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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Management — No Comments ↓

How much does measurement cost? How much does not measuring cost? The act of measuring is debated both actively and passively throughout business. We know that certain measurement is critical to business whether like the bottom line, defect management, complaints, even lost opportunities provide key insights. What if there is a metric to define how proactive v. reactive your company culture is, would that be useful? Is it math or attitude measuring…or both?

It makes no difference if you are manufacturing a product or providing a service the only way to know how good you are doing, and how much better or worse you become is measurement. No one said it was going to be easy, no one said it was going to be fun, but just for the heck of it let’s throw one more measurement into the bag that might be key driving your bottom line measurement, called a Proactive Quotient™. This measure analyzes the number of defects or errors your process catches before customer delivery compared to the ones discovered post-delivery.

While we can create examples using math assessing any business in terms of proactive or reactive culture is also a soft measure, one of attitude. Quality nerds often talk themselves blue in the face suggesting that anything can be measured. How useful is the measurement, how hard is it to collect, analyze, how predictive, how accurate, how inclusive? These are factors that influence whether a measurement is used or not.

The Proactive Quotient™ offers a comparison between internal and externally discovered defects. Manufacturers know to measure defects in the process but service organizations woefully undervalue this effort. For both paradigms there are numbers to assess. Let’s suppose a company produces 1,000 items, or, a service provider has 1,000 tasks accumulated in delivering work. Company A finds 5 defects prior to customer receipt and discovers 30 defects from end users. Company B discovers 25 internal rejects and 10 end user issues for their 1,000 activities.

How much of this answer is in math and how much is in culture? A standard defect measure would tell you that Company A has a .03% defect rate while Company B has a .01% rate and that more internal QC should yield less end defects an obvious goal. Where it gets interesting is assessing the self-correcting processes and their value. Assuming similar process conditions Company A “caught” 20 more defects before they got out. They were more proactive it would seem. Dividing internal defects by external defects would give a 2.5 measurement compared to a .16 for the less proactive.

There is certainly a rub here. The objective of defect measurement is to capture error rates and translate them into continuous process improvement to reduce the errors in the process whether that is machining a part or creating a proposal. Still, it is a snapshot to assess whether your emphasis is on getting things “out the door” or making sure things going out are correct. Can there be a cost to process management? You bet! Can there be a far greater cost to fixing problems after they are past your door? Let us count the ways; reviews, reputation, retrieval, replacement, recycling, reworking…a lot of nasty-expensive “re” words.

Perhaps the greatest promoter of Reactive culture is success. Fixing problems, improving can quickly devolve into a belief that you’ve got it right and no longer have to “look” as hard. If it was clear why you got it wrong then sure, you can fix it and trust the improvement. However, all business manufacturing and service providing is fluid. New players, new requirements, new conditions all create change and change creates variation and variation is the breeding ground for errors and defects.

Being Proactive rather than Reactive in the end is less about using an intricate mathematical algorithm than it is a cultural trait to assess. How dedicated is your company to making sure there are no problems rather than how dedicated you are to making it right when problems get out? Measurement tells us the truth about where we are and how we change but Attitude gives Leadership the foundation of culture. Take a good look at how proactive you and your business are compared to how much time you spend reacting to situation. Whether it is a sales proposal or a stamping a micro-widget having the right attitude about your processes, being vigilantly proactive, can have the real numbers that matter grow and go ca-ching!

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For help with your PROACTIVE CULTURE or other BUSINESS THERAPY insights contact or follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Sales — No Comments ↓

You’ve got your marketing, your branding, your advertising. You’ve got inside sales, robo-sales, outside sellers beating the pavement and knocking on doors. You’ve got word of mouth, social media, blogs, sponsorships. You make cold calls, warm calls, buy ad words, pay for SEO, email newsletters, follow up referrals, ask for referrals, appear as an expert. You give presentations, answer RFPs, send proposals, pass out logo-laden premiums, brochures, business cards, you buy tables at charity events, attend networking events, get awards, give awards, kick some ass, kiss some ass…for what. To make the sale man! What’s more important than that for a business? It’s foundational, fundamental, it fuels growth, pays the bills and feeds the kids. Doesn’t matter if it’s B to B, B to C, products, services, snake oil or secrets of life, bottom line is it’s all about sales. So, what’s the best sales process you can have? Read on Macduff…

Obviously there are many ways to sell a widget but there is only one BEST sales process you can have that tops all the others in efficiency, profitability and ease of use. That’s because sales is hard, really hard, otherwise why would we have invented all those ways to find rejection and frustration? By far the best process is to aggressively answer the phone or online request asking you to please sell it to them. Is that a joke? Not if you are starting a business and praying desperately for that to happen instead of all those other prospecting and selling efforts. Good way to work if you can get it, oh yeah, if!

It has been said that you only have to prospect until you don’t have to. Certainly being eagerly sought is the most envious position to be in as a business but if your business is new, young, shrinking or otherwise struggling you look with envious eyes on those whose sales efforts involve getting a call or notification, booking a job, sending an invoice and cashing a check or seeing a payment from their Pal. So how do you get there?

There are as many answers to that as there are ways to market and sell but the simple answer is in three parts that may take anywhere to happen from a few months to never. Three rules, however, are essential to giving yourself a chance.

  1. Provide exceptional value to your customer. This includes having a needed and desired product or service, offering it a fair price and making the receipt of such product or service an exceptional experience.
  2. Have a company foundation of exceptional leadership to provide direction and support and dedicated doers who make item 1 a reality.
  3. Find your most efficient and effective path through the maze of potential sales efforts. Weigh it based on both the return on investment (sweat and dollars) and with what will fit with your culture. Fit means it will be rewarded, encouraged and successful (as you define it) and all who participate will be accountable for efforts first and results second.

Sales is hard, we get it. Not so hard is saying, “Sure, we can do that, let’s book it!” to a desiring customer. Is it a fantasy? It doesn’t have to be but the chances that there is a quick shortcut are slim. Do the work, have a plan, get good advice, disregard bad advice and believe in what your business has to sell. The stronger the belief the more likely you are to work your way through the maze of selling options and arrive at Nirvana. Gotta go, the phone is ringing, must be another job to close…ahhh, the struggle!

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For help with your SALES or other BUSINESS THERAPY insights contact or follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

If you sell anything, this might ring true… #sales,  #salesprocess, #salesmanagement

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Blog, Personal Performance — No Comments ↓

It is damn hard to have success in business if you are a lousy communicator. Oh, it happens but it’s usually painful and in spite of the limitations not because of them. The best leaders are excellent communicators. That does not mean they espouse rosey metaphors, pure truth or speak melodious or authoritative tones. In fact, you need not always agree with or be convinced, conned or sold by one for he or she to be a great communicator.

When I teach Communication Skills as a path to success I always begin with a group self-assessment so before this brief quiz on Communication Excellence I’ll ask the same question. How do you grade yourself as a communicator? Scale of A to F, consider both written and spoken, peer as well as up and down the authority tree. Are you an “A”? Probably not, but if not, why not? In order to be exceptional as a communicator there usually needs to be more skills present than are generally taught. Some have better skill intuitively or instinctively, some have learned through experience but even the great masters of communication usually have some area they are yet to conquer but are open to improve.

Here’s how to score, give yourself a 5 for Excellent, 4 for Good, 3 for Average, 2 for Fair and 1 for Need to Improve. Sorry to send you back to school but who’s done learning and tough as it can be measurement is critical to success…

Are your written communications are very clear, timely and always direct or inspire action?

QUESTION 1 Score: _________

Are your written communications are very clear, timely and always direct or inspire action?

QUESTION 2 Score: _________

Do your emails create consensus and direct follow up or do they create chains of questions, concerns, are ignored or get other replies that deviate from the original intention?

QUESTION 3 Score: _________

When you address a group in a meeting or presentation are your points made concisely with no more words than are needed. Do you make it clear to all with images or metaphors, straight facts and are the words well considered or do they start in your mouth and then stop by your brain?

QUESTION 4 Score: _________

When you manage performance (or are managed) are you courteous and considerate while still being complete? Does your conversation stay focused on performance issues or do you find the other person trying to move the issues or not hearing the third point because they stopped listening after the first point? Do you find yourself thinking what you should have said after the fact?

QUESTION 5 Score: _________

Are your conversations always adult to adult or do you find yourself sometimes sounding like your parent, or when you hear criticism do you sometime use the same strategy to defend yourself you did when you were a child? Do you get rational or emotional replies?

TOTAL: ________ out of 25

How did you do? If you are a 25 for 25 you should stop reading and go write an article on what makes you excellent, I’m sure you have great lessons to share. If you got 10 or less then you probably already stopped reading thinking this was stupid and you won’t waste your time! If, however, you are like most of the world and are somewhere in that average to good range then here’s four strategies that are sure avenues to improve.

Strategy 1

On any formal communication use the “Super C’s” checklist (if you get good at it use it for informal communication and conversation as well). Review your communication to see if it is Clear, Correct, Courteous, Complete, Concrete, Considerate and Concise.

Strategy 2

Recognize that now matter how long you pour over your thoughts and words, edit, correct and articulate as the presenter of information (formal or informal) you are the Tin Man. The Wizard informed him that a heart was not judged by how much he loved, but by how much he was loved by others. Likewise for communicators. You are not judged by what you put out but by what is received and understood.

Toward that, appreciate the “Communication Wheel” that informs us that when we break communication into three elements, Words, Tonality and Physiology, the percentages of impact are far from what you likely expect when you are pouring over every word in a speech or evaluating what you are sure you just said. Only 7% of communication comes from the words we use, 38% comes from the tone we use and 55%, the majority of impact, comes from physiology or the physical presentation.

It makes sense if you think of it this way. Take a sentence, any sentence. Using the same words can you express it with anger, with confusion, with delight? Likewise can you express yourself without any words? If you looked at a video of someone speaking with no sound could you tell when a person seemed angry, confused, delighted, etc. How we use our body with emphasis, expressions, pace, pitch, posture do more to deliver the comprehension of our messages than the words.

Strategy 3

Understand that when it comes to the words we do use there are clues as to how people better understand and process information. The world is made up of people who are dominant learners either as Visual (29%), Auditory (34%) or Kinesthetic (37%), or a combination, that is mixed learning styles (30%). Whether a person makes sense of the world better through sight, sound, touch or a combination, there will likely be clues you can learn to pick up on. This is more important with relationships and is also a skill we teach salespeople to help them make their prospect more comfortable and receptive.

The clues can be in the words, if a person says “show me,” or, “I’d like to see…” that’s a difference compared to the “tell me about…” person or the “I feel…” clue you get. Know that those types have strategies. For a visual, get to the bottom line, the auditory wants it fully explained and the kinesthetic is influenced by metaphors.

Strategy 4

You don’t have to be a psychiatrist to learn how psychoanalysis informs communication. The Transaction Analysis model that evolved from Freud’s id, ego and superego states that there are three communication states, Parent, Adult and Child. While not literal this model suggests that if you had a critical parent as a child you adapted a strategy to deal with that. Likewise with a nurturing parent or another child. Adult state is about direct rational response to the here and now.

Think of the times you have seen professional people bickering at each other as children would. Or the boss who criticizes like a parent and the reactions it sets off. We can all have these kind of tendencies on occasion but real communication happens only when it is Adult to Adult conversation. Unfortunately for the success (and the world), that is often sorely lacking, particularly when the stakes are higher but listen at home and at work and chances are you will hear plenty of exchanges sounding not very adult. Learn how to present as an Adult, react as an Adult and move others not in that state to Adult and you are on your way.

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For help with your COMMUNCIATION or other BUSINESS THERAPY insights contact or follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Personal Performance — No Comments ↓

Do you feel like working today? Even if you feel like being at work do you feel like tackling the big challenge you know you really should be working on. Or maybe you are finding work to do that helps you avoid big stuff you could be doing because…well because it’s hard! Thus we see where motivation fails us. What if there was a shortcut to finding motivation? Perhaps there is.

When I help clients or teach classes that involve business plans or setting goals I require a session on setting PURPOSE. There’s all kinds of short term motivations that can work. It could be fear of getting fired, that works. Opportunity for quickly making or getting more money, a bonus, a prize or such can surely give the impetus to tackle the challenge at hand. But, what about the every day range of productivity that are most manager’s and staff’s nemesis? Most people have a very vague sense of purpose or one that is distant. Working to have a good retirement is surely a purpose but how motivating is it when you are 26?

Defining your purpose is a critical process to undertake if you want to have a motivation shortcut handy. Those who are clear on the purpose usually find motivation de facto. Of course if your purpose is unclear, uncertain or yet to be determined in any meaningful way then your motivations are likely going to be more immediate or short term. Without getting too spiritual the truth of the matter is that the higher your purpose the more likely the motivation is cemented in your behavior rituals and habits. Having motivated habits, or repeated behaviors is the surest way of showing results because the motivation for success is ever present.

In daily challenges our fears, worries and distractions can disarm our motivations and reduce our productivity and/or efficiency. They can reduce our leadership effectiveness. So try this simple exercise by completing these sentences:

The most important purpose(s) in my life is:

The reason I want to be successful is:

The consequences of my not finding success are:

This matters to me because:

How you complete these four simple phrases will likely be a clear window into how motivated your actions are. The more detail you have the clearer the view. Having both an existential and a practical connection is the ultimate. When purpose is integrated throughout your life you are less likely to disconnect from it. When you feel your motivation lagging it is by reconnecting to your purpose(s) that can quickly supercharge your actions, and that’s what we call motivation. Don’t fear your highest calling. Don’t judge your material desires. When either, and hopefully both, are identified you have a connection to motivation that beats any afternoon sugar rush and it will likely wear off much less quickly than that last doughnut in the break room you were sure would do the trick.

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For help with your MOTIVATION or other BUSINESS THERAPY insights contact or follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Leadership, Management — No Comments ↓
credit: pexels, Andre Mouton

Never mind what’s in your wallet, what’s in your mirror? Do others see you as you see yourself?

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest manager of all? And thus we adapt the wicked old witches adage for self admiration, but it has another adaptation as well. When we teach sales people how to build rapport one of the techniques is Mirroring & Matching. This is a way to create comfort by acting and looking like our prospects and sending positive body language signals. Leaders often adapt the same principal with their teams, does it work? Well…

Since we are playing the double entendre of mirroring let’s start with the common usage. Every leader needs to look in a mirror and self-examine. To be successful we have to find satisfaction with what we see. Not perfection, but not being downed by any warts or flaws we see when we look closely. The better leaders also have two-way mirrors. They not only want to see themselves but they have a trusted opinion behind the looking glass who can honestly reflect what is seen by others. If all they hear is “you’re great,” then either you are god’s gift to leadership or you need a more honest or informed opinion to be of use.

When we look at our reflection we can ask two key leadership questions: 1) What do I know I need and want to get better at? Then, 2) Did I make a real effort to get better at that today? For both parts of the questions it can be that outside view behind the mirror that can most help your perspective. Just like the old witch whose mirror answered with what she wanted to hear many leaders use their success-to-date as validation that they are the fairest in the land. Often leaders get that reinforced by those voices who feel it is best to tell the leader what they want to hear.

In all my leadership and sales coaching I stress that honesty is a key attribute to both professional success and personal happiness that lasts. While beating yourself up over what you see in the mirror is destructive so is failing to see not only what can be done to improve but what effort is being applied. Additionally, it is what others see in that projection, not what they say, that reflects their reality of your leadership or managing attributes.

The other mirroring strategy is often seen with leaders when there is a gap between them and subordinates. They hope to bridge gaps to better informed or better perceived. This can be racial, say a white boss with a mostly minority staff. Generational, the fifty-something boss with an all twenty-something team or even financial with a well-heeled boss and lower pay scale employees. In order to feel less different or in an attempt to be liked leaders try and mirror their staff in language, sentiments, actions or attitudes.

Is there anything less cool than a 50-year-old trying too hard to be ethnically hip, or trying to act young or in touch with the economically challenged? As often as not, while well-intentioned, these actions can be seen as racist, ageist, or elitist. They usually aren’t challenged upon receipt, rather a reputation develops of a behind-your-back label. You may think you are in touch and pretty cool while your team may see your reflection quite the opposite of your hope, despite acknowledging you for your professional abilities.

The reality of trying to mirror a staff that is not like you is that even if you do sound like them, dress like them, act like them or even have the same opinions as them you should not expect them to find it sincere. They have a belief and a comfort with you and us and when there is an obvious attempt to conform it will be seen as trying to hard, at best, and at worse, one of the “isms” every leader dreads being accused of. Parents learn this when they suddenly go from hero to roll your eyes “really” mom or dad when kids turn to teens.

We all need to be ourselves. We all need to avoid what we may think are hip or funny comments that get polite reflex smiles. They don’t make you cool, they make you distant. Whether separations of power are inclusive of race, money, age or any other distinction respect comes to those who are genuine. Beloved bosses demonstrate empathy, understanding and challenge others to be their best while being comfortable with who they are, who they have become and their efforts to keep improving.

The very best bosses look in that mirror and see their reflection with honest and hopeful eyes but they also learn how their image is perceived by others. You may not be loved for being honest to yourself and to others but chances are good you will be respected. If that’s the outcome of your managing then you are doing something right. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s a respected boss after all?” Get that answer right and you are a true leader.

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For help with your LEADERSHIP or other BUSINESS THERAPY insights contact or follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or here at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Personal Performance — No Comments ↓

Is mentoring for everyone? Can anyone be a mentor? The answer to both is definitely no. If the question is “Should my company have a mentoring program?” then the answer is definitely yes whether you have two or twenty thousand employees. Think of the teachers you’ve had in your life. Some were amazing, inspiring and memorable to this day, others were boring, off-putting or otherwise painful to learn from. The same is true for mentors but beyond that it also applies to anyone who has to train another employee. Some people are great at it, some woeful but there is a fundamental difference between training and mentoring. Both are vital but not interchangeable.

By common definition mentoring is a process of having one with experience and wisdom share that with one who has less and thus provide guidance, feedback, opinions giving professional and/or personal development. So the who should receive mentoring is anyone who is believed to have a promising company future but lacks experience or perhaps insight. More significant for a mentoring program beyond how it is administered is who should do the mentoring. It is not only experience and wisdom that count because not everyone can effectively convert their experience into a positive guidance for others.

Mentoring has benefits that are larger than the giving guidance. The benefits to an organization start with the fact that it often helps bridge generation and seniority gaps and promotes mutual understanding and perspective. Especially with the Boomers-Millenials identities, much of that common consciousness is generalized scorn. Boomers (and X-ers), of course, don’t realize they are responsible for Millenial attitudes because it’s their children that they wanted to have things different from the way their parents did things!

Beyond understanding the Mentor, if good, will often learn as much or gain as much insight as the Mentee. The Mentor value comes from two primary skills: 1) The ability to ask insightful questions and 2) the ability to listen (and not feel urgency to give “the answer”). It is sadly not common for senior staff, and executive leadership, to excel in both those areas.

Too often Mentors see themselves as responsible for giving advice so they talk too much or make it too much about themselves. While sharing personal experience can be a helpful example to demonstrate consequences, pro or con, often the more valuable approach is to help a person develop a process for evaluating or making decisions for themselves. Great mentoring questions include: “What do you think your options are…and what are the possible results?” “What is the worse case result?” and, “how would you handle it if that happened…?”

I remember being told early in life that going to college was not about what you learn compared to learning how to learn and how to think for yourself. Likewise in mentoring it is far more meaningful to teach your fishermen to fish for themselves than to tell them how you landed your big fish, or got no nibbles, as their experiences are rarely exactly yours.

Mentoring also promotes the self-image and self-value an employee can have. Telling a good, young, performer that they have been selected to be part of a mentoring program contributes to retention, morale and their sense of worth. Any program should start with a trusted core and can expand but their must also be a champion in senior management. Mentors should regularly meet, even if it’s but twice a year, to give program feedback and learn from each other on process or advice that went well and not so well. Mentees should receive a regular questionnaire to get their feedback on the process and the results to see who should be a mentor and maybe who should not. It’s also fine for the program to have a term of how often, how long to meet and when that might conclude to make way for the next person.

There are no better traits for any employee to have than experience and wisdom. There is no better, and more cost effective, way to broaden that in an organization than with a well designed, well executed and well managed mentoring program. Much of what you hope your whole staff can be is already within your organization, Mentoring is a method to proliferate that with mutual benefits to the participants and the organization’s culture as well.

How And Why To Mentor

Is mentoring for everyone? Can anyone be a mentor? The answer to both is definitely no. If the question is “Should my company have a mentoring program?” then the answer is definitely yes whether you have two or twenty thousand employees. Think of the teachers you’ve had in your life. Some were amazing, inspiring and memorable to this day, others were boring, off-putting or otherwise painful to learn from. The same is true for mentors but beyond that it also applies to anyone who has to train another employee. Some people are great at it, some woeful but there is a fundamental difference between training and mentoring. Both are vital but not interchangeable.

By common definition mentoring is a process of having one with experience and wisdom share that with one who has less and thus provide guidance, feedback, opinions giving professional and/or personal development. So the who should receive mentoring is anyone who is believed to have a promising company future but lacks experience or perhaps insight. More significant for a mentoring program beyond how it is administered is who should do the mentoring. It is not only experience and wisdom that count because not everyone can effectively convert their experience into a positive guidance for others.

Mentoring has benefits that are larger than the giving guidance. The benefits to an organization start with the fact that it often helps bridge generation and seniority gaps and promotes mutual understanding and perspective. Especially with the Boomers-Millenials identities, much of that common consciousness is generalized scorn. Boomers (and X-ers), of course, don’t realize they are responsible for Millenial attitudes because it’s their children that they wanted to have things different from the way their parents did things!

Beyond understanding the Mentor, if good, will often learn as much or gain as much insight as the Mentee. The Mentor value comes from two primary skills: 1) The ability to ask insightful questions and 2) the ability to listen (and not feel urgency to give “the answer”). It is sadly not common for senior staff, and executive leadership, to excel in both those areas.

Too often Mentors see themselves as responsible for giving advice so they talk too much or make it too much about themselves. While sharing personal experience can be a helpful example to demonstrate consequences, pro or con, often the more valuable approach is to help a person develop a process for evaluating or making decisions for themselves. Great mentoring questions include: “What do you think your options are…and what are the possible results?” “What is the worse case result?” and, “how would you handle it if that happened…?”

I remember being told early in life that going to college was not about what you learn compared to learning how to learn and how to think for yourself. Likewise in mentoring it is far more meaningful to teach your fishermen to fish for themselves than to tell them how you landed your big fish, or got no nibbles, as their experiences are rarely exactly yours.

Mentoring also promotes the self-image and self-value an employee can have. Telling a good, young, performer that they have been selected to be part of a mentoring program contributes to retention, morale and their sense of worth. Any program should start with a trusted core and can expand but their must also be a champion in senior management. Mentors should regularly meet, even if it’s but twice a year, to give program feedback and learn from each other on process or advice that went well and not so well. Mentees should receive a regular questionnaire to get their feedback on the process and the results to see who should be a mentor and maybe who should not. It’s also fine for the program to have a term of how often, how long to meet and when that might conclude to make way for the next person.

There are no better traits for any employee to have than experience and wisdom. There is no better, and more cost effective, way to broaden that in an organization than with a well designed, well executed and well managed mentoring program. Much of what you hope your whole staff can be is already within your organization, Mentoring is a method to proliferate that with mutual benefits to the participants and the organization’s culture as well.

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For help starting a MENTOR PROGRAM or other BUSINESS THERAPY insights contact or follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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https://www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Leadership, Management — No Comments ↓
With great power comes great responsibility…to decide

Moses may have been solo when he went up that mountain but those of faith will tell you he wasn’t alone. Unless you personally have a direct line to divine wisdom on demand then chances are you are much better off if you have someone besides yourself to help you work through your biggest decisions. All of us toil in our own heads when evolving our major verdicts, plans or directions on the key punditry of our leadership. Some will suggest their faith informs them, others are convinced that it is their toil to take responsibility for their decisions unaccompanied by advice. Others have learned a valuable education on advice and employ a process for getting advice preceding their decisions.

As a middle manager in a giant media company way back when, I was repeatedly asked to work with big consulting companies to assist their high priced task of whatever improvement of the day was hoped for. It became my view that all these high-priced consultants did was listen to the staff and stakeholders (in a way top management refused to), take their advice, repackage it with binders full of documentation and statistics and a projection or two with well-worded bullet points and top management felt that their Moses had surely materialized their tablets.

As the head of a consulting company myself for the last ten years, as one of the three stooges first said, “I resemble that remark!” Those who dabble professionally in advice have evolved a process for giving it. There are three basic profiles of the executive decision maker and each method has it’s pros and cons and appropriate fit for different individuals and for different kinds of decisions.

THE THINKER

This leader is convinced he or she must mull the facts in solitude, investigate to satisfaction and then trust his or her judgment that they will pick the better direction to lead the troops to success. THE GOOD: Thoughtful, accountable, decisive. THE BAD: Are you really better alone in your own mind or is that a dangerous place to loiter?

THE COLLABORATOR

This leader is a gatherer of opinions. They seek out opinions and weigh all that they hear to adjudicate decisions like a judge in a courtroom. THE GOOD: Diversity of positions, demonstrates listening, gets ground level experiences, those asked feel valued. THE BAD: Can be subject to bias by opinion givers, can worry others with what will be ultimately decided, can anger those whose advice was not followed and may be delegating authority and setting up a lack of accountability as, “This was your idea not mine.”

THE TRUSTED ADVISOR DELIBERATION

It may be a key subordinate, perhaps a peer, a long time vendor or a paid or non-paid trusted advisor. Having a sounding board this leader hears the ideas he speaks is open to devil’s advocacy and is not beholden to the advisor on the final decision. THE GOOD: Objective opinion, trust, thoughtful, lack of ego in the decision. THE BAD: possible hidden agenda by advisor, potential for “yes” men.

THE BEST ADVICE ADVICE

Sitting recently with a client who is also a friend I was asked to help him get past a sticking point developing his company’s five year plan. Regularly consulting on business plans this isn’t unusual but what was unusual was that it quickly became clear to me this CEO knew the ins and outs of the options far better than I could hope to so what I did was mostly ask why and why not to each of the options and tried to draw out any emotions behind the rational. “Why wouldn’t you do that?” brings out the counterpoint and forces the decision maker to consider all the conditions and, more important, the emotions around the decision.

I didn’t end up suggesting what I thought best, what I would do, or what I thought he should do in any specific. Rather, I listened and let him work through out loud what was in his head in the quiet. My questions let him hear and consider how the decision would likely play out. Those big consulting companies in my past taught me that people facing major decisions usually get all the information and opinions they need and develop a gut feel for what to do, what they need is a process to bring the options to light, consider objective reflections and reactions and take the time to defend or promote where they really want to go.

The CEO thanked me after our meeting suggesting there weren’t a lot of people he trusted to talk so openly to. It wasn’t really my advice on what to do he wanted, I let him get more comfortable with his own decision process and options and lessen the perceived burden of deciding. The best kind of decision process usually involves employing all three decision-maker types. Get information from stakeholders or people on the ground closest to it, have a trusted advisor you can bounce your decision alternatives off without fear of consequence and then when you spend time in your own head, as you ultimately need to, it is an informed and well-thought decision.

So the best advice on advice is to have a process you can trust to get decision advice. Don’t go up that mountain top alone and you won’t need to look around for a bush that’s on fire!

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For more BUSINESS THERAPY insights follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts or on LinkedIn. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Uncategorized — No Comments ↓

Do You Really Listen?

So why don’t we listen, really listen? There are probably more reasons, and excuses, than would fit in any article, but for business particularly here are some of the most common: You know what the person is trying to say. You can listen and do something else since you are so busy. You don’t really want to hear what is being said. It isn’t a good time. You’d rather do the talking. You’ve heard it before. It’s boring. You know what’s coming next. The tone you’re hearing is too annoying to listen to. You decide it isn’t important. Or, the ever popular, blame it on the person talking. If they were a good communicator you’d have to listen, right?

What’s Your Excuse?

I bet you could add a bunch more excuses without much effort. Let’s start then with why you should be a better listener and then we’ll give some how-to…if you are still reading (ie listening with your eyes!) The most important reason to be a better listener is that it is key to being a better communicator. Too often we think our skill at giving information is what makes us great communicators but that’s barely half the picture. Did you ever hear a worker suggest there’s a communication issue? Shouldn’t every boss be a good communicator? As often as not the perception of poor communication is because a person doesn’t feel really listened to rather than they aren’t hearing or seeing something.

Besides making you a better leader, manager, parent, worker, spouse…human…listening is a skill too often overlooked, rushed or ignored. You may try to fool yourself that you can multitask but the reality is that the human brain only has focus on one thing at a time with any quality so while you may think you are hearing everything chances are good that unfocused listening will result in you missing something and the person speaking not feeling confident about the conversation. Whether it’s missing data, subtext, emotion, or anything else when we don’t focus there is no substitute for actively listening if you want complete information and to be a good communicator.

Listening Fundamentals

The fundamentals of good listening begin with a focus on what is being said. That begins with your body signals. By eye contact with the person talking, stopping other activity, opening your body posture, leaning in, nodding and other physical signals set the stage for comprehension and good listening. Notice the listener the next time you’ve got something to say. By observing how other listen you get a read of your own quality.

The next part of good Active Listening is to encourage the person to complete their thoughts without interruption either with nodding, short utterances (“I see,” “go on,” “ok”) and then pause when the person is complete. Do not demonstrate an ambition to quickly comment, answer or dismiss until an entire thought has been expressed. Follow that pause with a Reflective Comment where you can restate the gist of what was presented to you. End that with a question to confirm your summary is correct, (ie Do I have that right?).

The final quick trick of great listeners is that they are not in a hurry with their response. Sure, some interactions only require a quick yes or no or simple direction but you should match your level of intensity of listening with the perceived importance of the comment. An interview, for example, seems obvious to be a focused conversation but so many of them receive answers with eyes down, taking a note or otherwise disengaging.

Use your intuition, observation and other senses to draw out what’s really going on, what the person really wants to know or wants you to know. A simple observation like, “This seems really important to you…” acknowledges to the speaker you get it. Answer a question with a question before you give an answer and you can get to the “why” you are being asked a question. Using “Reversing” helps the presenter better communicate what’s important and sure enough when they are helped to the real point you get credit for really listening, and avoid reacting to something that wasn’t really the point.

Don’t take conversations lightly if you want to be a good leader, communicator, partner or person. Use the techniques that demonstrate you really listen; words, tone, body language. Reflect it back and/or question a question to drill down to the real issues and a slightly longer communication will save you repeats, misses and “I thought you said…” Give it a try, ya hear?!

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For more BUSINESS THERAPY insights follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Business Therapy, Leadership, Management — No Comments ↓

As I write this, Michigan State Basketball coach Tom Izzo is preparing his team for tomorrow’s Final Four appearance. As a head coach of a top NCAA program his record, consistency and known behavior allows him to block out the sometimes silly criticism he received for aggressively yelling at, and getting in the face of, a freshman player who didn’t hustle to the coach’s standard of effort.

Coach Izzo has his way to yell at his team. More importantly, his team knows when, how and why they will be yelled at. The Freshman (victim) went on to have great performances and hasn’t failed to hustle back on defense yet. Before a business leader tries this motivational release of aggression they need to make sure they can say the same for his team.

           Like almost every viral event in American society today the dichotomy of reaction flooded the extremes, March Madness lived up to it’s name here for the wrong reasons. The defenders foolishly decry the “woosification” of our country while the offended recall images like the horror of a past Rutgers Basketball Coach abusing his players in a way that should make any parent of a college athlete cringe in horror. Sports and Business are not exactly the same but since it’s a rarity to hear any business leader lecture without some type of tortured sports metaphor I hope you’ll indulge one more.

I’m old enough to remember Olympics going back to 1972. There are several memories of American greatness never to be forgotten, Mark Spitz, Dave Wottle, Dan Gable and others. There’s heartbreak memories like the U.S.A. Basketball team’s cheated loss to the Soviets but equal in intensity in my memory bank is the story of the Japanese Women’s Volleyball team. They had dominated the sport but a Jim McKay piece on the team showed the cruel and abusive system the coach ran leaving players in physical and emotional pain in the name of excellence.

It was the moral equivalent in my mind to a slave ship being whipped to cross a finish line first, where was the glory there? Winning at their host games in 1964 they made the podium the next two games but have never medaled again since. Their style of coaching went out of fashion, why?

           Coaching, all coaching, whether guiding a sports team or leading a business team is driven by the same two factors of leadership: Effectiveness and Appropriateness.

No business I know of would find appropriateness in Izzo-style yelling in the face of a lack-of-effort-employee regardless of whether it was effective. Likewise, however appropriate a leader’s address is to a team if it’s not effective in producing results that leader’s future success is unlikely. Coach Izzo gets a pass from his players for very specific reasons.

To start, he doesn’t hide from telling anyone that’s what he’ll do. He’s demonstrated it consistently over a long career. Parents of recruits have to be fine with the notion that if their son does not commit to maximum effort the coach will let him know in no uncertain terms or they should play elsewhere. Izzo didn’t get that raspy, leather-worn voice from reciting sonnets! Obviously, it has been effective as 22 of his 24 recruiting classes have made a Final Four appearance.

It’s appropriateness is because of the same factors that can allow a business leader to raise his voice, yell at his team or generally lose it a little. (This needs to be in person, it’s not a phone or Skype strategy because it is not about the words or the volume but about the personal connection.)

You Can Yell If:

1.    The stakes must are high for everyone in success or failure.

2.    Everyone has bought in to the potential consequences of failure.

3.    The team comes together after discipline rather than is pulled apart.

4.    The emotion has to be commensurate to the consequences and the effort and appreciated as fair.

5.    It must be an honest and natural part of the leader’s behavior.

6.    Every outburst requires follow up of quiet reflection and strategy to proceed without repeat.

7.    It’s vocabulary needn’t be profane but does need to be specific to a given event rather than summing up rage built over time or “you always…”

8.    It is not personal except to specific behaviors where the expectations and results were obvious to all the team.

9.    There is a history of team members excelling after yelling.

10. It is solely for the benefit of the team with the Leader including his or herself for [some] responsibility for the lack of direction, support, training or oversight.

Since my March Madness bracket was busted weeks ago I won’t attempt to predict how Coach Izzo’s team will fair this weekend. His record and the voice of his alumni and current players are the real judges and their vote is unanimous. Timeless, however, is the reality that great leadership can have great emotion, loud voices and noisy confrontations in the name of motivation. You better have all 10 of those listed conditions in place however, or you’ll just be an ineffective leader with a big mouth.

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For more BUSINESS THERAPY insights follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon.

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by Tom FoxPosted on Posted in Business Therapy, Leadership — No Comments ↓

“It’s not you, it’s me,” may have crossed your lips once upon a time to help you end a relationship. Of course, what you were really thinking was likely the opposite but this seemed like a let-down-easy strategy to shield you from having to detail blame. When, however, was the last time you heard that from a business leader? Where ego and self-preservation strategies are more likely about shielding yourself from blame rather than accepting responsibility. Leaders need to acknowledge when it’s not you it’s them…and here’s why.

Accountability

Whether you manage yourself, a team or an empire, the fundamental success principle at play is being accountable for both your actions and your results. Accountability is not blame. Blame implies fault rather than responsibility. If an employee is in error or under producing there is still the matter of where the buck stops. You may not have made the errant behavior but when you are responsible for results it ultimately circles back to you.

Accepting blame for results may dictate further actions like better training your staff or even if you have to fire someone when you hold yourself accountable for results you will find the motivation to take the appropriate steps down the line. That may be bringing in training or sending a worker out the door but don’t sit with blame for another when there’s something you can do to change the results.

Responsibility

When you are answerable for a result you have an obligation to understand it. Whether it comes up short or blows the doors off being accountable is a way of taking responsibility in public, or private. Assessing responsibility however, is about diagnosing actions or processes to see what brought you to the result that you are accountable for.

Others’ actions may be more directly responsible for the results but by making it clear that the leader answers for results it can make fixing behaviors, tools or people much smoother because it has been demonstrated that you are leading solutions not just doling out consequences.

Lead by Example

While it’s not a strategy to celebrate, when you are accountable for results and responsible to fix people and processes leading to those results you demonstrate the example that you want everyone working or with you to have. Telling your board or boss or partner that you are confronting challenges rather than hiding from them demonstrates a commitment to a different result.

When you step up for the “blame” chances are those you report to are going to look for the lower reasons it isn’t you! It builds trust to know that it’s not about victims it’s about shared efforts toward solutions. Seeing you take these steps show your staff/team exactly the behavior you want them to demonstrate in their role or function.

The next time a result is in front of you that cries out for explanation think about the example you can set by being accountable for it and taking responsibility to fix it, or maybe repeat it. Conversely, taking a humble approach for success, “It’s not me, it’s you!” is the appropriate response and your best chance to continue getting the best out of others, and of yourself.

©2019 MyEureka Solutions LLC. For more BUSINESS THERAPY insights follow Tom @TomFoxTrainer, on LinkedIn or at www.myeurekasolutions.com/thoughts. His recent book: Business Therapy: Ideas and Inspirations To Help Build Sales, Leadership, Management, and Personal Performance is available on Amazon

 

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Tom Fox