Tag Archives: Entrepreneurship

Soccer, Fighter Planes, and Strategy

In most other countries around the world, soccer (“futbol”) is the national past time and a great source of the good kind of pride. It inspires its observers to sing national anthems, set differences aside, and salute efforts where one or many “put it on the line.” During the course of the weekend, I have been observing UEFA 2012, the European tournament held on the same four year schedule as the Olympic games.

One of the interesting things that occurs in the format of the tournament is the pairing of teams against one another wherein one appears–on paper–to have far superior credentials to another. In many cases, a starting lineup for one side can be stacked with players who have 100+ games (matches) on the international stage. With such vast experience, the veteran side enjoys a presumed advantage over the opposition. Often, the more veteran team enjoys an additional upper hand due to the superior ball-handling, striking, and passing skills of its players.

The scenario is analogous to young or smaller businesses trying to compete against prohibitively endorsed large, mature businesses. Yet, whether in futbol or in business settings, we see the underdog come out on top often enough that we realize competition is not decided through analysis and predictions. What, then, are some of the reasons that a presumably out-manned competitor emerges victorious?

If I may bring in yet another comparison without losing the train of thought, I’d like to reference the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, revived through the recent Red Tails movie produced by George Lucas. In the movie, the African-American pilots are disdained by both their own armed forces as well as the haughty Luftwaffe (German Air Force). The heroes are initially perceived as being less intelligent, having slower reflexes, and lacking the experience to get the job done of protecting U.S. bomber squadrons during the second World War strategic air campaigns to reach Berlin and help the Allied forces achieve victory. What the featured pilots bring to the air battles (at least in the movie version) are the following distinctives:

  1. They were not fighting for individual glory,
  2. They were not afraid to take reasonable risks,
  3. They were (for the most part) disciplined in their consistent approach.

In business, it is very important to observe how applying these distinct characteristics would benefit a company’s performance–whether going against peers or seemingly over-matched foes. In order to build the “esprit de corps” requisite to compete will require emotional intelligence. More self-awareness and significant amounts of empathy and self-regulation are traits that are uncommon in the masses, but very evident in those who are not selfish.

Risk taking and management of the risk-rewards trade-off is a nuance rather than the exact science some would have us to believe. As depicted both in the movie and in a game between Spain and Italy this weekend, there is a “right time” to go for the gusto. Italy was successful playing quick attacks over the top of the Spanish defense and the Red Tails had success in attacking peripheral targets after primary targets were taken out. Business strategies that include both a primary objective and additional (discretionary) targets are wise.

Finally, the commitment to the plan–a resolute determination to dismiss the criticism of others and stay focused–is vital. Don’t mistake this focus, however, for sticking to a bad idea too long. Strategies must be proven to be successful before being implemented far and wide and held up as the “best practice.” Once featured, the strategy should be re-evaluated based on results and feedback. While being pursued, however, there can be no dissension among the ranks.

Culture: Key to Performance

Recently, I had the opportunity to address a group of HR leaders on how to improve decision-making within their organizations. (Thank you RWHRMA, Masters Series participants!) The premise of our time together was that better decision-making translates into superior performance and that there are definite ways to improve the quality of decisions. Most of our workshop was used to define the components and use of emotional intelligence (EQ). In order for employees–and managers/executives–to consistently exhibit high EQ, valuing and engaging others is a key.

A focus on others and their needs is a result of purposeful culture development. Paul Spiegelman, founder and CEO of The Beryl Companies, writing for Inc. on June 6, described Beryl’s “10 Cs of Culture:” 

1. Core Values

..when we implemented our values strategy at Beryl about 10 years ago, I began to see how they guided everyday decision-making and how employees referenced them in meetings.  I came to realize they are essential guideposts when developed, communicated, and executed in a consistent manner…We start every big meeting with a conversation about values and tell stories about how our coworkers live by those values on a daily basis.  

2. Camaraderie 

It’s about getting to know colleagues not just as colleagues, but what they’re like outside the office.  To do that, Beryl hosts dress-up days, parties, games, and events all the time..We include not only employees, but also their families.  We publish a bi-monthly full-color magazine called Beryl Life that is sent to the homes of co-workers.  

3. Celebrations 

You can’t underestimate the importance of recognizing your team..we developed a program we call PRIDE (Peers Recognizing Individual Deeds of Excellence).  This allows coworkers to recognize others for living up to Beryl’s core values.  

4. Community

Part of the fabric of a successful company culture is connecting with and giving back to the local community.  

5. Communication

I hold quarterly Town Hall meetings, which includes six meetings over two days..I also have informal “chat and chews” where I bring in lunch for 12 to 15 people and just ask one question–How’s it going?–to get the conversation started.  

6. Caring

Show your employees you genuinely care about them in the totality of their lives..Any manager can explain a situation on an internal website that identifies a coworker, and lists what’s going on (birth, death, injury, wedding, among other things).  That submission generates an email to me that is my trigger to send a personal notecard, make a phone call, or visit someone in a hospital.  

7. Commitment to Learning

Show your employees you’re committed to their professional growth. This can be done in small, incremental steps. 

8. Consistency

Culture is based on traditions..One-time efforts to improve the culture will feel disingenuous.  

9. Connect

Don’t isolate yourself at the top.  Connect with people at all levels of your company.  Get out of your comfort zone.  

10. Chronicles

Does everyone in your organization know how the company started?  Do they know the personal stories of the founders and what led them to build a sustainable business?  People want to know they are part of something special and unique.  

Do you get the feel that, at Beryl, you could fit in and feel engaged in the key conversation(s) that contribute to its success? What about your company? Do you have a culture that is engaging? If not, what can you do about it? What’s holding you back? Talk with your peers and come up with a plan, then implement it!

Only Superheroes Make Tough Sales

Whether you are in the process of launching a business or have been at it a while, one of the things that is an important factor in your success is the ability to covert sales leads. The more prestigious the prospect, the more pressure we feel to say just the right thing and win the other party over. But…sometimes the meeting doesn’t go as planned and you feel the opportunity slipping away. 

Greg Digneo, the author of the blog Sales Leads in Thirty Days, recommends that, in order to become better at converting these opportunities consistently, you become a superhero. Surely you have seen the resurgence in movies about superheros of late. Why is that? Because we all want to believe that things will turn out rosy if we just had some hidden power that gave us an advantage. Just like Batman, or any other, superhero, you want to be able to save the prospect who is in distress from this situation and deliver them to the safety you can uniquely provide. How? Digneo recommends in an article that you find a superpower:

What’s Your Super Power?

I used to run a marketing agency where we helped B2B companies generate online sales leads in thirty days. Promising to get clients sales leads in thirty days is such a bold claim that it subjected me to a large helping of cynicism. That’s when I morphed from a mild-mannered marketing consultant into a superhero.

Here’s how it went down:

The prospect would be disengaged and skeptical. Then I would say: “I know you think what I’m proposing is impossible, but if I can get you sales leads by the end of this week, would you consider hiring us?” The prospect never believed we’d come through, so they usually answered “yes.” At the end of the week, when we had gotten the prospect sales leads, they were so impressed that hiring us became a no-brainer.

And you can do the exact same thing in your business!

The process to becoming a superhero, according to Digneo, requires the following 4 steps:

  1. Find the Ideal Prospect
  2. Identify the Problem
  3. Unleash Your Superpower
  4. Make the Sale

To find your ideal prospect, he recommends that you ask yourself three questions:

  1. Do you know who you want to work with?
  2. Do they need your services?
  3. Can they afford to pay you?

Only if you can answer “yes” to these three questions can you move on to the next step.

In order to identify the problem, one most overcome the objection to spend money with you. However, every prospect has a problem you can help them solve. Using consultative listening skills and asking poignant questions, you can develop a good understanding of the nature of the problem, what has been tried to resolve it, and how much a solution may be worth. 

Your “phone booth” trick is your ability to solve what confounds the prospective customer. Think up several ways you can demonstrate impact/success for your prospect. Digneo offers two examples–If you have a book keeping service, you know your prospect wants help with cash flow management. Or, your heroic deed may be that you show the prospect how they can source parts cheaper, making an immediate impact on their bottom line. Find a way to be wonderful!

Making sales becomes much easier once we have established credibility and respect. Promising, then delivering on what it takes to solve problems sets the table for sales.

Dispense With Heroics; Be Practical

Last night we tackled three themes from Contentrix founder Alice Seba’s top 40 lessons learned. As a reminder, the themes were: get others involved, focus, and execute. Tonight, in looking over numbers 21-40, we take a look at three more themes: batch processing, succession planning, and prioritization.

#21. It’s okay that a lot of people don’t understand what I do

#22. Technology is my friend, but I don’t mess around with it more than I have to or am capable of

#23. Customer service is a critical part of your business, but it’s a productivity inhibitor

#24. Other people’s blogs can be useful

#25. Nothing on the Internet is private

#26. If you don’t own the site you’re publishing too, you really don’t own that content

#27. Working in batches is great for productivity

#28. I used to think religion and business don’t mix

#29. There is no one quite like you, but you are dispensable…or at least you should be

#30. Tools and Software don’t grow your business, you do

#31. You don’t have to explore everything to diversify

#32. Listen to your audience…they can teach you a ton

#33. There is no shame in selling

#34. If you’re not confident, they’ll know

#35. Knowing the words to use is also important

#36. It’s okay to take a break when you just aren’t into it

#37. To do lists are always meant to be shortened

#38. Use your freedom to do good things

#39. Appreciate and be thankful for what you have

#40. Take care of yourself

People who are gifted at time management have been touting the virtue of “chunking your time” for years. The phrase means to set aside times when one type of activity is pursued exclusive to all others, thereby avoiding distractions and staying on course. Grouping tasks together into batches of similar issues can help build momentum.

Seba urges the entrepreneur to think of him/herself as dispensable.  “Start with the end in mind.” If we approach the process of building a business as trying to make it less and less dependent on the founder, then we are a.) empowering others to add their collective strengths to the development of the enterprise and b.) purposefully preparing for the day when others are making more of the major decisions. To arrive at the place where the business is capable of being handed over requires working on the business rather than in it.

It is so easy as a company founder to have an endless list of things that all seem important and urgent. We drive ourselves to work, work, work in headlong pursuit of milestones that indicate the business is on track and successful. With each passing day, the perfectionist inside drives towards an exhaustive, never-ending cataloging of “things to do.” here’s a secret: reduce the list to only a few things, execute at least the top two, and feel accomplishment rather than lack of fulfillment. You will be glad you did!

The combination of planning your own exit, prioritizing your work, and pursuing it in batches  should be beneficial for you. It has been for many others.

 

Focus, With Help, on Execution, Business Owner!

Turning 40–or any number after 20 and ending in “0”–causes the birthday person to pause and ponder lessons learned up to that point in life. The founder of Contentrix, Alice Seba, shared her list of personal observations (below). Several of them caught my attention for tonight’s blog post.

When Seba makes the point (#2) that entrepreneurs should not try to go it alone, I should a hearty “amen!” The attempt to be a master of everything rather than using outsiders, additional insiders, or advisors/mentors who are a little of both is a huge mistake. Similarly, the isolation exemplified by avoiding friendly relationships with competitors usually is a bad move. Instead, follow the advice to get to know them (#7 & #8) and enjoy the benefits of vicarious growth.

#1.  Working a lot doesn’t necessarily mean working hard…nor does it imply working smart

#2. There is no point in doing things solo

#3. Focus on your talents and your passions, but be realistic

#4. Don’t compare yourself to others

#5. Define success in your own way

#6. You can’t please everyone, nor should you try

#7. Embrace your would be competitors

#8. Making friends in your niche is one of the biggest accelerator to your success

#9. Don’t be a social butterfly

#10. Content has always been what sets long term successful businesses apart from others

#11. Content is one of the simplest, least expensive and most effective ways to generate leads and sales for your business

#12. If you’re not actively building and nurturing your mailing list, you’re stunting your business growth big time

#13. Existing customers are the key to getting more sales

#14. Staying the course will help you get to success much faster

#15. Posting your blog is rarely the most critical activity for a business

#16. SEO was easy in 2002 – It’s like chasing rainbows in 2012

#17. If your children say they need you while you’re on the computer, go to them

#18. If you are just starting out and reek of desperation, scammers will sniff you out a mile away

#19. There comes a point when you have to stop educating yourself and you just have to start doing

#20. I no longer believe in continuously investing in my education to improve my business

#21. It’s okay that a lot of people don’t understand what I do

#22. Technology is my friend, but I don’t mess around with it more than I have to or am capable of

#23. Customer service is a critical part of your business, but it’s a productivity inhibitor

#24. Other people’s blogs can be useful

#25. Nothing on the Internet is private

#26. If you don’t own the site you’re publishing too, you really don’t own that content

#27. Working in batches is great for productivity

#28. I used to think religion and business don’t mix

#29. There is no one quite like you, but you are dispensable…or at least you should be

#30. Tools and Software don’t grow your business, you do

#31. You don’t have to explore everything to diversify

#32. Listen to your audience…they can teach you a ton

#33. There is no shame in selling

#34. If you’re not confident, they’ll know

#35. Knowing the words to use is also important

#36. It’s okay to take a break when you just aren’t into it

#37. To do lists are always meant to be shortened

#38. Use your freedom to do good things

#39. Appreciate and be thankful for what you have

#40. Take care of yourself

The second key theme from the list is the power of focus. Whether choosing to focus on a few strategic relationships (#9), or valuing customers individually (#13), you will find that constantly seeking newness rather than depth will be a distraction that makes success harder to come by. 

Three’s the charm for tonight. In addition to the other two themes, I find it important to mention that there comes a time to just work your business. I am a firm believer in seeking wise counsel and insight but not, as indicated in #20, to the exclusion of executing priorities today.

We’ll attempt to highlight items from the second part of the list tomorrow night!