Why Survival Mode Won’t Help You Survive

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Focus on Survival

You see it and feel it out there. It was panic for a few years. Many organizations, particularly small business, watched the numbers on the economic recovery and bought into the doom and gloom of quasi-authoritative prognosticators. They decided that “yes, Chicken Little, the sky really IS falling!”

Panic.

A 2010 monthly report from the National Federation of Independent Business reported that businesses were panicking. Severe cutbacks. Layoffs, even laying off productive people, simply because we have to spend less. Not spending money on things necessary to thrive. I am always reminded of that line from the movie Ghost Busters:

“Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!”

But never to fear, things are getting better. According to the latest report, businesses have advanced from panic to simply negativity. In other words, no longer doom and gloom, just the gloom. Business owners and managers still don’t feel very good about the economy. The result is

Only a VERY SMALL PERCENTAGE of businesses are adding employees this year.
Very few project adding employees
Very few think sales will go up
Most don’t expect the economy to improve.

Side Note: that’s not reality based. According to Economic Expert Sean Snaith of the UCF Institute for Economic Competitiveness, while economic recovery is happening, even though it will be slower than what we have experienced in the past. And things will be looking up starting as early as the second half of 2013.

Surviving and Not Thriving

How are businesses reacting to all this? By staying in survival mode. Focus on nothing but keeping themselves afloat. Bare bones.

Big Mistake!

There certainly is something to be said for survival. It’s the first order of business. If you don’t survive the now, there’s not much to look forward to in the future.

The problem with only being in survival mode, however, is that it practically guarantees you will not make it past the short-term. As things gradually get better (and they will!), new opportunities for businesses of all kinds will emerge. Opportunities that will require quick action and quick results. Opportunities that will require businesses that are agile and equipped to move on those opportunities.

In other words, businesses that are PREPARED! You must be ready not just with the right equipment and supplies, but with the right people. You need effective leadership, not just management. You need effective teams who have been developed to be productive and work together. If leadership is not prepared to see and exploit opportunities, they will pass you by. If your teams have not already been developed past the initial phases of team formation and are ready to hit the ground performing, you will not produce results on time and opportunities will be lost.

Do more than survive

Your organizations prosperity more than anything else depends on your PREPARED LEADERSHIP and EFFECTIVE TEAMS.

If you don’t position yourself this way, you have a reason to be gloomy!

What actions are you going to take today to prepare yourself and your organization? Share in the comments.

Why Dolly Parton’s Song Lied About Work

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Workin’ 9 to 5

It may be a way to make a living but it’s not a way to make a career. Or a life for that matter.

Quote of the Day on Hard Work

I shared the following on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as my thought of the day:

“Hard work spotlights the character of people;
some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses,
and some don’t turn up at all.”
-Sam Ewing

It’s important to note that it doesn’t speak to building character as much as revealing character. It’s similar to how many say that a crisis builds character; but it doesn’t, it simply reveals it. Hard work reveals character by the way in which we react to it. When we have been trained that hard work is a part of life and a vital part of getting things done, we are apt to dive in and lend a hand when the time comes. Even more to the point, if we jump in without first being asked, it speaks to our character even more.

Hard Work is Beneath Me

As the quote also points out, some refuse to be a part of it. Hard work is beneath their station or status. This is especially prevalent in the workplace. The manager who deals out the work assignments, closes the door to their office, and focuses simply on the end result. Now, I will point out that thinking is very hard work as well. When you are looking ahead, anticipating problems, mulling solutions, brainstorming ways to move your company and your employees forward, searching for new, innovative ways to add value to those you work with; all of that requires, even demands, a managers attention. It is a hard working manager or leader who spends time in the hard work on thinking. The problem is that in most cases management generally doesn’t do much of that either.

Those who think that hard work is below their station or their position are not really in touch with the reality of their business. It also misses that most of the most successful businessman and entrepreneurs spend their time in both mental and physical hard work.

Sam Walton was well-known for going into the trenches, visiting stores, working with and talking with employees on all levels; stock persons, truck drivers, greeters, and all. He spent time paying attention to the details, thinking of new ways to offer more and create a better experience for his customers.
Mark Cuban was a dot com sensation, but few know that in his first startup he worked long hours and didn’t take a vacation for seven years.
Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsico, worked overnight shifts as a receptionist while completing a degree at Yale. She often puts in 13 hour days in the office, takes mail home to read (not recommended), and, by the way, raises two daughters.
William “Biff’ Comte, CEO of Accentcare, habitually “job shadows” employees and asks questions about their work to understand what he can do to best serve their needs and provide the best experience for employees and patients. In addition to all those other CEO duties.

Hard work is essential to our success. Sometimes that is get the hands dirty work and sometimes it is put the mind in high gear work. In fact, the most successful spend more time in the mind in high gear part than the other.

It’s Hard Work Time, Where’s Fitz?

Then, of course, there are those who simply don’t even bother to show up when it’s time for hard work. Having in the past worked for a few government organizations and enterprise-level companies, you will find quite a few there. They seem to be everywhere but at their desk; not because they are engaged in work but because they are engaged in anything BUT their work. Curiously enough, they are typically the most negative people you will work with.

Avoid them. They will just suck the life right out of you!

The Hard Work of Thinking

So, as we discussed, our most productive hard work and the work that will be help us fulfill more of our potential is the time we spend in thought. Here’s a few ways to be more effective at thinking:

Block out time on your calendar for “Thinking Time”. Guard it ruthlessly.
Have an agenda for what you plan to think about. Otherwise, you will just have random thoughts
Always be positive. Think positive. Look for positive lessons and results from your experiences.
Think in gradual time frames. Think a week ahead, a month ahead, a year ahead, five years ahead.
Focus on what you are doing right and should continue to do and what you need to change

Your hard work on thinking your way through things brings clarity, focus, and purpose.

Something Every Day

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Seth Godin said that you should have something interesting to say about your business every day; if not, you better find out why.

So Here’s the Start of Every Day

In the interests of that, I am going to attempt to blog every day. At least, every weekday. I will do my best to keep it relevant, useful, and most importantly, short. I am going to talk about what I learn, what I know, and mostly, what I think will be of interest to you in your every day living and working. After all, the purpose of this blog is to help YOU achieve success in your career and your life.

What Should You Be Doing Every Day?

I think one benefit of this is establishing habit. We have our greatest success by the good habits that we establish and maintain; daily growth, reading, Bible study, calling clients, and so on. So while I try to establish this daily habit of blogging, why not join me? Of course, you don’t need to blog every day, but pick some positive habit you want to develop and resolve to do it every day. You can share it here if you want and we can help keep you accountable.

Keep me posted on how you are doing. And hold me accountable here for keeping my habit.

By The Way

One quick note on what you read here. I attempt to add value to you with what I write. I choose my topics based on

what people tell me
what I think I would like to hear
what I read
what I need to hear myself. I figure if I need to hear it, perhaps you do too!

If you want me to talk about a topic you haven’t seen or go into more detail about one, drop me a message.

See you tomorrow.

Zombie Nation Rises!

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Beware Your Workplace Zombies!

Are you worried? Even if you don’t believe in Zombies (and I don’t) you should be worried. A Forbes Magazine article (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2013/06/26/most-american-workers-are-zombies-but-theres-hope/) released this week summarizes a Gallup survey recently conducted that found that 70% of US workers are “disengaged” from their employment. In other words, they have become mindless zombies at work, going through the motions of their jobs. Now the poll defines engagement as being actively involved with the company goals and vision, feeling passionate about what they do, and working to innovate and improve the company. I would add working to improve the company bottom line as well. So by contrast disengaged means that they are simply doing the minimum; showing up, doing what is required and nothing more, not applying any creative thought. And the extreme is worse; they are UNHAPPY in their job and more than likely exhibiting that in a variety of ways, including a reduction in productivity. They estimate that this is costing us collectively HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS OF DOLLARS through lost revenue and lost productivity. The real concern is that the trend seems to be growing instead of shrinking. And it is not relegated to simply large corporations.

Cure for Zombie Nation

The good news is that there is HOPE! There is a CURE FOR ZOMBIFICATION! And it begins with the LEADERSHIP of the organization; whether the executive level of a large corporation or the owner of a small business. You can re-engage your employees and turn this around. The secret lies in FIRE. No, not firing them all and hiring someone else; you are simply getting rid of a known in favor of an unknown; not to mention the expense involved in recruiting and hiring a new employee. It also doesn’t lie in lighting a fire under them. Threats and intimidation has proven time and again to be highly ineffective in both the short and long-term in today’s workplace. In fact, I don’t think it was ever truly an effective tool. The real solution lies in LIGHTING A FIRE IN THEM! The employee who finds their own motivation and passion will awake from their zombie slumber, re-engage, seek performance excellence, improve their productivity, and as a result positively impact YOUR BOTTOM LINE. In fact, the Gallup poll strongly suggests that the highly engaged employee leads to the kind of growth you desire for your organization. But you cannot provide this motivation, it has to come from within the person. All you can do is provide the environment in which an employee can find that motivation. Employees find motivation and passion when the feel hope; hope for their future, hope for the future of the organization. If you can provide that, you will begin curing the zombification process.

Administering the Cure

So how do we get there? Here’s a some things to consider that have been proven over time in many situations to provide the right environment for employee engagement.

Communication

For too many managers and business owners, the extent of their communication with their staff consists of mumbled good mornings and “how are sales today?” Employees respond to open communication; this is especially true if you employ GenX and GenY people. You need to do more than just acknowledge their presence, you need to acknowledge their impact….to them directly and also indirectly by going public with it. You need to communicate your vision to them. How can they have hope in their future and the organization’s future if they don’t know where it is you want to go with it?

They also need to know that the door is open for two-way communication. They need to have confidence in the knowledge that their opinion and input is valued. They need to know they have room to make mistakes and to take responsibility for those mistakes and learn from them.

Mostly, they need to hear that they matter to you and the organization. If your attitude is that employees are a dime a dozen, be prepared to set aside those dimes because it will be all you will be able to pay because it is all you will have left.

Connecting

Confidence in open communication occurs when you have made a connection to your employees. When you take the time to talk with them, learn about them and their situations and their hopes and dreams, then you are able to connect with them and build that confidence in a relationship. Building that relationship does not necessarily mean going out for beers together, but it does mean recognizing that there is, beyond all the titles and roles, a person there who feels things just as personally as you do. You are invested personally in what you do which is why YOU are productive; how is that any less for your employees?

Focus on Strengths

This was mentioned in the article but has been a mantra of mine for some time. In job interviews and performance evaluations, the topic of strengths and weaknesses is brought up and then never addressed again. In the evaluation, we identify what we think their weakness is and then tell them to work on it. STOP! If you make an employee focus on their weaknesses you are creating two negative situations; one is that you have placed focus on their deficiencies instead of on where they make a positive impact and the other is they will ignore bolstering their strengths to focus on improving their weaknesses. Where are they the most productive for you, in their strengths or in their weaknesses? And let’s say they do work on their weakness, by how much? At best, they move from poor to mediocre. Meanwhile, their strengths are not improving and their productivity is lower and they are unhappy because they are not in their sweet spot. Find ways to increase their strengths and team them with others (inside or outside) to overcome their weaknesses.

Reward the Behaviors You Desire

Too often, we only focus on employees when something is wrong. So we emphasize the wrong behaviors because that is the only time anyone pays attention. It’s the same with your kids; if the only way a child gets attention is when they do something wrong (and they CRAVE attention) what do you think they are going to choose to do? You can’t ignore bad behaviors, but you can minimize the attention spent on them and spend more time focusing on the positive impacts. Spend time EVERY DAY catching them doing right.

Immediate Action

This is especially a challenge for small business owners but I have found it is often a challenge for corporate management as well. The time to act is now. Go to your calendar and open up some time to casually sit and talk with your employees one-on-one. Not in your office, but in a breakroom or on a bench somewhere or take them to a coffee house. Talk about where they feel they are most effective and ask them how you can help them be more effective. Assure them that they have value. Do it today, because the longer you wait the less likely you are to do it. What you don’t want to do is look back and say, “I shoulda…”