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.

The importance of good customer service

This past weekend I had two interesting experiences in restaurants.  The first one was a restaurant that I only been to once before shortly after it opened.  The service at that time was not great and neither was the food.  I had not been back until this past Friday when I decided to give it another chance.  It had now been opened for a couple of years, and I thought it had probably improved.  I was wrong.

Although the restaurant was not very busy for lunch, the food took much longer to come out than necessary.  I had ordered a cajun chicken sandwich.  The food was bland tasting and tasted nothing like I would expect something advertised as cajun style should taste.  The server never came back until I was almost finished to ask if I would like more ice tea.  At that point I did not since I was nearly done eating and asked for my check.  Five minutes later she returned with the check.  I had watched her spend that time talking with someone who came in to pick up a carry-out order.  When the check arrived I finished my last drink of tea, pulled cash out of my billfold to cover the bill, and laid the check and money on the table.  She was there in a flash.  I hadn't seen her move that quickly the entire time I had been in the restaurant.  She had the money in her hand before I could move away from the table.  She got an 80 cent tip, and that was only because I didn't have the exact change for the bill.  She didn't even bother to ask why.

After church on Sunday my wife and I stopped at a restaurant.  As might be expected, right after church, the place was crowded.  Our server was at our table immediately to take our drink order.  She soon returned with our drinks and took our order.  She brought our salads and bread to the table.  In a few minutes she returned to refill our drinks and ask if we wanted more salad.  We asked for more bread which she said she would bring and said she would bring me some extra ice for my tea.  The manager came by to ask if our service was satisfactory, and I assured him it was.  Our food was hot and tasty, and she made sure our glasses were full.  About half-way through our meal she brought us the check and said there was no rush, but she didn't want us to have to wait on the check if we were in any hurry.  Great service, great food, and she got a 25 percent tip for her efforts.

We all know that servers are paid very low hourly wages and must depend on tips for their primary source of income.  So the question I have is why doesn't every server offer the kind of service that would generate great tips?  I'm sure the server in the first restaurant returned to the kitchen complaining about the jerk who gave her an 80 cent tip and never once asked herself why.  I also bet the server in the second restaurant could have explained it to her:  when you provide great service you receive great rewards.

Small businesses can learn a lot from servers because in many ways a server in a restaurant is a small business owner.  He or she is selling their services for a fee.  Poor servers had better learn to live on very little because that will be all they'll get for their lack of service.  Good servers will earn a good rate of return for their efforts, and great servers will do very well for themselves.  This is true for any business.

You can learn more about the importance of good customer service in my e-book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that will Close Your Small Business.  For only $4.99 it might be the best investment you will make in your business this year.

Some stores just don't get it

A few days ago my wife and I went to a local store to buy some items.  We found what we were looking for and went to the counter to pay for our purchases.  The clerk took my check for $240.00 and ran it through their approval system.  In a moment her machine spit out a ticket that said the check was for too much money.  She called a manager who said she seemed to remember something that said they couldn't take a check for more than $200.00.  At that point we picked up our check off the counter and walked out of the store tearing up the check as we left.  I told the manager that was one of the dumbest policies I had ever heard of and she responded that it wasn't their fault.  We went to another store in the same shopping center and purchased the items we wanted, and for less money.

When I came home I sent an e-mail to the company's main office describing our experience.  I told them what I told the manager, that was a dumb policy.  At a time when retail stores need to find ways to attract customers and make their buying easier and more enjoyable, this company decided to make it difficult for their customers to do business with them.  Not surprisingly, nearly a week later the company has not responded to my complaint.

Like many retail stores, this company spends a lot of money on advertising, and many of their products have been marked down to sell.  Why bother?  Why spend the money to get people into the store when store policies make it difficult for them to give the company their money?

Maybe I'm just more sensitive to this problem because when I had a business many of our policies weren't particularly consumer-friendly.  In fact, I included an entire chapter about that mistake in my book Mistakes: Avoiding the Wrong Decisions that Will Close Your Small Business.  Our hours were for the convenience of our employees, not our customers.  For many years we continued the practice of previous owners in not offering credit card options for payment.  We did not offer a wide enough selection of products from which our customers could choose.  The book covers these issues and others. 

I learned from those mistakes, but many small businesses still have not.  The store that had a limit on the size of check is one of a small chain that is unlikely to get much bigger if they do not change their policies and become more consumer-friendly.  And to be so arrogant as to not even respond back to a complaint from a customer is an even greater mistake than the check limit.

How long has it been since you've reviewed your customer service policies?  Do they make it easier for your customers to do business with your company or harder?  Are they easily understood by both employee and customers alike?  How do you view customer complaints?  Are they recognized as being the potential benefit to your company that they are, or are they a nuisance that wastes valuable time?  Does your company have a policy that requires that every complaint be answered within 24 hours?

This extended recession has helped close the doors of many small businesses.  In my opinion, if and when this recession ever ends, small businesses will continue to struggle to be profitable.  The ones who succeed will be the ones that have made it easy for people to do business with them.  Those that struggle, and perhaps eventually close, will point their fingers at any number of problems, but most of those fingers won't be pointing at their own store policies that doomed their businesses.  These will be the stores that just never understood the importance of customer service.  They just never got it.

Showcase your talents

In my last post I discussed the challenges of getting started in a new business.  Advertising and networking are only two ways to get your name out.  While both are important, a third way should not be overlooked.  Showcase your talent while working with others in your field.  This may not be possible for everyone, but for some entrepreneurs this can be a very effective way of demonstrating your talents while learning on-the-job skills.

Since getting my auctioneer's license I have worked for three different auctioneers in the area.  All of these are future competitors, and they realize that, but they are also willing to let me showcase my abilities on their stage.  One of the principle auctioneers in our area allows me to work the ring for him and do about an hour's worth of bid-calling at each auction.  I receive no pay for this work, but I am getting great emperience in a real-world setting, and he introduces me at each auction as a new auctioneer so people know that I am open for business.  He has also hired me for an up-coming large auction he has scheduled.  Another primary auctioneer in our area has hired me for two auctions.  At one I was a ringman and at the other I was the cashier.  I had never done cashier work outside of auctioneer school so this was an opportunity to learn how to deal with the challenges of this aspect of the business.  An auction house recently opened in our area, and they've asked me to do help work their ring and I've done bid-calling there once.  They recently gave me a lead on an individual who contacted them wanting to sell some merchandise.  When I went to view it and talk with this individual she indicated she was now thinking of selling everything at auction.  I went back to the owners of this auction house, told them she was considering an auction, and asked them to contact her.  They told me to take the auction if I wanted, but I didn't feel that was fair to them and said I would be more comfortable if they signed it.  I didn't think it would be right to get a lead from them for one thing and then take away an auction from them in the process. 

Each of these are potential competitors, and the time will come when we will compete for people's business, but they are also colleagues.  I have good relationships with each of these people, and they know I will be fair in my dealings with them.  Because of that they are willing to give me a platform on which I can both showcase my abilities and hone my craft.

Depending on the business you want to start, this can be a great way for you to be real-world experience and show people what you can do.  That experience is worth more than a few dollars so don't think you have to be paid for that work.  I've done charity auctions and worked for free for other auctioneers, and I look at it as an investment in my future success in this business.  If you find people who are willing to help you in this manner be sure to give them your best efforts and be fair in your dealings with them.  And, in the future when you are successful, don't forget those who helped you and pass it on to someone else starting out.

Getting your name out

One of the challenges of starting a new business is getting your name out in the community.  You can purchase newspaper ads, but many people, especially younger people no longer read the newspaper.  Social media is good, but it is limited by the number of people you have in your networks and how willing they are to pass your information on to their networks.  Perhaps, one of the best ways of getting started is taking advantage of opportunities to network with others and tell them the story of your business.

It is difficult to crack into the auctioneer business in my area.  There are about 4-5 auctioneers who do that vast majority of auctions and dozens of other auctioneers ready to scoop up the remainder of the auctions.  I've ran ads in all of the newspapers in the surrounding counties and numerous people have told me they've seen those ads.  Unfortunately, none of them have resulted in any business.

Last night I had the opportunity to showcase my auction skills in front of about 100 people as I did a charity auction for a church.  They were having a dessert auction to raise money for the youth camp many churches use each summer.  In about one hour we had raised over $1,400.00 and had a lot of fun doing so.  People who had known me in one role had the chance to see me in a different role.  Of course, my hope is that if they need the services of an auctioneer they will give me a call.

A couple of months ago a friend asked me to speak at their local Rotary meeting about my reasons for becoming an auctioneer and the process it takes.  A couple of dozen business leaders were in attendance, and my friend told me later that my message was very well received.

These types of events are much more personal that anything else you can do.  It gives you the opportunity to meet people, learn their names, pass out business cards, and make a connection that can't be done through any other marketing you may do.  Too many people starting a new business put up a sign, sit by the phone, and wonder why it never rings.  You've got to go to the people; not wait for them to come to you.  You need a compelling story to tell them about your company, why you started it, and what value it will bring to those who use your business.  Quite frankly, that often takes time so it's important that you take a long-term perspective.

I always caution people to not quit their day job until their new business really takes off.  Regardless of how good your product or service is, it will likely take people some time to discover you, and you need a stable income to provide for your family.  I have a good position so I can be comfortable waiting until the auction business takes off.  If I never do an auction it won't impact our way of life, and that is a very good position to be in.  No worries.  No fear.  I can afford to network, do charity events, and get my name out to the public, and I'm confident that eventually this will lead to a growing auction business.

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.