•             Lead by passionate example

•             Generate growth in yourself and others

•             Awaken the Spirit in work

Rescuing Troubled Projects

What are the common reasons that projects fall into troubled waters and what steps can be taken to get them back on the right path? Depending on the organization you work in and your level of authority, appropriate responses will vary, but here some corrective actions that span many situations.

Even the most seasoned and skilled project managers may, at one time or another, find themselves at the helm of a troubled project. Having a project in trouble does not necessarily signal the project manager is doing a poor job. Projects can go off course for a variety of reasons, and some are outside the span of your control. What are some of the common causes for projects to fall into troubled waters and what are some prudent steps to get the project back on course?

If you poll a group of seasoned project professionals with the question, “What are the chief causes of troubled projects?” you are likely to receive a variety of responses, though there will be some commonly attributed causes. 

At the macro level, projects generally fall into trouble for one or more of three reasons:

1) Poor Planning 

2) Misaligned Expectations 

3) Ineffective Risk Management. 

Let’s elaborate on each of these points.

Poor Planning: Planning is a foundation of project management. Within the context of this article, planning is not limited to the development of the “Project Plan.” Having a well-defined project plan, with realistic estimates and work packages covering each necessary activity to achieve the project objectives, does not inoculate a project from falling into trouble. 

Additionally, proper planning for your project should include defining, gathering and properly documenting all of the project requirements. Vague or open-ended project requirements are a recipe for trouble in most situations unless your organization has mature processes or uses time boxing for requirements such as in Agile. Failure to capture all requirements and gain absolute clarity on them can lead to too much change during execution, and potentially derailing behavior on the project. It is not good behavior to debate with your key stakeholders “what the requirements really meant” after the work has been performed.

For an example of aligning attitudes and expectations to avoid your project getting into trouble, imagine you work in a functional organization, and you know that project priorities and your authority over team members is low. A functional manager assigns a “top person” to fill a key project role. While this may “sound OK,” depending on your organization this “top person” is likely to have competing objectives with the project, and it is probable that high-priority functional tasks will take priority over tasks for your project. So instead of ignoring this risk or hoping for the best, set up the resourcing to succeed by planning the work appropriately. This is one of many planning elements that can cause a project to veer into trouble.

Misaligned Expectations: Stakeholder’s expectations often change through a project’s life. Indeed, stakeholders themselves, including the sponsor, often change. Most project teams capture their stakeholder’s expectations at the start, and devise means of prioritizing and deciding when conflicting expectations exists. However, do you continue to pay attention to changing needs and changing stakeholders? Projects that fail to identify and respond to stakeholder changes (e.g. when new people come on board and/or the organization needs to change direction) are prone to sway into trouble.

Have you worked on or known of a project where key stakeholders have suggested changes very late in the project (what could be called “constructive feedback” on what has been built)? Late changes or the potential for them can signal trouble quite quickly. A project should have a natural cycle that allows stakeholder’s constructive feedback and input in the requirements early, and to taper off as the project progresses through execution. If you have properly planned, managed and captured stakeholder expectations, and have good communications in place, the level “feedback for changes” should be minimal and controllable.

Ineffective Risk Management: Risk management should underpin all project activities. Remember that risks can be positive (opportunities) as well as negative; however there is no such thing as “positive trouble.” All trouble is bad. Risk management is not just about maintaining a Risk Register. It is about considering all risks and devising ways — as a team — to categorize risks, devise ways to respond to them, agree on these responses and put actions into place to track them. Risks are related to all aspects of projects — schedule, budget, safety, quality and everything else. Ineffective risk management comes about when the project fails to carry out these activities properly. Trouble on projects can arise from the “unknown Unknowns.” Therefore, management and contingency reserves planning should be included in your risk response planning.

What steps can a project manager take to steer a project back on course if it finds itself in this position? Much research exists, and we do not propose to go into much detail here. Depending on the type of organization you work in, and the authority granted to you, the exact tasks will vary. Below are a few “corrective actions” that can span most types of organizations.

1. Early detection. Firstly, try to prevent it from straying into trouble. Projects do not normally fall immediately into trouble; they “take a path towards it.” Having a system and routines in place to provide early detection is key to limiting the impact when projects begin to display telltale signs of trouble. A project manager must be willing to “sound the alarm bell” and know that they have the support of the project’s key stakeholders to implement early corrective actions. However, many factors can prevent such early warning signs being recognized or heeded.

2. Accept responsibility. The project manager and others must accept the responsibility for the project being off course (within their extent to control it). The project manager must also take responsibility for getting the project back on track — with the help of the right stakeholders. If the project manager cannot do this, management needs to work out how to help the project manager overcome the problems, perhaps with the help of a Risk Response Team that works alongside the main project team.

3. Be flexible and open to feedback. Every project has a unique set of stakeholder and project team members. What may have worked well for you in previous projects, may not work best for your current project. Be willing to solicit feedback from your team and adapt the workings of your project as needed.

4. Be willing to re-contract or re-baseline. This is especially true if expectations have been missed. Consider the steps and processes used to identify, prioritize and agree on a collective set of project expectations. If needed, conduct a thorough review and be willing to go back to “square one” and revisit the business case for the project, ask “Does it still align to strategy objectives?” and “Is the project still worth undertaking?” Expectations do change and stakeholders change. Be willing to review expectations in your stakeholder routines and embrace changes via change controls if needed.

In conclusion, we have only covered a few aspects of troubled projects in this article. If you work on many projects in your career, it is likely that you will be, or have been, involved in a poorly performing project at some point in time. Key to limiting the damage is to know how to spot the signs and to “stop the rot” early if you can. If it does happen to you, try stepping back and looking for the root causes of the problem (knowing that this can take time to do), don’t fall prey to rash reactions, and determine solid ways to address the problem or trouble proactively.

Denial can be a powerful force preventing you from acting. Keep close communication with your project stakeholders, be open about things, and if you have to implement a mitigation plan, make sure you keep track of actions, and as positive progress starts to occur let them know how things are shaping up, hopefully for the better.
 

Positivity is King

Let’s say you’re walking down the street and encounter someone who expresses their negativity to you and every other passer-by. In this kind of situation, it’s easy to avoid them; you just walk right on by. Maybe shake your head a little. But if that negative person is an employee or customer it’s not so easy to walk on by, is it?

Every entrepreneur needs to surround themselves with positive, happy, constructive people. Part of your recruiting and hiring process should be designed to identify these kinds of behaviors and root out the negative ones.  But even in the best companies, a negative person can get hired; and sometimes, it’s a case of a positive employee turning into a disaster.

In researching this article I found a plethora of material and tips on how to effectively deal with a negative employee. Much of this advice can be boiled down to a few simple steps, all of it in keeping with the E-Myth Point of View.

As with constructing a house, the foundation is of ultimate importance in supporting the rest of the building. That’s why it’s so important that you create a culture – right away – that emphasizes positive values and attributes and articulates those values clearly. It’s about reinforcing the kind of attitude you want to see in the workplace. You should also have a clear communication structure in place where managers meet with their direct reports on a regular basis. If you’re meeting regularly, don’t let negative behavior go unrecognized and unaddressed.

Specific Steps to Address Negativity

Here are some steps you can take when you encounter problems with negative employees. First, observe and quantify the employee’s negative behavior. It takes observable and tangible examples and more than one instance to label an employee negative. When confronting the employee, you’ll need to describe the specifics of the negative behavior and how it affects your company and the other employees. It’s not enough to simply say, “Tom, I feel like you’ve become a negative influence around here.” You need specific examples like, “Tom, you’ve been overheard after meetings telling other employees you don’t like the direction we’re taking. Why not address those issues directly with me?”

It helps to get support from others in the organization, such as another manager, to both verify what you’ve observed and perhaps even sit in on the meeting with the employee. Don’t try to extract a confession out of the employee or get them to apologize. You just want them to know you are aware of their toxic behavior.
Next you want to demonstrate good leadership by re-aligning the employee with the organization’s values, purpose and goals. Lead them to the realization that their behavior is affecting their success and undermines the organization. Ask the employee what will help them turn their negative behavior into positive behavior. See if they have an explanation which will help you understand the situation more clearly. If the cause appears to be personal, perhaps you can refer them to an employee assistance counselor. If the explanation is work related, this provides an open invitation to ask more questions, listen, coach and mentor them. Sometimes understanding that there is an organizational cause for the behavior leads you to correcting it and improving the overall company culture.

Always be vigilant that you don’t turn cause the employee to become more negative. You can never change a negative employee (or customer) with negativity. Don’t expect miracles. Just get them to elevate their awareness and know you are aware of their behavior. End the discussion with a positive belief that they can change.  Most importantly, you must deal with negative behaviors swiftly and firmly because negative employees create suspicion, tension, hostility and undermine leadership.

Most insidious are the negative employees who come to work on time each day and are good workers technically, so traditional performance evaluations will grade them adequate or even better. The work environment can be a happy, productive place, though it isn't always that way. One little bit of negatively can seep through the workforce quickly, bringing down both the productivity and morale of your people.

Finding out where the negativity lies is usually a question of knowing and communicating with your staff. Regular communication systems that keep you in touch with your employees along with a management commitment and sensitivity in dealing with these issues can make all the difference.

Negative Customers

Employees are one thing, but what about dealing with negativity from customers? Again, it comes down to the same principles of communication and remaining in close connection so that you can right a negative situation immediately. As the E-Myth Point of View expresses, a customer complaint is always an opportunity, and one can use their complaints and concerns to innovate the fulfillment process to better serve the customer. Quick communication and action usually placates the customer poised to turn negative over a bad experience.

Sometimes customers can turn toxic just like an employee. One of my clients likes to say that at times, he has to “fire a customer.” What he means is that it makes good business sense to cut the relationships with those customers that are draining his energies, causing too much wasted time and not sufficiently adding to profits. It’s never easy, but occasionally the diplomatic and clear severing of the relationship is the best bet; as your product and service may be misaligned to their expectations, causing the negative behavior.

One thing to remember though, is that in this age of instant communication, our customers (or employees for that matter) can broadcast their negativity immediately. It’s incumbent upon the business owner and managers of the organization to understand their customers and communicate with them regularly. When negativity rises with customers, it can usually be transformed when you come from a place of genuine concern and by demonstrating a caring attitude, listening to them and giving them more from the relationship than they were previously receiving.

Positivity Is King

As business owners, you set the tone and tenor for your organization. Attitude and energy are infectious. At E-Myth we point out that a business is a reflection of the leader. If you emanate positivity and instill that same sense in your culture and team, then the negative behaviors will quickly stand out against this foundation of positive expression. Regular meetings and communication with employees will demonstrate the managerial commitment to deal with undesired behaviors. Nip the negativity in the bud with positive mentoring and coaching, and lead your employees (and customers) with your exuberant positive attitude! 

Sell Yourself: 14 Steps to Creating a Powerful Personal Brand

One of the best ways to articulate your skills, experience, knowledge, and overall worth in today's competitive job market is to create a personal brand that helps you stand out in the crowd.

According to management expert and author Tom Peters, "We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer of a brand called You."

This article explores 14 steps to creating a successful personal brand.

Step 1: Determine your unique value proposition

Spend some time thinking about what makes you different than your peers -- your strengths, your passions, and your goals.

If you left your job today, what would your company and colleagues miss? Know who you are, as well as who you are not.

Step 2: Find out how others see you

Ask trusted colleagues, co-workers, and friends for four or five adjectives they would use to describe you.

What are you good at? What are your strengths? In which areas do they view you as "irreplaceable?"

Step 3: Identify your goals

Where would you like to be in six months? One year? Five years? Ten years?

Defining your goals is necessary to crafting a message that helps you reach them.

Step 4: Identify your target audience

Just like Starbucks knows that their target audience is coffee drinkers, you need to define to whom you want to send your message.

This will not only help you hone your message, it will help you deliver it to the right places.

Step 5: Reorganize your priorities

You're probably used to putting yourself behind your company, co-workers, and clients.

You still want to be loyal to these groups, but be loyal to yourself, first.

Step 6: Pay attention to the details

Everything you do ultimately contributes to your personal brand.

Once your brand has been defined, make sure that the little things -- the way you dress, your body language, how you behave with co-workers, the emails you write -- are consistent with your brand message.

Step 7: Update your resume

Go through your resume to determine it gels with your brand.

Ensure that your resume accurately defines who you are, and is in line with both your short-term and long-term goals.

Step 8: Become a social networker

Set up accounts at social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Ask those in your target audience to subscribe to your pages, and update on a daily basis.

Make sure your updates are germane to your branding message.

Step 9: Build your own website

Your website should highlight your professional accomplishments, your skills and knowledge, what you stand for, and your overall value.

Make it primarily about you, not your company or clients.

Step 10: Blog

Platforms like WordPress and Joomla make it easier than ever to promote yourself to your target audience.

Commit to posting a couple of times a week on topics that your audience will find interesting and educational, but that also highlight your unique skills and experience

Step 11: Get published

Write a book, contribute to industry publications, or simply update the content on your own website.

Being published is an ideal way to promote yourself as an expert in your field.

Step 12: Go offline

Be sure to promote your brand in person, too.

Join and participate in industry groups, give talks at conferences, or offer to spearhead a large project that highlights your unique talents.

Step 13: Tend to your marketing network

Be sure to keep co-workers, colleagues, clients, and friends updated about what you are doing.

Word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool, and what the people in your network say about you will ultimately have an effect on your brand.

Step 14: Review your brand (and how you portray it) frequently

Are you portraying your brand in a way that's concise and easily understood?

Is your brand message consistent among all platforms? A regular review will ensure your message remains clear.

Sold!

If you want to be successful, creating a personal brand isn't just an option, it's a necessity.

Whether you aspire to get that promotion or land your dream job, creating a compelling and consistent brand will help you meet your goals.

Do You Make Things Too Complicated? Take the Razor to Them.

This time of year, we often hear people say “appreciate the simple things.” They’re usually not talking about business, but my holiday wish for you (after health and happiness) is to look at everything your business does and ask, “Is this as simple as it can be?” Or even, “Is this necessary at all?”

Other BNET writers and I have mentioned Occam’s Razor before. It’s the fourteenth-century equivalent of “K.I.S.S.,” and it is a philosophy I believe in wholeheartedly. At its essence, it says that the more complicated something is, the more likely it is to be wrong. Or conversely, the simplest solution will usually be the best. This doesn’t mean that there are not extremely complex things in life and business — there’s no simple way to launch a space shuttle — it just means that keeping complexity to a bare minimum in any given situation is likely to yield the best result.
Information overload, the Web and new media, 24/7 communication and connectivity, and powerful (not to mention cheap or free) business tools invite over-complication like never before. Most of us fall into the trap without even knowing it. So, give yourself a gift this season and take an “Occam Inventory.” Look at the way you and your business do things and see if you can take the Razor to them. Are you really keeping things as simple as they can/should be?

Here are five easy places to start (warning-reckless use of question marks ahead):

• Meetings - Do you have too many? What do they actually accomplish? Does everyone really need to be there? Many studies and surveys have challenged the value of meetings. For most companies it’s probably unrealistic to have none at all, but take a hard look at the quantity and quality of your meetings and see what they are really doing for you. My bet is that most businesses can have fewer people, meeting less often, for less time, and get more done.
• Information - Many organizations bury themselves in reports, graphs, charts and other data. Obviously business is about information; facts and figures need to be measured and reviewed. But are you overdoing it? Are you really using every stack of printouts that’s put on your desk, or are you gathering data as an end and not a means? Do you have analysis paralysis? I once worked with a guy who constantly asked me to print reports, some of them inches thick, which would invariably collect dust on the corner of his desk, untouched. One day I asked why he was asking for all of this stuff and not reading it. His answer was “in case the CEO asks me a question and I need an answer.” Not sure if that qualifies as “complication,” but at a minimum it was a complete waste of time and resources. Ask yourself if you really need all that data, or if you can simplify, and actually get much more done with much less. C’mon… even with a new cover sheet, you’re probably not going to read that TPS report.
• Bureaucracy - is your company wrapped in red tape? Do you have a form, procedure, rule and regulation for every little thing, and if so, are they all necessary? Really? Organizations often create work and paper-shuffling where it serves no real purpose. Whenever I see stacks of forms behind someone’s desk and wonder what happens with them, I think of the last scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. If you hire, fire, buy or sell, of course there’s unavoidable paperwork. But has your company gotten carried away? Are forms, procedures and rules making you efficient, or just bloated?
• Media - It’s so easy and so deliciously tempting. Your company can have a Facebook page, blog, Twitter page, YouTube channel, smartphone app, streaming video content, and all these cool icons on your Web site. But as I often say, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. If you have a solid, well-executed online/media plan and a clear vision of how every element serves your business, go for it. But if you are like many companies, you’re doing a lot of stuff just because others are… because it seems like you should. If you are dedicating resources to keeping up with the digital Joneses, is it doing anything for your business? Are you doing more than you need to? What has your Bebo page done for you lately?
• Customer experience - Do you make your customers jump through hoops to do business with you? Is your voice mail system unnecessarily complicated and annoying? Web site overdone and/or impossible to navigate? Do you ask for too much information, especially information that you don’t really need or won’t really use? If you only pick one area of your business to Occamize, make it this one. Do not allow one iota of unnecessary complexity into any customer interaction or process.

In business, things tend to build inertia (”that’s the way we’ve always done it”) and we don’t often put on the brakes to challenge them. But I guarantee that if you perform an Occam’s Inventory honestly and without a personal or defensive agenda, you will find areas where you can simplify your business. Save time, money, paper. Make customers and employees happier and more productive. Do less and get more done.

Please share your thoughts, and have a happy, uncomplicated holiday season.    

By Michael Hess

Sales Quiz: Which Product Pitch Sells Best?

SCENARIO: A customer has asked you for a one-line description of your product. You don’t have the opportunity to do a solution sell, or to find out about the customer.

You’ve got one chance to pitch your product in a way that’s most likely to get the customer to buy. Irritatingly, your marketing group has mandated that you use one of three pre-written product messages.

Here are your choices. Pick the best, then click on the link below for the correct answer:

• MESSAGE #1: “Our product is the most advanced in the world today. It represents thousands of hours of research and testing. It is covered by a comprehensive guarantee and is responsible for helping hundreds of companies similar to yours.”
• MESSAGE #2: “Our product increases your productivity. It will allow your firm to operate more profitably by maximizing your performance while lowering your cost of ownership, while simultaneous eliminating busy work.”
• MESSAGE #3: “Our product performs the functions that customer request most often. It helps you have a better experience, and solves the problems that are keeping your and your firm from fulfilling your most important goals.”

Which message is compelling?

#1: "Our product is..."

#2: "Our product increases..."

#3: "Our product performs..."

The Result?

• #1: "Our product is..." 6%
• #2: "Our product increases..." 56%
• #3: "Our product performs..." 39%

What is the correct answer?

The correct answer is #2. Here’s why. According to Dean Schantz, a senior consultant with Corporate Visions, the three generic messages correspond to the three ways that sales reps tell about offerings.

• #1 is an “IS” message that explains what it IS that you’re selling.
• #2 is a “MEANS” message describing what it means to the customer.
• #3 is a “DOES” message telling what customer can do with offering.

Customers are almost always more interested in what an offering means to them, than what it is or what it does. To illustrate this, here are the same messages, along with the kind of concrete details that would normally appear in a sales message:

• #1: The “IS” message. “The CPU100 is the most powerful computer chip in the world today. Our scientists worked thousands of hours to research and test this technological marvel. It has been wildly successful and now has a 75 percent market share.”
• #2: The “MEANS” message. “The CPU100 means that you’re can get your work done more quickly. You don’t have to wait for web pages to display or for your documents to print. You can get your computer work done quickly, in order to get back to things you truly enjoy.”
• #3: The “DOES” message. “The CPU100 crunches through numbers faster than anything else on the market. With it you can download large documents, display giant pages of rich media, and still have processing power left to edit a high resolution video.”

As you can see, for most customers, the “MEANS” message is going to be far more compelling because it edges into the reasons that the customer might actual buy the offering.

However, it must be said that product-focused messages are, in general, not very compelling. However, if you’ve got to talk product, you’d best talk about it in terms of what that product’s usage will mean to the customer.

8 Questions to Ask Before Every Presentation

Good career advice need not be complicated and sometimes the best tips are the most straightforward. Keen to prove you’re a master of the complexities of your industry or role, you may focus on the tricky parts of your job and forget the basics. Chris Brogan is having none of that when it comes to presentations.

Writing on the American Express OPEN Forum recently, the prolific public speaker recounts how many presenters forget the basics of preparation and planning. To tackle this epidemic of under-preparation, he has put together a simple list of eight questions every speaker should have answered before they step in front of a crowd.

• My main goal of this presentation is for the audience to ______.
• The top 3 things I need the audience to take away from this presentation are ____, ____, _____.
• In the first few minutes (no more than 2), I will capture this audience by _____.
• If my gear dies, the main 3 things I will tell them are ____, ____ , ____.
• If they start looking bored or confused, I will shift gears by _______.
• At the end of this presentation, I want people to ______.
• When I’m done the presentation, I will _____ .
• When following up with people after this presentation, I will offer them _____.

How many embarrassments (and hours of audience boredom) could have been averted by using this simple checklist? The questions are just part of a much longer post on the art of the presentation, so those looking for more insights on the topic should check it out in full.

10 Reasons Why Your Network is Your Biggest Asset

What’s a senior executive’s biggest asset? Most would say it’s their network. Not their social network, their real network. Ten thousand Twitter followers or Facebook fans aren’t worth ten solid network relationships to an executive.

Not that social media isn’t one way to make those contacts, but they’re only effective if and when they become real relationships. That means someone you can call, email, or get together with when you need to, and vice versa.

Vistage International is an organization of senior executives and business leaders with over 14,000 members, worldwide. One of the top reasons people sign up? The network.

I’d even go as far as to say that senior-level executives can’t be really successful without a robust network. Sure, they may pull in a decent paycheck, but they won’t rise to the top. If this is news to you and you aspire to be a successful manager or executive, then it’s time to take your head out of the sand and start networking. Here’s what you stand to gain from the effort:

10 Reasons Why Your Network is Your Biggest Asset:

1. Introductions. Whether you’re an entrepreneur in need of venture capital or a marketing VP looking for the best PR firm, you’re more likely to find it through your network than by any other means.
2. Opportunities. Over a 30-year career, most of my major career and business opportunities came from my network. Business associates, friends of friends, casual conversations, business meetings, social events, whatever. But you’ve got to pay attention.
3. Sorting out thorny problems. Anyone who thinks they’ve never met a work problem they can’t resolve has never been a CEO. The problem with problems is that they keep getting escalated until there’s nowhere left to go. The buck has to stop somewhere. And getting a fellow exec to help sort out a monster problem is a big plus.
4. Recruiting. Perhaps the most critical job of any manager is to hire talented people, and the best place to find them is through your network. And not just for direct reports, but also for recommendations on peers, key employees, board members, you name it.
5. Ideas. I don’t know about you, but most of my best ideas come from bouncing them around with like-minded people.
6. Competitive intelligence. It’s a big, hairy global market and smart executives dig for competitive intelligence. Much of that info comes from sales and marketing, but where do you think they get it from? That’s right, their network.
7. Sensitive issues. Top executives often face sensitive issues they can’t discuss with others at the company. Sometimes they just need an outside perspective from another CEO. For example, some of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s friends are Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Mark Hurd (when he was CEO of H-P, as well). Makes sense, doesn’t it?
8. Seeing the big market picture. A huge component of any manager’s success is her ability to anticipate significant market changes. While nobody has a crystal ball, if you get enough anecdotal data from enough sources, you can get a pretty good picture of what’s going on.
9. Moral support. Business is full of tradeoffs. Rarely are critical and complex issues black and white. When top execs wrestle with gray issues, it’s nice to be able to pick up the phone for advice and support.
10. You don’t know what you don’t know. While there are exceptions, know-it-alls don’t typically get ahead. Smart managers know what they don’t know and that means they depend very much on comparing notes with others in their network.

Is your network your biggest asset?

10 Ways to Stop Communication Overload

We used to complain about all the useless back-to-back meetings and being copied on hundreds of unnecessary emails. Now we long for those days. We used to say there’s no such thing as over-communication. Now we’d do anything to make it stop.

Communication is out of control and it’s taking all the fun - and productivity - out of work.

Don’t get me wrong, communication is as important to business success and organizational effectiveness as it used to be. There’s just too much of it. For whatever reason, the old problem of protecting domains by limiting the flow of information has morphed into a new problem of hyper-collaboration where everybody’s included in everything.

If you ask me, the communication pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction, although I’m not really sure why:

• Is it simply the umpteenth fad, an overemphasis on communication, collaboration, and teamwork because that’s the way we’re supposed to do things now?
• Is it an overreaction to the virtualization of the workforce, an attempt to control and reel in all those remote teams, telecommuters and flextime users?
• Is it just because we can, now that we’ve all got smartphones, a million ways to message and chat, social media, virtual meeting and collaboration tools?

Whatever the reason, communication overload has reached epidemic proportions and it’s killing precious productivity and effectiveness at a time of economic strife and global competition, when our already overwhelmed and under-resourced management teams and workforces can least afford it.

Here are 10 Ways to Stop Communication Overload:

1. Every meeting - physical or virtual - must have an objective, an agenda, a start time and an end time; everybody who attends every meeting must have a specific and definitive purpose for being there.
2. Stop adding people to processes and groups. Every person you add to every process, group, communication, team, whatever, adds complexity and reduces productivity because people tend to say and do things, then others tend to respond, and so-forth. It’s always easier to herd fewer cats.
3. Question the broad use of predefined email distribution lists, reconsider every individual you cc on an email, and most importantly, don’t automatically hit “Reply to All.”
4. Reconsider internal meetings to prepare for other internal meetings, layers and layers of review meetings, the wisdom of “all hands” meetings, and panicked, kneejerk reactions to involve the whole damn world in a crisis.
5. Encourage and reward employee accountability, risk-taking, and initiative for resolving problems on their own.
6. If anybody out there is still trying to make matrix management work, stop. It’s a brilliant organizational concept that’s nearly impossible to execute without creating mass confusion and, ultimately, way more problems than it solves.
7. Be leery of noncritical management fads that are sure to create tons of meetings with amorphous results. Remember OD - Organization Development?
8. Question the ubiquitous “I want to be involved” and “keep me in the loop” micromanaging / controlling mentality.
9. Don’t use collaboration or communication tools for the sake of using them. If the net ROI isn’t clear, don’t do it.
10. Never forget that, now more than ever, time is everyone’s most precious asset.

Look, I’m not suggesting we return to the old school of isolated silos that control the flow of information. It’s just that we’ve gone too far the other way and need to take some of this communication and collaboration stuff off the table and create a little balance or, if nothing else, some time for people to actually get some work done.

5 Ways to Eliminate Time Bandits

By Erin Duckhorn

Time is just another word for life.

—Michael Gerber

Time management is a skill that a lot of us struggle with. Even with the best intentions and the latest technological gadget that is supposed to streamline your work and improve efficiency, how often have you left work planning all the things you need to do in the morning because you didn’t get to them today? Busy business owners are just that: busy!

What kind of work is keeping you busy?

At E-Myth, we make a very clear distinction between the strategic and tactical work. Strategic work is the work you do to define the results you are there to produce. Tactical work is the work you do to produce the results strategic work has defined. When you think about your day, what percentage of your time do you spend in each area? Where is the greater value for your business?

Even if you know that you need to focus on strategy, how do you carve out time in your day for strategic work when you’re just trying to stay on top of the technical work you have to do? It’s a question we hear all the time from our clients. It doesn’t matter if you’re a retail store owner, a doctor, an IT professional or a contractor; everybody, it seems, is fighting the clock.

That’s why we dedicate a whole process in our Mastery Impact! coaching program solely on time management. With the intention of freeing yourself from the technical work, in this process we take a look at how you’re spending your time to accurately determine how much of your time is spent on productive activities that directly contribute to the results you want, and how much of your time is spent unproductively. This is a revealing process, and we usually identify areas for improvement very quickly.

Another thing we explore in our Time Management process is what we call “Time Bandits.” You know, those pesky "time stealers" and distractions that take attention away from strategic work—email, a talkative vendor, the telephone, your mother-in-law, broken office equipment… The list goes on.

Finding the discipline to eliminate Time Bandits is an important part of getting to the strategic work you need to do. Below are five Time Bandit Busters (there are 25 more in our process) that might instigate a change in how you approach time management.

5 Time Bandit Busting Tips

1. Prioritize and Stay Focused Evaluate your daily tasks and prioritize. If nothing else gets done today, what are the one or two items that absolutely must be done? The most successful CEOs of Fortune 500 companies only focus on one or two priorities for a given day.
2. Delegate as much as you can. Let go of the idea that nobody can do what you do the way that you do it! With the right systems in place, you can properly delegate the tactical work that keeps you from working on your business. There is critical distinction however, between delegating and abdicating, and you can read more about that here.
3. Set and meet deadlines for yourself and your employees. Set reasonable deadlines for all jobs and stick to them. Hold yourself accountable just as you would an employee. It’s true; work expands to fill the available time so set expectations.
4. Don’t postpone unpleasant tasks. Those “bitter pills” that you put off can come back to haunt you in so many ways. A situation may become more acute with time, not to mention the fact that it will be sitting in the back of your mind (or somebody else’s mind) becoming a distraction. It’s best to take care of important matters that are unpleasant immediately. Resolution is so much better than wasting precious time wondering “what if…”
5. Learn to say “No.” Beware of over commitment! You are the only one who can truly protect your time. Learn the art of saying “no” politely. If this seems daunting, try this: when confronted with an opportunity, don't commit immediately. Take a moment to listen to your intuition and refer to your schedule; you may find that declining is the reasonable answer. People know you're busy, it's okay to set boundaries.

Building a successful business requires the ability to see the big picture while immersed in the details, the hundreds of decisions and activities that command your attention from minute to minute, day to day. Imagine the impact it will have if you can effectively establish priorities and focus your attention so your everyday decision-making becomes aligned with your big-picture vision. Eliminate the Time Bandits that take your focus away from the strategic work of the business and you will begin to work on your business rather than in it.

The Vision-Based Business Plan

The idea of a business plan is very comforting. It makes people feel safe and secure to know that there is a plan guiding business activities in the “right” way.

But why is it that business plans almost never come to life? Why do almost all of them, once written, sit on a shelf and gather dust, while the futures they describe never see the light of day, and the businesses they describe wobble their way into their uncertain futures?

From the E-Myth perspective, a business plan is flawed right from the start unless it’s based on the right intention. In order for a business plan to work—to truly be useful—it must be based on your business vision.

Your vision is your dream for the future of the business and the path you will take to make it a reality. No matter what stage of the business development cycle your business is in (infancy, adolescence, or maturity), as the leader of the organization, your vision should be absolutely clear, it should describe where you are going and what the destination will be like.

A business without a vision is directionless. It lacks purpose and heart. It lacks the essential idea from which commitment, growth and the sense of personal achievement arise and flourish.

The same holds true for a business plan created without vision. Your business plan is the link between the work of your business and the vision that work is intended to produce.

Your business plan needs your vision to make it come alive, to make it a reality. And similarly, your vision needs the form, direction, and clarity of a business plan to give it relevance to the day-to-day operation of your business.

The Traditional Business Plan

Writing a traditional business plan is usually precipitated by one of two thoughts: either 1) we’d better write a business plan because “that’s what successful businesses do,” or 2) we need to write a business plan if we want to go out and borrow some money.

Most business plans, therefore, are developed from a head-centered place. In other words, they’re analytical and they’re dry. They’re full of charts and graphs and cerebral motivation which don’t appeal to emotions at all. A plan that starts in the head, based purely on logic and reason, lacks passion, excitement and purpose.

As we all know, humans make choices based on emotions. That’s why we always advise, when attracting and converting new customers, to appeal to their emotional mind rather than their rational mind. It’s the emotional part of the mind that makes the buying decisions. Doesn’t it then make sense that your business plan should inspire that same kind of emotional “buy in” with your employees, lenders, investors etc.?

The Vision-Based Plan

In contrast, a business plan that’s based on your business vision is propelled forward because you want it to work, as the expression says, with all your heart. In fact, you can also think of it as a heart-centered plan.

Your vision-based business plan is a statement of your vision and a current description of the main strategies and tactics you’ll use to make your vision come true. From the strategies and tactics discussed in your plan, each department and position will be able to develop the additional strategies, tactics, and systems to achieve their results and, ultimately, the strategic objective of the company.

Here are some “productive points of view” about planning that will make it a truly worthwhile endeavor:

• Start with what’s important to you. A mediocre plan that you (and others) feel passionately about will serve you better than a technically superior plan that you don’t feel strongly about.
• Approach planning as more of an art than a science. Professionally-formatted plans with tons of quantification and data can give a false impression of certainty and precision. Use your best thinking when you plan, but don’t forget that even the best thinking involves educated guesswork.
• Create a planning framework that accommodates change. Don’t think of your plan as a rigid, “final product” with every detail pinned down. Think of it more as a series of guideposts of key topics to focus attention on and targets to aim for.
• Treat the plan as a living, growing document. Review it, evaluate it, and revise it. Keep questioning your assumptions. Stay flexible and open to change.

A traditional business plan simply won’t give you the results you want or need because nobody’s committed to working it. The business plan that always works may look a lot like the traditional business plan; you could put them side by side and not notice any difference. But their appearance is where the similarity ends. A business plan based on vision, enthusiasm and purpose will trump your traditional business plan every time.

By: Erin Duckhorn

5 Acronyms You Should Know

No, those aren’t text messages from your teenager. And they aren’t computer parts, or government agencies either.

If you look at these five abbreviations and have no idea what they are, or don’t understand the role they play in your business’ finances: read on. While we spend a great deal of time going through these topics with our coaching clients, we'll skim the surface here so that at the very least, you can familiarize yourself with some of this terminology and how important it is to the financial health of your business.

P&L – Profit and Loss Statement

Your Profit and Loss Statement (or income statement) describes your company’s overall performance. The P&L tells how much money you’re making in your business and how you’re making it. It measures revenues received and costs incurred over a certain period of time. It tells you if you’re making money or not, and how much you’re making or losing.

E-Myth Business Coach Tip: Go over each line item, and compare it with the previous month’s P&L. If you don’t understand what a line item represents, find out. The numbers should make sense to YOU, not to your accountant. And if you haven’t already, organize the line items so that similar items are closer together. The default setting in most financial software usually lists the expenses alphabetically. For example, it makes sense to see “Product Packaging Materials” next to “Merchandise Purchased for Resale.” Feel free to combine line items to make your P&L more concise, and/or break apart line items to show you more details so you can make some sound business decisions based on what the numbers are telling you.

COGS - Cost of Goods Sold

Also referred to as the “cost of sales,” COGS are the direct costs attributable to the production of goods sold. This includes material cost and production (labor) costs but does not include indirect cost like advertising or R&D. COGS will show up on your P&L Statements.

E-Myth Business Coach Tip: Watch the percentages, not the actual dollar amounts from one month to the next. The percentage should stay pretty much the same with regards to revenues.

EBITDA - Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization

This is the most complicated of the acronyms we’re discussing today, but essentially EBITDA measures the core income that your company earns before your cover your debt payments and income taxes. It’s an indicator of operating performance and profitability, but it’s not a good measure of cash because it doesn’t include changes in working capital.

EBITDA will be important if you want to sell your business; it allows buyers or investors to evaluate your operating profitability and profit trends without the unique variables that might distract from bottom line performance.

E-Myth Business Coach Tip: EBITDA is a good way to measure your profitability, but be forewarned: even businesses with a great EBITDA can go out of business due to cash flow. EBITDA leaves out the cash needed to fund working capital and the replacement of old equipment. Profits are great, but if you have no cash, your business will “bleed out” pretty quickly.

BEP – Break-Even Point

This is one of those numbers you want to know by heart and just like it says, this important indicator tells you at what point your business “breaks even.” It is the dollar amount of revenues that exactly covers all your operating expenses (variable and fixed costs), with nothing left over for profit. It’s an important indicator of risk because it shows you how close your business is to the “no profit” line. For instance, if your business is currently producing revenues at the level of $100,000 per month, and your break-even point is $60,000 per month, you are comfortably above your no profit line.

You want your BEP swimming in your head at all times. It’s your minimum target for slow months, and it’s where you begin all of your budgeting and forecasting. At a minimum, your revenues (sales) should be at least as high as your BEP. The goal, of course, is to increase this number over time so that revenues (sales) are above the BEP.

E-Myth Business Coach Tip: If you don’t know what your BEP is, you need to find out. Now. And how many customers does it take to hit your BEP this month? Per week? Per day? How many leads do you need to get that many customers? Also: if you want to lower the breakeven sales number, reduce your cost of goods sold or your operating expenses.

CR and QR: Current Ratio and Quick Ratio

Current Ratio = [Current Assets ÷ Current Liabilities]

The current ratio measures your ability to meet short-term obligations by determining if you have enough current assets to cover current liabilities. Ideally, your current ratio should be near 2.00, meaning your current assets are two times, or 200%, of your current liabilities. If your current ratio is below 2.00, your short-term debt-paying ability is reduced. This is an unstable financial position, and you should examine your finances to see where improvements can be made. If your current ratio is above 2.00, you have above average debt-paying ability; however, if it is too high, it may mean that you are not utilizing your assets effectively. If it’s below a 1, then you’ve got an emergency on your hands.

Quick Ratio = [(Current Assets - Inventory) ÷ Current Liabilities]

Like the current ratio, the quick ratio measures short-term debt-paying ability. It is calculated without inventory because inventory is not as easy to turn into cash as your other current assets. Thus, the quick ratio examines assets that can be turned into cash in the least amount of time. Businesses that carry a lot of inventory need this important planning tool. Ideally, your quick ratio should be at 1.00 or higher. If it is lower than 1.00, you may have trouble meeting your current obligations. Below 0.5 is an emergency. Note that if you don't carry inventory, your current ratio and quick ratio will be the same.

Money doesn’t have to be elusive, complicated, or difficult to control!

All it really takes is a commitment to two things: (1) understanding the relationship between money and your business activities and (2) creating and implementing—on a regular, ongoing basis—a few straightforward money management tools and strategies. When you understand how money flows in your business and you can control your money systems, you will make informed decisions about prioritization, management and investments.

You don’t have to be a finance expert; you just have to understand enough to make the decisions that matter.

Pushing the Spectrum

Marketers have long tried to turn happy events into shopping opportunities. Macy's and Gimbels and others pushed us to see Christmas as a chance to buy gifts. Shopping is right next to happiness on the spectrum of emotions, I guess, just as green is next to blue in the rainbow. They did it to Valentine's day and now, of course, Halloween.

Lately, some marketers would like to push us to move from fear to hatred. It makes it easier for them. We honor and remember the heroes who gave everything, the innocent who were lost, the neighbors who narrowly escaped. A day to hate? I hope we can do better than that.

Loyalty

Loyalty is what we call it when someone refuses a momentarily better option.

If your offering is always better, you don't have loyal customers, you have smart ones. Don't brag about how loyal your customers are when you're the cheapest or you have clearly dominated some key element of what the market demands. That's not loyalty. That's something else.

Loyal customers understand that there's almost always something better out there, but they're not so interested in looking.

Loyalty can be rewarded, but loyalty usually comes from within, from a story we like to tell ourselves. We're loyal to sports teams and products (and yes, to people) because being loyal makes us happy. Why else be a fan of the Cubs? Some customers like being loyal. Those are good customers to have.

Loyalty isn't forever. Sometimes, the world changes significantly and even though the loyal partner/customer likes that label, it gets so difficult to stick that he switches.

I think there's no doubt that some brands and teams and politicians and yes, people, attract a greater percentage of loyal fans than others. Not because they're bigger or better, but because they reinforce the good feeling some people get when they're being loyal. Hint: low price or supermodel good looks are not the tools of choice for attracting people who enjoy being loyal.

Rewarding loyalty for loyalty's sake--not by paying people for sticking it out so the offering ends up being more attractive--is not an obvious path, but it's a worthwhile one. Tell a story that appeals to loyalists. Treat different customers differently, and reserve your highest level of respect for those that stand by you.

If you want to learn to do marketing...

then do marketing.

You can learn finance and accounting and media buying from a book. But the best way to truly learn how to do marketing is to market.

You don't have to quit your job and you don't need your boss's permission. There are plenty of ways to get started.

If you see a band you like coming to town, figure out how to promote them and sell some tickets (posters? google ads? PR?). Don't ask, just do it.

If you find a book you truly love, buy 30 and figure out how to sell them all (to strangers).

If you're 12, go door to door selling fresh fruit--and figure out what stories work and which don't.

Set up an online business. Get a candidate you believe in elected to the school board.

The best way to learn marketing is to do it. JUST DO IT!

by: Seth Godin