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Category: Entrepreneurship

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Entrepreneurship Management Marketing Personal Development

Strategy and Strategic Thinking

When starting or expanding a business, having a strategy is important. A strategy is simply an action plan. It may be as simple as how will I get my first paying customer or how will I / we penetrate a new market with an existing or new product or service.

To develop a strategy – you need to continually get better at strategic thinking. This simply means how does your community, region, state and the country perceive your product or service. What’s in the news – real or fake – what are people believing and talking about? Understand what is going on around you. Then decide if you want to join in the flow or you want to “go against the grain”. Strategic thinking is what you will build your strategy or action plan around.

Learn for many sources. Ian Bremmer is a great source to learn about global issues, Tom Friedmann has his finger on the pulse of world and the United States politically and culturally, Mark Sanborn helps you become a better leader, NPR delivers great news updates and Ari Weinzweig is the best in the world at helping you develop a vision for your future. And, of course choose your own industry information sources. All this will help you to join in the flow with your startup or business expansion, or to decide to stand out from the competition by going against the tide.

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Personal Development

7 Ways Entrepreneurship Can Be Incorporated into Your Company Culture

Company culture is the foundation of relevancy for your business. A positive company culture fosters creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and imagination. Changing your company culture is not easy, but the benefits speak for themselves.

While building Barefoot Wine into a bestselling brand, we relied on seven steps to build a positive company culture:

  1. Remove Roadblocks: Structure can be limiting. If an employee’s great idea has to pass through more than one pair of hands, they can become discouraged and may even lose recognition for their work. At Barefoot, employees were able to present their ideas directly to management, avoiding unnecessary compliance processes.
  2. Acknowledge: When creative, thorough, and efficient work is recognized publicly, all of your employees are more likely to respect others as team players. On every employee’s work anniversary with Barefoot, we sent out a memo that outlined their accomplishments during their last year. Recognizing employees’ efforts sends a message that good work does not go unnoticed.
  3. Have Fun: Vendors, employees, and consumers alike all want to do business with fun people. Going along with the Barefoot brand, Michael was “Head Stomper” and CEO; Bonnie’s title was “Original Foot” since her foot was on the label. Doug McCorkle was our Controller and “The Cork”—because who else but our Controller would put a stop to it? A fun environment allows creativity to flourish.
  4. Make Mistakes Write: Don’t just make your mistakes right—make them write! Mistakes happen. Establish a culture that embraces this, as long as all of the blunders are identified. Allow any mistake to be an opportunity to put processes in place that will prevent it from happening again. Identify which documents need to be updated for the future, whether that’s a checklist, a new procedure, or a new policy. Establish a culture of permission—a culture that says, “Be creative and make mistakes as long as you hold yourself accountable.”
  5. Have a Two-Division Company: What set Barefoot apart was having two divisions, compared to a vertical structure with the CEO at the top and numerous departments on the bottom. We had Sales and Sales Support. That’s it! Product development, marketing, accounting, and the CEO were all part of the Sales Support division. If your company is all about the consumer experience, sales should be on top with everyone else supporting sales. Think of where your company would be without sales—it wouldn’t be!
  6. Pay for Performance: Paying your employees right will not only keep them there—it will keep them motivated. We established our pay structure with teamwork in mind. Since our employees’ bonuses and employer’s contribution to their 401k were partially reliant on performance, they were determined to excel, and to encourage their teammates to do the same.
  7. The Money Map: Set the precedent for your employees right when they start. We distributed an infographic that showed exactly how the money traveled from the consumer’s pockets into their In that moment, the sales process became transparent to the employee, and the stage was set for a positive sales culture.

Making changes to company culture starts at the top and radiates through the rest of the company. So, take a look at your management’s attitude toward everything from pay, to making mistakes, to having fun, and you will soon see where the changes are necessary.

For more, read on: http://csnetworkadvis.staging.wpengine.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

 

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Entrepreneurship Management Personal Development Women In Business

Good Times or Bad – You’re Still the CEO

Good Times or Bad…You are Still the CEO

Imagine coming home after a long day at the office as a mid-level manager in a small busy company. You are one of 175 employees, and it is hump day – the week is half over. Work is stressful and you are looking forward to decompressing. You stand in the entry of your home totally stunned by the notice in your hand. Your bank has sent a notice that the paycheck you deposited in the bank on Friday has bounced. What would you think or do?  In a company with a consistent degree of transparency this might be annoying but not a surprise. Your CEO may have warned you that times were rocky. You might be asked to reduce your salary but because of your belief in the company’s cause and your contribution to a cure, you stay the course. You believe.

In another home just down the street a different scenario is at play. Another bounced check another manager but the reaction is different. This manager had no idea what was happening behind closed doors. His imagination started running rampant and he is getting angrier by the minute. He goes to the phone and calls one person after another to vent and check if their checks bounced too. He goes to his computer and resignedly finds his last resume. He has had it!

Which type of CEO are you?  Not all CEOs are created equal. Some are hired guns others are the genius who came up with some bright idea in the first place. Some CEOs, the ones we usually hear about, are public CEOs whose high incomes are reported in good times and bad times.

There are many challenges that keep a CEO up at night.  As a CEO or C- Suite member you always have a choice of whether to be proactive or reactive.  What’s your plan?

 

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Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management News and Politics Personal Development Taxes

What I’m Thinking

I’m concerned with Inequality. Chuck Collins, great grandson of Chicago meat packer Oscar Mayer has been a great teacher for me. Too many of us only read and listen to Twitter feeds, or the talking heads on radio and TV and never really understand the economics, let alone the human dignity involved in racial, gender, and income inequality. Chuck’s book is “Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good”. Great read. Bill Gates, Sr. is part of the story.

As an executive coach, business consultant and business journalist I work hard to help my clients and Business Builders Show subscribers to go deeper on the issues they face today and will face tomorrow. I recommend they go beneath the headlines to understand what’s really happening in our system of governing. For instance – do you really understand the Estate Tax?

Click here to listen to my latest interviews with Chuck Collins. You can follow him at www.inequality.org.

Love to hear your feedback.

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

You May Not Be As Influential As You Think You Are – 4 Steps to Increase Your Self-Awareness

Click here to watch You May Not Be As Influential As You Think You Are – 4 Steps to Increase Your Self-Awareness

Have you ever given thought as to how your communication may be sabotaging your influence without you even knowing it?

Most leaders haven’t given thought to this question, much less taken the steps to increase their awareness of how their listeners hear and see them rather than what they believe to be true.  That is why self-awareness is the first step to greater influence Monday to Monday®.

To enhance your influence, you need to evaluate your communication based on facts, not feelings. You need to get to the heart of what is really going on by experiencing your communication through the eyes and ears of your listeners and readers.

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Entrepreneurship Management Personal Development Women In Business

Discovering Your "Why" Is An Inside Job

Discovering Your “Why” Is an Inside Job

Does the thought of your company becoming extinct keep you up at night?

Do you wonder how to motivate and keep your people engaged and focused?

The answer to the challenges that keep leaders anxious is in having a simple but highly effective business tool – know what you stand for. Know your “WHY”. The concept is simple; understand, accept and articulate your own purpose and that of your enterprise.

The path to discovering your Why begins with “I”. It is a reflective process and requires self-examination of your belief systems and where they originated. The clues are easily found. They are in the stories you tell about your life. They could be moments that deeply affected you in your childhood or in your school years.

Many years ago I was coaching a wonderful young doctor.  I asked him to share his challenges and successes from the age of 21. As I listened to the peaks and valleys of his life I suddenly felt I was missing something in how he formed his decisions. I asked f anything significant had happened earlier in his life that guided his decision making. His response changed the way I asked the question forever after – he told me that his father took his own life when he was 19. Now I ask YOU, wouldn’t that change how you behaved and how you would make decisions with such a traumatic event influencing your thinking? That story was a big clue to finding his Why.

Influences don’t have to be traumatic but they are usually formed by young minds. Examining the stories that you tell your friends, your children, or your employees is therefore the logical place to begin to discover you Why, your purpose for existence.

You may wonder how your personal Why can then relate to that of your business. When you are authentic and passionate about what you do, you will find that they are in complete alignment. People will follow you, not because they have to but because they want to. You will attract those people whose beliefs are in alignment with you.

The bottom line is that in communicating internally or externally everything you say and do will be better served through the filter of your Why.

 

 

 

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Personal Development

The Value of Reading Body Language to Gain Influence in Negotiations

“The value of reading body language is like possessing the keys of influence to unlock someone’s mind, by gaining unguarded access to their hidden thoughts.” –Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

www.TheMasterNegotiator.com

You can gain the value of influence in negotiations by reading body language accurately.

Momma told me not to run. Don’t move too quickly! You might miss something right in front of you. No, that’s not an oxymoron. Such were the wise words then and now related to the value of reading body language to gain insight and influence in negotiations.

Take the following insight I gained from my mother on just that topic.

I recall a time when I was 17; I’d saved my money to buy an advertised car I saw at a dealership. My mother and I went to the dealership only to find out that the car had just been sold. The salesperson said ‘not to worry’, as he showed us another car; it cost slightly more than the original car that was advertised.

My mother attempted to get a lower price for the car, but the salesperson only budged a little and wouldn’t go any lower after that. He said that was his best price. After sparring in several negotiation sessions after that, my mother got up to leave; I was dejected, dispirited, and disappointed at not getting a car, and it showed on my face. The salesperson looked at my face and said to my mother, “You don’t want to disappoint your son, do you?” To which my mother replied, “You’d be the one disappointing him. He came here on good faith to buy the car you advertised. Now, you’re telling us the car was just sold (defiant look of disbelief). How does that sound to you? Would you want someone to do that to your son or daughter?” The salesperson replied, with a fallen-face, “You can have the car at the same price as the one advertised.”

Is was at that moment that I observed the effect that body language could have on a negotiation, along with how to utilize a negotiation strategy based on the body language being discussed. With one-fell-swoop, my mother turned the body language strategy the salesperson attempted to use on us (i.e. my sadness/disappointment) against him and into one of reflection. She did so by invoking fairness when she asked the salesperson if he’d like that dejected feeling I was displaying thrust upon one of his kids. She went deeper into his emotional psyche when she implied, with added emphasis via her body language, the disbelief she possessed that the advertised car had just been sold. Note that she didn’t confront him by saying so, she let her body language speak for her.

From the time two people shake hands at the start of a negotiation, they’re negotiating. Actually, they started negotiating before they reached the formal negotiation via any communications they’ve had. That occurs even if it was in the form of one person gathering information about the other and developing strategies based on what was gleaned.

If you wish to gain influence in your negotiations, learn to read body language more accurately. You see and sense the appropriate times to employ negotiation strategies, based on the body language signals you see. Once you add reading body language to your negotiation rapport, you’ll become a more dynamic negotiator … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Personal Development Women In Business

Avoiding "Death by PowerPoint"

Avoiding “Death By PowerPoint” in 3 Easy Steps   

“Death by PowerPoint…” This expression is so common that it has practically become a household phrase. PowerPoint… “the deck…” slides… no matter what you call it (or what software you actually use), you probably have a love-hate relationship with it. You understand its importance, but typically, slides are unpleasant to look at, dense and confusing, and distract the audience from whatever the speaker is saying.

But the bigger problem is that, arguably, “death by PowerPoint” is actually a two-part crime; a “murder-suicide,” so to speak. Because in the process, you are boring the audience to death, and killing your own success and reputation at the same time.

So short of abandoning visuals altogether, what’s the solution?

Here are three quick and easy suggestions for how to use slides as an enhancement tool rather than a crutch, to maximize audience engagement, and enhance your reputation as a great public speaker.

  1. Follow the “5×5 Rule”

The point of this rule is to limit the amount of information on any given slide: maximum 5 bullets per slide, with a maximum of 5 words per bullet. This gives you about 25 words per slide, but the 5×5 parameters are an average. You could just as easily have three bullets with eight words, or six bullets averaging 4 words apiece.

This forces you to include nothing but the most critical keywords in your text. So instead of seeing this:

  • As of January 1, 2018, all new vendors will be required to submit appropriate vendor pre-qualification forms before payment processing can begin

your audience would only see this:

  • 1/1/18 – Vendor pre-qualification forms required.

Your original bullet with all of its explanation is what you can use as your talking points. The audience gets the gist from what they briefly scan, then they turn to you for additional information, making you “the expert” rather than just “the soundtrack.”

  1. Sometimes MORE slides ARE better

There’s a commonly-held belief that it’s best to limit the number of slides in your deck. If your slides all look like a page out of the New York Times, then yes, please have the minimal courtesy of having as few of these as possible. But that’s setting the bar really low.

Instead, think of it this way: Rather than have one slide with five bullets on it, requiring you to spend 10 minutes on that single slide, consider giving each point its own slide. Address the single point on each slide using the same minute or two you otherwise would have, and then click to the next slide, and the next.

Doing it this way has two key benefits: First, the frequent slide changes add visual interest and help to maintain people’s attention. Second, the audience is only focusing on the exact point you’re discussing; nothing more, nothing less. That helps them focus their attention and process your message more easily, while also significantly increasing your opportunity to connect with them.

  1. Use a “visual bullseye” 

Sometimes you have to show something that is visually complicated like a spreadsheet, decision tree or process diagram. In these situations try highlighting whatever component you are talking about, letting a yellow arrow pop up and point to it, or a red circle surround it. This draws people’s attention directly to it like a bullseye, and temporarily ignore everything else that surrounds it. Then the arrow or circle can move around the slide with you as you address different components.

Remember that your core job as presenter is to make it as easy as possible for the audience to just “get it.” These simple tips are an easy way to ensure that the audience gets the fullest value from the experience.

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Do you have other questions or feedback about how to present with maximum impact? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss it with me personally!

 

 

 

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing News and Politics Personal Development Women In Business

How to Read Body Language to Negotiate Effectively

“The better you read body language, the better you’ll be at understanding someone’s mind.” –Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert.

 

“How To Read Body Language To Negotiate More Effectively”

When you negotiate do you know how to read body language? When you read body language, do you know what to observe?

The following are some examples of body language signs you can observe to negotiate more effectively.

  1. Forehead Wrinkles – When someone displays a wrinkled forehead (unnatural wrinkles) it’s a sign of stress. Thus, the absence of wrinkles is a sign of calm and easygoingness.
  2. Eyes (wide opened versus closed and narrow) – Wide-eyes indicate someone’s attentiveness, interest, and open-mindedness. A narrowing of the eyes signals a higher degree of focus on the subject, which is usually accompanied with a furled brow/forehead.
  3. Smile – A genuine smile is denoted by turned up corners of the lips.
  4. Hand movements – Hand movements give insight into the mental thoughts you’re experiencing at the moment the hand gestures are made. Thus, open hand gestures are usually displayed when someone is not fearful. When hand gestures become closed (i.e. kept close to the body, rubbing each other, rubbing other parts of the body), that’s more of a mental display of being guarded, anxious, and/or cautious. When you see such actions in others, take note of what might have brought about a change from open to close. In situations in which you seek to impress others, keep hand gestures more in an open mode and don’t make gestures that might be perceived as manic, indecisive, and/or not in rhythm with the words you speak. Doing so will detract subliminally from your likeability and persuasiveness.
  5. Feet – When the feet of two people engaged in a conversation are facing one another, the individuals are mentally engaged in their conversation. When one person turns a foot away, that’s usually the point at which that individual has mentally begun to disengage in the conversation and soon they’ll exit it in that direction.
  6. Touching – The degree you touch someone and where you touch them conveys a sense of familiarity. Thus, you should be mindful of what someone might perceive as too much familiarity per you touching them too much. To gain insight as to whether you’re touching too much, take note to what degree the person you’re touching flinches and/or slightly pulls away/back when you touch them. That’s a nonverbal sign that you may have overstepped a boundary. Pay very close attention to such feedback. It will be the gauge from which you’ll gain insight per how well you’re being received.
  7. Voice Inflection – Since 80% and more of your message is conveyed nonverbally, take note of how your words can possess different meanings based on the way you announce them. Thus, note the inflection and tonality you convey with them. Ending a sentence on a high note can turn a statement into a question, which could make you appear less authoritative than what you intended.

 All of the above body language and nonverbal gestures impact the perception of the words you use to represent your thoughts. Thus, the meaning of your words can be altered by the body language signals that accompany them. As such, you should be very mindful of the signals you send to make your body language work for you and not against you … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Skills Women In Business

Does Changing Your Speech Style Sacrifice Your Identity?

This morning a client made a comment that echoed the misguided frustrations of many people I encounter, when concerns about authenticity come up. After we had identified a vocal habit that was sabotaging her ability to project authority, and worked on skills to improve it, she said:

“Well, but I guess our bad habits are a part of our identity, right?”

The answer is a very simple yes… and no.

Your bad habits are a part of your current identity, but certainly don’t have to limit or otherwise dictate the identity you can grow into if you choose to do so.

Let’s look at it another way. Your current knowledge, experience, and education make up a part of who you are today, right? But if your boss told you that you weren’t eligible for a promotion that you really wanted because you lacked Six Sigma certification, it wouldn’t occur to you to say, “Well, but that certification isn’t part of my identity. To learn those skills and employ them when needed to succeed at the job I have or want would be inauthentic.” It sounds ridiculous in that context. You’d be scanning the internet for the next time a course was available to get that line item on your resume, wouldn’t you?

Similarly, while nobody wants to have to change their eating habits, if your doctor told you that your blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol levels were off the charts and caused a serious risk to your health, you wouldn’t argue that you can’t change your eating habits because they were part of your identity. Sure, some food preferences are foods we grew up on and are linked to our family culture. But if you want your identity to be someone who plays an active role in your children’s and grandchildren’s lives, instead of someone who might not be around to play any role, active or inactive, you’ll find ways to make small lifestyle changes that don’t require you to live on salad.

In case a “Yeah, but…” is creeping its way to your lips, let me reassure you: there is no difference between getting certified in Six-Sigma, adopting healthier eating habits, and learning to speak with greater breath support or tonality, regarding the impact the change will have on your degree of choice, authenticity or identity.

Sure, you are partially a product of your environment, upbringing, etc., but identity is equally a very personal choice.

If you know that your current speech style sounds about as energized as Ben Stein’s portrayal of the economics teacher in the movie Ferris Buller’s Day Off, putting people to sleep as you run the meeting or give your presentation, you have two choices: You can shrug it off and claim, “Well, that’s just the way I talk,” essentially blaming it on your identity, and resign yourself to the fact that nobody will ever want to hear you speak. Or, you can decide that you want people to pay attention to you, to be inspired by you, and choose to take control of the situation. If you want to do the latter, to have that positive, inspiring effect on people, you’ll choose to learn how to modify your delivery in a way that appropriately captures their interest, because you want that to be part of your identity.

Let me clarify: I’m not suggesting you take acting lessons to play the part of some character who is different from you. And a learning curve is to be expected, so any new skill or knowledge may feel awkward and clunky until you get used to using it, and it becomes second nature.

That’s the real goal: that the new speech habits (or eating habits, or management techniques) ultimately become second nature, and a new part of your chosen identity that makes you feel confident in yourself and your abilities, and gets the results you want.

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Do you have trouble finding the balance between speaking in a way that feels authentic, and in a way that gets the results you want?  Or do you have other questions or feedback about this issue? If so, contact me at laura@vocalimpactproductions.com or click here to schedule a 20-minute focus call to discuss it with me personally!