Be Different or be dead

December 2, 2019

2 easy tasks that will make you an astonishing leader

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2 easy tasks that will make you an astonishing leader.

I know it’s almost impossible to reduce all of the qualities of an amazing leader down to two, but in my 40-year leadership experience there are two actions standout leaders take to distance themselves from the herd of leaders out there.

Task #1: Stop doing stuff

Kinda goes against traditional thought but most leaders think winning is about performing the incremental miracle; introducing something new that will take people’s breath away.
And the academics and pundits add to this belief by talking about innovation as being exclusively reserved for creating something new.

“Product innovation is the creation and subsequent introduction of a good or service that is either new, or an improved version of previous goods or services.” — Wikipedia

So the common perception is that to be innovative you must deliver something new or at least a significantly improved version of something that existed before.

Value creation is missing

The problem I have is that innovation by the common definition is silent on value creation; there’s no expressed connection.
An entrepreneur could introduce a new product that flops in the market but the act would still be tagged as an innovative move.

Innovation without value creation is useless because the purpose of innovation IS to add value. Introduce a new product that sucks value from the organization — because it’s unprofitable — is not innovative by anyone’s definition.

In my experience, there is one innovative task that rarely gets mentioned. It’s a task in most organizations that isn’t treated as a high priority yet it produces amazing value.

Decrement to create space

And it’s the antithesis of doing new incremental things — it’s doing new decremental things; removing old things in an organization that no longer add value and creating space in an organization to do new things that do add value.

No organization has unlimited resources to continue adding new activities with added costs; decrementing frees up resources and cost to do something new.

Great leaders treat removing stuff as a high priority and they treat it as a core competency of their organizations that contributes vitally to their competitive advantage — most others don’t focus on it and hence are more challenged to maintain healthy cash flow margins in the face of having to innovate to offer new stuff.

And decrementing is much more difficult to achieve than motivating people to do new exciting things; it’s simply not viewed as a “sexy” thing to do and people aren’t salivating to get on with removing the grunge that everyone knows is there.

CUT the crap

Not only is it difficult to get people to sign on with cutting the crap in an organization, it’s even more tough to actually remove the activities, programs, products and systems that have outlived their usefulness.

Why? No one likes to give up anything regardless how unproductive it is. They don’t like their familiarity with anything being disrupted even though it makes perfect sense to do so.

So employees who work on products with a small unprofitable market don’t want to lose their product work and analysts who maintain an obsolescent system would like to keep doing it.

When the cut the crap champion shows up there’s not a whole lot of willingness for owners of crap to give it up easily; they fight to hold on to it.

Task #2: Stop reading books on leadership

The Unmatchables get to their lofty position by NOT following the prescriptions of others — they don’t read their sh** — they find their own way in the morass and complications of dealing with humans of all types.

It’s not that text books and pundit readings are wrong necessarily, it’s just that they’re not good enough to make a leadership difference.

There’s no formula for being an incredible leader. There are tons of things you can do to be an average one but the secret sauce to greatness has to come from the individual not parchments with ascribed opinions from “experts”.

My experience has taught me that there are many actions The Great One’s take that are rarely found in a text book.

Head west

They believe that “heading slightly west” is a valid strategy despite the fact that the experts try to get you to believe that if you follow a precise process you will create the “perfect” plan.

Rather, what is needed is an imprecise view of the direction that should be taken with modifications made based on what is learned through execution.
How many plans have you had that turned out the way you originally intended? Yup. Same.

Try a lot

They believe that the more tries you make the greater the likelihood you’ll succeed. Their mindset is that if they get lucky and hit a home run on the first try, GREAT! but don’t count on it.

The odds of getting it right the first time are too low given the uncertainty and unpredictability of the markets we serve. If you’re not ready to try something else other than your first choice in times of chaotic change you’ll be unprepared when chaos strikes and you will fail.

The Distinguishables know that the text book might be helpful in choosing a direction, but eventual success comes to those who have made more attempts than the rest of the crowd.

Do the opposite

The Look-Up To’s have the natural instinct to go in a 180 degree direction against the flow of whatever is the current trend and give it a go. They understand that momentum and trends aren’t their friends when they are trying to garner a competitive advantage.

▪️If the market trend is toward lower calorie food products they do a 180.

▪️If the trend is to exceed customer service expectations in the hostel business they do the opposite.

They don’t bet the farm on such moves but they are willing to make an investment that captures the attention of onlookers.

In my experience, these two gems were instrumental in vaulting average leaders into really successful ones. I’m thinking that if you want to be a standout leader you might want to give them a try.

What do you think?

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 12.2.19 at 04:26 am by Roy Osing
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November 30, 2019

9 fantastic quotes from some amazing lady bosses

9 fantastic quotes from some amazing lady bosses.

We must keep celebrating the strong leaders in our life.

FTD created an infographic with some of the most iconic and inspiring women in leadership –– from Michelle Obama to Indra Nooyi.

These women take no prisoners and have some words of wisdom to share with the world. Use their lessons to boost your own self-confidence or share them with a leader you value to say “thanks” for their guidance.

— Marielle Lea is a passionate writer who loves putting pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) whenever she can. In her spare time, Marielle loves to be with her family, enjoying the outdoors and finding the next great taco truck!

• Posted 11.30.19 at 03:48 pm by Roy Osing
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November 18, 2019

5 simple things I did everyday as a leader

5 simple things I did everyday as a leader.

If you looked at how most executive leaders spend their time, you would find activities such as: attending executive leadership and board meetings, reviewing financial performance of their organization, developing strategic plans, meeting with their direct report team and the like.

My leadership style was different. Sure, I performed the traditional duties expected of me, but I realized as well that there were other things that had to be done to ensure a consistently high performing organization — plus have more fun!

These 5 activities consumed an inordinate amount of my time regularly while other leaders chose to stay with a more traditional routine.

1. Bear pit sessions

Seeking employee input on what’s working and what’s not working for them is a critical activity for the effective leader. Many leaders choose to delegate this responsibility to their management team; I did not.

I made this task a priority of how I spent my time, and coined the term bear pit session to describe the employee meetings I called to discuss issues in the workplace.

The purpose of the sessions was to engage people in a active conversation on such matters as:
— what’s preventing them from executing the strategic game plan of the organization;
— what needs to be changed in the way customers are served;
— what rules and policies are getting in the way of delivering amazing service experiences;
— what unmet customer needs should be addressed;
— what barriers need to be removed in order to make their jobs easier.

It was my agenda and I sought their input that I would normally never receive. I led each session on my own; my direct reports were never present because I wanted honesty from people.
And I had to take criticism on the chin; these were tell-it-like-it-is conversations which held very little back once I earned the trust of the attendees.

2. Dumb rules contests

One of my essential objectives was to “cleanse the organization’s environment” of stuff that made little sense to people; the rules, policies, processes and procedures — the systems — that got in their way of doing their job or that prevented the delivery of good customer service.

Most leaders opted to do studies using systems and process reengineering experts to identify the culprits that needed change because they were inefficient and could be reengineered to lower cost.

I took a different approach. I chose to sponsor dumb rule contests and involve the people who actually used the systems and enforced the rules & policies in the performance of their jobs. They were the best source to identify the candidates that needed change because they made their jobs difficult and/or annoyed customers.

The suggestions offered by employees — particularly from the frontline — were awesome! And we had a team of managers who were held accountable to schedule and implement the ideas with the greatest impact.

3. Skip level employee engagement

This is another twist to getting close to people doing the job without the filters of layers of management getting in the way.
This was my route to the truth. I have my managers the heads-up that I was going to be speaking to their employees directly on occasion.

I told them my purpose was not to undermine them but rather to get a better appreciation of how people doing the job felt; the individual problems they had and their views on how things could be achieved.

I also told them that if they were uncomfortable with my style then perhaps they need to find a more parochial leader.

This process worked miracles for me and my performance. I was able to get ahead of issues before they became performance effecting and I was able to help people perform their roles the way they wanted to: the right tools & training and fewer roadblocks.

And as a side benefit, it gave a perspective on how well my managers served their people and equipped me with the information I needed to help them do their jobs better.

4. VP-for-a-day assignments

“Walk in my shoes” for a day was an offer I regularly gave to a variety of employees in my organization; people who championed valuable projects that proved to enhance the performance of the organization and other high potential individuals who were the leaders of tomorrow.

This was a recognition for those who stood out and provided an invaluable contribution to fulfilling our strategic intent.

I did this once a month, and I structured the day to provide as realistic perspective of the type of issues I was typically engaged in. There is always a risk in being “too cheesy” so I tried to leave plenty of time for extemporaneous activity if I could.

The role was to engage my guest in whatever the moment was offering. They weren’t there to simply look and listen, they were there to offer their point of view on whatever subject was being discussed.

They loved the opportunity; they told their friends and colleagues of their experience and they became influencers of opinion in the workplace. And many of them achieved rewarding and successful careers.

5. Customers before anything

I always planned weekly customer meetings; I scheduled them early to avoid any conflict with internal meetings.
But of course things change and inevitably my boss would call a meeting that conflicted with a scheduled customer meet.

It was risky but I never put the customer off in favour of complying with my boss’s request that I meet with him or attend an executive meeting. I ALWAYS kept my promises to customers even if it was an uncomfortable and unheard of choice.

My boss at least understood (even though he may not have agreed with) my choice and agreed to support me.

My peers, on the other hand, thought my choice was reckless and not in my own personal career interests.

Turns out that with a great boss you can both stand your ground on principles and have a rewarding career (because customers always show their appreciation with their loyalty).

I’m not saying other leaders should follow me, but I encourage you to step out and find your own unique signature to practice your craft at an even higher level than is possible through traditional leadership doctrine.

Find your own way.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 11.18.19 at 04:19 am by Roy Osing
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November 11, 2019

5 of the most miserable things that suck in business

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5 of the most miserable things that suck in business.

The fundamentals of running a business haven’t changed all that much over time. Sure, business tools — the micro technologies applied to specific functions in a business — have been revolutionized by the Internet and the new capabilities it has spawned.

The ability to personalize offers and advertising messages, for example, has introduced an entire new dimension in marketing and sales that wasn’t possible a decade ago.

But the basic business principles espoused by some of the more noteworthy thought leaders of the past are still held to have just as much relevance today as they were then.
For example, Peter F. Drucker had simple yet compelling views of how businesses should be led and his guidance remains as vital signposts for business leaders to follow.

▪️ “There is only one valid definition of business purpose: to create a customer.”
▪️ “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the
product or service fits him and sells itself.”
▪️ “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”

But there are some things that are practised in business today that need to stop; these remnants from the past — and many of them remain as examples of what leaders ignored from icons like Drucker — continue to find their way into business plans and marketing strategies and are a drag on business performance.

These are the five worse things that suck in business and they need to be expunged from how organizations are run.

1. Scale thinking sucks

Most business leaders ask the question “How can it be scaled?” when presented with a new business opportunity for a product or service. What they want to know is how the new product can be economically supplied to as many people as possible.

How the supply chain can be ramped up to produce the maximum number of units within an acceptable cost envelope.

The problem with scaling is that it takes an idea that was likely hatched from an analysis of a single customer or small customer group with narrowly defined needs and wants and is transformed into one which will be force fed to the largest population possible.

The demand-centric idea is subsumed by supply and cost considerations; the customer is lost in the process.

The reason scale thinking sucks is that supply should never rule the roost; demand should. And the real question that should be asked by leaders is “How can we efficiently provide this new product to its intended audience at a price that reflects its intrinsic value?”

2. Copying ideas sucks

Truly unique ideas in business are few and far between, notwithstanding the emphasis given to organizational programs around how to generate new ideas and how to be more creative.

The fact is that a new idea being adopted in one organization is most likely an old idea in another. Many businesses pride themselves in being competent in spotting best practices and adopting them; in fact the process of benchmarking best in class and robbing their ideas is often expressed as a core competency of a firm.

Innovation and creativity can’t be achieved by stealing an idea belonging to someone else; all that you really achieve is you increase the herd of copycats by one.

The reason copying sucks is that the process works against the natural process of discovering new ideas that might improve performance. As long as employees are on the hunt for an idea they can copy (under the guise of innovation) they will NEVER apply themselves to finding something revolutionarily new for their customers and their business.

3. Planning sucks

There is a misguided notion in business that if you have a great business plan, success is a stone’s throw away.

As a result, strategic planning, marketing planning, sales planning and ‘everything planning’ is given a high priority and employee education is littered with planning techniques and boilerplates to ensure the process is as sophisticated as possible and that it employs all the tools espoused by the planning experts.

My observation over my career is that the lions share of leadership time is spent charting the right course for an organization with little time left to ask the question “How can we execute the plan?”

Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work — Drucker

The reason planning sucks is that it trumps execution in most organizations; it assumes implementation will happen by serendipity. The reality is, however, it almost never happens because it requires people to do it with their vagaries of individuality and diversity.

If individuals don’t believe the plan will satisfy their own unique wants and desires — if they can’t buy in — they won’t be advocates to the change and the plan will die.

Success doesn’t come from throwing the plan over the wall and expecting employees to dutifully and effectively execute it. It comes from leadership spending 80% of their time on figuring out how to execute an imperfect plan and to find a way to engage the hearts and minds of every employee to make it their own.

4. Crowds suck

Businesses love crowds; the attraction that a large population or mass market brings to profitability potential if it can be converted to a large volume of product and service sales.

Whereas scale addresses how supply can be economically increased to provide large volumes, crowd or mass market thinking addresses how a product or service can be designed to appeal to the greatest number of potential buyers.

This infatuation with the masses tries to find the lowest common denominator solutions that appeal to everyone — to the average individual.

The market reality is, however, is that watering down the features and benefits of a product to try and meet the needs of the many, makes it appeal to no one. It’s bland and insipid. It’s value proposition is vague and unclear.

The reason mass marketing sucks is that it forces the business away from individuals who each have special wants and desires to the herd and numbers that define a potential opportunity. A people-focus is replaced by a superficial numbers one. Furthermore it results in a culture of pushers rather than creators of special value based on what individuals desire not on what you suspect the herd wants.

5. Precision sucks

In business, there is a thirst for precision; to be as accurate as it can be in the solutions it creates to meet the challenges it faces. It’s a fallback to the scientific method which postulates that a finite number of independent variables can be combined in a unique way to produce a predictable outcome.

The d = s x t thinking in business produces, for example, forecasting models that predict consumer demand and market share in a world of chaos and randomness.

The truth is, markets can’t be formularized; outcomes can’t be represented by the results of combining inputs in any particular way. At best, outcomes can be extrapolated or approximated but must always be taken with a grain of salt because before you know it, something unexpected happens that rocks your world and renders your good intentions invalid.

The reason precision sucks is that it sets up unrealistic expectations that things will work out the way they were intended. And it furthermore reduces the capacity of the business to respond and adapt when they don’t (and they never do).

Successful businesses definitely have a “Plan A” that is constructed with the best analytical tools at leadership’s disposal, but they also have contingencies in the wings to draw on when things start to go awry.
And they invest heavily in tracking and monitoring to know when Plan A is at risk; they never let their defences down.

The successful businesses I know:
▪️ are good at anticipating but GREAT at responding to unforeseen events;
▪️are comfortable with an imperfect let’s head west strategy;
▪️view the ability to execute as a competitive advantage;
▪️focus on the individual and creating value that satisfies their special needs;
▪️build a culture to create original and different ideas; they see themselves as best in class.

They’ve found a way to get rid of what sucks.

Cheers,
Roy
Check out my BE DiFFERENT or be dead Book Series

• Posted 11.11.19 at 04:55 am by Roy Osing
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