Be Different or be dead

June 4, 2018

How employee engagement can be really improved by leaders

Source: Pexels

How employee engagement can be really improved by leaders.

Much has been written on how organizations can engage their employees more successfully and create a competitive advantage.

The advice offered tends to be of a program nature: company-wide initiatives promulgated from above that all functions ‘down below’ are expected to participate in.

My 33+ years of leadership experience suggests a different way of looking at how to “hook” every employee in the goals and strategy of the organization.

People relate more to other people, not corporate programs offered by human resources or business planning.

This requires that every team leader take personal responsibility to see that the employees who report to them are pumped up and engaged.

I didn’t wait for an employee engagement program to help. I chose to lead in a very specific way that led to turned-on employees and constantly improving performance.

Here are the simple things that worked for me:

The greater purpose

Ensure every employee clearly understands the business plan of the organization. They can’t contribute if they are hazy about what results are expected. People can only be engaged if they understand the context for their actions — the greater purpose they serve.

Their specific role

Define the specific role of every person in delivering the strategy. This is where detail matters. Everyone needs to know EXACTLY what to do day-in and day-out to execute on the chosen company direction.

Tools for their job

Equip them with the tools to perform their responsibilities — training, systems and processes. People can’t support the organization without the wherewithal to deliver.
A mundane point, perhaps (“everyone knows this is important!”) but one that is often forgotten. It’s a basic hygiene factor for engagement. They can’t engage if their toolbox is empty.

Constant feedback

Constantly - WEEKLY - let them know how they’re doing. Real honest feedback (and help to allow them to improve) is essential along with 3 key actions they can take to improve — any more than 3 things to do will overwhelm them and no progress will be achieved.

Rub shoulders

Be in their workplace WITH them. If they know you are there to help them succeed they will engage with you on an emotional level which is what you need to move the yardsticks forward.

People who intellectually understand and agree with what is required are motivated to DO something only if the are “all in” emotionally. People need to see the leader in their workplace sharing the messiness of execution. It shows caring and concern; vital elements of triggering emotion.

Do battle

Fight for them internally. Protect them from the internal politics and b.s. that gets in the way of them doing their job. If they know you have their back they will go the extra distance to perform.

And take the initiative to eliminate the dumb rules, work barriers and grunge that get in the way of employees doing their job. They can’t engage productively if their feet are stuck in the mud of bureaucracy.

Achieving greater employee engagement requires people to emotionally connect with the goals of the organization and execute accordingly to achieve them.

Look to leaders, not corporate programs to create the energy necessary to make it happen.

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

• Posted 6.4.18 at 04:44 am by Roy Osing
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May 28, 2018

6 amazing female entrepreneurs to be really listened to

6 amazing female entrepreneurs to be really listened to.

Female entrepreneurs are a rapidly-growing demographic of business owners, and their enterprises are making waves in the business world.

Modern women of all ages have started their own businesses and made their fortunes through hard work and determination. They’ve learned more than a few lessons along their path to business success — lessons we can all benefit from, such as…

▪️Amy Rees Anderson, CEO MediConnect Global
“Always do the right thing, no matter what the consequences of doing the right thing will be. At the end of the day there is nothing more valuable than your integrity, both in life and in business. Success will come and go but integrity is forever.”

This can be a tough one to stick to, especially if you’re starting out with limited capital. It can be tempting to cut corners here and there to save a little money. But a successful business that has true longevity comes from a place of integrity. Ultimately, it’s better to fail with decency than to succeed through deception.

▪️Leila Rose, designer
“The importance of building a great team has been my greatest lesson. The people that you surround yourself and your business with are extremely vital to success.”

Your team are working with you towards your business vision. As such, you need to make sure it’s made up of people who will benefit you. You will be working with these people a lot, so they need to work well together and share your vision.

Remember, you can teach virtually anyone to do virtually anything, but you can’t teach them to be a good person.

▪️JK Rowling, author
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default.”

There’s not a single person on this planet who didn’t make atleast one, if not several, mistakes on their path to success — even the creator of Harry Potter! Mistakes and failure are a natural part of the learning process. But what differentiates those who succeed from those who don’t is that they learn from their mistakes, pick themselves up and try again.

No-one gets it right first time, so embrace your mistakes and be a better entrepreneur for it.

▪️Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs Fields Bakeries
“Good enough never is.”

This knowledge bomb is short, snappy and as sweet as Debbi’s cookies. In business (indeed, in everything), there is always something you could do better. If you reach your one-year target, don’t sit on your laurels. Build on that success and use it to take your business further.

If you continually aspire for more, your enterprise will continue to grow and grow. Always be looking ahead to the next milestone in your business calendar.

▪️Aimee Song, founder of Song of Style
“My #1 biggest lesson I’ve learned was to hire people for the things I’m not good at. [...] Hiring people meant I could focus on the creative parts that I enjoyed and work more efficiently.”

You are a talented and driven — but you can’t do everything. Everyone has their Achilles’ heel. But Aimee knows the value of letting others shoulder that responsibility so she can focus on what she does well.

And so should you! Don’t let your weak points stop you from building a thriving business. Struggling with your advertising? Employ a marketer. Don’t know how to make a website yet? Hire a freelance web developer. Do what do you best, and let others do the same for you.

▪️Pippa Murray, founder of Pip & Nut
“If you’re looking at starting up a business, never be afraid to ask that stupid question or reach out to someone in the industry you admire, as the more support you can get the more your brand – and you – will flourish.”

If Mad Men or The Apprentice are anything to go by, the world of business might seem like a cutthroat, dog-eat-dog world.

But it’s actually full of people just like yourself who worked hard to get where they are today. They’ve faced the very same challenges you’re facing today, and most of them are only too happy to share their knowledge with you. If you’re struggling, go to entrepreneur networking groups to meet successful individuals, and you’ll find they’ll be only too happy to share their knowledge.

The successful female entrepreneurs above have all struggled to get where they are today. They’ve worked hard, and have learned some valuable lessons along the way. Follow their advice, and you’ll surely be amongst their ranks someday too.

— Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit their blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe.

• Posted 5.28.18 at 04:22 am by Roy Osing
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May 7, 2018

How to turn a service nightmare into a sales win

My assistant burst into my office with a horrified look on her face!

The General Manager of one of our premier hotel clients in Vancouver was on the line and wanted to speak with me IMMEDIATELY.

My EA warned me that he was going ballistic.

Apparently we had somehow put his entire communications network out of service earlier that morning and he had been “in the dark” for at least 3 hours.

I was the executive leader for business services at the time, and he chose to escalate the service breakdown to my office.

I took the call of course and listened to his concerns. He “wailed” on me with wild abandon. He couldn’t contain his anger; he screamed and let it flow.

He wanted my head!

His demands were quite simple. He wanted to be compensated for the lost business he suffered by virtue of having no communications service and he wanted it taken care of fast.

I told him that I was extremely sorry for our screwup (exact words) and that I would take care of this right away.

I called my sales director who was going apoplectic over the situation and asked him if there was a secret desire the GM had that we could satisfy and perhaps turn things around.

The sales guys had done their job and discovered through the GM’s assistant that he had been coveting an antique telephone for his office credenza for quite some time but had never make the decision to buy it. For some reason this particular type of phone was almost a fetish of his; an itch he had never scratched.

Armed with this information, we executed our recovery plan.

Our recovery plan

First, I got a cheque cut for him as my way of responding to the business he had lost during the service outage. There was no way I wanted to get into a negotiation of exactly how much business he thought he lost.

My strategy was to preempt that whole process. (Important side note: I didn’t tell our lawyers what I was up to as they would only tell me that I SHOULDN’T do it because it would be tantamount to admitting that we were in the wrong. REALLY?)

Next, I contacted our installation folks and asked that they get the specialty phone the client wanted and join me at his office within the hour.

Finally, cheque in hand, I headed to his office with my sales director riding shotgun.

About an hour and a half after his call to me our team arrived at his office.

This is how it played out.

At his office

I apologized (again) for our shabby treatment and handed him the cheque as restitution for our sins. Right away I could see him come down from his emotional peak. “It’s ok” he said. “Mistakes happen”.

I then asked the installation team into his office (with his permission of course) with the object of his affection and asked where it could be installed. He could not contain himself when he saw the phone.

Suddenly our meeting was not about the egregious way we screwed over his business that morning. And it wasn’t about whether the cheque actually was sufficient to recover his lost business (which by the way we were not obligated to do by law in any event).

The conversation and energy in the room was channeled to the actions we took to recover from our blunder rather than the blunder itself.

The meeting ended with our sincere apology (once again) and an offer to do more to atone for our sins if he thought more should be done.

He was quite frankly delighted with where we ended up; we could do no more for him.

This sales tale ended miraculously; it couldn’t have been better.

A fan forever

After the service incident and our recovery, I heard stories from other clients who recounted how this GM told the story of our service OOPS! and how amazed he was at how far we were prepared to go to make amends.

This client never left us in spite of what we did to him.

In fact his loyalty to our organization intensified over the ensuing years.

The morals of the story

✔️ Always apologize (endlessly but earnestly) regardless of the circumstances. And NEVER quote company policy or “it was beyond our control” reasons that caused the service disaster.

✔️ Don’t consult lawyers or anyone else; don’t ask for permission; do the right thing to serve the customer’s best interests;

✔️ Act quickly to remedy the offence. You don’t have much time before the customer leaves screaming how crummy your service is to one and all.

✔️ Charge sales with the role of discovering customer secrets which contain the power to recover from the inevitable client screw over;

✔️ If done correctly, a mind blowing recovery actually build loyalty and turns the victim of the offence into a raving fan who tells everyone they touch how great you are.

P.S. This is not an isolated story illustrating the power of service recovery on customer retention and ongoing sales. Over my 33+ year career I have used the strategy to build remarkably successful sales organizations.

Brilliant recovery when you screw a customer over always works.

Try it and see.

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

• Posted 5.7.18 at 02:30 am by Roy Osing
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April 2, 2018

How to grow outstanding leaders to replace the old school ones

Certainly not in the short term and maybe never.

We have taught people to follow the leader their whole life, be it a school teacher in our childhood years or a professor in our university years.

We have forced our students to follow text book rules and doctrine and taught them that compliance and conformity were the only way to succeed. Learn the material, score well on the exam and you win at least in the school.

In addition, there are too many experts and text book addicts in the mix who teach the art of leadership on the basis of how it was practiced in the past. What worked in previous environments is certainly instructive but it is no prescription for success in today’s world of uncertainty, unpredictability and chaos.

Little wonder then that we have created a cadre of leaders who all follow the same leadership doctrine and practice the same leadership methods.
They don’t standout in terms of bringing a relevant and unique perspective to the role; they all fit in to the crowd of unimaginative copycats.

Changing this culture in the short term is practically impossible. Huge momentum has been built up around the traditional leadership model and resistance to change it is high — people are too comfortable with it and have much invested in it.

They’re not suddenly about to adopt a new culture of leadership.

But even though we can’t immediately replace the old with the new, we can slowly begin the change process, because if we don’t, a new more relevant model of leadership will never see the light of day.

There are some meaningful actions we can take in schools and organizations NOW to begin to ‘grow’ standout leaders; to take a member of the common leader herd and transform them into someone who will change the trend in leadership.

Reduce the amount of text book bullshit that is taught

Start teaching breakaway practices that will dispel the notion that compliance to accepted norms is necessary to be a great leader.
Current leadership curricula is way out of balance, with too much of the old practices being taught and not enough of the new principles being discussed.

My guidance to young professionals who I mentor is to focus on proven different new school leader practices such as:
▪️be contrarian.
▪️serve don’t tell.
▪️cut the crap.
▪️make outrageous demands.
▪️preach imperfection.
▪️use ‘let’s head west’ as the anchor for your business plan.is a valid strategy”.
▪️be broken.
▪️benchmark delirious people.
▪️hire for goosebumps.
▪️learn to be the consummate storyteller.
▪️hold regular bear pit sessions.
▪️do-it-yourself.
▪️be nosy.

These concepts are not found in current leadership dogma.

1. Start changing the criteria for appointing new leaders

Start selecting members from herd who provide a glimpse of being different than the commoners. As long as prospective leaders see that the rules of engagement require consistently demonstrating traditional practises, there will be little motivation to step away and try to be unique.

And talk about why they were selected; the attributes they possess that are unique and different from what were valued in the past. It’s important to make a big deal of the new people who are appointed to leadership positions. Others will see it and hopefully decide to adopt some of the behaviours of the new appointees.

2. Create a contrarian leadership development program

An intervention intended to shake people out of the norm; get them thinking about a different way of leading.

This program would rewrite the text books on the conventional art:
— serve from the bottom; don’t lead from the top;
— execute first; plan second;
— kill dumb rules;
— forget about what customers need; discover their secrets;
— take your product on a dinner date;

And celebrate the graduates; make a big deal of what they’ve achieved and the importance to the future of the organization.

3. Fire the bottom 10% of the herd every year

It’s critically important to send the message that the ‘old leadership stuff’ is no longer acceptable — and at the same time cull the herd of unwanted members.
It’s one thing to preach about the leadership values you want and hire new people in that image; it’s quite another to let your actions speak.

The message is stronger when you see colleagues exit the organization.
In addition, you have to force churn in the leadership ranks in order to make room for the new generation; natural attrition rarely is sufficient to make the changes needed in the timeframe required.

4. Create a buddy program

Connect a high potential ‘convert’ with someone who is still practicing old methods. Use your success stories to fuel more conversions from old to new. One-on-ones are a great way to use the natural imprinting process to change the fabric of the leadership team.
Get each person who successfully moved to “the bright side” to select and work with another leader to teach and transform them.

Any cultural change takes time and baby steps to achieve, but it needs to begin now.

Perhaps one day organizations will possess creative and serving leaders who inspire imagination. And maybe — just maybe — the educational system will do their part in helping to prepare individuals to assume these critical roles.

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

• Posted 4.2.18 at 04:58 am by Roy Osing
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