Archive for the 'Teamwork' Category

Jun 08 2010

The Soft Side of Business

Helping the needy 

                                              

doesn’t mean

                                         

competitors will 

                                            

eat you for dinner

 

 

  In fact, quite the contrary. When you slow down or stop your business-wheels long enough to reach off your merry-go-round and help some of those who can only afford to stand off to the side and watch you calliope-music your way around in circles, you are investing in your community . . . and ultimately in your own business, if you’re smart enough to make it newsworthy.

“Charity starts at home” isn’t just a sarcastic jab at humor.

But most businesses either fail at trying to make newsworthiness out of nothing, or at thinking that efforts to proclaim newsworthiness out of acts of generosity somehow taints the integrity of the charitable offerings. Both are wrong. First of all, the public is not stupid. People can see through thinly-veiled acts of self-proclaimed greatness with one eye shut and both hands behind their backs.

Don’t invent situations in order to gain favorable news exposure and publicity. Editors typically reject such self-serving efforts, and even when something does manage to slide by and end up getting attention, the public sees it for what it is.

But when your business does something heartfelt to help someone or group of someones, don’t be overly timid about spreading the word. Why? Isn’t that too much like bragging? Doesn’t that rub people the wrong way to be tooting your own horn?

The truth, since you asked (okay I asked for you) is that the more exposure your business gets for having sponsored an employee fundraising for some worthy organization or situation, the more you will have primed the pump to prompt others to follow suit. Then what? Then you will have shoe-horned (have you ever seen a shoehorn?) in even more helpful acts than your own.

The soft side of business — whether it’s charitable fundraising, or giving an employee or supplier or community family the support it needs to get through a crisis, or sponsoring a neighborhood clean-up project, or donating products or services or time, or providing technical or administrative back-up to a local or regional nonprofit organization — can work wonders for business reputation.

People (your customers, clients, patients, and prospects) BUY reputation! Connect the dots.

You haven’t time for all the solicitations at your doorstep? That’s like saying you haven’t enough time to learn time management. Ask for someone in your organization to follow a criteria list you hand off to screen applicants and make periodic recommendations for situations that fit inside the annual or semi-annual or quarterly budget you set and insist on.

When the tax-deductible budget is spent, solicitors go on a waiting list, or apply again next year. Make sure arrangements are made for news release announcements before and after (at least) every event, with content that’s always focused on the benefiting individual or organization, and always urging others to get on the bandwagon (or your merry-go-round!).  Soft is good.

 Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

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

God Bless America, and God Bless Our Troops 

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Jun 07 2010

Unresponsiveness is Bad Business

“Like talkin’ to

                                       

  a brick wall!”

                                                                                                                                 

     Remind you of anyone? No, not your teenager or your grandfather. How about that one unresponsive boss, customer, prospect, investor, referrer, supplier, associate, employee? You know. The one who specializes in unanswered calls, unanswered emails, unanswered questions, unanswered charges, and unansdtxtmsgs. 

     Besides that these inactions ring out unprofessional and unbusinesslike behaviors, they just don’t cut it! They insult, frustrate, and aggravate those on the delivery end of the questions that cry out for answers, and the messages that call for some form of acknowledgement.

     Thank heaven most entrepreneurs maintain a sense of urgency in most of what they do. They may be a little rough around the edges by elementary schoolteacher standards (typically measured with “warm and fuzzy” yardsticks) or too gruff or brusk for many country-clubbers (who expect at all costs to be treated like royalty; “Thank you, dawlink!”), but at least they respect the need to get things done.

     What stands in the way of most entrepreneurial instincts to act (instead of just talk about acting, ala America’s empty suit sea of politicians) is the modus operandi of those who choose to think that no response is the best response, and that avoidance makes things go away. These folks, by the way, absolutely hate when someone doesn’t disappear, and continues to pursue an answer.

     Do those who practice shutting down and standing still for a living think they could possibly be cultivating business or making friends by sitting on their thumbs? Do they harbor some idiotic belief that others will gravitate to their aloofness? Probably, they just don’t care, or they’re just plain ignorant. 

     For the benefit of those who may be thinking about printing out this post and are leaving an unsigned copy conspicuously exposed on some unsuspecting culprit’s desk, or dashboard, or nightstand, you may want to save ink and paper and just use the following bulletpoints:

  • Your lethargic, uncaring, ambivalence is a disruption to life and work . . . and so beneath the integrity of those around you . . . If you don’t plan to respond to someone, say so! If you don’t have or know the answer to something, say so! If you need or want more time to reply to a request or question or message, say so!

  • Here’s why. In case it hasn’t occurred to you, most of the world operates in some kind of time zone, and most people will at least nod their heads when spoken to. The fact that you receive a message in writing or voice recording doesn’t mean that it is any less important to acknowledge than face-to-face deliveries.

  • Oh, and if you are, by some miraculous conception, some type of business executive or representative, you may want to give some thought to the fact that “outsiders” (which cer-tainly includes endless prospective customers, clients, or patients) will instantly identify your business attachment as THE business itself.

  • In other words, to the outside world, you ARE your business. Do you really want potential customers, employees, suppliers, investors, referrers to think your business is unresponsive? Of course they will. Don’t even go there. Instead, step up to the plate and start acting like a human being. It’s called respect.

     Trainers, coaches, consultants and creative types can do wonders for businesses by tweaking one thing or another, but tweaking bricks (even for those from Brick, New Jersey) can be a painful process. Let the bulletpoints do the job for you. If you still seek a tweak, however, you may want to explore more of how to . . .

Get TWEAKED at www.TWWsells.com or call 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  
Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless Our Troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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Jun 02 2010

HIRING “Outside Experts”

Pay for Performance 

 . . . Not for Promises!

 

     The best business consultants, advisors, coaches, trainers, and counselors base their fees on what they’re able to accomplish, not on how great they tell you it’s going to be.

 YOU’RE PAYING TOO MUCH IF:  

1)  You’re paying ongoing fees and can’t see any ongoing results.

2)  You’re paying any kind of “retainer” fee, and you’re not sure of what it is that you’re “retaining.” 

3)  You’re paying for dead-end training, coaching, or counseling support that assures you of new and improved leadership/team-work . . . or communications, or customer relations, or sales . . . but that doesn’t produce noticeable change in 21 days, and that doesn’t then keep it going with meaningful, targeted, personal follow-up long after scheduled sessions are completed.

4)  You’re paying for outside services that continuously blame your inside services for stalling/blocking/obstructing/interfering or foot-dragging and/or lack of commitment.

5)  You’re paying for professional expertise exclusively because of long-term relationships and because that individual or group has maintained all your records for a long time. Would you not go to a medical or legal or financial expert you know has the ability to heal you just because your present advisor was hired by your father (or grandfather) and has your complete history in his files?  

6)  You get billed for every breath taken on your behalf. Outside experts unwilling to invest a little extra time and effort on your behalf as an expression of their customer / client relationship management are not worth the invoice postage or email review time. They are easily (and happily) replaced.

     There are a gazillion qualified groups and individuals out there who will deliver ongoing attention and ongoing results. In case you think you haven’t enough time to go shopping for the kinds of outside experts who breed authenticity, consider how much money you’ve been (or are presently) wasting  by not finding more honorable replacements.

     Even hiring someone else to shop for you – with your criteria of course – will probably still end up being a financially-smarter and more performance-rewarding move than avoiding the issue.

     The hardest thing any of us have to do in life – and consequently the hardest thing any business owner or manager has also to do – is to let go.

     Letting go of anything that we own, command, raise, invent, enhance, fix, inherit, create, design, develop, build, or even just think about, is like giving up a piece of our existence. How big of a piece determines the amount of anguish and reluctance and hesitation and whining and complaining that is sure to surface.

     And you’ve already been around long enough to realize that the total of all the upset added together multiplies according to how much time, money, and effort has been invested. So, the time to act is now. Clean house. Find experts who are willing to roll up their sleeves and work with you, who will act like partners, not leeches.   

 

# # #

                                                   

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“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!

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May 23 2010

Appreciation vs. Depreciation

The farther apart we go,

                                                   

 the closer we need

                                     

to be.

                                                           

     As time and technology continue to stretch the great divide they’ve created between human beings . . . and personal relationships become less personal . . . the importance of common sense and common courtesy rises to the surface with more pronounced impact than ever before.

     The HR and sales management rule of thumb, “Praise in public and criticize in private” has — for example — no less common sense meaning now, with increased communication reliance on emails and text messages, than it did in the days when every encounter was a personal face-to-face experience. In fact, the integrity of that “Praise and Criticize” guideline is even more important today.

     Why is that? Because today, we rely more on short, concise, written notes, and every communication is traceable. When someone is praised by email for exceptional performance, everyone in the ranks should get a Cc. When someone is criticized, and Bcc’s are flying around, poor judgement is being exercised, and hidden agendas overwhelm integrity.

     If you run your business on a need-to-know basis, and that works for you, then stick to that and don’t entertain exceptions. If you have a broader interpretation of management transparency and practice across-the-boards openness with all your people, and that works for you, don’t drift into occasional closed door sessions or transmissions. Consistency is what builds business success because it’s what fosters customer, employee and supplier loyalty.

     Customers, employees and suppliers all like to know where they stand. They appreciate business policies, procedures, and approaches that are predictable, and that — even if they disagree with them — they can be assured of no surprises!

     Common courtesy of course is most evident with every exchange, in writing and electronic transmission, in person and on the phone. It is so evident because it is so simple, takes so little effort, but works wonders for every recipient: “Please” and “Thank you!” may sound like dumb old customs to some in this day and age, but nothing else has ever risen in all of history that accomplish more than those three words. [And at-home applications are as important as on-the-job.]

     People are hired and fired, sold and unsold, respected and disrespected by the subjective measures of others as to the genuineness with which these three words are expressed, and if, in fact, they are expressed at all. Those who let “Please” and “Thank you!” flow freely (yes, even when the waitress puts your silverware down or pours you a glass of water, even when a delivery person brings you something you don’t want!) are the people who spread positive attitudes and who will achieve the most success.

     No need to take my word for it. Simply observe those words in emails, hear them in person and on the phone and — assuming they’re delivered with some sense of authenticity — judge for yourself what your impressions are of the person using these expressions of courtesy vs. those you observe and hear who don’t. It’s your call. Thank you for your consideration! 

 Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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May 19 2010

3-D LEADERSHIP

Shhhh… it’s Quiet

                                         

Authenticity.

                                                                     

     Charging onto the battlefield on horseback with swords swishing and guns blazing is the Hollywoodized image many have when the word “Leadership” is mentioned. Of course many others draw from contemporary examples of visualizing a lecturing orator telling all how great things are and will soon be.

     But truly effective leaders are not bursting into battle, or on front page stages or the 11 o’clock news. Because they’re quiet.

     The greatest business and healthcare and educational leaders I have known, and I’ve had the privilege of knowing many, have been quiet leaders. They universally avoid shouting, bullying, pushing, complaining, intimidating, prodding, game-playing, undermining, and hidden agendas in favor of what I call 3-D Leadership.

3-D Leaders DESIGN, DEVELOP,

AND DELIVER.

                                                                    

     Strong leaders invest themselves in preventive maintenance, in defusing and sidestepping the nonproductive contentiousness of those who would draw lines in the sand at every opportunity. Yet most, it seems to me, as they “walk” Teddy Roosevelt “softly” also follow his philosophy and “carry a big stick”. . . not unlike Thomas Jefferson’s quest for “eternal vigilance” noted at the close of my blog posts, or Henry David Thoreau’s motto to “Be forever on the alert.”

     Leaders who practice 3-D Leadership are women and men (and yes, some special children) who are consistently tuned in to getting the task at hand done while staying alert to what’s behind the door, around the corner and up the road vs. dwelling on issues that have gone by the boards, or on promising to deliver undeliverables.

     3-D Leaders influence, inspire, and motivate others by demonstrating . . . by setting examples and sharing knowledge and experiences. They communicate clearly. They know just the right amount of information to offer and absorb at just the right times vs. too much or too little too soon or too late.

     To be a DESIGN/DEVELOP/DELIVER-focused leader requires a large and rare repertoire of skills, talents, instincts, values, belief systems, and human qualities that all add up to authenticity. Leaders who put authenticity first in their own lives and in their affiliations are those who exude transparency. There is nothing to hide.

     These are people who are true to themselves and instinctively seek the positive and the good in others. They thrive in 3-D opportunity environments. It’s invigorating to be one, though few who are, I believe, tend to realize they are. It’s invigorating to follow one. And this I know because I have been fortunate enough to have followed a few.

     If you seek to achieve the ends I’ve described, I can only applaud your ambitions, wish you great open mindedness, and suggest you start by being true to yourself as much of the time as possible with every passing hour in your life. When you get there, call me and let’s do lunch.

         

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops 

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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May 18 2010

C’mon Congress, EARN YOUR KEEP!

Could Your Family

                              

Or Business 

                                                     

Get To 2011 Without

                                          

A Budget?

                                                   

So what makes Congress think America doesn’t need one?

                                                                                         

     We The People — the business owners and operators and managers and entrepreneurs and sales professionals — of the United States of America need to vent!

     We would like to understand how it could be possible that you, the Congressional Representatives of the geographic districts that our business interests occupy, are at the doorstep of foregoing a national budget this year. PLEASE explain.

     For the benefit of those not yet up to speed on this issue because you’ve been struggling with your own budgets, The Hill newspaper has just proclaimed that Congress may fail to even try to pass a budget this year because the Congressional majority claims that “they’ve pushed too many tough votes through the House to force another one before Election Day.”

     Rarely do I have much good to report coming out of organizations like the SBA, the BBB, the NFIB, or the C of C, but I just saw a copy of a letter from US Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Bill Miller that deserves three cheers from all of us. He challenges that feeble excuse quoted in The Hill with the following:

Tough votes? You mean like bending the rules and twisting arms to pass a flawed healthcare bill that America doesn’t want and can’t afford?

Or like rushing a vote on a financial overhaul bill that would create one of the largest bureaucracies in American history?

Giving up the budget process is their choice. It’s politics, plain and simple. And we deserve better… if Congress fails to pass a budget, it will show that it is simply unable to govern

… No budget equals failure. And right now, that’s something our country, our workers, and our employers cannot afford.” 

     How is it even possible that ANYone, even a politician, could imagine a budget-less organization — let alone a national government– being able to arrogantly continue charging forward while sinking deeper into the depths of economic quicksand?

     With continuing misplaced priorities and increases in frivolous federal spending, we — the business owners and operators and managers and entrepreneurs and sales professionals — are being driven aimlessly into the face of an all-powerful global economic storm… and not even a budget on the horizon?

     How would our own businesses do with no sense of financial direction or planning? One need not be a rocket scientist to see that our national and state economies are on shaky (to say the least!) ground in the midst of turbulent times.

     Yet we have elected politicians who have no business skills,  knowledge or experience, no sense of how to turn this mess around. All of us with small businesses already know that more spending of more money we don’t have, with no plan, is not going to do it!

     The only answer is:  A) To push members of Congress (with emails, letters and calls) to do the jobs our tax dollars are paying them to do and pass a budget we can afford, then B) VOTE THEM OUT IN NOVEMBER before they destroy all of our businesses.  

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day!

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May 10 2010

Are you playing basketball on a baseball field?

WHAT SPORT IS

                                                                              

YOUR BUSINESS?

                                                   

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

When was the last time you dribbled across the infield and took a jump shot from 2nd base? Or slam-dunked a hockey puck over the goalpost? You went curling and used a nine-iron instead of a broom?

I once heard a corporate executive describe his company as roller derby because “all we ever do is race around in circles, bashing each other in the teeth, putting on a good show for our public, but nothing ever seems to get done or go anywhere.”    

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

                                                                                                        

     If you own or manage a business, you sell! If you’re in sales, you undoubtedly equate the sales field with the football field, and see youself running around right end, punting, passing, tackling, huddling, and occasionally at the 11th hour and the 50-yard line “Hail Marying” your way to a sale/no sale decision.

     Football legend Vice Lombardi spent years making motivational training films for salespeople because he saw how direct the sales and football analogy was. A full court press may force a basketball turnover, but cost game-losing vulnerability in many other sports. Are you playing the same sport as your customers? Your competitors? Your vendors?

     So, what sport is YOUR business? ASK AROUND. Other’s answers may surprise you.

     Your honest answer gives important clues about your business strengths and weaknesses, as well as about your business image, reputation, and uniqueness. And those clues establish business patterns which point to professional and financial growth and development opportunities.

     Many family businesses fail to row the same boat in the same direction, or are busy ducking one another while playing ping-pong with golf balls. (Ouch!) 

     Is the sport you choose to best represent your business a team sport? Do people act like teammates? Any team spirit? Cheerleaders? Playmaker? Coach? Go-to guy?

    OR is the sport you most identify with a superstar sport? One person makes all the decisions all the time about everything, from trash disposal methods to sales and marketing and financial management and customer service and answering every phone inquiry?

     In the boxing ring there is but one fighter doing battle with another. The rest are support people. Very high competitive risks for very high potential payback, with the possibility of being rich and brain dead. Well, you could always be a politician . . .

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless Our Troops (“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!”- Thomas Jefferson)  Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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May 04 2010

Complacence. Ambivalence. Indifference.

Complacence.

                            

Ambivalence.

                                    

Indifference.

                               

And the worst

                                                          

of these in

                            

management is . . .?

                                                                                                                        

  • Complacence: Self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.
  • Ambivalence: Uncertainty as to which approach to follow.
  • Indifference: Of no importance or difference one way or the other. Unconcerned. Not caring.
                                                            

     So which gets your vote for worst? If you think about it for more than two shakes of a lamb’s tail, you’d have to go with (Ta-Ta-Ta-Tah-Tah!): Indifference. After all, isn’t indifference the worst of all human traits on the emotional spectrum, management or otherwise?

     Granted, nobody likes a complacent boss. Is smug another way of saying this? And certainly an ambivalent boss is what my father would have called “a weak sister.” Not having confidence in the pursuit of a solution or innovative approach is generally the mark of a losing leader in any arena.

     We seem to grow up thinking that LOVE and HATE are opposites and we tend to pack our collective feelings up and move them to one side of the continuum line or the other: LOVE at one extreme end and HATE at the other extreme end. And all kinds of empty space in between. And, BTW, isn’t this also what politicians and governments and nations do as well?

     Incorrect weird interpretations we experience –even at a universal level– become so ingrained that they become the rule rather than the exception. We (The People) go about loving and hating and thinking that we are light years apart by every measure when — in reality– we are really VERY close indeed.

     How is that possible?

The true opposite of LOVE is not HATE. It is INDIFFERENCE. LOVE and HATE are actually quite close emotions.

The true opposite of HATE is not LOVE. It is INDIFFERENCE. HATE and LOVE are actually quite close emotions.

INDIFFERENCE is at the extreme far end of the emotional spectrum from both LOVE and HATE.

                                                                

     So what? Who cares? What’s it matter in running a business? At an employee confrontation level, keep focused on the fact that what’s expressed as extreme opposite viewpoints are — all things considered — probably very close.

     Sometimes the boss needs only to point this out. A line drawn on paper with “always/in every case/extreme” positions marked at opposite ends of the line and two warring staffers asked to put an x on the line where they see themselves in relation to the two extremes. The distance between the two X’s is the area of disagreement, not the entire line. 

     Almost always, when disagreeing employees can physically see (on a line) that the differences they thought were astronomical, are truly only moderately significant, they are much more likely to work things out, to the betterment of themselves and the business.

     You don’t need to be a counselor, shrink or hand-holder to make this work. I’ve seen construction team foremen and deep-sea fishermen pull it off in less than one minute, and never lose a beat with the work at hand. Next time someone draws a line in the sand, have her or him show you the extremes and where exactly he or she stands. 

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops

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

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

One response so far

May 02 2010

LEADERSHIP JOB ONE: RESPONSIVENESS

J & J Leadership

                            

Lessons

                                         

 Go Far Beyond

                                

BandAids!

                                                                 

     We are witnessing now one of the world’s worst oil leak disasters. It could have been drastically minimized with immediate action. 

     Instead of responsiveness, however, we had eight days of Presidential foot-dragging in order to be preoccupied with more important issues, like trying to push Goldman Sachs over the edge of the political cliff without toppling in over them, and hosting a reception for the New York Yankees, among other such critical demands.

     Ah, but after eight days, when the White House finally did decide to step up, determined to save a token pelican or two, some key federal-titled muckity-mucks were actually “dispatched” with orders to report back in 30 days.

     Right, 30 days! How long would it take anyone you know who lives on a coastline to tell you that on top of 8 days of hundreds of thousands of gallons a day worth of leaked oil, we are destined to inevitably see that oil along the Eastern Shore? How about 30 minutes?

     WOO HOO . . . a little too little too late! Imagine taking this approach to respond to a business problem. You’d be out of business. Or, you’d be big-time up to the tops of your hipboots in debt with expensive apolgetic and advertising media expenses. Ask Toyota.

     Either way, the problem multiplies exponentially when responsiveness is not present. Without a sense of urgency built into your leadership position, your business is only as strong as the last time you took swift positive remedial action.

     The classic textbook example was, of course. when Johnson & Johnson handled “The Tylenol Scare” of 1982. They acted poste haste and authoritatively.

     J&J management breeds leadership. It doesn’t matter that you might have a mom and pop grocery store (are there any of those left?) or a 3-person home-based business, there is much to be learned about crisis management from the way J&J dealt with this potential disaster:

  • Apologize immediately and completely.
  • Act immediately.
  • Tell ALL.
  • Follow up.
  • Stay invested in the solution and be transparent.

     Bottom line: RESPONSIVENESS.

     When you tackle a major problem head-on and immediately, the biggest risk you run is being accused of being over-zealous. What’s that compared to lost lives, lost environment, lost trust, lost credibility? The important distinction to remember here is the difference between reSPONDING and reACTING.

     When you reACT, you run the immediate risk of OVER-reacting, and that puts you out of control. When you reSPOND, you are acting with control, and you are ensuring increased odds of success. Seeking a practical control tool? Take some deep breaths!

Click Here to work with Hal NOW!

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops because “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day! 

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May 01 2010

LEADERSHIP INTENTIONS?

“I meant to tell y’all

                                   

 this sooner, but…”

 

     We all know where the road that’s paved with good intentions leads, but how often do we ignore the consequence of that destination when it comes to communication and leadership decision making?

     And contrary to current popular Presidential acclaim, effective and meaningful communication goes light years beyond being a dramatic orator. Orators are not leaders. They are merely one form of manager who dwells more on talking about intent than on getting things done.

     When what we mean to do is consistently not what ends up getting done, something is wrong. Either the equipment, systems, or personnel are not performing as expected or — more likely than not — we are doing a lousy job of leadership communicating.

     This is not to suggest that maintaining a productive communications balance is necessarily an easy task, but reality is that we only ever communicate too little, too much, or just enough . . . and too soon, too late, or right on time. The goal obviously needs to be to communicate just enough at the right time to ensure that the task at hand gets done the right way and on schedule.

     What’s the best way to determine the extent to which our communications are sufficient or insufficient, whether they are delivered in a timely enough fashion to minimize stress and maximize productivity? Ask. Too many people in leadership positions choose to feel they are somehow emasculated (effeminated?) by having to ask “underlings” for their judgements.

    “How’re we doing here?” is all it takes. Just by asking, and preferably in the middle of a statement, meeting, phone conversation, presentation, paragraph, webinar, seminar, or workshop, our how goes it check-ups give us useful opportunities to adjust our messages and/or pace in midstream, and usher in more productive action. 

     Even better: “What three things can I do to do a better job of communicating?” What makes this second question better? It asks for specific feedback, which is always more useful information to apply.

     Best of all steps for us to take, besides taking our communications pulse frequently, is to simply be thinking more about it every day. What does that take? I’ve know top business leaders who pasted “Communicate the right amount at the right time!” reminder signs over their desks, and smaller ones on their keyboards or edge of their monitors, on their phones, even their wristwatches. 

     When a business leader loses touch with being an effective communicator, she or he also loses touch with being an effective motivator. When that happens, people start looking for jobs elsewhere, and sales plummet.

     Those are pretty dire consequences compared to how simple it is to make a conscious choice to be a better leader by being more tuned-in to how and when we come across to others.

Comment below or Hal@BusinessWorks.US 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You! God Bless America, and God Bless our troops because “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]  Make today a GREAT Day! 

One response so far

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