Extraordinary Business

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

Imagine you are making a trip to another city. Unfortunately your car is broke down and you have to rely on someone else to get you exactly where you want to go. In an urban area you might call a taxi, take the bus, or ride on a train/subway. If you live out in the sticks like I do, you may have to call a friend or relative to get you where you need to go. Now what if you couldn't speak and you couldn't write anything legible for the person to understand where you were going. Also, what if the person giving you the ride couldn't speak or write anything down either? All of a sudden the communication that we take for granted on a daily basis would probably get very frustrating.

I recently spent several weeks overseas in China. My Mandarin is quite rough to say the least. I can get out some of the basics but I am a long way from holding a conversation. Fortunately most times I had a translator with me to make sure communication went smoothly.

There were times though where I was on my own and it was up to me to get the message across. For example, one day I chose to travel to Beijing which was a two hour drive by car. Fortunately high speed rail was available which was more comfortable and much faster. The challenge was getting from my hotel to the train station, then to Beijing and back.

I had already experienced the challenge of ordering food at the local restaurants. Fortunately most items were pictures and you could point to what you wanted. Yet there were times where the server needed more information that the picture couldn't provide. Now what? In some cases it was a guess. A few times I was pleasantly surprised with something I didn't think I ordered but I managed to get by. In any case, it was extremely frustrating on both sides when we couldn't understand what the other was saying.

Now imagine yourself traveling 80 miles away with little more than a street address. A normally simple process became amazingly complex. I had to plan ahead of time and make sure my translator understood exactly where I wanted to go. I then had to trust that she would write down the correct information. (She must have liked me because I made it back) On top of that, I couldn't read what she wrote so she needed to translate each phrase back to English so I would know what I was "saying".

The taxi rides were very interesting because all the taxi drivers loved to talk, or at least all the ones I rode with did. Imagine having a conversation with someone and all you can do is smile, nod and try to explain you don't understand a single word that person is saying. Again, frustrating.

So what's my point here besides learn the language? This is an extreme example of how difficult communication can be. Many people who have been in a leadership role can relate to this experience even when the people you are speaking to DO speak the same language. The key is mutual understanding.

The other day a client shared how easy their job would be if it wasn't for the people and the difficulty understanding them. Two people can interpret information very differently. We often make the assumption that because we understood what we meant, that others should get the same message. Not the case. Many problems can be avoided if we work toward understanding. This is true whether you speak to a taxi driver in China or an employee on the production floor. The better you get at understanding the easier it will be to get things done the right way.

Labels: Business Coaching, China, Coaching, Communication, customer loyalty, customer service, Leadership, process, Professional Development, Strategy

We need a few good people. Or at least that is what I hear my clients say. Gone are the days of the company man. Now many people see jobs as merely stepping stones to get where they want to be. This is quite a turn around from our parent's culture that hailed the person working 20+ years at one job.

What has caused this change. The greatest factor might have been big business itself. Everyone has heard the story of the dedicated employee ousted from his position due to cutbacks and sending jobs overseas. Other factors may be benefits. As benefits change in relation to the needs of the employees, we see even less loyalty.

This takes us to our current generation. Most employees nowadays consider 2-4 years a long-term commitment to a job. Unlike their parents, they are also more concerned about balancing their personal life with their work. Many are no longer willing to work for just the almighty dollar.

So what is your company doing to find and retain good people? When businesses fail to keep good employees, they should first look at themselves before blaming the employee for leaving. What are you doing to develop your culture to attract people? How do you keep your staff engaged in their work? What are you learning about your employees needs that will let them know you value them and wish to keep them around?

If an employer treats their staff as an expense, they will often find it difficult to retain and hire good people. Given there are fewer people entering our workforce right now, you want to make sure you are a place people talk about working and not about leaving.

Labels: Business, Change Management, Leadership, Management, Organizational Development, Professional Development, Strategy

This thought is from an article by Dan and Chip Heath in the February 2008 issue of Fast Company. Their article "Make Goals Not Resolutions" highlights a good point that plagues most companies and people. We fail to clarify what we want to accomplish.

Things like increasing profits, better teamwork, improved communication are all great ideas. Unfortunately they cannot be measured and there is no time line to follow. The result is usually failure to realize that goal to its full potential.

The Heaths point out visualization as a key factor in achieving what you want. By visualizing where and when you will do something you have a much greater chance of actually achieving that goal.

So what were your resolutions for the new year? If you could visualize what you were doing, where you would be and when you complete it, would it help you reach your goal?

Labels: Business, Business Coaching, Coaching, Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Professional Development

Business coaching is continuing to gain credibility throughout the world as a legitimate resource to help professionals achieve results. A recent article in the Cincinnati Enquirer (Dec 18,2007) states that "9 out of 10 human resources professionals and clients see the value of coaching as 'very high' or 'somewhat high.'" :

Coaching was originally used to boost the performance of poor performers. My recent experience shows that successful executives are more likely to seek out a coach for themselves. People who strive to be the best and seek to get the most out of themselves while staying balanced.

What is your perception of coaching and if you were to seek a coach, what would you look for?

Labels: Business, Business Coaching, Coaching, Leadership, Professional Development, Strategy

Recently Yahoo Hotjobs! surveyed people on job satisfaction and found that 43% of workers were unhappy with their boss' performance and that 7 out of 10 workers are looking at landing a new job in 2008.

I believe their are two sides to every story and I believe there are a lot of good people that are in leadership roles. There are also people who don't understand their manager's responsibility. I think this represents how important communication is in an organization. It also shows what happens when companies fail to give their leaders the skills to be successful.

What are the costs to business when they experience high turnover?

Labels: Business, Culture, Leadership, Management, Professional Development

An article in the January 6, 2008 edition of Parade states it is natural to start forgetting things as we get older. While we are no less competent, it does take us longer to retain information. So as you get older and find those "minor memory lapses", what do you do to retain information. I find that working your brain is a lot like working your muscles. If you fail to work out, your muscles atrophy. In some ways not giving your brain a workout can do the same. What do you do?

Labels: Business, Business Coaching, Personal Development, Professional Development

It's hard to believe we are into our first full week in 2008 already. Often this is a time of year when we are excited about the targets we have set for ourselves in the coming months. What are some things that you are striving for? What's one thing you need to do on a daily basis so you will reach those goals? What is one thing you need to stop doing in order to accomplish your

Labels: Business, Business Coaching, Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Professional Development, Strategy

I recently heard a radio personality comment on a football game he was watching. The comment was related to how the coach managed the clock and how difficult it must be to keep track of the time outs while managing the plays and accounting for the obvious obstacles created by the opposing team.

What's interesting is as a leader you experience similar change every day. The Leader's team is their people and strategy is their playbook. Instead of one team, leaders are often competing against many teams at the same time. The clock you manage is through your annual goals and your fiscal year. As with any team, you have your standout players, your team players and those who fail to deliver their best.

As you look at 2008, what are some of the biggest challenges you see with meeting your goals?

Labels: Business, Business Coaching, Change Management, Leadership, Management, Personal Development, Professional Development, Sales, Strategy, Wealth

Carla Johnson of the Associated Press recently wrote about a recent study that found people "who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a lower risk for developing Alzheimer's".

It appears this personality helps protect the brain. Some of the "dutiful people" were examined after death and found to have physical symptoms in their brains that would be consistent with the criteria for Alzheimer's, yet these people had shown no signs of the disease.

Robert Wilson of Chicago's Rush University of Medicine who co-authored the study said, "This adds to our knowledge that lifestyle, personality, how we think, feel, and behave are very importantly tied up with risk for this terrible illness."

In a way it might be said that hiring a coach could assist you with protecting yourself against Alzheimer's. While there is no study to back up how coaching can help, this study does suggest it could make a difference. A good coach should help you define your purpose and live a dutiful life by teaching self-discipline. So if you are considering hiring a coach to better yourself professionally, you may also reap greater benefits personally.

Labels: Alzheimer's, Business, Business Coaching, Change Management, Coaching, Culture, Health, Organizational Development, Personal Development, Professional Development