If You Want Them to Like You, Expect Them to Hate You.
As a manager, new in my profession, I began my first days with the impression that having my team “like” me was important. I sought consensus in my decisions and all but asked permission of my team to guide them down a given path.
As a father, new in my appointment, I began my first years with both trepidation and uncertainty of action. I loved my daughter more than life itself, but was unsure of when to push, when to pull, and when to let well enough alone.
As a manager, I struggled with my team’s performance; each individual was highly talented, but the sum of my team’s parts were certainly weaker than each stood individually. For many months I struggled with the why. As a father, my angst-ridden decisions played out in many arguments with my wife just as my need for consensus was crippling my ability to manage.
And then I realized my team was ineffective because of my ineffectiveness as a leader; I wanted my team to like me so much I thought their approval was of the utmost importance.
I finally grasped that my fathering skills were crippled not because of my lack of love for my daughter – but because I didn’t love her enough to say, “No,” when it mattered most.
As a manager and father, my objective was not to be a friend, but to be a leader, a mentor, and servant. I could not, nor can not, exist on an equal plane with those I would lead, mentor or serve – not because I am greater or lesser than a single individual, but because I cannot afford myself the luxury of caring whether I am liked.
As a leader, I must stand apart from them to offer them perspective when they are unable to see what they need alone. As a mentor, I am there to offer guidance and support when their mind and spirit are thirsting for answers. As a servant, I am there to do those things they are unable to do for themselves – humbly and willingly.
It is this realization, in both leadership and fatherhood, that now sets me apart from - while aligning me most closely with - those whom I care for most, would sacrifice myself for, and have grown to respect immensely.
What sets you apart as a leader?
Image courtesy of Ground Zero.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
Your First Mistakes Could Lead To A Second Wind
How many of you are presently a manager? How many of you have managed, or would like to be a manager someday?
How many of you are presently a leader? How many of you have lead or would like to be a leader someday?
Interesting difference isn’t there? – The weight of each word carries distinctly different emotional overtones for you, I would suspect:
Manager.
Leader.
While some may be thrust into positions of authority, the accompanying respect does not find its way to the surface quite so easily. Often you must earn the respect of those given to your care with blood, sweat and tears. It is this ability to seek out how to earn and instill an intrinsic trust for all that look to you which defines you as their leader.
In looking to my past, I replay my first attempts in building a team. They were abysmal attempts to manage through my lack of confidence in my own sense of direction. I did not have the appropriate level of relationship with my team members, I attempted to lead by consensus rather than seek counsel from my experts and make a ruling, and made poor decisions regarding team fit.
The net result was that I frustrated high capacity performers and brought them into an organization at which they bristled. Ultimately, my missteps lead to the natural reciprocal - a poorly performing group, frustrated team members, and lots of wasted time and effort.
Lessons learned are sometimes hard-won. These most certainly were, but I will cringingly recall those days as mortar to again cement my resolve to serve my team, but expect no less from them return. There is no silver bullet to being an effective manager or admired leader. But when you stumble through your first round of mistakes, you may just find your second wind.
Image courtesy of Rodrigo Soldon.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
Is Your Cost Cutting Strategy As Good As It Gets?
Posted by Shawn Robison (Blog / LinkedIn)
“Would you tell me which way I ought to go from here?” asked Alice.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get,” said the Cat.
“I really don’t care where” replied Alice.
“Then it doesn’t much matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
- Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865), novelist and poet (1832-1898).
A few weeks ago I was sitting in a meeting with our MPS team discussing prospecting, sales strategy and what we were encountering in the field, and I had a thought. Cost savings have been the cornerstone of MPS value and, based on current economic condition, things should continue this way for some time.
The question that came into my head was,
How will MPS be received when the economy turns around, businesses get into growth mode and the sprint to cutting costs dies down?
Struggling to Make Ends Meet.
From what I’ve seen, it’s much easier to get in front of a CFO now than it was 24 months ago. And from speaking with those executives, the interest is a result of the slow-
down. So logic says when the economy picks back up, access to those executives will slow down as well (that is if we keep using the same strategy).
I really struggled with the question. My company in particular has built our current strategy upon the cost savings talk track because it has been effective. It even played into hiring decisions. For me, it’s not so much a question of “if” this will happen as much as it is “when” it will happen.
Don’t get me wrong, there are always people that will respond to the cost savings talk track, but the larger market will lose interest once there is enough growth to distract them.
So what do we do when the economy turns and business takes its focus off of cost cutting? Where does MPS go to find compelling value that resonates at the executive level? And make no mistake; you need to have an executive audience.
Where’s the Value?
I’ve heard many attempts to find value in MPS. Things such as increased information security, compliance, workflow improvements and others have been thrown around. Some I agree with and others I just don’t buy. If I struggle to see the value in a certain area an executive would find it laughable in most cases.
So what’s the answer? Simple: be able to offer something more than a cost-per-page. If all you have to offer is a lower cost-per-page, faster response times or better supply delivery, you are going to struggle. We’re headed for a time when you can’t use the “I can save you 20-30%” line on every prospect and expect it to work. You will have to do your homework and understand your prospect in order to get in…otherwise you won’t get in.
Those who fail to find new ways to deliver value to prospects, and do it at the right level (the purchasing agent doesn’t count), will be fighting a losing battle. See the copier industry for your future:
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commoditization
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margin erosion
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account churn
Execute or Be Executed!
Those who have a strategy to go beyond boxes and clicks have an opportunity to prosper regardless of the economic climate. When you move beyond the physical act of printing there are countless opportunities to deliver more value to prospects. It’s simply a matter of adjusting how you sell based upon the current climate. These companies will have the opportunity to thrive now and later (they just have to execute).
So, is this as good as it gets for you?
Shawn Robison is a managed print analyst with Datamax in Coppell, Texas. Datamax helps executives improve company financial performance by streamlining operations with its Managed Services offerings. Shawn is an active blogger on all MPS related topics and welcomes your thoughts and opinions. He can be reached via email or phone at 972-432-2300.
Taken For Granted?
I recently caught a movie, Taken (starring Liam Neeson) which every father out there should relish, the opportunity to really take it to anyone who messes with your child.
The tag line caught my attention at the rental store, “They took his daughter. He’ll take their lives.”
That is exactly what the movie is about. They make no bones about what you get when you buy a ticket, rent the movie from your local video store, or stream online; brutal, unadulterated ruthless destruction of anyone or anything that prevents him from getting to his daughter.
Do You Deliver on Your Promise?
So how often do you state exactly what your clients will get? Do you even know where your own ship is headed?
The fact that I read this tag line and knew the overall direction didn’t diminish my interest in the product. In fact, it reinforced it. I wanted to see a brutal, no-holds barred run at anyone that would dare steal my daughter - uhmmm - his daughter.
So one of the very first questions you have to ask yourself is whether your offering reverberates with your client or potential client. If it doesn’t, you might try asking why not, but perhaps a more revealing question might be, “Do I understand my client’s needs?”
Obviously, marketing and branding play a key role in this little dance, but more than anything, substance is at the heart of this matter. I mean really - do you spend long hours pining over the DVD box cover like some teenage school girl crushing on the latest boy-band? For those of you who might be confused at this point, the answer is, “No.” (for the majority of us).
Needless to say, if you don’t understand that basic principal, the rest is rather pointless. In the end, surrounding your product or service in a tightly wound shroud-of-mystery so many sales-types seem to prefer, doesn’t result in much trust and can often end up deflating the relationship when the proverbial air is let out of that tire.
Promise what you will deliver. Deliver on what you promise.
It is often taken for granted, but following these simple steps religiously will earn you, and keep, the trust of your clients time and again.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
LinkedIn Recommendations Are Feel Good Business for Tough Times!
Nothing feels better than a pat on the back, and LinkedIn makes no exception to this rule! For those not familiar with LinkedIn, it is a professional social platform to share opportunities, ideas and information. According to LinkedIn, over 30 million professionals subscribe, and some might coin the service as Facebook for business professionals.
While I don’t know whether anyone has actually landed a job from using LinkedIn, it is a great way to stay connected with clients and business colleagues alike. In this fast-moving world, keeping up with changing e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and the who-knows-who game can be daunting. LinkedIn seeks to make that easier.While most everyone knows LinkedIn for its Bacon-esque Connections feature and it’s recent launch of groups and applications, I was surprised that many I talk with know very little about the recommendation feature – or worse – are intimidated to ask for a recommendation.
Recommetiquette:
Let’s look at some LinkedIn recommendation etiquette. Quite simply put, if you feel you are worth a recommendation, ask for it. Don’t wait for someone to think of it for you. Trust me, they are thinking about a million other things than you.
This doesn’t mean that a warm and friendly request by you won’t get read. Generally, people you are connected with respect you. So ask.The worst case is that you won’t get the recommendation, and the best case is you get a glowing review from a respecting colleague or client. Lastly, always change the generic message to something more personal (but not too familiar, mind you). More on this later.
Recommendations in a nutshell:
LinkedIn makes recommendations extremely simple once you make a connection. By simply clicking on Recommendations under the Profile heading, you are presented with the option to choose which job title for which you would like to seek recommendations.
As you can see in the example above, I have a few recommendations for two of my positions. The “thumbs-up” icon to the left indicates I have at least one recommendation, and I can choose to manage or ask to be endorsed.When asking to be endorsed, it is a simple 3 step process (see below).
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Step 1 is confirming the position you wish to be recommended for.
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In step 2, you must decide who you’ll ask.
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To complete the process, simply create your message. You can choose to leave the default subject and body of the message intact, but I strongly recommend you make this more personal. (Tip: It’s always great to include something personal, e.g. “It was great to see you at the last lunch n’ learn.”).
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(Optional): Wring your hands as you wait by your computer for a response.
What goes around comes around:
Once your colleague or client completes the recommendation, you will receive a message in your inbox inviting you to approve or decline the recommendation. This is a great way to ensure the recommendation meets with your high standards, right?Perhaps the best feature about this recommendation process, in my humble opinion, is the fact that LinkedIn really believes in returning the favor. As such, you are immediately taken to a screen that asks you to write up a recommendation, in kind.
For those of you who understand recruiting practices, this is genuinely the best opportunity you will ever have to ask for a flattering recommendation. So, if you receive a request for a recommendation – make sure you take a little time and pay it forward. You never know, the very next e-mail in your inbox might just be that recommendation you have been waiting for coming right back to you…… and there’s no better time than a recession to get that feel-good you get from a LinkedIn recommendation!
Originally posted for Louis Gray.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
Doing More With Less Can Be Your Loss
No doubt in today’s business climate, everyone is being asked to do more with less. I spend time chatting with neighbors about their industries, talking with other bloggers about what they are seeing, seeking advice from other industry colleagues, and especially paying attention to my client’s pain points.
The consensus is, everyone is under fire to do the same job with less headcount, and some cases being tasked with growth on top of that, The current business climate dictates we must be creative in our approach to tackling typical staffing. Traditional market pressures are trending towards substantiating a business’s existence on less revenue, so most are left with the dour prospect of reducing overhead.
Let’s face it - some industries, like IT, have been under fire for years to increase productivity and reduce headcount. But with the driving forces telling us to do more with less, where does less become your loss?
Project Management 101:
In project management, most know about the project management triangle, which describes that all projects abide by 3 constraints:
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Time: The time available to complete the project.
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Cost: The allotted budget available to complete the project.
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Scope: Defines what must be done to complete the project and attain the project’s end result.
A side of the triangle cannot be altered without impacting the remaining two sides. As illustrated in the image above, a fourth constraint is now observed by many project managers, that of quality. In essence, this constraint separates “quality” from “performance” aspects since quality could be impacted from any or all of the sides of the project management triangle.
These three constraints are often competing constraints: increased scope typically means increased time and increased cost, a tight time constraint could mean increased costs and reduced scope, and a tight budget could mean increased time and reduced scope.
- wikipedia 2009
While all of us reading this article can sit here and rationalize one thing or another about why, businesses are meanwhile filling your desk inbox to the brim, your e-mail inbox is overflowing, and your smartphone is barking at you telling you there is not enough memory left to complete another task.
Invariably you must make the choice about what your priorities are by use of what I term as a decision rubric, apply focused time management techniques, and challenge yourself to not only have a strong “No,” but an even stronger “Yes.”
Ultimately, the workload doesn’t appear to be getting any lighter from where I stand, so how do you deliver superior results, on time, and under budget?
That’s a trick question; don’t even try… if you are part of a team, ask for help and don’t be afraid to delegate. If you are flying solo, pick and choose where you spend your time wisely. After all, doing more with less can often land you with a deficiency in one or more of the legs of the PM Triangle…
… and when that happens, more with less will turn into your loss, your company’s loss, and your client’s loss.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
5 Time Management Techniques To Keep You Sane.
With business picking back up, life has become quite hectic. I don’t know that it is ever slow, but these past few weeks conjure images of trying to force 20 gallons of water a minute through a drinking straw come to mind. The rampant activity is both welcome and daunting, given I care both for my customers and quality of work being produced.
As with any project, however, I have yet to see where one of the three finite aspects of a project does not suffer to some degree - those being schedule, budget, and quality. For instance, when schedule is compressed typically either quality is sacrificed or budget overruns are experienced; when budget is constrained quality is sacrificed or schedule is extended.
In my particular case, I become hyper-aware and focused upon time management techniques, like the time management matrix by Steven Covey (left). However, it really amazes me how long it takes my mind to kick into gear… almost as if it were in shock due to the sudden jolt of activity overload.
Bandwidth is a buzzword I have taken to lately, defined in technological terms as the speed of data transfer. In other words, how much information can you stuff down a pipe of a given size before you can no longer shove any more through that pipe?
A few key techniques I utilize (from the school of hard-knocks) are:
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Create a Decision-Rubric: Priorities change often and come in many different categories. You need to understand your strategic (long-term) and tactical (daily) goals. This helps you craft a “decision-rubric”, allowing you to prioritize your decisions against the long-term goals and short-term emergencies. This also has the added benefit of helping you decide which projects and tasks to undertake and on which ones to pass.
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Keep communication channels open: Open dialogue is key to helping you, your teams, and your customers stay current on what you are working on. For high-capacity producers and performers, lots of communication is needed. For those who have bosses or teams that don’t understand this or don’t care, you will find this adds a great deal to your stress levels.
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List realistic goals to complete for the day: I hate lists. However, I use daily lists of realistically achievable goals to keep me focused. This is not to say my list doesn’t change throughout the day, but at least I know I will have something to do for tomorrow. Items requiring a hard deadline stay at the top of my list.
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Always assign next steps: It’s critical that you understand each tasks very next step, GTD-style. Without this key ingredient to your project management tool bag, you will often flounder as you attempt to find footing on uneven ground. The added benefit is your monumental meal become manageable bites.
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Follow-Up: Follow-up if you complete your assignment, if you are waiting on something or someone, and especially if you aren’t going to make your deadline. People appreciate you completing your work, but are usually very sympathetic if you are truly busy and let them know.
These are just five techniques I leverage in an attempt to keep me sane. I am not always 100% successful, but it serves me well in the end. As for you, what tools or techniques do you employ to help you manage your time?
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
A Free Website Giveaway For Your Business!
My good friend Corey Smith, CEO of Tribute Media, has decided to help a business in need of a new website by giving away a FREE website, powered by a robust content management system, Drupal.
I can vouch for Corey’s team personally. They designed my corporate website prior to our acquisition 6 months ago, and both our team and our customers loved it! (Click here for sample).
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Perfect for businesses of any size - but is a great opportunity to help cash-strapped start-ups especially!
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$1,750 value
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Easily configurable Content Management System that allows you to update pages and pictures without knowing programming
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Built-in blog
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Built on the Drupal platform.
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AND - FREE website hosting for an entire year.
Whether you are starting your first website, or thinking about changing your existing site over, get in while the getting is still good! This is only available through June 5th. So enter now for a chance to win.
LINK: Tribute Media’s Free Business Website Contest
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
Don’t Break It Trying To Fix It.
We tinker with things all the time, trying to make them just a little better. The same thing goes for processes in a company. Someone, somewhere, sees something they think is broken - or might be done just a little bit better - and they try to fix it. As noble as this may seem, it often results in a further fracture of the business process.
You see, broken is a relative term. If you drop a glass on the floor and it shatters, it is most certainly broken. But in a company’s process, it’s not quite so easy to see exactly what is broken. The interpretation is often that the process must be broken just like the glass - in a dozen pieces. But more often than not the focus falls on the pieces of the glass scattered across the floor rather than why the glass was dropped in the first place, and most importantly, how to prevent this in the future.
We are not all automatons. People slip, and most certainly when dealing with emotion and perception, our decisions are often biased in some shape, form or fashion. More often than not, the cure offered does not necessarily match all the symptoms.
You missed your turn:
In our zeal to help make our business processes more efficient, more cost-effective, more customer-focused we run the risk of upsetting the proverbial applecart.
A few months ago I ran a study of our customers, looking at both call metrics as well as speaking with our customer care representatives. Even with an average response time of 28 seconds, some calls were remaining on hold up to 15 minutes. For our group, this was not desirable, so we sought ways to impact this without adjusting headcount.
I made the call to force customers to leave a message after 7-8 minutes on hold out of respect for their time, and even offered the option to dial “0″ to reach the operator. I was focused on the glass laying in a few pieces on the floor - not why customers stayed on hold.
I received several frustrated calls, and waited things out about 2 weeks. Often times, customers don’t like change, so I wanted to wait out the changes to ensure our care team was communicating the new process and allowing for an adjustment period - convinced I was making the decision to help our customers help themselves.
The frustrated comments didn’t stop, so I took the opportunity to speak with the most frustrated of the callers to ascertain where the frustration was occurring. What I found was a “hand-palm” moment.
The reason customers had been choosing to stay on hold was simple: They wanted to talk with someone live. Our company had always focused on placing live people closer to our customers, but with various economic constraints coupled with dramatically increased call volumes and complexity of calls the downward pressure dictated apply technology smartly.
Instead of forwarding the voicemail jail, I dropped the threshold to forward directly back to our reception desk when our customer care team could reach the caller within 5 minutes. I am proud to say, this only happens 6% of the time, but those 6% of our customers now at least receive the courtesy of talking to someone after 5 minutes giving them the power of choice.
I was focused upon the glass fragments scattered on the floor, not why the glass had been dropped. So when you are tempted to improve a business process, ensure you don’t break it in the process of your repair. It’s easy to misread the symptoms and make the wrong call. If you do, be adult enough to admit it and make corrections in your course, but that’s advice for another post.
Image courtesy of Duke LeNoir.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
MPS: What’s in a Name?
I’m beginning to agree with Steve Reynolds (LYRA). I am reading article after article, and having conversations that are beginning to dominate my day about managed print services, or MPS. While I thoroughly enjoy the strategy and semantics debate as much as the next guy, something is starting to get under my skin…
The definition of MPS… everyone has to define it! Why? More importantly why does that matter to you? Does it offer you comfort to label things in such a way? I read articles debating whether cost-per-copy (CPC) programs are really MPS, if MPS is the next “it” thing, or if you know what MPS really even is?
Is it getting a little noisy in here?
Are you frustrated and confused as to your next step? Are you still trying to get a grip on just what to do, or how to make what you have work better?
The good news is that you are not alone. Welcome to the business of running a business. Folks, the cut and dry of MPS is that it can be just about any program or process whereby you drive down costs and/or offer increased transparency to your clients in an output strategy.
Well, if it’s that simple then why can’t I figure it out?
Good question, and I’m glad you asked. The reason is most companies, even really big ones, often suck at follow-through and commitment. Copier dealers, or “document output solutions providers” (said in a deep and booming voice) are notoriously short-sale focused. It’s the emotional high of closing that first deal or landing the big deal that gets your heart thumping.
But let me bring you back to an important point: documents are the vehicle in which information travels in and through your business. In thinking of strategy, you do have to be considerate of just what processes you will be touching with your go-to-market strategy. In other words that sale surely feels great, but don’t fall victim to feature-blindness - or the tendency to shove features on a client’s workflow that are not appropriate simply to make a sale.
In a nutshell…
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to help your clients, and you don’t necessarily need to subscribe to the latest, franchised buzzword to make it all work. However, you do have to have a program or process that makes sense to your business and to which you adhere. As the great football coaches like to say, “Let’s get back to basics.”
Image courtesy of OrangeAcid.
Ken Stewart’s website, ChangeForge, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology in an information-centric world. Ken is also the founder of Seeking the Son. He is always interested in connecting; To discover the many ways you may connect with him, visit him at DandyID.
Social Me
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ChangeForge... a catalyst to affect the paradigm by Ken Stewart is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at www.changeforge.com. -
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