Archive for Managing People
One thing is for certain, we as entrepreneurs thrive on having new ideas and considering new avenues, new businesses, new projects and more. The most successful entrepreneurs bring a laser focus to their business.
They know their strengths and hire in to cover their weaknesses. They act quickly and implement on their best thinking. They know where they are when they begin and they know where they are as they move along their path to success.
Let’s discuss this last topic. Checking in on where you are? This is not just about the financial aspects of your business. It is the course you have set for your business. You need to check in on a regular basis and see if you are on track financially, on your projects, on your plan and on your strategy.
Here is one example I think everyone may relate to. Do you sign up to attend an event, go to the event and then it happens. You get swept up at the event by great and compelling selling into purchasing a new marketing tool. You buy the package for a few thousand dollars. You return from the event all excited and begin to spend your time and the time of your team on the ‘new’ marketing tool.
Now I am not going to judge your purchase. Marketing is a critical and all important component to running a continually successful business. I want to ask you this question – are you losing your focus and taking your team off track? When do you realize what you have done? Do some current and previously important projects get sidetracked? Are there some urgent opportunities, conversations, customer issues, email campaigns that are now lost in this new found exciting marketing tool you are all working with?
Is it better to consider the time investment and the who, what, where and when of the new marketing tool you purchased?
The point here is this – create a regular method of checking in. Know clearly where you want to go and attach dates and timelines to everything. Roll this back into to smaller goals to be achieved. Carve these up to your staff and areas of responsibility. Now you will know where you are and where you are going! And your team will too!
You found the perfect frame for your photo. It was the frame you dreamed of finding. The plan was set as you already knew exactly where to hang this frame which would house the photos which you printed out from your digital camera. You bought a picture hook when you bought the frame. You have a hammer already to go. Up goes the picture hook in the exact place where you want your new frame hung up.
You place the frame up and onto the picture hook.
There it is as you step back and see…the crooked picture frame hanging there? Okay so you play around with the frame a bit and it always ends up crooked. Not a little crooked – a lot crooked.
Does this ever happen to you in your business?
Do you have examples which you might relate to – similar to this story so far?
Here is what I did when this happened to me recently.
I turned over the frame and placed a ruler on the top of the frame on the back. This was to take a measurement and see where things were right now before taking any action. The answer was not what I expected. The hanging piece was installed one full inch off center! Gathering in the facts of what would be necessary to effectively and efficiently correct this situation, I brought in a few tools which would be needed. With a pencil, I marked the exact location of where the hanging piece needed to be installed.
Unscrewed the piece, redrilled holes in locations which I neatly and specifically marked for the screws and then reinstalled the hanging piece. The picture frame was placed where my daughter needed it to be. This entire process took me less then five minutes.
How does this relate to your business?
What do you do when something is out of whack or just seems out of place?
What if the event announcements are placed in your blog by accident instead of on your events page?
Do you just go in and fix it?
Or do you take the opportunity to be a leader and a manager by finding out how this happened and make it a teaching and learning moment for your team?
How many people are able to start their story with that line: “George Steinbrenner once stood before me and said…” He was called ‘The Boss’.
From a Great Lakes Shipping owner family and in the shipping business primarily before sports. Many have said George Steinbrenner was an entrepreneur. Here is one quote about him all entrepreneurs should take to heart: “He was very business-oriented, very direct, and very definite in what he wanted.” Think about that one for a moment – “…very definite in what he wanted…” You are able to read more about George Steinbrenner here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/sports/baseball/16partners.html
Another thought about the passing of ‘The Boss’ is maybe he represents the old way of conducting business. In the environment today and the shift in priorities and the way we think about work would a boss such as George Steinbrenner have the ability to run a business the way he ran his businesses?
Even a sports team like the New York Yankees?
The other day a client spoke with me about an incident witnessed at a retail establishment. An upscale salon where she was having her hair cut had an incident with a woman nearby who was having her hair cut by an always fully booked expert. The patron was apparently a little bit abusive and it was continuous. All of a sudden the expert cutting her hair stopped cutting and loudly stated “I will not be able to continue to cut your hair, I apologize”. And then walked away with scissors and comb in hand.
In the next few minutes there was shuffling, some rearranging and apologizes and another person completed the haircut for the patron. Think about the various aspects – these appointments are booked four weeks or more in advance, other customers witnessed the activity, the hair expert is one of the most sought after experts and other patrons had to wait a bit while this incident was handled. I know George Steinbrenner never owned an exclusive salon but I think I know how he would have handled it. What do you think?
In many ways the passing of George Steinbrenner represents the passing of an old way of conducting business. Is this true?
What do you do when someone on your team screws up? Okay, it is an age old question since people have been working together. For many people their answer is – fire them! Their reasoning is there will be someone else who is ready willing and able to do the job and they will know not to screw up! Difficult to find fault with that thought process. Well let’s wait a minute. Before the screw up this person was in this position because of their solid performance, work ethic, education, and more. One big screw up and now they are useless? Another person might say well a lesson learned. If instead this screw up incident is taken as a real serious warning – do you think the person who screwed up will be a better trained and more devoted employee to the organization? How much money, time and effort does it take to find a great employee? So here is the million dollar question – What would you do if you were in charge of all the Secret Service Teams and now you have this
‘problem’ that happened the other day in the White House?
How would you handle this one?
