Bored, lazy leaders

For some leaders, no one is challenging them, and they aren’t self-motivated to get out of their comfort zone and take their company or department to a higher/better place.

These leaders are doing a disservice to their team.  If they are bored and content, imagine what the team members feel.

A challenge can be unsettling, but it often brings out the best in people and creates some excitement.

Imagine a movie with no challenge – nobody would watch it.  Boooring!

Who challenges YOU?

You're in the relationship business

Other people have everything you want.

Would you run your business or department any differently if you declared you were in the relationship business?

Relationships really matter

In business, it’s not just about what you do and what results you get.

It’s about HOW you do it and cultivating positive relationships as you do it.

If plenty of people are talking bad about you, or if you burn relationships with people and find you always have to get new employees, clients, and suppliers, you are most definitely doing it wrong.

You have to be a good human who wants to do right by people first.  Character counts.  Caring counts.

Then you have to make a business model that works for everyone else (first) AND you.  

Then you have to figure out how to be great at marketing and selling to a greater number of people so that when you are doing good, you are doing it for many.

Even if you have money in your pocket, if you don’t have good relationships, it’s not worth it.

Do right by people and be nice.

Kinking your own success hose

Leaders (people, of which you are one) can often have blind spots, weaknesses, and biases.

A company needs to have all key functions firing well to perform to its potential.  

Can you see the problem?

How are you kinking your own hose?

You may have weaknesses, but remember, it’s WHO not HOW.

Don’t ask “How am I going to solve this?” 

Ask instead “Who is great at this who can solve this for us?”

Solving problems for a profit

Running a business is solving problems for a profit.

What bothers, stumps, stops, irritates, and troubles your customers that is easy for your team to fix?

How do you communicate that to prospective customers?

Put your ladder on the right wall

Many journeys/careers/fields/endeavors take many years and life force to master.

If you got to the top in what you are doing now, would it be worth it?

Many people put their ladders against a wall a long time ago without a lot of thought. 

Before climbing your ladder faster, consider if it’s against the right wall.

Put your ladder on the right wall.

The few that produce the most

Not all activities move the dial equally.  

Many people are busy working on everything.

The people who achieve the most are working on the few things that produce most of the results.

What few moves do you need to prioritize?

Efficiency vs Effectiveness

Don’t confuse efficiency with effectiveness.

Efficiency is great, but you could be doing something efficiently that doesn’t produce anything of value, or anything really important.

Effectiveness is about producing a result that matters.  The more it matters, the more effective you are.

Peter Drucker – “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

Larry Janesky – (for leaders) “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done BY YOU at all.”

That you are doing something well matters less than what you are doing.

What are you doing today?

"Make me feel important"

“Be so busy giving recognition that you don’t need it.” – Jim Rohn

How much recognition do you give on a REGULAR day?

Get on it.  

Make it a habit.

Pretend that all your people have a sign around their neck that says “Make me feel important”.

Marketing – Give reasons

“Because” is a magic word in marketing messages to get people to pay attention.

“Because” explains why.

“Because” gives a reason.

Reasons = Motivation.

The reason you give them doesn’t matter as much as giving them one.

Based on this idea I clarified an ad for Dr. Energy Saver, our insulation business –

“You need to have air sealing and insulation done in your home now BECAUSE you are paying for it even if you don’t get it.” 

What comes after “BECAUSE” for your message?