Is It Time to Re-Examine Your Business Methods?

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by Michael Iverson

Several years ago, I read an article about things in everyday life that most people do incorrectly.  In many instances, it’s simply because that’s the way they’ve always done them.

For example, would you believe that only 5 percent of all Americans wash their hands correctly? The correct way involves 20 seconds of vigorous rubbing with soap and water.   Although soap and water are parts of the routine, only 5 to 10 seconds of washing is the norm.  But, washing the right way lessens your chances of contracting flu and other illnesses.

It seems that some of the instruction we get at various points in life is of dubious value.  One of my favorite quotes is from the great American author Mark Twain. “It isn’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just isn’t so.”

People tend to latch onto an idea, often learned at a young age, and never let go of it. They believe it to be the truth, and it’s extremely difficult to convince them otherwise – even when the evidence against their idea is overwhelming.
If you like the idea of constant improvement, as most entrepreneurs do, you have to keep an open mind and re-examine notions about the things you do daily.

What you re-examine might be age-dependent

So, what are the things you do every day in your business that ought to be reexamined? The answer can depend on how long you have been in business.

Business owners in their fifties came into business in an entirely different economic and technology environment than we have today.  Many notions about avoidance of debt are rooted in the double-digit interest rate environment of the 1980s.  Obviously, the interest rate scenario has changed greatly, meaning carrying debt is less of an issue than when they got started in business.

Some owners in their fifties are also slow to update websites because of outdated ideas about the costs involved.  Website development costs are significantly lower than they were just a few years ago. If an owner has been putting off a refresh of capital or technology, it’s time to revisit these issues.

Many business owners in their forties will benefit from paying more attention to accounting and legal issues. In their early years of business, most entrepreneurs are pretty casual about their business relationships.  At this stage of your business life, the stakes are a bit higher; it’s time to put your important business agreements in writing.

For example, did you choose to operate as a proprietorship because it was the cheap and easy choice to make ten years ago?  You might want to revisit the matter depending on your goals.  If you are worried about scaling a company and limiting your liability, a Limited Liability Company, S-Corp. or C-Corp would be the better choice.  A proprietorship is unlimited liability.   Also, it might make sense, now, to take a course in accounting from a local college.  It’s hard to achieve peak performance unless you are well-versed in how to keep score and the numbers in business is how you measure winning from losing.

As you re-examine your business make sure that you have a written plan with strategies and numbers.  A plan helps provide important guidepost for making decisions about the business, or to explain your thought process, and your vision to employees and business partners.  The plan does not have to be a 100-page novel.  As a matter of fact, good plans can be one or a few pages of well thought out information and numbers.  Being concise and clear with your vision can help you execute and iterate faster.

Can Humility Help Us in Business?

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by Tom Mallory, Acadia Associates, Inc.

Mention the name Lee Iacocca and most people think “great leader.” After all, he brought Chrysler back from disaster, raised its stock price far above his competitors, wrote a successful business book, had adoring fans worldwide, and even was urged to run for president. But according to Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, Iacocca’s business success was in the first half of his tenure before he “diverted attention to making himself one of the most celebrated CEOs in American business history.” As Collins elaborates, he appeared regularly on talk shows, starred in over 80 commercials, and widely promoted his autobiography.

The second half of his tenure was different. “Chrysler’s stock fell 31 percent behind the general market. He postponed his retirement so many times that insiders joked that Iacocca meant ‘I Am Chairman of Chrysler Corporation Always’.” Then after his retirement, he launched a hostile takeover bid for Chrysler with Kirk Kerkorian which failed.

Lee Iacocca is just one example of business leaders who let pride foil their “enduring greatness.” Others, as Collins points out, were Al Dunlop at Scott Paper, Stanley Gault at Rubbermaid, and CEOs from many name brand companies such as R.J. Reynolds, Teledyne, Eckerd, and Bank of America.

In fact, in over two thirds of the comparison cases Collins’ team studied, “the presence of a gargantuan personal ego contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company.” Thus, the common characteristic that lacked in these potentially great business leaders was humility.

In contrast, Darwin Smith of Kimberly-Clark, Colman Mockler of Gillette, and George Cain of Abbott Laboratories rose to being great leaders because of  a “paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.” Ever heard of these great men? That’s the point. They shunned attention of themselves, were modest, and gave credit to others. They had tremendous inner strength to repress their ego and focus on the larger goal of building a great company.


Humility Analyzed

Maybe there’s a place for being humble but it couldn’t be in the competitive, driving, and sometimes cutthroat world of the workplace. Strength and determination win on this battleground. Besides, isn’t being humble perceived as being weak? Do I want my competitors and, worse, my potential clients believing I’m weak?

In addition, don’t we all secretly strive to be flattered, recognized by our peers (and hopefully our bosses), and ultimately honored in large public ceremonies?  Sure we do.  So where’s the business benefit from being humble?

 

Humility and Success Through the Years

Success through humility is not a new concept.

Perhaps one of the earliest humble businessmen was Benjamin Franklin, who described himself as a “humble inquirer.” According to Walter Isaacson in Benjamin Franklin, An American Life, Franklin began developing this style around age 20 after reading about Socrates’ method of building an argument through “gentle queries.” Uniquely disarming to his opponents, this style won many friends starting with the Governor of Pennsylvania after Franklin ran away from Boston to Philadelphia at age 17. He used his humble style along with wit, an astounding literary grasp, patience, and determination throughout his multiple careers. Although Franklin referred to himself as simply a “printer,” Isaacson believes that he was “America’s best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, printer, and business strategist” during his 84-year life.

George Washington is described by many authors as always moderate, always modest.  As Willard Randall in George Washington: A Life describes, just prior to resigning as commander-in-chief after the British surrendered, “his mortal enemy, King George III, has said that if George Washington could give up power, he would indeed be the greatest man of the eighteenth century.”  Washington avoided the spotlight literally by being stealthy and elusive in battle (hence the English called him “The Fox”) but also by giving others the credit. His military officers loved him for this and cried along with him at Fraunces Tavern in New York on November 25, 1783 when he bid his officers a final farewell. He did not seek higher status or title even though the country begged for this, and he tried numerous times to return to his life as simply a “planter.” On his last day as President at the inauguration of John Adams, he “wore a plain black suit as he walked alone to Congress Hall while Adams in a lavish new suit rode in a new resplendent carriage of state.”

Abraham Lincoln never let his ego get in the way of his primary ambition for the larger cause of keeping the nation together. As James McPherson writes in Battle Cry of Freedom, he was humble: shy, awkward in manner, and modest. He acknowledged his failures in numerous conspicuous ways, received suffocating amounts of criticism without seeking revenge, and felt more at home with common folks. “Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them,” he once wrote. A line in his Gettsyburg Address sums up his humility: “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”

Colin Powell and Jimmy Blanchard are example of current leaders who excel because of their humility. Powell “grew up poor but rich in spirit and values,” as he says in his book My American Journey.  Among his 13 “Rules of Life” are being kind, sharing credit, and letting go of your ego. Like Franklin’s humble self description as “printer,” Powell sums up his unprecedented military career as simply being “a soldier.” Jimmy Blanchard, CEO of Georgia-based Synovus, always displays humility in his business and community life. His company, which was started by “a single act of kindness in helping a female mill worker,” continues to “treat folks right by doing the right thing.” Fortune Magazine in 1999 rated it the #1 place to work in America.

Becoming Humble

Jim Collins writes, “Humility + Will = the Enduring Level 5 Executive.”  But how much humility is needed to go from a “Level 4 Efficient Leader” to Level 5?  Certainly Iacocca had the “will” as exhibited by his “ferocious resolve.” But did he need a little or a lot of humility to achieve greatness?  Is it worth investing our time towards better understanding and perhaps becoming at least a little more humble?  Alfred Ells, a senior therapist with New Life Clinic and founder of House of Hope Counseling, suggests 10 ways towards becoming humble:

  1. Choose to serve others. Doing so reduces our focus on ourselves and builds up others. But when serving others costs us nothing, we should question whether or not we are really serving.
  2. Receive correction and feedback graciously. Look for the kernel of truth in what people offer you, even if it comes from a dubious source. Ask yourself, “What is being shown to me that I can’t see.”
  3. Take wrong patiently. When something is unjust, we instinctively want to strike back and rectify it. However, patiently responding to unjust accusations and actions of others builds and displays our strength and character.
  4. Acknowledge your mistakes and weaknesses to others. It’s ironic that it is so difficult to admit our mistakes and weaknesses even to ourselves since through these failures we learn. But the true test of humility is acknowledging our faults to others. Wisdom, however, dictates that we do so with those we trust.
  5. Actively submit to authority. Our culture does not value submission; rather it promotes confrontation and individualism. Submitting to those in authority, particularly if we disagree with them, reveals your strength.
  6. Accept a lowly place. If you find yourself wanting to sit at the head of the table, desiring to be recognized for your accomplishments, or becoming offended when others are honored, then pride is present. Support others being recognized rather than you. Look for and accept the lowly place; it is the place of humility.
  7. Purposely associate with people of lower state that you. Society is status conscious and people naturally want to socialize upward. Resist the temptation of being partial to those with status or wealth.
  8. Be quick to forgive. Forgiveness is possibly one of the greatest acts of humility. To forgive is to acknowledge a wrong that has been done to us and to release our right of repayment for the wrong. Forgiveness is denial of self.  Forgiveness is not insisting on our way and our justice.
  9. Cultivate a grateful heart. The more we develop an attitude of gratitude for the gifts we constantly receive in life, the more we realize our successes have been gifts earned from giving.
  10. Purpose to speak well of others. Saying negative things about others puts them “one down” and us “one up.” Speaking well of others builds them up instead of us. “I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody,” said Ben Franklin.

It’s ironic that one of the ways to be humble is by acknowledging our weaknesses and mistakes to others. However, to do this and other humble acts takes tremendous inner strength and confidence – the kind of strength and confidence that leads to enduring leadership.

So humility is not what business would perceive it to be: weakness. Humility allows weakness, which we all have, to be transformed into strength. Being humble also reveals this strength to others, and this strength continues to build within us if we practice humility. Ultimately, humility lifts others and in doing so lifts you. But watch out. It’s even more difficult to be humble from a higher position.

“The closest we ever come to perfection is
when we write our resumes.”
– Executive search consultant

“The superior man is modest in his speech,
but exceeds in his actions.”
– Confucius

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom.
It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest
might weaken and the wisest might err.”
– Mohandas Gandhi

“I am not the lion, but it fell to me to give the lion’s roar.”
– Winston Churchill

“You can accomplish anything in life, provided
that you do not mind who gets the credit.”
– Harry Truman

Building a Culture of Servant Leadership

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By Michael Iverson

Imagine if this was your first experience with an airline:  Leaving town for vacation, a friend and his young family were among the last passengers to board their Southwest Airlines flight. As the family made its way to the plane, crew members warned there was no room in the overhead bins for their carry-ons.  The captain told my friend to leave the carry-ons at the end of the breezeway and he would find a place for them. When my friend got to his window seat, he saw the captain himself carrying the bags down the stairs to employees loading luggage onto the plane!  My friend thought: What other airline captain would do that?  This act of servant leadership had a profound impact on him and he became a loyal customer of Southwest.

Servant leadership is a leadership style that has been around for over 30 years.  It was first introduced in 1970 by former AT&T executive Robert Greenleaf.  It really came into its own in the 1980s and 1990s, when companies that adopted servant leadership (such as Southwest Airlines and Starbucks) first achieved success and admiration.

But what exactly is servant leadership?  Servant leaders selflessly put their employees’ needs ahead of their own. The employees, in turn, put the needs of customers first.  Customers, appreciative of the attention and care they receive, reward the business owner with their loyalty.  It is, by design, a cycle of virtuous behavior.

It must be noted, however, that servant leadership is a model that can conflict with the traditional management philosophy of a leader needing to exert authority over employees.

Behavior of a Servant Leader  
The servant leader’s natural inclination is to help others.  He or she helps his employees become proficient in their work. A servant leader shows them how they can pursue careers that achieve balance between work and family life.  And, he or she rewards their efforts with financial consideration that is truly representative of the value they add to the business.

Its leadership by example and with integrity, teaching employees how to put the needs of others first.  A servant leader purposely stays out of the limelight, allowing his team members to accept the accolades and not themselves.  He or she trusts his employees to do what’s right for customers and the business.

Management consultant and author Franklin Covey put trust as the hallmark of a servant leader.  He cited 13 behaviors a business owner must adopt, including:

  1. Talk straight:  Tell the truth. Let people know where you stand.
  2. Demonstrate respect:  Show you genuinely care.  Respect everyone, including those who can’t do anything for you. Show kindness in little ways.
  3. Create transparency: Be genuine, open and authentic. Don’t hide information or have hidden agendas.
  4. Right wrongs:  Apologize quickly. Make restitution where possible. Demonstrate humility.
  5. Show loyalty: Give credit to others.  Be loyal to those absent and represent those who aren’t there to speak for themselves.
  6. Deliver results:  Establish a track record of results.  Don’t make excuses for not delivering.
  7. Get better:  Continuously learn and improve.  Thank people for feedback and act on feedback received.
  8. Confront reality:  Meet issues head-on.  Address the “tough stuff” directly.
  9. Clarify expectations:  Disclose and reveal expectations.  Ensure expectations are clear.
  10. Practice accountability:  Hold yourself and others accountable.  Take responsibility for good or bad results.
  11. Listen first:  Listen before you speak.
  12. Keep commitments:  State your intentions and then act on them.
  13. Extend trust:  Extend trust abundantly to those who have earned it.

Business owners who have adopted the servant leadership philosophy say it promotes team-building, achievement, positive change and high employee morale.  So, what’s the catch?

This style of leadership does not come naturally for some people.  Our achievement oriented focus is taught in school and does not consistently encourage servant leadership traits.  It requires an intentional approach to live the principles outlined by Covey.

If you can incorporate the principles of servant leadership into your business, you can provide an environment for your employees that is much more than a place to work.  You are inviting them to a better way to work, and a better way to live.

To discuss whether your business is a good fit for the servant leadership model, contact Trillium Financial.

The Business Owner’s Pursuit of Happiness

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One of the pleasures of my work is being around business owners who are generally happy with their lives. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration when I say that, as a group, they are among the happiest people I know.  I often marvel at how this could be the case given the many challenges and responsibilities they face.

Owning a business has the potential for personal satisfaction on several levels. First, most entrepreneurs take satisfaction in setting their own work schedules and prioritizing what needs to be accomplished.  Another form of satisfaction comes from accepting the risks involved in running a business and using one’s own energy and effort to make the business successful. It’s gratifying to experience the fruits of your labor.

One of those fruits, of course, is financial. When a business is successful, the owner often enjoys financial rewards that exceed what he or she would likely achieve as someone else’s employee. That’s an important motivator for starting a business and making sure it continues to be successful.

It would be simplistic, however, to conclude that satisfaction and achievement add up to what is generally referred to as happiness.

What Is Happiness?

The idea of happiness is difficult to express in terms that are agreeable to everyone. Much has been written about the pursuit of happiness, yet its meaning is open to interpretation. For many people, eat, play and sleep would pretty well cover it. For others, the real pursuit is for wealth, pleasure and a good reputation.

The great philosophers put a good deal of thought into the notion of happiness and concluded there was more to it. Socrates believed that the key to happiness was to turn one’s focus away from the body and towards the soul. He also considered happiness to be the by-product of a moral life.

Aristotle personalized the concept. “Happiness depends on ourselves,” he wrote.  In Aristotle’s mind, true happiness required attainment of both physical and mental well-being within an environment that cultivated virtue.

How do the ideas of Socrates and Aristotle match up with your pursuit of happiness, especially as it pertains to your business?  My experience with entrepreneurs tells me that most yearn for more than eat, play and sleep – not only for themselves, but for their employees.

It usually starts with the business owner developing the work environment that allows him or her to do his/her best work.  The business owner pursues happiness by establishing an environment that supports personal business success, professional growth, personal freedom, friendship, family time, and spirituality.

A business owner who creates such an environment – where a person can thrive, both personally and professionally – would likely hire those who share his/her values. Once they are hired, the leader can show each of them how to make the most of the opportunity presented to them.

There exist people whose pursuit of happiness includes the pursuit of the happiness of others. I have seen this dynamic at work with a number of entrepreneurs. They know how this approach can build a successful company.  The lives of their employees are enriched in unique and profound ways. And, a successful company contributes to a vibrant local community.

That’s a wonderful legacy for any entrepreneur.

How Well Do You Know Your Strengths?

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Would it surprise you to learn that most people have only imperfect knowledge of their own strengths? Most of us have a rough idea about what we do well, because our obvious strengths are often the basis for earning our living.  However, that knowledge is limited.

As a group, entrepreneurs may have a better handle on their strengths than most people. Knowing that many of my readers are business owners, my educated guess is that you recognize some of the following entrepreneurial traits in yourself:

  • Self-confidence
  • Ability to learn from others
  • Self-motivation
  • Determination
  • Decisiveness
  • Willingness to take risks

Many business owners would say they possess all of the above characteristics. That’s good because they may be the most important strengths for an entrepreneur to possess. Of course, the list above is far from complete. Most entrepreneurs are keenly aware of some of their strengths – those that help them succeed day to day.

Here’s another list of skills that would come in handy for any business owner:

  • Being innovative/inventive
  • Analytical skills – capable of researching and analyzing various aspects of business like product development, production, marketing and sales
  • Focus on financial results, i.e., the bottom line
  • Ability to delegate authority effectively
  • Organizational skills – capable of identifying what needs to be accomplished in each aspect of business and matching employees’ skills to the tasks at hand

Is it as easy to recognize from this list the skills that you possess?  Typically, this list poses more uncertainty for people. For example, some people have the capacity to be analytical, but they would rather not have to use those skills at work if someone else can provide them. Others see themselves as innovative. However, in reality they may not rank high when tested for those skills.

Assessing Strengths

There are tools available to help determine your strengths. The Clifton StrengthsFinder® is a popular online assessment that draws on more than 50 years of Dr. Donald O. Clifton’s lifelong work. Clifton was recognized with an American Psychological Association Presidential Commendation as the father of strengths-based psychology. The assessment is designed to help individuals identify, understand, and maximize their strengths. As a manager, it can be used to help you understand the strengths of your employees.

The importance of knowing your strengths, or those of your employees, is to help people focus on the things they do best every workday. This notion directly contradicts what most of us are taught from childhood – that we should focus on minimizing our weaknesses. Research by Clifton, and others, suggests we accomplish far more by maximizing our strengths and developing them to their fullest.

StrengthsFinder provides numerous strategies for making the most a person’s unique strengths. Its in-depth approach to strength analysis explores the nuances of what makes a person unique. The program uses more than 5,000 personalized strengths insights.  Two people with similar strengths get very different plans to improve themselves. The program will likely change the way you look at yourself, or your employees.

If you find that financial analysis is not one of your strengths, let us help!  Contact Trillium Financial today for a CFO-level roadmap for your business.

Humility’s Unexpected Benefits

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by Tom Mallory

“Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.”
– Mark Twain

“If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect.”
– Ted Turner

Can humility help us in business?

Maybe there’s a place for being humble but it couldn’t be in the competitive, driving, and sometimes cut throat world of the workplace. Strength and determination win on this battleground. Besides, isn’t being humble perceived as being weak? Do I want my competitors and, worse, my potential clients believing I’m weak?

In addition, don’t we all secretly strive to be flattered, recognized by our peers (and hopefully our bosses), and ultimately honored in large public ceremonies? Sure we do. So where’s the business benefit from being humble?

Humility Analyzed

Mention the name Lee Iacocca and most people think “great leader.” After all, he brought Chrysler back from disaster, raised its stock price far above his competitors, wrote a successful business book, had adoring fans worldwide, and even was urged to run for president.

But according to Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, Iacocca’s business success was in the first half of his tenure before “he diverted attention to making himself one of the most celebrated CEOs in American business history.” As Collins elaborates, he appeared regularly on talk shows, starred in over 80 commercials, and widely promoted his autobiography. At one point, Iacocca stated, “Running Chrysler has been a bigger job than running the country. . . I could handle the national economy in six months.”

The second half of his tenure was different. “Chrysler’s stock fell 31 percent behind the general market. He postponed his retirement so many times that insiders joked that Iacocca meant “I Am Chairman of Chrysler Corporation Always.” Then after his retirement, he launched a hostile takeover bid for Chrysler with Kirk Kerkorian which failed.

Lee Iacocca is just one example of business leaders who let pride foil their “enduring greatness.” Others, as Collins points out, were Al Dunlop at Scott Paper, Stanley Gault at Rubbermaid, and CEOs from many name brand companies such as R.J. Reynolds, Teledyne, Eckerd, and Bank of America. In fact, in over two thirds of the comparison cases Collins’ team studied, “the presence of a gargantuan personal ego contributed to the demise or continued mediocrity of the company.” Thus, the common characteristic that lacked in these potentially great business leaders was humility.

In contrast, Darwin Smith of Kimberly-Clark, Colman Mockler of Gillette, and George Cain of Abbott Laboratories rose to become great leaders because of a “paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.” Ever heard of these great men? That’s the point. They shunned attention of themselves, were modest, and gave credit to others. They had tremendous inner strength to repress their ego and focus on the larger goal of building a great company.

Humility and Success through the years

Success through humility is not a new concept.

Perhaps one of the earliest humble businessmen was Benjamin Franklin, who described himself as a “humble inquirer.” According to Walter Isaacson in Benjamin Franklin, An American Life, Franklin began developing this style around age 20 after reading about Socrates’ method of building an argument through “gentle queries.” Uniquely disarming to his opponents, this style won many friends, starting with the Governor of Pennsylvania after Franklin ran away from Boston to Philadelphia at age 17. He used his humble style along with wit, an astounding literary grasp, patience, and determination throughout his multiple careers. Although Franklin referred to himself as simply a “printer,” Isaacson believes that he was “America’s best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, printer, and business strategist” during his 84-year life.

George Washington is described by many authors as always moderate, always modest.  As Willard Randall in George Washington: A Life describes, just prior to resigning as commander in chief after the British surrendered, “his mortal enemy, King George III, has said that if George Washington could give up power, he would indeed be the greatest man of the eighteenth century.” Washington avoided the spotlight literally by being stealthy and elusive in battle (hence the English called him The Fox) but also by giving others the credit. His military officers loved him for this and cried along with him at Fraunces Tavern in New York on November 25, 1783 when he bid his officers a final farewell. He did not seek higher status or title even though the country begged for this, and he tried numerous times to return to his life as simply a “planter.” On his last day as President at the inauguration of John Adams, he “wore a plain black suit as he walked alone to Congress Hall while Adams in a lavish new suit rode in a new resplendent carriage of state.”

Abraham Lincoln never let his ego get in the way of his primary ambition for keeping the nation together. As James McPherson writes in Battle Cry of Freedom, he was humble:  shy, awkward in manner, and modest. He acknowledged his failures in numerous conspicuous ways, received suffocating amounts of criticism without seeking revenge, and felt more at home with common folks. “Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them,” he once wrote.  A line in his Gettsyburg Address sums up his humility: “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.”

Colin Powell and Jimmy Blanchard are example of current leaders who excel because of their humility. Powell “grew up poor but rich in spirit and values,” as he says in his book My American Journey. Among his 13 “Rules of Life” are being kind, sharing credit, and letting go of your ego. Like Franklin’s humble self description as “printer,” Powell sums up his unprecedented military career as simply being “a soldier.” Jimmy Blanchard, CEO of Georgia-based Synovus, always displays humility in his business and community life. His company, which was started by “a single act of kindness in helping a female mill worker,” continues to “treat folks right by doing the right thing.” Fortune Magazine in 1999 rated it the #1 place to work in America.

Becoming Humble

Jim Collins writes, “Humility + Will = the Enduring Level 5 Executive.” But how much humility is needed to go from a Level 4 Efficient Leader to Level 5?  Certainly Iacocca had the “will” as exhibited by his “ferocious resolve.”  But did he need a little or a lot of humility to achieve greatness?  Is it worth investing our time towards better understanding and perhaps becoming at least a little more humble?  Alfred Ells, a senior therapist with New Life Clinic and founder of House of Hope Counseling, suggests 10 ways to work toward becoming humble:

  1. Choose to serve others. Doing so reduces our focus on ourselves and builds up others. But when serving others costs us nothing, we should question whether or not we are really serving.
  2. Receive correction and feedback graciously. Look for the kernel of truth in what people offer you, even if it comes from a dubious source. Ask yourself, “What is being shown to me that I can’t see.”
  3. Take wrong patiently. When something is unjust, we instinctively want to strike back and rectify it. However, patiently responding to unjust accusations and actions of others builds and displays our strength and character.
  4. Acknowledge your mistakes and weaknesses to others. It’s ironic that it is so difficult to admit our mistakes and weaknesses even to ourselves since through these failures we learn. But the true test of humility is acknowledging our faults to others. Wisdom, however, dictates that we do so with those we trust.
  5. Actively submit to authority. Our culture does not value submission; rather it promotes confrontation and individualism. Submitting to those in authority, particularly if we disagree with them, reveals your strength.
  6. Accept a lowly place. If you find yourself wanting to sit at the head of the table, desiring to be recognized for your accomplishments, or becoming offended when others are honored, then pride is present. Support others being recognized rather than you. Look for and accept the lowly place; it is the place of humility.
  7. Purposely associate with people of lower state that you. Society is status conscious and people naturally want to socialize upward. Resist the temptation of being partial to those with status or wealth.
  8. Be quick to forgive. Forgiveness is possibly one of the greatest acts of humility. To forgive is to acknowledge a wrong that has been done to us and to release our right of repayment for the wrong. Forgiveness is denial of self. Forgiveness is not insisting on our way and our justice.
  9. Cultivate a grateful heart. The more we develop an attitude of gratitude for the gifts we constantly receive in life, the more we realize our successes have been gifts earned from giving.
  10. Purpose to speak well of others. Saying negative things about others puts them “one down” and us “one up.” Speaking well of others builds them up instead of us. “I will speak ill of no man, and speak all the good I know of everybody,” said Ben Franklin.

It’s ironic that one of the ways to be humble is by acknowledging our weaknesses and mistakes to others. However, to do this and other humble acts takes tremendous inner strength and confidence – the kind of strength and confidence that leads to enduring leadership.

So humility is not what business would perceive it to be: weakness. Humility allows weakness, which we all have, to be transformed into strength. Being humble also reveals this strength to others, and this strength continues to build within us if we practice humility. Ultimately, humility lifts others and in doing so lifts you. But watch out. It’s even more difficult to be humble from a higher position.

Tom Mallory is a partner at Acadia Associates, Inc., an Atlanta-based executive firm. He can be reached at TMallory@AcadiaAssociates.com or at 404-467-8900.

Why Do You Run a Business?

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by Michael Iverson

I recently met with a long-time entrepreneur who expressed growing frustration with the state of his business. He complained that his work hours are longer than ever, yet his profits are shrinking. So, I asked him: “Why do you do it? Why do you run a small business?”


The question seemed to surprise him. Despite his dissatisfaction with the recent financial performance of his business, it was obvious that he had not given much thought to the alternatives. As he answered, it became clear that running a business is more than just his work. Being a business owner is part of his self-identity.


I have had this conversation with several clients over the years. Each one has the skills, talent and determination to succeed in another line of work. I ask them to spend a few minutes thinking about why they started their businesses and to write down their reasons. The lists often include:

  • Earn a decent living.
  • Be my own boss.
  • Feel a sense of accomplishment.
  • Provide jobs for family members and/or friends.
  • Be an active part of the local community.


When my client created his list, I asked how many of those reasons remain valid today. The discussion that followed revealed the owner is not happy about what he earns, his frustrations have overtaken his sense of accomplishment and the family members and friends have retired or moved on to something else. In other words, many of the reasons are no longer valid.

Evaluate the risks and rewards

For this particular client, the rewards of ownership no longer outweigh the risks. Several of his key employees earn a better living than he does, yet the risk of personally guaranteeing sizeable business loans is all his. I am sure many other business owners find themselves in the same position.

The greatest risk of all, one that many business owners willingly take, is putting all of their eggs in one basket. An entrepreneur often puts all his financial resources, as well as all his time, into the business. Should the business fail, there could be severe financial impact.

Weigh the alternatives

Once a business owner is able to view the situation objectively, he may ask himself: “Why am I working 80 hours per week, putting all of my eggs in one basket and earning just 10 percent on my investment? I could get a well-paying 40 hour-per-week job, invest part of it in the stock market, and live better by working fewer hours and having far less stress.”


But, it’s clear there is a tradeoff. If running a business is something that really gives you pleasure, if you have fun doing it and you are earning a decent living, you may not want to give it up. You may be willing to sacrifice some elements of your personal and financial lives to continue doing what you really enjoy. Getting up and going to work is not “work” but rather fun and I happen to be making money at it too!


One way to figure out if you are at the point of change is to enlist the help of an advisory board–a group of individuals from different business backgrounds who have experience running and supporting a business. Look for our upcoming article about the ins and outs of an advisory board.