The “Unit President Concept”
April 21, 2010
It’s definitely a challenging time in the business world. Despite showing small periodic signs of imminent recovery, the economy is still throwing up roadblocks to success.
But as we’ve been discussing in this newsletter – almost since the very first issue over ten years ago – it’s not so much the external factors that keep us from achieving our goals, but rather our own internal limiting beliefs.
In fact, as a result of reading these articles, you’ve probably had a few great ideas you’d like to have tried, but may have run into resistance from the “powers that be” because “it’s just too outrageous” or “it won’t work in our market” or “our customers would be offended.” (By the way, these assertions are rarely true – a fact that can easily be determined by some very easy and very inexpensive testing.)
So now may be the perfect time to try out one of my favorite business concepts: the Unit-President Concept. Here’s how it works…
Take out the organizational chart of your company – you know, the hierarchical set of blocks that shows the big boss on top, the next bosses below, and so on, until you get to the bottom level of the company.
If you’re the box on top, then congratulations for making it there, or for having the guts to create a business that puts you there by default. This means you are the boss, so what are you waiting for? It’s your money, or your bonus on the line, so try something out, test it thoroughly, measure the results, and make your decisions based on fact and data and not on feeling and conjecture.
But what if you’re not the “big box” on the top? No problem. Let’s say you’re the next box. Just take a pair of scissors and cut away everything on the chart that’s not your box or any of the boxes below you in the organization. Now look at the chart: you are the boss! You’re the “president” of your group, so start acting like the president and implement strategies that will being you measurable success!
But what if you’re just an individual contributor – and you don’t even have a box on the org. chart? No problem! Create an org. chart that just has your name on it, and draw a box around it. Congratulations – you’re now the president of your own job! Granted, it’s a group of only one person, but still it’s your group.
This is the Unit President Concept – so whichever group you have influence over – even if it’s only your own individual position – should be viewed as a stand-alone company, as if your job was outsourced to you and you had complete control over how to deliver the results.
You may not have all the perks of the “official” president, but there’s a measure of satisfaction, and far more latitude than you think in how you go about accomplishing your objectives. Make something happen this week – and congratulations again on your “promotion!”
The Tile Guy Goes to School
April 14, 2010
Most of us understand the importance of education. We encourage our children to do well in school, and learn everything that’s needed to become productive members of society, whether at college or by learning a trade.
Unfortunately, for many people, this commitment to education stops as soon as they get caught up in the day-to-day challenges of life.
It doesn’t have to be this way, of course; there are countless opportunities to continue learning in your personal and professional lives. Our Inner Circle Gold Coaching Members, for example, get a live webinar each month on a specific marketing topic, and an additional monthly “open critique” webinar where they can get their materials and web sites reviewed.
So I was both surprised and delighted when we started talking with the contractor who’s installing a tile back splash in our kitchen.
He asked what Lorie and I did for a living, and when we explained what we did, he said that he could sure use some help in that area, since his business has slowed considerably since the recession hit. Most of his work, it turns out, had been in new construction, where a single customer (a builder) could keep him busy for an entire year. (Please don’t miss the hidden warning here about having just one big customer…)
When I asked him what he was doing with all the down time, he shocked me by responding that he was taking electrical and plumbing courses so he could become proficient in those areas and become a one-stop-shopping source for his customers.
This is a great idea, and a fantastic use of “down time” that would otherwise be unproductive. In a time when many people use this time to complain about how bad the economy is, our tile guy is taking advantage of this time to increase the value he’s able to bring to his customers, which will, in turn increase his personal income.
What are you doing with your down time? A good friend of ours who commutes for several hours each day listens to books on tape. Another person is learning a language during her commute time.
There are always opportunities to further your education – are you taking advantage of yours?
Please Take Me to the Airport
April 1, 2010
Training new employees is a difficult but essential part of any business, but not everyone gets it right.
I was returning from a trip, and had just boarded the shuttle to take me to the off-site lot where I park my car. Normally, there’s just a single driver who helps load the bags and collects the parking stubs that indicate where in the lot the individual cars are parked.
This time, though, there was a second employee on the bus. It turns out that the driver was new, and the second person was “training” him on how to do the job. I included the quotation marks because I’m not sure I’d actually classify what I saw as training.
It was more like, “Oh yeah, right there on the right, that’s where you should have stopped to see if we had any people waiting there.” Or, “Right – where we just passed? That’s where you call into the dispatcher to let him know your location.”
There was no training manual, no checklists, and no formal procedures. And I’m guessing that the turnover rate for shuttle drivers is pretty high, making this training a fairly regular occurrence.
I’m sure the world won’t come to an end because of this spotty training effort, but I might find myself stranded one day as the van drives right by me as it misses the stop.
What would be the impact of someone not being properly trained in your organization? A little planning, a clear set of processes, and a definite plan will make sure you don’t miss the bus!
Crop Rotation
March 25, 2010
Since I grew up in the Bronx, I’ll be the first to admit that I have very little first-hand knowledge about farming. But there is one aspect of farming that I am familiar with: the concept of crop rotation, where you grow different types of crops in the same area in different years to prevent the buildup of pests and pathogens that can occur when you plant the same crop every year.
It’s fundamentally the same reason you have to vary your workout because your body gets used to what you’re doing and doesn’t respond with the same level of performance and improvement.
And that’s why I was intrigued by an interview I recently read featuring Joni Mitchell. She is one of the most prolific and talented performers of her generation, and, along with Carole King and Carly Simon, basically defined the female “singer/songwriter” genre of the ’60s and ’70s.
What you may not know about Joni Mitchell, however, is that she’s also an accomplished artist, responsible for the art on several of her album covers.
When asked about the relationship between her music and her art, she replied, “Any time I make a record it’s followed by a painting period. It’s a good crop rotation.”
Meaning that if you do just one thing all the time, it becomes boring, routine, and stale. And that’s why it’s essential to mix things up in your work and in your life. It’s the reason teachers take sabbaticals, some college programs include co-op work programs, and most people take vacations.
It’s important to mix things up so you get exposed to a wide variety of inputs and influences that can help make you more productive, more effective, and more interesting.
Which of your “crops” can you rotate this year?
Please Call First
March 18, 2010
Listening to everyone moan and complain about the economy, you might expect that businesses are pulling out all the stops and doing everything they possibly can to attract new customers and keep the ones they already have. I certainly expected this to be the case. But some recent experiences have led me to believe that exactly the opposite is true.
We recently completed a project in our house: we converted our dining room into a “wine room.” Since many of you know that we enjoy wine, this probably doesn’t come as a big shock to you. What we had to go through to successfully complete the project might surprise you though.
Here is a quick summary of just some of the problems we encountered during the process:
1. We were supposed to be called by the delivery person bringing a coffee table and serving unit 30 minutes in advance so we could leave our office and meet him at the house. We got a call from the guy who said he had been waiting at the house for five minutes and wanted to know where we were.
2. The company we bought our wine-storage unit from entered the wrong e-mail address in the order so we didn’t get the message with the tracking number. They also entered our phone number incorrectly so the delivery person wasn’t able to call us to schedule the delivery. We only found out any of this because we finally called to get the tracking number. No link mind you, just a tracking number and the name of an obscure shipping company which we had to track down ourselves.
3. We couldn’t get a salesperson to tell us if a particular bistro table we were looking at was in stock, and, if it was, when we might expect it to be delivered.
Ultimately, we did get everything straightened out (except for the bistro table which we ended up buying elsewhere) and the room looks great.
But it might come as a surprise to you that sales impediments like these might be occurring in your own organization. Now may be just the right time to “mystery shop” yourself. Visit your web site and try to place an order. Call your main number and see what happens when you have questions. Call with a concern about a product or service you’ve purchased and find out how cleanly the situation is resolved.
Too many people blame their difficulties on ineffective marketing, when many times, it’s actually bad service that’s causing the problem.
Service Recovery Done Right
March 10, 2010
As I’m writing this, I’m on my way home from speaking at a conference in Colorado Springs. It was held at the Broadmoor Hotel, which is a fantastic property with great service from everyone from the front desk clerks to the hotel operator.
So last night, when I was finished with the program, I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner, figuring that it would be a great experience. And since I had to be on a 4:30 a.m. shuttle to the airport, I really wasn’t up for a late night with a lot of people.
I made a reservation at the Charles Court restaurant for 6:00 p.m. and was seated at a nice table with a view of the lake. The waitress came to the table, greeted me by name and described the evening’s specials, including a grouper dish that sounded great. As it turns, out, I really like grouper – when it’s cooked right, it just kind of flakes apart when you take a fork to it.
Well, that one had my name on it, so that’s what I ordered. And when the dish came out, it looked great. Unfortunately, there was a problem: the grouper was tough and chewy: it had been overcooked.
So when the waitress stopped by to make sure everything was fine, I mentioned this to her. Without missing a beat, she apologized, and offered to bring me something else or have the chef prepare another order of grouper. I asked her to bring the menu so I could take a look, and decided on something else.
When she came back, she apologized again, and told me that she had spoken to the chef and he agreed – it had been overcooked. She was actually a bit worked up about this herself, since she had just recommended it – and placed six orders for the grouper for another table she was working.
That would have been enough, but the restaurant manager came over to apologize himself, confirmed that, or course there would be no charge for the grouper, and all but insisted I have dessert on the house.
Even at a first-class hotel like this, there will be occasional missteps – because of the sheer size of the place it’s unavoidable. And it’s probably the same at your company. Problems are going to happen.
But if you address them quickly and definitively, you can build a level of customer loyalty even greater than if nothing had gone wrong in the first place. Make sure you have “service recovery” procedures in place to handle these situations when they occur.
You Made Me End a Relationship!
February 18, 2010
We just got back from an unexpected and unpleasant trip to New York. Three months after my mother passed away, we had to attend my aunt’s funeral, held at the same chapel and cemetery.
Many friends and family members got up to share their memories of my Aunt Flora. Common themes were her intelligence, phenomenal cooking abilities, and love of family, especially her 54-year marriage to my Uncle Lou.
They were truly in love, and it showed every time I saw them.
One of the last people to speak at the service was their aide, Nicki. Towards the end, my aunt’s health was failing, and they had a full-time aide to assist them in the daily chores.
Nicki told the group how she had never known a couple like Lou and Flora, and didn’t know until then what a relationship was supposed to look like. She then offered a personal note, that she had been in a bad relationship when she started working with my aunt and uncle, and that, upon seeing and appreciating their relationship, immediately ended her own, knowing that she shouldn’t have to settle for less.
Her exposure to their relationship influenced her in profound ways, just as the people you surround yourself with affect and influence you.
They may not save you from a bad personal situation, but they will affect your mindset, your outlook on life, and, ultimately, the results and outcomes you achieve.
Federer’s Record
February 18, 2010
My wife and I enjoy watching tennis, so when the Australian Open was on a few weeks ago, we taped a lot of the matches and watched the men’s final with some friends.
It was going to be an exciting match, with Andy Murray from Scotland going for his first Grand Slam win. Unfortunately, he was playing Roger Federer who is arguably the best ever to play the game on the men’s side – and he’s not done yet.
At one point in the match, when Murray was in danger of losing the second set in the best-of-five match, the statisticians fed this bit of information to the on-air announcers:
Roger Federer’s record when leading 2-0 in Grand Slam matches is 151-0.
That’s right, when he’s up two sets to none, he’s won 151 of those matches and never lost a single one. And this is just one of the amazing statistics he’s racked up over the years.
So what does this mean to Andy Murray on the other side of the net? It means that if he doesn’t hold on and win that second set, his chances of coming from behind to win the match are virtually nonexistent.
In fact, he lost both the second and the following set to lose the match. To listen to Federer, the outcome was never in doubt after the second set. His confidence borders on cockiness, but he does back it up.
What this means for you is that you have to do everything you can to amass a collection of successes – small ones at first, and then bigger and more significant ones. It will help give you a level of confidence that will inspire trust to help you get and keep new customers, clients, and members.
What Do You Know?
January 13, 2010
As I talk to our clients and members, I find that a lot of them are anxious about making 2010 a better year than 2009 was – in some cases, a much better year. They’re trying to take full advantage of everything we provide them in our various coaching groups, from our Business Self-Defense™ Program, and from our Inner Circle Newsletters and CDs.
If you find yourself in the position of looking for some resources to help you navigate your way through this recession, then there’s one thing you must be aware of:
There’s a profound difference between knowing and memorizing.
As an example, many years ago when I worked for a large telecommunications company, a group of us was sent to a leadership training class. The instructor was a professor from a college in the area.
About 20 minutes into the program, I started to get a little uncomfortable with what he was teaching – not because it was inappropriate, but it just didn’t sound right. Oh, it made sense on the surface, but there was just something about what he was saying that made me think it wouldn’t work in our group
So when we got to a break, I wanted to find out what was causing this uneasy feeling. We had this conversation in the hallway:
Me: I was just curious – where have you personally applied these management strategies in a high-tech software development environment?
Him: Well, I’m a professor of behavioral psychology at NC State University.
Me: I’m sorry; I may not have stated that question quite right – where have you personally applied these management strategies in a high-tech software development environment?
Him: Well, we’ve done years of research on what works and what doesn’t work in a variety of settings.
Me: I’m still interested in where you have personally applied these management strategies in a high-tech software development environment?
Him: Me personally? I guess I really haven’t.
Me: Then why is it appropriate to stand in front a group of very stressed out, overloaded managers and tell us this is the way we should run our groups?
Him: Because I’m a professor of behavioral psychology at NC State University!
There’s a huge difference between theory and practice – between memorizing and knowing. Whenever you seek advice – on any subject – make sure you’re dealing with someone with practical experience and not just a passing interest in the subject.
First-Class Treatment
December 22, 2009
People who don’t travel frequently as part of their jobs tend to think that air travel is somehow a glamorous experience. Those of us who do travel regularly know otherwise. But first-class treatment can make travel significantly more enjoyable.
Because of my frequent flyer status on American Airlines, I frequently get to upgrade to first class. I’ll admit that this makes air travel significantly more comfortable. But if you have images of caviar, linen tablecloths, and crystal salt and pepper shakers, let me assure you that this kind of domestic first-class travel hasn’t been the case for some time.
Tough economic times, September 11th, and the general state of the airline industry have reduced the benefits of first-class on all but the longest flights to a comfortable seat, an occasional meal, and a free drink.
But every so often, a really good flight attendant can make the experience special. On flights where a meal or snack is served, the flight attendant will ask each first-class passenger his or her meal preference. Using a sheet prepared with each of their names, the flight attendant will normally ask, “Mr. Smith? Would you prefer the chicken or the fish?” and proceed to dutifully write down each passenger’s selection, hoping that the selection of choices doesn’t run out.
But on one recent flight, it happened in a slightly different way. The flight attendant made her way down the aisle without a tray, paper, or pen, and said, “Mr. Koslowski, welcome aboard! Would you prefer the chicken or the fish? Fish? Wonderful. Thank You. Mr. Jackson? Fish or chicken for you this evening? Chicken? Great!”
And with great interest, I watched her as she did this with each of the 22 first-class passengers in our 757 aircraft, calling each passenger by name and making no notation whatsoever of the passengers’ orders.
Throughout the flight, she continued to call each passenger by name, and remembered what each person was drinking when she asked if they would like a refill.
Besides making us all feel very special, this extraordinary effort had an additional benefit for the flight attendant. American Airlines sends its frequent fliers SOS (Some One Special) coupons that they can use to recognize employees who provide outstanding service. These are particularly valuable to the employees; the last time I checked, they can get a confirmed first-class flight to Europe with just 14 of these!
I give out these SOS coupons regularly to flight attendants, pilots, and ticket, gate, and reservations agents who go out of their way to be helpful. So it was with a smile on my face as we were departing the flight that I watched as three other passengers handed the flight attendant SOS coupons before I had the opportunity to add my own to the stack.
If you figure that the flight attendant probably works three flights a day, you can see how these coupons can add up very quickly. Does the flight attendant make the effort because of the tickets, or is she just conscientious and the coupons are an extra bonus?
I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really matter – the passengers feel special, and an excellent employee is rewarded for her effort.
Look at your own reward and recognition systems and see if they are eliciting and rewarding the behaviors you want to see. Then all of your customers will feel like they’re receiving first-class service.
