Who are the readers of this blog?

For the past several weeks I have posted regularly on this blog but have received no feedback from any of its readers.  Would you please let me know who is reading the blog, what you do, and what topics you would like this blog to address?  That information would be very helpful to me.  Thank you.

Is there a better way to do your job?

 FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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.

John Maxwell's latest book

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

A few days ago I was thrilled to learn that I had won a free copy of John Maxwell's latest book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth: Live Them and Reach Your Potential.  I have been a big fan of Maxwell for many years and was looking forward to reading his latest book.  To win a free copy was icing on the cake.

Many people don't know how easy it can be to receive free items from their social media accounts.  This is the second time I've won a free book this summer.  Earlier in the summer I actually won two free books and a DVD simply by responding to a question about how I planned to spend my summer.  I won Maxwell's book by promoting its release on my social media sites a few weeks ago.  The publisher had a random drawing of all the people who did that and give away 25 copies of the book, and I was one of the recipients.  Counting the other books and DVD I've won this year it would come to about $75.00 worth of free top quality material for very little effort on my part.  You may want to check out some of the sites you regularly follow and see if they ever do any promotions.

The book came today and I've already read the first two chapters.  In those initial chapters Maxwell argues that one cannot grow as a person and as a leader unless he or she is intentionally seeking such growth and is aware of what needs to be done in order to grow.  It seems so simple, and yet many people lack the self-awareness needed to do that.  They have never identified their strengths and weaknesses and thought about what steps they need to take to begin to grow.  Most people seem to think that growth just happens as it did when they were children.  We didn't have to do much to grow.  Every few weeks you could have someone measure you and you could see how much you had grown.  Well, there comes a time when physical growth ends, at least vertical growth, but the mental, spiritual, and emotional aspects of our lives should never stop growing.  But such growth will not just happen on its own.  We must be very intentional about seeking growth and very intentional about taking the necessary steps that will enable such growth to occur.

I became a pastor in 1981 with only a high school education and no pastoral experience.  I soon realized I was in over my head and began to seek growth opportunities.  About a year later I began my ministry education at a Bible college about a hour's drive from my home.  Working full time in a factory and pastoring a church meant that it would take me four years to complete their two year program, but shortly after graduating from that school I enrolled at a university also a hour away from my home to begin work on a college degree.  Since 1981 I have been committed to being a lifelong learner, and two years ago at the age of 62 I earned my doctorate.  All of those years I have been involved in ministry and working other jobs as well, but it was important to me to continue to learn and grow, and I've been willing to pay the price to do so.

I am not suggesting that you need to pursue a formal education, but you do need to be committed to a lifetime of growth if you want to grow as a leader.  If you're not sure how to begin such a journey I would suggest you begin by reading Maxwell's book.  I normally do not recommend books I haven't completed, but this book has started so strong and I have such confidence in Maxwell's writing that I will recommend this book without hesitation.  As you read the book keep asking yourself what steps do you need to be taking to grow as a person and as a leader.

The good is often the enemy of the best

 FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A basic economic reality is that all resources are limited.  That includes your financial resources, your time, your manpower, your strengths, every resource you can think of.  With every decision there is an opportunity cost involved.  When you choose to do one thing you are therefore choosing to not do other things with whatever resources you are using.  Every dollar and every minute you spend in your business can never be used for anything else.  That is why we do not want to spend a single dollar or minute we don't have to.  Instead, the goal should be to wisely invest those resources into our businesses and our personal lives.

The usual enemy of the best is not the worst but the good.  Most people do not make decisions that they know will be harmful to them.  Most sane people try to make good decisions that will have a positive impact on their lives and their businesses, but too often we are satisfied with making the good choices rather than taking time to decide if this was the best choice.  You have X amount of dollars available to invest in your company.  Would it be better to spend that money on a new company vehicle or a new machine that would allow your employees to be more productive and efficient?  It really depends on numerous factors that you have to take in consideration as they apply to your particular situation.  The key is to realize that you can only invest that money in one thing.  I see too many small business owners driving new company vehicles while their employees are trying to operate with outdated equipment that costs the company a lot of productivity.  For editorial honesty, I will admit to being one of those owners at one time, and I regret it to this day.

How does one determine the best use of resources?  We have to go back to the vision of the company.  Where do you see your business in five years, and what must happen for you to get there?  Every investment of resources should be in line with that vision.  Not one moment, not one dollar should be spent that will not lead you to the achievement of that vision.  This means that once the vision is determined, strategic planning must follow so you can identify the steps that will take you to the fulfillment of that vision.

In closing, often the best investment of your resources will be in people.  Ultimately, it is not the equipment, the computer systems, the display pieces, the marketing, or anything else that will enable your company to succeed.  It will be the people who use the equipment, the computers, the displays, and who develops the marketing that will determine your level of success.  Investing in the very best people you can find and continuing to invest in their growth and skills will nearly always pay the greatest dividends.

Strategic Planning

 FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you noticed I have not been posting for the past few days it's because my wife and I took a much needed vacation to Panama City Beach last week.  It was great to get away for a brief time, but now it's time to get back to work.

 I was very pleased to read an e-mail when I returned from a reader of my book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions That Will Close Your Small Business.  He wrote to tell me how much he enjoyed the book and felt that it should be a required book for a class for entrepreneurs.  He said he especially appreciated the chapter on strategic planning. 

That was also one of my favorite chapters to write because too much of what small businesses do is open their doors each day, fight through the  daily challenges, and wonder why nothing much changed over the past year.  The reason little changed is because the owners of these businesses did little intentionally to make changes.  They spent so much time working in their business they had little time to work on their business.  They assumed that somehow magically things would change and improve without their doing anything intentional to making that happen.

Small business owners must spend a portion of their time with their feet on their desks thinking about the future of their company.  They have to have a clear vision of where they want their business to go over the next year or so and then determine what steps will be needed to get there.  Begin with the end in mind, and then you can work backwards to identify the actions you will have to take that will get you from where you are to where you want to be.  That is strategic planning.

To read more about strategic planning and other decisions you need to make to keep your small business strong I encourage you to read the book.  It is currently only available for NOOK reading devices and can be purchased here.

The power of knowing your customers

 FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

When I sold my business a few years ago I did so at an auction.  Quite frankly, we had it for sale for some time with no interest.  We had already closed it which meant there was no money coming in, but there was still money going out.  An auction would at least stop the bleeding.  The nature of the business meant it would not be something that the general public would be interested in attending the auction which concerned me.  Fortunately, the auctioneer I chose had a long list of persons who had bought items at previous auctions, and they were listed in his computer by the types of things they bought.  He assured me he could send letters to at least 100 companies who were in the same business I was selling to invite them to the auction.

That may be why he was successful at what he did and our company was not.  I never compiled a list of customers by their interests so I could send them information about new products or services they might be interested in purchasing.  I often read that direct mail to past customers was one of the best marketing strategies a company could use, but my few attempts at direct mail were all sent to prospects, and none of them resulted in a single sale.  When it came time for the sale, most of the vehicles in our parking lot were from companies similar to mine.  His direct mail worked and brought out buyers who may not have known of the sale otherwise.

Since that auction I began going to occasional auctions myself.  I've been to enough of them that the auctioneers know what I'm most likely to buy.  Today I received a letter from the auctioneer who conducted my sale letting me know he has an auction scheduled for this Friday evening.  He wanted to make sure I knew there were a lot of items that I've purchased in the past that would be available.  He even sent a list of many of the items and directed me to a site on the Internet where I could see pictures of those items.  I plan on going.

Several years ago I purchased a number of suits from a salesman in a nice department store in a nearby city.  After the first or second suit I bought I began receiving notices from him letting me know about sales his department were having.  He noticed I always bought my suits when they were on sale, so he made sure I knew upcoming sale dates, not only for suits but for other menswear items as well.  Over the course of three or four years I purchased a new suit from him about every six months.  I also bought a number of dress pants and dress shirts from that same salesman.  He left for another job, and I never received another contact from that store again.  Now that I think of it, I never bought another suit there either.  That salesman knew me, he knew what brand suit I liked, and what I would pay for it, and he made sure I always knew when I could buy one for that price. And, I usually did.

How well do you know your customers and what they want or need that your company can provide?  What are you doing to intentionally stay in contact with them?  How often do you send direct marketing material to them?  Studies find that it's much easier to sell to a current customer than to a prospect, and it costs much less to get their business as well.  If you don't have a current client list you need to begin developing one and begin marketing to it.  It will add to your bottom line.

Leadership failure

 FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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.