Extraordinary Business

Want to see how to destroy a great reputation that took years to build in just a few short weeks? You might want to talk with Toyota. In their quest to become the world's largest car company they made a mistake that GM was often considered guilty of. They let quality slip.

That alone probably wasn't bad enough to do the damage. But trying to cover it up was. Toyota knew there was a problem, but they weren't sure what it was or how to correct it. First it was the floor mats causing the accelerator to stick. When that didn't resolve the issue the public began questioning if they actually knew. Now it appears Toyota has the solution by fixing a faulty accelerator. Just when they thought it couldn't get worse, now there is a problem with the breaks on the new Prius. A recall has been issued in Japan, and the US is waiting to see what they will do here.

Recalls in the auto industry certainly aren't new. Actually they happen quite often. Check out http://www.automotive.com/new-cars/recalls/index.html and see for yourself. So what made Toyota's such a big deal?

I think the issue is trust. Toyota built its reputation around it. You could trust them, their vehicles were reliable, you could count on their resale value, etc. The recalls have people questioning that trust and it's going to take a lot to repair it.

People have become very skeptical in today's economy. Loss of jobs, the mortgage bubble, and questionable business practices have caused cynicism to increase. Rebuilding trust will be a challenge and it will take time. For others, it will create opportunities to grow. Trust is one of the most valuable things in your business. Make sure you don't squander it. Hire the right people, communicate and value them. Treat them well. Work with integrity and be a good community partner. Create a legacy that will have people wanting to do business with you and not driving them to your competitors.

Labels: "Auto Industry", "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", auto, Business, Business Coaching, Communication, Economy, growth, InVision, Recalls, Strategy, success, Toyota

Throughout my career, I have been on both sides of the hiring scene. I have dealt with the frustrations of finding a position that best matched my abilities and beliefs, and I also played various roles in hiring at every company I worked for. In either case, I would say the objective was the same: find the right fit.

Today I find myself taking that experience and helping companies do just that, find the right fit. The theme that has repeated itself this year is the desire to have people match the culture they work in. More than one company has asked for help in the hiring process because of bad experiences in the past. Too often the decision to hire is made on technical experience and the decision to fire is a cultural one. Talent matters little when values and beliefs don't match. It's a lot like a bad marriage and usually the honeymoon period is much shorter.

So how can companies make better decisions? Whether you are someone seeking a new career, or a business looking at hiring, you need to consider these thoughts. The hiring process in many companies is broken. It's more about flash and dazzle while answering a rather standardized bank of questions the right way. The internet has plenty of resources available at no cost to help you interview better. If that is not enough, you can pay to have a professional create a resume, or consult you on your interview skills.

Employers play a similar game. The hiring approach is focused on weeding candidates out because they do not exactly match the criteria described in the job ad. On top of that the focus is more about technical aptitude and less about attitude. And I speak from experience when I say it is easier to work with someone who is motivated to do a good job than it is to work with an expert who isn't motivated at all. Technical skills are easier to teach while it is much more difficult to change behavior.

Here are some things to consider when hiring:

• Before posting a position. Define what will make that new person successful. Do it not only from technical expertise, but from behavioral as well. "Begin with the end in mind," as Covey would say.
  
  
• Ask for more than a cover letter and resume. You want a feel for what this person is like. Ask specific questions related to specific behaviors identified in the first bullet. Get the candidate to share past experiences and outcomes. This will give you a better idea of what they are like.
  
  
• Weed out candidates on multiple factors. Understand what level of technical skill you are looking for and weigh that against the scenarios they have shared. Look for a balance between behavior and expertise. Have your list of "need to haves" and "nice to haves." Avoid compromise on that which you deem critical to the position, and be willing to develop the rest. This list should be down to 3-10 candidates.
  
  
• The "pre-interview." Many companies do this. Have a short interview over the phone. This is to cover experience and discuss the scenarios shared in the correspondence from the interviewee. It may involve a few in depth questions related to the information already provided. You may also choose to ask some warm-up questions to see if this candidate goes on to the next round. After this step, you should be down to no more than four candidates.
  
  
• Interviewing. There are no shortage of interview questions available. Most questions focus on hypothetical outcomes. For example, "What would you do if..." The types of questions should focus on past behavior. These are tougher to prepare for and require facts to back them up. The questions you ask again should be a balance of technical experience and behavior/attitude.
  
  
• Don't ask for references. Most people in their right mind will not give you a bad reference. I would recommend gathering contacts identified through the interview process. The can validate information and help you assess its accuracy. Listen for names in the interview process. Seek out those contacts first. They will either validate or clarify what actually happened.
  
  
• Assessments. Personality assessment tools can provide valuable information in the hiring process. Instead of using them as an elimination tool, I help leaders use them to define what they will need to develop in the person they bring on. All of us have strengths and weaknesses. How we communicate, react and process information also affect how we do our jobs. Assessments provide a way to help leaders understand the communication style of the individual.
  
  

While this list is not complete, nor is it necessarily right for every hiring situation, it can help you make better choices with the staff you will be adding. In the coming days I will dig into these topics a little deeper and would love to hear your experiences and successes with hiring.

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", Business, Business Coaching, Careers, Hiring, InVision, Jobs, Leadership, Strategy

If the feedback I have been getting from executives holds true, 2010 will be the "Year of Performance." There is a common theme that has been popping up in virtually every discussion I have had over the last few months. And that is quote:"We believe we are at a point where we have the right people to take this organization forward. There is a lot to accomplish and the economy hasn't bounced back yet, but we need to grow. This year we need our people to work smarter, be more efficient, and believe in our company."

One CEO put it, "Our typical evaluation process isn't working to create better employees and grow the company. We need to do a better job with communication and innovation. Our leaders must empower their people to do the right things and teach them how to make good decisions."

From hiring to development, the companies that are making the transition back to growth mode are all wanting to do better with what they got. I am fortunate to say that I will be working with some of these companies to do just that through better strategy, better leadership and better execution. Momentum is building and growth will resume again. It will take time but we are on our way.

In future posts I intend to discuss some of the work I am doing and give some insight to how you might get your people working better, smarter, and more efficient.

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "International Business", "InVision Business Development", Business, Business Coaching, Coaching, Communication, efficiency, InVision, Leadership, Lean

It's amazing how our world has changed in a relatively short period of time. When I attended college (not all that long ago) things like email and the internet were either in their fledgling stages or unheard of. Heck, anyone having a computer in their dorm room was a big deal. Today we are interconnected in so many ways it's hard to believe. Now my phone is no longer anchored to the wall of my house, it's anchored to my hip... and sometimes my ear. Besides that it also connects me to the internet, email, and text messaging. With so many ways it should be easier to communicate, right? Not always so.

I am writing this post because today I got one of those many reminders that I am human and prone to make mistakes. The irony that it is centered around communication can make it even more painful since I work with many of my clients on just that. Like everything in life, I treat it as a learning opportunity and thought I would share while this one is still painful because it is too easy for many of us to make the same mistake.

Without getting into many of the details this is what happened: I have been working with a group of people on a collaborative effort. One of many I have going on simultaneously right now. With collaboration comes planning and the desire by all participants to get it right. This group is no exception. For those who may not know me should know I am very driven as well as action oriented. My personal drive combined with my need to have a process around it can sometimes be challenging. So I am constantly working against the clock in my head of when things should be complete vs when more planning needs to be done. In this particular case I desired the need to keep moving ahead when someone forwarded an email to the group of some follow up things that needed to be completed. These items definitely needed to be done and I thought it would still be possible for us to move ahead in other areas. I responded to everyone with my thoughts and didn't concern myself with it any further, that is until it surfaced later. My email came across the wrong way with other members of the group and I found myself making corrections and apologizing. I also kick myself for making this mistake. Email is a tool for communication.

Email has made our lives easier by allowing us to communicate information to others quickly. It has also become a crutch for many as the preferred method. I too have fallen into this trap. The problem with email is your inability to clearly share feelings and other thoughts. We make the communication short and sweet and abbreviate in areas we probably shouldn't. Interpretation is then left to the individual reading it to get the message out. I have a very direct style of communication when writing email messages and that can be interpreted differently than intended which was the problem in this example.

The thing to remember is email has its time and place, but it should not be treated as the only source of information. It is used too often in many cases because it is easy and quick. Yet sometimes it is better to just pick up the phone and make a call. At the very least, be mindful of your words for they are open to interpretation. Question yourself, "Should I send this as an email, or is this better delivered in person." We all make mistakes and I was fortunate enough to have people communicate back to me which may not always be the case. So be careful how you use technology so it doesn't come back to haunt you later.

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", Business, Business Coaching, Coaching, Communication, InVision, Leadership

In my September newsletter I discussed the concept of change. Largely I see the majority of us resistant to change (which I would doubt there would be many arguments against this) and as a society/business community expecting change to happen instantaneously. We are very much in a "now" society. Technology has spoiled us to the point where we demand immediate results. Yet there is something to be said for slowing the process down. And truthfully, by taking more time on the front end, we make things work much smoother on the back end.

Think of the place where you work. How often do things change? How often is that change met with resistance? How many of you are familiar with the "Flavor of the Month"? Often the running joke with each new initiative is "this too shall pass" and your employees play the waiting game to see when you will get tired of the new process, idea, or concept and go back to doing things as before. In fact, your employees can condition you to fail in the change process. In some examples I have seen the stand off last for years! Yes, years. And the only result to come out of it was going back to the old way of doing things so it's less painful. This all because of our need to make changes happen quickly and dramatically.

In my newsletter I spoke about incremental change. This process is most effective in companies that have been highly resistant to change in the past. It is a way of conditioning them to be more receptive to change in the future. In addition, the success rates are much higher that the change will be implemented and integrated into your business. To see some of the points, I will refer you to the article here: http://cdn.shoutlet.com/server/bar/51644/8555/0/s/0. To add to that discussion, I will continue on.

The idea of change is simple, yet the execution of it can seem complex. And in a way it is because to truly implement most changes, you need the full buy-in of your staff. The larger the organization, the more people you have to get on board. In most cases, change is driven top down. Somebody in leadership comes up with an idea and wants it implemented. There may, or may not, be a discussion among management on this change before it is passed down to the next layer. Middle management is given the concept and is then asked to drive it down to the front lines. Here it is crucial that middle managers understand all the how's and the why's in order communicate it effectively to the staff. Often this does not happen as effectively as it should. The change may be shared in meetings, emails, or newsletters, but full buy-in hasn't taken place. In the end this leads to resistance and not seeing the full benefit of the change process.

What if the change process was reversed? Instead of speeding the process up hoping to see immediate results, it was backed down to a more realistic time frame. Also, what if the seeds of change was planted in the minds of the employees so that instead of a top down approach, you drove the change from the bottom up. How might that change things?

Right now you might be saying to yourself, "We need to move quickly so we can react quickly." This is true, but more so when you are doing just that: reacting. Often business decisions, personal decisions, political decisions, etc. are a result of responding to an impending crisis. Sadly, we might have even been warned about the outcomes of this crisis earlier where we could have taken action, but the motivation wasn't there for whatever reason. Then when we are forced to deal with it we react. We need to become better at looking further ahead to prevent this from happening. We need to find ways to take the important but not urgent needs and prioritize.

You may also be thinking, "The employees won't come up with the right solution, and then when we don't use it they will be upset." That is because we have conditioned people to pass their problems to others. This is especially true of many managers. Managers often take on the burden of their staffs issues because they live in a false belief that it's quicker and easier to fix the problem themselves instead of coaching and teaching their people how to effectively deal with it. In essence, the ownership of the problem/idea is passed from the employee to the leader. So if it doesn't work, it's now the manager's problem. This is why it is so important to keep ownership where it belongs, on the individual.

If you are able to improve these two areas: being proactive instead of reactive and placing ownership and accountability on your people, over time you will be able to make change happen quickly and effectively. Take steps today to create a culture of change and the first step will start with you!

I encourage others to share their thoughts and ideas here. Open up a discussion and through that learn how to make change happen.

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", Business, Business Coaching, Change Management, Coaching, InVision, Leadership, process, Professional Development, Strategy

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", Business Coaching, Coaching, growth, InVision, Leadership, Sales, Strategy

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "International Business", "InVision Business Development", Business, Business Coaching, China, Culture, growth, International, InVision, Leadership, Strategy

Growth is possible anytime, anywhere, in virtually any industry. All too often we miss these opportunities over concerns and fear from what we see occurring in the marketplace. Yet businesses who are poised to grow now will be miles ahead of their competition when the economy shifts.

Why would I say this? It's simple, because most businesses will cut back and wait right now. It may be because they are unable to take action (no resources) or it may be fear (concerns without a plan).

What if over 80% of your competitors chose to do nothing right now, or continued to do things the same way they have always done them? What opportunities does that leave you?

If you are able to take action, you should do so now! Just make sure you are wise in your move. Have a plan, define new opportunities, limit your risk, and move ahead.

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", Business, Business Coaching, growth, InVision, Leadership, marketing, Sales, Strategy

How versed are your people on the direction of the company? Here is a quick way to find out and it requires only two questions. First, take a random sampling of your staff. Include some leaders as well as front line and start a discussion with them.

Ask them these two questions:

1. What are the primary objectives for the company?
2. What is your role in accomplishing them?

Wait for the response on each question and compare notes. If your employees and leadership gives answers that closely match yours, then you are on the right track. However, if your staff looks at you with a blank stare, you are going to have some work to do.

What is most important now is that you have the right people doing the right things. If your people aren't working on the right goals, you will be wasting time and money. It could also be a sign that you need to review each persons' job expectations and streamline process. Make sure the right work is being done to provide the best performance and service for the company.

Labels: "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", Business, Business Coaching, Change Management, InVision, Leadership, marketing, Strategy, Vision

Charter Communications is near bankruptcy and it looks like there may be no way out of it this time. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has sunk a bunch of cash and lost $7 billion in the process. Could this have been avoided? You bet!

I have been a Charter internet customer for about four years now. Where I live, high speed internet choices are limited. So at the time Charter was the best option for me. For my first 4 months with Charter, it was a nightmare. Billing mistakes and confusion on what i owed led to the cancellation of my service 4 months into the relationship... Even though I paid my monthly bills. After a long discussion with their customer service department I got them to waive the reconnect charges and make the corrections to the bill.

The following year my rates more than doubled without warning. I did not receive a notification and immediately contacted customer service. I was informed that my plan was cancelled and I was bumped to a faster service and a higher monthly fee. Again, after discussing this with customer service, they enrolled me into a promotional package which lowered my monthly rates down to a price point closer to what I was paying before.

Last year (2008) I did receive notification of an increase and was informed that my bill would be doubling. This led to another call and after getting transferred to their customer retention department, a slight reduction in the rate change.

Charter, how could you avoid this? Better service would help. The examples above are my own, and I am not about to share negative feedback from others, but it seems as though Charter chooses to provide poor service on the front end and requires the consumer to jump through hoops to fix a problem that could have been avoided. To their credit, they have addressed my issues and made corrections, and it would be nicer if they looked at their practices and prevented the problems in the first place.

For the sake of Charter, I hope they are able to figure it out. Choices where I live for high speed are better, yet I do not want to go through the hassle of changing it.

Labels: "Charter Communications", "Dan Paulson", "Daniel Paulson", "InVision Business Development", Branding, customer loyalty, customer service, Economy, InVision, Leadership, Strategy