“Got here safe & sound, Y’all!”

AND STILL UNPACKING AND SETTING UP NEW OFFICES . . .

GUESS WHERE?????  Email your guess: Hal@Businessworks.US  (“New Office” in Subject Line) Winning guesses entered in drawing for a FREE first edition signed copy of HIGH TIDE fictionalized account of America’s biggest drug deal! See www.HighTideNow.com

Thank you for your visit.

If you’re new to this blog, please mark your calendar to return on April 16th for the beginning of Tax Return Recovery, and to help kickoff an exciting new series of posts you won’t find anywhere else!

If you’ve been visiting here regularly since the birth of my blog in April, 2008 (and now closing in on 1500 posts), thank you even extra!

You, especially, will want to return April 16th to see what’s in store for innovative, spirited business and healthcare professionals. You’ll get  proven new ways of thinking to boost your sales and make the most of your leadership skills — for profit and nonprofit businesses and professions alike. You’ll get coaching that works in the office and meeting room, on the phone and on paper, on the smartphone and the computer. You will get specific how-tos for building and enhancing your leadership posture in your industry, your marketplace, and your community.

When you return here April 16th, you will get the beginning of an input stream that no one else dares to share . . . on ways to feel better about your SELF (no product or service sales pitches, no lectures, no gimmicks). You’ll get ways to be encouraged, ways to make a difference with your career and family pursuits, ways to rise above the clutter.

You’ll get solid substance based on more years of experience than you probably are old. Not just passive observations, you’ll get frontline/hands-on experience with over 2,000 business consulting and return engagements AND with more than 20,000 students and management training participants. PLUS –as incredible as it’s always been–it will be free on this blog. Try it. You’ll like it. Send your friends.

In the meantime, to better serve our Entrepreneurial Clients (Including Business Startups, SalesPropreneurs©, Doctorpreneurs© and Corporate Entrepreneurs©), BUSINESSWORKS.US and TheWriterWorks.com, LLC will be in the process of relocating to another State. You’ll get the details as soon as we’re settled. In the meantime, Happy Spring!

See you the day after taxes!!!

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O.D.  or  D.O.A. ?

When O.D. (Organizational Development) fails to resuscitate a dying enterprise, there are seldom more than two options to pursue. The first, and most prevalent, is to simply roll the victim organization over and declare it D.O.A. (Dead On Arrival).

The second is more challenging and sings to the accompanyment of opportunities: It’s called O.R. (Organizational Rebirth) and is cornerstoned by an massive infusion of E.L. (Entrepreneurial Leadership).

Every size and type of organization —profit AND nonprofit— comes face-to-face with life-threatening problems at some point (and at least once) in it’s lifetime. Most often, it appears that the malignancy stems from some form of poor management, and more often than not appears to evidence itself as an issue of financial shortcoming.

Example: You can’t run a nonprofit organization that’s not conducting ONGOING fundraising and grant procurement efforts. Regardless of good intentions, without money there’s nothing to run.

When the principals who are involved decide that it’s time  to overhaul, restructure, refurbish, rearrange, rebuild, reinvent . . . go for it! BUT, call it something that organization people can relate to, feel positive about, commit to and enthusiastically support. Ask THEM to brand the project with a name and identity.

It’s the leader’s job to determine the purpose, intent, mission, goals/objectives, strategy, and tactics. It’s the leader’s job to “rally the troops,” motivate and guide, to solicit feedback, to listen 80% of the time. Make-believe leaders push. Real leaders pull!

Remember leaders can delegate authority,

but not responsibility.

When it’s time to choose to fold up or buckle up, don’t choose to make it hard. Don’t choose to make it daunting. Don’t choose to make it more stressful than it may be. Don’t choose to make it overwhelming. Don’t be a drama queen. Don’t be overbearing. Choose instead to think like a leader and act like an entrepreneur.

Reinventing yourself as a person or as an organization doesn’t have to be drudgery or negative or threatening unless you choose it to be. Choose for it to be fun! Choose for it to be easy! Choose for it to be positive! Choose to go with the flow instead of over-analyzing what went wrong.

Choose to keep EVERYTHING

in the “here and now”!

Reality: It’s a far deeper process than changing facepaint. The reinventing-survival experience is rarely a simple one, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be fun and easy. Simply choose –and constantly REchoose to reinforce– for it to be easy and fun. With vigilance, the challenges can turn into opportunities in a blink.

Oh, yes, and it’s okay to blink.

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Hal@Businessworks.US

WANT TO BE MORE OF A LEADER?

TALK AND WRITE LIKE A LEADER.

Over 30 years of writing and training business, industry,

healthcare, and academic leadership have taught me

some important words I now share with you . . .

People who regularly incorporate the use of the following kinds of words in their daily conversations and written messages stand tall among the most successful of worldclass leaders.

This magic pack of words is just for openers. You need to be willing to raise your own consciousness about whether the words you use every day are helping you perform to the best of your own leadership ability. This list can, in other words,  get you started. But only you can decide what works best for you and your personal leadership comfort zone.

The point is: Take a couple of minutes to review this list, think about it and assess yourself. If you can change some words you may presently be emphasizing that are not helping you perform, change them! It’s your choice.

Opportunity. Becoming. Challenge. Team. Can. Forward. Focus. Here and Now. Let’s. How? What will it take? Go! Do I understand you correctly to mean . . .? Us. We. Our. Fun. Enjoy! Together. For example. Passion. Try. Enthusiasm. Empathy. Customer. Diagram.  Innovation. Client. Partner. Listening. Self-esteem. Service. Needs. Desires. Learning. Facts. Exciting. God. Illuminating. Choice. Value. Timing.  Self-confidence. Trust. Authenticity. Genuineness. Objectives. Goals. Strategies. Tactics. Specific.  Flexible. Realistic. Ignite. Timeline. Activate. Boost. Stimulate. Care. Compassion. Spark. Consistency. Measure. Hustle. Effort. Reward. Share. Accurate. Recognition. Implement. Respond. Energy. Responsive. Responsible. Behavior. Spirit. Assist. Invigorate. Results. Invest. Humility. Grace. Please. Thank you. Respect.  Grow. Patient. Happiness. Family.

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With Volunteers,

Exceptional Leadership

Can Bring Exceptional Success

But working with volunteers demands exceptional leadership. Why? Because anything less can spell exceptional failure and — at the very least– produce exceptional frustration. When a nonprofit, for example, needs to depend on volunteer groups to handle special or ongoing projects, the odds are that one or more of five problem areas will surface.

According to Ed Bancroft, world renown leader in organization and management development, community development, and race relations, the five “Common Problem” areas that emerge in working with volunteer groups consist of:

1) Having too many goals

2) Lack of an adequate contract

3) Lack of leadership and accountability

4) Lack of rewards or recognition

5) Lack of attention to group process

When a volunteer group of any composition attempts to get started, there is a tendency to attempt more than can realistically be accomplished. So the basic tenets of effective goal-setting need to be addressed right from the git-go. Those criteria, together with some other goal-setting thoughts, are here and here and here.

After starting with a Priority Task List, Bancroft suggests charting answers to: WHAT will be done? HOW will it be done? WHO will do it? WHEN will each task be completed? and BY WHAT DATE will the goal be accomplished?

The most successful volunteer groups start with a (very specific) agreement regarding each person’s role and expectations, and in matching each individual’s strengths to the tasks at hand. (Tight agenda) group meetings, (specific) written job descriptions, and a permanent “How Goes It?” focus on ongoing progress are all means to the ends.

A great many volunteer groups stumble along, reluctant to deal directly with leadership accountability. This single shortcoming can undo the best of intentions and efforts. Clear role definition, including having a fulltime volunteer coordinator (or staff member), who links the volunteers with paid staff, helps ensure that volunteer energies are maximized.

Volunteers work for the good of the cause but also for personal recognition, and some form of reward for specific achievements. And, always praise in public! Volunteers should get priority consideration for staff appointments, be offered as much appropriate training as possible.

Remember to appreciate volunteers for what they give up: Besides time and energy, for example, there are often expenses they absorb for baby-sitting, lunches, and transportation. Free or discounted lunches, work time beverages and snacks can go a long way. Some volunteer programs qualify for Federal funds, United Way, or foundation grants to reimburse volunteers.

Most volunteer groups are not tuned into “Process” — how they work together and how they need to work together. They tend to lack awareness of essential communication and decision-making methods. Workshops focused on these skill sets and an appointed (very objective) Process Observer can be designated to provide ongoing feedback on what she or he observes of group dynamics.

 The excitement and enthusiasm levels generated

 in volunteer groups is directly proportionate to

  the attention given to the issues outlined above.

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Healthcare Management Problems

Go Far Beyond Technology Tangles

Thanks to what many doctors regard as excessive and medically-uninformed government intervention, and excessive and medically-uninformed insurance company intrusion, America’s private and hospital-based medical practices are suffering from excessive and medically-unacknowledged stress.

They find themselves having to be caught up in blood-curdling power play control battles instead of with innovating and nurturing methodologies for improved case management and patient care. This is not a condemnation of medical technology advances by any means. It is in fact an endorsement for more tech exploration while simultaneously getting back to basics.

Positive stress enables healthcare managers to answer the wake-up call for effective practice management to realistically occur on two fronts at the same time. EMR and EHR systems and skills represent focal point one. Case management, patient care, and patient family care, focal point two. But negative stress (or “dis-stress”) surfaces when one of these enslaves the other.

Relentless interruptions of non medically-trained government and insurance regulators seeking to satisfy their self-importance at the expense of doctor, staff, and patient stress levels, has the same effect as throwing gas on a fire. Whether rulings require doctors to spend just 12 minutes per patient, or to conduct patient gun ownership surveys, the result is negative stress.

Negative stress feeds medical errors, and takes its toll on the lives of trained professionals and their families. Often, patients and patient families suffer needlessly because of mixed or contradictory signals lost in busy day-to-day clouds of smoke.

Even monster teaching hospitals, including the highest-rated in the country, fail miserably at basic communication skill levels. Doctors don’t talk with one another. They are too pressured to take the time to advocate on behalf of the very patients they serve.  And –worst of all– they fail to communicate with their patients and patient families meaningfully and consistently.

Practice managers get the short end of the stick. My guess is that most end up absorbing 3/4 of all the stress generated by the mad rush for maintaining Herculean time schedules, by catering to the administrative needs of the doctors they serve, and by managing the daily barrage of staff, task and insurance management issues, plus catering to patient and family requests.

There are solutions, but they are not one-dimensional. Healthcare can never have universal value unless those charged as providers can have the freedom they need to function without constant government interference and insurance company strangleholds.

The first step to fixing a leak is to stop the leak. This means making extraordinary efforts to channel stress productively and to commit to implementing improved personal communications.  CHECK OUT  Medical Practice Managers

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Hal@Businessworks.US    302.933.0911

You will NEVER

have enough money

to start a business!

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard this before,” your stubborn venturesome self may say by way of dismissing the ugly truth, but dismissing reality doesn’t make it go away. Your offhandedness will inevitably come back to nip you in the tush. UNLESS! Unless you can get yourself to accept reality unconditionally and plan (that nasty entrepreneur word again) accordingly.

Ah, and one other very important asset you need to bring to your business startup table: PLUCK! [No, not as in fingering a banjo!] Pluck as in backbone, bravery, courage, daring, fortitude, gameness, grit, guts, mettle, moxie, nerve, zest, spunk. This is not to suggest recklessness in talking money. It is rather to suggest being realistically bold and fearless.

“Realistically”?

If you grow your business idea to the point where a major infusion of someone else’s cash or equipment is needed in order to survive and/or continue to grow, you’d better be prepared to give up total control in exchange. This translates to the need for you to be prepared to hedge your bet, and possibly diversify your interests (if your investors allow you to!).

Starting a business is not a task for the meek. It is not a retirement or corporate escape. It is not a hobby. It is not simply taking advantage of a spur-of-the-moment opportunity. It is not a one-night stand. When you start a business, you marry your idea! Without some grand inheritance, how many marriages start out with enough money?

No matter how carefully you budget and think through where your idea is headed, no matter how much arm-in-arm support stands with and around you, no matter how many promises you get from vendors, suppliers, ancillary services, and government agencies, you can be sure of only one thing: You’ll never have enough money to start a business.

So? So assess yourself first. Don’t dwell on it, but do be honest. Determine exactly how much pluck is inside you, and how realistic your attitude is. See where and who and how to plug the openings. If you don’t, your startup efforts are destined to fall apart and your financial exposure will be crippling.

You need to substitute for being under-capitalized by rallying your strengths and surrounding yourself with the reliable strengths of others whose skills and experience can fill in your gaps! It CAN be done. Many have succeeded. But many more have failed. The difference is pluck and a realistic attitude. How much of each have you?

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Hal@BUSINESSWORKS.US

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Open Minds Open Doors

LEADERSHIP STARTS

WITHOUT FOLLOWERS

Now what exactly do I mean by such an apparent contradiction? Answer: That leadership begins (and thrives) with attitude. “Yeah, Hal, right! Sounds great, but what kind of attitude and HOW does someone get it? Like it falls from the sky, or what?” Good questions. No it doesn’t “fall from the sky,” but it does begin at the beginning.

Leadership begins at the beginning, without a following, without an entourage, without an expedition, without a master plan, without a goal line, and without intentions of superiority or competitiveness. Effective leadership starts simply, with a mindset that exudes integrity at every turn in the road.

Leadership starts with an attitude that explodes in words and actions which set examples. Exemplary words and actions– by their very nature, by their very implementation– attract the attentions and admiration of others. True leadership attitudes ignite, engage, motivate, and sustain without ever having to ask others to roll up their sleeves and dig in to work alongside you. When people step it up and rise to the occasion, others rise as well to follow.

A TRUE LEADER DOESN’T START OUT

WITH A GOAL TO BECOME A LEADER.

A true leader simply demonstrates the qualities of behavior that set her or him apart from the pack, but this is accomplished by taking action, not by talking about taking action, or by aiming to play a leadership role.

Neither do great presentation or oratory skills make a great leader. Walk the walk beats talk the talk. Track-records speak louder than words. Show me what you’ve done and show me how to do it are far more important follower requests than tell me how great you are.

Effective leaders are great activists who consistently strive to teach and motivate by quietly doing. He or she is a great innovator, and a great solutions creator who takes entrepreneurial pursuits to completion, who doesn’t stop short with an idea, and who thrives on the sense of accomplishment that accompanies each step of bringing an idea to fruition.

Leaders move constantly forward. They turn over every stone and readily adjust themselves, their approaches, and the processes they use along the way, unafraid of taking action without having all the information.

Focusing on the finish line is not leadership. Focusing on each step, as the fortune cookie might say, prevents one from falling on one’s face, and almost always wins the race. 

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Hal@TheWriterWorks.com     Open Minds Open Doors

BUSINESS & POLITICS DON’T MIX!

Best Advice: Speak out in private, but hold your tongue in public! Customers and others you do business with may or may not agree with your politics, but the odds appear overwhelming that they do not want to hear your political views as part of any business transaction.

Treat every opportunity to speak out in accusation of your political opponents or in defense of your political favorites as you might instinctively deal with dysfunctional elements of your own family at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

In other words, exercise greater caution, discretion and respect than you would normally be inclined to, for the welfare of the rest of your family, and for the betterment of your own well-being and stress level. Save confrontations for when you become a professional boxer or hockey star.

“But it’s my right, my privilege, and my responsibility to speak up!” Well, okay, you may think you’re entitled, even required, to express your personal political preferences. And you are certainly entitled to your opinions, but if you own or manage a business, there’s simply no room for political opinion!

Every time you open your political mouth, you risk losing a minimum of 100 customers because anyone who disapproves will tell ten others,who will each tell ten others. Can you afford this kind of loss?

How do I know all this? Because I’ve had a big political opinion mouth in one of my past lives and it cost me substantial business. “Who cares?” you might say. Well, it may be costing you too!

The problem is that while you may not care about someone who’s critical of you offering editorials– critical of your criticism, so to speak– you maybe need to care a great deal about someone who’s related to, or controlled by that individual, and there’s just no way to ever know when some big mouth comment will come back to haunt you.

Taking the low road is not always a bad thing. Low road activity is often read in a positive light by others. Non confrontative attitudes typically produce positive reputation assessments of virtue: “humble;” “reserved;” “rational;” “objective;” non judgemental;” and “thoughtful” come to mind. It’s the sign of someone who walks the talk!

So, now, even if I’m only half right, wouldn’t you prefer those kinds of reputation attributes to “opinionated;” and “loudmouthed;” and “narrow-minded;” and “confrontative;” and “pushy”?

Bottom Line:

Work for your favorite candidates,

but don’t bring your favorite candidates to work!  

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Open Minds Open Doors

FAULT AND BLAME

 DON’T MAKE SALES!

Here we sit, small business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs, on the day of the first 2012 Presidential Debate. We are seething with anger, frustration, disappointment, and stress over what has and hasn’t happened since the last 2008 Presidential Debate. We blame it all on the political candidate we least agree with. And the harder we blame, the more we lose.

We have seen our businesses and personal finances go every direction except up.

We have become more outspoken about that, especially as we’ve seen respect for America’s military and America’s job and housing markets collapse . . . and food and gas and transportation prices explode through the roof! Normally free-spending customers have become suddenly frugal and stoic. All of that must, after all, be somebody’s fault.

But let’s be honest with ourselves here. How much real fault sits on our own shoulders for not planning properly, for not adjusting our business and professional practice development strategies appropriately, for not having solid contingency plans in place? It’s true that some circumstances prevent proactive business management. But many do not.

The way I see it, we have indeed had pathetic government leadership, but aren’t we just as much to blame as anyone for not keeping our own businesses fluid as they slid sideways across the top of shifting sands. After all, we chose to stand there in the first place. With that commitment, comes the responsibility to be flexible and stay forever on the alert. Am I alone here?

I’m not suggesting that going with the flow is easy. But, with a small business, it’s essential.

And that means staying tuned in to government screw-ups and broken promises because they will–in the end–affect where, when, and if you grow… or even if you survive! Easy to “Tuesday morning quarterback,” yes, but we’re looking at a lot more shifting sand before we see solid ground no matter who gets or doesn’t get elected.

It took us time to get here; it will take time to get out of here. So, there’s no time like the present to reassess your branding efforts, to initiate an overhaul of priorities and to inject time and expertise (necessary business growth ingredients that no doubt feel unaffordable) into monthly, weekly, and daily schedules.

That investment alone can make the difference for you no matter what happens on November 6th. And hopefully something will happen. The bottom line:

SALES MAKE BUSINESSES GROW.

FAULT AND BLAME AND PROMISES DON’T MAKE SALES!

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Open Minds Open Doors

How un-balanced ARE you?

No matter how much you may think you are in tune or in touch with yourself, if you own or operate or manage a business –new. old, big, small, medium, family, self-employed or otherwise– take it from me who’s experienced all of the above firsthand: you are UN-balanced!

This means that negative stress is seeping in. It’s invading you even as you think it’s not. And it’s taking it’s toll.

How to regain control? First, you need to know where it’s coming from. Odds are it’s some combination of emotional, intellectual, and physical upset or dysfunction. The challenge is to isolate how much is coming from where and when, then to determine the how.

Once you have done an honest self-evaluation, you’re in a better position to reverse the flow and the damage.

Aaah, but this isn’t as easy as it sounds. Read that How to regain control paragraph again.

In some rare instances, it may be just a matter of seconds, minutes or hours to do all these analytics (and you thought analytics were just for SEO geeks doing website tricks?), but if you’re serious about rising to the occasion and getting your act together, be prepared to take days or weeks or months.

(Maybe years!)

Once you’ve done a be-honest-with-yourself inventory (like the doctor’s diagnostic work-up), separate and identify the key issues or stress points that seem to be creating or causing the most unbalance. Put them on paper or in a Word file bullet list. Prioritize by ranking them with 1-3 or 1-10 values in order of most critical (usually this translates to most immediate need).

Consider your own self-prognosis. What’s the best and worst you can expect in terms of timing and accomplishing the tasks associated with eliminating or minimizing the culprit behaviors or influences? What’s the quickest/easiest/smartest/safest way to get back in balance?

Okay, that’s the hardest part. Now initiate treatment. Simple? No. Painless? Pr0bably not. But much easier than the process steps needed to honestly assess and evaluate. After all, you are the only one who can unbalance you. And you are also the only one who can regain control. Bottom line: Nothing happens until you do!

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HAL ALPIAR Writer/Consultant 302.933.0911 TheWriterWorks.com, LLC

National Award-Winning Author & Brand Marketer – Record Client Sales

Open Minds Open Doors