Others are not living

in your shoes…

     When your business is struggling is not the time to be joining hands with other struggling businesses.  It’s time to bail out and back off all your good-intention, admirable community do-gooder projects before they end up flushing you down the tubes and out of existence.  There comes a time when you need to muster your forces to be able to come from a position of strength.

     Clinging to involvements with borderline business value when your business is suffering, for example, simply because they’ve gained you a reliable, responsible reputation in your town or county –and you’re reluctant to let anyone down who’s counting on you– is just plain stupid!  

     The local chamber of commerce and Rotary Club and Kiwanis and Little League managed just fine before you got involved and they will survive economic downturn times because someone will always run to the rescue.  But, if your business is sliding rapidly downhill, and you’re starting to worry about upcoming meals, get off the public service merry-go-round and tend to your own needs until you are back on your feet. 

Is what I am doing this very minute

leading me to where I need and want to go?

. . . is the first question you must ask yourself. 

And, once I get to where I need and want to go, will I then be in a better position to contribute even more time, money, and effort to achieving the community goals that my present pursuits alone are draining from me and my business?

. . . is the second question to answer.

     Don’t be worried about what others will think.  Others are not living in your shoes.  Others are always quick to drain your resources when they don’t want to contribute their own.  No one will fault you for doing what you have to do to survive. 

     And in this economy, you need not feel ashamed or embarassed.  Instead, feel smart that you are taking proactive steps to make yourself better and put youself in a position to be able to contribute more to your community.  Others will be much happier to see you return a year down the road and come roaring back into the organization running on all cylinders. 

     Tuck in your tail.  Realize that the best thing you can do to help others is to help yourself first so you can be in a position of strength to reach out to those who need it, instead of offering your hand while you are standing on thin ice yourself.  Take a sabbatical and work to restore the solidity of your business foundation.     halalpiar

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No, this isn’t about donuts!

Here are a dozen leadership arenas:

• Corporate
• Military
• Political
• Industry
• Community
• Organizational
• Family
• Neighborhood
• Religious
• Sports
• Classroom
• Worksite

Where do entrepreneurial leaders fit?  Everywhere!  What about other leaders –those who are not entrepreneurs– are they locked into the individual arenas where they perform?  Not to suggest this is a bad thing; it’s just limiting. 

It’s part of the great appeal of entrepreneurial life that there are no limits.  Yes, there are laws, but no: there are no rules. 

Neither are there any theories to dictate performance because there are no theories of any value because (beyond some common character traits like poor school performances, engagement in childhood enterprises, rejection of authority, and childhood exposure to family business) entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial behaviors cannot be quantified or categorized. 

Yes, entrepreneurs take reasonable risks, but –no– there’s no traditional action plan approach to follow.     

Entrepreneurial leaders pop up in each of the arenas noted above (and many more as well) because in every arena on Earth there is always room for improvement.  Entrepreneurs are the agents of change who step up to the plate, who bring improvements to the table, who have the foresight and resilience to attack a problem over and over to produce the answers they believe in.

Alexander the Great was an historic entrepreneurial leader who proved that innovative strategies and tactics can defeat even the most overwhelming of military odds. 

“America’s Mayor” Rudy Giuliani was a great entrepreneurial political leader for his time and place, and the circumstances that changed our world. 

Cal Ripkin, Jr. was a dedicated entrepreneurial leader with his never-say-die attitude that re-invented value systems in the world of baseball – and all of sports. 

Mother Teresa, Frank Lloyd Wright, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Ghandi, and so many more you could surely name . . . people whose entrepreneurial spirits have in some way made a difference to us all.  Though each of the kinds of leaders we’re talking about here made their mark in one arena, none ever limited themselves in the lives they live or did live.  Who would be on YOUR list?

What do those noted above (plus those you can think of) share?  What qualities would you list?  Here are a few for starters: Persuasiveness, Assertiveness, Communication, Self-Reliance, Self-Confidence, Insight, Recognition that behavior is a choice, a strong focus on the present, the ability to cultivate (cross-pollinate?) leadership in others.  What would YOU add to this list?   halalpiar

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The secret of college is

in learning how to learn.

Make your kids work to earn at least part of their college education.  Even if you can afford it, don’t give them free college, especially business majors!  They won’t appreciate it, and no matter how great their grades may end up because they are unencumbered from having to work, the odds are they will fail in business.  Disagree?  Read on.

First of all, this advice is coming to you from a former two-time business professor-of-the-year and student work internship program director who is also an entrepreneur (having helped start hundreds of successful new businesses) on top of solid Fortune 500 corporate experience.

At some point your college-bound son(s) and/or daughter(s) will have to face the reality of the need to gain real-world work experience.  Sooner is better than later.  And, in fact, it’s been my experience that those who hold jobs while attending college tend to be universally better performers both in class and on the job.  

Most college and university internship or cooperative education programs produce vastly superior students AND better workplace candidates.  Why?  Because nothing in any business textbook or computer program can come close to the value of hands-on experience gained on a factory floor, a retail store, a business or professional practice office, a showroom, studio, warehouse, or any form of sales.

Be aware that in today’s and the foreseeable future’s business climate (unless a college graduate is headed toward a career in law or medicine or allied medical sciences), college grades matter to absolutely no one except maybe the students and maybe the parents.

Recruiters and hiring interviews are more focused today on candidate answers to open-end questions.  How someone handles herself/himself on his or her feet (and has shown the ability to apply on-the-job experience to the classroom and vice versa) is light years more important than what an individual memorized in a management course, or than reiterating what is already on the person’s resume.

The truth is most business employers prefer an ambitious 2.5 GPA graduate with good communication and social skills who worked his or her way through college in a sales or office or manufacturing position, than a 4.0 GPA graduate with zero real-world work experience, who mumbles, shakes hands like a fish, and can’t look you straight in the eye.  That shouldn’t be surprising.  Wouldn’t that be your preference too?          

Sorry to burst bubbles here, but the secret of college is not being able to ace tests in accounting, finance, management, marketings, sales, advertising, economics, retailing, promoting, packaging and pricing, public relations, Internet business, etc. 

At least two truisms support this platform: 1) There are no rules in business.  Business moves forward by experience and innovation, not formulas, 2) The secret of college is in learning how to learn.  Subjective teacher ratings are far less important than having learned how to learn.

If you’re sending your kids off to college to learn business, let them prove to themselves that they can earn business learning by working while they learn.  The ROI is better for all involved.  

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HOW  THEY DO IT . . .

“Necessity is

the mother of invention.” 

—PLATO (Between 427BC and 347BC)

This quote drives every entrepreneur, scientific explorer and creative mind on Earth.  It of course holds true as well for military and quasi-military operations, cornered criminals and animals, and most homeless and foodless victims in society.

TODAY, the notion of necessity prompting inventiveness has great significance as a universal entrepreneurial hedge against economic downturn.  Businesses that will survive the existing economic traumas are those that can throw off the cloak of dismay and depression, shake themselves off, and charge forward with positive attitudes that are hell-bent on making the most of every opportunity.

WORKING TOGETHER with other businesses is a major step in that direction.  Networking with others to Barter goods and services should be a first and foremost thought for guiding daily travels. 

SHARING REFERRALS, common space, facilities, equipment, vehicles, furnishings, personnel, training, purchases and purchase discounts, databases, charity leadership roles, advertising, promotion, news release and blog site development and writing, website and online network development and content, are just some of the areas to consider negotiating.

LOOK TO BUSINESSES that are compatible and supportive to yours, or that your business serves.  Check out possible cooperative arrangements with businesses on the same floor, or in the same building, ir same cluster of buildings, or same neighborhood or town, or in the same industry, or that share some common characteristics (online retail as one example, or professional services as another).

TAKE ADVANTAGE of the opportunities to make and save money by working together.  Even competitive businesses can sometimes do this more effectively than standing defiantly alone.  Consider geographical clusterings of antique stores, for instance. 

CONSIDER New York City’s diamond and fashion districts!  Their competition alone in shared physical space/areas serves to boost business for all by bringing customers to centralized, more convenient and more price and quality sensitive shopping areas. 

CAN YOU EXCHANGE SALES LEADS?  Have you considered combining insurance coverage and benefit plans with another business?  Can the neighboring business receptionist do phone or clerical work for you during slow periods (instead of reading paperbacks?)?  Can you combine advertising time and space purchases to qualify for bigger discounts?  Maintenance services?  Supplies?  Conference rooms?

THE SHARED RESOURCES popularized by the old new business “Incubator” and “Conglomerate” concepts still work.  The only problem in realizing true economies of scale and values of barter may be YOU.  If you start with the attitude that it won’t work, it won’t. 

IF YOU START out discounting the ideas, they’ll never be more than ideas.  If you initiate discussions with others, you might surprise yourself with new-found sales and savings that could help you rise above the economic rubble. 

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Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

ARE YOU BOARD-BORED?

     The most infamous collection of meeting-makers on Earth has to be “Boards.”  Consider how Board-Bored we must be.  We have Boards of Directors, Boards of Trustees, Boards of Advisors, School Boards, Medical Boards, Law Boards, Admissions Boards, Homeowner and Condo Boards,  Probation Boards, Boards of Overseers, Surf Boards, Snow Boards, Water Boarding (whoops! sorry) Editorial Boards, Boards of . . .  

     What’s the point?  If you’re Board-Bored, you are most certainly sick of meetings, right?  Right!  So, what can be done to make meetings better?  Here, following, for your Board-Bored pleasure: 

7 Steps To Making Meetings Work ©

Copyright 2009, Hal Alpiar 

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER ONE”: Use an agenda!  Circulate a draft of it a week in advance of a monthly meeting, a couple of days ahead of a weekly meeting, and 17 seconds before a daily meeting (If you’re meeting daily and you’re not in the White House, the Pentagon, or a police department, 17 seconds is enough time to pour some coffee and decide to find another job!) 

Ask for agenda input in time to add it and —before the meeting– post a clearly visible newsprint or whiteboard (YOW! another Board!) version of the agenda you can refer to, and check off as you go.  People will know where they are and where they’re going, minus the anxiety of potential surprises.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER TWO”: Do NOT invite people to any meeting who are not actively involved in the decision making for the agenda points.  Meetings are not for training or parading egos.  If meetings do not end up producing results, stop having them!  Deal with those who need to attend for certain topics first and let them leave when those discussions end.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER THREE”: STICK TO THE AGENDA!  When issues are raised that are not directly related to the agenda, thank the source and ask that she/he include the point on the next agenda for the next meeting, or –if there’s time left after the agenda is completed– to raise it again then, but that “this meeting is for this agenda.”

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER FOUR”: Always ADHERE TO THE EXACT TIMES SET for start and finish.  No exceptions ever.  If you do this twice in a row, no one will ever be late again, and everyone will stay on schedule for the day.  Also: resist the temptation to load the table up with snacks and beverages! Contrary to popular belief, donuts do not make for better decisions!

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER FIVE”: Emergencies aside, meetings work best when they are consistently set and conducted.  This means holding sessions at regular times (I recommend Monday mornings for weekly status review meetings as being 100% more productive than mid-week  which is too workflow-disruptive, or Fridays, when everyone’s thinking about their weekends.

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER SIX”: Include compliments and small rewards (a toy car, a game or puzzle, a banana – preferably something appropriate to the deed) at the end of every meeting!  

HAL’S “MEETING STEP NUMBER SEVEN”: Follow up each meeting PROMPTLY with a simple bullet list report of decisions made and who specifically is responsible for the next step by what date.  

     If all else fails and meetings still drag on into the sunset, have the chairs removed from the room and hold stand-up meetings!  It works wonders for getting things done quickly. 

     Remember too that MBWA (Management By Walking Around) is still the best way to minimize or eliminate meetings, get decisions made and motivate the troops at the same time.  People LIKE seeing the boss outside the conference room and out from behind the desk. 

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Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Lost Your Marbles Lately? 

Probably the world’s greatest expert on the subject of death and dying was Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, whose definitive book, “ON DEATH AND DYING” has now become a true classic in the worlds of psychology, psychotherapy, social work, and caregiver counseling. 

     So what?  What does that have to do with your job, or the job of someone close to you going down the tubes?  A lot! 

     The dynamics that Kübler-Ross devoted her life to studying are the same for virtually ANY loss.

     So, the “5 Stages” of death and dying that she defined apply to loss of life, loss of limb or function, loss of possessions, loss of health, loss of friendship, loss of a spouse or parent or child, loss of a home, loss of money, loss of a pet, loss of business, and –yes– loss of a job.

The 5 Stages are, in order of occurrence:

1. Denial and isolation

2. Anger

3. Bargaining

4. Depression

5. Acceptance

The ultimate goal for any of us when we experience loss, has to be to move through the first four Stages as quickly as possible, and get ourselves to that 5th Stage point of Acceptance.

     Some succeed at this.  Some get stuck at Stages 1, 2, 3, or 4 along the way.  [Thes would probably be the majority.]  Some never make it to Stage 5 Acceptance, ever, and live the rest of their lives, for example, angry or depressed.  Those who don’t achieve a sense of Acceptance (as well as those who do but who require a particularly long time to get there) set themselves up to be in an emotionally unhealthy place in life.

     What is it that makes these failures and long delays emotionally unhealthy?  Denial, isolation, anger, bargaining, and depression all live in fantasyland.  The only reality there is on Earth is the one that is happening right this very split second as you are reading these words and thinking about them.  It’s a state of balance and harmony.  It means being focused on the present moment as much as possible.

     Often a “rescuer” or professional “coach” is needed to assist the sufferer of a loss in accelerating and smoothing the way to transition, to Acceptance.  If you want to help someone through a loss event or loss period of time, you must be prepared to be extraordinarily patient, empathetic (putting yourself in her or his shoes) and encouraging. 

     You need to help the individual or group or family pass through each stage and let go of each stage before moving to the next level, and to help him/her/them from slipping backwards.  Keeping those with loss issues and upsets focused on the immediate present moment that’s in front of their faces as much of the time as possible can be frustrating and emotionally draining for the helper(s). 

     It is not always an easy task and –while I heartedly recommend that responsibility for this function is best left to professionals who are trained to provide proper guidance— you can always lend a support system to encourage pursuit of professional assistance, and you can help prompt a sharper “here and now” awareness level simply by keeping your SELF focused on the present, and calling attention to it.     halalpiar

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When did your ego (or favorite

 blog) last get the best of you?

     This morning at breakfast?  In a meeting?  On the telephone?  At lunch?  Over the conference table?  On your way home?  After dinner?  All of the above?  (Oh, ha-ha, not me! Not all of the above. Good heavens, man, I’m not that bad!)

     Well, maybe, maybe not.  If you think something outside your own body got the best of you AT ALL, you may have a problem.  Why?  Your ego can only take over when you CHOOSE for it to take over.  You don’t get angry and no body makes you angry. 

     You choose to feel angry about what you or someone else does or says or something that happens.  You may not be making a conscious choice, but it is nonetheless a choice. 

     Contrary to what the majority of the civilized world’s population seems to believe: Behaviors –ego, guilt, anger, arrogance, or otherwise– don’t fall from the sky and land on your shoulders and make you into an ogre or cause you to do or say anything.     

     So, tuck that little pouch of wisdom in your pocket and let’s go take a look at the blogosphere.  What is it that bloggers seem to be grasping at and pretending they have no choice about these days? 

     Now, I don’t look at hundreds of blogs because I also have a life, but it seems to me that the ones I do check out are inevitably shallow ego-trips aimed at unloading lots of doom and gloom lectures in very authoritative fashion.

     Why is this important to business owners and managers and entrepreneurs?  Well, here’s the news flash: believe it or not– you are human too! 

     Just because you run around in scuffed shoes and drooling your last meal out of the corner of your mouth because you’re so preoccupied with your cashflow, or the bumbling idiot who’s representing your business interests somewhere, or the next big idea you’re birthing, doesn’t mean you don’t or can’t have feelings!  The bloggers who lecture on current events and industry trends love having you return to their sites because they’ve made you worry or sad or angry or enraged.  They live for that. 

     Alrighty then, you’re rushing through life and are now close to relying completely on the Internet for information and nurturing.  Blogs have become a way of life.  You visit YouTube and Face, then tweet your brains out on Twitter before hitting up your favorite 3, 4, 5 (?) blogs, where you get massive doses of smug, self-serving, know-it-all infusions of negativity. 

     Hey, you might as well be watching that 11 o’clock news crap . . . nothing like seeing babies burned in ovens, terrorist beheadings and a family of 14 jammed into a compact car and crushed by a runaway dumptruck just before you go to bed!  Great food for lovely stressfree dreams!    

     So where’s a serious entrepreneur to turn?  Sideways.  Check out what’s around you instead of the steady diet of what’s on top of you and what’s being pulled out from under you. 

     Many blog writers are just closet psychos.  Their only interest in you is as a site visitor and comment poster.  The more they get, the more the search engines reward them with bumped up rankings.  They don’t care about misleading your tired brain, or about helping you learn or see new ways to help yourself. 

     The Blog Smog is just as useless as network TV news smoke and mirrors acts.  Choose what you want when you want but don’t choose to think that all blogs are worthwhile uses of your time.  They’re not.   halalpiar

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Can you answer this

barrage of questions

to your own satisfaction?

     Do you believe in an “educated consumer”?  What do you do or not do to promote that?  Do you actually teach prospects and customers about your products and services while emphasizing benefits (because you know of course that people buy benefits, not features). 

     Do you educate others about your industry or profession?  Do you share the dirty little secrets of your industry or profession with customers and prospects?  (And please don’t pretend there aren’t any!)  How do you do this or not do this?  Are you sidestepping what needs to be transparent?

     Do you inform customers and prospects about your competitors?  HOW do you do that or not do that (i.e., what steps do you take or not take regarding this point)?  Are you gracious about it?  Aggressive? 

     Do you only accentuate the positives?  How do you like to have salespeople deal with you?  Do you represent information to customers and prospects with an air of pomposity or humility or a little of both?  Or neither?  Again, how do you like to have other salespeople deal with you?

     Do you ask questions first and listen [the most effective salespeople listen 80% of the time and talk 20%] carefully, or just launch into a lecture?  Do you lecture or inform?  Do you share just the right amount of information that the customer or prospect wants to know (vs. too much or too little)?  How do you know?

     Are these questions reminding you to listen more?  Are you choosing to feel annoyed by these questions?  Or are you choosing to feel invigorated by them?  Are you remembering to put youself in the customer’s/prospect’s shoes (empathy) or just steamrollering forward, or shooting from the hip?  Do you paraphrase and offer examples?  Do you ask for feedback? 

     Do you get tired of other salespeople when they blabber?  At what point do you say something or simply walk (or run) away?  When you think about the salespeople who have lost you as a customer or prospect, how did they do that?  What does it make you think of?  What are you learning about your SELF right now?  Hmmmmm?

     Okay, well this is all just getting you ready.  Tomorrow (now that you are primed or re-primed about how to deal with them), we’ll start focusing on how to get those customers and prospects in the door!  See you then.      halalpiar   

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“Screw it!  I’m gonna do

what I’ve always wanted

to do, and make it work!”

     You know what?  I am a businessperson first and foremost.  From my first lemonade-and-comic-books-for-sale stand when I was six years-old, through years of Madison Avenue advertising agency creative and management work for Fortune 500 clients, I’ve been a businessperson. 

     Through a dozen years of fulltime and adjunct business marketing, management and psychology professorships on three different campuses, and through three overlap years of hosting a daily feature radio show, I’ve been a businesperson.

     Through conducting 20,000 students’ worth of management training programs, and coaching nearly 500 new business startups, plus consulting with hundreds more, I’ve been a businessperson.

     Yet, the blanket under it all, the thread that weaves it all together, the place where my heart is while my mind and hands have been busy being a businessperson, is writing.  If first and foremost, I am a businessperson, then always and forever after, I am a writer.

     Knowing this has made me a better businessperson . . . and a better writer!

     What are YOU really all about?  What do you DO for work every day?  What do you DREAM of doing for work every day?  HOW can you combine those.  [I am now primarily a business writer and writing consultant, for example — traditional advertising, Internet websites and blogs, public relations and feature stories.]  

     Am I kidding?  No.  Am I being unrealistic?  No.  What you do for work every day is your choice!  Whether you do for work every day what you dream of or not, is your choice!  If that doesn’t seem possible because it’s simply too hard for you to do what you want and to make a living at it, THAT is a choice.  Choose for it to be easy!

     Too many of us cruise control through life doing jobs we tolerate, rather than those we know we could have more fun with.  With so many people on the transition bubble right now, it may be the perfect time to simply step back, and make yourself happier and healthier and less stressed.  How?

You walk up to the mirror, throw back your shoulders, smile and say “Screw it!  I’m going to do what I’ve always wanted to do.  And I’m going to make it work because it’s my choice, and because I don’t want to dry up and shrivel up by investing myself and my energy and my heart in maintaining the status quo!  I can enlist my family’s support.  I will at least explore this thinking.” 

     Give yourself the opportunity to be a better businessperson AND a better cowboy or dress designer or sailor or artist or restaurant owner or dog trainer or landscaper or W H A T E V E R by applying your business expertise to what makes for FUN in your life.  Consolidate.  Combine.  You can try it.  You can make it work.  You need only to make the choice.  Explore!  Exhale!  Enjoy!  

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 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

“You can’t build a reputation

on what you’re going to do.”

–HENRY FORD

We’ve talked before about the definition of integrity being doing the right thing even when nobody else is looking.  The dictionary says it’s “the quality of having strong moral principles,” and “the state of being whole, unified and sound, without corruption.” 

I mention it here because integrity is the best kind of reputation to have.  Some customers flock to some businesses because they offer the lowest price.  Some seek only to have quality at any price.  But in today’s volitile marketplace, integrity (“HIGH TRUST”) is what sells most consistently and most profoundly.  It’s what anchors that elusive customer characteristic: loyalty! 

Consumers have been duped and led to slaughter for too many years.  Consumers are tired of hearing about businesses that make empty promises, that fallaciously attach themselves to worthy causes but fail to walk the walk when it comes to the moment of truth.  

As proverbially expressed, deeds and action speak louder than words.  

Consumers are demonstrating, across the boards, that they do not any longer want to deal with “low-trust” talk-the-talk businesses. 

     What separates “HIGH” from “LOW” trust?  Integrity. 

     How does a business gain integrity?  By gaining respect. 

     How does a business win respect?  By establishing a reputation. 

     How does one build a reputation? 

• By consistent demonstration of honesty and fairness with both internal and external customers, and appreciation that the two need to be viewed as interchangeable. 

• By recognition that the customer is always right and that there are never any exceptions to that short of legal violations or physical violence. 

• By (back to the proverbs) practicing what you preach! 

Being partly honest in business is like being partly pregnant in life. 

If your assessments of your business and the spin you’ve been putting out to the public (or, more correctly,  to your marketplace) are filled with um’s and er’s and maybe’s and sometimes’ and occasionally’s, you’re not kidding anyone but yourself! 

Are you and your business, for example, making token donations to charities, or are you and your employees getting into the trenches and helping charitable organizations to raise money and move forward?

It may be time to step back and revisit your mission as well as the services you perform and that you provide both inside your doors and out.  Today’s a good day for that.  Think about it. 

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