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Should you do business with this company???
Sunday, April 27th, 2008

A question that has helped me decide whether to accept jobs, consulting engagements, and purchase important products and services is “should I do business with this company.”

In today’s business environment, it is important for those of us who rely on long-term relationships to have appropriate relationships with suitable business partners.  (And, I use the term “partner” very loosely here, rather than as a legal term.  In other words, a “partner” is just another party with whom you do business in any capacity.)

The question is best answered by considering the “big picture.”  Specific factors that have helped me answer the question over the years include:  

  1. What is the nature of the relationship?
  2. What is the other party’s reputation?
  3. Are there other parties that can meet my needs?
  4. How important is the relationship to my core business?
  5. How will the outcome of this relationship (good or bad) impact my future activities?

If a person is buying stationery for an office, the supplier’s situation is likely to be assessed differently from a situation in which a person is looking for employment at the senior officer level or the situation in which a customer lies to a supplier. 

At the end of the day, there are few absolute answers.  We have to make the best decisions we can with incomplete information, learn from the experience, and deal with the consequences.  There are risks for us, whether we pursue the relationship or walk away. 

 

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Would you follow your leadership?
Tuesday, November 20th, 2007

At the end of the day, we can each control one person… ourselves.

Self-leadership involves being the sort of person and leader that we would each choose to follow at an individual level.

Does it work? If we practice self-leadership, do we find others following us? Please feel free to share your experience on this…

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Leaders or not?
Monday, November 5th, 2007

The other day, I was reading Fortune’s October 1, 2007, issue. The topic was on leadership and great leaders. It led me to think a bit about leadership. In many organizations, leadership is weak. Instead of leadership, we find managers and bosses, rather than leaders.

What is a leader? How is that different from being a manager or a boss? What makes a leader? Those are three questions that we will discuss today.

What is a leader?

It seems to me that a leader is a person who other people choose to follow. Leaders can be found at all levels of an organization.

When important decisions are being made, leaders are the people that ideas are bounced off of, regardless of the person’s level or official role. Think about the people that you look to and talk with when you are making important decisions. Why do you rely on them? What factors do they have in common?

How is a leader different from a manager or a boss?

That is a challenging question. Certainly, a leader needs to be a good manager. Many good managers are ineffective leaders. Think about some of the managers you know. How many of them would you follow? What would stop you from following the others?

Often, managers focus on process and adherence to rules. What I’ve experienced is that managers see rules as having value in and of themselves. Rules are to be followed. In contrast, leaders see rules as tools to help legitimate ends be achieved. If a rule is preventing the legitimate end from being achieved, a leader is likely to take a step back, look at the rule and ask if it is working correctly. If the rule is broken, the leader tries to fix it.

So, if that is what a leader and manager do, what does a boss do? A “boss” is someone who has been given a position of responsibility. Sometimes, a boss is a great leader or a good manager. In other cases, a boss is someone who got there by the Peter Principle (people being promoted to their level of incompetence).

What makes a person a leader?

There are exhaustive lists on this. Every “leadership” specialist or consulting firm probably has one. Many articles attempt to list the characteristics of a leader as well.

It seems to me that the key to being a leader is found in the details. How does the person earn others’ support? How are followers developed? Does the person model the behavior that will help others become leaders?

The characteristics that I think of when I think of great leaders include:

* Investing the time to learn the business or subject
* Learning to communicate effectively with others
* Developing listening skills and listening with an open mind
* Inviting dialogue and discussing differences of opinion
* Making it safe for people to make mistakes and disagree
* Helping people learn and develop their skills
* Encouraging followers to reach their potential

What do you think? Do these ideas track with your own and your experiences?

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Relationship Tip: Go the extra mile
Sunday, August 26th, 2007

John (not his real name), a senior executive at a public company, asked me the other day what the company needed to do to strengthen relationships with customers.

The short answer to John’s question is that companies have to go the extra mile, if they want to improve their relationships with customers (and suppliers or employees, for that matter). What does that really mean though? Well, I will give you a real example of two things that I have done in the last couple weeks to build a relationship with one of the outfitters and the customers at The Illahe Lodge.

A couple weeks ago, an outfitter was washing his plastic silverware that is used for lunch as his customers float down the Rogue River. The outfitter mentioned that he was trying to find sturdy plastic forks and all he had found was forks that break. As it happened, I was in town a few days later and looked for forks. Low and behold, I found a package of 1000 sturdy plastic forks for $1 or $2. So, I bought them for the outfitter. It was a small investment on my part. When the outfitter was back in a couple days ago, he was surprised that I bought the forks and gave them to him. It took 5 minutes on my part, yet it is already paying dividends in that he knows I look out for my customers. Yes, the outfitter paid me for the forks, although it was unnecessary. What goes around comes around, right? In addition, I washed the outfitter’s plastic silverware.

A second thing that I did was to offer the guide the choice of desserts on the final raft trip of the year. The choice? Blackberry or apple pie, both home made with fruit that I had picked. The guide selected blackberry pie. The customers asked about the pie and, by the way, they were very impressed that I took the time to pick the fruit and make the pie by hand. Impressed enough that I received a nice tip, which I split with the person who helped me with the meals.

The lessons to be learned from these situations are simple.

- Think about what you can do to improve your customers’ experience. The difference between a satisfied customer and one that talks about you with his or her friends may be the little touches that make you stand out.

- Something that happens once may be luck. When something happens repeatedly, there is more going on than mere luck. The forks were a first time. I had been impressing the outfitter with the pie for about three weeks and, each time, the tips have been better.

- Share rewards with team members so that they are more likely to contribute to the team’s success. Often, people receive tips in restaurants and are required to split the tips. Rather than adopting rules, why not do what is right? I was able to impress the customer because other members of my team were backing me up, helping me wait tables, washing dishes, clearing tables, etc. I may get the credit in my current role, but would the best pie in the world make up for lousy service or other issues? I think not…

The lesson ot be learned is to think about what your customers value. From here, look for opportunities to go the extra mile, in a way that is cost effective and makes your firm stand out in your customers’ memory as different, unique, and special? That is what “delightment” is all about…

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Relationship Tip: Walk your talk
Wednesday, August 15th, 2007

When handling contracts at large companies, I had to rely on suppliers to tell me the truth and to follow through on their commitments.

Many firms and people make commitments that they are not prepared and able to honor at the time the commitment is made. This usually leads to frustration and disappointment.

Rather than disappointing the customer, supplier, or friend, it makes more sense to make promises if and only if a person or business is ready, willing, and able to honor commitments to the letter.

This approach can frustrate and annoy people initially, especially those who are accustomed to promises and sales hype. Once they realize that you are serious, many people appreciate someone who stands behind his or her words and, in other words, “walks their talk,” even (or, perhaps, especially) in business.

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Relationship Tip: Manage Emotions
Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

When trying to encourage people to contribute their ideas to team meetings, it is important to manage emotions.

When emotions go unmanaged, people who might disagree tend to fall silent.  If people who disagree remain silent, we lose the benefit of their wisdom.  Mistakes are made.  Issues are overlooked. 

By managing our emotions (and helping others manage theirs), we create more inclusive and participative teams.  In many cases, this approach helps people work together.

What steps can be taken to manage emotions?

Recognize when emotions are likely to be high and have a plan for dealing with the emotions, if they arise.  By preparing for the discussion and having a plan for dealing with emotion, we are better prepared to deal with emotional situations when they arise.

Separate views from the individual.  By focusing on the substantive issues rather than making personal comments, people are better able to participate in substantive discussions.

Genuinely care about everyone’s success.  If people know that we are committed to their success, they are less likely to feel personally attacked.  Reserving judgment, understanding what the other people are saying, and diffusing tension are three ways of doing this.

What does this mean for your business?  How do you want to deal with conflict?

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Relationship Tip: Incent Desired Behavior
Sunday, July 22nd, 2007

In business relationships, people often are disappointed because the other parties behave in a manner that is inconsistent with what they are seeking. 

This can lead to:

Distrust

Surprises 

Frustration

Increased costs

Reduced profitability

How can we avoid this problem?  The answer is simply to incent the behavior that we want others to engage in. 

How do we do this?  That question is a bit more difficult.  Some of the steps for getting there from here are:

Defining success and deciding how and when it will be measured.  This approach sets us up to be sucessful, if we set realistic goals.  In addition though, it allows the efforts to be sustainable over extended periods of time.  And, it also gives us a bench mark against which we can decide if changes are needed.

Understanding what drives the other person or people or ourselves.  Success over the long term requires that every party to the relationship be successful.  The only way to help someone else be successful is to understand what success looks like through that person’s eyes.

Establish parameters for the solution.  For example, maybe administrative burdens need to meet particular criteria.  In some cases, the solution has to fall within specific budgetary limits. 

Communicate with the people involved.  The only way that the approach will incent anything positive - trust, loyalty, retention, or the desired behavior - is if the information is communicated to the people from whom the specific behavior is desired.  By communicating this information, they may choose to align their interests to support the goal and, when that occurs, the results can be far better than when you are doing this on your own.  That is the basic concept behind high performing work teams.

What sort of results might be realized this way?  Here too the answer depends on the context.  Consider an example.  Suppose that retention is important in an industry that has high turnover. 

If that is the case, one option that an employer might consider is the SEP IRA.  A SEP IRA allows the employer to contribute to retirement for employees that are similarly situated.  One of the factors that makes a SEP IRA unique is that the employer can require that people work for the employer for at least 3 of the prior 5 years, if desired.  (I’ve done some research on this issue, to understand a bit about what it is.  Now, I am consulting my advisors to understand if it is appropriate and whether it is the best option for me.  You are encouraged to use the same sort of structured approach.)

The SEP IRA has pretty high contribution limits so it is likely to provide strong retention incentives.  On the downside though, you can’t discriminate against anyone who meets the criteria.  What might this mean for you?

Think also about who might be incented to stay with the firm.  An employee with less than a year of tenure may have some incentive to stay with the firm.  An employee with two and a half years of tenure may be incented to stay with the firm more strongly. 

The person who is most likely to be incented to stay is the one who has over three years of tenure, provided that the contributions are substantial and the money is invested in a vehicle that is growing.  Of course, this assumes the person is motivated by money and financial security. 

If the people are motivated by something else - perhaps learning or helping others - a SEP IRA might still be a step to help get there, but it would need to be structured differently, or accompanied by other tools.

Think about this tip.  What does it mean for you?

Are you trying to incent someone else to behave in a particular manner?  If so, remember to focus on factors within your control, use the context to find opportunities, make good business decisions. be a trusted advisor to the people who you want to behave in a particular manner, and learn from experience.

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