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Category: Personal Development

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Culture Growth News and Politics Personal Development

An Empire Crumbles: Why the Jussie Smollett Situation Matters for Business

Last Friday, March 8, actor Jussie Smollett was indicted on 16 felony charges for filing a false police report about his claim he was brutally assaulted in Chicago in February.

Smollett is the actor from the hit show Empire who came forward with a chilling story of assault that included both homophobia and racism. What happened to him sounded terrible, and it shocked the nation.

The problem was that from the beginning nothing added up. The “assailants,” who were identified from video surveillance, were Black men who had a prior connection to Smollett. They weren’t the right-wing Trump supporters Smollett claimed had accosted him. They told police Smollett had paid them to stage the entire ruse. The whole thing appears to have been a pitiful attempt to garner attention and get Smollett a pay raise for his role on Empire.

Serving Smollett with 16 felony counts seems a bit extreme, but the city of Chicago wanted to send a message. Consider what Smollett’s actions unleashed:

1. Civil rights leaders, celebrities, politicians, and others came forward to denounce this kind of attack as unacceptable. They were then each forced to backtrack on their statements once it became clear things were not as it had first seemed.

2. The Chicago Police Department took this situation very seriously. They invested a great deal of time and manpower to investigate an incident that never actually happened. Those resources could have been deployed elsewhere to solve other, real crimes.

3. Incidents similar to this do happen to other people. This type of caper hurts all those people with real experiences of homophobic, sexual, or racial harassment. Now anyone who reports an incident like this will be scrutinized more closely. Is this claim for real? Has it been exaggerated? Or, is it totally made up, like Smollett’s story was?

What lessons are there for those of us in business?

1. Don’t jump to conclusions. In the #MeToo era, it’s natural to want to act quickly to stop harassment and bigotry when it occurs—but sometimes things are not as they first seem. Take time to learn what’s really going on. Don’t make accusations or come to conclusions before doing a thorough investigation.

2. Don’t automatically believe charges of this type are not real. This case stands out because it is so unusual to see an incident of this type staged. While there is always the possibility of a he said-she said issue, most of the time when there’s an allegation, there’s at least some behavior or action that may be questionable. See what’s going on before dismissing incidents as fake news.

3. Put a process in place now. Don’t wait until you’re in the crosshairs of an emotional incident to figure out how you will deal with serious allegations like this. Just like you have a process for evacuating a building when the fire alarm rings, you should have a process for handling allegations of harassment and bigotry.

4. Be clear that there’s no room for hate. Let employees, suppliers, and customers know that you will not tolerate sexual or racial harassment, misogyny, homophobia, Islamaphobia, anti-Semitism or anything of the like. When you are clear that there’s no room for hate in your organization, it’s less likely these situations will occur on your watch.

Linda J. Popky, founder of Leverage2Market Associates, is an award-winning Silicon Valley-based strategic marketing expert who is the author of the book Marketing Above the Noise: Achieve Strategic Advantage with Marketing that Matters and the Executive Director of the Society for the Advancement of Consulting (SAC). Follow her on Twitter at @popky #mktgabove.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

The Complexity of Leadership Responsibility

Leaders have one primary responsibility. Facilitate their team toward accomplishing a mission.

However, the mission has become so complicated, ambiguous, and involving so many stakeholders that it can feel nearly impossible to accomplish in a way that satisfies everyone.

This dichotomy is the ultimate challenge in leadership.

When we look at leadership, growth, and change in business, there is only one certainty. Saying, “Because we have always done it that way.” is always the wrong answer. Homogeneous thinking is, and complacency is a sure way to miss something, fail to put something in place or be left behind.

As leaders reconnaissance becomes one of our primary responsibilities, we have to remain situationally aware and understand not only the lay of the land. We also have to become acutely aware of what is out there as far as opportunities and challenges, and how these can affect us, and how our actions affect not only those above and below us but also those adjacent, as well as internally and externally.

I had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Bawa Jain, the Secretary-General for the World Council of Religious Leaders at the United Nations, and one of the founders of  The Center for Responsible Leadership.

He poses three simple questions to help resolve these issues and lists these three critical principles towards assisting leaders in finding sustainable solutions to their missions and directives.

  1. Are we making decisions for the present or the future?
  2. Are we acting out of conviction or convenience?
  3. Is this constructive or destructive?

Our answers to these questions can help us build some foundational clarity to our mission that can help us alleviate the challenges behind conflicting stakeholders, ambiguity, and complexity in our goals and directives.

As leaders, we do not have the latitude to think that we are ever “in charge” instead, we have to accept the responsibility that our teams, people, mission and accomplishments are in our charge. It is up to us in our roles to find the most positive, and productive methodologies and outcomes towards meeting the opportunities that we see before ourselves.

You can find our podcast conversation with Bawa Jain on The Leadership Update Brief on C-Stuite Radio.
Ed Brzychcy is former U.S. Army Infantry Staff-Sergeant with service across three combat deployments to Iraq. After his time in the military, he received his MBA from Babson College and now coaches organizational leadership and growth through his consultancy, Blue Cord Management.

Categories
Biography and History Growth Personal Development

Immigrants Built the U.S. Economy

John Francis Houlihan, Michael’s grandfather, came to the U.S. from Ireland in the late 1800s at just 19 years old. The only trip he could book was to New York, on an ocean steamer loaded up with cattle. All the immigrants were required to make the trip above deck, fully exposed to the harsh North Atlantic weather. It was windy and cold, and the immigrants would huddle against the smokestacks at night to keep warm. It was a grueling trip. But it was on that trip that John met Michael’s grandmother, Nellie, who was also a teenager, and they were soon in love.

When they finally arrived at Ellis Island, they were kept in prison-like housing until they were able to prove that they could provide gainful careers. In those days, correspondence took forever, so they stayed imprisoned for many months. Eventually, John heard that he was offered a job cleaning the Sutro Stable, the San Francisco Police Department’s horse stables. John knew horses, but didn’t leave until a job was also secured for Nellie. She was offered a job as a washerwoman in a San Francisco boarding house.

When they arrived in San Francisco, they came face-to-face with prejudice and open hostility toward Irish immigrants because they would take low wages for lowly jobs. And, they were seen as un-American “papists” because of their Catholicism that originated from the Pope.

They were able to scrape up enough money in the years that followed to make a down payment on their own boarding house. After diligently studying the constitution and becoming naturalized citizens, they earned their American right to vote. John was able to work his way up in the stable and became Head Horseman. And Nellie provided cleaning services for transients and managed room rentals.

Unexpectedly, an 8.6 magnitude earthquake and ensuing fire demolished San Francisco in 1906. The Sutro Stable went up in flames, taking all of the horses’ lives except the mayor’s prized Percheron horses. Despite all the confusion and tragedy, John put his life on the line to save the horses. The mayor asked how he could possibly thank him, to which John replied, “Make me a beat cop in the Irish ghetto,” which was the Mission District. It was where John and Nellie called home.

John in fact did serve as a beat cop, where he would walk the streets of the Mission District for four decades. He kept the peace, fought crime, helped during times of need, and served the citizens. He witnessed the reconstruction of San Francisco. He was at the Panama Pacific Exhibition in 1915. The Palace of Fine Arts is the only building remaining from the World Fair that showed the rest of the world that San Francisco was open for business.

John witnessed World War I and saw the flood of Italian immigrants that traveled to the Mission right after. He saw average Americans being forced by Prohibition to break the law. He witnessed the Great Depression, Prohibition’s repeal, and WWII. He saw countless waves of immigrants move into the Mission and work their way toward a better life, just like he did.

During all of that, John and Nellie had three children, two of which died during childbirth. The surviving child, John Charles Houlihan and Michael’s father, was a public servant. He worked alongside others to create containerized shipping. This revolutionized the shipping industry, and reduced shrinkage (or pilfering by dockworkers). Containers could now be locked. This feature alone cut worldwide commerce costs significantly. Container ports were popping up all around the world in the 1970s and ‘80s. Shipping became safe, reliable, and efficient. This means of shipping became the world standard.

American Immigrants Do Not Take Citizenship for Granted

Michael spent his childhood summers with his Irish grandpa, who constantly spoke of the great opportunity America offered him to get ahead. He assured Michael that hard work would pay off in the US. He praised the advantages of American citizenship and was deeply thankful for his chance to get ahead until the very day that he died.

John and his son returned the favor to the country in many different ways, but their lives and their work have improved the lives of many Americans. Think about all the jobs that containerized shipping has created and all the jobs created by Barefoot Wine.

Immigrants are the economy’s backbone. They are the reason why America is “Great”. With open arms, let’s welcome those immigrants who want to work and show their gratitude for the chance to improve their lives. In order to earn the right to vote and become citizens, they must learn about the divisions of government, the right to vote, and why these laws exist, as well as the checks and balances they provide the country.

Americans who are born here don’t have this requirement. They can vote without all of that knowledge, and they can choose to not vote at all. Usually, immigrants don’t take their citizenship for granted. They are eager to understand our government, and they are eager to vote.

Let’s think more about the value of immigrants. Let’s all take the time and effort to vote! Democracy certainly isn’t something that immigrants take for granted. So why should any of us?

For more, read on: http://c-suitenetworkadvisors.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

Categories
Human Resources Personal Development Sales

Know Your Product/Service Through the Customer’s Perspective

Part Three of a Five-Part Series.

You need solution acumen (product or service…applied to the customer situation) to craft win-win solutions.

Previously, I introduced perspective: knowledge or insight that expands a customer’s understanding of one or more business issues. When a seller provides perspective, they apply customer-valued(not just any) insights and expertise about unanticipated outcomes.

Then, I introduced a three-legged stool: the three foundational areas of expertise a seller should possess:

  1. Business Acumen...The focus of part two. Basically, this type of expertise equips you evaluate a prospective customer’s (or any company’s) operational efficiency and effectiveness, then identify value gaps.
  2. Solution Acumen.
  3. Customer Acumen…Where we will go in part four

Today’s topic:  Solution Acumen

First of all, solution acumen is waaaaay more than simple product knowledge. I’ve met sellers who are experts on their products/services, but have only a vague inkling why a customer might care.  Consequently, they have product knowledge without solution acumen.  Ultimately, here’s the source of the disconnect:

Customers don’t buy our products or services.  Instead, they buy results. That is, they buy outcomes our products or services deliver into their lives and businesses.

Importantly, solution acumen means that you can articulate a relationship between properties of your offer and customer-valued outcomes. Knowing your product or service is something.  Knowing all about how your product or service adds value to a customer is everything.

In addition, the price they’ll willingly pay for your solution depends on clarity, certainty, and desirability of those outcomes.

Ultimately, profitability happens when you provide more value for your customer than it costs you to produce. You can only price profitably in two ways: by accident, or by understanding – and pricing to – your customer’s outcomes.  To achieve the latter, you need solution acumen.

What Solution Acumen Typically Looks Like:

Generally, solution acumen comes in degrees.  As sellers go from basic product knowledge to full solution acumen, here are some of the identifying characteristics:

Basic solution knowledge includes:

  • Specs, performance…information a subject-focused persona wants to know.
  • Available product or service options. At a basic level, every seller should understand how their offer can be stripped down, augmented, and/or bundled.
  • Commercial policies.  Similarly, basic-level  knowledge includes ordering procedures, lead times, implementation basics, pricing, available discounts, and the like.
  • Competitors: An essential understanding includes basic competitor profiles, product descriptions, etc.

Intermediate-level offer knowledge might look like:

  • Typical configurations offered, even configurations commonly purchased for specific segments.If your company has developed a standard “small business package”, this mid-level knowledge has been institutionalized.
  • Commercial policies: Above basic level, understand discounting flexibility, how the pricing exception system really works (how the game is played in your company), have complete knowledge of any implementation process, how to expedite orders, etc.
  • Competitive differentiation. In this area, sellers can articulate competitive differences, and confirm/gauge strength of customer reactions to those differences.

Advanced knowledge, aka Solution Acumen is outcome-based, and is characterized like this:

  • Applications/use cases have been modeled, and all affected buying personas’ interests can be articulated.
  • Sellers can map competitive differentiation to customer outcomes. As an aside, my value networks are one way to do this.
  • Ability to brief implementation teams with persona-specific outcomes identified during deal pursuit. A key part of solution acumen is delivering on world-class outcomes after the sale.
  • Additionally, sellers move beyond descriptions of outcomes to quantifying them (measuring outcomes in monetary terms) with prospective customers. Also, instead of mastering the ins and outs of discounting, sellers master upward pricing flexibility: understanding attainable price premium and the required customization in order to fairly and legally price at a win-win price premium.

How Solution Acumen Shapes Perspective Selling

Solution acumen enables sellers to build connections between their offer and customer-valued outcomes. To see how, look at the Venn diagram below:

Customers have value gaps, shown on the left oval.  That is, they have unmet needs and aspirations. Suppliers differentiate themselves through unique capabilities. With solution acumen, sellers’ capabilities are expressed in customer terms — outcomes,– so that customers overlap the two ovals.  Any overlap represents where sellers can provide value. Only in this overlap is where sellers perspective welcomed.

Solution acumen increases as sellers more clearly translate the right-hand oval from “we provide ____” to “you achieve _____”. In fact, this is why solution acumen is so important.  As a result, sellers who clearly articulate a cause/effect relationship between offer/outcome become trusted business advisors.

With perspective, sellers can add to the overlap by:

  1. Proposing new possible outcomes,
  2. Framing the customer situation differently…in a way that promises a better outcome
  3. Framing the decision differently…again, to yield a valued outcome.

Remember, customers don’t care about all of your capabilities, even if they are unique to your offer.  Until they can clearly see one of your capabilities enabling a valued outcome, you risk showering them with irrelevance. For this reason, “perspective” outside of a customer’s desired outcomes isn’t really perspective at all.

Solution Acumen: One Key to Perspective Selling

Remember, because customers buy outcomes, perspective sellers need to articulate them.  Optionally, sellers can tell stories, give fresh insights into a customer’s situation, ask questions to get the customer to consider new issues for themselves…in any combination.

Solution acumen is not the ability to explain seller capabilities as features and benefits.  Instead, it’s the ability to translate their product or service into customer outcomes, then to extend single outcomes into follow-on outcomes.

In conclusion, solution acumen is what connects the seller’s offer to customers’ value gaps.  While some sellers can do this naturally, most need help.  To do this, I help sales organizations revamp their sales materials and product training materials to establish high-level solution acumen organization-wide.

Feel free to comment below or to share this article.  If you would like to talk about building the solution acumen of your organization, let me know.  I’d love to help you build that organizational capability.

To your success!

Categories
Growth Personal Development

Lean Writing: How to Cut the Bloat

Bloat occurs when one word makes another unnecessary.

This post presents tips on unnecessary pairings of words. These pairings weaken your writing.

Free gift: NO! Sorry to shout, but this is the worst of the worst, and it’s creeping like fungus into the wording of countless offers. Use “gift” or “free.” No exceptions. Or, for truth in advertising, if the gift isn’t free, write, “some strings attached”—which no one wrote ever or will.

My personal belief: If it’s yours, it’s personal. The same applies to saying, “My own.” The use of “personal” or “own” implies a need to make sure your claim is clear.

Plan ahead: Have you ever planned behind?

Possibly might: “Might” and “possibly” suggest “maybe.” Choose between them.

Protest against: A protest communicates that one is opposed. You don’t need to say “against.” This is different from using the word, “argue,” since you can argue either for or against.

Unexpected surprise: What is an expected surprise?

Unintended mistake: We can safely assume that a mistake is unintended.

Absolutely certain: Certainty is its own absolute. Avoid “Absolutely,” as an adverb. As an adjective, it can be used with caution. “It was an absolute victory.” That would mean that the victory was unquestionable.

Actual experience or actual fact: “Actual” is generally a tricky word. People use it to give emphasis to something as being real. However, “This was my actual experience” doesn’t make it more believable. In similar vein, a fact is a fact. It has been confirmed as true.

Postpone until later: See “plan ahead.” No one postpones until earlier.

Add an additional: There’s a big clue in this pairing. “Add” is part of “additional.” This is the best possible sign that “add” is unnecessary. Subtract is from your writing. Or subtract “additional.”

Added bonus: This is the cousin of “free gift.” A bonus is something added.

Advance notice: Giving notice is letting someone know something in advance. You can use either “advance” or “notice,” but not both. And please correctly use “advance”. You should have an Advance Directive, not an Advanced Directive to specify your healthcare wishes.

Ask a question: This is so commonly used that most people don’t pay attention. However, to ask is to question.

Usual custom: Customs are what is usual. You don’t need both words.

Difficult dilemma: Dilemmas are never easy. You can eliminate “difficult.”

Direct confrontation: A confrontation is always direct.

End result: Results always occur at the end of a situation or series of action. You don’t need “End”.

Sneaky Redundancies Are the Opposite of Lean Writing

These combinations are  subtler and require thoughtful editing. Look for words in a sentence that say the same thing, i.e., one of them is redundant.

“This winter we may potentially have mild weather.”

“May” and “potentially” say the same thing. Eliminate “potentially.”

“The existence of mild oceanic temperatures implies that global warming may be accelerating.”

“May” is unnecessary in this sentence. Replace “may be” with “is.”

This series doesn’t cover every unnecessary word. Develop a healthy suspicion about your writing. Practice learning to make each word earn its place so you have lean writing.

Pat Iyer is an editor and ghostwriter who works with business people to present their polished best writing. Reach her through patiyer.com.

Categories
Best Practices Growth Health and Wellness Human Resources Management

What If Your Dream Came to Life?

What if you could breathe life into one of your dreams?

What follows is step by step guide to help if you’re really interested in achieving your wish this year, set aside a block of time for the next few days, get yourself a notebook or open a file on your computer and give yourself the luxury of reflecting and seriously considering what dreams may come. 

How to Fulfill Your Dreams

1. Select a Dream:

Think about the different dreams you have.  In your imagination, step into each one of them, one at a time and experience what life would be like when you realize that dream. What do you see? Hear? Feel?

  • What changes?What’s good about it?
  • What’s not as good as you hoped?
  • How might you change it for the better?
  • After you explore the impact of having those dreams, pick one that you’d most like to bring to life.

2. Analyze what you need to do to make that dream come true:

  • What skills and strengths are required for your goal?
  • Which do you currently have?
  • Which do you need to acquire?  How can you acquire them?

3. What hurtles might present themselves:

  • What might get in the way?
  • How can you problem solve those potential obstacles?

4. Find a champion:

Find folks who can listen and respond, who can provide an outside perspective as well as cheerlead you.  These may be people you know or you might join a local or online meet-up of people with similar goals. Or start your own meet-up. Set up meetings with them to discuss your dreams and bring them to life.

5. Create a Plan:

Just like making a business plan, create a reasonable,  step-by-step personal plan with tasks, actions and deadlines along the way.

6. State your intentions publicly.

By sharing your dream out loud with others, you magnify your cheering squad many times.  It’s like telling people you’ll stop smoking.  The success rate rises dramatically because there are many others beside yourself that you want to avoid letting down.

Similarly, if your goal implies a new capability or accomplishment, start referring to yourself as such.  I’m Jane the artist; Jim the author; Jen the marathon runner; Dan the pianist.

7. Find a partner to hold you accountable:

Meet with him/her in person, by phone, online at least weekly to review the actions you’ve taken and refine your plan on a regular basis.

To learn more about creating and achieving your personal and career goals click here.

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

There’s No Shame in Ignorance

“There’s no shame in being ignorant. The shame comes from not dispelling it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body language Expert

“Alexa, who is Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator and Body Language Expert? Sorry, I don’t know that” was Alexa’s reply.

Do you think Alexa felt shame about not knowing the answer to that question – it didn’t? Alexa is artificial intelligence. It’s programmed to acquire knowledge. You’re like that too. You acquire knowledge and that reduces your ignorance. There should be no shame associated with engaging in that process.

Ignorance is a lack of knowledge. Everyone is ignorant of many things. So, why do people become shamed by it? This article explores that. And it abates the uneasiness that partners with ignorance.

The Stigma of Ignorance:

Sometimes, there’s a self-degrading stigma attached to ignorance. It generates embarrassment within the person possessing it. Don’t allow that to happen to you. And don’t allow others to weaponize ignorance against you. Understand your uniqueness. Use that as a shield. Then, if you want to become more knowledgeable about a subject, do so because it’s your desire. Don’t let others control you through their ignorance of who you are.

Self-Esteem:

Your self-esteem may come into question when asked for wisdom on a topic you don’t know. Momentary fear may kick in, depending on the circumstances. That dilemma can cause you angst.

If you’re stupefied by a question, alter your self-perspective. There’s nothing wrong with you. You just don’t know. If the subject matter is important, you can acquire knowledge. Don’t let it mentally debilitate you.

Fear of Unknown:

Do you fear not knowing the answers to questions simply because you don’t know what’s being sought? There are times when you become mentally constipated because of what you believe others think of you. Note when that happens. Allay your emotions by thinking that no one knows everything – there are things the person posing questions don’t know. Plus, you give your mental power to others when you allow them to control your self-perception.

Perception of Peers:

You may become daunted by ignorance when considering what friends and associates think of you because you lack knowledge in a certain area. If they’re ‘real friends’, you should be able to express your ignorance without fear of the negative perception of rejection. If that’s a concern, you can always push-back by saying, please reduce my ignorance or reveal your own. No one can make you feel ignorant. Only you have that power. Since you control it, control its perception.

What does this have to do with negotiations?

When negotiating, ignorance can open the door to fear. And fear can throw your negotiation off kilter. By planning extensively for an upcoming negotiation, you can reduce fear – do so by reducing unknown aspects that might cause it to occur. That means, during the planning process, consider as many variables as possible. Plan for them and have strategies ready to deal with situations that might threaten your negotiation position. Being prepared will disperse fears of where you might unwantedly venture into the negotiation. You will also cast the demon of ignorance into the dungeons of anonymity … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating! 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com 

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#Fear #shame #ignorance #ignorant #Emotion #Business #Progress #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions

Categories
Growth Human Resources Personal Development

Training: Learning to Measure Both Hard and Soft Metrics

Because the first aim of training is to improve the way people do things, all training programs should be evaluated by measuring “hard” metrics – which are almost always measurements that can be translated into numbers and evaluated. They could include data on:

  • Are our salespeople making more sales calls, closing more sales, or increasing the size of the average order?
  • Have our product assemblers increased their output and reduced the number of quality defects?
  • Are our phone reps now resolving more customer issues on the first call?
  • How many more positive reviews are we getting online?
  • Six months after training ends, are more customers placing repeat orders?

Without hard metrics like those, how will you know whether your training has achieved its goals or repaid your investment?

But it is important to measure soft metrics too. Often misunderstood, they have to do less with observable performance, and more to do with attitudes. They too can be measured before and after training as a way to evaluate results. Some examples:

  • Do members of your hotel’s front desk staff feel calmer and more confident about resolving customer complaints?
  • Do your new hires now feel more enthusiastic about working for your company than they did before training began?
  • Do employees now expect to remain at your company for longer periods of time?
  • Has training improved employees’ attitudes?

The Art of Measuring Soft Metrics

There is an incorrect assumption that it is difficult to collect data on soft metrics. In fact, soft metrics can be measured by having trainees complete surveys or by having interview with members of your training or HR team.

Another way to gauge soft metrics is to measure behaviors. After training your call center staffers, for example, do they arrive more punctually and call in sick less often? That could indicate improved motivation and morale. Or after training your retail salespeople, has the rate of their retention improved after six months or a year? That could indicate that your training made their jobs less stressful and more satisfying.

Another reason to measure soft metrics is that they help you identify any “extra” benefits your training achieved. If the primary purpose of your training was to teach your restaurant workers to deliver better customer service, for example, but they also became bigger believers in your brand.

Categories
Best Practices Human Resources Management Marketing Personal Development Women In Business

Why Every Business Needs a Personal Brand

Over the past several years, personal branding has become a hot topic across the business world.  That’s because it’s tough out there with the competition increasing daily.  Not just for businesses but for individuals as well.  Just consider the statistics.

In the United States there are currently: 1.3 million lawyers.  1.24 million accountants.  659,200 management consultants.  There are nearly 28 million small businesses in this country, more than 800,000 of them in New Jersey.  Yet the competition is so fierce that 50 percent of these firms including 80 percent of all restaurants fail before their fifth anniversary.  In 2018, more than 3800 major retail stores closed their doors.

What can you do to ensure that you don’t become one of these statistics?  The first step is to recognize that the way to successfully market and promote your business has changed dramatically over the past decade.

Today, the number one way that people find new companies, products and services is by accessing your website through the Internet, primarily by using Google Search.  The majority of those searches are done via smartphones.  When someone arrives at your website, you have approximately ten seconds to capture and hold their attention.  If you don’t, they’re off to one of your competitors.

The initial challenge is to get people to your website.  One way is by utilizing online advertising.  The problem is that online advertising is expensive with costs rising 5x faster than inflation.  The average small business effectively using Google advertising can today spend as much as $10,000 per month on their online advertising campaigns. That’s $120,000 per year.  Another problem is that consumers just don’t trust advertising. In a recent survey, less than 1% of Americans said that advertising had Influenced them.

That’s the bad news.  Now here’s the good news.  Unlike online advertising, social media is not only inexpensive but highly effective.  It’s also highly personal with almost half of all Americans reporting that they have had meaningful interactions with companies via social media.  Most importantly, social media gets people to your website — not by tricking them into clicking on a link or an ad, but by building a personal brand that generates trust and credibility for your business.

What is a personal brand?    According to Amazon CEO, a personal brand is what people think and say about you when you’re not in the room.   It’s what differentiates you and sets you apart from the competition.  It’s not simply a logo or a website — although both of these are important.  Instead it’s what you say and do that resonates with your target audience.  It’s the articles, the videos, and the photos that you post.  The advice you give and the ideas you support.  It’s what makes you special and unique.

So the next time you need to set your business apart from the competition, consider personal branding and social media.  Together, they’re a powerful combination that will help you not only survive but prosper and grow.

Categories
Growth Management Skills

Transitioning From Reactive to Proactive Leadership

Are you reactive or proactive in your leadership?

As a leader you will have to respond to crisis. How will you respond?  The broad difference between the reactive and proactive leader needs to be understood in order for you to realize how you can succeed far better than you think. Proactive leaders lead by example. Leaders who plan ahead are in a better position to tackle problems before they occur instead of reactively when they pop up unexpectedly.

Requiring Change Management

Leaders who want to make a lasting impact on their organization should strive for proactive, rather than reactive, leadership. Reactive leaders wait for problems to arise before addressing them, are often running from crisis to crisis, without taking away lessons to improve the organizations and processes in which they operate. Reactive leaders have actions determined by external situations. Juggling day-to-day crises can keep you away from the things that matter most in your organization. You can’t keep your focus and concentration on the specific situations you need to.

Proactive leaders, on the other hand, take responsibility for their organization by engaging and cooperating with their team, leading by example, and always looking for ways to improve.

When you are reactive typically you make decisions as if you were in a panic or crisis mode. You may not yell, scream, pound your fists on your desk or throw things yet you make quick decisions that you may regret later. Your thinking is not focused on generating the best solution to the problem or challenge of the moment and you sometimes have to revisit the problem to rework a better solution that was not thought of initially.

Being Proactive in Your Leadership

“Opportunities will come and go, but if you do nothing about them, so will you.”

― Richie Norton

Do not procrastinate or postpone decisions. Weigh each issue as to the advantages and disadvantages of what will work within your organization. Don’t just put a temporary fix on something you may forget about. See what works and what does as you ask questions and challenge traditional assumptions and beliefs.

Maintain Your Perspective

“Proactive people focus their efforts on things they can do something about. The nature of their energy is positive.” – Stephen Covey

When you look upon the crisis as a challenge, what is your frame of mind? Instead of responding by reacting, think first to understand what is in front of you. Then think of what you can do to solve the situation. This is being proactive.

When people react, it seems to be defensive. Having a calm demeanor helps you focus and concentrate on decisions that align with the strategy of your business. Being more open to solving situations and not putting a band aid on a temporary fix requires you to get to the root of the problem.  A response is more active, and it can change the direction of an interaction or situation. Able to step back from the day-to-day details and see the big picture proactive leaders can anticipate situations and plan ahead of time for any situations that may get in the way of productivity.

Inspiring Others

“Great leadership does not mean running away from reality. Sometimes the hard truths might just demoralize the company, but at times sharing difficulties can inspire people to take action that will make the situation better.”

-John Kotter

By working with employees, teams and or in brainstorm sessions, employees can listen and give feedback to leaders for the specific assignments given to them. Listening carefully without jumping to any conclusions, proactive leaders are able to see another perspective than that of their own. In doing so, working with your employees and getting their feedback and opinions demonstrates how well leaders can take criticism.

Employees work better when they respect their leader. Not knowing how the leader will respond to situations can have employees on edge. If the leader reacts to situations, most employees will try to avoid being where the leader is at. On the other hand, if an employee works with a leader who inspires the employee, then the employee will respect the leader and want to do a better job for the leader.

Every Leader Has the Power of Choice

Recognize the choices you have instead of automatically reacting to situations. Reacting happens when you don’t know what to do or don’t automatically think of any options or action steps to take to reduce or resolve the situation. When you realize you have choices you need to start doing so with other situations you encounter all the time. You will make better decisions that way.

By focusing on the positives and learning from the negatives concentrating and focusing on the things you can control is where you can start to move forward. Proactivity or proactive behavior needs anticipatory change on a consistent basis. This is aligned with today’s business creativity that helps your business thrive. Choose how to act as to the type of leader you want to be. Which one will help you succeed as a leader?

What specific actions could you take today that would make a difference no matter how small that may be?

“Stop waiting for things to happen. Go out and make them happen.” – Jane W. Lee