First you have to start

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"No one aims for average.  No one sets out for status quo.  No one longs for ordinary.  But one day you wake up and ask yourself, How did I get here?"  These are the words on the inside flyleaf of Jon Acuff's book Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters.  They are words that many of us have said and might even be saying now.  We say them when we hit those transitions times in our lives.  We say them again when we wake up one day and realize that it is going to be like every other recent day, and we're just not sure we can take it anymore.  We repeat them when something triggers thoughts of unrealized dreams, and we wonder if it's now too late to make them a reality.

Most people intend to do something significant with their lives.  I doubt that there is anyone who hasn't had big dreams and had every intention of fulfilling them sometime.  Of course, that is the key word here isn't it: sometime.  Too many of us are content to live on Someday Isle.  Someday I'll start that business I always wanted to own.  Someday I'll complete that degree.  Someday I'll spend more time with our children.  Someday I'll get serious about getting our finances right.  Someday I'll focus more on exercise and healthy eating.  Someday I'll....

The problem is someday never comes, and one day we realize that the opportunities to do those things we dreamed about are behind us.  In his book, Acuff writes that fear is one of the primary reasons we don't seek to live out our dreams.  We are afraid of the unknown.  We are afraid of failure.  We are afraid of what others might think or say.  Some may even be afraid of success.  Until we address the fears that hold us back we will never live up to our capabilities or achieve the things we've dreamed of achieving.  We have to stop listening to those voices within and without that creates fear.  Acuff provides several specific things we can do to overcome that fear and move on with our lives.

Fear is what keeps people from starting that small business they've wanted to own.  For owners of small businesses, fear is what keeps them from taking it to higher levels.  We settle for normal because normal pays the bills and provides us with a regular income.  We don't want to risk that by trying to grow our business so we settle.  But, while we're settling we're also stewing inside because we know we could be doing so much more. 

I spend a lot of time working with church leaders, and many of them have settled for the ordinary as well.  In fact, it's safe to say that some have just given up.  They have been beaten down so often by having their ideas rejected by small minded people with big pocketbooks they've stopped dreaming.  They make no effort to lead their churches any more; they're content to just manage what they've got.  They have forfeited their role as prophet and leader and settle for becoming a chaplain.  In some cases, they are hospice chaplains providing care for a dying institution.

Life is too short to do work that doesn't matter.  Life is meant to be lived with purpose, and part of that purpose is to follow your dreams and to achieve everything you were created to achieve.  To do so will require some determination on your part and a plan.  Acuff's book can help you identify a plan.  After all, if you want to accomplish something the first thing you have to do is  Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work that Matters.

The challenge of change

Regardless of the organization, change is often one of the toughest challenges that most leaders face.  Most people don't like change, and that includes many of the leaders as well.  Change means that something becomes new, and we prefer the old and familiar.  Under the old ways of doing things everyone knows their role.  Whether you are the CEO or the janitor it's easier to function as long as things don't change because you know how to fulfill your role in that structure.  But, when things change it often means our roles change as well.  Now we face our work with caution because new things are expected of us.  However, whether we like change or not it is necessary in a rapidly changing world.  As Marshall Goldsmith entitled his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful.  No matter how successful your small business may be today, it will have to change if you want it to be successful tomorrow.  As I often tell people in some of my workshops, forget the old adage "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  A better saying in the 21st century is "If it ain't broke, break it" because it will soon be obsolete anyway.  You may as well embrace change because it is here to stay for the leader who wants to be successful.  And, if you are a leader, you need to learn as much as you can about how to successfully introduce change to your organization.

One of the places I recommend you to start learning how to be a change agent is by reading John Kotter's book Leading Change, With a New Preface by the Author.  It remains in my top three leadership books and is essential reading for anyone called to be a leader.  One of the key learnings I got from reading the book is that the failure to create urgency is one of the primary reasons most change efforts fail.  When I first read that several years ago I immediately thought back to some of greatest failures I had related to changes I tried to implement and realized that I had not taken the time to create any sense of urgency in any of those efforts.  I just announced to people what changes I wanted us to make without ever explaining the why behind those changes.  I also never took the time to allow others to think about the changes and how they might benefit from them.  In my mind I understood the importance of the change and how it would positively benefit us, but I forgot that I may have spent weeks (maybe months) thinking through the change.  I seldom gave others that same time frame.  How much better might it have been if I had explained the why something needed to be changed, explained the change I wanted to see us make, and then gave people time to reflect on the change and ask whatever questions they might have had?  If I had done that many of those change efforts might have been much more successful.

Creating a sense of urgency is only one of Kotter's recommendations for the leader who wants to introduce change into his or her organization.  The book is a goldmine for anyone who needs to bring change to the organization he or she leads, and that would include anyone in a leadership capacity.  If you haven't read it I cannot emphasize too much how valuable it will be to do so if you want to successfully lead your organization.  Goldsmith's book is also helpful to anyone who isn't convinced that change is inevitable in every organization.

The leader of any organization ultimately determines the success of that organization

When John Maxwell's book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You was released he travelled the country leading workshops based on the book.  I attended one of those workshops.  The first law in the book is the Law of the Lid which teaches that everything rises and falls on leadership.  The leadership lid of the leader determines how far the organization can go.  When he finished talking on that law I never heard anything he said about the new two laws because I was trying to process what he had said about the first law.  I was also somewhat angry.

At that time I was the pastor of a small church and the owner/manager of a small business.  I was not happy with how either of those organizations were doing, and I had let both our congregation and our employees know how I felt.  I challenged each of them that if they would do more our church and our business could grow.  Maxwell was now telling me it was my fault; I was the leader and it was my leadership lid that was preventing both organizations from doing better.  The reason I was angry was that I realized he was right!

Your organization can have the best team members and the best structure available, but leadership will ultimately determine how successful your organization will be.  The decisions of the leaders will determine how productive team members will be and how well your structure will meet the needs of your team and your customers.  If your lid is a 5 you can never expect your organization to rise above a 4 because it will keep bumping up against your lid.  Also, if your lid is a 5 you will not keep team members above a 4 because people will not work for people whose leadership abilities are less than theirs.  You should also consider something else.  If your 4 leaders are hiring people they are going to hire 3s.  Can you see how this keeps pulling your organization backwards?

If you are serious about wanting your small business to grow you must be growing as a leader so you can attract other great leaders and have a more effective and productive business.  You have to stay current on what's happening in your field.  That will likely require you to read a lot more than you currently do.  It will also likely mean you'll need to attend some continuing education opportunities, and it may even mean you will need to go back to school for some specific classes.

We can blame struggling and closed businesses on many factors.  We can point our fingers at the economic situation, at laws that are oppressive to small businesses, government involvement and bureaucracy, unfair business practices by our competitors, and dozens of other problems, but the real reason our business isn't doing as well as we might like is directly related to our leadership of that business.  Raise your leadership lid and you'll raise the potential of your business.  BTW - I still think that book of Maxwell's is one of the top three leadership books of all time.

Leadership and air traffic controllers

I seldom fly so the delays at our nation's airports this week have not bothered me, but it has been amusing to listen to the gloom and doom reported by the media about the delays and how the sequester has brought our nation's air travel to a crisis.  As I understand it, 10 percent of the air traffic controllers are furloughed each day which represents around 1,000 people.  As a retired union worker I don't like lay-offs for anyone because they hurt the average worker and his or her family, and I really don't like it when such lay-offs are used for political purposes.  These are people that are being hurt, and they don't deserve to be punished because our nation's leaders are incapable of leading.

Both sides accuse the other of being responsible for the air travel problems, and for once both sides are right.  Republicans and Democrats are both responsible.  Congress and the White House are both responsible.  The air travel problems are the result of a complete leadership failure on the part of both Republicans and Democrats and Congress and the White House.  But, I would also place this problem on the back of the American people because we voted these people into office, and we continue to vote such people into office even though they demonstrate time and again they are incapable of leading.  We have people sitting in Congress for years who have never demonstrated one ounce of leadership ability, and yet they continue to be re-elected.  President Obama's first term should have demonstrated that everything his primary opponents said about him was correct.  He is not a leader, but he was re-elected, and he continues to stumble through one crisis after another.  As was once said, a nation deserves the government it gets, so while we can certainly blame our national leaders we also need to take a good look in the mirror to see who is ultimately responsible for the people who sits in those positions.

This air traffic problem is a manufactured crisis designed to make Congress look bad.  First, we had the White House tours eliminated due to the sequester.  How childish was that?  Then it was announced that military fly-overs would be eliminated from large public events because of the sequester.  Who cares?  Why should the public pay for that anyway?  If the organizers of these events want military fly-overs let them pay for them.  But, by impacting air traffic the White House found a way to inflict pain on a lot of people as well as on the airlines and airports.  As this post is being written, Congress is working on a plan that would allow money to be channeled from other funds to keep the air traffic controllers on their post, but the White House has already claimed this is only a temporary fix and doesn't resolve the budget crisis our nation faces.

In 1981 President Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers who refused to end their strike and return to work.  It wasn't 1,000 people being furloughed one day a week; about 10,000 people lost their jobs in  one day because they refused to work.  Within a day or two salaried supervisors and military air traffic controllers manned the control towers and air traffic returned to near normal.  What was the difference between then and now?  Leadership.  Our nation had a president that was not afraid to take a stand and make a decision without wasting time blaming other people for his problems.  Was he criticised for his actions? Absolutely, but to President Reason such criticism was a small price to pay compared to the price the nation was paying over the air traffic controller strike.  There were also no more illegal public servant strikes during his term of office because people knew they would not be tolerated.

Yesterday, a person made an interesting comment after the George Bush library opened.  Despite all the criticism of President Bush's presidency, some of it deserved, one thing could be said about him.  He never blamed other people for his problems.  He did not spend time looking for a scapegoat to blame.  He was the President of the United States and he took responsibility for the decisions he made, and he was not afraid to make a decision.

As the owner of a small business, you must demonstrate leadership if you want your team to follow you.  If you want to inspire confidence in your leadership then you must lead and not waste time looking for others to blame for your problems.  You've got to walk through the door first if you want others to follow you.  I once worked for a boss who always talked about what "he" did when things went well, and when things didn't go well he would talk about what "we" did.  That is how a boss talks and acts.  Don't be that guy.  Be a leader, not a boss.  If you are supposed to be the leader, then lead, and if you can't lead then step aside and let someone who can have that position.  Your company will do much better if you'll do that. 

So would our country.

The rise and fall of a small business

Approximately 20 years ago a relative passed away and we assumed ownership of a small business he owned.  Even though we received offers from individuals interested in purchasing the business I decided to keep it.  It had a long history in our community, was profitable, and had great employees who wanted to remain.  Like many Americans I had long desired to own my own business, and this looked like the perfect opportunity.  The problem was I had no experience as a business owner nor did I understand the technology of the business.  Due to the experience of our employees I knew the tech part would be covered, and I felt I could learn the nuts and bolts of running a small business.

The first several years it was everything I had hoped it would be.  Sales were good, profits were solid, we were banking money and moving forward very well.  I made management mistakes during that time, but our level of profitability enabled us to cover those. However, when the economy began to weaken our sales slowed down dramatically.  Our clients would have us repair equipment that normally would have been replaced in an effort to protect their finances.  We started going through our savings rather quickly to cover costs.  Year after year we lost money.  I stopped taking a salary hoping that would allow us to survive the economic recession, but no one understood just how deep this recession was at that time or how long it would take to recover.  My inexperience led to more mistakes which cost us more money, money we could no longer afford to lose.  Although I learned from those mistakes they were costly to the business.

Many small businesses have failed during this recession, and most will blame those failures on the economy.  While there may be a measure of truth in that it is also true that many small businesses continue to do well during this downturn.  It is also true that businesses fail during more prosperous times.  It is not the economy that is solely at fault for the failure of small businesses, it is how those businesses are managed during those times that make the difference.  Good economic times will cover up a lot of management mistakes, but slow economic times magnify the mistakes we make in leading our businesses and make those mistakes much more costly to the company.

I learned a lot about leading a small business from the mistakes I made and from resources I began to gather about leadership and small businesses.  Unfortunately, I did not learn them in time to save our company.  It eventually closed.  All the hard assets and our property were sold at auction for pennies on the dollar.  Fortunately, we made enough to pay off all our bills but there was precious little beyond that to show for 15 years of running a small business.  The first few years of owning our business was a dream come true; the last few years was a nightmare trying to find ways to keep it open.  It was an especially painful time for me in many ways.

Coming out of that experience I decided to write a book that would help other small business owners avoid the mistakes I made that could cost them their business.  Because the experience was so recent and painful it did not take a long time to write this particular book, certainly not as long as the other books I've written relating to pastoral ministry.  Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that will Close Your Small Business is available for NOOK devices.  In the book I detail several of the decisions that I made for our company that turned out to be wrong and led to its downfall.  If you avoided even just one of the mistakes I discuss in the book it could save your company thousands of dollars.

Avoid the nightmare of seeing your small business close.  Don't spend sleepless nights wondering if the decisions you need to make are the right ones.  Avoid having to tell long-time employees they no longer have a job due to your closing the company.  Do not live through the horror of watching others drive off with your inventory and equipment after an auction leaving you with bills to pay with no money coming in.  Learn from my mistakes and you may avoid making them yourself. 

Home grown leadership

One of the many findings in Jason Jennings' book Think Big, Act Small: How America's Best Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive was that "The companies that do the best job of consistently growing revenues grow their own leaders.  Period!"  They do not hire their top people from outside the company but hire the people from within who have already proven themselves capable and who have bought into the company culture.  Such home-grown talent often results in long-term growth for the company.  Although such growth may be slow it is steady and certainly preferable to the hiring of someone outside the company who comes in with a magical formula that will produce quick results for a quarter or two but in the meantime destroys the culture of the business.  One of the things this means for owners and managers of small businesses is they must constantly be producing quality leaders within their organizations if they want their business to grow.

Jennings studied companies that had double-digit growth in revenues and profits between 1995 and 2005.  What was fascinating to me in reading the book was how each of these companies were doing pretty much the same things such as developing leaders within their organizations.  When someone in the corner office was ready to retire they already had people in the pipeline to replace them.  When the company was ready to expand and open new stores they had people ready to manage them.  There was little concern about whether or not this person would fit in with the company's culture because they had already been operating within that culture for a number of years.  There was also little doubt they could handle the position they were being offered because they had been groomed for that position and had already proven they were ready for it.

The book shares a number of ways a business can identify and develop future leaders, but we'll only address two of them in this post.  Once an individual has been identified as a potential future leader it is essential that this person is constantly evaluated and coached.  He or she must be given broad responsibilities and cross-trained in various aspects of the business followed by regular evaluations and coaching.  An annual performance review isn't enough.  It's also not enough to just evaluate performance.  Attitudes and behaviors must also be looked at.  A business committed to integrity will be just as focused on the values of the potential leader as it will on his or her results.

A second thing businesses must do if they want to successfully grow talent is to make people want to stay.  Many businesses talk about how they value their team members but actually treat them as commodities and not people.  It's very hard to raise talent from within a business if it has high employee turn-over.  If a business wants people to stay they must show by their actions how they value those individuals.  The business must help their team members become excited about the growth and long-term prospects of the company and be shown how they can benefit from that growth.  Jennings illustrates in his book how several of the companies he studied does that, and the actions these companies took are doable for most small businesses.

Few things a leader does is more important than identifying and developing future leaders for the business.  It takes a commitment of time and resources, but when it's done right it will pay huge benefits in the future.

Indecision will cripple your business

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Every day leaders are confronted with a variety of decisions they have to make.  Hopefully, your employees have been trained and are empowered to make many of the decisions that need to be made, but there will be those decisions that only you as the owner or manager can make.  The most successful leaders will not postpone making those decisions.  A study conducted by the Harvard Business School once asked "What are the top characteristics of high achievers?"  The persons being asked gave a wide variety of answers, but the top response was the ability to act quickly.  They recognized that leaders who can make quick decisions and act on those decisions were going to be the most successful in their fields.  Those who procrastinate in making the tough decisions would enjoy much less success.

This does not mean that these quick decisions were always the correct ones.  Sometimes these decisions were not the best that could have been made, and occasionally they were completely wrong.  But, the decisions led to actions, and if the actions didn't produce the desired results then new decisions could be made.  In either case, the best solution would be discovered more quickly through not putting off making a tough decision.

These decisions were also not made without input.  Leaders know to acquire as much information as possible before making an important decision, but not to delay that decision until they have every iota of information that might impact the decision.  Leaders never have all the information they need, but they often can't wait until that information is available before making a decision.  If new information becomes available later that would lead to a different decision then the initial decision can be altered.  I once sat in on a meeting when a question was raised about a decision that had been made by a board two years earlier.  One person in the room reminded everyone in the room of the earlier decision when another person responded that decisions can be changed when new information became available.  Few decisions should be written in stone.  Especially in the times in which we now live, decisions made two years earlier should not be seen as Gospel.  They may have been the right decision at the time, but as new information becomes available or things change, then those decisions need to be examined and changed if needed.

When leaders refuse to make necessary decisions they create doubt in the minds of their team members.  These team members wonder who is running the organization and what will happen if their leaders become incapable of making important decisions.  There is a great scene in one of the Pirates of the Caribbean films when, near the end of the movie, two pirate ships go on either side of a British ship and begin firing.  Throughout the movie the commander of the British ship was arrogant in his leadership, but as these pirate ships made a maneuver he never expected he suddenly became frozen and incapable of responding.  The subordinate officer kept demanding an order which never came until the subordinate office assumed control and ordered the men to abandon ship.  The pirate ships kept firing on the British ship as the commander slowly walked across his ship until it finally blew up and sank taking the commander with it.

In business we will always have pirates firing at us.  People will do things we never expected.  New challenges will continually confront us.  Some of these challenges will offer opportunities for our businesses to grow; others will threaten to sink us if we do not react quickly.  In either case, decisions will have to be made, and you as the leader will be responsible for making them.

Network to build your business

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A few years ago a friend asked me to speak to the local Rotary Club about the auction business I had recently started.  My schedule was clear that evening so I agreed.  Despite bad weather a nice group of people were there representing various businesses in our community.  I kept my presentation to about 20 minutes, but I was surprised by their questions that lasted about 30 more minutes.  There was much about the auction business they did not know which led to some very good questions about the details that are involved in having an auction.  It was a great opportunity to showcase my knowledge and my desire to operate a quality auction business that will treat people with respect.  It was also a chance to build relationships with persons I had never met before.  We ate together, we laughed and joked with one another, and by the end of the evening I think we all felt very comfortable with each other. 

The day after that meeting I thought back to the fifteen years I owned a previous business.  Not once did I ever speak to any group about our business nor did I ever join any of the organizations in our community.  We sat back waiting for people to walk into our business, ran an occasional newspaper ad or radio spot, and depended on word-of-mouth advertising from satisfied customers.  I have to wonder how much better could we have done if I had networked with other leaders in our community so they could get to know me on a personal level and get to know more about our company.

Given the option, people will do business with persons they know and trust.  Networking allows others to get to know you on a more personal level.  Networking is more than working a room and passing out business cards; it's about getting to know people and letting them know you.  It's building personal relationships with other people.  It's about building top-of-mind-awareness through relationships.

Are you a member of any of the local service organizations in your community?  Don't misunderstand...you don't join these groups just to get business for your company.  You join to help make a difference in people's lives.  Many of these groups do some great work in their communities, and that is why you want to be a part of that.  However, as you serve alongside others in the organization you are building relationships that may well result in increased business.  Anyway you look at it, that is a win-win situation.  You benefit from the increased business, and your community benefits by your involvement in the organization.

What would you do if someone asked you to present a talk to one of the groups in your community?  For many people, their number one fear in life is to have to stand before a group of people and give a talk.  I've been in ministry for over 35 years so that is not a fear of mine, but I have seen people freeze when they've been asked to speak to a group.  As a business leader you need to conquer that fear because such opportunities are a great way to network with other people and present information about your business they may not have known.  It puts a human face and story on your company that is more appealing than any logo or slogan.

Look for networking opportunities.  I think you'll find they will help grow your business.

To learn about other mistakes I made in my previous business be sure to read my e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions That Will Close Your Small Business.

Your online presence needs to be updated regularly

I scan or read well over three dozen blogs each day.  The posts that I find helpful I put on Twitter so others can be directed to the author's site so they can read them if they want to.  One of the things I don't understand is why the people who create these blogs may go for months without ever adding a new message.  Recently, I removed several of the blogs I had been following because nothing new had been published on them in five to six months.  Many of these were business-related blogs that I assume were created to attract people to those businesses.  I don't think most people will find them very attractive.

Since starting this blog a few months ago I try to post on it at least once a week, usually Monday.  Once in awhile I don't do it simply because of my schedule.  I have another blog that is focused on ministry and church leadership.  Because that is my primary focus and the field in which my day job is located I try to post on that blog at least four times a week.  In addition, I post around 15 articles on my Twitter account each business day with a link that directs the reader to the site where they will find the article.  Half of those articles are related to ministry and the other half are focused on small business.  I do this because I want my readers to find fresh information from some of the best thinkers in these two areas of life.  Since my Twitter account links to my Facebook account, those who just follow me on FB are able to be directed to those articles as well.  I continue to struggle getting large numbers of people following my posts; I can't imagine how difficult it is for those blogs that are only updated 3-4 times a year to attract regular followers.

What makes this even sadder is that I have found the articles on these blogs to be quite good.  The authors are people who have something worthwhile to say, and usually a product or service to market, but they are turning away some of their potential clients due to the lack of blog maintenance.

Small businesses and ministries need a presence on social media.  A web site and/or blog (I think both are best.) are becoming more essential to get their messages out to persons who need to know about them.  But, if these are not going to be updated regularly these sites can become more of a detriment than an asset.  Stale messages send a negative signal to your potential clients that you don't want to send.  It tells people that you don't have a lot to say about your product or service or you just don't care to give them the information they might need to do business with you.

I have seen church websites that have not been updated in three or four years.  Their previous pastor is still listed on the church staff page.  If that information is wrong then I can't assume I can trust their service times either.  This has actually kept me from visiting some churches.  Some businesses don't do much better.  Dated information about the company or the product or service doesn't impress potential clients, and it's important to know that the first image some people will make about your company will come from you social media sites.  Create the wrong impression online and you will drive potential business to your competitors.

Businesses have two options.  Either pay someone to manage your site or do it in-house, but your sites must be maintained and updated on a regular basis.  In today's environment your online presence may be a major portion of your marketing depending on the target audience you are going for.  As such, it should be seen as an investment, not an expense.  You are investing money and time in an effort to reach new clients and to encourage your current clientele to do more business with you.  Make your online sites a priority in your planning.  Don't ignore or "forget" them.  They can be a rich source of revenue if they are properly maintained.

Confidence is key to success

A few years ago I decided to get my auctioneer's license. Although I was working full-time I knew I was getting close to retiring (for the second time) and wanted something else to do. I took the 80 hours of training our state requires and took the exam which I passed. A few days later I got my license in the mail.

The next Friday evening I went to an auction conducted by a friend of mine.  As soon as I walked in the building he asked if I could help out in the ring as he was short-handed that night.  After a couple of hours of ring work he asked if I would relieve him for a few minutes and take over the bid-calling.  That was my first time to call bids at an actual auction.  We ended each of our class sessions at the auction school I attended practicing bid calling, but this was my first time to be taking bids from actual buyers.  I can assure you it was not the same!  That few minutes turned into almost an hour before he returned to the microphone for the remainder of the auction.

I learned three things that evening.  One, I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would.  Two, it is harder than it looks like.  Three, I can do this.  That hour behind the microphone gave me confidence that I can be an auctioneer.  Yes, I messed up a couple of times.  (Once I had a $15.00 bid for an item and started asking for $10.00.  We all laughed because everyone knew it was my first time.)  But, that was OK because it taught me that messing up isn't the end of the world.

In anything we try to do in this life confidence is an important key to success.  This is especially true for the entrepreneur starting a new business.  You may have been a technician in the field of your new business or perhaps you've spent years in school learning the nuts and bolts of running a company.  Despite that background you don't KNOW you can do it until you are actually the person in charge.  When the microphone is handed to you, when you are the one responsible for making the final decisions that will determine the direction your business will go, when the employees are dependent upon your judgment for their livelihood then you will find out whether or not you can do this.

For most entrepreneurs it is often best to start part-time until your new endeavor is showing steady profits and growth before completely leaving your old position.  Anyone starting something new will make mistakes, but when you are not totally dependent on that one source of income those mistakes are less deadly.  As your business grows you will become more confident in your ability to manage it.  Perhaps the day will come when you will decide to invest yourself fully in your new business, or, like me, you may see this as something that will remain something you do part-time as a fun diversion.  Either way, as you build confidence it will become much more enjoyable and profitable.

If you want to read what has to be the textbook on entrepreneurship and how to properly start a new business you must read EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches by Dave Ramsey.  An important piece of confidence is learning what you need to know to be successful, and this book will give you the tools you need to start and run your own business.

What are you doing to intentionally grow?

I became a big John Maxwell fan when I first read his book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You.  I had never read anything that impacted my leadership as much as that book.  Since then I have bought most of Maxwell's books, but none of them had the same impact on me as that first book until I read his latest, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential.  Unless I am very surprised it will be the important book I will have read this year.

In my earlier years I was like many people who assume that we grow as we age.  That simply isn't true.  Getting older just happens.  If you stay on this side of the grass long enough you will get older.  However, growth requires intentionality.  We have to take certain steps throughout our lives if we want to grow as persons and as leaders.  We need to take those steps every single day of our lives if we want that growth to be persistant.  Maxwell would take that even further and say these are not merely steps we need to take; they are laws we must follow if we want to reach our potential.

For me, this book did two things.  It opened my eyes to some things I had not really considered before when thinking about growth.  For instance, he writes about the law of the rubber band.  A rubber band is only useful when it is stretched.  I have a pile of rubber bands in one desk drawer that are completely useless unless they are stretched over something I want to keep together.  As I read that chapter I realized that I am very similar to those rubber bands.  I am at my best when I am stretched, and the primary times that I have seen growth occur in my life is when I've been stretched by situations and challenges.  If I want growth to occur in my life I must put myself in situations where I will be stretched.

The second thing this book did was remind me of things I already knew but sometimes forget to practice.  The law of the mirror is one of those things.  The way we see ourselves has a huge impact on what we are able to accomplish and on our ability to grow.  Many years ago when I coached Little League baseball I used to tell my team to never let a mistake hurt you twice.  We would often see a player make an error on the field and in the next inning strike out because he was still thinking of that error.  Sadly, there are many times in my life when I forgot to take my own advice.  I would preach a poor sermon and beat myself up throughout the next week because of it.  I would make a poor business decision that cost my business needed profits and feel like a complete failure.  In this chapter Maxwell provides ten steps that will improve our self-image.  I know everyone of them, but I found it so helpful to be reminded of them.  Growth will occur as we implement these steps in our lives.

I just finished this book a couple of weeks ago and plan to read it at least once more before the year is out.  I can't give a book a higher recommendation than that.  I may be approaching retirement age, but that doesn't mean I want to stop growing as a person and as a leader.  I hope you feel the same way.  Too many people are counting on you for you to stop growing now.

Making things work

The USS Enterprise recently arrived at Norfolk, Virginia after making its final deployment.  The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, it is the oldest active duty ship in the Navy.  It's reactors are being shut down now and it will soon be scrapped out.  It hardly seems a fitting end to a ship with such a glorious history, but after removing the reactors it would be cost-prohibitive to try to repair it and turn it into a museum as some wanted.  The reason this matters to me is that I served on board the ship from 1968-1971 making two tours to the Tonkin Gulf off Vietnam.  I have a lot of fond memories of my days aboard the ship.

A primary reason for its decommissioning is the lack of parts available for repair.  It is the last of its class, and many of the parts needed to keep everything running are not produced anymore.  It is very expensive to buy one-off parts even with a military budget.  Some things simply aren't available at any price and must be hand-made by people on the ship.  When you are running flight operations in support of troops on the ground you can't stop what you're doing waiting for someone to ship you a part they first have to make from scratch.  You find ways to get the broken part fixed to continue the operation.  Even when I was on the ship there were times when things had to be fixed on the spot to keep the operation running.  You just had to learn to improvise.

What a great lesson for a small business owner.  You can read all the textbooks on business management you want, but eventually you will encounter something that isn't covered in the books.  You can attend every workshop available, but one day a customer will present you with a challenge or a problem that wasn't covered in any of them.  A natural disaster may hit your business forcing you to scramble to keep your business open and serve your customers during an exceptionally difficult time in their lives.  Small business success is often determined by how well you can improvise and make things work when it seems everything doesn't want to.

During normal times businesses need systems to make things happen.  Many small businesses struggle because they are always dealing with the same issues and having to make the same decisions time after time because they never developed the proper systems to address those issues.  Systems and policy manuals are needed to maintain consistent quality in the normal course of business.  Without such systems your business will be much more difficult to manage than it needs to be.  But, during times with unusual challenges your systems may not be adequate to solve those challenges.  it is here the small business needs to be flexible and move outside its normal way of doing things.

This gives you an incredible opportunity to surpass your larger competitors.  These large box companies are managed by people who often do not have the authority to bypass company policies that were set by people in distant places.  "I'm sorry, but that's company policy" is the only answer they know to give as if that is supposed to satisfy a disgruntled customer.  I often compare my experience on the Enterprise to the years I owned a bass boat.  It took miles to turn that ship around; it only took me a few yards to turn my fishing boat 360 degrees.  Small businesses can make corrections much faster than their larger competitors, and that gives you an advantage they will never have over you.

Look for ways to satisfy your customers.  Find new ways to resolve problems and challenges.  Challenge everyone in your organization to think creatively every day.  Regardless of the challenges, find ways to make it work.  You can read more in my recent e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.

Is there a better way to do your job?

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In 1967 I enlisted in the US Navy and a year later was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise where I spent the next three years of my life.  I enjoyed many aspects of Navy life and may have made a career of it except I had a wife and daughter waiting for me to come back home and resume a normal life.  I find I am often drawn to books that are somehow connected to the Navy which I why I first picked up It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy, 10th Anniversary Edition by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff, then captain of the USS Benfold, a ship he turned from one of the worst in the Navy to one of its top performing ships.

One of the first things he did when he took command of the ship was to ask each crewman, "Is there a better way to do what you do?"  He found that there were many better ways to do things and whenever possible he gave the people the power to make those changes.  It was a huge morale booster that not only led to higher performance but also to a higher retention rate.

Abrashoff understood something many leaders forget.  The people doing the job often know more about that job than anyone else including the so-called experts.  The funny thing is that these leaders knew that when they were working their way up the ladder, but once they sat down in the manager's or owner's chair, they suddenly begin to believe they know more than the persons doing the job.

For thirty years I was employed at a factory working various machine lines, the assembly line, receiving, and quality.  I was amazed how often someone would come to a line where I was working from their air-conditioned office and begin to tell us how we could improve the way we were working.  I once had a time-study expert conduct a full time study on a particular job I was doing on the assembly line while the line was shut down for repair!  I told him it was impossible to do a time study on my job when I couldn't even do the job.  He insisted I walk him through what I did and he would be able to determine how long the job should take.  His report wasn't even close to the actual time it took to do that job.  What an idiot!

This guy reminded me of a product engineer who insisted that a part they had developed would fit perfectly on a certain model of engine we were building.  There was one particular configuration where the mounting holes would not match up properly.  Time and again we complained about the problem, and every time he would demonstrate on his computer how everything matched up fine.  It took weeks before someone forced him to come to the assembly line and actually install the part.  He soon found out the part would not install on that configuration, and the part was re-designed.

When I became owner of a small business I made many mistakes which I explain in my book by that name, but one mistake I avoided was to believe that I knew more about what our employees did than they did.  In one of our earliest meetings I told them that if I got in their way while they were trying to get work done to just kindly ask me to step aside.  These were experienced, hard-working people who knew far more than I ever would about how to do their jobs.  Any changes that would be made would happen only after we discussed them, not just because I thought something different would be better.

How often do you ask your team members if they can think of a better way to do their jobs?  How willing will you be to give them permission to make the changes they identify?  When people have real input into how they function while at work they are usually much more productive and have much better attitudes towards their work.  That can quickly improve the bottom line of any business.

If you haven't read Abrashoff's book I would highly recommend it.  It's really an interesting read.

Leadership failure

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My last post looked at the importance of character in a leader's life.  I want to continue that thought today by looking at how a lack of character caused well known leaders to fail.  These character flaws were not morality issues, but they were character issues all the same.  There are four primary areas of leadership in which many leaders fail to exercise character: authenticity, self-management, humility, and courage.  Tim Irwin, in his excellent book Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership (NelsonFree), addresses these in detail and looks at the failures of well known leaders such as Robert Nardelli, Carly Fiorina, Durk Jager, Steven Heyer, Frank Raines, and Dick Fuld as examples of how these leaders failed as a result of one of those four character issues.  It is a sobering book as one realizes how, if these leaders at the top of their game, could fail it is very arrogant of us to believe it could never happen to us.

Irwin explains that derailment doesn't happen all at once.  It's a process that involves making one wrong decision after another.  It may be that one's arrogance prevents him from listening to the warnings of others.  It may be that a leader lacked courage to make a critical decision.  The problem could be that team members saw a lack of authenticity in their leader and refused to follow her.  Anyone can have an off day without it resulting in failure, but when such character issues are dominent in a leader's life it is almost a certainity that failure will eventually occur.

To counteract the possibility of such failure Irwin recommends five habits of the heart.  They are

1. The habit of openness - A willingness to receive feedback from others
2. The habit of self-other/awareness - An examination of one's strengths and weaknesses
3. The habit of listening to early warning systems - Paying attention to the stresses in your company
4. The habit of accountability - A willingness to be accountable to others for our actions
5. The habit of reliliency - The ability to bounce back from adversity

Each of these habits are critical to the success of entrepreneurs and small business owners.  Lacking any of them can lead to failure as Irwin demonstrates by studying the failures of the business leaders mentioned above.  If these individuals can fail due to a lack of character, so can any of us.  A habit is something that is developed by consistently and intentionally focusing on something.  It is not something we can do once, cross off our to-do list, and move on.  We must examine our actions, our attitudes, and our words on a continual basis to ensure that we are developing each of these five habits.  To learn more about how these other leaders failed and how to develop these five habits in your life you should read Irwin's book.

Character and leadership

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There are two things required of someone who seeks leadership:  competence and character.  While both are important the character of a person is often a better predictor of long term success than competence.  Robert Clinton, professor of leadership at Fuller Theological  Seminary believes that approximately 70 percent of leaders do not finish well.  He agrees that leaders can do rather well for themselves through their skills alone, but the leader whose skills are greater than his or her character will eventually falter.

As a small business owner you create the environment in which your company conducts its business.  Every business, like every other organization, has a culture, and the owner of small businesses determine what that culture will be.  We do not have the luxury of hiding behind "company policy."  We created that policy.  We cannot blame some faceless "they" because "they" are us.  We model the type of behavior and character that we expect from others on our team, and that becomes an important part of our brand.

The phone rang one day in our shop, and as I started to answer it one of my employees said, "If it's my wife I'm not here."  The two of them had an argument that morning before he came to work, and he didn't want to talk to her.  It so happened that it was her, and when she asked if he was there I said he was and told him to pick up the line.  When he later hung up he was not very happy with me.  He said, "I told you to tell her I wasn't here."  I looked at him and said, "If I'll lie for you, I'll lie to you.  Is that the type of company you want to work for?"  He looked at me for a moment and walked off.  I wanted him, and everyone else on our team, to know that they could expect the truth from me even when it wasn't pleasant, and I expected the same from them.

As some of you know, during the years I ran our business I was also the pastor of a small church in our community.  We did some work for another pastor who was very slow to pay us.  He was well past 90 days late paying his bill, and some wanted me to take him to small claims court for payment.  I refused to do so on biblical grounds.  The Bible teaches that Christians are not to take other Christians to court.  I know that is a teaching that many Christian business people ignore as not a good business practice, but I felt strongly that it would be wrong for me to sue him for the money he owed.  Probably two or three more months went by before he came in and paid his bill in full.  We received our money, my relationship with my fellow pastor remained intact, and I did not violate a biblical principle.  I realize this would be not a recommended business practice, but I felt that it was part of the climate I wanted for our company.

The Golden Rule is always the safe option when one is confronted with an issue in his or her business.  If you were on the other side, how would you want to be treated?   Then that is how you should treat others.  If you would want grace, you must extend grace.  If you want people to be honest with you, you must be honest in your words and actions.  If you want respect, you must be respectful to others.  This is how one demonstrates character in his or her life and is how a culture of honesty and integrity is created in a business.  Such character will allow you to enjoy genuine success over the long term and make your small business a good place to work and with which to do business.

For an in-depth look at this issue I would highly recommend The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence.  This very uplifting book explains how character enables you to have greater influence in your business, your home, and every other area of your life.

If it ain't broke...break it.

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Many of us have heard all our lives  "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."  It was a warning that messing with something that was working well might create more problems than it was worth.  That may have been good advice at one time, but it's lousy advice now.  I encourage people that "If it ain't broke, break it because it will soon be obsolete anyway."

We live in a rapidly changing world that requires people to adapt quickly or be left behind.  Your business plan from 2007 is probably not as effective today as it was just five years ago.  Hopefully, you're not even using that plan any more.  If your equipment is more than five years old it's probably outdated and inefficient.  If the goods and/or services you offer your clients have not been updated in the past 2-3 years they are probably coming across as stale and unappealing compared to what your competitors are offering.  Have you taken a fresh look at your marketing strategy to see what's working and what's not?  Have you checked out new vendors to see how they can add value to your business?  How often do you change out your displays to showcase new items?

One of the mistakes I made when I took over our business was seldom changing anything.  You can read about that, and many other mistakes I made, in my e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.  You can order it for your NOOK reading device by clicking on the book cover on the right column on this blog.  I made very few changes in how we operated as a company, and the changes I did make were often too small and certainly too late in coming.  Our competitors ate our lunch because I didn't want to change things that had stopped working.

Several days ago I admitted I liked watching Bar Rescue on television.  One of the things that the rescuer does is change virtually everything about the bar.  He changes the name, the decor, the items on both the food and drink menu, the uniforms the employees wear, and the way they go about their business.  One of the reasons the bars are not profitable is that nothing has been changed for years, and he wants to help create a new brand for the bar.

When you walk into your business tomorrow take a long look around.  Try to imagine what it would look like to someone who had never been in your business before.  Would they find it vibrant and exciting, a good place in which to do business, with goods and services that appeal to them?  Or, would it appear to be tired and outdated with people who look like they would prefer to be just about anywhere but there?  You may want to ask someone to be a secret shopper so you can get an honest opinion from someone with new eyes who may see things you'll overlook.

Change just for the sake of change is stupid, but making changes that improve your organization makes a lot of sense.  Don't hold on to something just because it used to work or your employees (and you) find it a comfortable way of doing things.  Business is too competitive and customers are now too demanding to hold on to things that no longer make good business sense.

Are you ready for a coach?

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Many large corporations provide an executive coach for their top tier management.  They understand the return-on-investment for coaching is huge.  A study in Michigan a few years ago of sales managers who hired coaches found a 10:1 ROI in less than a year.  That represents a serious return.  Another study of 100 executives, mostly from Fortune 1000 companies, found a ROI of 5.7:1.  That also is an impressive return on the money invested in coaching.  In addition, coaching provided other advantages to the companies that provided coaching to their leadership.  People who were considering leaving the organization remained.  A more positive work environment was created.  Customer satisfaction and revenue increased.

Despite the many positives that surround coaching few small business owners and entrepreneurs use coaches.  Some of that may be due to the cost of an executive coach which can run from $400-800 an hour and even higher.  The entrepreneurial spirit causes many to take a "Lone Ranger" mentality that doesn't lend itself to seeking outside help.  A third reason may be that small business owners are so busy that they don't feel they have the time or energy for coaching.  All of these are quite short-sighted reasons that fails to view coaching as an investment in one's life and career.

A few years ago I was struggling with a career decision and really felt pulled in two directions.  Ironically, our organization was providing coaching training to our executive staff and part of that training included coaching by our trainers.  For several months I had the opportunity to be coached by our primary trainer and used that time to explore the two options I was considering.  By the time our coaching was completed I had made a decision which of the two I would take.  It was such a powerful experience that I began coaching others and have enjoyed a coaching relationship with several people.  The benefits of coaching later became the thesis for my doctoral degree, and next spring I have a book being published that explores those benefits.

How do you know when you need a coach?  Here are some signs that you are ready for a coach.

1. You feel stuck and are uncertain how to begin to move forward again.
2. You have a desire to improve areas of your life and leadership abilities.
3. You need help in troubleshooting issues that are holding your company back.
4. You sense it is time to make major changes in your life or career.
5. You are going through a life transition and need help in processing that.
6. You need someone you can talk to who will maintain confidentiality.
7. You are ready to take your business to the next level.

Do any of these ring true for you?  Maybe it's time you invested in a coach to help you begin to move forward in your life and/or career.  If so, I would be willing to talk to you to see if we would be a good fit for a coaching relationship.  If you would be interested in such a conversation, respond to this post with your contact information and we'll see if coaching makes sense for you.

The secret to business success: Selling

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There are so many things to do when starting a small business.  There are business plans to write, inventory to purchase, supplies and equipment to buy, perhaps hiring team members, and finding a good location.  You have to ensure that the facility is kept clean, that paperwork is kept in order, taxes and vendors are paid in a timely fashion, and you are adequately marketing your company.  This list could go on and on.  But, nothing has really been done until you've sold something.  Everything else may be important, but none of them mean anything if you are not selling goods or services.  You're not in business to keep your shelves full and tidy, you are in business to make a profit, and you can't do that until you sell something.

I've met store owners and employees who didn't seem to understand that.  Clerks have made me wait to check out until they finished filling up the shelf they were working on.  Some were clearly frustrated when I interrupted what they were doing with a question on how to find something in their store.  I want to give them my money, and they want to finish dusting a shelf.  Here's a novel idea for a business:  Take the money.  Make the sale.

The most important thing that happens in any small business is sales.  Without sales you have no income, without income you have no profit, and without profit you soon won't have a business.  Every team member reporting for work should have one clear focus: to sell something.  That should be their focus every day.  They may not be in the sales department, but every person in your company needs to understand that everyone is in sales.  Some may be selling the product or service your company offers while others are in the business of selling your company and its brand. 

It's funny that even some salespeople do not understand how critical sales are for a business.  Such salespeople may be great at doing a sales presentation, but they forget to ask for the sale.  They work hard at developing a relationship with a possible client, but never get around asking for the sale.  Or, if they do ask for the sale, many times they make it easy for the client to say no.

Here are some things your salespeople needs to consider when talking to your clients.

1. Know your product, your client's needs, and how your product or service can better meet that need than your competitors.
2. Ask questions.  This is how you learn your client's needs.  After asking your questions, shut up and listen.  Your client will tell you what he or she wants.
3. Use their comments in your close.  Few people will reject their own ideas.
4. Sell the sizzle, not just the steak.  People are much less interested in your product or service as they are in how well your product or service will meet their needs.
5. Make it easy for your clients to do business with you.  Offer financing.  Meet with them at a time that is convenient for them, not you.  Develop policies that are client friendly.
6. Be prepared with several possible closes and use them at various times in your presentation.  If they agree to purchase your product or service, stop your presentation, take their check and get a signature.  You've already sold them.  There are no extra points for completing your presentation.
7. Accept that call backs are a part of sales.  It may take 7-8 call backs before you make the sale.  Sometimes this is the result of poor presentations or the salesperson's failure to clearly ask for the sale in an earlier presentation.  Work to lower this number.

Obviously, there is more to know about selling than what's listed here.  For a fresh approach to selling I recommend you read Dan Kennedy's book No B.S. Sales Success.  Kennedy doesn't mince words and doesn't provide his readers with a lot of fluff and theory.  His books are filled with practical advice that he has learned as an entrepreneur and business owner.  You can order the book simply by clicking on the image below.

Avoiding the mistakes

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Few things in my life have been more painful to me than when we closed our small business.  For 15 years I had managed our family owned heating and air conditioning business until we were forced to close it.  I had resisted making that decision for several years but just wasn't able to turn it around to its former profitability.  We closed it down and sold everything at auction.  Inventory and equipment went for pennies on the dollar.  

The day of the auction was one of the worst days of my life because I knew that I was the primary cause of it.  Our dream of owning a business had turned into a nightmare because of numerous mistakes I made.  Within days of the auction I began writing a book on the experience called Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions That Will Close Your Small Business.  I had learned a lot about how to manage a small business, but I learned it too late to save ours.  I felt like if I honestly told of the mistakes I had made and what I had learned from them it might help other small business owners avoid making the same mistakes.  It is far better to learn from the mistakes of others than from making them yourself.

Although I have published several books I could not interest a publisher in this one.  I think I know why.  Walk into any bookstore and check out the books in the business section and see how many of them address mistakes.  You would think from reading the titles of the books you find on most of those shelves that all you have to do is open for business and you can start making plans for your next Mediterranean vacation.  Publishers like happy, positive books.  They don't like books that explain how the author messed up and lost a business due to his stupidity.

Actually, I think my book is a positive book.  It gives positive advice on how to lead and manage a small business well.  It points out possible issues that can create problems, but after doing so give the reader good advice on how to avoid those issues.  That's positive.  It's also more realistic than what some of the business books I've read.  No small business owner will avoid all mistakes, but he or she can miss several of them if they know to expect them and if they have some idea of what to do when they do happen.  I think this book provides that which is why I decided I would release this book as an e-book on NOOK.

For over three decades I have been a minister.  Twenty of those years I served as a pastor and for the past 12 years I've been a denominational leader.  At heart I am a teacher, and this book will teach you about potential problem areas you may encounter in your business and how to address them in a constructive way.  My interest in teaching is also why I created this website and why I publish so many articles on small business leadership, entrepreneurship, and sound decision making.  I would encourage you to follow my blog as well as the articles I copy each day on Twitter and Facebook.  Every article I share may not interest you, but I bet some of them will.  If you get even a nugget from reading one of the posts it can prove to be a major contributor to your well-being.

By making the book available on NOOK devices I've been able to make it immediately available to you and to sell it for much less than what a publisher would charge for it.  I encourage you to purchase it.  I also invite you to be my friend on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to see the numerous articles I post nearly every day.  If you have questions you would like me to address please let me know, and I'll try to incorporate the answers in future posts.

Show people you care

One of my secret enjoyments is watching Bar Rescue on television.  Since the script seems to run about the same on every show I don't know how much of it is real and how much of it is staged for television, but it is still interesting to watch.  A bar is in financial trouble, the rescuer is called in who find all kinds of unbelievable problems from dead rats in the kitchen to employees who steal.  There is usually a confrontation between the bar owner and the rescuer that ends up with them shouting at each other.  There is another confrontation between the rescuer and the staff.  Experts are brought in to provide training, the bar gets a make-over, and suddenly everyone is smiling and the bar is making tons of money.  One of the things the rescuer says in nearly every episode is that until the owner cares about the business no one else will, and at least that part of the show is absolutely true.

Most small business owners begin their companies with great enthusiasm and pride, but over time the mundane demands of business, the endless details that must be addressed, the times of disappointing sales, employees that don't work out, and the challenges of trying to run a profitable business can suck the enthusiasm out of nearly everyone.  Little things begin to be ignored.  The floor isn't swept one evening which soon becomes a week.  Past due collections are ignored because too many other things are demanding the owner's time.  Phone calls are not returned promptly.  The owner starts coming in later in the morning or leaving in the middle afternoon to play golf without having resolved a potentially major issue.  Team members are watching and soon determine that the owner really doesn't care any more, and if he or she doesn't care why should they?

It's not long before they begin slacking off, violating company policies, and providing less than quality service to your customers.  You can reprimand them all you want, but this problem is really on you, the owner.  You created a climate in your business that convinced your employees you no longer cared about the company.  They were just following your example.

Small business owners must consistently demonstrate to their employees and customers how much they care about their business.  This is done by addressing even the smallest details in a timely fashion.  It's done by arriving early and leaving after everyone else does.  You show how much you care by demanding that every thing that is done in your company is done with excellence, and that excellence begins with you.  You take pride in the way you dress, the way you go about your job, and the way you relate to both your customers and employees.  You exhibit respect to everyone you meet and you treat others as you would want to be treated.  When you consistently do these things your team members will know how much you care about your company, and they will care too.

I'm afraid this is a lesson I learned the hard way.  You can read more about my own failure to show my employees how much I cared about our company in my newest  book Mistakes which is only available on NOOK.