8 Business Lessons from Santa!

Have you ever wondered what business lessons we can learn from Santa, and his enterprise (Christmas Inc.)?  I have been thinking about this and here are some lessons that I have learned.

• Clear mission and clear primary target market:  This guy has been bringing joy to millions of  children year after year for eons.  And so clear is his mission that pretty much everyone, from young to old, knows it.
• Strong brand: Red suite, white beard, memorable jingles.  So simple, so powerful.  Even Steve Jobs would be envious.  Think about it, lining up for iPhone is nothing compared to the number of people who line up year after year to see Santa.
• Multiple offerings for his target market:  Lighting products, forest products, candies, clothing, toys, music, decorations, souvenirs, TV shows, movies, to name just a few. He is clearly after share of your wallet.
• Reoccurring revenue:  Have you ever heard of Christmas being cancelled?  Regardless of weather or economic conditions, business goes on.  In addition, as population grows, so does his customer base.
• Strong customer retention:  Not only are his customers very loyal, they even actively promote his business.  I bet Santa doesn't spend a dime out of his pocket on marketing, sales and advertising.  Even Southwest Airlines I bet, no matter how great their service, doesn't enjoy such loyalty.
• No turnover:  Have you ever heard of one of his elves jump ship to another holiday?  Ain't happening.  So imagine, no recruitment costs, no retraining costs, no unemployment insurance to buy. And happy elves I am sure also means much lower health insurance premiums. 
• Strong team work:  Clearly his team enjoys what they do and feel appreciated.  Just imagine, as in Santa's workshop, what would your place be like if your people sang happy songs while working together side by side, day after day, year after year? 
• Clear roles and responsibilities:  No confusion here.  The Mrs. is in charge of operations, Rudolph and his team run the delivery vehicles, elves make the stuff.  As for Santa, he does the delivery and is the face of the business.  The allows him to interact first hand with his customers which allows him to gain first hand information on what's happening in his market. 

Gosh, come to think of it, if he can run such a successful enterprise that truly is Built to Last, I wonder if he can get our economy and businesses back on track.  Do any of you know if he provides business consulting?  Would any of you happen to have his email address?

16 Ways to Show Staff You Care

Having a firm belief that when you hire right and take care of your people, they in turn will take care of your business and the customers it serves.  With this in mind, my friend Joe Isaacs, an association executive, and I published an article in this December's (2011) issue of Association Now. 

The article is entitled "16 Ways to Show Staff You Care".  For the benefit of my blog followers, I am posting the text of that article here.  Hope you find some nuggets that you can apply to strengthen your own teams, and therefore your business.

*****

We've served associations as both senior management and as trusted vendor partners for more than 30 years.  Over the years we have observed what contributes to organizational success among those who take seriously the adage "we are only as good as our people." 

The art of developing positive staff relations can fill books, but here are 16 simple truth that we believe will foster trust and dedication, promote a shared vision and performance excellence, and inspire staff leadership and creativity.

1. Show faith in your staff's capabilities: Set expectations, provide needed resources and tools, encourage measured risk taking, and offer specific feedback.
2. Recognize it's not all about you: Know that your success is derived from your staff's success.  Your role is to insure and help them be their best, not respond to your whims.
3. Watch performance and outcomes, not the clock: Work them hard when you need to and give them time off and the opportunity to work from home when they need it.
4. Get to know them as human beings: Recognize them by name and try to reward them based on their personal interests and preferences (e.g. concert tickets to a favorite performance for some, verbal praise for others).  It will often mean more to them then just money.
5. Don't micromanage: Ask staff what they need to get the job done, but don't dictate how they should do it.  Listen to staff for their important insights from the trenches.
6. Play to their strengths: Help staff find work that fits their natural talents and that they enjoy (even if it means a job elsewhere), and provide additional professional training when needed.
7. In case of mistakes, don't shout or punish: Talk it out, allow the staff member to explain what happened, and use it as a learning and growth opportunity.
8. Hold staff accountable for their efforts: Everyone brings something different to the table, but you don't want free riders or a sense of inequity to pervade.
9. Encourage managers to serve as mentors: A good manager is like a good coach, not merely a delegator.
10. Praise in public; criticize in private: Acknowledge staff's contributions in public every chance you get (including listing all staff on your website when possible and practical), and reserve sharing individual criticism for private moments.  Do keep in mind though that some staff members prefer more recolonization to be private.  When in doubt, ask them how they like to be acknowledged.  They will respect you for asking.
11. Treat staff with respect: Model positive behavior you expect from them and you are more likely to have it reciprocated.  Reflect professionalism but have a sense of humor.
12. Treat staff like adults and they'll be more likely to act that way: Make time for them when they need to talk to you and do so without judgement.  And when appropriate, ask them for needed advice.
13. Recognize that some staff may not fit the culture: Remove staff members who are toxic to the workplace, no matter how good they are technically.  Your organization will go on and be healthier for it.
14. Don't ask staff to do anything you wouldn't do yourself if asked by a supervisor: Listen to your gut in those instances and buffer your staff from unreasonable requests from individual board members.
15. Give them credit: Acknowledge to them and others routinely that organization's accomplishments are a result of staff's talent and their support of the organization's strategic directions.
16. Communicate honestly and fairly: Keep staff informed about the organization's progress as much as possible, and don't shoot the messenger when someone informs you of a problem.

*****

If you have additional suggestions, I hope you will share them.  Thank you.

How Do You Get the Best From Your People?

Do you know people in the workplace who are physically present but mentally checked out?  Can you imagine the costs alone associated with such a situation, especially given that payroll cost is one of the single biggest line item expenses in majority of businesses?

Most of my work is in the area of people development and helping people build strong workplace relationships.  This includes relationships not just with peers but also customers, for in the end people give their best when they work and do business with people they know, like and trust.

Building lasting relationships and helping people succeed in getting what they want is something I really enjoy.  Plus I have learned from experience that not only do strong relationships bring great joy and make work more enjoyable, they also lead to strong results.  And the opposite is true as well, where poor relationships lead to poor performance.

So as I move about my days, I am constantly asking what is it that gets in the way of strong workplace relationships, and getting the best from people--and then how to make all that better.  So far, I have come up with the following list as to what gets in the way, for once the causes are surfaced, then solutions can be developed. 

• Poor role fit, where individuals are in roles that don't play to their natural strengths and don't satisfy their intrinsic motivations.
• Not having clearly defined roles and responsibilities so team members know what's expected of them.
• Not receiving timely and effective feedback so they know where they stand and how they are performing.  I find that no one likes to second guess in this area and they really do want honest and direct feedback.
• People not seeing a clear connection between the what they do and their personal long-term life goals, as well as organizational goals. 
• People feeling unappreciated, unheard, and uncertain.  
• People not feeling safe, due to often poor (or lack of) communication and lack of trust.
• People feeling misunderstood, as well as misunderstanding others.

I would welcome your thoughts on the above, based on what you have experienced and observed.  Thank you in advance.

Motivator #6: Passion for Tradition

The other day, I was at a gathering of retired army officers, which took place at the home of my brother-in-law who himself is retired from Army. I observed that many came proudly wearing their uniforms and they continue to follow army traditions, protocols, even after retirement. Their language consists of topics related to ranks, operating procedures, strong values and believe in the cause.

These army officers were exhibiting passion for tradition.

Folks who score high on this passion work hard, and many even giving their lives, for causes they strongly believe in. For example, they are say either Republicans or Democrats, Prolife or Prochoice, vegetation or non-vegetarian, and so on. And if you share beliefs, it's great. If not, it can be challenging.

Who do you know who shares this passion? Where and how do you see them adding value? And knowing what you now know, how would you motivate them, so you get the best out of them?

Motivation #5: Passion to Lead

I have a dear friend, whose nickname at home is "The General". At her family gatherings, no matter what the event, she takes charge.

Another friend of mine loves to sell. She is Type A, driven to achieve. I one day asked her why is all that achievement important to her because I know internally she is not driven by money. Her reply, I like being #1. Pretty clear.

These people share the passion to lead.

Who do you know who has this passion? Where and how do you see them adding value? And knowing what you now know, how would you motivate them, so you get the best out of them?

Motivation #4: Passion to Serve

Do know those who love to volunteer, to help others, to teach, coach and mentor? They just can't resist not helping someone in need? They are caring souls who want to make the world a better place.

The other day I was a Rotary Club gathering . Rotarian's mission is service - in the community and throughout the world. Rotarians build goodwill and peace, provide humanitarian service and encourage high ethical standards in all vocations. The Rotary motto is "Service Above Self". For me personally also, this speaks to my heart and when I am with such people, I feel so much at home.

Clearly, Rotarians, as well as I, share a strong passion to serve, motivator #4.

• Who do you know who has this passion?
  
• Where and how do you see them adding value?
  
• How would you motivate them, so you get the best out of them?

Motivator #3: Passion for Beauty and Balance

Do you know people who have a deep appreciation for nature, beauty and harmony? Who absolutely need down time to re-energize? They crave work/life balance--as opposed to workaholics?

They are also very protective of our natural resources, our environment. For example, to save trees you'll find them printing documents 2-sided and they are big into recycling, etc. They also tend to be creative, artistic. You'll find them in the arts, decorating, designing, and other creative endeavors.

These folks have a passion for beauty and balance.

• Who do you know who has this passion?
  
• Where and how do you see them adding value?
  
• How would you motivate them, so you get the best out of them?

Motivator #2: Passion for Results

Do you know folks who are internally driven to achieve? Bottom line oriented? Want to squeeze the most out of every resource they have? They think in-terms of ROI? They love to invest, to earn, and are very conscious of how they use their time?

These folks have a passion for results.

• Who do you know who has this passion?
  
• Where and how do you see them adding value?
  
• How would you motivate them, so you get the best out of them?
  
• How would you sell to someone who has this passion as their top driver?

Motivator #1: Passion for Learning

Do you know people who love learn? They are continuously reading about variety of subjects, participating in webinars, taking courses, and so on?

They are curious, they seek to understand, to gain deeper knowledge. These people have a passion for learning. Afterall, as the famous saying goes, "a mind is a terrible thing to waste".

Who do you know who has this passion? Where and how do you see them adding value? And knowing what you now know, how would you motivate them, so you get the best out of them?

Or let's say you had a prospect, or customer, who is high on this passion. How would you sell to them? What words would you use? How would you craft your offering, etc.?

As you read about motivations, in this post above as well as upcoming 5 more posts on these motivations, after reading the description of each, reflect on the questions above.

Don't Judge a Book By It's...

Yes, you said it...cover.

Yesterday I mentioned I'll be writing over the next 10 days about 4 different behavior styles and 6 different workplace motivators. Before I dive into that, I want to bring up two additional very important points.

First is human beings are way to complex to define by any one label. So while the information I will share with you will help you in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of yourself as well as others, please be mindful that there is so much more to each of us. Secondly, recognize that behaviors and motivators interplay.

For example, let's look at Joe (a real person, a dear friend of mine, whose name I have changed here as I don't share personal information about anyone on these blogs, aside from my own).

Joe on the surface (behavior) comes across as a pushy, dominating, aggressive individual. For those who are turned off by such behavior, as I too was at first, they often miss out by what he has to offer for deep in his heart, he has a heart of gold. You see, he has a strong drive to serve, to help others succeed. So if you get Joe in your corner, you have someone who will go to great lengths to help you get what you want.

Then there is Jane. On the surface she comes across as friendly, as charming, as someone who is there to help you. Yet on the inside she is driven very little by need to help others and instead her real drivers are power and prestige. In the right situation and role, she is a huge asset.

Therefore, as you gain greater insights into behaviors and motivators through my upcoming posts, please recognize that they do interplay, and therefore avoid the tendency to "judge a book by it's cover" alone.

Getting Along, Getting Aligned, Getting Ahead

As we're about to enter the holidays when there will be many gatherings, I wanted to continue on the post "Why Can't People Get Along", that I had written back in January of this year.

In my experience, a big reason for disagreements, distance between people, lost productivity, low engagement, turnover, etc. is simply because people can't get along. That often happens when people don't understand each other.

When they do get along and enjoy being with each other, they more effectively align, and it's simply amazing what they then can achieve. This is true not just in business but also in our lives outside of work as well. In fact, here's the formula to achieve nearly anything in life:

Simple Strategy + Systems/Processes + People + Action ===> Success

So no matter how good the strategy and systems and processes you have, nothing happens till people make it happen. And that doesn't happen 'till they are engaged in their work and with each other.

Therefore over the next 10 days, I am going to share with you, one each day, key pieces of information on each of the 4 basic personality styles and 6 key workplace motivators. Personality is what you can observe and motivators are what "internally" moves one into action. As you gain a deeper understanding of these and begin to apply this knowledge in your various personal and professional relationships, I am confident you're going to experience stronger connections, better results and greater joy.

One point to note though is that as you learn about these styles and motivators, it's important to recognize that there is no one style or motivator that is better then the other. Each style is important for everyone adds value. In addition, majority of individuals while they tend to exhibit one primary style, we're all complex beings and therefore we each have a mix of all styles generally and which one shows up more often depends on a given situation.

In any event, as you gain deeper understanding and apply of this knowledge, my hope is it will help you in numerous ways, as it has helped me. So for the next 10 days, I'll send you one post each day. (I'll do my best to keep 'em short and to the point.)

Creating Customer-Centric Organizations: Where Servicing Customers is Everyone's Job!

The other day, I gave a presentation to an association's board of directors and one of the statements I made was "membership is everyone's job, including the board" (implying that it's not only the job of those who work in membership departments). Upon hearing this, the Board Chair perked up, leading to an energetic and meaningful conversation with and among the leadership. Afterward the chairman came up and said THANKS for bringing up this important topic. Since then I have experienced similar "perking up" in other meetings with leaderships of various organizations.

I have been serving associations for nearly 2 decades and I started to reflect on a more deeper level as too what's causing this gap and what are some potential solutions that will lead to membership being viewed as everyone's job. And to me this topic became even more important for I observe similar challenges within the for-profit sector also.

The more I reflected on this, the more it occurred to me that the answers lie in how we respond to the often asked question "What do you do".

Whenever this question comes up, I have noticed that nearly every individual responds from their own role's perspective, their position within the organization. Actually, this was a realization and learning for me also.

For example, the Executive Director will introduce themselves as the ED of...exhibit person will respond as the exhibit person...and so on. However, when, specially when, we are attending business functions, in most cases we are not being asked to respond in-terms of our own functional role but rather as a representative of the entire organization for whom we work and therefore the more appropriate response would be from the broader perspective of what the organization does, for at that time, to the other person, we are the organization.

Thus, in the question "what do you do", the you being referred to is not the singular you but rather you being the entire organization, group for whom you work and represent. When this realization occurs, the self-view as well as the resulting response naturally shifts.

So what causes this in the first place, and more importantly what are some potential solutions? To understand the cause, it'll help to view 3-concentric circles. In the center of the circle we note the reason the organization exists--it's reason for existence (Purpose-WHY we exist). The second circle represents the organization's functional departments, it's internal structure (HOW we do what we do). And the 3rd circle represents, which is often closely and directly related to the 2nd circle, our products and services (WHAT we produce). For example, conference departments produces conferences and publications outputs publications.

Moving forward, currently when we place individuals within our organizations, we place them into various functional roles and soon each person begins to look outwards through their own lens, through their own role, and in the day to day fire fighting that often takes place, looses sight of the fact that they are just a spoke in the wheel. They forget that all spokes are interconnected, all are important, and all connected to the same cog, and that everyone is moving together towards a common destination.

So what are some potential solutions?

1. I believe it's be helpful for each person to view and understand the organization from say a 10,000 foot view, understanding each of their own roles within the broader system, see how they are interconnected, and are part of the wheel--part of the system but not the system itself. In other words, world doesn't revolve around any one of us but rather that we are part of a larger system, that we're all interconnected and we all exist together to fulfill a central purpose.

2. Instead of looking outwards-away from the circle, we need to view inwards, towards the center of the circle, realizing that it is the customers who are at the center--at the heart of the organization--the cog that keeps the spokes together and around which the entire wheel revolves. For without the cog, the wheel falls apart.

3. On a more tactical level, I believe it will be helpful to start with developing and arming each and every person with an elevator speech, that is consistently used by everyone within the organization. So when they are asked, what do you do, they can more effectively respond from the place of representing the entire organization rather then from the individuals role perspective.

While establishing such an understanding may take some time and effort, it is this type of understanding once infused will contribute to starting the shift the mindset, the thoughts and natural outcomes are likely to be more the case where customer service begins to be viewed as everyone's job, and not just that of customer service departments alone.

What are your experiences and suggestions that can help to establish stronger customer-centric organizations?

The Ferrari, The Race, The Pit-Stop

Would you purchase an expensive high-performance race car, only to skimp on service? Knowing the engine needs servicing would you ignore that, only to keep pressing the paddle harder and harder in the hopes of still winning the race?

Metaphorically speaking, isn't this what so many businesses are doing these days?

So many have drastically reduced their people development programs, for example. Given so much uncertainty, fear has taken over the workplace, causing disengagement and paralysis. While these very people may stay for the time being, putting in their time, I can't help but wonder about the max exodus that is likely to take place as soon as the market turns.

Furthermore, too frequently I see companies hire the best talent for their money. These talented individuals come on board with lots of initial excitement and desire to give it their all. Yet as time goes on, they start to become disengaged. Performance and productivity declines and net cost of doing business goes up. In my frequent visits to organizations, in private conversations, I hear so many stories where otherwise good people just aren't giving their best, intentionally in many cases. They are sick and tired and just plain frustrated. They are just putting in the time 'till they can get out. The workplace has become toxic and no one wins.

Going back to our race car, no matter how well made the engine, overtime gunk builds up and tune-ups become a must to continue to deliver high-performance. As in the engine, within business teams, gunk builds up in the form of misunderstandings, miscommunication, hurt feelings, fear, not feeling heard-to name just a few, leading to energy blockages and eventually disengagement and poor performance--like running a Ferrari really hard without the engine being tuned. The leader keeps pushing the pedal yet wonders why it isn't running like it used, but doesn't seem to have the time to pull into the pitt-stop.

In my own experience, as a mechanic fine-tunes an engine, I have found that within business teams that tune-up occurs through imporved communication and workshops that facilitate such dialogue, where team members come together to better understand themselves and each other. As that happens and communication improves through understanding, reengagement takes place and productivity and profits improve.

Yet what puzzles me is how many businesses ignore this important tune-up. They continue to spend huge sums on payroll, yet won't make the relatively minor investment to help their teams better understand each other, better communicate and better leverage each other for greater individual and joint success. They view such work as nice to do and touchy felly stuff. Yet it this very element that leads to performance.

I wish I knew the secret to getting businesses to invest in such tune-ups. I have been wracking my brains but can't seem to come up with clear answers. Any insights that you can offer?

Purpose. Passion. Profits.

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too. We did, in our family business, taking it from staff size of 5 to over 50. We enjoyed rapid growth, client loyalty, and profitability greater then average for our type of business and industry.

In the book "It's Not What You Sell, It's What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business is Driven by Purpose", authors Roy M. Spence Jr. and Haley Rushing discuss the importance of having a purpose, a reason for being, beyond just making money. They go onto say that having a clear sense of purpose, that's in line with a higher cause, almost always results in making more money too, then you ever thought possible. This is exactly what happened for us.

For now, money aside, having a higher sense of purpose became even more important when running a small business for it was really hard work. It was 24/7/365. Business lived in the board room and in the bedroom. Competition, employee issues, cash flow, payroll, tough client deadlines, keeping up constant marketplace changes and technologies, to name just a few--while having very limited resources. It was a constant juggling & balancing act and past success was no assurance of future success. Every day, every month, every year was a new beginning and one could practically overnight go from hero to zero.

Add in the dynamics of the family run business, in which I was for nearly 20 years, it was a whole different ball game. These years ended up being the best of times and the worst of times. There were days filled with joy. Others when we want to simply choke the living daylights out of each other, or simply hide or just run away. (More on family business dynamics, both challenges and opportunities, to come in my future postings.)

Through it all, two things kept me going. One, fear. Yes, fear, fear of failure. We had lot riding on our business since as a small business, we had to personally guarantee many of the business loans. Second was a sense of higher purpose. While there were moments my fear took over, derailing me, it was my sense of higher purpose that I kept me focused and kept me going, providing the fuel to persevere.

As for our marketplace, something we fell into, it was serving mostly associations and non-profit cause groups. And I was thankful for this for with it came a sense that the work we did was connected to a higher purpose. I always felt that in some indirect way, we were contributing to making the world a better place and that was very soul satisfying for me.

In addition, the clients we served were constantly under enormous pressure and experienced lot of stress in the workplace. So for me personally, I had a motto that daily energized me and got me out of bed.

The way I saw it, my job was to take care of my clients, make their life easier as best as I could. To me, they were taking care of the world, and my job was to take care of them. Therefore, I was even more fanatic about providing the best customer experience I could.

I always believed that once my clients turned something over to me, they shouldn't have to worry one bit. It way my job to take care of them, make their life easier, help them look good, and to indirectly help them make their dreams come true, for my clients had in some way their own dreams, hopes, quality of life tied into quality of work we produced for them. So if I failed them, I felt I hurt them and that was unacceptable to me.

So daily I was driven by my own sense of purpose (to work towards making this world a better place and take care of our families and clients) and I was fueled by my own passion (to build a strong business and provide outstanding client experiences). Through this, we generated very healthy profits too.

In closing, as I said earlier in my opening, it is possible to have your cake and eat it too. To do that, one has to become clear on one's purpose, do work that is aligned with it for that will provide fuel to do the necessary work and that will lead you to do your very best, which then will result in profit. And more importantly provide sense of fulfillment and happiness that comes from spending ones days in work that is personally meaningful. This is what happened for me and it's one of the many factors that contributed to our business growth and profitability.

Why Can't People Get Along?

Has someone ever rubbed you the wrong way?

Have you ever said something where even though you had the best of intentions, you found yourself completely misunderstood?

Did you know that the number one reason most people can't stand their work is not because of the work itself but because they can't stand their boss, their colleagues? That's also the big reason people loose their jobs, simply because people can't get along with them.

This is no small matter. When we can't get along, it has numerous negative implications. Misunderstandings take place. Friction happens. Communication and ultimately trust breaks down. Personal and professional relationships suffer. People become disengaged. Performance and productivity declines. Moral suffers. Innovation nearly comes to a halt. Stress increases. Health suffers and health care costs rise. These are just a few of the many negative impacts.

In school, it seems we take all sorts of subjects. Yet when it comes to taking courses to understand each other and learn how to effectively communicate, the foundation for effective and lasting relationships, such courses are far and few.

The reality is that people can't get along in most cases simply because we do not understand each other, we see the world through our own lenses, and we think our view is the right way.

As I have gotten older, I have come to experience and believe that everyone adds value, everyone has something to offer that betters the world, enriches our lives. Key is to have the patience, to take the time to understand our own and as well as others personalities, temperaments, communication styles, views, and perspectives.

While it's not always easy, as the more I do that, the more I experience increased happiness, healthier relationships and more success in my work. The formula is simple.

Communication ------> Connection -----> Happiness & Success

What is Team DYSfunction Costing Your Organization?

According to a recent article by Target Training International (TTI), when teams becomes dysfunctional, trust breaks down, team members lose sight of team goals, they become confused about their role in the team, and they begin to play it safe and wait for direction to make any progress.

According to Casey Wilson of Management Concepts, nearly 75% of employees are disengaged. TTI further estimates that the average employee is disengaged two hours each day. Given the high cost of payroll, and more so in this economy, companies can hardly afford such a costly situation.

Wondering, could dysfunctional teams be contributing to disengagement in your organization? If so, just how is it affecting your bottom-line? And more importantly, what steps are you taking to reduce dysfunction and improve engagement and team work within your organization?

Will You Be Left Behind?

In the words of 18th-century artist George Wood Bacon: "Fortunes are not made in the boom times...That is merely the collection period. Fortunes are made in depressions or lean times when the wise man overhauls his mind, his methods, his resources, and gets in training for the race to come".

Yet, in today's economic climate and ever increasing pace of business, senior executives are so busy putting put daily fires that they hardly have any time and energy left to reflect on crucial long-range issues, which are so critical to long-term success. One of these issues is leadership development.

I want to share with you few key excerpts from this May's issue of Chief Learning Officers magazine that are important to bring attention to:

The economic downturn has given organizations a short-term reprieve from the looming talent crunch. Many baby boomers have decided to postpone retirement given their financial portfolios...The dire predictions will STILL come true, just a little later then anticipated.

...Few employers recognize the effects of the brain drain they will suffer when boomers retire and take their knowledge and experience with them...According to an article in Human Resources Executives in December 2008, a lack of leadership already is impeding performance at 56% of the 1,100 organizations polled in 2008. In addition, 31% of the organizations expect their performance to be affected by a shortage of leaders in the next one to four years.

...If companies do not take advantage of this last-minute reprieve to build bench strength now, they will NOT get a second chance. WITHOUT IMMEDIATE ACTION, ORGANIZATIONS DEVASTATED BY ECONOMIC SETBACKS WILL FACE ANOTHER DISASTER: a brain drain never before seen in the history of this country.

So, what steps are you taking today to win the race that is sure to come?

Would You Purchase an Expensive Technology without an Operating Manual?

For those of you who just might, allow me to ask the question another way.

What if for a relatively very small additional investment, you could acquire a document that provides key insights into how you can get the greatest benefit from it's application, would you make that investment?

Yet, for our most expensive investment, our people, it seems very few take the time to truly understand how to get the most out of that investment. Think about it, people costs tends to be the single greatest direct operating cost in majority of businesses and often it's the people who determine success or failure.

Therefore, imagine for a moment, having such a document on each individual providing you key insights such as:

1. How they solve problems and challenges;
2. How they influence others;
3. How they respond to pace of the environment;
4. How they respond to rules and procedures;
5. How to motivate them;
6. How they respond to change and then align them to change initiatives so those new initiatives stick and are successful;
7. How to communicate (as well as not to) with them so you get the results you want.

If you had this information for each of your team members, what would be the benefits to your organization?

What is DISengagement Costing Your Organization?

Richard Dickerson of The Brooks Group made the following statement: "We found that almost 85% became actively disengaged in their jobs within the first 2 hours at work because they were unable to use their talents on the job!"

Reading this made me wonder what must be the financial costs associated with disengagement, as well as benefits of engagement. In this regards, I located some data that I want to share here.

This insightful and very valuable data comes from a recent book written by Casey Wilson entitled "The Cornerstones of Engaging Leadership". It is as follows:

1. Current data suggests that MOST individuals working in organizations are NOT actively engaged. Here's the breakdown:

A. 19 percent are ACTIVELY DISengaged - people working AGAINST their organization.
B. 55 percent are DISengaged - people simply floating through their work days, people not giving it their all, withholding their discretionary efforts.
C. ONLY 26 percent are engaged - people who are passionate, committed, and connected to their work.

Bottom line: Roughly 3/4th of the people can contribute so much more, yet are NOT. Here are the costs and benefits Casey goes onto state that are worth seriously paying attention to.

* The Gallup Organization estimates that disengagement costs $350 billion per year in lost productivity. In addition, its research suggests that health care costs INCREASE when individuals are either non-engaged or actively disengaged, primarily due to stress, doctor visits, and physical problems. I recall reading at another place recently that nearly 75 percent of circulatory disorders are actually due to stress. 75 percent. Yikes! That's HUGE.

* The Corporate Leadership Council, surveying 50,000 employees from 59 countries around the world, found that highly engaged individuals perform 20 percent BETTER then non-engaged or actively disengaged individuals AND are 87 percent less likely to leave their organizations.

* Emotional engagement drives individual discretionary effort FOUR times GREATER then rational engagement.

* A study by Michael Treacy, author of Double-Digit Growth: How Great Companies Achieve It No Matter What, and his partners at Hewitt Associates indicates that companies with a 60 to 70 percent engaged workforce DOUBLED SHAREHOLDER RETURNS of those with only 49 to 60 percent engaged workforce.

* Companies with less then 25 percent of engaged people showed a NEGATIVE shareholder return. Data goes onto show that engagement not only affects individuals and leaders, it also affects customers and shareholders.

THOSE ARE POWERFUL NUMBERS.

Let alone the human toll, payroll in most businesses tends to be the single LARGEST direct operating cost. Therefore, if such numbers don't make the case for truly paying attention to our most valuable resource, I don't know what will.

This reminds of me of the statement Judy Suiter makes in her book, The Universal Language of DISC - Reference Manual. She states:

"Why is it so many companies invest millions in buildings and equipment, and yet invest so little in the development of their most important asset-people?"

So...back to the question...what is the disengagement level in your business and what impact is it having on your teams, your organization?

Increasing Productivity & Profits

Would you race in the Indy 500, with your tires out of alignment?

Metaphorically speaking, this is exactly what 2 business partners were doing, whom I recently had the pleasure of coaching. I shall refer to them here as Johnny and Jimmy.

While they both were enjoying their business, within their respective roles, they were not feeling fully energized, and this was impacting both their business performance and their quality of life.

Johnny was spending much of his time on internal matters, e.g. accounting, project management, client delivery. He often wanted to ask Jimmy for support, but seeing how busy Jimmy appeared, he hesitated.

Jimmy on the other hand was trying to do business development, something he truly didn't enjoy. Yet as it was so needed, he too continued to silently plod along, doing his best, even though it was draining and stressful for him.

While going their coaching reports with them together, and facilitation a conversation between the two of what's working well, and what can improve, it came up that Johnny actually preferred to do more external business development functions whereas Jimmy preferred more the internal functions.

As a result, they switched some of their responsibilities and this has lead to increased satisfaction and performance, as each is now playing to their natural inherent strengths and preferences.

In hind site, this seems so obvious. Yet it took an external perspective combined with the use of powerful assessments and facilitation of open and honest dialogue, to bring this situation and solution to the forefront. Through better understanding of themselves and each other, they are now able to more effectively align and leverage each other for greater individual and joint success.

In our work, we too frequently find such "bad job fits", less then effective communication and very limited understanding of self as well as team mates. If organizations are truly going to increase productivity and performance, specially today where resources are tighter then ever, enhancing job fits, communication and understanding of behaviors and motivators are crucial to success.