Ordinary Brilliance

Let’s say you’re the CFO of a real estate development company in Houston.

Let’s say you and your team has been working their tails off for many months.

Let’s say it’s an absolutely gorgeous spring day, in the low 70’s, no humidity.

Well, if you’re like this client of mine (who gave me permission to share this story), you’ll get a “wild hair” and close up shop for the afternoon and take everyone to the zoo!

My client, let’s call her “Jane,” and 14 of her staff went on a spur of the moment “field trip” to the zoo. They had an absolute ball! After all, it’s not every work day you get to pet four inch cockroaches and ride a carousel with your colleagues.

Jane also gave some funds to a few of her staffers to buy animal toy gifts from the gift shop. The next day everyone got one of these as a memento for their desk to help them remember the fun they had.

This little outing gave her staff a huge morale boost. They had a great time and got to connect with each other on a personal level. Jane used to do more of this when her staff was smaller, but like many of us, over the years, some of those good habits had slipped.

The next morning, her staff came to her office and gave her flowers and a thank you card. One of them commented that “you throw the best staff meetings!”

If you have a staff, when was the last time you celebrated with them, maybe even for “no good reason”? If you work solo, you still need to get out and have some fun, refresh yourself with something out of the ordinary.

In The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner, one of the best selling leadership books of all time (and my leadership bible), one of the five leadership practices is called “encourage the heart” and one of the two corollary commitments of that practice is to “celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.”

This is exactly what Jane was doing last week when she took her team to the zoo.

“Community may not be the stuff of ordinary organizations, but it is the stuff of great ones, ones with strong cultures,” said Kouzes and Posner.

What can you do this week to celebrate your company culture and your team?

See you at the zoo!

One of my marketing mentors, David Frey, shared some great advice recently. As we all know, entrepreneurs are highly creative – we seem to have an idea a minute. Consequently entrepreneurs tend to have a big problem staying focused. David shared an acronym that I had not seen before that goes like this:

FOCUS:

F = Follow
O = One
C = Course
U = Until
S = Successful

Follow one course until successful.

It’s true that many of your ideas could be profitable and make a great impact on the world. Yet, without focus, not even one idea will become successful.

However, if you focus on one thing long enough, you will figure it out. Keep trying and testing until you find the key that works for you!

David shared a few other ideas on how to stay on track:

1. Create a vision of what business will look like when it’s successful. Put samples or mock ups of your products on walls. Make a vision board of what you’re working to achieve.

2. Put on your opportunity blinders. Make a commitment to yourself not to jump on any more “bright shiny objects” that come along. There are many more great opportunities out there than you can ever possibly take advantage of. Remember the power of F.O.C.U.S. if you really want to succeed.

3. Create a two year plan with milestones and convert into a timeline that visually shows the milestones. Put it on your wall. In my experience, most people resist planning. Planning is not an administrative task. It is one of the highest level activities you will ever engage in.

Your plan will undoubtedly change. Yet doing the thinking to create one as best you can, establishing milestones and benchmarks and making all of this visible in a visual format, will make a huge difference in the odds of your being successful.

4. Hire a business coach. [David is not himself a business coach.] This will return 10x and help you stay on course. Just today I received this email from a client (unsolicited)

“I thought that you offered a lot of value today, on several different levels. It is helpful for me just (!) to have the structure of the calls, and the list of what I’m working on, you have GOOD ideas (and a quick mind, I LOVE THAT), and are good on details, like the verbiage on the postcard, and those things are all valuable. I appreciate you!!”

5. Tell everyone you know what business you’re in and what your goals are. There’s nothing like the pressure of other people’s expectations to help you stay true to them!

Remember as a kid how you could burn a leaf by focusing the sunlight through a magnifying glass? Keep that kind of focus and you WILL be successful.

What is it about beating the odds that makes such a compelling story? I think it’s because almost without exception, all of us have experienced major challenges in our lives. We’ve questioned how we could possibly overcome the odds we faced. We’ve had family members, friends and colleagues tell us we would not succeed. We’ve wondered how to go on. During these times, we need to remember some stories of those who did just that.

I learned recently that 11 years ago one of my fellow Rotarians – I’ll call him Anthony - was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer. Apparently it was close to Stage 4. Two different doctors told him to go home and prepare to die. He consulted with another one who saw it differently. Anthony decided to fight. He radically changed his diet and other lifestyle factors and embarked on numerous traditional and alterative therapies. The survival rate for that stage lung cancer is very small, yet he’s alive today, an elderly gentleman with a wonderful twinkle in his eye. He beat the odds.

If you follow football, you know that the NY Giants beat the New England Patriots in this year’s Superbowl. It was an incredible game down to the final seconds. The Patriots were favored to win by two touchdowns. With little over 2 minutes left in the game, the Giants were behind by 4 points. They pulled it out and scored, beating a team which was 17 – 0 coming into the Superbowl. They beat the odds.

So right now, what are you facing where you need to beat the odds? How will you endure and overcome that particular obstacle and do more than survive, but thrive?

When you face your next daunting challenge, remember the NY Giants, remember Anthony, and most importantly, remember how you have beat the odds in the past. Take heart within yourself. Surround yourself with people who believe in you. Gather your courage and take one more step forward.

Are you ready for a year of abundance?, If so, you want to be sure you don’t run into a “capacity” problem. A capacity problem is one that involves either external capacity – for example, when you can’t keep up with orders – or internal capacity, in which you have some inner attitude, belief or behavioral pattern that unknowingly prevents your success.

Here’s a quick story about the external capacity side of the equation. Recently, a local massage therapy business in my city offered a special: four massages for $100. This was 50% off or $25 per massage – a great deal. I had not yet tried out this salon, but still I snapped up a couple certificates (their limit), figuring with a number of therapists to choose from, I would find one who I liked.

Their campaign was a huge success. So much so that I think it blew their circuits and overloaded them with all the massages people were now scheduling. On top of that, two of the four therapists left for various reasons. All of a sudden, they had a huge waiting list to get a massage. As I write this now, I’ve been waiting for a month and my neck and shoulders are not happy campers!

Although I give everyone the benefit of a doubt, my opinion of that business is wavering. Meanwhile, I’ve scheduled a massage somewhere else. It’s possible the owner’s successful marketing campaign will backfire on them, especially if I enjoy this other place more. Or if their customers get tired of waiting and demand a refund.

On the internal capacity side of the equation, a new client of mine needed more business. Then she got five new clients in a matter of weeks. This surge in business highlighted her lack of functional organizational systems as well as her inner beliefs about whether she deserved success. I’m confident that as we work through these challenges she’ll be ready to handle the number of clients she ultimately wants.

It’s vitally important to ask yourself: Is my capacity set up for the success I want?

Do whatever it takes to identify, shift, eliminate and transform the external capacity issues you have. These could be inadequate production or inventory space, blocks to hiring new staff quickly when you need it, or a lack of capital for new computers or other equipment. And remember, you also have to change the internal attitudes and behaviors that are stopping you from your abundance.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get my massage now!

Why has Dilbert been one of our country’s most popular cartoons? Maybe one reason is how well it shows us the “challenge” of communication in big companies. Big corporations have some advantages over smaller businesses (such as financial resources and brand awareness), but small businesses have a number of key advantages, one of which is simpler communication.

The bottom line is that the more people you have to communicate with, the number of possible interactions increases geometrically. Consider this amazing information:

• 3 people = 3 possible different communications

• 25 people = 300 possible different communications = 8x more people = 100x increase in communications complexity

• 50 people = 1,225 possible different communications = 17x more people = 408x increase in communications complexity!

• 100 people = 4950 possible different communications = 33x more people = 1,650x increase in communications complexity!!

• 1,000 people = 499,500 possible different communications = 333x more people = 166,500x increase in communications complexity!!!

(Source: Six Discipline of Excellence by Gary Harpst)

In other words, when there are three people in an organization, there are three possible communication combinations (persons A + B, A + C, B + C).

In a 25 person organization there is an 8-fold increase in the number of people but a 100–fold increase in the communications combinations.

In a 100 person organization is 33 times the size of a 3-person organization but 1650 times more complex from a communications perspective.

Bigger businesses try to handle this complexity by creating layers, divisions and departments. Yet we know from how we sometimes laugh at Dilbert how ineffective most of these are.

In smaller business or organizations, problems and opportunities can be communicated much more quickly and decisions can be made. You’re more flexible and can adapt to market changes much more quickly. Good communication is at the heart of successful business.

To maximize your small business/organization communication advantage, make sure to follow these simple guidelines:

• Stick to observable facts and stay away from evaluation or diagnosis. Example: Say “You didn’t bring me the report by last Friday.” Instead of “You blew off the deadline for the report and totally screwed up!”

• Stay away from extreme language and don’t use words like “always,” “never,” “usually,” or “most of the time.”

• Avoid judgmental words like manipulated, ignored, put down, blown off, misled, left hanging, etc.

• Focus on solutions by stating clearly and simply what you want the person to do.

Good communication takes practice, so go easy on yourself and don’t expect perfection right out of the gates.

Did you know that you have a team that supports your life? This is true whether you are a business owner, a solo entrepreneur or an employee. And the quality of your team has a huge amount to do with the results you are getting in your life.

Most people have default teams. They haven’t consciously picked their team members and so what they have is often a pretty mixed lot. Some members may be highly consistent, positive, and fun, while others may be unreliable, irritating or worse.
Your team members can include your spouse or partner, employees, accountant, financial advisor/stock broker, child care provider, computer technician, business coach, plumber, handy person, house cleaner, car mechanic, travel agent, landscaper and more.

For example, my financial advisor is super. When I first started working with her, unlike some of the big name firms, she didn’t require that I have a huge amount of money to open an account. She thinks big and creates big results for her clients.

Another team member who is invaluable to me is my accountant. When I had a question the other day, I called her office and found out she was home with a sick child. Five minutes later, she called me from her home. (Her son was resting.) How’s that for outstanding customer service? No charge for the conversation, either.

Then there’s my computer technician who learned how to build computers in the Navy and is stumped by nothing. He charges fairly and is highly competent. In my business, along with my telephone, my computer is my number one business tool, so you can see how important he is to my professional success!

All my team members are fantastic people, caring, highly competent and service oriented, just as I am with my clients. I have chosen them carefully. Don’t put up with anything less for your team.

Remember that the only thing constant in life is change, so accept that over time there will be some changes to your team and be prepared. Have backup suppliers or service providers. If you have employees, don’t be surprised when someone moves on, and keep a file of possible candidates, people you have noticed in your community who might be a great fit for your team.

Take a minute to look at your team. How high do you rate them? If you don’t rate your team at least an 8 out of 10 (10 being amazing), then you need to take a hard look at it.

We have a huge tendency to become like those we surround ourselves with. We tend to have the same income levels, the same ambitions, the same degree of risk taking and growth orientation. So be sure to create a designer team, one that supports your success and that you can count on. The results will amaze you.

Best wishes,
Anne

P.S. If you are ready for some help with working well with your team (or yourself!), get a coach. An outside perspective and the knowledge of an expert coach can often work miracles! Put your time and effort where they will yield the best results. To get started, just contact me. We’ll talk and we’ll get to work.

My family, friends and colleagues know me as a non-violent person, generally speaking. However when it comes to time termites, I morph into a deadly exterminator.

So, what is a time termite? Time termites are activities you do or actions of others that “eat up” your time and destroy the beautiful design of your life. Just like real termites can take down a whole house if left unchecked, time termites may seem small, but they can destroy your life. You must design your life to strongly protect against the situations and people that will run right over you and eat up your life - if you let them.

The reason I get so “violent” is that, in my experience coaching hundreds of business owners and professionals - time termites eat up as much as 25 – 50% of your time. Only a very energetic, intelligent and vigilant approach toward protecting your time will work.

Some of the top time termites, based on my unscientific experience with hundreds of clients, include: wasting time on trivial items, waiting to see the boss or manager, meetings without good agenda and/or facilitation, too many reports to write, problems in locating documents or other needed items, phone & email, complainers and whiners, inability to say “no” - saying “yes” to too many people, and interruptions.

Let’s look at just one of those. I have a client who has people contact him at various times about in-person meetings. He is learning to consider these carefully. While it is definitely important to have “face time” with colleagues to keep his relationships fresh, a lot of the time he can accomplish the task at hand much more expeditiously over the phone.

My client has 40 or so hours each week to run his business, so a 1-1/2 or 2 hour meeting (when you include travel) equals about 5% of that time. If he went to two such meetings per week, that’s 10% of his time! Since he can handle most of them on the phone in a quarter to one-third of that time, you can see this is one time termite he’s squashing in a hurry.

Whether a meeting is in person or on the phone, if you keep it focused and on task, you can take the time you save and use it for quality time with the professional or personal relationships that make the most sense.

There are many other strategies and tactics to exterminating time termites. To stick to my one-minute guideline for Ordinary Brilliance, I can’t go into them all right now. But you are creative and resourceful and have a lot of ways to deal with your time termites. I invite you to pick just one time termite and set your intention to exterminate it in the next 30 days.

Let me know how you do with it and then I’ll be happy to have you as a proud member of the elite Time Termite Exterminators Club.

Anne Alexander
Authentic Alternatives

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I’ve been putting off writing about Grace for over a week. Grace is our older dog. Was,that is. She’d been slowly going downhill for a few years, but when she stopped eating and drinking and could barely stand up, we brought the vet in and had to decide what to do.

Since we were unable to understand what Grace wanted, we had to make a decision as best we could. Her quality of life sucked, and the vet said she was definitely suffering.

So instead of putting her through fluid injections and tests and X-rays and God knows what treatment for what the vet said would be either organ failure or cancer, we euthanized her.

I hate that word. Let’s say it like it is: we killed our own dog. A mercy killing. I know many of you have been through this. I have before, but it’s so hard every time.

We took her ashes to her favorite river and let her go. As is often the case with people in our lives (generally speaking), Grace was a mix of sweetness and -well - the opposite.

She barked a ton. She was a cattle dog and was very territorial. She chased our other dog upstairs, because she was intruding on Grace’s territory. She nipped at us. She rubbed her butt on the carpet.

And we loved her.

As quoted in the bestbook on leadership I know, The Leadership Challenge, Former US Army Major General John H. Stanford said “The secret to success is to stay in love.” We’ll always love Grace. Go spread some of your love today.

Thanks.

In the Serious Business of Life, we sometimes lose track of our sense of humor. And yet laughter and humor are “serious” tools for success in both business and the rest of your life. Although various scientific research has proven this is true, we also know it intuitively: humor heals. Without laughter, fun and joy, life becomes grim and we rapidly lose our way.

This truth was brought home to me recently when a friend who lives in Minneapolis told me about the ArtCar parade she attended in late July. This parade has been an annual event for 11 years, featuring the whackiest motorized vehicles you have ever seen. One of the best was the Couchmobile. My friend described the scene: cruising down a main drag in the city, a young man sat serenely in a traditional couch that swung around in gentle circles as it glided down the street. I was already laughing and then I viewed a 10 second video clip of it at www.couchmobile.com and it got even funnier.

I am grateful that creative, fun-loving people are out there doing things just for the joy of it. They make us laugh and get the all-important perspective that life is not meant to be serious all the time and that we’ll actually achieve more of what we want by having more fun.

Yes, life does have its serious moments. Many of them, in fact. Our businesses are demanding, our careers often insecure, and we have issues with various people in our lives. We may even have health challenges or have parents or friends who do. It is easy to become overwhelmed by these facts and lose sight of the balance we need for optimum wholeness.

Whatever it is that you find funny or genuinely amusing, make sure to seek it out and indulge in it on a regular basis. With all the heavy, intense and bad news, whether in “the world” or our own lives, humor is not optional. It is essential.

So what makes you laugh? I encourage you to make a quick note right now on your calendar, daily planner or PDA of one of the things you find the funniest and most uplifting. Make it a recurring appointment: call that hilarious friend, watch that movie that puts you in stitches, read a funny book, sign up for clown classes, visit that web site or blog that always makes you laugh out loud. Or hang out with small children – they laugh a lot and it’s contagious!

And don’t forget to check out the Couchmobile. Hmmmm….maybe I should make a COACHmobile? I could cruise down the street in my motorized office chair, wearing my wireless headset, holding a clipboard on my lap and coaching my clients. Now that sounds like fun!