OK, Boss, but are you a leader?

     A leader  has been defined as one who must first have a cause to lead, then possess an inner urge — the spirit of a crusader — in furthering that cause.

     Next,  it has been said that the leader must have a determination and even a ruthlessness in carrying that cause to success in the face of every obstacle.

     Finally,  a leader has been noted as someone who must be able to engender in those being led a willing and even eager cooperation in that cause.

Since the distinctions are not always clear, and since most of us reading this own or run a business, it may be worth taking two minutes out of our lives to assess some of the 8 basic differences between what we may know of someone who is a leader, and someone who “the boss.”

• The boss drives employees. The leader coaches employees.
• The boss relies on authority. The leader relies on good will.
• The boss says “I” a lot. The leader says “We” a lot.
• The boss says “Get there on time.” The leader gets there ahead of time.
• The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown. The leader fixes the breakdown.
• The boss knows how it is done. The leader shows how it is done.
• The boss makes work a drudgery. The leader makes work a game.
• The boss says “Go!” The leader says “Let’s go!”

I recently read of 16 key qualities that “have often been identified as indicators of strong leaders. These include: Vision, Knowledge, Force, Courage, Decision, Tact, Judgment, Knowledge of Psychology, Loyalty, Interest in Subordinates, Justice, Personal Dignity, Selflessness, Personal Integrity, and Discipline.” (and tomorrow night, we will explore some of the more curious points on this list!) 

It’s also been suggested to me that these 16 may be but “just a few of the many qualities desirable in a leader” . . . in fact, I have seen one study which identifies 83 (!) leadership qualities . . . and that “the line of differentiation between those qualities which go to make up a leader and those qualities which go to make up character is thin.”

It’s perhaps worthy of mentioning here as well that those qualities which go to make up character are EXACTLY what the character of your business AND YOUR BUSINESS BRANDING are all about! (and tomorrow night, we will likely experience some element of surprise at the source for much of what’s included in tonight’s post! Tune in Sunday night around 9:45pm ET!)      

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No, there’s never

a day that you’re

 not being evaluated

by SOMEone!

     Maybe you thought  since you run your business or department that you have passed all the tests and no longer need to be on the alert for others’ assessments? Braaaaaaaat! Wrong! You are being evaluated right this very minute by SOMEone, even as you read this.

     How do I know?  Because years of frontline experience as a consultant, writer, and teacher have proven the point thousands of times over.  Business owners, managers and entrepreneurs are high-profile folks who — like it or not — project parental images to almost all employees, many customers and most suppliers. YOU are a surrogate Mommy or Daddy. Yes, you are!

     And that image carries certain responsibilities.  You don’t have to agree with me or like what you’re hearing, but it’s the absolute truth! At some level, which is arguably different for everyone, people think of their bosses as parents. They won’t admit it, but they do!

     So, Daddy and Mommy,  if you want productivity from your employees, sales from your customers and cooperation from your suppliers (and referrers and investors, by the way), you need to adjust your attitude to make the most of the recognition afforded you, even if it is an unconscious and/or unwelcome level of recognition.

     Does this mean  you should now start treating everyone around you like children? Hardly. It does mean, though, that you need to be a touch more neurotic than you already may be because you need to be — as Thoreau once advised — forever on the alert!

     Like accepting the heat if you work in the kitchen,  recognizing and making the most of the respect accorded you is not only necessary, it is a great opportunity. Every encounter you have every day with every employee and customer and supplier is an chance to demonstrate your leadership and your integrity.

     You are being watched  when you think no one’s looking. You are being listened to when you think no one’s paying attention. You are having your Tweet read on twitter by someone somewhere who could make a difference for you and your business.

     Don’t make yourself into a basket case  over this news. Choose instead to honor and respect those who look up to you and who seek your guidance and who lurk quietly in the shadows waiting to learn from you.

     You have what it takes.  You got to where you are because you believe in yourself and your ideas. Accept the responsibility to lead and motivate and encourage and teach others around you because it will come back to you when you least expect it. Guaranteed! 

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  Hal@Businessworks.US   302.933.0116

  Open Minds Open Doors 

   Thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

  Make today a GREAT day for someone!

I, Me, My, We, and Our

Lose To You and Your!

     Unless by some miracle,  you’ve managed to uncover an exception, I believe it’s safe to say that You and Your win 100% of the time!

    So howcum  the vast majority (MUCH more than 50%) of small business advertising and marketing consistently takes the loser position of emphasizing I, Me, My, We, and Our? 

     The answer no doubt  has to do with the fact that entrepreneurs tend to be more self-centered than corporate types, and may lack certain psychological-impact-of-word-usage awarenesses. That tendency is not necessarily a bad thing, it simply is.

     Most entrepreneurs  probably skipped through, over, or around English, creative writing, and psychology coursework in school as they marched to different drummers on paths less traveled to innovate and create and pursue their business ideas. 

     The only problem  with this is that when small businesses beat their chests and tell everyone how great they are and why they’re better than their competition: NOBODY CARES!

     Let’s put the fact that you own  and/or operate or manage a business off to the side burner for a minute, and examine this paradox from your own personal perspective. Surely, YOU purchase products and services for yourself and your family and your business because you believe there are benefits in what you choose for yourself and your family and your business.

     So why would you think  that what you have to sell would be any different? Why would you think that others would spend their money on your products or services for any reason other than that they believe them to offer,have, or promise a benefit to them?

Customers really don’t

                                          

care about how great

                                             

you think you are! 

                                                                                          

     So why does the wording you use  in your brochure, on your website, and in yours ads and commercials emphasize your reputation, your company history, your mission and vision statements? Credibility can be worded to be a benefit instead of a boast. Why does what you say focus on ANYthing besides what the benefits are?

     Cars, parts, appliances, homes, vegetables,  personal and professional services, healthcare, boots, lightbulbs, newspapers, cruise ships, circus acts, roofing and flooring, ice cream, software, fish, septic systems (which may require upgrading if you eat too much ice cream and fish together!)

     Nobody gives a flying frog  about the features of any of these, or any products or services, except tp be able to tick off a bullet list to impress friends, justify expense, or appease parents or bosses. Customers ONLY care about what’s in it for them (to purchase your offerings). What specific benefits will someone gain by buying your product or service?

     This all translates to  removing I, Me, My, We, and Our from your marketing, advertising, sales, PR, and promotional language. Replace them (and the emphasis) with You and Your. Watch your sales rise.

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Hal@Businessworks.US     302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open   Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Doctors were never intended

to be businesspeople.

     Doctors teach  us every day how NOT to run a business. They are over-stressed, under-nourished, over their heads financially, and under the radar of best business practices. Sure there are exceptions. There are exceptions in every field of endeavor.

     But after 25 years  of working as a practice development business consultant and a personal and professional growth and development counselor to physicians and healthcare executives, I know whereof I speak.

     More than half  of the thousand-plus doctors I have known and worked with never wanted to be doctors in the first place. Many were pushed into it by well-intentioned parents who saw only the media-glorified healer earning big bucks… parents who pulled their buggy whips out of storage.

     I don’t know any longer,  but only a few short years ago, the average doctor only lived to be 58 years old. The stress of the work is literally inhuman. Medical schools and training, like military boot camps, breed and cultivate stress. Some good reasons, but mostly not.

     Ridiculous nonstop work shifts  that can only be maintained with easy-access sugar snacks and self-prescribed amphetamines carry over into reality as doctors face the need to juggle (and drum up) patients and referrals, manage staffs and offices or facilities, run businesses, comply with insurance dictates and every type of regulation imaginable, then cope with malpractice issues… oh, right, and maybe even have families. No thanks.

     Yeah, but think of the money.  I know of surgeons who take home close to two million dollars a year after taxes. Without exception, they are physical wrecks, with severely fractured family lives, if any, and have forgotten to laugh… and pray… and eat right… and sleep right… and exercise… and be happy!

     Many drink too much  or pop too many pills or live like zombies. So, yeah, think of the money.

     The bottom line is  that we need to give doctors a break. They don’t have any inventory to sell, or staff who can step up to let them take time off to rest or vacation more than a few days. They are devoted to delivering care to patients but won’t get paid by insurance companies if they spend too many minutes with each patient.

     Oh, and the insurance companies  often don’t pay the doctor until many months after patient care is delivered, and even then it’s typically a nightmare trying to collect what’s owed. Healthcare screw-ups are not because of doctors.

     And healthcare screw-ups  will NOT be solved by any kind of universal federal government mandates. A competitive business arena must exist if healthcare is in fact ever to be viable and available to all. And physicians must be allowed to be an integral part of the process. They deserve the opportunity to deliver quality care without politician interference. 

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You’ll always get what you want

if you help enough other people

to get what they want!

— ZIG ZIGLAR, Motivational Guru and Sales Trainer

     You know, a lot of business people  still have trouble digesting this idea. It’s easy to see why a small business owner who’s struggled to pull together enough of a business and personal life to make a go of it, can feel threatened by the loss of time, money, and energy that it takes to lend others a hand.

     Especially  strangers.

     I mean it’s one thing  to pull your needy in-laws up by the bootstraps, and quite another to give up an hour or two of valuable work time to meet with someone who calls you from out of the Yellow Pages, who has no money to pay for your products or services, and offers no promise of networking connections, but who seeks guidance and advice.

     “Let ’em go to a guidance counselor!”  I’ve actually heard more than a few entrepreneurial types say. “I’ve got no time to waste with some low-life looking for a free ride. Whadda I look like, a community college business department?”

     Now, I’m NOT suggesting  that business owners and managers throw open their doors to every gutter-crawling illegal immigrant welfare recipient drug addict out there and suddenly offer free products, services, and career counseling. There are caregiver organizations that already exist that provide these essentials.

     But don’t hang up or slam your door  on someone who’s sincerely interested in getting your help, who happens to be down and out. Because why? Because there but for the grace of God, it could be you. Because everyone deserves a break. Because EVERY one is fighting some kind of battle. And who are you to judge?

     Stories about the magic  of helping others are written every minute of every day, but we’ll never hear about these good and inspiring happenings because mainstream media doesn’t want us to think positive.

     Mainstream media sells more advertising  by focusing news reports on trivia like who has what right to tell the President the truth, or what some Hollywood buffoon thinks about cap and trade or our healthcare system.

     Mainstream media wants your mind  dwelling on what horrible torture is delivered to some child or domestic animal, or who died in what terrible accident. So what’s bad, ends up squashing what’s good. And — from childhood — we get brainwashed about that.    

     But, you know what?  That’s not an excuse for not reaching a genuine helping hand out to others. Just because the media is invested in sensationalizing and editorializing, doesn’t justify buying into their onslaught of negativity any more than bad toilet training as a baby justifies murder as an adult.

     The point is that it’s a choice.  All behavior is a choice. And you know what else? Choosing to help someone in need will give YOU a better sense of self-worth, which translates to self-esteem, and which — by the way, for the benefit of those more hard-nosed business folks among us — translates to self-confidence, which (ah) just so happens to often translate to sales. Hmmmm.

# # # 

Perceptions Sell and

Perceptions UNsell!

What you perceive is what you believe… and what you believe is FACT, even when it’s not!

     It makes a big difference  how you, for example, define a traffic jam depending on your frame of reference. If you’re from LA, the Bronx, the DC Beltway, or Gumboro in Southern Delaware, the New Jersey Pine Barrens, or Rangeley in NW Maine, what you perceive can vary from endless seas of hornblowing standstill cars, to a pickup truck and two motorcycles waiting for a freight train.

     Perception is selective  and varies every minute of every day. You walk into a party and immediately scope the gathering to find a hot-looking member of the opposite sex who’s serving up inviting looking eyes because you are single and on the hunt. The next party-goer enters and immediately seeks the bar, looking to unwind with a free drink. The artist who comes in the door looks past all the people, and the bar, to find the wall where her painting is hung. And so it goes.

     Selective perception  is also what customers exercise when they are sizing up a product, service, showroom, salesperson, commercial, ad, brochure, warranty, or website. You are using selective perception right this minute by having read this far into this blog post. 

     So a good part of the challenge  for your marketing is to capture prospects’ perceptions and imaginations by properly setting the stage. This — as with any stage — is accomplished with colors, props, backdrops, lighting, spatial arrangements, sounds, and often smells and touch… activating the five senses.

     And isn’t channeling selective perception  what the bombardment of opinion forms, attitude surveys, customer questionnaires, R&D studies, media ratings, and focus groups are all about? In order to make a sale, we need to understand what makes our customers tick.

     This is accomplished  most thoroughly and most rapidly by first finding out and figuring out what makes each of us, as business owners and managers, and entrepreneurs, tick! Once you have a better idea of what turns on your attention, your desires, your interests, and prompts you to action, you’ll have a better idea of how to ignite your customers.

Why does that matter?

Because perceptions sell, and perceptions UNsell! 

# # #

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Hal@Businessworks.US  302.933.0116

Open  Minds  Open  Doors

Many thanks for your visit and God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

Analytical

BELONGS TO SCIENCE AND BUSINESS

Kidding

BELONGS TO GOATS

Teasing

BELONGS TO HAIR

Wired

BELONGS TO ELECTRICIANS

Criticism

BELONGS TO THEATREGOERS

Judgements

BELONG TO COURTROOMS

Pushiness

BELONGS TO BULLDOZERS

Lecturing

BELONGS TO CLASSROOMS

Crowding

BELONGS TO SUBWAYS AND SARDINES

Got some thought-provoking additions? Share what you can. They belong to everyone! 

# # #  

Leaders who fail this

exercise fail as leaders

     As the leader  of your organization, department, division, constituency, team, troop, household, office, clinic, crew, institution, property, building, club, store, or factory, you have and will form a number of prejudices in your lifetime.

I can tell you  that these feelings are your choice and you should choose something else, but it won’t make a difference. If you truly intensely dislike some segment of society, odds are the feelings are so deeply rooted that a BandAid isn’t going to heal the gaping wound.

     You CAN,  however, take some time (and, yes, it is worth it) to examine more carefully what it is exactly that tips your scale into tiltsville. At least you will have narrowed down the ugly feelings enough to have the good sense to know when to walk away from a potentially volatile situation, vs. setting yourself and others up for an explosion.

     First of all,  and this is important, remember that you need not like somebody to do business with her or him. Of course it’s nice to enjoy a customer or prospect’s company because it makes the sales process (Oh, yes, leadership IS sales, because leading IS persuading, right? But you know that of course!) more pleasant.

     But, you know what?  For some peculiar reason I’ve never figuired out, odds are that the biggest and most important leadership (sales) accomplishments have occurred with people who you are not particularly fond of. So…

Half the battle is knowing what prompts you to think the way that you think before the circumstances arise that prompt you to think that way!

Can you look in the mirror and give yourself honest

one-word judgments/assessments of these 46 types:

Men? Old men? Young men? Middle-aged men? Women? Old women? Young women? Middle-aged women? Children? Infants? Toddlers? Adolescents? Teenagers? Black people? White people? Blondes? Brunettes? Redheads? Bald-headed people? People with wigs? Toupees? Beards? Mustaches? Tattoos? Face piercings? Tongue piercings? Pierced Ears? Indians? Pakistanis? Mexicans? Frenchmen? Muslims? Jews? Irishmen? Asians? Fast talkers? Slow talkers? People who don’t look you in the eye? People with bone-crusher handshakes? People with fish fillet handshakes? Rednecks? City slickers? Tree huggers? Overweight people? Underweight people? Handicapped people? Athletes?   

     Here’s my best guess on scoring: 

• If you dislike/distrust more than 10,  you have a problem that you should confront and deal with because it’s keeping you from being successful in your leadership role.
• If you dislike/distrust more than 20,  you’ll be happier as a hermit than as a leader. Cash in your assets and head for a cave.
• If you dislike/distrust more than 30,  please run, don’t walk, to the nearest psychotherapist and beg for help (and until you get help, keep yourself locked up at home watching Animal Channel)!  
• Ah,  did we raise some consciousness here? Good! Happy Week! 

# # #  

When you give people the

benefit of doubt, they’ll take it!

     If it’s leadership  you seek to provide and succeed with, DO NOT give people “the benefit of doubt”! Just don’t! I think that 99 times out of 100, you’ll be sorry! You’re in sales, or you own your own business, or manage a business or major part of a business… all, one in the same; all require you to be selling something all day every day!

     When you give someone  — a customer, a prospect, an employee, a vendor, a referrer, an investor — the benefit of doubt, she or he will take it. And what creek does that leave you up without a paddle? Why set yourself up for reaping non-performance?

     Isn’t it like having someone  with a poor track-record for reliability telling you the check is in the mail? What’s the worst that can happen by you being an assertive non-believer? You end up making a wrong judgment about some one’s behavior? Then apologize and get on with life.

     It happens every day.  Life is too short to wallow in having made a bad judgment call. On the other hand, by calling the other person’s hand (politely of course; nowhere here am I even suggesting a demanding or arrogant or feisty or pushy or aggressive tone; nowhere!), you will simply be jogging a slow responder.

     My best totally non-cynical guess,  by the way, is that slow responder is a term that probably describes a minimum of half the people on the planet. And many of these folks will actually be grateful for the little prod. So stop annoying yourself with thoughts that you may be annoying to others.

     Your job  is to get your job done, right? And hopefully it’s to accomplish that task in the most respectful and considerate manner possible. But maybe it’s time to examine whether you are in fact getting your just reward, getting what you’re entitled to, and getting your due in a timely fashion.

     I’m not just talking about collecting payments here.  Decision-making delays are at least as big, if not bigger, of a culprit to contend with. It doesn’t take long for a sales pro to learn that “maybe” is the worst possible response to get from a prospect or customer. “No” means you can cut the line and let the customer or prospect drift out to see with a smile and wave.

     “Maybe” means now you have to hang on  to making repeated efforts at repeated expense with repeated energy and still only have 50-50 odds of success. People who say “maybe” or tell you to “call back” next week, next month, next year, are, in my opinion, time-wasters 99% of the time!

     They do not deserve the benefit of doubt.

     And if you give it to them,  repeatedly, you may be looking at some pretty miserable odds for ulcers and business failure. I once had a very successful and highly respected sales manager who kept this sign over his desk:

BE NICE. BE FIRM. BE DIRECT. BE UNDERSTANDING.

LISTEN. BUT DON’T GIVE OR TAKE ANY CRAP!

GET (AND VALUE!) A “YES” OR “NO”!  

# # #  

Consultant: person

from 100 miles away

with a BlackBerry and laptop.

You better believe it  that clients give more respect to consultants from “out of town.” Besides that the out-of-town guy’s perspective is “totally fresh,” clients love to talk about the fact that they have a consultant who’s “totally hosing” them!

Why?  Who knows? And who cares? How to UN-do this unrealistic, warped mindset is what really matters. The best consultants are those who get the job done on schedule, pleasantly and reasonably.

And, by the way,  EVERY client loves consultants who are willing to work on a partial performance incentive basis! Hey, why not? Prove yourself. If you’re so sure you can solve the problem, you should be willing to bet part of your compensation on it, and of course charge more … especially where sales or savings commissions are possible! You can be fairly certain the out-of-town guy won’t do that.

First of all,  if you’re serious about wanting to do consulting work of any kind — regardless of your expertise — start with and communicate confidence (not cockiness!) by recognizing that you know more about the subject than any client, or your services wouldn’t be required.

Second,  roll up your sleeves and get to work being a consultant before you’re even hired to be a consultant. Show the client how you function be getting right to the heart of things. Take any minor issue raised in a discussion and ask questions. Listen carefully. Analyze and make recommendations. Do it in a relaxed manner.

And stop worrying  about giving away your expertise by solving problems that you’re not asked to solve and that you’re not being paid for yet. If you think you can do it, do it!

Avoid getting tangled up  in contracts, long-term agreements, petty lawyer-style compensation terms (Do you want to pay someone by the quarter hour for reading your email or letter or for listening to your phone call that outlines the basic logistics of what the working arrangements will be?) Like NIKE says, Just Do It!

If repeat business and referrals  are important to you (duh!), then focus on getting the job done, instead of telling how great you are. Track-records don’t produce sales unless you’re a major name athlete. Ongoing demonstrations of knowledge and know-how, and resources, and ability to communicate clearly will land the assignment AND solve the client’s problem.

When I started as a consultant,  I hired a consultant to “sit in” as my “assistant” and then later badger me with devil’s advocate questions to force me to stay tuned in and come to terms with my own problem-solving and communication skills. It was worth every penny! (Uh, you DO remember what a “penny” is?)

Bottom line:  There’s NOTHING can compare to working for yourself! If you’re out of work, have special knowledge and skill, have integrity, communications skills, and confidence … stop making excuses and go for it. You don’t need a BlackBerry and laptop. Just start with a phone, email capability, business cards, and determination!

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