Manage to Succeed

This touches on basic management principles that apply to most any business whether small, modest, medium-sized, or very large. I am going to break this down into five basic principles, which will address the big picture perspective, as well as some subtleties.

• First, change is good … so don’t be afraid of it. It is constant and you should be aware of it and willing to embrace it with energy and a positive and explorative attitude. Your most important approach is to be a “learner” … willing to reinvent yourself, your management staff, including everything they do so that each of you will be your very best.
• Be a Leader … don’t over manage. Managers tend to control instead of facilitating to make things better. When one “manages” they tend to hold back or keep their foot on the brake rather than the gas. The leader looks at the big picture and seeks to simplify and grow the business.
• Learn and address the facts … then proceed to maximizing the good things and eliminating any negative impacts. Be alert and aware of the general economic conditions that may influence your business whereby you can use the good opportunities to grow and have wisdom to survive and thrive through the bad conditions. This will ensure long-term prosperity and a dynamic environment to lead.
• Focus on integrity and excellence … be consistent … and follow up every detail. Be willing to change when necessary, be open to new ideas, give good customer service, demand quality, keep things simple, empower your key managers and employees to do their jobs, and have a mission to gain a competitive advantage on your competitors. Watch the details to ensure these values and principles are pursued at every level. Your chance of success will increase exponentially.

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© Phil Hoffman 2013. All rights reserved

Converting Ideas into Results

The short answer to converting ideas into results is Execution, which I strongly believe in and have mentioned in several of my blogs. However, there is a plethora of books and articles today on the strategies for transforming ideas into results, so many in fact it can become confusing when it doesn’t need to be. Ten years ago it seems the biggest concern was coming up with good ideas, but today people seem to want to know the actions they need to focus on to be successful. The interesting thing about the change in interest from Ideas to Actions is that the actions are basically the same for every business.

Again there are many books, articles, and subject courses at colleges that spell out the actions required to run a business, whether a startup or an established business. Therefore, I’ve taken the liberty of recapping what I feel are the basic essential strategies here.

1. Vision – As Stephen Covey taught us in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People … begin with the end in mind. In other words have a clear and compelling vision in your head of what you really want to do. But you need to take that idea and document it and communicate it in a way that enables every member of your team and your customers to understand what your vision (or What) is.
2. Work Ethic – find the best people you can. You can’t teach work ethic so that is the key element you need. Doers can be taught; Thinkers think, but seldom are action oriented. The future of your company is based on the quality of people you attract and keep. You must have a winning culture that your team commits to.
3. Communication – you have to have open, honest, and candid communication throughout the organization. You need a keen or sixth sense of radar as to what’s going on at all times. This is a key intuitive requirement in my opinion. At the same time, the key elements of communication in the business world are a.) conscious listening, b.) common sense versus emotion, c.) and reading and understanding the meta-messages that are not spoken.
4. Sense of Urgency – whenever I have talked with someone who has made major changes or transitions they have always said they wish they had done them sooner. And that applies to business acumen too. You have to have a sense within your culture of getting things done … make important things happen now. Furthermore, a sense of urgency will keep at bay any efforts to start a bureaucracy, therefore, it is a positive source of energy. Acknowledge and reward fast action on key matters. The leader sets the pace. What you focus on will set the example for your people and who you spend time with will be an asset or a detriment.
5. Execution – is a key requirement for positive results. (Heck, Larry Bossidy wrote a whole book on Execution that is a fabulous reference for us all.) A performance-based culture will demand quality and excellence. Furthermore, a sense of execution within a performance-based culture encourages continuous innovation and improvement, and will not tolerate mediocrity or poor performance.
6. Customer Centric – build into your personal dashboard mechanisms for getting feedback from customers. Knowing that you are delivering what the customers want and value is what is going to make you successful. A positive attitude and the ability to truly listen are important elements in dealing with customers. A well-managed customer focus will drive all factors that affect profitability. And the best results you can get are consistent profits.

The above strategic steps used in a synergistic manner will create a successful business model. It is always best to focus on one principle at a time, but important for the leader to understand the big picture of the synergy of all elements … or as Stephen Covey said, “… with the end in mind.” Again, it may be impossible to address all six principles at once, but start with the one principle you feel will be the most impactful at creating leverage immediately and build from there.

Two keys here are to fight off bureaucracy and do not accept mediocrity … both of these are cancers on a business. I suggest you focus on four key watchwords – integrity, excellence, discipline, and action.

Establishing a culture whereby simple actions done in an outstanding way are more effective than complex and time-consuming actions done poorly. Don’t be swayed into thinking that “simple” means “easy to do.” Nothing about running a business is easy to do. But having a road map with these six principles will help you implement and execute your plan successfully.

© Phil Hoffman 2013. All rights reserved

Integrity Forever

If I were asked what one value or attribute to live by it would be that integrity is forever. Integrity means doing the right thing at all times, whether anyone is watching or not. As we mature in our lives … both professionally and personally … we learn that successes will come and go. It is important to be consciously aware and intentional about your integrity. It takes courage to do the right thing no matter what the consequences. Building a reputation with good integrity takes time … takes years, but it only takes a second to lose. So never allow yourself to do anything that would damage your integrity.

It is my belief that integrity is not discussed enough in the education system … at any age. Business leaders expect loyalty and integrity but few plainly and clearly express their perspectives on integrity or discuss it at all. Today’s world has a lot of compromise and hedging to avoid conflict or misunderstandings. Some are quite clever at “wordsmithing” things whereby what they say can be interpreted more than one way. This is especially true in politics and has become more prevalent in sales and marketing tactics as well as other areas of our daily lives. This has become an acceptable school of thought for far too many. A few examples are:

• Job applicants exaggerate in job interviews (and resumes) because they desperately need a job.
• Sales people overpromise and under deliver … all with the intent to meet the pressure for making their quota for the month, quarter, etc.
• Entrepreneurs overstate their proformas because they want the highest valuation possible from an investor.
• Customer service representatives cover up a mistake they made because they are afraid the client will leave them.
• CEOs overstate their projected earnings because they don’t want the board of directors to replace them.
• Investors understate a company’s value in order to negotiate a lower valuation in a deal.
• Employees call in “sick” when they aren’t but don’t have any more paid time off when they actually need to do something personal such as Christmas shop.

This list could go on-and-on and in each situation the person has convinced himself or herself that they have a perfectly valid reason “because everyone does it.” Cutting corners and acting without integrity in small matters leads to a habit that spills over into all matters … not to mention they set examples for others (including their kids). A little white lie or just plain dishonesty may provide short-term gratification but it rarely works long term.

The value of trust that others have in you is far greater than anything that can be measured. For an entrepreneur it may mean that investors are willing to trust them with their money. For employees it may mean a boss that is willing to trust them with additional responsibility and promotion. For companies it may mean customers trusting them more and, therefore, giving them more business or a recommendation to others. For you it enables you to build a cadre of people that are willing to speak up for you because they know that recommending you to others will never bring damage to their reputation of integrity. And people of integrity are very conscious of who and how they recommend others.

This subject always reminds me of a quote I read from Warren Buffet: “In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first one, the other two will kill you.” In other words, a person’s dishonesty will eventually catch up to them. One of the first suggestions I have is to avoid those who are not trustworthy. Do not do business with them. Do not associate with them. Do not be enticed into believing that while they may be dishonest with others, they would never be dishonest with me. When you stop and think that over the answer becomes obvious.

I remember traveling with a colleague to make a presentation to a major prospect we were working in tandem to land for our separate companies. We felt that together we could help each other and score a win-win for us both. That morning on our way to breakfast he stopped to get a newspaper out of a newspaper dispenser and when he put his money in and opened the dispenser he took out two and gave one to me when he had only paid for one. I immediately thought, if he can’t be trusted in the simple matters of honesty how can he be trusted in a pressure or complex business matter. In that small instance a lot transpired between us in an unspoken manner. It is important to realize that others pay attention to those you have chosen to associate with, and they will eventually judge your character by the character of your friends. It reminds me of that old saw: when you lie down with dogs you get fleas. We inevitably become more and more like the people we surround ourselves with day to day. Therefore, if you want to build a reputation as a person of integrity then surround yourself with people of integrity.

What are your thoughts on integrity?

© Phil Hoffman 2013. All rights reserved