Eden Sunshine's BLOG

All the Time Motivation

Being motivated, excited, driven, on top of your game all the time is challenging. But it's necessary. Motivation and drive moves things. It makes things happen. Consider the alternative. Complacency, hopelessness, boredom.

 

Do you ever feel like your motivation levels and drive are random? Like one day you've got it and the next day you don't. Come on admit it. We all have our ups and downs. 

 

But being motivated and excited might not be as random as you think. I have discovered there is a direct relationship between what is going on between your ears and your levels of motivation.

 

Most of the time, people leave it up to chance whether they will be on top of their game or not. In other words, circumstances dictate their motivation rather then dictating their attitude.

 

When you have a positive hope for the future, you will be motivated.

 

Here are some action steps you can take, intentionally, to stay motivated and on top of your game.

 

1- Clarify and review your vision regularly, even daily if necessary. It's OK to revise and update as you become more and more clear what you really want for your business and life.

 

2- Take time on a regular basis to feed yourself with new ideas. Read books, magazines, trade journals to fuel yourself with ideas that will lead to new possibilities. Remember don't be random about the innovation in your business. If you come up with something actionable, consider the system or area of the business your idea impacts and be systematic as you make the improvement.

 

3- Surround yourself with other like minded, creative people who can stimulate your thinking and inspire your hope. Meet with them on a regular basis.

 

4- Bring your own thoughts into captivity. The world wants to distract you and often reminds us of the bad news. Be aware of what you are feeding your mind. Personally, I don't watch the daily news. You've heard the saying, "Garbage in, Garbage Out." Simply be conscious of what you are listening or watching. At the same time be conscious of what your own thoughts are saying. Enough said about that.

 

5- Take action DAILY towards your goals. When we have a hope or dream but don't do anything about it that can lead to frustration and depression. Schedule time everyday to work on something that will help you achieve your long term vision.

 

 

If you want to better understand the Level 7 Core Business Principles - Read The Level 7 Manifesto: A Simple, Common Sense and Proven Approach to Businesses Most Complex Problems and Frustrations. Get it now >>

 

Don't Stop Believin'

Some people have had a really tough year or two with the economy thing going on. Many have not survived and some are still trying to figure out how they are going to make it the next few months.

 

When we are in survival mode it is very difficult to focus on the future and place any attention on our vision.

 

Victor Frankl, author of the book Man's Search for Meaning, wrote vividly of his accounts as a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII. He, and this is a very liberal paraphrase, suggested that he was able to survive, even as others around him were dropping like flies, because he continually thought about what life WILL be like when he was free again.

 

Most of the other prisoners who didn't make it only focused on their present condition. They were in survival mode.

 

The point being, we need to focus on a positive hope for a future. We need to keep our minds fixed upon our vision and future goals. Otherwise we could fall victim to the same fate of the businesses that aren't going to make it.

 

What are you believing in today for a positive future tomorrow? What will your business look like in 3, 5 or even 10 years from now?

 

I believe these are important things to be think about.

Running business on a wing and a prayer...

There are still a few spots left for tomorrow's Level 7 Experience Teleconference. Click here >>.

 

Taking the risk to start and get into business takes courage, guts and confidence. I admire that about business people. I admire their aspirations to make things better. That's what business owners do. They take an idea, a situation, a condition and look and find a way to improve upon it.

 

To me, that's admirable.

 

However, that same confidence could also lead to their demise. Over confidence could result in an unwillingness to admit or recognize our short comings.

 

Over confidence could lead us to believe we have it all together. The reality is that most businesses are just "wingin it". What does that mean?

 

When it comes right down to it most are just trying to figure out how to make their business work. Some will spend a life time, granted with some or even above average success, to ultimately reach a level of accomplishment only to get stuck. Not knowing how to get to the next level.

 

In other words, they don't really have a formula. A system. A method. A philosophy that could be replicated time and time again. In any business, at any size. It looks more like survival rather than certainty.

 

Perhaps its the thrill of the unknown that we enjoy. Maybe we really like the idea, deep down, that we don't know how our efforts are going to play out. Although, I don't buy it. Most the people I know that own businesses want some certainty of success beyond their confidence in themselves or a prayer (Prayer can be powerful however).

 

If you want to stop relying on a wing and a prayer then...

 

...here are seven things every business must do to ensure continued and replicable success.

 

1- Set goals like crazy. Be intentional about everything the business does.

 

2- Measure your goals objectively. That which gets measured gets done.

 

3- Create systems so that every goal you have has a consistent, predictable way of accomplishing it no matter who is operating it.

 

4- Thread your culture on purpose. Most problems in business stem from people not knowing and understanding the key beliefs and values of the business. Businesses must be intentional about building a self sustaining culture. Otherwise the culture is dependent on the owner.

 

5- Ensure accountability. The business must be absolutely certain that people will do what they say they are going to do. EVERY TIME Period.

 

6- Make sure your business communicates effectively. This included communication from leadership through the organization, communication from employees to management, communication from employee to employee and even communication from the business to it's clients. Quality communication demystifies expectations.

 

7- Be intentional about innovation and improving performance. Don't over innovate or under innovate. Great businesses innovate and improve in areas when its relevant to do so.

 

If you want to better understand these 7 Core Business Principles - Read The Level 7 Manifesto: A Simple, Common Sense and Proven Approach to Businesses Most Complex Problems and Frustrations. Get it now >>

Working Harder is NOT the Answer!

Joe Cerino, President of HAR Adhesive Technologies, and a role model for how to implement and get results through the Level 7 System shared a conversation he had with another business owner recently.

 

He told me that this other business owner when asked what it takes to do well in a tough economy suggested, "We just work harder than everyone else."

 

Joe and I both agree that doesn't necessarily ensure success in a good or bad economy. Indeed it could be a factor. But it could also hurt you.

 

Joe, upon hearing this comment from the other owner, piped in and said, "I don't entirely agree. Before we apply hard work we have to be intentional about what we are try to achieve and be sure we are actually doing the right things."

 

That's genius Joe. And so true.

 

Working hard but without intention and doing the right things is like speeding down the highway to a destination but going the wrong way. We have to know and be exceedingly clear on the direction or results we want to produce and make sure we are doing the right work or effort to get there.

 

All the hard work in the world won't get you to where you want to be if your goals are fuzzy or you are doing things the wrong way.

 

The Level 7 System is suggests that by applying the Principle of Defining Result, which ensures the goals and direction of the business are crystal clear to everyone, and the Principle of Creating Replication, which makes sure we have the best possible method for getting the results we want, we will have the tools in place to ensure our hard work will pay off.

 

Want to find out more about The Level 7 Systems, check out The Level 7 Experience >>.

The Key to Winning is the Hand-Off

Wilson Kipketer of Denmark holds the men's world record for running 800 meters in 1:41.11. That's darn fast I say.

 

Yet the Santa Monica Track Club Men's Relay Team holds the world record for the same distance in 1:18:6. Granted each man ran 200 meters of the 800 meter race. It goes to show that a group of people working together towards a common goal can often produce a better result than one person can do on their own.

 

No one would ever deny that both Wilson and the track team are world class.

 

Both Wilson and the Track Team have the same goal; cover the distance of 800 meters as fast as possible.

 

There approaches were different. The team was able to leverage and combine talents. Walter was on his own.

 

One of the things Walter doesn't have to worry about in his race was dropping the baton. The team has to think about that. In fact, it is one of the keys to their success. If anyone drops the baton, they lose.

 

The baton pass is critical. Yes, having the right talent is important too. But all things being equal, that doesn't play into the equation. All the parties are talented. Or should I say, fast.

 

I propose that even though most businesses, unless you are a solopreneur, have team members working with them, they are dropping the baton often.

 

In business, your success as a leader and effective manager comes down to the baton hand-off. Let me put it in business terms. How well you convey information or communicate to people on your team is critical. Specifically, communicating the results you expect and how to perform their job or responsibilities the best they can is the key.

 

I have found that the simplest, most effective, reliable and proven way to improve or maximize employee performance is through quality systems.

 

I have seen businesses try to win the race without them and they NEVER perform as well as companies that use systems to ensure quality performance.

 

Handing someone a system will enable them to be the best they can be in their role in the business. And if your people perform well, then your business will win!

 

Want to be World Class? Then your job is to build a systems-driven business, made up of great systems, and make sure you get them in the hands of your people.

What are You Great at Doing?

Great businesses have high standards. It's a key differentiators in business. Setting big goals, big vision is what they do. Now don't miss understand, bigger is not necessarily better. Better is better. Great businesses, it seems, know what they are good or great at doing?

 

McDonald's is great at selecting promising new locations and ensuring return of investment for every franchise owner.

 

Starbucks is great at mass customization and creating an environment for people to hang out.

 

Zappos Shoes is great at creating an employee driven culture.

 

Wikipedia is great at ensuring quality content through collaboration and self governing accountability.

 

What is your business good at doing? What is it great at doing? What is your business potentially the best in the world (as you define your world, either industry, location, market) at doing?

 

Can you describe it? If not, then how can you do it? If you can't do it then you won't be it.

 

Tomorrow I will describe what I believe every business must resolve to be great at doing that will simplify and guarantee certain success in their organization.

 

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A Great Idea Gone Bad

According to  Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Pictures, it is better to have quality, talented people over a great idea any day. If you have a great idea and the wrong people, they will screw it up. Nurture your talent, he says.

I agree. But what does it mean to have the right people in a systems driven environment? The right people doesn't necessarily require that you hire super expensive people with years of experience and background. Although that could be useful during the start up and innovation phase in a business. (More on that tomorrow). You are really looking for, first and foremost, people that fit the culture and personality of the business.

Obviously the personality and culture of businesses vary from organization to organization. Every business has its own personality or character. Pixar, I suspect, looks for people with a certain creative and collaborative bend in their personalities.

Nordstrom's looks for people who have a personality oriented toward exceedingly high levels of customer service.

GE looks for people who can get results independently.

Southwest looks for people who like to have fun.

Inflection HR looks for people who know how to think.

Lavidge and Internet Marketing Agency (IMA) look for people who work smart and are creative.

Aquatic Environmental Systems finds people with low egos and will work at a team.

The point is that attempting to execute good ideas without people that really get the culture and values of your business might not get executed and implemented properly.

Great business then begins with getting the right people.

Are You Going to POOP out?

The world is screaming at you for your attention. Just look around you. Shiny objects and apparent opportunities abound. We are inundated with a gazillion adverting messages, tweets, postings, applications, 300 + cable channels, get rich quick schemes, infomercials, promises of overnight results...

 

Oh yes, the world is a buzz.

 

As a kid I used to play tag. Did you ever play? The game would start out with the tagger surrounded by a bunch of people. The goal was to chase down and tag on of the other people. Once you tag someone they are it. And they become the tagger. Pretty simple.

 

Imagine have 10 possible subjects around you. The whistle blows and you go. You have a question. Who do I go after?

 

In my experience, if I begin chasing one person and then, while in pursuit, change directions and go after another, and again, while in pursuit, I change directions again, I ultimately won't catch anyone. I poop out without ever reaching my goal.

 

But when I select a subject and pursue them with focus and commitment. Never giving up, I will eventually catch them.

 

The point is I couldn't allow myself to be distracted by other opportunities once the game was afoot.

 

The same is true about business or any goal you set for yourself. If you allow the DISTRACTIONS OF THE WORLD to continually captivate your attention, you will eventually poop out and never achieve your goals and objectives.

 

Now, more than ever, we need an almost superhuman ability to stay focused and pursue our goals with a laser like commitment in order to achieve our objectives.

System to Hit Your Goals Every Time!

Yesterday I wrote about the need to make course corrections in order to ensure that we don't end up in an undesirable place in our business.

 

Often we set out to achieve a goal, only to discover later that we haven't hit them. Then we wonder why. But at that points it's too late.

 

The question is then, "How do I ensure that I hit my goals every time?"

 

The process is actually rather simply, but not necessarily easy. If it were easy everyone would do it. That's why so few people are actually moving forward in their businesses and lives.

 

Step 1 - Set the goal. Obvious, but necessary. Your goal must be clear, concise, in writing and have a date.

 

Example: We will double our revenue and profit by December 2010.

 

Step 2 - Ensure that you have a methodology for measuring and tracking the goal.

 

Example: We have our financial statements that are up to date and current at all times.

 

Step 3 - Identify the systems that impact or ensure the goals. Identify the systems that are going to require innovation or improvement to achieve the goal.

 

Example: Our lead generation system is the primary driver of doubling revenue and profit. We need more leads. We also have in place a good lead conversion process that currently converts 75% of our leads. Our fulfillment systems are solid and we are managing the inflow and outflow of our money effectively.

 

Step 4 - Establish a goal for the system.

 

Example: Currently our lead generation systems provide us with 60 new, qualified leads per week. In order to hit our objectives, the system needs to produce 120 new qualified leads per week.

 

Step 5 - Innovate your system(s) to make the improvements necessarily to achieve goal.

 

Example: We have identified our primary lead generation sources and will increased our market penetration into those markets.

 

Step 6 - Set up regular checkpoints to evaluate the performance of your innovated system.

 

Example: We will review the results of our new lead generation efforts every 2 weeks.

 

Step 7 - This maybe the most important step. Take immediate action, as needed, to revise the system to ensure you are getting the results, or in this case, the number of leads your need each week to hit your sales and revenue objectives.

 

The bottom line is if you want to hit your goals, you need to take new action in order to get new results.

Time for a Course Correction

It's been a year of ups and downs for sure. In my conversations with business owners all over North America, some have thrived, and well, let's say that other's have not done so well.

In most cases, the businesses that struggled continued doing the same things they always do without really making any changes to their approach. Yes, they worked harder. They struggled more. They cut some expenses. They had more sleepless nights, but they really didn't change their approach. Ironically, most of them actually think they were doing things differently. They weren't.

I believe that is a definition for insanity.

They still responded to problems and frustrations the same way. They still did the same work they always did. In fact, in some cases, they actually spent less time doing some of the work most critical to the success of a business. Specifically, leading and providing effective management and direction.

You have heard me use this analogy before. In scary times we feel like we just have to be moving, doing, going. It's like hopping in a car and just driving. "At least we are moving", you might be thinking. But where are you going.

As a friend said to me several years ago, "Are you just driving along aimlessly?"

Isn't it better to determine where you are going first before you drive?

Now that 2010 is quickly approaching, set aside a few minutes and answer this question. "Putting aside what is happening in your business today, good or bad, what would make 2010 your best year ever? What are your 2010 goals and objectives?"

Don't even think about what's possible. Just write down the goal.

Tomorrow I will talk about several specific steps to ensure you hit your goals in 2010.

Are We There Yet?

Got kids?

If you do, and they can talk, then no doubt you've been driving in your car and heard the infamous question, "Are we there yet?"

My response to them is always, "20 minutes."

They hate that.

Consider your business for a moment. Do you realize that if you have people working with you they have either asked one of several questions.

#1 - Where are we going? My kids always ask that question when they get in the car. I suppose they need to have an idea of the destination. Once they know where we are going they seem to be more cooperative on the way. Especially if they can see a personal benefit in where we are going. I believe employees in a business need to know where the business is going and how it is going to benefit them too.

#2- Are we there yet? Once your people know the intended destination, I believe they want to know how the business is progressing at getting there. In other words, we have to show them the road map.

Highly effective leaders are very intentional and focused at communicating the direction of the business and providing regular "Are we there yet" status reports.

What the Great Ones Do - Part 1

Great businesses and their people do what average people and businesses won't do.

 

Great businesses are clear about goals and expectations throughout the ENTIRE business. They don't just post a mission statement on the wall and leave it at that. They don't establish a revenue goal at the beginning of the year and forget about it.

 

Great businesses are specific and intentional about the direction and goals for the business as a whole, each department and every position and person in the organization. They are also very clear about the purpose and goal of EVERY system, process and procedures in the business.

 

They simply know that if they are going to apply energy toward an action they better know what they are working to accomplish.

 

What most business won't do is to take the time and effort to define results continually and purposefully.

You Better Get Your People Together or Your Business is Toast!

"United we stand; divided we fall.” 
    Aesop

Here is a modern day spin on an old saying, "United you grow, divided you fail". In business particularly, and perhaps more than ever, we need collaborative, focused and purposeful efforts from all our people to grow and thrive.

Did you know that it is the responsibility of the leader to set the stage for unity and cooperation in a business? Or course you did.

What happens if you don't get your people on the same page? Very simply, you're toast. A business that desires to be scalable, replicatable and capable of breaking through growth ceilings while serving the lives of people within it must have people working together for a common goal.

The leader must make it known that the standard for the business is working together. They must then be a walking and acting role model for the standard.

The leader then must intentionally foster a culture that will support the standard so it will sustain and replicate itself even if the leader is not present.

So what are you going to do about it? Begin by doing the Implementation Step of the Day.

Implementation Step of the Day -

1- Come up with a definition for unity as it relates to your business.

2- Cite at least three examples where you have seen people demonstrate unity in your company.

3- Develop a strategy to integrate and regularly communicate that definition into your business.

5 Minutes to the Perfect Business

"Live out of your imagination instead of out of your memory."  
    Les Brown

 

I have made it my life's works to understand what makes businesses and people tick. The people thing is a little more tricky. Business is not so difficult.

 

In fact, I have come to discover that if your do the right things, business is rather simply. It's not necessarily easy. Why? Because doing business well requires that we do things that most people won't do.

 

Statistic suggests that less than 4% of businesses actually really succeed. I am not talking about surviving or hanging on by a thread. I am talking about businesses that really stand out and work.

 

I am going to challenge you to do a little assignment. Because you are the best of the best, or at least endeavor to be the best, I trust you WILL take this challenge on. Most ordinary people won't do this. They will make an excuse or something... That's what ordinary people do. But you are not ordinary. Right?

 

I challenge you to do this task for 5 minutes. Only 5 minutes. That's it. 5 minutes only represents 3.4% if your entire day.

 

Get out a piece of paper and a pen. Imagine for a moment that you were going to recreate your business today. You have an opportunity for a clean slate. Forget about the past. Forget about limitations. Forget about what you think is possible based on your past experience. Rely solely on your imagination.

 

Then write out the answer to this question. "If you could create your business all over again, how would your business be different than it is today?"

 

Why is this question important? Simply this. You have a choice if you want your business to stay the way it is, or really become something great. Most people, at least the people I work with, want great businesses. In order to create something great, you have to know what great is.

Who Are You? What Are You Gunna Do?

Building a powerful brand requires three critical elements.

 

1- You must have identified your competitive advantage. A well established competitive advantage requires that you really know something about what your customer or prospect wants or needs and few are able to replicate your response to that need.

 

Starbucks competitive advantage: Mass customization, a cool place to hang out.

Southwest Airlines: Low fares, fun to fly.

Nordstrom's: Over the top customer service worth talking about.

 

2- Once you have established your competitive advantage it must be translated into a statement of promise you intend to fulfill that your customers and prospects will understand. In other words, you must get the message out that you will fulfill their need or want.

 

3- You must deliver on the promise. A lot of companies make claims or imply to fulfill a promise but they fall short.

 

Implementation Step: Consider today what your customers or prospects REALLY need or want in regards to the products or services you offer. Write them down. Be specific.

 

By the way, if your answer is customer service, that's fine as long as it is truly something worth talking about.

A Key Goal Achieving System

Setting goals are important. Few would deny that fact. Going through life without some goal or purpose is like getting in a car and driving without a destination. You never know where you will end up.

 

We are finding, however, that setting a goal is not enough. Just writing it down and shoving it in a drawer we can found ourselves getting off tract.

 

Our mind is a very powerful tool that consciously and unconsciously goes to work to help us achieve our goals. When we continually remind our mind of our purpose its like putting our brain on constant autopilot. It is always adjusting and identifying, even behind the scenes, opportunities to move us closer to our outcomes.

 

Set your goals and write them down is step 1. Then create a system for keeping those goals and reviewing them regularly. That is Step 2. Post them on your mirror in the bathroom. Read them before you go to bed and review them in the morning. Conduct a weekly, "What do I need to do this week to achieve my goals" strategy session are just a few techniques people use to stay goal focused and activate their brain to support and achieve your purpose.

Distractions! I can't get a freakin thing done...

"Any occurrence requiring undivided attention will be accompanied by a compelling distraction.” 
                Robert Bloch

 

Hum interesting...

 

Essentially it requires superhuman attention and intention when it comes to achieving the important goals we establish for ourselves and our businesses.

 

I find it funny that when we don't have any goals, we don't have distractions. How can you have distraction if there is no target?

 

Ironically, when we set a goal and have a strong desire to achieve it, all of a sudden anything that doesn't contribute to that outcome becomes a distraction. The bigger the goal often the bigger the distraction.

 

We have to make a choice and be conscious to the fact that with a goal we are committed too we either put on our laser focus and stay on the target or we will be constantly riddled with things that will draw our attention away.

 

Bottom Line: Stay focused and committed to your goals and decide that, regardless of the distractions that come up, you will do what is necessary to achieve the goal.

Dealing with Bad Apples in Your Business

The smaller your business the more obvious and distruptive your people related problems and 'bad apples' will be.

 

Interestingly, as your business grows, the company will be divided into departments and smaller working units.

 

So in reality, a business is always going to be dealing with people related issues.

 

One of the jobs of the entrepreneur and business leader is to define how you want your people to conduct themselves. The job of the manager is to support and mentor people to behave and conduct themselves consistent with the vision and goals of the organization.

 

Several key decisions a business must make include:

 

How much mentoring and time will we provide a "bad seed" to become a good seed before we ask them to move on.

 

How are we going to mentor people effectively?

 

How are we going to monitor their progress?

 

Answer these questions and you will be well on your way to creating the best possible working environment.

Simple Business According to One of the Richest Men in the World

"The business schools reward difficult, complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective."

                Warren Buffett

 

There are seven simple behaviors that work and will transform the results you get in your business and your life if you apply them.

 

Be very clear on goals and expectations in every area of the business.

Be objective when you evaluate performance.

Be intentional when it comes to developing your company culture.

Develop great systems that produce optimal results.

Establish appropriate intervals to innovate your systems and business.

Make sure you have great communication throughout your business.

Create an environment where you and your people can trust, are accountable and can count on each other.

 

Take a moment and think about these for a moment. If you consider every piece of "business advice" you have every heard or seen, they all fall under one or more of these catagories.

 

Example. I see tons of folks out there promoting "how to get more business or touting cleaver or innovative marketing techniques".

 

What are they really saying? See the list above. They are really pointing to developing and innovating better systems.

 

Another Example. You are having a difficult time dealing with some of the people in your business. How do you solve a complex problem like this one?

 

It's actually rather simple. Take the list of Level 7 Core Principles above and ask yourself the question, "Which of these areas haven't we applied effectively?"

 

It's possible you haven't established clear expections. Or you haven't developed a good company culture. Perhaps you need to work on your accountability standards.

 

Business growth and problem resolution is quiet simple when you process them through The Level 7 Core Principles.

Loosen Those Spending Purse Strings

Want to generate more revenue? Duh, who doesn’t. In order to do so we need to be more strategic about our marketing (knowing your customer) and advertising (getting the message out) during down turns in the economy.

 

Here are some interesting statistics for those you who like evidence.

 

A McGraw-Hill Research study of over 600 Businesses found that during the recession of 1981-1982, businesses that maintained or increased their ad spend during this time averaged higher sales growth during the recession and in the following 3 years! By 1985, those same companies experienced sales increases of 256% over those that had cut back on advertising.

 

Likewise in 2001, another study found that aggressive recession advertisers increased market share 2 ½ times the average for all businesses in the post-recession. In 2002, the Strategic Planning Institute illustrated that during economic expansion although 80% of businesses increased their advertising spend there was NO improvement in market share.  Why? Because everyone has increase ad spending!

 

BUT, spending money for the sake of spending money is foolish not only now, but anytime in business. Applying The Level 7 Principle, carefully define the result or outcome you want from every advertising effort and track the results like a mad man (or woman). Make sure your dollars spent are paying off in either increasing your leads and building your brand in a positive and measurable way.

Flexible Like Water...

“One measure of how creative you are is how you respond to changes in your circumstances and environment. How flexible are you? Consider how water adapts to its environment: evaporation, condensation, snowflake, melting, flowing, goes around rocks, fills containers, etc.”

 

As the world and our perception of it changes around us we must be creative and flexible. We must be vigilant with tracking and knowing the truth about circumstances. Not jumping to conclusions and opinions but relying on evidence and fact. We must be proactive as we evaluate performance and attainment of our goals and finally, asking the question, what systems do we need to improve to deal with the changing times.

 

By the way, one of the most important questions you could be asking right now is this… “Is our marketing message congruent with the needs or wants of our potential customers and target market.”

Be Your Own Man (Woman)!

I am amazed at the constant barrage of messaging, advertising and attempts to influence our ideas of what is really important. Very often, myself included, we get caught up in wanting and desiring those things that aren’t consistent with what WE really want or need.

 

“Be your own man,” a friend would remind me from time to time.”You have to define what success means to you. Don’t worry about what the WORLD defines as success. And certainly be careful not to get caught up in chasing someone else’s neon rainbow.”

 

Good advice I think.

 

Getting back into personal integrity requires asking ourselves the question, “What does success, personally and professionally really mean to you?” The go to work ON that.

Super Simple Formula for Business Success!

Allow me to simplify the complexity of creating a successful business with some simple logic.

 

The goals of your organization are directly impacted by the performance of your departments.

The performance of each department is impacted by the performance of the people within those departments.

The performance of the people is directly impacted by their knowledge and experience OR the systems, processes, tools and procedures they utilize to produce the results of their position.

 

Relying on the knowledge and experience of your people to produce results makes consistently growing, replicating and improving the performance of your business very difficult. It depends on your ability to transfer or find people with ALL the right knowledge necessary to produce optimal results. People dependent environments are very difficult to ensure business success.

 

When you rely on systems to produce optimal results, it only requires that you have well developed processes and people that are trained and willing to follow the system. It is far easier to improve a system than transferring random knowledge into people’s head.

 

Consider the last time you trained or explained something to an employee only to later find that they were still doing it wrong. Consider also the number of times that you have had to repeat instructions to the same person or had to re-train different people on the same information only to have them doing it differently and not producing optimal results.

 

Systems driven environments work consistently and maximize the likelihood of business success.

 

So applying this simple logic, if you want to ensure that you reach your company goals, your business must work on and improve your systems and become a systems driven business.

Micromanagement versus Innovation

Employees hate to be micromanagement. Just ask any of them.

Employers hate it when their people don't produce results. Just ask any of them.

Now assuming you, as a business owner or manager, are not simply abdicating and putting up with poor performance and results, you are probably having regular conversations with your people to figure out HOW to get better performance and results.

The conversation often sounds like, "tell me what is happening with this...?" or "Explain what is going on with this client...?"

Believe it or not, to most employees this feels like micromanagement. To a manager, we are just trying to figure out how to fix the problem.

The end result is this method of managing "tactically" doesn't work. The solution to the problem is only temporary and specific to the circumstances in the moment. You never arrive at any permanent solution.

Granted, you might solve the problem or produce the result for that situation, but nobody really learns anything. And the solution is never scalable and rarely replicatable.

A more effective and strategic approach requires implementation of three of The Level Seven Core Principles.

#1- Apply the Principle of Defining Results and ask the question, "What is the ultimate outcome we want to accomplish?"So let's pretend you have a sales person that isn't getting enough appointments through their networking efforts.

An ineffective conversation might be: "Tell me about the call you to made to Mr. Jones today, what happened?" This is tactical troubleshooting. Then you proceed by telling the sales person what they SHOULD have said.

Rather, you ask the question, "What is the desired result?" Answer: To maximize the conversation of our prospecting calls.

#2 - Apply the Principle of Knowing What's True. Determine what the actual results are, objectively.

I might assume that the employee needs help in an area, but upon further investigation of the numbers discover that they are getting appointments with 50% of the people they talk with. I need to consider whether or not I am happy with those results before I jump in and attempt to fix something that may or may not be broken.

A good manager, knows the truth before acting.

#3 - Apply the Principle of Creating Replication. If you determine that the results, based on objective evaluation, are not up to par, then focus on the SYSTEM.

Ask yourself the question, do we have a system that ensures that our people are maximizing the conversion of calls to prospects? If not, rather than tactically solving the problem, work on the system. Test it. Then implement it.

In the end, the work you do with your people won't feel like micromanagement, because it's not. It is focused on system performance improvement and innovation and most employees are happy to participate in improving results and innovating.

Being Unreasonable About Business

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persist in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw

 

The business leader desiring progress is therefore required to persist in knowing the world they wish to create and building collaboration and support of that world.

 

Are you falling victim and adapting to the world and it fears of the day or are you setting a new reality?

 

The world needs leaders who are going to stand against the effects of people blindly following the masses who are like lemmings going off the cliff.

 

People need hope. Are you a leader who is going to deliver it?