Post-Tribune

Clarity the essence of executive coaching

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:34:01 -0500

Thomas Edison invented a clear light bulb. The use of clear glass was intentional because he wanted to see if the filament worked between the two supply wires. After thousands of tries in finding the right filament, Edison had his first successful test on Oct. 22, 1879. Had Edison begun with what we now would identify as a frosted light bulb, he probably would have had even more failures. The essence of executive coaching is clarity, much like Edison’s invention of the light bulb. To achieve this clarity is not without failures and does not happen overnight. Also, as in …

Questions to ask about executive coaching

Sun, 12 May 2013 23:00:00 -0500

As May is International Coaching Month, this might just be the right time to determine if executive coaching is for you, but where do you start? Possibly these tips or suggestions will help you make a better informed decision. Before you do your local Internet search, ask some friend or call your local Chamber of Commerce. Ask why you desire a coach? Possibly this question might give you greater clarity: • What has kept me from achieving or getting me or my business to where I want to be? Answering this question is critical not only to your success as the …

Start your engines with executive coaching

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:34:01 -0500

May is the time for the Indianapolis Speedway, blooming flowers, green lawns and the prelude for all those summer time activities. Additionally, May is recognized as International Coaching Month. Coaching whether it is business, executive or corporate has become very popular. For years, athletes have had one to multiple coaches supporting them in their refinement of their skills so they could be the very best. Now in the business world, executive coaching has taken hold as well. Over a decade ago in 2001, MetrixGlobal conducted what is considered to be one of the best definitive studies respective to coaching. In …

Fools and lies in small business

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:36:00 -0500

A Jewish proverb states, “A half-truth is still a whole lie.” How many times in our small businesses do we engage in half-truths? It happens because we may fear the consequences of telling the real truth to our customers, our employees or worse yet ourselves? Having invested more than 30 years in corporate of which 15-plus years were in management, I heard a lot of half-truths or down right full lies from vendors and from employees. What never ceased to amaze me were these individuals believed so much in their false reality they failed to recognize I heard and in …

The foolishness of bad hiring

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:16:01 -0500

Many small business owners end up as fools because they hire badly. These bad hiring decisions cost thousands of dollars in profits. What business can afford to stay in business when they continue to hire the wrong people or the right people continue to quit creating more potential wrong hires? Last year Career Builder conducted a study on the impact of bad hires and revealed some troubling statistics not to mention costs. Of the firms participating, 69% admitted to making a bad hire within the last year. For 41% of those businesses, the estimated cost for this negative decision was …

How this joke hurts the small business bottom line

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:56:00 -0500

Small business owners understand profitability is critical to staying in the marketplace. They expect their employees to maximize profitability. Yet, how many employees know with 100 percent certainty the answer to this question: Do you know how this small business makes and keeps money? No this question is not a joke, but a serious one to be answered. Recently during a conversation with a local bank vice president, she indicated that the majority of banking employees probably know with greater clarity the answer to this question than the average employees in the business to business or business to retail worlds. …

Small business execs need to do homework before outsourcing

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 08:06:01 -0500

With the economy still struggling, many small business owners to even C Suite executives are outsourcing roles to maximize profitability. This is a proven business growth strategy provided those vendors include an assessment before embarking on any solution. Without the assessment, this can be a very expensive joke to the business. Small business consultants -- including organizational development, social media, training and development to sustainability -- who provide solutions without first engaging in a formal assessment are committing malpractice. If you disagree, consider this. You have an ongoing headache. Finally enough is enough and you schedule an appointment with your …

Are these April Fool’s Day jokes on you or your small business?

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 09:00:00 -0500

Today is April 1, the day noted for practical jokes. For small business owners and professionals this is not a one-time event. It happens numerous times month after month. Here are some April Fool’s jokes that I have discovered during my tenure not only as an executive coach and enterprise consultant, but as an employee. 1. “I don’t need a plan because I am ‘Captain Wing-It.’ I spray my actions all over the place and then pray that something will stick.” And how does that ensure consistent results? 2. We have a sales problem. No, what you really have is …

Critical growth categories are more than profit

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 23:46:00 -0500

So many times the business growth solutions fall into the “one size fits all” model. This approach ignores the reality of the different business growth stages and consequently the different challenges being faced within each growth stage. Unfortunately, many of these traditional business growth solutions are revenue- and profit-driven only. These solutions ignore the reality of the internal culture of the people. Without people, no organization will continue to survive and -- more importantly -- thrive. Recently in reading, “Navigating the Growth Curve,” by James Fischer, I realized that profit will change as the business enters different growth stages and …

The profit picture goes beyond sales less costs

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 15:22:01 -0500

The traditional business growth model of “sales-less-costs-equal-profits” is simple and may be the reason so many businesses fail in the first year. There are many elements to profit. It’s more of a design, a picture puzzle with just more than the two pieces of sales and costs. Some of the other pieces of the profit picture include: • Culture • Exchange of value between different revenue groups • Marketing • Organizational structure • Research and development These are not all the pieces to the profit picture; however they are a good start. When employees know how the company makes and keeps money, they are more …

Honesty about profits first step in building growth strategy

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 23:22:01 -0500

Profits are what make businesses from the micro to the macro churn and turn. For without profits, employees to vendors would not be paid for their services not to mention the small business owners or investors. The traditional business growth strategy is pretty simple: Sales less costs equal profits. Most of the attention is focused on increasing sales and decreasing costs. These numbers are held in fairly tight secrecy by the small business owners to C suite executives. Yet employees are expected to maximize profits at all times. This begs the following question: If they do not know how the …

Your solution approach to business growth may be the problem

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 08:50:00 -0500

Business leaders when confronted with challenges or repetitive issues traditionally take a problem solving approach. And what usually happens is the discovery of more problems creating a business landscape of not just one dug hole, but many. The problem solving approach is probably rooted in the negatively conditioned behavior of looking for weaknesses and then focusing energies on converting those weaknesses into strengths. Ask any business leader why do winning teams win; is it because of their strengths or because of their weaknesses? We instinctively know the answer to be strengths. Great leaders like Vince Lombardi did not seek the …

What’s your voltage meter reading?

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 15:20:00 -0500

Voltage is a term to measure the electrical current (energy) running through a system as well as the energy potential for that system. The origin of this word comes from Alessandro Volta a physicist in the early 1800s. Imagine for a moment if your organization was a system and you began to measure the emotional energy given off by your employees as well as the potential energy? What would that meter read? With so many employees (approximately 75 percent) in a state of not giving 8 for 8 (8 hours of work for 8 hours of pay) along with the …

How to avoid the repeating the ‘WIIFM’ broadcast

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 00:10:01 -0500

Radio station WIIFM is known as “What’s In It For Me.” Listen to many small business owners and sales professionals at any business-to-business networking event and you will hear numerous broadcasts all on this same frequency. If you have employees, the emotional desire of WIIFM is always present. Your goal, whether you are selling to others or selling to your employees, is to connect WIIFM to “WIIFU” (What’s In It For Us). When WIIFM is present, especially if you need to increase sales, the desperation factor creeps into the broadcasting of your marketing message. Your behaviors start manifesting themselves in …

Bad bosses keep it negative; stir emotional rancor in workplace

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:14:00 -0500

Have you ever had a bad boss? Or maybe a boss who sometimes engaged in bad behaviors? How did that make you feel? If you are a boss, a manager or a supervisor, how do you think your bad behaviors made your direct reports feel? Are you stirring up a pot of negative emotions that will eventually simmer until they boil over? And what will you do with all that emotional spillage? Would you believe in spite of all the information regarding leadership and management; in spite of all the training and development; in spite of all the business books …

Handling emotions properly can help a business enjoy success

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 14:28:00 -0500

February is considered a month of emotions. From the red hearts decorations to all the cards, flowers and gifts just waiting to be received on Valentine’s Day, February month is bursting with emotions. When we examine any business, emotions are present because customers are human beings. As Spock from the “Star Trek” series observed numerous times, human beings are emotional creatures first. Yet, so often those in leadership and management roles within business fail to understand the emotions of their clients, their employees, their vendors and other stakeholders. So how well does your business recognize and handle emotions? Great customer …

Positive core values remain critical to success in leaders

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:02:00 -0500

Leadership is still a critical aspect of running any small business or organization. And here in Northwest Indiana it is those small business owners, CEO’s and entrepreneurs who truly keep the economic engine running. Today, I would like to introduce you to Marti Masterson, entrepreneur and small business owner for the last 17 years of the Masterson Insurance Agency in Valparaiso. Marti’s agency handles life, personal and commercial insurance lines. Q: Marti, what five words or phrases would you use to describe a leader? A: • Consistent • Persistent • Respectful • Risk-taker • Visionary Q: From your perspective and experience, how much do positive …

Keeping the ‘dead horse’ in the race won’t bring success

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 01:44:00 -0500

Conducting business as we have always done it produces a lot of wasted energy, leaving what I affectionately call a path of dead horses. Human nature truly does not like change and will stay with the same behaviors, the same processes, the same attitudes even if internally people know what they are doing will not work. This resistance to change has been well researched and documented in books such as “Change or Die.” One great example of a dead horse is the reluctance to upgrade to a smart phone or a better cell phone carrier. Yes, it is a hassle …