Leadership

The Month of October is dedicated to Stomping the Elephant in the Office. Now is the time for Small Business owners, managers and workers to take the economy in their own hands and become the businesses that make a difference. Businesses that maintain profitability and have low employee turnover usually are doing many things right. This starts at the top with leadership that is in tune with reality.

I recently saw a CEO of a local company leaving one of his retail facilities. He did several things:

1. He stopped and chatted with the store greeter,

2. He picked up some litter as he walked out the door, and
3. He helped a customer break loose a shopping cart from the corral.

Even if I had not known who this person was, I would have smiled and enjoyed watching this engaged individual. The customer likely did not know who he was, but several employees that were nearby did and will remember. Simple acts of respect to the world around us are hard to ignore and often cause others to respond similarly. Not all people will follow our good examples, but the more we try, the harder it will be to ignore out leadership.

An engaged leader leads to engaged employees who will work with passion and connection to their company. They drive innovation and move an organization forward.

Linda Fayeweather

 

The Toxic Employee. I'm sure you have worked with a few coworkers or had a few employees that could be considered "Negative", "Not a Team Player", or somebody you just avoid. They cause drama, or feed drama. They are employees that don't promote a healthy work environment and usually the ones that complain the most. Whatever they are, they are toxic. They drain other employees desire to work, they hurt the company, and generally sabotage their own work.

The most common types of Toxic Employees are the:

         Office Gossip or Tattletale - passing rumors around or informing to your superiors
        Pessimist - everything is doom and gloom
        Social Butterfly - social beyond "I really like to work here", often have very long stories
        Corporate Climber - the one that casts moral scruples aside for personal gain
        Not my Job - person who believes just the job description and nothing but the job description
         Bad Boss - Career Builder survey shows that 26% of managers are unsure of their own abilities as a leader.

Being a leader is a choice, not something selected for you. You know you are a leader if people are following your lead. The toxic employees can become leaders if allowed to live in your organization - not the leadership you want.

Jeff Mendelsohn

liquid@liquidmechanix.com

Shifting Focus and Budgeting WHYs

Shifting Focus and Driving a New DirectionIf you ask anyone if they want to succeed in life, I bet every single person will say "Yes" but more than 75% of those people will focus on failing or why they aren't succeeding and in turn fail. Sounds strange, they all said they wanted to succeed, why didn't they?  

Because of their focus.

Negativity is common place and usually has a more emotional impact on us and what we are doing versus succeeding.  I've been reading "Stomp the Elephant in the Office" by Steven W. Vannoy and Craig W. Ross. It is one of the best books I've read to date about leadership and business culture.

Take this example about Negativity begets Negativity.  Often we get caught up in what isn't working versus what is working.
 
It is Monday Morning, 8:40AM and you are late driving to the office. Traffic is heavy. You go to take a sip of coffee. Brake lights ahead of you. You slam on the brakes, coffee goes everywhere. Your day ruined before it even starts.

If that sounds like a morning you have had, we all would shout "I should have gotten up earlier".  Right, but at every turn of this story, the driver could have changed one thing and had a different outcome.  Shiffiting the focus at each action can result in a better outcome.  We don't get "Do Overs" but we can always change the next action.

Jeff Mendelsohn

liquid@liquidmechanix.com  

Budgeting for WHY This is the last week of September, the last days of the third quarter, fall is officially here, and plans for 2012 are in the making! During this month, we have talked about budgeting - mostly about how to budget and the feelings around budgeting. Now we will bookend these conversations between WHY and ACCOUNTABILITY. The reasons WHY to budget for a business are: 1. Plan for the future (grow, sell, retire) 2. Provide a financial game plan to match your business plan 3. Know where the money is going and why 4. Stop reckless, random or duplicate spending 5. Reduce surprises that cause stress - you know that quarterly bill you always forget? I could go on about WHY budget, but in the end, you either will or you won't and those that don't often wonder WHY there are more days at the end of the month than there is money. Now, on the Accountability end of a budget, I have a coffee mug that says "How can I be out of money, I still have checks?" a saying I've heard at the end of many a joke and I think eventually it will be an antique as fewer and fewer paper checks are really written. The point is simple. . . . . .Being accountable means comparing the actual to the expected.  Accountability can be accelerated by finding an accountability partner - someone in your firm, maybe your accountant, or your board of advisors that you regularly say  "This is what we said we were going to do and this is what we did." The discipline of budgeting often leads to the freedom from stress and more money in your bank account - not bad for something most people say they don't like to do.  Here is hoping that your business will have a working budget next quarter. Linda Fayeweather Like us on Facebook   Tweet us at Twitter      Changing Lanes LLC PS.  October will be all about employees Stay tuned!

Want VS Need

Budgeting without Feeling Like you are on Restriction
Need vs. Want, basic economics or should I say toddler economics. When babies are still shiny and new, they only know needs. The need milk, dry diapers, affection, no pain and sleep. When they need one of these, they cry until we figure it out. Eventually, and I'm not sure when it happens, they know they "want" something. Somewhere in the evolutionary path, this wanting stays in our brain and often perks up and runs ruin in our budgets.

The obvious examples of want vs. need are simple:

• Do you need a new cell phone or just want the latest technology?
• Do you need another purse or will last season's work as well?
• Do you need to buy brand name groceries or will the house brand give the same nutrition and flavor?  It is really that simple.

I like to start here, because if your budget is all need and no want you will feel like you are on restriction all the time. Even the most restrictive budget will have some "want" in it for sanity sake.

Here are Budget Tips to get your started making next year better!

1. Identify income sources you know will happen and high probability likely sources. Keep it real.
2. List your current expenses.  Everything.  Make sure you have included spending that is auto pay on your business checking or credit card.
3. Now identify any quarterly, semi-annual and yearly payments.
4. Develop a method to track cash. Many small businesses use petty cash, but fail to really record it correctly. Go to Petty Cash for an explanation of how a petty cash system could work. 
5. Create your accounts. You can find accounts in books and online at many places. If you are using accounting software like QuickBooks, the basic accounts will often get you going in the right directions.
6. Develop realistic written goals. Knowing why you are doing a budget just helps. If your business goal is to launch a new product, knowing when and how much will be needed may be important.
7. Include others in this process. If the art department is going to be expected to follow a budget, then they need to have input into the budget.
8. Hold yourself and staff accountable. Teamwork really works here. A regular staff meeting that identifies how the company is doing compared to the budget many help all departments work together and hold each other accountable. For the solo-entrepreneur, find an accountability partner.
9. Blame is not the game. Figuring out "why" an area of your budget is over is more important than "who messed up". Seldom does one person cause a budget to fail - it is usually the unspoken participation of many.
10. Celebrate your success with the team and your accountability partner. This may be one of those little extra wants that makes sense - just be sure you don't blow the budget on rewarding the budgeters.

Linda Fayeweather

    

Changing Lanes LLC

What do You Really Want?
Often we want something ABOUT what we want, rather than the object itself. For example, we can't all be ballet dancers, yet we could bring more beauty and grace into our life.

Try this exercise from Dr. Phil McGraw:

1. What do you want in life?
2. What must you do to get it?
3. How will you feel when you get what you want?
Use the answer to 3. to start over, putting it as the next number 1.

EXAMPLE:

 --->1. I want a red sports car.
      2. I must save a lot of money to get one.
      3. I will feel special when I'm driving in it. So, this answer becomes your new #1

3 -->1. I want to feel special.
        2. I must set myself apart to get it.
        3. I will feel exceptional. - What you want is

3 -->1. I want to be exceptional.
        2. I must be a master at what I do.
        3. I will feel like I made a difference.

What you really want is not the car, but to make a difference. You can keep this up until real clarity  unfolds, or stop here and seek "What you must do" to make a difference. 

Budgeting and planning requires you to know what you really want!

Budgeting and Goal Setting

Three times in the last week I've talked with people that have told me "I don't set goals" or "I don't believe in goals". When I talked with them further, they said things like: "Goals don't work for me" "I don't believe in running a business like the "unethical slugs" [edited for PG audience] on Wall Street" "Goals are unrealistic, I find them deflating and provide me with negative energy" "Goals, that is old school".    My personal guess is that even if you say "I don't believe in goals" you are doing some planning in the back of your head. My personal challenge to anyone is: "if you have gotten to where you are today without a plan, or goals or a budget, what would the next 12 months look like with just one of those?"    This week: How to start thinking about a budget. Decide to do it - important first step because you have to know why you are doing it. This is where a desired outcome (another phrase for 'goal') comes to play. Maybe you just want to go on a vacation. Maybe you want a new piece of equipment for the business. Maybe you just want to sleep better at night. Find a visual of your goal and create a quantity (how many $, sales or hours to achieve it). Get someone else involved. If this is a business budget, maybe your accountant or controller can be of help. If you are working on a personal budget, your spouse or partner will be a likely choice. Get some historical data. With online banking, it is relatively easy to get the details of past spending and where it went. Don't forget, credit card statements can help identify where the money went, too. Watch your money like your life depends on it. Think like you are the godfather of your money - protect it from the vultures of waste and whining. Budget for the unexpected. If you budget a surplus each month for "emergency spending", unless you have an emergency every month, this may need to land in a savings account. If you have an emergency every month, we might want to call that a "monthly expense". Be reasonable. If gasoline goes up, you will still need to go to work. Budget expenses that vary with seasons and political shenanigans accordingly. Next week: Tips to make a budget work without feeling like you are on restriction!    --Linda Fayeweather Changing Lanes LLC Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Running a Small Business - The Seven Fatal Mistakes

There is no such thing as guaranteed success in any business. But there are things that you can do that will guarantee failure. Here are the seven of them. 1. Inexplicitness. Success in business and life has never been achieved through vagueness. Explicit objectives are the drivers of achievement. Setting out clear goals for your business allows you to develop strategies to achieve your goals and to create plans which will ultimately drive your business to success. Without goals, strategies and plans, you are just depending on luck- and how has that worked for you so far? 2. Apathy. Few human activities require a greater commitment than operating a business. Success without commitment just doesn't happen. And apathy for your business will mean commitment is impossible. Commitment requires passion. 3. Pride. Pride in your business is a good thing, but being so proud that you don't ask for advice or help will seriously limit your ability to grow. Successful business owners surround themselves with smart people. 4. Inactivity. Business is generated through taking action. And the best idea in the world just remains an idea until someone takes action on it. There is no return from inactivity. 5. Non-perseverance. Giving up at the first hurdle will never result in success. The chances of success without some disappointments are low. Thomas Edison tried 10,000 different filaments before he invented the light bulb. Perseverance is essential for success. 6. Guessing. If you do not measure the response of each action and tactic of your business, from marketing to service delivery, you are just guessing about what is working and what is not. This means that you will be making bad decisions on what you should stop doing, what you try, and what you should change to improve. 7. Disorganization. If there is no organization in your business, you will have no control over your expenses, you will lose efficiency, and your clients will go to someone who can provide reliable service. Systems ensure that your services are provided consistently following your best practice, no matter who is providing your service. They eliminate the cost of non-compliance, and ultimately create a saleable asset of your business. Without systems, your business will always depend on you being there and you will forever be reacting to events and fighting fires. Such a business has no long term future. While running a successful business is not easy, there are rules that you can follow that will almost certainly increase your chances of success. And there are also sins that will guarantee your failure. Copyright 2011 Dr Greg Chapman, editor of the Australian Small Business Blog. Visit http://www.gregchapman.biz