Blog - Page 54 of 55 - The Third Zone

Sep 12 2012

Returning to the Driver’s Seat of Your Business (by learning to dance in the rain)

Your company is FINISHED with being a victim of some ECONOMY! You are determined to reclaim the driver’s seat and return to the level of success you’ve known … and then some. Ah … the question and the challenge becomes what is the right way to do this effectively. I think it is when we stop asking ourselves what is happening and start acting on the basis of what IS happening. And in this year … 2012 … across the lines of business types this seems to be the popular path.

There is a quote attributed to Vivian Greene (wife of Author Graham Greene) and I think it’s very telling as to what reclaiming the driver’s seat just might mean. It is … “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain!” And as I see more and more companies adopting this outlook it might explain why the big rush to buy umbrellas and raincoats … even in summer.

After spending much of the past 3-4 years working diligently to survive by holding our breaths to ride out the storm, more and more of us just got tired (to say nothing of wanting to breathe easily again). Thus we have said … “that’s it! We’re turning raindrops from the storm into dollars.”

I’ve identified six critical actions that I find are inherent in almost every situation wherein leaders begin to dance in that rain. I will relate the first three in this post and the balance next week. I know that you have probably done some … at least. Maybe this can serve as your check list to make certain you have all the bases covered.

ACTION # 1 – Create a new business paradigm

The first action that must take place is the need for the leadership team to accept and recognize that a new paradigm exists. Regardless of how drastic the required change is from ‘what was’, reclaiming control starts because leaders are willing to understand and act on the need for significant change in perspectives and vision.

ACTION # 2 –Leadership Alignment around the new paradigm

Has your product lost its’ market? Do you need to alter your processes to streamline operations and reduce costs? Has your service become obsolete, or is it now considered a luxury that few can afford? Identifying the full impact of the new business paradigm that you and your customers are experiencing is the place to start.

ACTION # 3 – Identify Leadership Team Strengths

Strengths related to your expertise in an industry or skills required in your industry will be needed going forward. A highly functional leadership team with proven experience and capability to work well together is as important as ever. The ability to lead and motivate employees may require a new set of skills, or at the very least, fine tuning of existing skills.

Next week I will post the continuation of this by focusing on the last three critical actions that help all of us move back to the driver’s seat and reclaim the success we know and want.

Mike

Aug 22 2012

“It’s Now or Never” … Can Elvis’ ‘yesterday’ song provide the needed energy of today’s business?

Thirty-five years since his death the words Elvis sang just might still have pertinent application in the current business environment. The time is NOW to bring about real change in your vision, your product and in your top level leadership. Or NEVER will be the norm and you’ll risk being trapped in the same quicksand from which you have worked tirelessly to emerge.

It’s exciting to get a sense that slowly but surely the business environment and general economy are showing signs of regaining health. What a relief and at the same time no one is yet saying that we’re ba-a-a-ck! To take full advantage of your progress in returning to the driver’s seat of your business there are two key elements of change that must work in concert to shift where you are to where you really want and need to be:
# 1 – Changes related to the nature of your business

What has been the impact of the past 3 years on your industry?
How have your customers been impacted by these changes?
- Are they willing and/or able to do business with your company?
- Have your customers shifted their need for your product? How?
What are the changes you need to make that will …
- appeal to your existing or past customer base? Price? Function?
- allow you to attract new customers?
To what degree has your product become limited or even obsolete?
What adjustments do you need to make to the product?
How will you change the approach you use in taking it to market?
What new systems need to be put in place? Which no longer fit?
What do you need to adjust in your past marketing strategy?

# 2 – Changes related to the leadership team

What needs to happen within the leadership team to achieve alignment around the needed changes?
What must happen to create synergy within the leadership team that will enhance the speed and level of success?
What changes in overall leadership style are needed to make your success occur quickly and in a sustained fashion?

Arriving at where you are today is worthy of a strong pat on the back … better yet, a loud cheer. Undoubtedly a great start and one that many didn’t achieve! Can hearing and adhering to the words of Elvis’ “It’s Now or Never” be the added energy that will help complete the task and make the change you want a reality?

What do YOU think? What do you need to get started?

Aug 09 2012

The Military Diet of Leadership

I received an email into which was pasted an article written by Fred Smith. He is the person who had the vision and the fortitude to begin Federal Express (today’s FedEx) in 1973.

I don’t know what your perception of life in the military is, and I admit that I do not have such experience. I’m positive that my ‘knowledge’ of what that life entails, and what military leadership is like, comes from having seen too many unrealistic movies. When I think of leadership in the military I envision a LOT of yelling … generally loud voices … commands to do this or that. In general, it’s a life aimed at achieving serious missions with little or no time for the warm fuzzies. I certainly would never have argued that my perception was right. However, two things have historically allowed it to remain as correct in my mind … at least partially. First, as I said … I have no actual personal experience to have allowed me to see otherwise. That’s big. Second, I have spent time in my work as a leadership coach witnessing leaders who act like they, too, have seen only movies and do their best to carry out the ‘tough-leader’ image.

So what did Mr. Smith have to say that was eye-opening? Well, he does run a VERY successful company that today employs almost 300,000 people … in some 220+ countries and realizes annual revenues of $38 Billion. And he believes that …

“…much of our success reflects what I learned as a Marine. The basic principles of leading people are the bedrock of the Corps. I can still recite them from memory, and they are firmly embedded in the FedEx culture. We teach them daily in our own Leadership Institute, which turns out the thousands of managers needed to run our operating companies. What I learned in the Marines has stuck with me all these years.”

“I’ve also incorporated Marine Corps tenets into FedEx. If you were to drop in on one of our management training seminars, you’d recognize from your military days what’s being taught. We tell our executives that the key to their success is to rely on their first-level managers (FedEx’s counterparts of NCOs); to set an example themselves; and to praise in public when someone has done a good job. All these are standard operating procedure in the Marines. But they’re a rarity in the industrial world.” FedEx employees wear pins of recognition when they do particularly well in a certain task. When they make a happy customer they are handed a monetary reward.

So much for the ‘reality’ attributed to the message that I got from watching military movies throughout the years. And then, of course … they’re a just movies. And in today’s business environment there are still some who would undoubtedly benefit from eating and digesting the leadership lessons taught and learned in the military … job performance expectations, celebrations of achievement and public praise of success. They seem to be working well at FedEx. Do you know someone who could use the restaurant that serves similar food?

Jul 31 2012

I’m Starving for a Leader … and I am one!

You’re very capable. You’re highly skilled in your field. You’re even a recognized authority in what you do. For this you’re tapped on the shoulder and welcomed into the ranks of your organization’s leaders. You’re in charge of an area … or a division … or the entire facility. And certainly someone with all of your capabilities simply must know how to do everything associated with the job in a very effective and meaningful way. Right? Not so fast. In my work with organizational leaders from the highest ranking to a lower level of leadership I definitely conclude that the resounding answer is ‘Wrong!’ Regardless of how skilled leaders are in a technical sense as it pertains to their responsibilities the vague aspect of a job often centers on how to be effective in leading the charge … motivating, encouraging and developing the talents of others to achieve the results you strive for.

Encountering leaders who express either frustration around or simply a desire to lead their company to greater success, I have often asked who they turn to for leadership guidance? Who is it okay to approach and discuss leader related problems and challenges? What I hear too often is that a leader perceives that when they are selected for the position, they are presumed to know the technical skills associated with the position and the skill to lead others to accomplish the job. And where this exists, it tends to deprive the leader of building and improving a skill that is the foundation for an organization’s ability to bridge the gap that too often exists between the vision of what the desired achievement is and the reality of what is actually accomplished. It is dangerous and often costly. Simply put … even leaders want and need to be led. They too want guidance as to how to oversee their areas of responsibility and be extremely effective in doing so. Achieving real and lasting success is much easier when we don’t have to fake it. Everyone wins … including the organization.

Jul 20 2012

How we interpret something is a choice and the best part is … the choice is ours to make!!

This morning I met with a senior executive of a well-know commercial real estate company. We have met on several occasions and are close to launching a coached development program for brokers who this executive has identified as having unrealized potential. She recalled a personal experience earlier in her career in which her own executive manager expressed his belief that there was a definite gap between what she was producing and what he believed she was capable of producing. And it became apparent that my client had a choice in terms of response. She could be hurt and resentful that after what she believed was all of her hard work, her ‘boss’ spoke only of this gap. Or, and as she chose to do, she could feel complimented by the interest and encouragement to take her game and her success to a higher level … exactly what she personally wanted to do.

As a coach this is a situation that is rather common and arises often. As a leader, being open and honest with a report in terms of the potential you see in them and their ‘gap’ can be motivating. It conveys to the person your belief in them and plants you firmly in their rooting section. As the employee (regardless of position), to the extent they are willing to view the feedback as the encouragement and support it represents, they have every reason to see it for its’ positive value. Most often that translates to enhanced motivation to discover what is actually creating that ‘gap’ and what they can do about it. This situation makes for a terrific coaching opportunity and the growth that is derived.

The client I refer to above remembers this singular and rather simple exchange as a career shaping experience. She knows that she could have chosen the other path and lingered in mediocrity, but by choosing the alternative, she feels it just may have made all the difference in the success she has enjoyed in the organization. It seems like recognizing that the choice is ours is a good place to start.

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