Ownership Culture Challenge Webinar

Your company culture is NOT defined by your mission statement, vision, and values - three of your four company culture cornerstones.

It is NOT defined by your goals, KPI's or whatever you want to call them.

Your culture is NOT even defined by your employees.

Today's key tip:  Your company culture is defined by how clearly you communicate what you believe and then by what you tolerate.  

Too often these are very different companies...  the one you want, and unfortunately the one you have today (totally or partially).

Is this a deja vu moment where you realize how many years you have been proving Einstein's theory of insanity (doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result)?

What should you do?

If you find this challenge amusing - to consider what you tolerate more than what you believe - then take an hour to contemplate it and write out your thoughts.  Maybe you will come up with some good ideas.

If, on the other hand, this challenge makes you exclaim, "Oh, ________!  I know we tolerate too much BUT...." and you want to finally do something about it...  then register for and attend our Upgrade Your Ownership Culture webinar next Tuesday.

Then you will definitely get some ideas to consider.  It's free, Dr. Einstein...  :)

I will be joined by Roy vanNorstrand of The Leren Group.  We will share ways to move away from an entitlement mentality to an Ownership Culture.  This webinar will last 30-45 minutes.  Space is limited.  Register now.

Title:  Upgrade to an Ownership Culture
Date:  Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Time:  11:00 AM - 11:45 AM PDT

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How are you doing on your 3strands this week?
2. Is the work remaining to complete this week's 3strands scheduled in your calendar so you can work uninterrupted?
3. Have you scheduled your Sanctuary time later today or over the weekend for personal accountability and focus?

Stay on track.

Upgrade to an Ownership Culture

Join us for a Webinar on July 15

Register Now

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/650865601

Do you need more employees to think and act like an owner at your company?

This webinar explains how to have an Ownership Culture at your organization where every employee thinks like an owner and takes responsibility for achieving maximum profitability.

David Russell of MANAGEtoWIN and Roy vanNorstrand of The Leren Group will share how you can do this on your own, or through the MANAGEtoWIN Ownership Culture program that GUARANTEES RESULTS.

Is there too much of an entitlement attitude with some of your employees? Do you feel your employees could be more productive? Do you know costs could be cut, but you need employees to drive the changes? Do you want higher sales, but just cannot seem to get employees to share your drive to get there?

Would you better achieve these objectives if your employees thought like owners... like you do? If yes, then do not miss this webinar.

Russell will focus on the Ownership Culture whereas vanNorstand will provides insights on how to drive sales while increasing ownership accountability. This webinar will last about 30-45 minutes. Space is limited. Register now.

Title: Upgrade to an Ownership Culture

Date: Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

Time: 11:00 AM - 11:45 AM PDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

I look forward to having you join us!

Self-Control Test

I was looking at some notes I had from reading a Bill Johnson book, and one jumped out for you today:

"Self-control is the ability to say yes to your one thing so completely that you have nothing left to give to less important matters."

Ouch!  (You might want to read this advice again.  Arnie Bellini of ConnectWise focused an IT Nation on similar advice a few years ago.)

For instance, if your "one thing" is to build your monthly recurring revenue, then how well are you focused on that? 

Only you can choose your "one thing."  That is the starting point, but once it is defined then making it a priority amidst other priorities, Client needs, employee challenges, etc. is the real work.

I suggest a simple process to consider this in the Meeting Notes.  

WARNING:  Procrastinating on pursuing your "one thing" is lost profits and opportunities you will never have again.

If you need help getting focused, consider some of our services.  We can help.

Meeting Ideas

Here is one way to approach the result of the leadership "test" above:

1. Define your one most important objective.
2. Evaluate how well you are pursuing and achieving this objective.
3. If your progress is not as good as you would like, then GET HELP NOW.
4. List everything that is taking your time.
5. Identify activities that can be cut back, delegated to others, or stopped.
6. Schedule time in your calendar daily/weekly to achieve your "one thing."
7. Implement a plan including 3strands weekly focus with accountability from one or more others.

Let me know if you need help.

Not The Plan

Last week I answered my phone thinking it might be a Client, but it turned out to be a polite, middle aged, woman telemarketer who tried to sell me solar panels.

I wanted to tell her immediately, but politely, that I do not accept any phone solicitations.  It was about 20-30 seconds before she took the slightest pause.

I said something like, "I'm sorry, but I don't take any phone solicitations.  I know you have a tough job and I sincerely wish you the best, but I'm just not a prospect for you."

She reluctantly replied, "Well, okay.  Thank you for being nice."

After I hung up, a member of my team called out, "I would have just hung up on her!"

I explained she was just doing her job, and it is a hard job.  She was polite and the least I could do was to treat her the way I would want to be treated if our roles were reversed.  That is consistent with our Company values.  Now if she was one of those obnoxious cold callers who won't take "No" for an answer then...

Does any sixth grader or 13 year old dream of being a cold call telemarketer?  How about the kid who plans to be divorced...  fail in business...  fired from a job...  get cancer...  be an orphan...  have a stroke...  trafficked for sex starting at 11 years old...  these are nightmares, often not of their doing, that some people get stuck in.

Everybody dreams.  Not everyone lives their dreams.  

You know, a lot of people are living with some unplanned pain, but are doing their best.  That "best" may not be good enough for them to be an employee in our companies.  Like a check-out person I had recently, or the person who made me a sandwich last week.  They were wonderful people, but clearly a bit slow.  Rather than be impatient, which is my impulse, I just paused and appreciated their effort.  Then I gave them each a big, sincere smile and a thank you.  Their challenges in life were not part of their plan...

As you start the second half of 2014, please remember that most people are doing their best and would love to have your sincere appreciation with a smile.  Even those who are not very nice as they try to do their best.  We do not know their burdens, but we can make that weight lighter by being nice.  It is an investment in an eternal "Blessings Bank" that always has an ROI.

I encourage you to be a blessing to everyone you meet.  Even on Mondays after holiday weekends!  :)  And be thankful for all that you have.  The "glass" of life truly is half-full, not half-empty.

Thank you for being a blessing to me.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.

Giveaways

Some people believe giveaways create new business.  Others do not.  What do you think?

First, consider giveaways for employees... things like healthcare benefits, time off, investments in their education, cell phones, mileage reimbursement or company cars, and other things that add up to thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars annually.

See the Meeting Notes for some suggested discussion questions.

Second, consider giveaways for Clients...  things like service hours that are not billed, extras that are done without charge, free educational activities, social events, and other things that add up to thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars annually.

See the Meeting Notes for some suggested discussion questions.

Lastly, consider giveaways for prospects...  Things like small gifts, free technology assessments, free advice, educational activities, social events, and other things that add up to thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars annually. 

See the Meeting Notes for some suggested discussion questions.

THE BOTTOM LINE:  

1. Most giveaways are taken for granted and forgotten by all three audiences.
2. Client and sales prospect giveaways only work when your team is fully committed to delivering great service to people who receive the giveaway.  The Client experience must meet or exceed a typical experience of working with your firm.
3. Employee giveaways only increase employee engagement when the gifts are personalized per employee, they are reminded in positive ways of how fortunate they are to receive them, and leaders sincerely believe in and respect their employees.

#3 is often part of the work we do in our consulting engagements.  That is one reason why there is a very quick ROI to our work.

You may enjoy the Meeting Notes to inspire discussion about how to increase the return on your investment in giveaways.

Meeting Ideas

Giveaways of any kind cost money so taking time to evaluate the ROI on your giveaways has value.  Here are some suggested questions that you may want to consider as part of your evaluation:

Giveaways For Employees 

1. List all employee benefits and perks, their cost, and how/when you communicate each giveaway plus their cost to employees.  (They tend to take giveaways for granted.  Sometimes a quarterly report can be helpful when presented for their benefit not as a negative "look at that we do for you scum...".
2. Organize the list by most expensive to least expensive.
3. Estimate the ROI of each giveaway.
4. Are there any giveaways that should be cut back or eliminated?
5. Are there any giveaways that you should be giving that you are not?
6. Define how to pilot changes.
7. Implement and review.

You can follow a similar process for Clients and sales prospects, just without tracking how you communicate the giveaway costs to them.

Let me know if you need help.

Don't Miss This Perspective

Last Thursday night I was at the gym working out and a thought struck me:

"When someone shares their perspective, always keep in mind the wounds of their life upon which that perspective is based.  No one has perfect perspective."

The older I get, and our young adopted kids have joked that my age is actually over 100 years, I become more convinced that everyone is wounded.  Those wounds, which start in our childhood and expand into the present, affect our perspective and how we interact with others.

Later that night I decided to open an email that my son, Jeff, had forwarded me with a customer service story.  It is a great reminder that people are often angry about something other than what it seems.  Don't miss this story!  You may want to use it as a discussion topic during a future team meeting.

I believe in you.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.

One Day vs. Every Day

Back in March of this year I was listening to Bill Hybels talking about leadership when three things jumped out to me that are worthy of your consideration today and into the weekend:

#1  You have to discipline yourself to train.  This is how you develop skills.  For instance if you are weightlifting, you start with a smaller weight and build up to greater weights.

#2  Do not try to do everything in one day.  Instead, train every day on part of what you want to accomplish to eventually become the champion you want to be.

#3  Last but not least, do not add leadership duties as habits to your day, but rather frame your day around your leadership activities.

To accomplish the focus and intentionally on these three steps requires a discipline of daily and weekly Sanctuary time for self evaluation and accountability.

I am working very hard on being a better person, more effective leader, and more consistently living out my values.  This journey has difficult moments every day, but based on what I have accepted as the foundation in my life I have no other choice.  I am very thankful for anything and everything that I have, including YOU!

If you have chosen your foundation in life and are pursuing a personally meaningful destination, please accept my encouragement.  I'm rooting for you!

Have an AWESOME weekend.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How are you doing on your 3strands this week?
2. Is the work remaining to complete this week's 3strands scheduled in your calendar so you can work uninterrupted?
3. Have you scheduled your Sanctuary time later today or over the weekend for personal accountability and focus?

Stay on track.

Why Listen to Opinions

Opinions are like human ears.  Just about everybody has them, and yours are most important to you.

I know of leaders who believe the best policy is to not pay attention to their critics, however I suggest within reason considering different opinions is a strategic asset for any leader. 

I have gotten some of my best ideas from the comments of others that have led me to think of something different, not specifically their suggestion or critical comment.

Listening is so important for leaders.  We underestimate the power of our ears, which are organs in our body, not just things sticking out the side of our head.  Did you know this about ears?

1. Outer Ear:  Human beings actually localize sound within our central nervous system by comparing the arrival time differences and loudness from each ear, in the brain circuits that connect our ears.  This process is referred to as EPS, or Echo Positioning System.  Some animals can point their ears to better receive sound.

   LEADERS:  Are you listening to people who disagree with you, express concerns, or make requests?  If so, you are gaining new opportunities for growth and avoiding problems.  Good job!

2. Middle Ear:  Sound is transmitted from the tympanic membrane through three bones (ossicles) to the ventricles of the ear.  The ossicles help in the amplification of sound waves by nearly 30 times.  I could go on, the complexity is fascinating...

   LEADERS:  Are you too quick to blow off employee comments?  Rather than dismiss them, there is strategic value in fully considering them - magnifying their ideas and considering alternatives.  You cannot fully engage employees or best serve clients without great listening skills.

3. Inner Ear:  Your inner ear contains sensory organs for balance, motion, and of course, hearing.

   LEADERS:  Employee and client opinions affect the balance and growth of your organization, but you have to be willing to hear them.  How well are you doing significantly affects your bottom line.

I suggest your willingness to listen and process both encouraging and negative information is done with a balance of truth and grace. 

Truth by listening and fully considering what others have to say without allowing negative people rip you apart.  Grace by being humble enough to consider their opinions and realize that some of those who communicate poorly have other issues affecting their lives so do not let their negativity bring you down.

Meeting Ideas

Have a meeting with your leadership team, or you can do this alone as part of your weekly Sanctuary time, to consider where you have traveled and what destination you truly want to reach.

This can be a long exercise or a relatively short one.

1. List the ideas, complaints, encouragement, and other comments you have heard during the past day.  
2. Start with three of them.  Carefully consider each one.
3. Is the comment a symptom, or a disease.  If a symptom than consider the root cause of the problem or the core of the opportunity.
4. Think about it.  Pray about it.  Ask people for their opinion.
5. Pilot ideas.

Let me know if you need help.

Be Micro Ambitious

"Micro" and "macro" are prefixes that are placed before nouns to make their reference small or large.

For instance, there is micro and macro economics.  The study of the overall economy and how it works is called macroeconomics whereas microeconomics focuses on an individual person, company or industry.

Another example is microevolution, which is small changes in living matter due to four different processes:  mutation, selection (natural and artificial), gene flow, and genetic drift.  Macro evolution supposes large-scale changes in living things may occur over an ever-expanding period of time.

What do I mean when I say that you should be Micro Ambitious?

Our process of writing Goals That Work is a macro exercise to define annual, clear, measurable objectives that meet or exceed your objectives for growth each year.

Our 3strands process enables you to focus daily and weekly on achieving the micro activities that lead to accomplishing your macro Goals That Work objectives.  This is a process for daily and weekly progress.

Be Micro Ambitious this week by doing this:

1. Define your 3strands by Monday morning at 9:00 a.m.;
2. Schedule uninterruptible time in your calendar by Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. to complete them;
3. Look at your 3strands each morning for self accountability;  and
4. Complete them in full with excellence this week.

Being Micro Ambitious is a good thing...

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.

Making Great Decisions

John Ortberg, a very creative and insightful guy, gave a great talk recently titled The Secret to Making Great Decisions.  I encourage you to listen to it, but here are some of John's tips to spark your Friday 3strands accountability:

• It's not what you do, it's who you become.
• Very often God's will for your life is "I want you to decide".
• We make terrible decisions when we are exhausted and/or afraid.
• The most important decisions we make are the ones we hardly even realize we are making...  We make them without considering what type of person we want to be.
• The battle for wisdom is never over.
• Are you a decide-a-phobic?  This is a person who avoids making important decisions.

I suggest that your process for making great decisions, and becoming the person you truly want to be, comes back to your 3strands:

1. Is your Systematic Leadership giving you the ability to do what you do best and fully empowering your employees to take ownership for results?
2. Are you making decisions based on a clearly defined vision of Meaningful Work - job activities that are personally fulfilling to you?
3. How well are you balancing Sincere Gratitude for all that you have with all that you want?

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How are you doing on your 3strands this week?
2. Is the work remaining to complete this week's 3strands scheduled in your calendar so you can work uninterrupted?
3. Have you scheduled your Sanctuary time later today or over the weekend for personal accountability and focus?

Stay on track.

History Determines Destiny...Or Not

Christine Caine of The A21 Campaign was speaking recently at Willow Creek and she said:

Do not allow your history to determine your destiny.

Although her reference point is that people who have been abused can heal and rise above past pain to have a fulfilling life, it is also a great reminder for leaders.

Your success may have gotten you this far, but are your current leadership skills scalable to grow your organization to the next level?

When I think of our Clients who are growing rapidly, all of them are investing in systems to improve employee engagement, service delivery, sales, and their client experience.

Why?  Because systems scale. 

Having all final decision-making authority in one person does not scale and disengages employees.  ("Well, it's Susan's company...")  In contrast, good systems extend decision-making to others and increase employee ownership for results.

Your history as a leader may be a bumpy road to date, an incredible success, or includes too much failure.  No matter what that history is, you can invest today to define, pursue and achieve a destiny that is very meaningful (and profitable). 

If you need help, our LEADERSHIP Essentials and All-In LEADERSHIP programs are an ideal way for you to improve your Systematic Leadership in less time and with processes we have proven to work over the past 11 years.

Meeting Ideas

Have a meeting with your leadership team, or you can do this alone as part of your weekly Sanctuary time, to consider where you have traveled and what destination you truly want to reach.

This can be a long exercise or a relatively short one.

1. List the key achievements and failures of your career to date.  You can also include a similar list for your personal life, or incorporate the two to remind yourself how they relate.
2. Define one thing that would be a meaningful destination for the next leg of your leadership journey.
3. Define and date the key steps to reach that destination.
4. Think about it.  Pray about it.  Ask people for their opinion.
5. GO FOR IT.

Let me know if you need help.

Have fun!

The Two Most Common Failures of Leadership

What are the two most common failures of leadership that I come across?

1. Failure to consistently set clear, measurable goals.
2. Failure to follow-up and follow through on goals, promises, and expectations.

Of course there are plenty of other issues.  You may find it interesting that I also often talk with leaders who do these two things well yet struggle in other areas, but their companies are growing.

This is part of the reason why Systematic Leadership is the first strand of 3strands LEADERSHIP.  Systematically defining clear, measurable goals plus following up and following through help free your people to do their best.

Do you have clear, measurable goals?  Are you on track to achieve them?  When is the last time you looked at them?  

How well do you follow-up on goals your people are pursuing (not micromanagement, but a 3strands process)?  How well do you follow-up and follow-through on your other commitments?

These are important skills to develop.  Consider piloting new behaviors if you are struggling in either area, or consider contacting me if you need help.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.

Employee to Employee Accountability

When you have a strong company culture that is driven by 3strands LEADERSHIP then employees hold each other accountable. One of my favorite stories from an IT solution provider about how this worked in his company went this way...

His company pays a quarterly bonus to employees on their technical services team of just under $2,000.  The bonus is only paid when the entire team performs at a certain level. One member of a technical team within this organization really needed the bonus to make his mortgage payment.  The problem was another member of the team was failing to achieve the performance standards so the team could receive the bonus.

The guy with the financial challenge invited the poor performer out into the parking lot for conversation.  He said something like, "Listen, we have to make our quarterly bonus so that I can pay my mortgage.  I am not going to miss my mortgage payment because you are not doing your work.  So you have two choices, you can pick it up and perform as well as the rest of us, or we are going to come back out here after the end of the quarter and it's not going to be this pretty.  Got it?"

I do NOT encourage this type of behavior between employees.  However to be candid, I love the story!

How well you engaging your employees in the key areas of 3strands LEADERSHIP?

Systematic Leadership:  Are you as consistent and process driven in the way you hire, manage, develop, and retain employees as you are in the areas of your business that relate to your natural strengths, such as sales, tech work, accounting...?

Meaningful Work:  How well are you engaging each employee so that the work they do for your company is personally meaningful to them?

Sincere Gratitude:  Do you know how each employee wants to be recognized.  Hint:  It is different for each employee.

The only scalable way to grow your business is to have employees take full ownership for results and to hold each other accountable when you are not present.

If you need help, our LEADERSHIP Essentials and All-In LEADERSHIP programs are an ideal way for you to improve your Systematic Leadership in less time and with processes we have proven to work over the past 11 years.

Meeting Ideas

Have a meeting with your leadership team, or you can do this alone as part of your weekly Sanctuary time, to evaluate how systematic you are in the way you hire, manage, develop, and retain employees.

1. List the systems you have in place in each of the four key areas of employee engagement:  Hiring, Management, Development, and Retention.
2. Rate each system by simple four-point scale:
   1. Does Not Exist (Nothing is in-writing, no accountability, inconsistent...)
   2. Needs Improvement (Something is in place that people should follow, but it clearly could be much better.)
   3. Doing a Good Job (Figure out how to make it better)
   4. Outstanding (Figure out how to more broadly take advantage of the strength.)
3. Develop and pilot improvements.  Drive your business based on employee engagement and everything else will improve.

Let me know if you need help.  And have fun!

Game Face?

I was recently reading an "expert's" recommendation to motivate your people to put on their game face and turn on their work personality...

Oh... make me puke.  That's right, let's all be a bunch of shallow phonies!

Wake up!  If you have to get your people to "put on their game face" then you are going to have a "shame face" when they let a client down.  Posers are not superstars.  Top performers have a natural positivity, achievement record, love what they do, and do what they love.

No turning on of a work personality is necessary.

Take a moment this morning to pause and think of each person on your team.  Does anyone have to put on their game face to perform at a top level?

If so, then that is a problem.  Work on solving it before that person lets you down (again?).  Or maybe they are a great player on your team, but they need your support through a rough patch right now.  Either way, be intentional.  Engage, or start a fair process to prove performance or disengage.

P.S.  Ryan Barton, the visionary leader of Mainstay Technologies has pushed me to agree to add a Charm School course on Ownership.  He has a great team and his people really own / take responsibility for results, but he does not want to lose that as they continue to grow rapidly.

Do you have any suggestions or questions about employees taking ownership for results?  If so, email me and I will consider including your perspective or needs in the training.

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.

Leadership Dementia

My 86-year-old mother has slight dementia.  Most of the time she remembers things, but she can struggle at times.  I love my Mom.  She's not perfect, but she is "the best."  (Hopefully you feel that way about your mother too.)

This past Monday I was with her.  As we were driving home from her doctor's appointment she asked me to set up the movie, An Unfinished Life, for her because she likes to watch it over and over again.

I decided to joke with her and responded, "Is it because of your dementia that you can watch the same movie over and over again, and still enjoy it?"

She responded without missing a beat, "You're just jealous."  We both had a good laugh.

Unfortunately many leaders suffer from what I might call "Leadership Dementia."  They too easily forget the work their employees do well, the ideas they suggest that are valuable, and the times when their people went beyond what was required.

It is simple math:  Positive contributions + mistakes = work performance

When you eliminate the positive contributions then all you remember are the mistakes.  And by the way, some leaders have the reverse problem:  They are unwilling to fully consider the mistakes.

Here are two quick suggestions for this weekend:

1. Visit someone special to enjoy their company.  Before you leave, remind them how much you love them.
2. Consider your selective memory of employee performance.  We all do it to a certain extent.  Do you need to develop a more balanced perspective?  If so, how you will do that?

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How are you doing on your 3strands this week?
2. Is the work remaining to complete this week's 3strands scheduled in your calendar so you can work uninterrupted?
3. Have you scheduled your Sanctuary time later today or over the weekend for personal accountability and focus?

Stay on track.

The Disney Experience

There was litter on the floor.  The motor car was broken down.  A life-size elephant  statue  had a cobweb with a leaf caught in it near its right eye.  There was sooty exhaust or smog scum on more than one pillar...

These were all part of my Disney experience a few years ago.  It was not perfect in other ways too.  

Last week I encouraged you to consider the consistent experience of some great companies.  THIS WEEK I want to remind you that even great companies fail daily.

"Perfect" means complete, as in thorough, rather than flawless when describing our "perfect client experience."  Mistakes happen, but our processes should respond to them in such a way that clients (and employees) remember our recovery more than our failure.

So if your June is not getting off to a great start, do not give up or blow up at employees or clients.  These problems are temporary and will pass.

Disney employees make mistakes and so will yours.  Consider the process in Meeting Notes to prioritize the way you respond to problems and improve your processes.

Meeting Ideas

Whether you are the CEO, running sales, managing the service group, or leading in some other way, at times the amount of work we have to do or problems we want to solve can seem overwhelming.

Here is a simple method to getting work done:

1. On your own or with your team make a list of the work that needs to be done.  You can call this your parking lot, dump, priority list, or whatever you want.
2. Prioritize the list based on importance.
3. Take the first 1-3 items on the list and focus on them.  These can be your 3strands for one week.  Only take on what you can complete in one week.
   • Assign them to yourself and/or others on your calendar.
   • Your work time on these issues should be uninterruptible time.  Let your people know you are not to be bothered unless the building is burning down.
   • Look at these 3strands daily to hold yourself accountable.
   • If you are missing your self-made deadlines, then immediately engage someone else in your process for accountability.
   • Complete the first item.  Then complete the second item...  Do you understand the pattern?
4. Do not look at your parking lot items except momentarily when you need to add more things to the parking lot.
5. After you solve the 1-3 most urgent problems then celebrate.  Get a power size Jamba Juice or a nice cup of coffee.  Take a 15-20 minute break to read something or think about your favorite project.  If this is a team effort, then buy non-alcoholic drinks or lunch for the team.
6. Return to your parking lot list.  Confirm it is prioritized correctly.
7. Choose the next 1-3 items from the top of your list and repeat this process.

Have fun!

Your Boko Haram

Welcome to June! In a USA Today commentary by Louise Shelley on May 22, 2014 she advocates the way to stop the terrorist group, Boko Haram, is to go after their money rather than hope for another superb Navy Seal expedition.

There is wisdom in that.  Any time we are faced with a challenge...

• Competitors
• Poor employee behavior
• Vendor failure
• Community challenge
• Politicians serving without integrity

Our tendency is to react to the event, which is only a symptom of the underlying disease.  Therefore our efforts have momentary, if any impact at all.  Instead, we are much more influential when we slow down and consider alternatives to a frontal attack so our response of actions can truly eradicate the disease.

Notice I said "actions" in the plural.  Our response often takes time because it requires us to help the other party develop new habits, or when this preferred behavior cannot be developed, we must permanently remove them from our playing field without ending the game.

Pause.  Think.  Pause.  Counsel with others?  Pause.  Think.  Respond...

It is Monday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!

1. Did you take Sanctuary time over the weekend to improve your focus?
2. How did you do on your 3Strands last week?
3. Have you defined your 3Strands for this week?
4. By 9:00 a.m. this morning you should have 3Strands emails from each of your direct reports.

Stay on track.

What They Need Most From You

On Sunday we start the final month of the second quarter.  How are you doing on your 2014 goals?  Consider this question in your Sanctuary time of self accountability and reflection this weekend:

What do they need most from me?

Take a step-by-step process to consider each "they."  Work through this exercise in an order that makes the most sense to you based on the different definitions of "they."  Identify the one most important thing each "they" wants from you and assess how well you are doing in that area with them.  Take your time...

1. God
2. My spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend
3. My kids
4. My extended family
5. My closest friend(s)
6. My employees (first because without them you cannot serve others)
7. My clients
8. My vendors
9. My community
10. Me

Just gauge how well you are doing in one area with each "they."  Do that one thing exceptionally well and it will positively affect the other aspects of the relationship.

My suggestion:  What they need most is you, just fully you.

Unfortunately to do this well we have to focus on personal development, engage with accountability, and develop a discipline of Sanctuary.  This is easy to write, but challenging for most people to accomplish.

Email me if you want to learn leadership skills.  (That is how we pay the bills.)  Today is the last day of the special offer on our All-In LEADERSHIP program.

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How are you doing on your 3strands this week?
2. Is the work remaining to complete this week's 3strands scheduled in your calendar so you can work uninterrupted?
3. Have you scheduled your Sanctuary time later today or over the weekend for personal accountability and focus?

Stay on track.

Break The Box!

Are you stuck in a box?  You want to get out and achieve your full potential, a dream, or have a special experience of service or significance?

But you are stuck in the box...

Day after day extends into year after year that you want to be better, do something different, and/or do that thing that will impact millions of people...  however you cannot get out of the box.

"The box" is the firefight of each day.  Tasks, emails, meetings, responsibilities... What should you do?

Take one hour alone and without any electronic communications / distractions this weekend to ask yourself:  "If I only have one year to live, what do I want to accomplish during that year?"

Make a dangerous decision.  Decide to live instead of make a living.

You can do it.  The starting place is the decision that you will do something NOW.  Once you think you know what your dangerous decision should be, then discuss it with your spouse, and/or a close friend.  They may not agree with you, but they may be wrong...  Think about it...  Pray about it... consider the truth, not just your gut...  but not for too long.  You do not have time to waste.

You have one year to live.  Are you willing to make the dangerous decision to get of our your box...  or is it more comfortable to stay there while your opportunities slip away?

Anyone want to play the game with me?  (Just as friends - I do not mean a consulting engagement.)  If you want to play, then email me and we will see where we are next week on our dangerous decisions...

Do not let your "year" end at a time when you will be left with a huge regret.

P.S.  Forgive me if this sounds morbid.  I just get the sense one or more of you really need this challenge today.  Or maybe I am the one who needs it!  (I better ask my beautiful wife of almost 37 years...)

Email me if you want to learn leadership skills.  (That is how we pay the bills.)  There is a special offer on our All-In LEADERSHIP program this month if you are interested, but your dangerous decision may have nothing at all to do with leadership...  :)

It is Friday.  ACCOUNTABILITY TIME!  

1. How are you doing on your 3strands this week?
2. Is the work remaining to complete this week's 3strands scheduled in your calendar so you can work uninterrupted?
3. Have you scheduled your Sanctuary time later today or over the weekend for personal accountability and focus?

Stay on track.

Drawing the Line

"My tech yelled at a customer..."

"She is constantly pointing out where our services fall short..."

"His email complaining about the situation made me mad..."

Each of these situations is true.  It may have happened or is happening in your organization. Should you tolerate a tech, or any employee who yells at a customer? Is it really worth it to keep a "Negative Nancy" on the team?  (People who point out flaws are men as often as women.) You're busy and have enough stress.  Should you tolerate someone who sends you a flaming email?

THE ANSWER:  It depends.

1. Yells at a customer:  What if the person yelling at the customer is you, or your partner?  What if the employee doing this is under a lot of stress personally and you are aware of it? There are reasons why the person may deserve a second chance.  As a leader did you put them in an environment where they can perform their best and avoid mistakes due to lack of competency or a temporary personal deficiency?  Are they properly trained?  Is their workload too heavy? Employees who have clear systems for service delivery and understand how their work is personally meaningful to them would never yell at a customer.  These are the first two strands of 3strands LEADERSHIP.
2. Negative Nancy:  Is the person right?  Are you or any other key employees complaining about service problems or regularly suggesting improvements?  Is it just this person's style that bothers you, or the fact you know they are right? This comes back to how the employee is being managed and trained.  In particular, the employee may not feel their suggestions are being heard and fully considered.  This tells them that you do not trust them and value them as a member of your team.  If this is the case then you are violating the third strand of 3strands LEADERSHIP.
3. Flaming email:  The next time you receive an email that makes you mad just stop and catch your breath.  Ask yourself, is the person right?  Are they even partially correct?  Most of the time they are, and leaders of integrity need to start by taking ownership for their own mistakes. Accept the fact email is a terrible form of communication.  Train your people how to correspond appropriately and systems to avoid sending emails that can be offensive.   If the person is at least partially right then do not skewer them.  Look at the positive side:  They care enough about your relationship to raise the issue.  It is consistent with the first strand of Systematic Leadership for 3strands LEADERS to tolerate an occasional emotional outburst, particularly when it was done in private such as an email.

Clearly some of these situations may justify discipline or even termination.  Nevertheless it is important to consider all of the facts and not be driven by our emotions when we conclude that someone has crossed the line and there should be consequences.

THE BOTTOM LINE:  Employee problems are symptoms.  The disease is leadership flaws.  How we respond to others' mistakes says more about us than it does about them.

SPECIAL OFFER:  SAVE 25% or more on our All-In LEADERSHIP program for orders placed by May 28.

Email me if you have any questions.

Meeting Ideas

There are a lot of different roads you can go based on the three points I make above.  Just taking time to explore those is plenty for one meeting.

If you believe your company culture should be stronger and the leaders in your firm would benefit from some training, then consider our All-In LEADERSHIP program.  It is a bargain.