Archive for Personal Development
Want to Get the Truth from Your People?
Posted by: | CommentsAs a leader, you want to believe your people are telling you the truth–but are they? Though some of us as entrepreneurial leaders have always been our own bosses, chances are you were at some point an employee. So, when you were an employee, did you always tell your boss the truth?
I’m not talking about lying (hopefully, you didn’t do that). I’m talking about telling the whole truth. 
For example, did you tell your boss what you thought your boss wanted to hear or what you thought needed to be said? Or when your boss asked, “Are we all on board?” were you willing to risk saying to your boss and the rest of your team, “I’m not really in agreement!” Or when you heard that other people in your organization expressing some frustration with your boss, were you willing to tell your boss, “Hey, I think you’ve got a problem!”
If you’re like the vast majority of people, your answers to the above questions were, “Not really.” If that is true of you–and you have leadership capabilities, why would you ever think that your people are always telling you the truth?
Now, this may seem self-serving (it’s not intended to), but this is one of the main reasons why you should regularly hire outside consultants. I’m always amazed at what employees tell me when I do my initial rounds of interviews with new clients. Some of what they say is predictable–but not always. Frequently, CEOs are surprised to find out what their people really think.
For example, we may think that we’re being a great boss by giving them lots of freedom, but they may be interpreting it as, “He doesn’t really care.” Or we may think that when we took the time to create, as a group, a new mission, vision and values statement that we did a great job. But they may be thinking, “This is just window dressing so she doesn’t have to deal with Joe and Judy and their lack of performance.”
Or we may think we’re doing a great job coaching our team because we give them lots of ideas and feedback, but they may be thinking, “I can never do anything right for him. He never says, ‘Great idea. Run with it!’” Or, we may be completely unaware that our non-verbals are communicating loud and clear, “I’m not listening to you.”
Throughout history, very few people have been willing to speak into power. It always has been and always will be. Though you and I will occasionally find some senior staff who will tell us the truth, most won’t. So don’t be surprised.
As you may know, one of the first steps toward creating change is facing reality. But to get there, you’ll probably need someone from the outside to help you get there. It’s no different than asking your customers to tell you the truth. Some will, but most will simply tell you what you want to hear. To get the real truth–and that is what you want–you’ll probably need someone from the outside to help you get there. So, choose wisely!
To your accelerated growth!
P.S. This should go without saying, but that someone should possess great relational skills, be able to bond quickly, and have impeccable integrity.
Do You Know The Four Evaluation Questions You Need to Ask Every Year?
Posted by: | CommentsAre you starting to do your year-end evaluations—and wrestling with how you can do them well and/or differently this year? If you are, then you’ll want to continue reading this week’s Accelerated Growth Caffeine.
I received an email a few days ago from one of my clients asking about whether or not I had a staff evaluation form for the year end that I could pass along. After answering his question I thought, “I’m sure he’s not the only one asking that question.” So if you’re wondering or have ever wondered about the answer to that question, here are a few quick recommendations.
Number One: No evaluation should ever be a surprise. One of the reasons I’m not a big fan of standardized evaluations is because the best evaluations are based on what you and your employee have agreed to. In other words, evaluations are bad when an employee doesn’t clearly know what they’re being evaluated on—from the beginning of the evaluation period. And even worse, when they’re sandbagged (i.e. blasted over things they didn’t even know they were being held accountable for).
Number Two: The shorter the evaluation form the better. Too many evaluation forms and processes are way too complicated and way too long. Plus, the longer something is, the less operational it is (i.e. if you don’t want to waste your time filling out a long form that your employees won’t use, shorten the form).
Number Three: At the end of the day, you should always design tools (like evaluation forms) that actually accomplish their intended purposes—not just use up time (or fill a slot). And when it comes to evaluations, the intended purposes of an evaluation are to reward positive behaviors and results and redirect incorrect or less effective behaviors. Everything else is extraneous.
Number Four: There are four key questions that every evaluation should attempt to ask and answer (you’ve been waiting for this, haven’t you?). Note: You can add to these four, but you don’t need to.
- Did they get done what they were supposed to get done (and how well did they get it done)?
- Did they play well with the others in the sandbox?
- Did they live out the mission, vision and values of your organization?
- Did they grow (in their skills, abilities, behaviors, knowledge, etc.)
That’s it. Don’t over-complicate this process. If you want to add additional questions you can, just keep it short.
Number Five: One last thought. The best evaluations I’ve conducted over the years have been ones where I’ve had my employees fill out their forms first and then submit them to me BEFORE we talked. This worked extremely well because I learned things I didn’t know, I got a better understanding of their mindset before we met, and frequently, I found that they were hard enough on themselves–which meant I could then play more “good cop” to their “bad cop” (since they already knew where they had fallen short–and why).
So, there you have it. The four key questions (and really, the only four questions) you need to ask every year whenever you’re evaluating an employee—plus four other ideas to ensure that when you’re engaged in doing your annual evaluations, you’re doing them well!
To your accelerated success,
Note: If you have any other ideas about annual staff evaluations, post your comments below! I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Don’t Think About It, Do It!
Posted by: | CommentsHow many times have you thought about doing something that you know would be helpful or good or beneficial–and then not done it? I know, probably somewhere north of ten thousand times (at least that’s my running total).
Well, this week, I’m on vacation at one of my favorite places on planet earth, Sea Pines Plantation in Hilton Head, NC. 
And as is my custom, I get up each morning, get on a rental bike, and go for about an hour long bike ride along the bike paths inside this beautiful resort–filled with wildlife (including gators), gorgeous golf courses, and multi-million dollar homes.
Yesterday morning (Sunday), as I was on my ride, I noticed a number of other people who were running (which is clearly more exercise than I was getting on my pleasure bike ride). And as I saw them, many who were in great shape, I silently thought to myself, “Boy, I wish I were in that great a shape.” Or, “I used to be one of them (like 30 years ago when I was a multi-sport athlete).”
But as I thought those thoughts, my negative thought patterns sprung into action.
- “But I’m not one of them any more.”
- “My knees are in such bad shape from soccer, I can’t run anymore.”
- “It’s been so long since I’ve run, it’ll be an embarrassment if I even start.”
- “I’m too out of shape to run right now, I’ll need to work up to it.” Etc.
You know those kinds of thoughts don’t you?
But something magical happened when I arrived back at our vacation home. I got off my bike and said to myself, “Forget about all the reasons why this won’t work. Just try it. Just run to the fire hydrant. You always talk about speed of implementation. Back it up Jack.”
So I did. Now, it wasn’t pretty. I’d pick a spot. Run to it. Walk the same distance. Run to another spot. Walk the same distance. Run to another spot. Etc. I felt like I sucked all the oxygen out of Hilton Head Island. Hyperventilation would be a polite way of saying what I was experiencing. But I did it!
And this morning, after another hour long bike ride, I ran again. This time, I went about four times farther and sucked a little less oxygen. And so I find myself, on this second day of vacation thinking about how often you and I allow our excuses to get in the way of making progress (not just in our personal lives, but also in our businesses and organizations).
So, how about you? What have you been thinking about doing, but haven’t done, because you’ve allowed your head to get in the way of doing it?
- Calling a prospect (it’s not the right time)
- Hiring a new sales person (I don’t have all the details worked out)
- Creating a new strategic plan (We’re too busy to take the time to work on that)
- Providing critical feedback to an employee (I don’t think they’ll respond well)
- Delegating several tasks (I can get them done faster if I just do them)
- Calling on a prospective joint venture partner (I don’t know if they’ll say, “Yes!” so I better wait)
We all do this. It’s nothing new. But it is reality. What holds you and me back has far more to do with what we tell ourselves than it does with finding some new idea or technique.
So rather than thinking about it today, why don’t you just do it. As long as it’s legal, beneficial, profitable, good, etc. go for it. You’ll be glad you did.
To your accelerated success!
How Do You Respond to Critique and Feedback?
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s more important than you think! When I work with senior executives, and we’re one-on-one, they tend to be defensive around critique and accountability in general. But when I’m with them, and they need to be critiqued in front of their executive teams (Note: in a session designed for critique and evaluation. I normally provide feedback one-on-one after a meeting, not in public), their response is almost always defensive–and that’s not good news.
Why? Because what signal does that send to employees?
Senior executives like to critique and evaluate employee performance. And when I’m with them, they’re almost always critical of the performance of any number of their people (which is fine). But then they wonder why their people don’t listen or make changes in response to the feedback that they (the senior exec) have given them (the employee). Hello!
It’s always been true. People do what people see.
If you want your people to be open to critique, then you need to be the most open to critique of anyone in your organization. If you want your people to make changes in response to critique, then you need to be the fastest change agent in your organization. And if you don’t want your people to be excuse makers, then you need to avoid excuse making like the plague.
One of my favorite professors used to say, “If you want your people to bleed, then you need to hemorrhage.”
In other words, one of the costs of leadership is that we not only have to go first, we have to go farther. Why? Because people do what people see.
Forget what you say. Your people are watching you every day and they’re watching your non-verbals first.
- Do you get defensive with your physical posture?
- Do you look disengaged or angry?
- Do you lean in like you’re going to attack them?
- Do you have that, “Don’t mess with me!” vibe?
- Or do you have an open, pleasant and receptive look?
Then they look at your verbals.
- Do you respond harshly?
- Do you go on the attack?
- Do you make excuses?
- Or, do you ask questions, “Can you help me understand that?” and then say, “Thank you!”
Bottom line, if you want your people to be more open to critique and make changes, then you’ll want to make sure you’re the most open to critique person on your team. It really does matter more than you think!
To your accelerated success!
It’s the Soft Stuff That Usually Gets Us
Posted by: | CommentsI remember hearing Dan Kennedy (a marketing expert) say, years ago, 
“What’s interesting about entrepreneurs is that they won’t pay for the soft stuff (like dealing with their fears or lack of confidence), but they will pay for the hard stuff (like how to use some new technique on the internet to attract more customers), even though what they really need is the soft stuff.”
What’s interesting, is that over the past few years that I’ve been coaching senior executives and entrepreneurs, I’ve come to the same conclusion. What holds most business leaders back isn’t a lack of know how (though they often lack know how). What holds most business leaders back is something emotional or psychological in nature. And, in my experience, the two top issues are fear and lack of confidence.
The most obvious fears are the fear of failure or rejection, which keep them from taking risks. Why don’t they pick up the phone and call a potential client? Well, because the person they’re calling might say, “No!” (i.e. I might fail. But as long as I don’t call, I haven’t failed … yet). Or why don’t they take the risk of hiring a new sales person? Well, what if it doesn’t work out? In other words, it’s not the strategy of adding an additional sales person that’s the problem, it’s their fear that it might not work out that holds them back. Sound familiar?
The other fear that I keep seeing in executives and entrepreneurs is the fear of success. What if I succeed, what then? Will I become one of those people I said I’d never become? Or will people find me out and realize I’m not all that good? Or maybe they grew up in poverty or in the middle class (or in a church that made success and money evil) and mentally and emotionally they can’t go there. Being wealthy and having money are simply beyond them or possibly evil–so they limit their activity (usually subconsciously) so that they won’t experience phenomenal success.
The other soft issue I see a lot of is lack of confidence. They don’t believe in themselves and their abilities. When they enter a room of successful people they think, “I’m not one of them.” When someone asks them, “Why should we hire you?” they wonder why, as well. When they need to step out and take a risk, they often don’t because they’re not confident that can see it through. Or they don’t act fast enough because they’re waiting on data to back them up or for others to agree with them so they’re not “all alone” on a risky decision.
In other words, what holds most of us back isn’t some new technique or idea that we’re unaware of. What holds most of us back is found between our two ears.
In light of that, here are a few questions worth wrestling with?
- What emotional issues are holding me, and through me, my business back?
- What am I afraid of?
- Why am I afraid of that?
- On a scale of 1-10 (high), how confident am I?
- What affects my confidence or lack of confidence?
Once you have some answers, you may want to take one of them and start working on it. Remember, fear is just a negative expectation about a future event. It is not reality. So, change the expectation, change the fear.
To your accelerated success!
P.S. This also means that when you do your planning each quarter, you should be asking yourself, “What about me is hindering this business?” Because when it’s all said and done, the biggest limitations are usually found in the soft stuff, not the hard stuff.
Phil Jackson and Your Business
Posted by: | CommentsRegardless of whether you’re a basketball fan or not, you have to admire what Phil Jackson accomplished yesterday, as well as over the past 18 seasons he’s served as a head coach (similar to your role as the senior executive of a SMB). With yesterday’s NBA championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson probably cemented his place in NBA history as the best coach of all-time.
In 18 seasons, he’s won 10 NBA championships with two different teams (Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers). He’s won 1, 250 games with a winning percentage of .705 in the regular season and .670 in the post-season. And he’s done that with an interesting group of very different and diverse individuals/characters (Dennis Rodman immediately comes to mind :-). So what does Phil Jackson have to do with your business? Answer, a lot.
When you became the leader of your business, you moved from being the primary producer to being the coach of your team. When that occurred (and it did occur once you hired employee number one), everything changed. Like Phil, you aren’t judged on what you do but what your players do. If that’s true, and it is, then watching and learning from great coaches ought to be a regular part of your own personal development.
In the case of Jackson, what’s amazing about him is that he’s not only been able to attract great talent, but he’s been able to change how he leads and the strategies he chooses, based on the players he’s had to work with. From Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen to Shaq and Kobe, Jackson has consistently brought out the best in the players he’s had.
And if you were to summarize his coaching philosophy in a few statements it might look something like this.
- Expect the best from your players
- Treat them like talent
- Trust them to make the right decisions
- Let them play through difficult patches (i.e. don’t yank them out quickly)
- Teach them new ideas and concepts (and reinforce them over and over again)
- Treat different players differently (because they are)
- Focus on team success over personal success (i.e. players can be stars but only teams win championships)
- Push your players, but more importantly, teach them to push themselves harder
- Plays to their strengths (i.e. change your strategies to fit your players, not your players to fit your strategies).
Seeing that those ideas have lead to 10 championship seasons, they might be a list worth referring to regularly.
So, looking at that list, how are you doing as a coach? Remember, at the end of the day, your success as a coach isn’t dependent upon what you do, but what your players do. In light of that, maybe the better question is, “How’s your team doing?” If they’re not acting like a championship team, then you know where to start! Great teams are always built by great coaches!
To your accelerated success!
A Great Business Leader’s Book List
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’re an entrepreneur or senior executive of a small or medium-sized business, hopefully you’re regularly reading Inc. Magazine. If not, you should be. I rarely find an issue where I’m not tearing out a few articles to file. And that holds true for this month’s edition, which marks their 30th anniversary.
However, my favorite part of this month’s edition was their article entitled, “The Business Owner’s Book Shelf,” subtitled, “30 books you should read and use.” Of all the book lists I’ve read over the past few years, this may be my favorite. It’s not perfect, but if you’re looking for a list of books to read, you’ll want to click here and read the article (which also gives a short paragraph about each book).
Perusing the list, my baker’s dozen of favorites would be:
1. Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, by Peter Bernstein (1996)
2. The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, by Guy Kawasaki (2004)
3. The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger, by Marc Levinson (2006)
6. The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It, by Michael Gerber (1995)
7. The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Right Things Done, by Peter Drucker (1967)
8. The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization, by Peter Senge (1990)
9. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman (1999)
15. The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail, by Clayton Christensen (1997)
17. The Knack: How Street-Smart Entrepreneurs Learn to Handle Whatever Comes Up, by Norm Brodsky and Bo Burlingham (2008)
21. Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success, by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg (1996)
22. Ogilvy on Advertising, by David Ogilvy (1983)
23. On Competition, by Michael Porter (2008)
30. The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, by James Surowiecki (2004)
What are Your Needle Movers?
Posted by: | CommentsEver wonder what you ought to focus your time and attention on? With so many things on your plate, don’t you often wonder, “Where should I start?” But more importantly, as the point person for your company, it’s even more critical that you focus your attention on those activities that have the highest probability of moving your company forward. So how do you decide what those are?
Well, one way is to use, “Needle Movers,” (a phrase I love) from Christine Comaford. Christine defines a needle mover as a tangible result that if accomplished would change everything for your business. In other words, a needle mover is a game changer. It’s not a simple task. And it’s not necessarily a strategic initiative.
I think of strategic initiatives as key initiatives that the majority of executives (or business units) in a business can be involved in. For example, “To raise the level of excellence,” or “To develop the next generation of leaders.” The idea of a strategic initiative is to get as many people as possible involved in helping move a company or organization forward. If an initiative is something that only one small part of a company might be involved in, the ownership and excitement over that initiative will be minimal.
However, a needle mover could be something that is very specific to a specific area. For example, a needle mover could be, “To land two major accounts with Fortune 500 companies in the next 90 days.” HR and Finance (et. al.) probably won’t be involved in landing those accounts, but landing those two accounts could be a game changer.
Other examples of needle movers might be
• To generate 1,000 new leads this month
• To hire three new pay-for-performance sales reps
• To ink five new joint venture projects over the next quarter
• To create one new product over the next 30 days.
• To outsource all of xyz (so you can focus more time on profitable activities)
• To generate an additional $________ of revenue in the next 30 days
• To add two new sales channels
You get the idea. Based on your size and your market, what would be a game changer for you? What needle movers will radically change everything for you and your business?
Narrow those ideas down to the top three (no more than five) needle moving results you want for the next month (or quarter, or year). Then create a plan for how you plan to accomplish those needle movers. And then finally focus your attention, every day, for the next 30 (or 60 or 90) days on those three (to five) needle movers.
Every morning you need to ask, “What progress will I (or we) make on our needle movers today?” And then, at the end of every day, you need to ask, ”What progress did I (or we) make on our needle movers today?“
If you want to make progress fast, make sure you focus on your needle movers . . . every day!
To your accelerated success!
Want to Increase Your Productivity?
Posted by: | CommentsDo you often feel frustrated at the end of the day–like you’ve worked hard, long and fast–and yet it still doesn’t feel like you’ve done enough?
Believe it or not, one of the main culprits of that feeling is probably your ability to multi-task! In other words, one of the skills that you acquired as you’ve built and led companies over the years has now becoming one of your Achilles’ heels.
For years, you’ve probably prided yourself, like I have, on your ability to do a lot of things very fast and often at the same time. And chances are, the people around you have probably been in awe of that ability (which only made you feel better, didn’t it?).
However, you’re now the senior executive of a thriving business and what was once an asset, has now become a liability. The studies are clear, multi-tasking actually slows you down–it doesn’t speed you up. A classic example would be writing an important proposal (or letter or ad or …, you pick). You write paragraph one. Your Blackberry goes off (or your email program beeps). You look at it. Read it. Respond to it. Then back to the proposal. “Now, where was I?” So you go back and re-read the first paragraph. As you’re doing that, in walks your admin (or staff member, etc.). And so on. And so on. Right?
The proposal (or letter or ad or …) which should have taken a half hour to an hour to compose and get out the door, has now taken three hours–or even worse, didn’t get done because the only time you had available to do it was “eaten” up by other people and activities. You’ve been busy, but you haven’t been effective.
The number one quote that haunts me every day is from Alec McKenzie. “Nothing is easier than being busy, nothing more difficult than being effective.”
So, what’s the solution? The simple solution, which you probably already know, is to work in uninterrupted blocks of time. That may mean working at home or closing the door of your office (yes, it is okay to close your office door and not be accessible all the time) or, as I frequently have done, work at a restaurant like Panera Bread.
However, since I assume you already know that, I’d like to give you another idea that can help you actually do what you know you ought to do. At the end of every day, take five minutes (no more than seven) to answer three simple questions (and do this every day).
1. What did I do today?
2. What results did I achieve?
3. What progress did I make today on my needle movers for this month?
If you prefer, you can change the last phrase to “my top three (or, if you prefer, five) goals” or, “my strategic initiatives,” etc. But, personally, I love the phrase, “Needle movers,” from Christine Comaford. She defines a needle mover as a result that if you achieved it would radically change everything. For example, “Generate a 1,000 new leads this month.”
You determine the wording, but don’t you think that if you asked and answered those three questions every day for the next 30 days, that you would be infinitely more focused and productive? Absolutely! You’d be more focused on results than activity. And more importantly, you’d become incredibly focused on the three (to five) most important things that can move your business forward this month.
So, if you want to increase your productivity, why don’t you commit to asking these three questions at the end of each day. Then make sure you send me an email, 30 days from now, to share the results of what’s happened in your life and business because you asked these three questions.
To your accelerated success,
P.S. If you need help clarifying your needle movers and strategic initiatives, click here >>
If You Want to Master Change, Master This Statement
Posted by: | CommentsAre there some things in your life or business that you’d like to see changed–but haven’t? Or do you have any initiatives that never seem to get off the ground? Or, any employees that just never seem to get it?
Well, what if I told you there was one simple phrase that could change all of that. What if there was one phrase that could encapsulate everything you’d want to say to them. Or what if there was one phrase that you could use that would provide the motivation for change to occur–wouldn’t you want to know that phrase?
What if there was one phrase that could light the match of change and turn dreams into realities. What if there was one phrase that could turn ideas into products, concepts into services, and initiatives into competitive advantages.
Better yet, what if that same phrase could also melt pounds away, restore broken relationships, and create new ones–wouldn’t you want to know what that one phrase is?
I’d love to tell you what that phrase is, but first I have to warn you, you’ll probably be underwhelmed by it. The natural reaction(s) to the most powerful truths are almost always statements like, “I know that,” or “There’s nothing original about that,” or “That’s it?” which are all the wrong reactions.
Knowing and doing are two completely different things. Most business leaders know the concept, “Write from the prospective of your client and appeal to their needs/wants/desires.” Pretty basic, eh? Absolutely! But I bet you could randomly go to 10 websites and find that 9 out of 10 aren’t applying this basic concept (a simple idea that could radically change their revenues).
So, when I reveal this simple statement, make sure you don’t rush by it. Don’t be underwhelmed by it. Its simplicity is its power. That said, here’s the phrase that can change everything if you let it.
- “Nothing Changes Until Something Changes.”
That’s it! Simple. Sweet. Profound. And life-changing.
So, write it down. Put it on your desk or computer. Put it on your wall. Put it on the refrigerator door :-). Put it on your mirror. Put it on the wall of your conference room. Use it in performance reviews. Use it in staff meetings. Use it during strategic planning meetings. Use it whenever anything isn’t working the way you want it to. Simply remind yourself (and/or others),
- “Nothing Changes Until Something Changes.”
When Frank doesn’t get his project done on time say, “Frank, nothing changes until something changes. So what’s going to change?” When you’re evaluating how you managed your time last week, remind yourself, “Nothing changes until something changes.” When your marketing isn’t getting the kind of result you want say, “Team, nothing changes until something changes. So what are we going to change?”
At the end of the day, what matters most are results. Are you getting the results you want? Are you getting the leads you want? Is your pipeline as full as you want it to be? Are your employees producing at the level you want? Are you growing as fast as you want? Are you generating the profits you want? Are you getting the ROI or ROA that you want? Are your marketing dollars producing the results you want? Etc.
If not, then remind yourself,
- “Nothing changes until something changes!“
Own this simple phrase–and everything can change. Avoid it–and you’ll only prove the truthfulness of it!