Making money with ideas

Bounce Back from Tough Times

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Every business owner and executive has experienced tough times dues to circumstances beyond their control. When tough times occur, some of us become fearful and stuck. We stop doing what needs to be done. We allow doubt to permeate our decisions. This may sound pessimistic. However, the simple fact is there are challenges in everyone’s life and in every business. To transform anything, you first need clarity of the facts. Wallowing is not an option for successful businesses and business professionals!

Move Forward. Unfortunately, many wait until they feel defeated before implementing structures to move forward. If you perceive yourself to be at the bottom, the only way to go is up.  Don’t wait until you get angry or disgusted with yourself for being in that position. Talk with your boss, mentor, or coach for objective ideas to help create new systems or opportunities,, small changes that can provide a bigger payoff. Now! You need to incorporate a sense of urgency; waiting itself can be the crux of the matter!

Change can be good. There is a misperception that change means something is bad. Too often this mental monologue gets triggered when people and businesses resist making the changes required in order to survive! Instead of hoping change won’t happen, do one thing different each day.  For example: drive to work a different way, talk with a different type of prospect than the norm, read one company goal at a department meeting and discuss its impact on customers, etc. In fact, many times change is just the antidote required to see your situation from a fresh perspective and enable you to take new actions. 

Talk it out responsibly. The fact of the matter is, regardless of how upsetting your situation may be, others have already been through a similar situation. Find someone to talk with (preferably an outside business advisor) and share the facts and your fears. Be responsible for what you share with insiders. Unfortunately, sharing uncertainty can come back to hurt people in management, due to the myth that they should have everything handled!

Take control. While you may not have control within your company, you always have control of your life. Have a conversation with your boss about taking on an assignment you’ve always wanted. If you’re an executive or business owner, take time to review your company’s strategy. How do you “breathe new life into the plan?” Work with a business advisor to effectively combine your business strategy with tactical requirements, without losing sight of the company’s direction. As a business professional, if you don’t like your career more than 50% of the time, this may be the time to get out of that career.

Be thankful. As unpopular as this may sound, be thankful for the challenges. Challenges will make you a stronger, more competent business professional. If handled properly, you will see and pursue new opportunities.  Challenges can be the building blocks to being happier, successful and finally achieving hoped-for financial rewards.

Get started now! Contact your coach and business advisor today! 

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Improve Your Results

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With the economy providing a roller-coaster ride, it’s more important than ever to stay the course in your business or career. While modifications may be required, making changes without clarity is not a wise course of action. Remember the fable of the tortoise and the hare? While the hare was faster, he wasn’t able to sustain his activities. The tortoise kept going. Steady and straight. He won!

The key to improve your results? Take action now!

Know Thyself. You can build faster and stronger results using your strengths. Every weakness has strengths, every strength has weaknesses. Many people like to think they know themselves. However, it’s hard to see yourself from others’ perspectives. Along with your coach, use a highly qualified assessment tool, which will provide clarity of how you interact with others. Highly qualified means that the assessment tool meets Department of Labor guidelines for hiring and selection. These tools require quantifiably higher validity and reliability (think, accuracy) than most others on the market can provide.

Set Compelling Goals. With all the current uncertainty, many business professionals are tempted to either make pie-in-the-sky goals, or set goals so small, they do not make any measurable difference. Not only are these changes unlikely to happen, the go-nowhere process creates unnecessary stress for you and your employees, financial expenditures and loss of energy. Make goals realistic, do-able and quantifiable. Work with your business mentor to ensure you’re on the right track.

Create Focused Action. This is the key to success. Too often we set goals and forget to set up structures for fulfilling these goals. Busy work does not equal focused action! Work with your coach to ensure you’re working smarter. Take small steady steps each day. It’s better than putting everything off until it’s either urgent or your prospects have moved on.

(c)Jeannette Seibly, 2011

It Starts with Small Steps

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Achieving any new result in life or building upon success, requires starting with small steps at first. Just as a baby first starting to walk, you may be hesitant in the beginning. As babies become less wobbly and gain confidence, they take more steps and they walk. Then, they are walking all over the place due to this new-found freedom.  They have built a new habit.

As adults, we too often attempt to go for the big win and are unable to sustain the required activity. Or we falsely believe the systems we’ve built for our first victory will work on our next one. Or we’re waiting for people and things to align; but, there is always something missing. Or we start with the wrong questions and can’t seem to find the right answers!

To get started:

Brainstorm for Clarity. If you start with the big questions (e.g., How can we make a million dollars this year?) most employees and even executives shut down their thinking.  Or they base their remarks on something that worked elsewhere. Instead, ask simpler questions that most people can answer, (e.g., “What’s one step we can take to improve our customer relationships?”). Listen to all suggestions. Pick only one to focus on at a time. When you ask the simplest questions to get started, people will be able to answer them.

Build on Focused Action Steps. Same principle. What’s one small step I can take today that will move me closer to my results? Keep it simple and smart! Instead of saying, “I’ll make ten calls today,” and fail to pick up the phone. Say, “I will have one conversation today for new business.” This may mean picking up the phone or attending a networking meeting.  This will help recondition your brain to create a new success-habit to build upon. If the step fails to produce a consistent result, simply make it a simpler step!  The key? Break down the step until it’s doable each and every day! This will allow your brain to support the actions you needed to build the results.

Hire a business advisor. In today’s market everyone is looking for “free” or attempting to be “lone-rangers.” This attitude alone will hinder your business results. There are four and one-half months left in 2011 to achieve this year’s goals. Hire an advisor to help you reinforce the steps needed to achieve the results you desire. Let’s get busy and make this the best year yet!

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Economic Doldrums

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Tired of all the political bantering? Has it got you down? Has your business or career been suffering, making it hard to stay in action?

First, ignore dismal news. Many companies and careers are flourishing. Regardless of the economy, take key steps NOW.  Don’t wait until the never-ending political rhetoric has subsided.

Second, complete the following:

Learn to Brag. Take time to conduct an inventory of everything great you’ve done, all the successes your business has experienced. Put this information together into a short (very short!) one to two paragraphs. Share them at networking meetings, elevator introductions and opening remarks at sales meetings.

Show appreciation. Take time to say thank you to all of your employees, customers, vendors and suppliers. Don’t forget business associates who have been helpful. If you can’t afford to take them to lunch, buy them a cup of coffee. Send them a thank you card – hand written is best. If you can swing it, send them a book, or simply provide a gift card. Don’t forget to send hand-written thank you for any gifts you’ve been given. It’s unprofessional to neglect expressing gratitude.

Move forward. It’s time to hire a coach/business mentor to refocus your activities. There are five months left this year! That’s time enough to achieve your goals for 2011! Most professionals who succumb to the doldrums find other things to do to keep their minds occupied … and do not achieve hoped-for results. This is nothing more than creative avoidance!  You are much more likely to succeed if you have someone to help you be accountable for taking the focused action steps necessary. A good coach can also help you find the right short-cuts! A good coach not only inspires action, s/he tells you to “cut it out” when you become unfocused.

©Jeannette Seibly

Master Leadership

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Leaders have learned the secret! Mastery, like anything, requires on-going practice. Your attitude towards learning how to achieve success requires developing a muscle. Adapting a “high-level” attitude usually signifies that you may have the title and compensation, but limited followers. Roll up your sleeves. Get involved. Earn respect.

Here are five critical components of being a leader others choose to follow.

Initiate and Make Things Happen. Create a direction for you and your employees that supports the Mission and Values of your business. Be seen as the leader. Walk the talk. This  is crucial for your employees, customers, vendors and communities to see you as a leader. Execute plans by focusing on how to get to where you want to go, step by step. Don’t buy into the usual array of excuses. Focused action plans are critical if you are to achieve your goals.  

Core Values. Tell the truth, but be tactful. Blurting out you don’t like the color of someone’s tie or dress will only hurt their feelings. Being afraid to ask good business questions, or being unable to answer them yourself, hinders your ability to build solid company practices and results! Relentlessly ensure your business is in compliance with the law and contracts. A handshake still means something in many companies. Always honor your verbal agreements.

Hire the Best. To grow the best business, consistently hire only the best. Reliance upon traditional hiring practices thwarts this critical element of leadership. Use scientifically validated assessment tools to help you better understand your employees and enable them to craft the career of their dreams! Build on talent. Engagement and inspiration occurs when you become a laser-like coach. Employees feel understood. They value your leadership. 

Get real! Putting frosting on mud does not make it a cake. It’s simply frosting hiding the mud! If you rely upon excuses to support your inability to achieve results, it’s time you learn how to operate outside your comfort zone. Stop making decisions based on tiny fragments of information; normally these bits and pieces have no truth to them! Don’t rush – get both sides of an issue – both factual and human perspectives. Make the right decisions and implement them in the right manner.

Build on your strengths. We all have inherent business strengths and weaknesses. Hire a business advisor to help you with the strategy. Hire an executive coach to ensure you’re doing all the things you should do but don’t really want to do, so you can achieve your goals. In the process you’ll learn a lot about yourself. You’ll become the strong leader others want to follow.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Do you constrain ingenuity?

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As bosses, too often we lament that our employees lack common sense or are unable to think. The reality? We rely upon our own thoughts and ideas to address issues or concerns, invalidating any ideas others may want to contribute. We disregard what could have been valuable input from employees and customers. So what happens? We cause them to leave and ultimately our competition gets the benefit of their ideas! While money may be perceived as the holy grail of business, there are many successful companies that started on only a shoe-string, with plenty of ingenuity and determination. Train your employees to be fiscally responsible yet simultaneously think outside the box.

The million dollar questions are: What are you doing to constrain their ingenuity? What can you do to unleash their resourcefulness? How can you use others’ input to stimulate innovation?

Fiscal Responsibility. Remember, the sky is not the limit to fulfill upon a client’s need or resolve an internal systems issue. Train employees to create and follow a budget based upon a plan and become fiscally responsible. Do not reduce their approved budget unilaterally. Review milestones with them when they are working on a project to ensure they are on-time and within budget. Remember, keep the goal sacrosanct. Take them out of their comfort zone (aka perceived limitations due to money) and help them realize that with some guidance, they can indeed achieve the intended results!

Stimulate brain activity. Human brains react to stimuli, so while a blank sheet can terrify some, others will feel inspired. Providing a clearly defined problem (since it provides parameters) along with a sense of urgency can help most people come up with ideas. Don’t stop there! Have them put together a do-able goal and plan for its implementation. Set Due Dates; procrastination can be the worst enemy of innovation and forward movement. Also, reward right behavior to see it recreated time after time. Celebrate successes, no matter how small!

Teach resourcefulness. Some employees are naturally cost-conscious and resourceful, but have them be responsible so quality is not unduly modified. Take time to test employees, as a group or individually, to create alternatives to issues and not rely upon the misperception there is only one way to resolve a challenge or act upon an opportunity. Have them conduct their own benefit/cost analysis. Stimulating employees to learn from you and others will build trust, establish sustainable systems that can be built upon, and create new opportunities beyond the team’s immediate thinking.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Responding to Mistakes

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Everyone reacts differently to mistakes. Some have no fear and admit them. Some learn from them and move on. Others regurgitate the facts to place blame on others. Ignoring your mistakes can have a detrimental effect on client and/or co-worker relationships. It’s a sure-fire way to derail your career now and can prevent future opportunities. The next time you make a mistake, or your team fails to fulfill a project’s intended goals on-time or within budget, resist the temptation to find excuses and blame others or situations.

What worked? What didn’t work? Take time to objectively review the elements of the project. Start with objective (factual) items that did work. There will always be some. Then, focus on objective items that did not work. (Objective facts can usually be quantified.) Come up with resolutions with your team. Then, present these results to your boss for  approval to resolve and move forward.

Talk it out with boss or coach. Sometimes we make things mean more than they do. Other times we may be obtuse and not accept the seriousness of our words or actions. Feeling bad does not erase the impact of the mistake. But failing to resolve it and hoping it will go away can be detrimental to your future with the company.  It’s better to talk it out with someone who has more experience and will provide learning opportunities. Resist starting a gossip mill in an attempt to place the blame elsewhere. Not only will doing this limit your ability to positively impact the concerns, you will loose your credibility as a leader.  

Stop mind-reading. Ask! Do not assume you know what others think. Gather their feedback. Allow them to vent, appropriately, if warranted. Actively listen so they will share their experience of the impact on them, or their company. Apologize first, then explain your own actions and intentions. Offer an equitable resolution. Give them time to think about it and set a time to come back to the discussion. The key? Keep communication lines open. Don’t stop talking until the issue has been resolved to their satisfaction, whenever possible. Failure to resolve the mistake sadly means this type of issue will occur again and again, until the lesson has been learned.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Do you silently yell to be heard?

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Many executives, managers, bosses and employees have been known to loudly yell from time to time. However, when yelling or shouting is the norm it can damage customer (internal and external) relationships irrevocably. This usually happens when the person has found yelling to work in the past and has no other objective model of how to effectively communicate. Most workers have experienced loud yelling. However, silent yelling can be more damaging.

Vanity is not a virtue. Frequent excuses about your inability to hear will inevitably curtail people from sharing critical news with you. If you have trouble physically hearing others, stop blaming them and set your ego aside. Get a hearing aid. Headsets can help too.

The silent impact. Cyber-space communication is becoming the norm. Unfortunately, email and other forms of electronic chatter can be easily misunderstood. They do not have the benefit of facial expression or voice inflection. Falsely believing it saves time, people have developed a bad habit of sending emails or text messages instead of talking it out with their employees, bosses or co-workers. Wait 24 hours to respond to any upsetting internet communiqué, thus allowing any misperceptions to de-escalate. Better yet! Talk it out face-to-face. Remember, most people only have a sixth grade reading (and writing) level.

Take responsibility. Some busy professionals can easily become upset, while others have too long a patience cycle. Both can be very detrimental when patience is lost! If this is the norm, talk with a therapist for emotional support. Seek objective support from your coach, or business advisor. Limit any venting to a selective couple of people. Please, be sure to ask permission to be candid; limit the time you spend venting. Disregard your ego’s need to exert undue pressure on others to support your view of the facts. Steamrolling only causes explosions, now and in the future. Formulate a win-win plan. When talking it out face-to-face, focus on shared goals and truly hearing their perceptions. If it’s a heated debate, include your boss in the discussions. All together, develop a new plan of action. Keep talking until it is resolved. Only rely upon conference calls as a second best alternative.

Don’t kill the messenger. When you react negatively to upsetting news, it can create defensiveness. You stop receiving critical business or office information from others. Making emotionally charged decisions in retaliation can backfire, making the situation worse (Think, “You’re fired!”). Employees will simply look the other way, or acquiesce, even when they know your mandated resolution won’t work. Or, hire an employment attorney. If you need to vent, ask permission first. It’s a great time to call your coach or business advisor. Learn to take time to collect your thoughts. Ask questions calmly. Listen to others’ replies objectively. Incorporate their ideas whenever possible.

Disagreements. In situations where there appears to be no agreement, it’s far more effective to say:  “It seems like we disagree about that.” Why? It’s a fact. Trying to out-talk them OR browbeat them into your point of view isn’t going to work. Raising your voice will be even less effective. The silent treatment can be deadly to ongoing relationships because they know you have refused to listen to their points of view. Often this behavior speaks loudly, and can be interpreted to mean you are less than professional in how your handle yourself and your business. Listen, learn and look for areas of agreement. Build upon these for a win-win solution.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Fight the Good Fight with Leverage

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Leverage is required in many situations to win a good business fight. In some cases, you may automatically have leverage due to your position, title or power to make the ultimate decision. However, you need to be responsible about how and when you use this leverage; future repercussions are inevitable. As an employee, customer or vendor, you need others to help you leverage a win-win outcome. There are cost vs. benefit ratios that need to be considered for the company, others and your own career. Playing the ostrich and hoping the issue will go away rarely works well for everyone involved.

You may win this fight. But lose the war. Even though we don’t have crystal balls to look into the future, talk with a trusted colleague to weigh the pro and con of possible outcomes, now and for the future. If this is a policy or legal issue, talk with human resources director or vice president. If it relates to a customer or vendor, set up a meeting with your boss and the person in charge of these relationships. Be clear as to the purpose and desired outcome. Be more committed to resolving the issue than forcing your own ideas as the only solutions.

It’s not about you. It’s often hard to set aside your own ego in these situations. Particularly, if the issue is you vs. your boss. This will require you to think beyond the current upset or violation of your trust. When the issue involves your client, employee or vendor, ask them what they believe is the needed resolution to keep a positive business relationship. Steamrolling everyone to agree with your decisions or opinions will only create a backlash for you in the near future, particularly, if you are wrong or lied about the facts.

Share the challenge selectively. Share your challenge confidentially only with someone who can help you and is in a position to do so. Follow their advice, even if it doesn’t seem like it will work and stay in communication during and after the resolution. The lone-ranger approach and reliance upon your own mental monologue will limit your future in the company. The worst practice for a business professional to engage in is to talk with everyone else! That creates liability for you professionally and financially. Create a learning opportunity from the situation and look with your coach (or business mentor) to see what you need to do in the future to prevent these types of issues from occurring.

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011

Does your company honor its core values?

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Core values are a company’s internal compass of integrity, work ethic and reliability. They guide them in their pursuit of clients, financial rewards and attracting the right employees. These values are reflected in their interactions with customers (internal and external), process of arriving at decisions, following financial standards and honoring sales and marketing promises.

Have you ever had an employee or boss make a situation worse by lying about it? Then, perpetuate the lie to keep themselves out of trouble? This is an example of not honoring the policies, code of ethics and spirit of many companies. When we tell ourselves and bosses that lies don’t matter, it diminishes the reputation of our company. The truth comes out, eventually! 

In a survey recently conducted with people about telling lies in the workplace, we found that most did not have a problem telling their boss about lies if they felt it was the right thing to do or the untruth was negatively impacting their team’s effectiveness. However, when it came to retelling a lie, most felt it was expected to keep their job, client and continue moving up the career ladder, or they were afraid of the repercussions of telling the truth and exposing the lie.

How do you handle and prevent core value violations?

Keep talking. Lies can include the little ones people excuse as unimportant, or omission of the exact facts from your perspective. Unfortunately, being silent causes little lies to build up into big ones, which ultimately hurt the reputation of the company and individuals involved. It can also negatively impact financial solvency. The truth will swing back around to bite the people involved. Stop the perpetuation of a lie. Tell the truth about a situation or issue factually. To create a resolution, talk directly to the person(s) involved with a win-win mindset. Hear their version of the facts. If a mutual agreement cannot be reached, get upper management involved. While they may not recognize the core value being thwarted, be a parrot (aka keep talking). Eventually they will hear you; the same or similar issues are bound to come up again!

Respond with Urgency. A simple lie or unethical act can turn a situation from a molehill into a mountain of upset, grief and even legal action! When someone has done the wrong thing or done the right thing in the wrong manner, it needs to be handled quickly and diplomatically. Most importantly, create a win-win outcome. Remember, there are no absolutes methods for doing the right thing the right way. However, the key to whether your decisions work and make sense will depend upon the perceptions of your customers (internal and external), communities and your particular industry.

Apologize. Simply apologize for your role in the matter. It doesn’t mean you were wrong, or right. Simply acknowledge your role in the issue. Then, start the process of cleaning up the mistake or situation. It is critical that you are open to understanding the issue from their point of view. Be sure to ask the question, “What can we do that will resolve this for you?”  Remember, this is the starting question; truly listen to their response. (Hint, if you’re overly worried about litigation, do not be obtuse and defensive about the situation. That kind of attitude will do more to create the need for a lawsuit than the issue itself!)

Use mistakes as a come-down-to-reality opportunity. Many companies ignore their employees’ and bosses’ negative attitudes toward following the company’s systems, policies and practices until an issue arises that causes a key client to leave. Objectively review what worked and didn’t work in the situation. Stay away from blaming others for a lack of perceived integrity due to not following the systems; it’s a no-win hot button. Instead, describe the impact of the situation on customer, co-workers, management and the bottom line. If your employees are unable to understand the significance of their behaviors and make appropriate changes, it will require ongoing training or reassignment of job responsibilities.

Create a prevention mindset. We all live in a reactive workplace. Being proactive is not rewarded until the preventative measure averts a disaster or something serious. Thinking ahead is what will give your company (and people’s careers) the needed boost to achieve a competitive edge. Questions to get you started in this inquiry: What issue do we contend with often? How do we prevent these issues without reducing our customer effectiveness (internal and external)? What training is required to get everyone on the same page? How do we attract and hire the right people with core values that support our company? How do we hire the right top performers using job fit technology? [Find out more about core value assessments and job fit technology by contacting Jeannette @ JLSeibly@SeibCo.com OR visit http://SmartHiringMadeEasy.com]

©Jeannette Seibly, 2011