Archives – Author
Turn Risk into Opportunity
Close your eyes and picture a risk. Is the picture in your mind’s eye a danger or an opportunity? Few of us realize that risk is not necessarily something bad, and in fact can lead to something wonderful. Another common misconception about risk is that it is all or nothing. Either you can control all of the outcomes of a decision or you can control none of them.
For budding entrepreneurs or early-stage enterprise leaders, this misconception can be paralyzing. Yet the most effective leaders are those that embrace risk and manage it towards the most positive outcome.
In truth, the knowledge and control you have over the factors included in risk are always on a spectrum. Especially in these times of economic upheaval, the degree to which you can know and control all that is knowable and controllable depends on the tools you have available at the time of decision making. And the knowledge you have will never be complete because no one, you included:
- Knows the future except in hindsight.
- Can ever know everything because everything and anything is subject to change without notice.
- Has enough time to identify and evaluate all options and choices.
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July 31, 2009
Successful Business Growth in Tough Times
The business world can learn a lot from gardeners. Gardeners are masters at nurturing growth. They know when to plant a seed to ensure the external environment is ripe for new opportunity. They know how to care for the emerging organism so it begins to grow and withstand challenging conditions. They know when to prune, often cutting out the strongest branches to enable sunlight in to foster more growth that better fits the environment. And they know that they must step back at times, assess their progress, and identify things that inhibit the organism from reaching its full growth potential.
CEOs also need to periodically take stock of their employees to ensure that growth is possible. Times of turbulence offer companies the opportunity to look at their talent pool and identify what the company needs to achieve its future goals. If your future goal is to become the leading supplier of the latest technology widgit, for example, ask yourself if your current employees have the right technical skills to achieve new innovations in widgitry? Does your management team have the strategic vision to both identify and pursue new widget markets as well as to help expand the current ones?
If the answer is yes, then the question you now need to ask is what can I do to help my employees continue to be their best? The reason that continued investment in your people is so critical is that the talent wars continue to survive and thrive. If you don’t invest in keeping your human assets and building upon their strengths, you can be sure your competitors will invest in recruiting them.
If your answer is no–you don’t have the right employees to help you grow into the future. Now is the time for you to make adjustments to your bench.
Even the strongest performers can’t help you achieve your company’s goals if their strengths are not in the areas your future organization needs. Often, this is a very difficult decision for leaders. Most emerging organizations tend to hire for the skills needed at this very moment. And many founders develop strong loyalties to those who were there “from the beginning.” When the organization moves forward or in a different direction, leaders may fail to make the needed talent changes. This can be detrimental to your organization. And it may be a disservice to those valued employees whose skills were right at one point in time, but who may not reach their full potential because they’re no longer a fit at your company.
If your strong performers can help drive the company into the future, be sure to invest in them. If they cannot, or their expertise lies in an area your future organization doesn’t need, take a cue from the gardeners. Prune systematically and fully with a vision of the future. Help your root-bound talent replant in an environment that will nurture their growth. And provide the necessary nutrients to foster the growth in your own organization to achieve its full growth potential.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 24, 2009
Be Proactive, Find Business Oppurtunities
I’ve always wondered why anyone would want to “keep their nose to the grindstone.” Taken either literally or figuratively, it’s a dangerous thing to do.
While the literal danger is easy enough to figure out, the figurative may need some explaining.
In times of challenges, companies are often guided to go back to the basics; “keep their heads down” and focus on the here and now. While doing the one thing you do best, and doing it better than anyone else, seems to make sense, it’s also a great way to miss out on both opportunities and new competitors.
That’s because the phrase “turbulent times” doesn’t translate into “everything is standing still.” Your savvy competitors are probably very busy. They’re looking for opportunities being driven by the changes happening in the marketplace. They’re looking for ways to innovate, leap frog, if not eliminate, the industry leaders, and perhaps even change the industry all together.
One great example of not standing still is Ray Anderson, the founder and former CEO of Interface Carpets. Preparing for a motivational speech on the company’s approach to the environment, Ray realized the most he could say for what his carpet company was doing was “following the law.”
Instead of accepting that as acceptable, he started to look for different ways of doing things. What he found was his own passion to change how things were done, a passion that ultimately led to becoming a pioneer in the industry. A pioneer that created the industry of the green office, streamlined its costs, increased customer loyalty, and jump-started employee morale.
Well ahead of regulations and his competitors, Ray implemented strategies for waste reduction, recycling, and energy efficiency. And in the process his sales went up 49 percent and he created a new benchmark for his competitors.
I recommend companies continually scan their environment for opportunities. Turbulent times bring unique challenges that can become industry-changing innovations if you remember to keep your head up and constantly look and think about what is not only in front of you, but also on either side and coming up behind! After all, keeping your nose to the grindstone, simply results in a disfigured nose…
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 17, 2009
Adjust for Changing Times
One of the most difficult aspects of leadership in times of uncertainty is to not only adjust to new realities yourself, but to get your entire organization to as well.
Uncertainty comes about because of change. And the world is going through tremendous change right now. What happens next is anyone’s guess, but it is widely accepted that we will not be going back to business as we knew it. Capital markets are clamping shut. Regulations on industries and companies are becoming stricter. And companies that don’t adjust, won’t survive. That’s reality.
But it is also an opportunity. Companies and their CEOs need to be realistic about the changes they need to make today to play in the business world of tomorrow. No matter how hard you wish for things to fall into place, that wish will not come true. The only possibility for success is for you to take control of all that you can control. If access to capital was part of your short-term strategy, what changes can you make to be less dependent on external funding? What product changes will you need to make to adhere to future, stricter environmental regulations?
Being realistic now will allow you to be proactive, which in turn will make it that much easier to emerge stronger from the current turbulence and ready to face the future…successfully.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 10, 2009
Motivation Tips for CEOs
While Helen of Troy’s face launched a thousand ships, it’s your face, as CEO, that’s capable of launching a thousand anxieties. Especially in times like these, your employees are looking to you for clues. In the absence of direction from you, they will piece together theories and those theories will always tend toward the negative.
I’m often asked about the advice I give to CEOs for leading in times of uncertainty. Whether the organization is large or just emerging, the advice I give is the same:
- Communicate: Early and often
- Motivate: Be the organization’s cheerleader
- Deal: Be realistic and honest
Communicate: In the Absence of Information, Theories & Conspiracies Abound
During times of uncertainty or turbulence, the CEO’s role is to minimize that uncertainty as much as possible. This means being as open and honest as possible about what you know and don’t know. And being equally transparent about what you can say and what you can’t. Nothing fuels anxiety as much as a multitude of closed door meetings and sudden changes in the ways things are done. But veiled information as well as information shared prematurely, damages trust. Once shaken, trust is not something a CEO can regain quickly or even completely.
Motivate: Make C-E-O Stand for Chief Energizing Officer
Have you noticed that the first word your employees think after you say “cost containment” is “layoffs?” Even the mere thought of layoffs kills morale and halts productivity to a point where layoffs may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Instead, encourage and motivate your team to find ways to make your organization stronger right now. Engage them in problem-solving on how best to insure your company’s ongoing competitive strength. Ask for good ideas to identify unnecessary costs and new ways to delight customers. Being an active part of the solution is a double win for you—you’ll strengthen the organization and keep employees thinking in a positive direction.
Don’t forget about your own motivation and demeanor as well. Our bodies are remarkable conduits of stress. If tension, anxiety, or angst emanate from you, it will be absorbed by your employees.
Elaine Eisenman, Guest Blogger
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July 3, 2009
In Work as in Life, I Live by Four Simple Principles.
These principles keep me on course and facilitate every business and social interaction I have. This last principle in the series is explained below.
Principle 4: Die By Your Own Sword
Fight for your ideas. If you are committed to your idea after diligent work and research, pursue it. Your banker/business associate/supervisor may have spent an hour listening to your presentation. And you have spent three months working on it. If you’re right and you give in or give up, you’ll regret it forever. Whether you do it their way or yours, or give up the idea, you are held responsible anyway – so what have you got to lose? You’ll have more conviction and understanding following through on what you have spent months developing than on the quick detour that your banker/business associate/supervisor just threw in.
Explain your position, incorporate the aspects of other people’s ideas which are sound and proceed from there. If the project was to fail, wouldn’t you rather get in trouble for something you did than for something someone else suggested you do?
To live by these guidelines requires integrity, courage and collaboration. It’s how I run my business and it’s how I run my life. It works.
If you missed my preview posts, get caught up here:
Principle 1: Tell the Truth
Principle 2: Make Partners
Principle 3: Make Big Mistakes
June 29, 2009
In Work as in Life, I Live by Four Simple Principles.
These principles keep me on course and facilitate every business and social interaction I have. This week’s principle is below.
Principle 3: Make Big Mistakes
Small mistakes are the thoughtless things we all do when we’re not paying attention. They are a waste of time and resources, and are neither instructive nor constructive.
On the other hand, big, planned, highly organized mistakes are valuable. They usually turn out to be productive in the end. Big mistakes are sometimes the result when you take calculated risks. Making big mistakes is the occasional byproduct of making big strides.
Big mistakes can only occur when you’ve planned and thought things through. You would have prepared contingencies in case your current strategy doesn’t work. If your carefully laid plan turns out to be a mistake, it may cost you. But it will also give you exactly the information you need to modify your strategy or change your course. You learn, you adjust, and you come back with a stronger, more impactful approach that works. In the long run, big mistakes are the best feedback we ever get. The most successful people in life are those who make the best use of their mistakes.
If you missed my preview posts, get caught up here:
Principle 1: Tell the Truth
Principle 2: Make Partners
Marilyn Tam, Guest Blogger
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June 26, 2009
In Work as in Life, I Live by Four Simple Principles.
These principles keep me on course and facilitate every business and social interaction I have. This week’s principle is below.
Principle 2: Make Partners
If you don’t share, no one can help you. It’s that simple. If you don’t enlist your colleagues, business associates, family and friends in your goals, they can’t support you in your mission.
In any interaction, there are always two sides: a buyer and a seller. All parties are there because at some level they want the transaction to occur. Find the common ground and engage the others in seeing the mutual benefit. Once all parties have ownership of the outcome, they will want a positive result. From that common ground, you can all work toward the same outcome – if you make them your partners.
If you missed my preview posts, get caught up here, Principle 1: Tell the Truth.
Marilyn Tam, Guest Blogger
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June 19, 2009
In Work as in Life, I Live by Four Simple Principles.
These principles keep me on course and facilitate every business and social interaction I have. They free me to be creative and productive. They enable me to see and take advantage of opportunities. They are the first thing I share with my management team in every company I manage and form the basis of our working relationship. When the team follows these practical principles, the flow of communication is smooth; productivity and morale are high.
These four simple principles are the most powerful, readily adoptable tool I’ve used in my career and in my life. I want to share them with you over the course of the next month. Check back every Friday to learn more about each guiding principle.
Principle 1: Tell the Truth All the Time
It’s less confusing. You don’t have to remember what you said and to whom. And you won’t trip over conflicting remarks. This one is very basic and also very hard to do at times. Oftentimes, we say what we think others want to hear to keep them happy. When the truth comes out later, everyone is unhappy. More importantly, there is less time to fix whatever you were afraid to say in the first place.
Telling the truth all the time keeps your mind clear of the clutter and reduces the stress of having to remember the various versions of the “truth.” Whatever problem you’re trying to avoid will be resolved much sooner if you tell the truth and deal with it immediately. Letting the skeletons multiply in the closet only makes things worse.
The reach of technology today means that sooner or later, whether it is deleted computer files or missed financial payments, the truth will come out. Deal with the issue when it appears and you’ll not only sleep better, but you’ll learn more quickly and ensure that you keep moving forward.
Marilyn Tam, Guest Blogger
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June 12, 2009
To achieve wellness, life balance and business success, you have to know what you really want. In our society, we are told from a very young age what we are supposed to want–our own inner voice is muted by the relentless messages from people and the media that tell us what to desire. To be happy, healthy and successful you need to be connected with your own life mission.
Take the time to quiet the outside voices. Journal, meditate, spend time in nature and listen for that internal wisdom and longing that has been there all along. Reflect on what makes you truly happy and content, what quiets down the nattering “should, ought tos, and musts” that bombard you from every direction. Determine your life purpose; explore what your life means to you.
Use your mission to guide you to the work and life balance, which will help you attain what you most value. When you are working toward your life purpose you are motivated, energized and able to deal with the inevitable obstacles we all encounter in life. You will be persuasive and inspirational since you will be speaking and operating from your heart. Be alert to the feedback you are getting and adjust if needed. And most importantly I’ve learned – What’s inside of each of us is powerful enough to help us achieve anything we want.
Marilyn Tam, Guest Blogger
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June 5, 2009
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