Servant Leadership

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Servant leader- what is it?  In a business movement introduced in the early 70’s is the idea of servant leader.  These leaders put their company or organization before themselves.  They don’t view employees as the means to the end but rather the employee’s satisfaction is the end.  This can be a big shift in thinking for an entrepreneur.  Some points on leaders adopting this style.

  • Treat employees like customers, and where reasonable do their bidding
  • Ask the question “how can I help you?”
  • Fill in for an employee and do their job to lift a burden from the employee’s colleagues
  • Lead like you are leading a group of volunteers and ask, “what problems do you have?”  Volunteers don’t have to listen to autocratic leaders.

Servant leadership does not necessarily say you are a great boss, but rather its realizing that being a boss and leading are not the same.

Here’s to adopting servant leadership traits to build a better company!

Mike

Healthy Leaders Are Great Leaders

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A healthy business starts with a healthy entrepreneur.  To survive the demands of running a business or even part of a larger organization requires a physically strong person to stay in the game for the long run.  Here are some tips.

Just get started.  Make exercise a priority by setting realistic goals that a specific.  Start slowing to avoid injury and remember “slow and steady wins the race” says the turtle.

Do it right.  Know your limits and what exercises are the right fit for you.  Consult your physician to get onto a program.  Engage in the aerobic activity that will raise the heart rate.  Even 20 minutes can have a long-term effect.

Stick with it.  After setting your goals, tell it to as many people as possible.  They will help be your accountability team.   Visualize success- it might look like climbing to the top of a mountain to see a view stretching for miles.  Most of all make it fun!

Here’s to your health!

Mike

Adding A Product or Service? Use These Marketing TIPs

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Whether you are starting a new year, a new product, a new service, or new business here are some tips on strategies to consider in your marketing activities.

  • Focus on the ideal customer.  Be specific as possible on what makes up your ideal customer.  This will ensure profitable growth of a business versus growth for the sake of growth.
  • Know the “pain” point.  What areas are you helping to alleviate for your customer.  Just like a physician, we want to help our customers avoid discomfort and get relief.
  • Define your personal value proposition.  People hire people and not institutions.  It’s the personal touch and connection that will make the difference.
  • Turn your customers into sales advocates.  They can be your best referral sources since these recommendations are based on personal relationships and direct knowledge of how you work.
  • Build strong relationships with trusted allies.  These are colleagues who know you well and they will feel comfortable referring you to one of their customers knowing that their reputation is in good hands with you.
  • Become an expert in your field.  Invest time into building your reputation by speaking, writing, and conducting roundtables.
  • Build a personal direct marketing process.  Select the communication methods best suited for your target audience…social media, blogging, direct mail, brochures, conferences…be consistent and informative.

Here’s to marketing your new products or services!

Mike

Great Leaders Block Their Time

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In today’s busy business environment, we so often hear how pressed for time leaders find themselves.  We are connected – 24/7 these days.  Time is a valuable and finite resource.  You can’t create more than 24 hours in a day.  It comes down to time management and not getting distracted by bright, shiny objects.

I can find myself getting distracted with incoming email and text messages.  Here are some tips on how to create more space to visualize, think, and read.  Without these ingredients in your routine running of your business, you are likely unable to be intentional on where you want to drive your business.

  • Jim Collins, author of Built to Last breaks his time up into blocks: 50% creative time, 30% teaching/business, 20% other.  During his 50% creative time he unplugs all electronics.  This is time to read, write, and think.
  • I respond to email generally only 2 times daily- at noon and at 5pm.  This catches the morning emails that I can address at midday and then catches the afternoon emails so responses are ready for the recipient first things in the morning.
  • Hold office hours.  You designate a time where your door is open for any discussion with your team members.  The non-office hours allow you to focus only on the highest best use of your time to work on your goals.
  • Take breaks to restore energy and creativity.  This could be a walk around your office building or taking a walk-in a nearby park.  (I have also heard of people taking conference calls while walking around to keep movement in their day and their mind alert on the conversation.)
  • Know when to say “no” to a meeting.  If meetings take up too much of your time, then you can’t strike a balance to find the space to focus on your top priority.

Here’s to creating the space that you need to drive the health of your business to new heights!

Mike

Do You Have A Red Flag In Your Business?

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Small emerging growth companies often have limited resources and limited staff performing critical functions in accounting/finance.  Below is a list of tips that might indicate a closer look at your records for accuracy or the opportunity for fraud.

  • A spike in payroll expense without a reasonable explanation
  • Accounts receivable is growing but your sales are flat or down
  • Vendors who are being paid but you are not familiar with them
  • Human Resource records are minimal or non-existent for employee pay changes
  • Expense actual vs. budget shows a variance that is not reasonably explained
  • Prepaid expenses are growing consistently month to month but most expenses are flat or down in your income statement

I read an article recently where the same accountant who posted and deposited customer receipts had embezzled $126,000.  How?

The employee deposited customer checks to their ATM which is not always checked thoroughly the banking system.  The accountant then marked the corresponding invoice as “paid” and used the subsequent checks that came in for newer invoices.  This process could only go on for so long because the accounts receivable would grow from a larger pool of unpaid invoices.  Just as the accountant was about to leave the job, the embezzlement was discovered.

It was discovered by auditors checking on the cycle of a paid invoice; from receipt of check, to posting payment to the invoice, to depositing the check at the bank.  Some invoices shown as “paid” did not have a corresponding deposit.  Getting a copy of the deposited check from the customer revealed a different account number from the company’s account and discovered it was a personal account of the employee.

Here’s to a system of processes and activities that represents the phrase “trust but verify” to help you mitigate any circumstances where the health of your business is compromised!

Mike

A “How To” For Constructive Criticism

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Feedback from customers and employees is important to our growth.  How we give feedback will make a big difference on the recipient’s desire to act.  At times, the feedback will require some criticism.  Vistage speaker Bill Scherer gives some tips on giving constructive criticism.

  1. Praise in public, criticize in private
  2. Focus on behavior, not the person
  3. Clearly describe the behavior you want an employee to change and why
  4. Ensure the person has an ability to change the behavior
  5. Keep comments short and on point
  6. Maintain a positive tone
  7. Use “I” statements
  8. Show empathy
  9. Avoid spontaneous criticism
  10. Recognize positive behavior change

Follow these guidelines to help deliver the message in the right context, where action can and will want to be taken.

Here’s to positive dialogue that propels your business health!

Mike

The 7 P’s of Evergreen Companies

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I read an article recently by Bo Burlingham an INC magazine writer, about what he described as an evergreen company.  The definition is described as a “private, profitable, market- leading businesses that are designed to remain unsold and independent for a long, long time.”   It was interesting to read about entrepreneurs who had decided that it was not about how high the could get their valuation, how much money they raised, or how big they would grow, but rather looking for a meaningful experience building their companies.

Here are seven tips on building an evergreen company.

  • Purpose

Passion driven organization from its vision/mission.  It’s not about the money.

  • Perseverance

The resiliency to keep pushing forward and overcome obstacles

  • People First

Have an engaged workforce aligned with its culture.  Team members who are taken care of will in turn take care of your customers, suppliers, community, and stockholders

  • Private

Taking advantage of the long-term view as a private enterprise

  • Profit

Success is measured and that includes the bottom line

  • Paced Growth

The discipline to focus on growth that is steady and consistent.  Every company has a speed limit to profitable growth

  • Pragmatic Innovation

Embrace the mantra of continuous improvement and be willing to take calculated risks that don’t jeopardize the company

Here’s to knowing how you can drive your evergreen company to the results that you want!

Mike

Want the Secrets to Building a Great Company?

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I enjoy reading books of all types, both fiction and nonfiction.  Lately, several books captured my attention more than others, one of which is The Traveler’s Gifts, by Andy Andrews.  Its written as a story about principles that to me seem timeless.

Here are the gifts (tips) that I came away with.

  • The buck stops here.  We are responsible for the past, present, and future
  • I will seek wisdom and be a servant to others.  My experiences become the collective body of wisdom that can be shared
  • I am a person of action.  Seize the moment and choose now
  • My destiny comes from a decided heart.  Have a clear vision
  • It’s a choice to be happy and possess the spirit of gratefulness
  • Greet the day with a forgiving spirit, which most of all means to forgive yourself
  • I will persist without exception, great leaders like Churchill persist through adversity.

These are a few gifts that can provide the foundation to building a great business from your passion.

Here’s to all the gifts that you will share to aid in the health of your business!

Mike

Want More Creativity?

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Business owners often talk about the desire to bring more creativity to their company and their personal life.  Creativity certainly will have different meaning for each person, however, a common denominator in a business context is coming up with creative solutions for your customers or processes.

How does someone unlock creativity?  Is there a way to increase the likelihood of getting your creativity quotient higher?

I recently read an article that quoted Deanna Berg and Chuck Dymer, who have been speakers at various Vistage events, on ways to unlock creativity.  Here are a few tips.

Business Creativity

  • Brainstorm session with your team where the session has the following principles.
    • Defer judgement…criticism derails creativity.
    • Freewheeling…no idea is a bad one.
    • Quantity not quality…get the ideas out there.
    • Speed is important…impose a time limit on the session.

Personal Creativity

  • Consider the following for personal creativity boost.
    • Change a habit…change the time you work out.
    • Experiment with something new…. learn a new hobby.
    • Find a new path…. take a different route to work.
    • Change an attitude…. take something that annoys you and change your attitude about it.

Carve out time on a regular basis to get creative.  It can be the best time spent to build your business.

Here’s how taking time for creativity can propel your business to new levels!

Mike

Want to Increase Sales?

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There is a whole lot of information on the web and in print on what to do to get great sales results.  Part of the solution is to know what are the statistics behind some sales activities that could help influence how you approach your activities.

  • Most emails get opened at the end of a day.  According to a study done by MailChimp they found the hours between 2pm and 5pm to have the most opens.
  • Tuesday is tending to be the day of the week with the best open rate.
  • A subject line is one of the keys to whether a person opens an email.  A study shows about 35% of people will make their decision to open an email based on a quick read of the email’s subject line.
  • Key words in your subject line are important for the open rate.  Words such as “learn”, “new”, “alert” tend to grab their attention.
  • According to a recent study about 57% of recipients will mark an email as spam, and this is even when the person knows the sender too.  If the subject line and material don’t resonate, they will throw it to spam because they don’t have the time to linger over matters that don’t help them move forward.
  • For outbound cold calling only about 2% result in an appointment.  This resonates with me because of my experience with clients using this technique.  It can be very effective but requires a large volume of calls to drive results.
  • On average a study showed that sales people will spend about 25 hours each month leaving voice mails.  Does leaving a voice mail work?  It may in some cases, but from my experience it does not result in calls to action to return the call.
  • Most voice mails will not be returned.  A study done by RingLead indicates that 80% of call go to voice mail and 90% of the first-time voice mails will go unanswered.  Some say to make it effective, only leave a voice mail that is between 5 to 15 seconds long.
  • The best time to call is generally between 6:30am – 8am and 4:30pm and 6:30pm.  People are usually checking messages and catching up at these times of day.
  • A recent study found that 77% of B-to-B buyers never talk to a sales person without independent research done before making contact.  It’s important to maintain the right social media presence and website content that will provide the information needed to the buyer.
  • Another study on B-to-B business found that 84% of buyers in this market started their buying decision with a referral.  One of the most powerful sales techniques is “word of mouth” referrals from a trusted friend or advisor.  How can your company position itself with influencers in your space as the “go to” source for your product or service?
  • Social media usage for business has found sales people are 79% more likely to hit their goals.  The key is using it for business communication with a strong message for recipient.

Give these statistics some thought on how you can utilize it with the sales techniques most appropriate for your company.

Here’s to increasing our sales!

Mike

10 Best Advice Mantras From Warren Buffet

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The “Oracle of Omaha” has created an impressive following of people and his investing results have proven the test of time.  Below are some simple bits of wisdom that I believe are timeless.

  • Never lose money.  Buffets rule # 1 is to not lose money.  And his rule #2 is to remember rule #1.  Keep in mind if you lose 50% of your investment, then it takes 100% return to get back to even…yikes that’s hard.
  • Get high value for low price.  What his means is value is what you pay for.  Make sure that you are paying the right price for the value in the produce, business or investment that you are buying.
  • Build health money habits.  Habits are what drive our behavior.  It’s been said that finance is 80% behavior and 20% math.  If we don’t change poor behaviors with our wallet then we can expect for us to find success with money or building a business.
  • Avoid debt and more specifically credit card debt.  Be wary of credit card debt because interest rates can be as high as 18% and more.  If you must roll over your credit card balance regularly then you can’t afford spending on it.  In effect you are trading your future for your present satisfaction.
  • Keep cash on hand.  Come up with what your minimum cash balance needs to be.  Is it 3 months or 6 months of expenses?  “cash is to a business as oxygen is to an individual: never thought about it when it is present, the only thing in mind when it is absent,” said Buffet.
  • Invest in yourself.  Your biggest income producing asset is yourself.  Improve your skills to make yourself more valuable to the market.  Unlike other assets and investments, “nobody can tax it away and they can’t steal it away,” said Buffet.
  • Learn about how to manage money as a part of the investment in yourself.  Not everyone enjoys this subject, however, there are simple methods to follow that help you win with money.  Spend less than you make…. save 15% into a low-cost index mutual fund…it’s not how much you make its how much you decide to spend.
  • Trust a low-cost index fund. Expenses matter when it comes to returns on your investments.  Consistently adding to your investments each month or quarter exercises an important “money muscle.”
  • Give back on a regular basis.  There is a saying about giving of our “time, talents, and treasure” to our community and nonprofits.  I believe giving is a natural law of human nature where we want to help others in need.  Giving produces psychic benefits for the giver and it helps society move forward.
  • Long term game.  Investing not only dollars but in ourselves is a long-term game.  Building true financial security takes time.  Buffet said, “someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Together these pieces of advice can help take us on the journey to financial security.  The advice is simple and timeless.  Here is to your chance to implement the advice and reach your financial goals!

Mike

What Drives Innovation?

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We hear a lot about how companies need to innovate to stay relevant in their market.  Innovation can have a different meaning for each of us, however, it is helpful to understand what is the characteristics that can cause a leader to have the “innovation gene”.  Researchers at the Harvard Business School (Gregersen and Christensen) surveyed over 3,000 executives who had not started a business vs. responses from over 500 people who had created thriving companies.

What are the characteristics of an innovator?

  • They ask a lot of questions and challenge the status quo
  • Spend at least 15 minutes writing down what questions would challenge the current state of the company
  • Study other people and cultures.  Live in another country for a period.
  • Be an observer.  Watching how people do their activities, however mundane can inspire ideas to improve the activity.
  • They network well to connect themselves to resources that will test their ideas and get feedback.

What’s your innovation DNA?  While some of it is hard wired in people and others must work at it intentionally.  However, knowing what concepts could help you down this road can be half the battle to win the war of innovation for your company.

Here’s to innovating!

Mike