How To Avoid Failing

After one of my recent leadership tips, someone asked me my opinion of the primary causes why businesses or business units fail.

Fair question.

To clarify, ‘fail’ can mean going out of business (closing the doors) … or ‘fail’ can also mean not reaching expectations.

Although I have no shortage of opinions, and there is no one answer to this question, let me share with you my experience and provide you with my top 3 – ways to avoid failing.

Business or business units can avoid failure if:

1. They have a realistic plan. Many businesses do not have a plan and if they do, the plans are often short sighted and / or incomplete. Realistic plans have to leverage your strengths, minimize your weaknesses, maximize your opportunities (current and emerging), thoughtfully addresses your threats (current and emerging). The plans have to be born with creative thought and deliberate, mindful strategies and actions.

2. They have competent leadership. Leadership that possess the skills to establish strong employee relationships and the ability to build a focused and engaged team. Caring, creativity, consistency, communication and attention to customers are key.

3. They are efficient with time. They have established priorities, they are highly productive, they avoid fire-fighting because they solve problems before they occur, they are focused and purposeful, they think things through in advance – they plan.

My leadership tip for you this week, is to have you perform a reality gut check on how well your business or business unit(s) are doing in these 3 – critical areas.

To do this, spend a minimum of half a day with key members of your team to review your performance in each of these areas. Give everyone an assignment of assessing one or more of the components of the three points made above. Be mindful of the ‘rose colored glasses’ your team may be wearing.

You may want to assign a positive viewpoint and a critical viewpoint, or get an independent 3rd party facilitator to calibrate your perspective.

Business can be good today (this quarter) … but the question is, are you doing the things today that will assure your business will be good tomorrow.

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Ten Success Rules

On occasion, I’ll pull out Herbert N. Casson’s Ten Success Rules and give myself a reality check. I thought I’d share them with you:

Put success before amusement.

Learn something every day.

Cut free from routine.

Concentrate on net profits.

Make your services known.

Never worry about trifles.

Shape your decisions quickly.

Acquire skill and technique.

Deserve loyalty and co-operation.

Value character above all.

One can always argue that there should be more (or fewer) success rules, but let’s work with these.

My leadership tip this week is to ask you to measure yourself against these ten rules and make any necessary adjustments in your leadership to comply fully.

Use the grading scale below. If your total score is below 50 points, you’ve got some work to do.

Strength of Mine – 5 points

I’m Above Average – 4 points

I’m Competent – 3 points

I’m Below Average – 2 points

I Need Some Work – 1 point

The one success rule that may give you a little trouble is ‘Make Your Services Known’.

For me, making your services known is about mentoring, coaching, advising, sharing experiences, being available, listening, supporting, encouraging, giving recognition, showing appreciation, directing and the list can go on.

As a leader, the only way to make these services known is by actively doing them … and doing them well.

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It’s All About The Results

Let’s think about your strategies for a few minutes.

Have they been designed to achieve top line growth … bottom line growth … increase / defend market share … customer satisfaction … or something else?

Are you satisfied with your results?

We know Blockbuster, Sears, Radio Shack and a many other retailers are not satisfied with their results.

Winston Churchill once said, ‘however beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results’.

All of the above mentioned companies at one time were implementing strategies that worked real well … and then it seems like all of a sudden their results were off and it was too late.

My leadership tip for you this week is to slow down and take a real close look at the results of your strategies.

This isn’t hard to do, but most of us don’t do it.

We get busy … we get distracted … we lose our focus … our priorities get out of alignment … and then the next thing you know, we wonder why we aren’t having the kind of success we thought we would.

By focusing on the results of your strategies you will be able to identify necessary adjustments in execution or modifications to the action plans designed to achieve the expected results.

You may also realize that you have the wrong strategy.

Don’t be stubborn – change it.

It’s good to be committed to a strategy … but it’s even better to be good at measuring the results and taking action.

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You Played That Well … Nice Job

If you do any amount of travel for business, you likely have been exposed to all kinds of different characters who drive cab or a shuttle bus.

On one trip you might experience someone who is extremely talkative, or very quiet, or an aggressive driver, or an overly cautious driver who doesn’t appear to know where they’re going … or something else.

I have to share with you a recent ride I took in a shuttle bus from the airport to a hotel I was staying at. I was the only passenger.

I had a nervous driver. He just seemed uncomfortable and jittery. No discussion, ‘how was your flight’ or ‘where you from’ … nothing … not a word.

Which was just fine with me, because I like to sit quietly and think.

While on the freeway to the hotel, we came across some road construction where two lanes became extra narrow with a concrete barricade on the left and no shoulder on the right.

Suddenly on the right, two vehicles were merging into the lane we were in and a couple of vehicles to our left were trying to pass. With nowhere to go, we were being squeezed out and the nervous driver was now extra nervous. He slowed down just enough to let the vehicles on the left pass us, quickly moved into their lane while avoiding collision with the merging vehicles.

Nervously, he looked into the rear view mirror to check my reaction.

Knowing he was nervous, sensing something was bothering him … I simply said, ‘you played that well … nice job.’

He beamed from ear to ear and his whole demeanor changed for the remaining 10 minutes of the trip.

I’m not positive what caused his initial discomfort, but I was glad I was able to make him smile.

My leadership tip for you this week is to never forget about the importance and power of positive reinforcement. A few well timed words, that take seconds to say, can earn you long lasting loyalty and engagement from anyone.

A few poorly expressed words, or an obvious none acknowledgement, can negatively impact your relationship and create disengagement.

So, think about this … how many positive reinforcement messages or acknowledgements have you delivered this week ?

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The Price of Not Holding Others Accountable

After a leadership development seminar I presented in Wisconsin last week, I read an article in a local newspaper that we can all learn from.

Apparently, two Milwaukee police officers decided to sue the city after their complaints to their supervisor(s) of harassment and threats from a fellow officer were ignored.

Unfortunately, the complaints led to retaliation and continued bullying from the fellow officer in question.

Now, I’m not here to lay blame, pick sides or judge anybody involved – the courts can do that.

However, there is a lesson to be reinforced … and that is, leaders must act on behavior inconsistent with company values and policies.

My leadership tip for you this week is to remind you that as a leader you must hold others accountable for their actions, behaviors and performance.

Weak leaders look the other way when they should be holding others accountable.

Exceptional leaders embrace accountability and are effective at holding themselves and others accountable.

Here are 5 – challenges you could be faced with when you’re a leader who struggles with holding people accountable:

Diminishing credibility
Loss of trust and respect
Chaotic work environment
Disengaged employees
Law suits

“Sir Josiah Stamp once said “It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.”

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Resentment Is Poison

With the recent passing of Nelson Mandela, we have been exposed to the man and his life works in every media source possible … there has been no shortage of information.

In addition to learning about the past successes and contributions of high profile people, I always enjoy reading their quotes.

Of all of the Nelson Mandela quotes I came across this is the one that captured my attention: “Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”

When you think about it … it’s so true. Mr. Mandela is telling us, the poison contained within resentment causes a great deal of unhappiness … and it’s usually our own.

For leaders, among many other concerns, resentment causes you a great deal of unhappiness. Unhappiness causes you to; lose focus, make poor decisions, become unproductive, negatively impact those around you, miss opportunities, lose objectivity and lose creativity. Don’t forget the added level of stress and anxiety that resentment can create.

These ingredients cannot be used in any leader’s recipe for success.

My leadership tip for you this week is to never allow resentment to enter your world.

If you come across a situation that is starting to steer you in the direction of resentment, consider one or more of these seven suggestions to help you shut the door:

1. Frequently remind yourself – life is too short to be unhappy.

2. Plan to do the activities that make you happy.

3. Explore the past for forgotten happiness.

4. Talk to people who make you happy.

5. Write a long list of positive aspects of your life – look at the list often.

6. Set some new positive goals – get busy planning to achieve them.

7. Go somewhere that makes you happy, content or comfortable.

I believe you can keep resentment out of your life and become a more effective leader if you remember these words of actress Mary Pickford; ‘you may have a fresh start at any moment you choose.”

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No Coasting Allowed

So here we are in the last month of the year.

The Thanksgiving break is over and we’ve only a few short weeks to wind down our 2013 responsibilities and position ourselves for the start of a New Year.

In anticipation of 2014, most of us have our plans in place and we’re ready to move on …but I say, hold on a second!

If you feel your business is under control and you feel you can wind things down – well, dont! If you begin to lighten up now, your followers will soon follow. Productivity will go in the tank and bad habits are formulated.

My leadership tip for you this week is to encourage you to not fall in the trap of coasting into next year. This year is not over and there is still plenty of work to do.

Think about this quote from professional writer Sam Ewig; “It’s not the hours you put in your work that counts, it’s the work you put in the hours.”

Let’s finish strong … you’ve got the time; here are a few suggestions to squeeze a little more out of this year.

1. Go through your 2013 – planner and identify any forgotten item on your ‘to-do list’ that never got carried forward. Decide if you should revive the item.

2. Go through your 2013 – planner and identify someone who you should call. A customer, a vendor or someone who you’ve not been in contact with lately … you need to keep those relationships.

3. Identify 3 – people in your organization that you should spend a minimum of an hour each with to teach them something new.

What else can you do that would be of great value before the year ends?

I’m all for taking a break and spending quality time with family and friends this month. However, let’s maintain a high level of passion, intensity and work ethic through this period.

I’ve said it before, and I remind you now; coasting is not allowed on the road to success.

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Leaders Initiate Action

Think about this JF Kennedy quote …

“There are costs and risks to a program of action, but they are far less than the long range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.”

What does this mean in your world ?

Are you holding off hiring purchasing additional resources because you are waiting for your business to get better ?

Are you delaying the training of your team or yourself because you are waiting for a better time to do it ?

Are you delaying the change of (blank) to (blank) until (excuse) ? …. you fill in the blanks.

My leadership tip this week is for you to think about all of the ‘comfortable inactions’ that are holding you back. Then select just one and commit to ‘a program of action’

By initiating action you will be demonstrating leadership – leaders initiate action.

If the action is executed properly, you will generate excitement and enthusiasm throughout the organization. Morale will increase, turn over will be reduced, and productivity will improve … all kinds of great things happen when the leader demonstrates the courage to act.

Take action, but be mindful of the ‘costs and risks’ … and don’t forget to compare those with the ‘costs and risks’ of inaction.

Also, be careful not to let your decisions for ‘comfortable inaction’ be fueled by a myriad of excuses. A good way to guard against this, is to keep this JF Kennedy quote near by as a reminder;

“Just because we cannot see clearly the end of the road, that is no reason for not setting out on the essential journey.”

You can do it !

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Tuesdays With Ted

Helen Keller reminds us, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

I recently presented a seminar on employee engagement to a group of about 50 business leaders. My objective was to provide the audience with strategies, tips, techniques and ideas on achieving higher levels of employee engagement.

During an interactive segment of the presentation, I was asking the audience of things that they did to provide ‘an abundance of teamwork and collaboration’ – a key employee engagement driver.

A number of ideas surfaced … but one in particular rocked the house !

I asked for and received permission to share it with you.

Every Tuesday this leader would get his team together and they would watch a relevant Ted Talks video together. Then they’d discuss it as a group. They would individually speak on what they took away from the video and how it applies to their work or team.

They call this experience Tuesdays with Ted … brilliant !

With the above as backdrop, my leadership tip this week is to have you seek new and creative ways to engage your employees by instilling an abundance of teamwork and collaboration throughout your organization.

To get you started … consider incorporating the Tuesdays with Ted idea. You can find a list of the Ted Talks presentation topics here.

Expand the idea to include the videos and content from the Values.com website … you can also download this PDF containing 40 – inspirational videos from Simple Truths.

Employee engagement is critical to your success as a leader. To derive the benefits of an organization crawling with engaged employees, you must:

1. Have the ability to build a fully functional team.

2. Tear down any existing silos.

3. Be effective at achieving high levels of collaboration throughout the organization.
There are so many fun and inspiring things you can do to engage your team … you just have to make the effort.

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Leadership Landmines

As this leadership tip is being released, I’m in Las Vegas presenting at the annual conference of the Associated Builders and Contractors, Institute for Leadership and Development.

The 2 – presentations I’m giving at this conference are:

1. Employee Disengagement: The Dog That Will Bite You
2. 29 – Leadership Landmines That Will Rock Your World

The ABC audience will receive a number of nuggets out of the presentations and I thought it would be beneficial to share a few with you.

My leadership tip of the week this week is to identify 3 – leadership landmines in your world and formulate the appropriate action to keep your team focused and engaged.

“Leadership Landmines are 100% controllable actions, inactions, behaviors, wordswhich negatively impact a leader’s ability to profitably grow their business through others.”

Here are 3 – common (but often overlooked) leadership landmines to get you started:

1. Culture – if we are not careful, our desired company culture can change to an undesirable culture seemingly overnight. Leaders have to constantly reinforce the organizations culture by speaking about it, referring to it when decisions are made or actions are taken. Think about the last time you acknowledged or addressed culture with your team … or are their silos growing in your organization?

2. Enthusiasm Level – Leaders must set the tone with enthusiasm. The bounce in their step, the tone of their voice, the smile on their face and the positive words that they use are just a few ways leaders display their enthusiasm for their business. Think about your enthusiasm level … is it, ramped up to a level that generates excitement in your organization?

3. Goals – In my travels, I find most people don’t have goals – many of them want goals but they don’t know how to create meaningful ones, so they don’t. Others don’t see the value in them. Think about the opportunities being missed because of misplaced, unmeasured or undefined goals … a huge leadership landmine. Goals matter!

Where are your landmines?

Leadership is an extremely challenging assignment. However, being aware of the numerous ‘leadership landmines’ and learning to navigate through them makes the journey very worthwhile and rewarding.

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