Small Business Success | Small Business Mentoring

By Maynard Brusman

We are all trying to understand and cope with the enormous changes in our work and personal lives. Mostly we react in a positive and productive manner. However, many people are describing their lives as so busy, working so many hours, trying to balance work and personal lives that we often feel physically and emotionally exhausted.

I work as a consulting psychologist and executive/career coach specializing in helping leaders and lawyers with work- related problems. Let me tell you a brief story about a company leader I helped with a career transition.

Steve was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at a San Francisco Bay Area financial institution. He was seen as a high potential during his initial years at the company. Steve was referred by the Director of Human Resources for career coaching. Several employees had given 360 degree feedback that Steve was arrogant and often condescending to others contributing to a negative work climate. Steve’s behavior was causing a morale program at work. They described the CFO as being critical and demanding. The culture of the company valued openness and collaboration. The company truly valued Steve and wanted him to be happy whether at this job or whatever he might choose to pursue.

At our first coaching meeting, Steve appeared to be fatigued, de-moralized, dispirited, sleep-deprived, and burned out. He described himself poignantly… “My soul was asleep on the job”. As we explored his situation, Steve related how the company had been through two mergers. There was the imminent possibility of another downsizing (euphemism for firing people). Steve as well as the other “survivors” was overloaded with work. He had resisted most of the changes, lacked motivation and his feelings were all “bottled up”. Steve was frankly not fully engaged. As I got to know Steve better, it became apparent that he had some good leadership skills, but was unhappy in his work resulting in making coworkers miserable.

Steve’s stated goal was to improve his emotional intelligence and discover work that he loved. The best way to build a healthy personality involves understanding yourself and your emotions. He wanted to become more engaged at work, but eventually to transition into a new career.

The client brainstormed various options on how he could achieve his goals. He asked if I could recommend an article on emotional intelligence and agreed to take the BarOn EQ-i emotional intelligence assessment. Steve scored low in self-awareness, happiness and stress tolerance. Our initial work focused on Steve discovering a better sense of self including his core values and identity.

Our career coaching work together transitioned into Steve learning how to delegate and collaborate with others as a way of building relationships and establishing trust. Considering the work overload, Steve felt it was important for him to learn to prioritize work based on what was truly important. We began to talk about his values and interests and possible career options.

The client discussed the obstacles that might arise in terms of his resistance to change. We worked on Steve challenging his negative thinking about change which was the major obstacle getting in his way.

I coached Steve by role playing how the obstacles, in this case negative thinking could be managed. He learned to challenge his limiting belief by asking himself “Is it true that I am stuck and have no options”? Steve learned to focus his energy on what he could control and to live in the present moment. I asked him what he would like to end (corporate job) and explored future possibilities. Most importantly we focused on Steve discovering a sense of purpose…what was truly important to him. Who am I and what are my core values? What is most meaningful in my life? What am I trying to do with my life? .Do I feel fulfilled in my life? Do I use my talents to the fullest extent? Am I realizing my dreams?

As I got to know Steve better, I discovered that Steve’s real childhood love was art. And that he had gotten into finance in his 20’s as a way of making a living when he first moved to the Bay Area.

Steve created the following homework exercises that would help him develop his emotional intelligence and create the self-insight needed for a career transition. He agreed to begin the following week.

1. Practice mindfulness meditation.

2. Write in my journal.

3. Read Victor Frankel’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Po Bronson’s “What Should I Do with My

Life”, and “Work With Passion” by Nancy Anderson.

After a few months of career coaching, the client had gained sufficient self-awareness and was more open to change. Steve decided to do something pretty dramatic. Steve told me he was taking a vacation and going to Costa Rica to surf! I was surprised that he was passionate about surfing as it seemed out of character. Upon his return, he told me how he had come upon the idea of starting a business designing surfboards! What wonderful synergy of taking action, tapping into his essence – the love of art and creating an entrepreneurial business of his own. Finally, he was leveraging his considerable strengths of resourcefulness, love of adventure and creativity.

Steve continued to work for the company, but with a new sense of commitment. He was much more positive and happy. 360-degree feedback from co-workers indicated that he had developed more collaborative work relationships. He continued to work part-time on his decorating surfboards business with the goal to transition into his own business in a couple of years and move to Costa Rica. 

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Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.

We provide strategic talent management solutions to select and develop emotionally intelligent leaders and lawyers.

The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.

Dr. Maynard Brusman

Working Resources

P.O. Box 471525 San Francisco, California 94147-1525

Tel: 415-546-1252 Fax: 415-721-7322

E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com

By Maynard Brusman

Creating Opportunity in Uncertain Times

Are you working in a company or law firm where your Human Resources Department hires executive coaches to help high potentials develop their leadership capability? Does your Human Resources Department currently have sufficient resources to offer employees essential training and development programs?

One of the most powerful questions you can ask is “Are leaders receiving the coaching help they need to stretch their inherent capabilities?” Emotionally intelligent and socially intelligent leaders provide leadership coaching and leadership development programs for their best and brightest.

Crisis or Opportunity?

The upside of a financial crisis and recession is that they offer all of us the opportunity to stretch our skills in our current jobs-and I mean everyone. That means you. But you already know you’re being stretched, don’t you? You feel it. The question is, how are you going to welcome your own particular crises and use them to benefit your personal and professional development?

Managers often redirect people’s careers based on insufficient evidence that they have talent (or lack thereof). Unfortunately, we don’t give ourselves the same opportunity. We’ll try something new, and if it doesn’t come naturally or we don’t immediately excel, we conclude we have no talent for it. We often don’t give ourselves the time and effort it takes to establish new behaviors.

We abandon pursuit. We never give ourselves the chance to practice and make progress. We don’t like the feeling of discomfort that comes from doing something poorly, so we don’t hang in there. Scientific evidence, however, is beginning to show that our definition of talent is wrong. In fact, “talent” may not mean anything at all.

In studies of accomplished individuals, researchers have found few signs of precocious achievement before their subjects began intensive training. Similar findings have turned up in studies of musicians, tennis players, artists, swimmers, mathematicians and chess players. Accomplished athletes and artists get better by developing a strong work ethic and putting in hours of hard work to improve their skills.

Leaders at all levels can get better by getting out of their comfort zone and be willing to make mistakes as they learn and grow. Nothing can replace a lot of hard work and stickiness to achieve success in new endeavors.

Working with a seasoned executive coach trained in emotional intelligence and incorporating leadership assessments such as the Bar-On EQ-i and CPI 260 can help company leaders develop top talent. You can become a leader who models emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and who inspires people to become fully engaged with the vision and mission of your company or law firm.

Subscribe to Working Resources FREE electronic newsletter at http://www.workingresources.com

Visit Maynard’s Blog at http://www.WorkingResourcesBlog.com

Dr. Maynard Brusman is a consulting psychologist, executive coach and trusted advisor to senior leadership teams.

The Society for Advancement of Consulting (SAC) awarded two rare Board Approved designations for Dr. Maynard Brusman in the specialties of Executive Leadership Coaching and Trusted Advisor to Attorneys and Law Firms.

Dr. Maynard Brusman
Working Resources
Tel: 415-546-1252
E-mail: mbrusman@workingresources.com

By Rick Johnson

The state of the economy is a fact. How you feel about that fact and what it means to you personally is a belief. Your beliefs have a major impact on your employee’s attitude. Beliefs that drive your sales behaviors are the keys to becoming successful in a down economy. If you believe that this economic crisis can provide you with opportunities than your attitude will drive the behavior of your employees.

Sales Belief

One sales person might believe that a “bad” economy means it’s going to be harder to make a sale. “It’s just not possible to hit my numbers when the economy sucks.”

Another sales person might believe that a “bad” economy means you can now win lots more business. “I am a good sales person and I am prepared for this downturn. We have quality value propositions coupled with our ability to reach out – network and build customer relationships is far superior to the competition that generally only has price going for them. I know I can take business from the competition”

So, ask yourself these questions.

What Do Your Sales People Believe? What Do You Believe?

Is Your Glass ½ Full or ½ Empty?

If you believe the glass is ½ Full, then you believe there is a window of opportunity built on the following foundation.

• Distribution market share growth normally occurs in the down cycle

• High unemployment creates opportunities for the upgrade and recruitment of quality people from competition-

• Cost containment means trimming the fat from the “Top Down” – NOT the bottom up

• You take the “Smell the Blood approach”

• Taking advantage of vendor discounts and special promotions because inventory management has always been one of your core competencies and you are now in a position to capitalize on it.

• Refocus on customer service

• Refocus on best practice

If you believe the glass is ½ Empty, then you have adopted an attitude that may demonstrate fear, panic and confusion. Your leadership model becomes one of panic response management built on the following foundation.

• We must fight to keep from losing customers – cut prices

• We need to cut cost and the quickest way is a reduction in force (RIF)

• Cut expenses to the bone “Bottom Up”

• We must “Stop the Bleeding” which includes RIF

• Cut commissions

• Sell off inventory

• Reduce services

• During economic turbulence judgment can become cloudy and you can confuse personal needs with business needs. This means you put your personal wealth and objectives ahead of the business needs and objectives. This is a major mistake.

Attitude

This is Not the Time to Panic. Yes, there are economic problems, but there are also opportunities! Leadership during these tough economic times is about not panicking, and that’s exactly the message I want to get across… don’t panic! Panic causes knee jerk reactions, and they’re rarely correct. This Economic Panic that could be caused by “Media Sensationalism” can create a knee jerk reaction that negates effective leadership.

Panic Creates Fear —– & Fear

• Paralyzes Potential

• Ruins Relationships

• Sabotages Success

• Inhibits Initiative

• Circumvents Creativity

• Promotes Poor Productivity

We must understand the difference between panic and caution.

Panic – (noun) a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause that produces hysterical or irrational behavior that often spreads.

Caution – (noun) a prudent forethought to minimize risk: a warning, a precaution.

Deliberate Leadership, clear thinking and solid strategies leads to success in any economy. Panic leads to failure. As leaders we need to be deliberate, thoughtful, and take the actions necessary to stabilize the future of our individual businesses.

The Pygmalion Effect

The wrong attitude can create a Self fulfilling Prophecy. It’s called the Pygmalion Effect. You Must Believe in Yourself. You must believe in your own ability, the ability of your team. You must have the will to succeed even though times are tough. You must openly demonstrate the desire to succeed. Look inwardly at your own thoughts. Thoughts are powerful as they shape your attitude and your attitude shapes your beliefs which control your actions. Hard work is a direct expression of your beliefs. Effective leaders fall back on the five basic principles of success.

1. Commitment with a passion — Leaders must demonstrate a commitment for success that leaves no doubt in the minds of their employees.

2. Realization that “You don’t have to have all the answers. Seeking input from employees and openly discussing ideas and strategies is the best way to demonstrate a confidence in the team you have and the employees that will execute your vision.

3. Empowerment & Delegation

Delegation is the handing of a task over to another person, usually a subordinate. It is the assignment of authority and responsibility to another person to carry out specific activities. It allows a subordinate to make decisions, i.e. it is a shift of decision-making authority from one organizational level to a lower one. Delegation, if properly done, is not abdication. The opposite of effective delegation is micromanagement, where a manager provides too much input, direction and review of ‘delegated’ work.

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capabilities. In the sphere of management and organizational theory, “empowerment” often refers loosely to processes for giving subordinates (or workers generally) greater discretion and resources: distributing control in order to better serve both customers and the interests of the company.

4. Employees are the most precious asset — This means you must walk the walk and invest in employee development and employee training even more during tough economic times. Employees are the profit and success creators of every organization.

5. Communicate intentionally & effectively following these ten tips.

• “Manage by Walking Around”. Get out and meet your people, talk to them, show an interest in them and in the job they are doing for you. This includes everyone from the forklift driver to your Vice President of sales. Everyone likes to know they are appreciated.

• Eliminate unproductive – unnecessary lengthy meetings. I know a CEO that refuses to allow chairs in the conference room. All meetings are held standing up. I don’t believe there is a company that exists that can’t do a better job making their meetings more productive.

• Written communication should be precise and clear. Don’t write like you are a journalist for USA today. Avoid excessive and lengthy diatribes that become confusing.

• Create flexibility in your organization structure. Rigid organization charts that are too restrictive can get in the way of getting the job done. job functions and descriptions must have clarity but don’t make them so restrictive and detailed that cross functional inter action, support and cooperation is limited.

• Open your ears and your heart. Learn to listen more effectively. That means becoming disciplined at not interrupting. You might be amazed at what employees will tell you if you just listen. You might be amazed at what employees can do for you and the company if you just let them.

• Constructive feedback can be helpful. Don’t criticize the messenger. Frank opinions can be helpful if we allow our ego to get out of the way.

• Put a filter between your brain and your lips. A passing comment that seems frivolous to you could devastate your entire staff and you may never hear about it. Think before you react spontaneously. Don’t say what you think they want to hear and remember; even the simplest or dumbest complaint to you is serious to the one expressing it. Be sensitive to the environment, the values and the culture of the person or persons you are communicating with.

• Don’t build a kingdom on the backs of your employees. If economic times dictate cutbacks, layoffs and expense control… Start at the top. Share the pain. Look at corporate overhead, perks and fringe benefits of management and the executive staff. Consider a pay cut at the executive level.

• Keep your hand on the pulse of your business environment. Make sure you are well informed on the external and the internal environment of your business. Network with industry colleagues. Benchmark friendly competitors or businesses outside your region. Stay close to the communication channel of your vendors.

• Make sure you have a definitive focus on employee training and development. This must always carry a priority. Make sure your orientation program for new employees is continuously updated. The first sixty days is critical to retention. Communicate the company’s value effectively.

Today’s Reality

Unemployment expected to reach 10%, Consumer spending is falling like a rock and it represents seventy percent of our economy. Recovery could take two years — so…….Don’t count on the government bailout to fix things. Seek New Ways to Improve

If you are like most people, you are content with the status quo until something disturbs it. You should be constantly re-evaluating not just your sales plans, but all of your business strategies including policies, pricing, and employee performance. The idea is to eventually be as efficient and effective as possible so your company runs smoothly and profitably. Look closely at your competitors. Talk to business leaders you respect. Read business management books. Experiment; solicit feedback from your workers and customers. By doing several of these things you will accumulate a wealth of knowledge and experience crucial to the survival of your business.

Take Advantage of the “Window of Opportunity”

In a practical sense, what this means is that you view this time as providing you a unique window of opportunity to cut the non-profitable elements of your sales and marketing system away, to pare down to a dedicated and competent core, to sharpen the focus of every element of your system, and then to expand your market share so that you can weather the hard times and be stronger when the economy inevitably turns.

Evaluate your markets. Over the past few years have you stretched into markets which are not profitable? Are they unprofitably siphoning time and talent that could be more effectively focused on your core markets?

Evaluate your customers. The same approach applies here. You are probably losing money on half of your customers. Get tough, prioritize and target your accounts based on the stability and likely growth of their business

Carefully and methodically exam each piece of your structure. Look at this temporary economic downturn as a window of opportunity to jettison some of the policies and procedures that are vestiges of the past, and reconfigure your system for the next wave of future growth. Look at your inside sales department, customer service staff, marketing and sales administration, etc., with the point of view of reducing the unprofitable and focusing on the profitable.

Focus on gaining market share. Approach your good customers with sole source proposals. Capture the business and lock it up by forming long-term contractual relationships with those customers who are solid and supportive.

Finally, keep your antenna sensitive to the opportunities to add key salespeople, managers and executives. Many of your competitors will struggle to stay in business. Some good people will become available. The pool of available talent will swell. Look for opportunities to upgrade your personnel by picking off proven talent when it becomes available.

Turn Your Vision into a Cause

“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them”. If you aren’t a visionary —- hire one —- more importantly — turn your Vision into a Cause. I wonder how many of you remember the movie “Rebel without a Cause”. Rebel Without a Cause is a 1955 film directed by Nicholas Ray that tells the story of a rebellious teenager played by James Dean. In this movie James Dean played the part of a rebel but he had no cause that could provide direction, guidance or an ethic to get him on the straight and narrow path; the path to success.

Paradoxically to Dean in this movie, every effective leader I have ever known has had a vision. But, having a vision alone does not make you an effective leader. In fact there are hundreds of “Unsuccessful “companies and “Ineffective” leaders that have Vision Statements posted on their web sites, in their brochures and even posted in their lobbies. A Vision without a Cause? You see, almost anyone can have a vision but if you have a “vision without a cause” you are just a dreamer. Let me repeat that — “A vision without a cause” simply makes you a dreamer. I have known plenty of dreamers in my lifetime whose ship never has and never will come in. One thing I know for sure — If your ship misses the harbor — it’s generally NOT the harbors fault.

http://www.ceostrategist.com – Sign up to receive “The Howl” a free monthly newsletter that addresses real world industry issues. – Straight talk about today’s issues. Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution’s “Leadership Strategist”, founder of CEO Strategist, LLC a firm that helps clients create and maintain competitive advantage. Need a speaker for your next event, E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business. E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com for your special Howl discount order form. Get the CEO Strategist Interview Guide and Conducting an Effective Sales Training Session Guide just for signing up for “The Howl”. Don’t forget to check out the Lead Wolf Series that can help you put more profit into your business. E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com for your special Howl discount order form.