Influencing People

Weird couple of days that's had me reflecting on my connections, work and getting things done. Some basic observations on what seems to help get things done with people:

• being helpful
• being sensitive
  
• being patient
• being available
• being clear
• being proactive
• being provocative
  
• being firm
• being a hardass

And some basic observations on what gets in the way with some people:

• being clear
• being firm
• being a hardass

Clarity seems to scare some people all the time - and scares others mostly when it conflicts with their vision, goals and beliefs (duh).

That's when patience works well.

I've noticed that timing is everything and what's right always/usually/mostly becomes obvious over time.

Hard Times Speech

You know, it's been really interesting.

Ever since I posted the Christmas Party speech here in December, a large percentage of referrals from Google to this blog have been looking for CEO speeches of various types. Amongst the speeches being searched for are 'bad times speech', 'hard times speech', 'difficult speech to give'.

I want to help. Here's my shot at the speech these CEO's might be looking for:

Hello everyone. Thanks for taking the time to get together today.

I'm not going to waste your time or mince words. The reason for getting together is to bring you up to speed on the company's status. Unfortunately, it's not as good as we all would have anticipated even 6 short months ago.

There are several issues.

First, our sales have slowed dramatically. As you know, we count on other businesses for approximately 60% of our sales. All of them sell to consumers. And consumers have dramatically limited their spending to the point where category demand in our space if off over 40%.

Although our consumer products are doing better than most thanks to our strong brand and innovative distribution, we're still seeing declines that we had never anticipated when we started the new plant 18 months ago.

Second, we are seeing a serious slow-down in payments from customers. In fact, our average days outstanding - the average amount of time its taking to receive customer payment has increased by 50% just in the last 30 days.

So what does this mean?

It means that we cannot be complacent.

As CEO my first priority is to ensure that this company remains strong. By remaining strong, the best interests of shareholders, customers and employees are looked after.

Effective today, we are announcing a series of actions that will make our company leaner, more efficient, more effective and ready to take advantage of the significant opportunities that we see opening as weaker, less well prepared competitors stumble.

All of us will feel the pain of these actions. However, we have not and will not stray from the core values of this organization - accountability, fairness and compassion. You have my word on that.

While it is very difficult to predict when these unique and difficult business conditions will pass, our vision remains intact. This is an incredibly talented and committed team that I am honored to lead. Working together, we will emerge stronger and more successful than ever before.

Thank you.

Owner Operators

Yesterday's post on why owner operated businesses fail got some interesting responses. One was left as a comment to the blog - which I decided not to post - the others came via phone and email.

At least one response was positive.

Yesterday's post was not a shot at owner operators. Why would I do that?

It was a warning.

Something to think about.

I do a lot of work with owner operators. Most of them running companies that are performing below expectations.

And do you know what I see? I see the same leadership issues EVERY COMPANY I go into.

The issues are SO similar, I start to question whether maybe the issue is me. Maybe I'm losing it - perhaps it's my perspective that has simply shut down. I've stopped looking for creative or unique solutions; no longer capable of looking beyond a few well-trodden personal beliefs. Maybe that's the case.

But here's what drives me to keep exploring it. The businesses where the owner-operator has gotten it - taken some advice, learned how to manage, learned how to trust, stepped back...and changed to adapt to new realities....have all succeeded.

And those that haven't are either just hanging around, or are out of business.

Coincidence?

Innovation and Creativity - Follow-up

Judging by the traffic to the earlier Innovation Confusion post I'm not the only one confused...and there's lots of interest in innovation.

Those looking for more insight may want to check out the blog Creativity and Innovation. Their posts, innovation index and attendant insights are quite useful.

What I Believe

Ever listen to yourself talk?

I do.

This may sound scary but way too often it's how I figure out what I'm actually thinking or worse, what I really believe in. You'd think/hope I might have that sorted before opening my mouth but apparently that's not always the case.

Today I had lunch with a new business prospect. To be honest, I'd heard most of what I said before, but it was a good refresher on some of the stuff I walk around believing in. Like this:

> I believe in measuring outputs, not inputs. This idea frequently comes up around how hard people are working. How hard people work, including how many hours they put in is an input. What they turn out, regardless of how hard they're working is an output. When employee outputs match corporate output expectations, we have success. As I said today - and have said way too often before - if we achieved success with everybody doing their jobs standing on their heads naked at 4 in the morning - how they did their jobs (the input) is irrelevant.

> I don't believe in ego. Famous quotes from me on ego: "Ego kills opportunity". "Ego will outdo intelligence, everyday of the week". "What an asshole".

> I believe in brutal honesty. The term brutal is a little dramatic and not really what I mean but it makes the point - err on the side of telling the truth, not the varnish. The reason I love brutal honesty is it makes things happen. It eliminates politics and confusion. Someone does a great job - tell them. Same person is doing a crappy job - tell them. A client's business is messed up - tell them. The client is messed up - find a new client. My favourite example of brutal honesty - my firing stories - I've only ever fired one person who didn't shake my hand when I fired them (he knew my track record and didn't do it just to mess me up). Why did all the others? Because long before they were fired and leading up to getting fired, they knew where they stood. I told them. We talked about it. How to fix things. How things were going. If/when firing day arrived it was never a surprise. More people need to try brutal honesty. It's treating adults like adults - and they will respond.

> I believe in beer. More people need to drink. It relieves stress and gets people together. I've known a lot of people who's best ideas came after 2 beer.

>I believe in marketing. Not tech - I hired a well known analyst from Gartner marketing. Real marketing. Dog food marketing. Starting with the consumer. Building a product that meets their needs. Selling it so they get the benefits. I've observed, and it scares me, how few companies actually understand marketing. PROMOTIONS AND SWAG ARE NOT MARKETING. There would be more successful companies if more managers understood the power of true marketing.
(Speaking of marketing, I saw a great tag line - on the side of a transport truck - for a promotions company - it said: "Crap to give away. Stuff to wear". Perfect mission statement. I would have loved to facilitate that work session!)

I'm sure I believe in a lot more but it didn't come up today. Saving it for tomorrow.

Facilitate This

Even after more than 20 years in the consulting, leadership business I'm still intrigued by the power and potential of well run group input processes. By now I've seen everything from the incredibly complex to the surprisingly simple. I've seen them both work. And fail.

Yesterday, I got a chance to observe a very effective process that said as much about strong leadership as it did about gathering great feedback. It involved a new CEO of a large, important, troubled and neglected industry group. His goals were clearly as much about demonstrating engagement and change of style as they were about hearing from key constituents.

There was absolutely no rocket science in his approach. First, he and his Chair made some introductory remarks setting the stage. Then they split the group into 3, handed each group 2 simple questions, and waited for feedback.

Then, the simple but remarkable part. As each group was presenting their input, he took notes and asked questions for clarification. On his feet the whole time. Moving around the room to get a direct look at the notes being used. Then, without hesitation or preparation, and still on his feet, he proceeded to summarize the reams of information he'd just been given. Having been assured, that he'd got the message properly, he then provided his perspective, response, concerns, and enthusiasm in a point by point fashion for everything he had just been fed.

Very, very effective. The message of "I listened, I get it, I have answers and I'm not afraid" echoed around the room. The response of the participants was predictably positive. Post-meeting I talked to a previously skeptical industry CEO who already changed sides - suspending disbelief and holding out serious hope for change.

Of course, one good meeting does not success make. But as a platform and an initial building block for change, it was very impressive. And simple. I learned something.