Loose Change

Check your pockets and your pocket books.  My guess is you have some loose change – maybe a few pennies, quarters and dimes.  Now check the top of your dresser.  More loose change.   Now, the junk drawer (come on, I know you have at least one in your house!).  Yep, more loose change.   Oh, I almost forgot – the center console of your car.   A vast treasure trove of loose change!    Keep checking – your golf bag, that old purse, the suitcase.   I bet you’ll find more loose change.

 

So why don’t we throw that change out?   It’s not doing us any good sitting in all those places.   We don’t throw it out because deep down, we know that change is valuable.   Or it will be when we finally take the time to do something with it.   Just ask my husband – I think he’s paid for vacations with our loose change!  He keeps a big plastic jar and regularly consolidates all our loose change in it.  Each time he cashes that jar in, it’s worth a couple hundred dollars.   Our change is valuable because he takes action.

 

It seems to me that this is a good analogy for our lives at work.   We know change is valuable if we take action.  But we find it hard to take that step to “make change” – pun intended, by the way.

 

One of my favorite quotes is “Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.”  Think about it.  Change is inevitable.  Growth is optional.   That is so true.  Change is going to accumulate all around us – just as the loose change does.  Whether we like it or not, change is going to happen.  It’s up to us to use that change for growth.  If we take action, if we manage the change, then we have the opportunity to grow.  To grow personally and professionally.  To grow our businesses.   Without change, you don’t get growth.  

I love change.  It’s exhilarating.  It’s scary.  It keeps things fresh and interesting and it opens up new possibilities.   No one wants to get stuck in a rut, yet we do when we fail to embrace change.   Most of the time, we resist change because we don’t know the outcome.  It may not work.  We might fail or look stupid.   It might be hard.   Why change something that’s working?  All valid reasons if the world would just stand still.   But it doesn’t – everything is changing all the time.   Your customers are changing.  Your competitors are changing.  Even the rules are changing.   So why aren’t you?

 

Remember, change is inevitable.  Growth is optional.   Now, here’s my challenge to you.  Every time you empty your pockets of that loose change, I want you to think differently about some business change or personal change you’ve been resisting.   Scoop up that loose change, put it in the change jar and take action.  Cha-ching!

 

Written by Pattye Moore   Pattyem@giantpartners.biz

Fishing with a Friend

Today’s blog has nothing to do with leadership…at least it sounds this way.

 

I went fishing today with Dave Gillogly.  Besides being a successful executive and former president of Express Personnel www.expresspersonnel.com , Dave has a heart that would make Christ smile. There is no BS in Dave. I love his frankness and sharp mind.  If he likes or dislikes something, you know it immediately.  In today’s world of choosing our words so carefully to not offend anyone, this is very refreshing.  So when I get to spend time around people like Dave, I try to ask a lot of questions and shut up and listen. 

 

I am fascinated by people, especially bright and innovative thinkers. After reflecting on our conversation today, I made a commitment to invest more time with exceptional thinkers like Dave.  However, this is contrary to the habits of most successful people.  As we gain notoriety, create wealth and absorb power, we are the less likely than ever to listen to others.  Why do we need to listen to others if we believe we are the smartest person in the room?  A friend of mine who is a confidant to several billionaires said, “Matthew, as people gain wealth they lose their hearing. They become deaf.”

 

Remember what James said, “be quick to listen and slow to speak.”

 

Are you listening today like you did when you were younger and poorer?  Do you still seek out and listen to those smarter than yourself?  Remember gaining wealth, power and success does not mean you are any smarter today than before.  On the contrary, you may be going deaf and becoming more ignorant as you gain material success.  Are you willing to surround yourself with people who will tell you the truth…even when it hurts? 

 

For the record…we did not catch many fish today but believe it or not, a fish actually jumped in our boat! 

Enjoying Your BAD Boss

Over my career, I’ve been to countless seminars, retreats and training sessions.  Most were excellent and helped me to develop some depth of knowledge about leadership, management and business in general. However, no one thing advanced my leadership and management skills more than having a bad boss.  Over one’s career, it is bound to happen: getting saddled with the worst boss you’ve ever seen.  Here’s a quick list of traits of my worst boss. Maybe you will recognize a few of these: 

1. Intimidating:  he loved making people shake in their shoes.  He would spinout at the drop of a hat, raising his voice in front of others. 

2. Rude:  He was oblivious to basic business etiquette. Whether it was in a business meeting, or at a dinner, he would usually do something to make others less comfortable. 

3. Self-Focused:  He had a knack of making the business revolve around him as opposed to the customer, the owners, or others in the organizations.  I never once saw him perform an act of servant leadership. 

4. Window-Closer:  His favorite tactic when he wanted to scold someone was to call that person into his office (loudly) and then close the Venetian blinds.  If his “closing of the blinds” would have been for privacy, I think I could have accepted it.  However it was obvious it was a “showman” tactic designed to further intimidate the recipient of his wrath.

 

 5. Poor Example:  He would spend the company’s money like it was water, however, would yell at any employee if they spent a little too much for a meal.  On one occasion, he told me I needed to personally chip in on some of our expenses (we were on a trip together) because he had spent too much on dinner the night before (and I wasn’t even at the dinner.) 

6. Shocking:  One time I was on the phone with a very important customer. Spending time on the phone trying to help the customer was going to make me a few minutes late to our weekly staff meeting. In the moment, I decided to stay with the customer to make sure we took care of his problem.  Upon seeing my boss, I apologized for being late, and explained that I was working with one of our largest customers, taking care of their issues.  My boss didn’t even blink and blurted out, “You need to get your #@&# priorities straight!” 

It was at that point I vowed to myself to become the complete opposite of him. In hindsight, he was the best boss I have ever had.  I learned more of what not to do than I did in any seminar, conference or training event.  

I am now a much more caring, compassionate leader, always trying to be the opposite of what I learned from my former boss.  And fortunately, it has served me well for many years, ultimately providing with the opportunity to be CEO of several organizations. 

What lessons have you learned from a bad boss?  I’d love to know.  Share a comment for all to see.  Together we can learn the art of servant leadership.

Written by David Woods. David@giantpartners.biz

Great Leaders Don’t Multi-Task.

Ever notice that great leaders know how to stay on task? Their ability to focus provides them with more quality time for thought. It’s what makes the difference between a business person and a leader.Somehow, through hype and ego many business people complain that they never have enough time for all that they need to do. It’s true . . . only a large part of the problem lies with the fact that we fill their day with useless and unnecessary activities.It’s time to go on a “Multi-Task Diet”.

A Multi-Task Diet is about getting rid of the flab that fills your working days: all those unnecessary activities that clog up our schedules, weigh us down, and make our day feel longer and tougher to get through. Activities that somehow make one feel more important yet with little or nothing to show for all that extra effort.

Yet in our furious effort to try to get everything done all the time, we occassionally lift up our head and notice a great leader that seems calm, cool and collected. These leaders have the ability to slow down in a conversation and truly provide servant leadership to those around them. They know the importance of taking time for self, time for others and time for their spirituality. They are true leaders.

Here is a list from an article I read recently (called Slow Leadership) that I believe would dramatically improve every business person’s ability to become a great leader. And more importantly, by not multi-tasking, provide the opportunity to be a great SERVANT LEADER:

1. If you have Instant Messaging on your computer, turn it off. Now! Better still, remove the hideous abomination altogether. Do not use IM. You don’t need it, unless you’re a pre-teen geek without a life.

2. Never keep your e-mail software open all the time. Open it to check for e-mails only when you choose.

3. Set fixed times to check for new e-mails and let everyone know when they are. At other times, ignore it.

4. Filter everything coming in, so you can sort out what matters from what doesn’t. For e-mails, use the filtering facility in your software.

5. Give each one a priority and deal with it when you choose. Only respond immediately to genuine emergencies. Make everyone else wait (and I mean everyone).

6. When you send someone an e-mail, make a practice of telling them when you need a response (be specific; say “by Monday at 3.00 p.m.” not “a.s.a.p.”). Ask them to do the same when they e-mail you.

7. When you receive e-mail copies that you don’t want, send a polite note to the sender asking them to take you off the circulation list. Don’t stay on the list from inertia, or “just in case” something important comes along. It won’t. Be ruthless. If they don’t take you off the list, use your filtering software to classify that e-mail as “junk” and ignore it.

8. Only use BlackBerrys and cellphones when you must. Turn them off the rest of the time.

9. Discourage people from calling you on your cellphone, save on matters of genuine urgency. Don’t use it for gossip.

10. Keep cellphone calls short and to the point. Leave anything else for when you have more time.

With this new freedom, comes worry that you’re out of the loop. Get over it. That’s only your ego talking to you. The really important stuff will percolate to the top. Remember, Lincoln didn’t have email, I.M., blackberrys, or even a phone or a car. Yet he was one of the greatest leaders of all time.

Time for servant leadership creates great leaders. Start your Mult-Task diet today.

Written by David Woods. David@giantpartners.biz

Strategic Planning is DEAD.

Do you believe that strategic planning leads to growth, profits and more productive outcomes?  We recently researched approximately 100 CEOs and asked them how many of them had a strategic plan.  Over 70% had completed a strategic planning process.  Yet, this same population of CEOs showed no more profits, growth or less friction than those that did not have a strategic plan. 

Why? The answer is simple.  Traditional strategic planning is a failure.  It does not work because it cannot work.  The idea that a few corporate executives can “go away”, receive massive input, gain consensus about what “to do” (objectives) and then print the document to be executed does not work.  In the same way that buying a cookbook does not makes you a chef.   We overvalue the “to do” part of the event and undervalue the “thinking” process.  Let me challenge you to re-think your strategic planning process.   

Most companies only create and communicate what they  will “do”. Most companies do not understand and can not communicate how they “think and make decisions”. Traditional strategic planning is analogous to following a recipe.  You can not become a chef simply by following a recipe.  You become a chef by learning how to “think” like a chef through shopping, mixing ingredients, cooking, tasting and tweaking the food.  You don’t become a chef by reading the cookbook over and over again. The next time someone tells you that you need to do strategic planning.  Let them know that what you really need to do first is to do some strategic thinking.  It’s the first chapter of a good plan… but unfortunately it’s the chapter most CEOs forget to do.

Written by David Woods.  David@giantpartners.biz

Take Off at Noon for Greater Results

If most leaders and executives worked half the amount of time they are working today, I am convinced they would produce much greater output.  Before, I get a barrage of emails arguing this point, let me explain. 

The reason is simple.  If you had less time to work, you would work on only the things that produced the greatest impact.  You would work less on the things you enjoy and more on the things you should.  You would meet with only selected people, answer fewer emails and attend less events.  Your efforts would be very focused on activities and relationships that produced the greatest return.  Moreover, each interaction through the day would be valued at a greater level than today.  I know hundreds of CEOs and entrepreneurs with organizations from 1 million dollars sales volume to billions in revenue.  They have a universal problem that is not dependent on the size of their company.  Most are extremely busy and their lives can be described as chaotic most of the time.  Moreover, they never have enough time to accomplish everything they want.   However, I have also seen a select few whose lives are very stable that I would describe as peaceful.  I estimate less than 1% fit in this category.  Would you describe your work life as relaxed?  If not, you might try something:

To find out what you should be working on today.  Take off at noon today.  That’s right, stop working and go home.  If you know the day is over at noon.  If you know the day will soon be over, you will gain clarity, focus and priority on the things you should be doing.