Archive for category Leadership

Helping staff to get what they want

Jan 24

Posted by Steve Gray in Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | 1 Comment

When it comes to dealing with staffing issues it seems as though there are always going to be those who want to help themselves and then there’s the rest.

What to do when you are staring down the barrel of staffing challenges and this is just one of your starting points?

In a previous article I looked at What Staff Want. It gives some interesting insights, but how do you figure out how to deliver the things they want or need and get to that point effectively.

Let’s go for the easy option, Brainstorm…

If you already know what they want and or need to do their job effectively, then facilitating a session with them will assist them to at least understand you want to assist them, and give you an idea of if they want to be assisted.

The real aim is to use the “Collective Intelligence” to get information happening and ideas explored.

You could start out with the list of what people want, then jot down some ideas in advance of things you believe might match to the job, tasks, attitudes and beliefs. Then you have a chance of connecting with them when the discussion starts and they are scrambling to find ideas. You would probably use your information to enhance their thinking processes if they get stuck, you might add in a pointer relating to an obvious task to spur them on.

Brainstorming can be easy – Set some guidelines and go from there.

All ideas are good ideas – We can focus on the good ideas later
Feel free to share – Let people freely add in and occasionally encourage the stragglers to also put in. Invite them to help make things better
Our aim – To explore ideas on improving this business unit – “We have challenges what will improve things?”
Work to a time frame so they don’t just lounge about for ages, aim to get ideas on to paper fast.
Pose some questions to be answered – Perhaps this is the initial brainstorming, getting the issues out as THEY see them, then getting them to provide ideas to answer them
Write fast, and prod for more ideas – Actively explore concepts as they arise
Consider a mind map – Do an internet search on the basics of this, it can be a very visual way of getting the thought processes working.
Collate the main ideas and share them once they are typed up – This can then lead to a plan of action or an attitude shift to some degree.

A brainstorming session should be positive and free flowing. The team should not feel like they are working under duress to come up with ideas. Hopefully after doing this session you will be able to find some excellent starting points to work from. Chances are the team had all the ideas and answers and you were able to positively, openly and honestly listen to them work through the challenges.

Tags: business, business mechanics, business success, communication, People!, Planning, Risk Management, steve gray, training

What staff want

Jan 17

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

As a follow on from the series dealing with staffing issues this article explores what staff want, when you know that and provide it, then you will find it easier to keep them happy. Believe me it’s important.

Keeping people happy is one part of the whole business matrix… customers or staff, the common denominator is that they are all people.

To keep one person happy you might find their definition is built on getting a reasonable amount of work done in a standard working day, churning through mountains of meaningless paperwork. Meanwhile the next person is kept happy by having variety and not just being stuck in an office.

So what are the core things they want and how can you provide these for them?

Here’s my list.

A sense of belonging – Being valued by others, even in minor ways can help to build and maintain their workplace sense of esteem
A sense of achievement – Some will want to work their way up the corporate ladder, set goals and achieve them
Contributing and adding value – Beyond their basic agreement, work targets etc, they feel as though they have contributed to the whole business machine
A sense of purpose – It’s not a meaningless job, it has a role to play and they can clearly sense that
Organisational integrity – It’s about security, if they know the organisation has integrity they then have a foundation they can believe in and stand by. No integrity, the foundation can give way at anytime this leads to insecurity and can be a reason for staff turnover
Control – For some this can mean the security that comes from having some measure of control over their situation, it might be minor. For others they want the chance to take control of a department, or a division depending on their level of drive or motivation
They like be challenged – In ways which suit them, not you. For some it will be big challenges for others it will be meeting a small quota. It comes down to brain stimulus
They have a suitable work environment – Where it can be controlled, think about it you spend 8 or so hours a day in the business, do you want to spend 8 hours in a hovel or 8 hours in paradise… The choice is a no brainer right? So what’s your environment like? Sure paradise is a BIG step but making it better might only take a few tweaks and a small amount of cash. For those out on the road for instance in a company vehicle, is it clean neat and tidy, new, old, in good repair or a rust bucket. Oh and the Lunch room, a place to relax and unwind, or a stinking cesspool of yuck… (broken chairs etc.)
They have the right tools – Newish computer – Quiet keyboard – Suitable work chair – Effective other tools

Are there others? Probably, it’s up to you to find out. But armed with this as your starting point you can soon see the sorts of core things staff want. Go and chat with your staff and find out what their wants are.

Now you know what staff what, here’s an article on how you might explore this further.

Tags: business mechanics, business success, communication, employee recruitment, HR, hr leadership, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, steve gray

Dealing with challenging staff 1

Jan 16

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Risk Management | No Comments

This article is an extension of a previous one on staffing issues.

You started to see the clues that a staff member was not quite in line with your expected range of behaviours – their efforts are slow, below quality, they resist some tasks etc. In general they become a pain to deal with and you really hope they just vanish one day and the problem is over.

However the reality is somewhat different, they hang around and keep on plodding hoping to keep on getting away with doing what they do, It’s almost as if no one notices them doing what they don’t do.

Your task is to now figure out what to do about it and do it fast so they don’t start to infect others with their attitude.

Your first step is probably underway, that is rewarding the behaviours you want “Well done with the x project…” but if things have slipped out of your grasp a little then the following should be of value.

Here’s how things generally go

They get annoyed with something
They develop some form of resistance as a result of their annoyance (ignore commands, put things off etc)
Things escalate because they believe nothing is going to change back to how it was or get better (they were comfortable with how things were) now you have resentment starting to build
Finally things build retaliation stage, the issue that has resulted in things getting to this stage spills over into them taking negative action, in extreme cases this can get VERY nasty (read workplace shooting…) On the lesser scale they will do tasks slowly, to a poor standard or avoid tasks and probably blame others

The first step is to evaluate the situation – What specifically do they do that is causing difficulties? Make a list and make it evidence based but avoid implicating others (it can get VERY messy if you do!)

Secondly – You need to figure out what may be causing this, here are some possibilities, note all of these can lead a person to be annoyed with the job or the company and therefore their attitude and efforts have strayed.

Their job changed at some stage and they did not like the change but may not have said so, or if they did say something their plea fell on deaf ears
They have been told off for not doing a good job, in a way which has annoyed them. The upshot is they have resented it and have now become resistant and are starting to retaliate
They see the system as being so slack they figure they can get away with anything so they push the boundaries
They are being bullied or harassed in some way (I hope it’s not by you…)
They feel they are undervalued
They have some personal issues – physical – emotional – psychological, which is impacting on their work
The work has become too challenging for them
The work is no longer challenging for them
Things change too often for them, the computer system, they type of work, etc
The work may not have altered but now they have to travel further to complete works now they become annoyed
The list can go on.

Time to do something…

Let’s face it something needs to happen to “stop the rot setting in”. If you have built a great relationship with your team, you will be intervening early, perhaps at the annoyance or resistance stage. If not you may have a harder task to handle.

Let’s work on this in my next article on this issue.

Dealing with challenging staff 2

Jan 16

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Risk Management | No Comments

Leading on from the other post on this topic. You want to deal with the staff member who is causing some grief (or could be about to) how do you go about intervening to find out what you need to know. The big thing is to get them onside so they will want to chat to you about the issue with ease, the last thing you want is for them to later on suggest they were under some form of duress, caused by you in the questioning phase!

The aim is to have a staff member who is relaxed about you chatting with them, so you can keep them onside and willing to discuss issues rather than some adversarial situation they can get annoyed about.

Here are a few points to consider;

You are aiming to make an assessment not a judgement – There is a difference, assessing the situation means researching and working the facts, judging may well mean you could start off on an accusatory footing. Aim to get solid facts first.
Avoid cornering or accusing them – They may deny anything, then you will be in a harder place trying to get information as they withdraw and may start to lay blame or justify their position – Think about if you would like to be cornered and how you might respond
Keep things open and honest – You want them to feel as though they can readily and easily relate the information you want with no pressure, lies or any form of creative avoidance
Ask “Is it okay if we have a chat about work…” – This way you will have a good chance of getting their permission to chat about the issue/s. Avoid asking “So how’s work going” this can set them up to say “Ok… why” and then be on the defensive
Try the research method – “I’m chatting to a range of staff about things to do with the business, ideas for improvements, how people are going, that sort of thing. Can I do some research with you?” – This can give you permission to ask questions about the business and related info
Spend some time with them – This may not be suitable in every situation, but perhaps you can spend some time with them “on the road”, meet them on site, or perhaps sit with them for a while in their workspace (maybe chatting about a specific task to begin with.)
Make it happen fast – Once you have suggested you want to catch up, make sure you avoid dragging things on, this can cause unnecessary worry all round.
Take good notes – Leaving this part until later can be a trail fraught with danger, collect facts, not hearsay and allegations. Feel free to read back the details and see if they agree with what you jotted down. Consider asking them if they want a copy.

Now that you have set up the chance to have a chat, what will you say? Well it’s going to depend a bit on the angle you take I guess, personally I favour the research method.

Give them the chance to say nothing! – Somewhere in the opening questions if you can throw this in it can be very useful, “Feel free not to say anything if you wish, it’s up to you” this takes the pressure off straight away and allows them the option to avoid things, chances are they will actually switch on internally and answer practically any question you pose to them.
Begin with some easy things – “if they have a new vehicle, “So how’s the new vehicle going, one of the other guys is not sure about his…” or “This last six months has been really busy/quiet how has that been for you?”
Look for lead ins – They answer one question and it leads on to another that fits well to you finding out more, or causing them to open up more.
Stack questions – Putting together a bunch of questions in one hit can cause the person to start talking and not stop for a long while – basically you set their brain firing on a range of questions and they just start to respond. It could start like this…”We have been busy this past month don’t you think, It has been for me, and then the summer kicked in and we had those orders come from the retailers, do you think the upgrade to the computer helped with at or was it just me that thought it struggled, anyway… That’s not what I wanted to ask really… any how, what’s been happening in your area?” – With practice you can stack questions with ease and sit back for a while and get more than just yes’s or no’s to your key question/s
Work from their viewpoint – How do you see things… how do things feel for you… what do you believe is happening… Do things sound ok from your end? This works from an old American Indian saying of “Walk for a while in the other person’s Moccassions” this can then allow you to get their perspective and may lead you into more of the right questions and or give you some empathy for their viewpoint. It may also give you the real reason they are doing what they do, rather than some smoke screen cover up.
Small talk can be useful but… – For some people using small talk to lead in to a conversation is normal, easy and very useful, for others however it can be a slippery slide to disaster, with the other person smelling a rat very fast, putting them on the defensive. Know your people, so you can craft your approach to fit to their needs and situation, use small talk for those that do and avoid it for those that don’t use it.
What’s your biggest challenge and why? – Sit and listen carefully after you ask this one, and ask it only when you are sure you have a measure of trust with them. If they ask for clarification about the question “Personal or professional challenges?” then you are getting closer to the real question, it can get more specific after that as well and perhaps you can use that to your advantage to clarify more questions with details.
Feed it back to them – Sometimes you can read info back to people to clarify what was said, any points they disagree with you can modify to suit. This is the best time to clarify things while things are still fresh in both parties heads.
Ask them for answers – “Our chat has identified a bunch of things, if you could solve these challenges, what would you do?” Then sit and listen carefully, you may get some great answers to some big issues, but let them have the chance to respond. Often people will start out by saying “I don’t know…” Then launch into “Well what I would do is…” then take great notes as they unload.

Now you have some solid starting points for your intervention, hopefully you will get some great information to work with, their views, their reasons why or why not and the chance to provide some answers, hopefully all of which was done with minimal hassle and discomfort. Your next step will probably be to act on your findings, that could raise a whole bunch of other issues for us to explore another time.

Has all of this caught your interest? Well it should and to really get a handle on things consider this, what do your staff really want? find out in the next article, what staff want.

Tags: business, business mechanics, business success, communication, HR, hr leadership, Leadership, People!, Risk Management, steve gray

2012 Business, thriven or failing

Jan 13

Posted by Steve Gray in Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management | 1 Comment

There’s plenty of talk out on the street that people are saving and not buying, therefore business may well take a battering.

There’s lots of other talk too, less Entrepreneurs entering the market place with big ideas. Then there’s people losing jobs left right and centre as businesses close up and walk away, or go offshore to chase cheaper ways to manufacture.

With all this I can sense bitterness in the air, people in business cursing those that don’t buy, (or by online…) cursing the idea of having to set up a business in a down economy, cursing the thought of having to think creatively to overcome challenges and create anew. The list goes on.

Things change, get used to that.

It’s up to you what you end up doing about it, in business there are options, generally the more cash you have the more options you have.

But wait the “bootstrap-ocracy” will tell us you don’t need money, you need ideas, followed by a great pitch to the right people and before you know it a business has emerged from nothing.

I heard a conversation the other day that suggested all business ideas are bootstrapped, even if you put a few Million into the start up phase you then have to pay that back at some stage so you are possibly worse off than if you started with zero $$ it just seems easier.

What will make a business thrive through 2012 and on into the future. Lots of things, the ability to handle change, be creative with their ideas and explore ways to make those ideas become reality so the zero start up can become a heroic organism which can stride forward with confidence. In a word nimble.

Go on get nimble, get creative and make hay before the weather changes and the hay goes sour. The wider community is waiting for the right people to do the right things and keep things moving. “Tag… you’re it!”

Stunning looks but what happened?

Oct 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership, People!, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

Have you ever had a friend who looked stunning but over time they ‘faded’, perhaps the look they once had is now ‘not in vogue’ or they have aged and the look does not fit the image, they should have altered to an image which suits their age, level of maturity etc…

I was out shopping today and started to see a few, “not quite Walmart’ people” but some a bit too close for comfort. Then a few who were the opposite, I started to put two and two together and thought… “Isn’t it interesting how the looks convey so much”. What I was now seeing was confidence, poise, pride, conviction, energy, warmth, integrity, strength, trust, beauty… “Guess which group this was!”

While on the other side there was, sloth, lack of care, little confidence, an unruly ‘dis-ease’, coldness etc.

It then struck me, it was a reflection of the shopping experience I had been having recently. Some businesses were, poised and confident while others, uneasy and fragile. Wow what a comparison, on the one hand people and the other hand businesses, yet there was a correlation to the way I felt about them both, a sort of emotional connection, ethereal and subtle but somehow strong at the same time.

Well that’s how I feel sometimes with some businesses I observe. The businesses I love are the ones who are consistently on top of their game. The ones who take care to present well, keep up with the times without following the latest fad. The ones who have pride and professionalism without an air of arrogance.

One quick example, I parked near a shop which sells Chef’s essentials, it’s open to the public so I took the chance to browse (I’m an avid cook so hey it was a great fit). On entering the store, one of the staff (although serving others) nodded and said “hello” I reciprocated and continued to browse.

As I went further into the store another service professional approached and said “It looks to me as though you are happy to browse, unless there is something specific you my like assistance with?” I smiled broadly and said “I’m quite happy thanks you read my interest well!” She smiled back reassuringly.

I wandered some more and selected a few things which took my fancy, on arriving at the counter, I was assisted with some light chatter and some ideas about one of the items I had selected “You can also use that for…” it was welcome info. I felt confident to ask a few silly questions without the store people rolling their eyes and I was met with some great responses which answered my queries well and helped me feel as though they were not silly questions after all.

I left the store pleased with the purchases and information I sought, nice… Mind you I have had the opposite on more than one occasion. Oh and by the way the store was well stocked (range and qty of each item) and beautifully presented, with items clearly labelled with price and other details.

To get back to the original idea of the post, I reflected on a not so good experience in a store earlier in the day, not enough staff, taking too long to serve and trying to find what I wanted in their crowded space was annoying, If I did not want the item so much I would have gone elsewhere. I walked out of there with a sense of disdain and grumpiness. Mind you this store had started out well a few years back but is fading off my radar the more I go back and suffer the little things which annoy me.

Stunning looks, but what happened? Take the time to figure out what’s happening in your business so you can prevent this from happening and keep on top of your game.

Protests, get over it…

Oct 16

Posted by Steve Gray in Leadership, People! | No Comments

I watch the news today and there are people protesting all sorts of things, inequality, rich getting richer the poor getting poorer, governments tightening the screws and people not wanting that…

Interesting times folks.

So one of the people interviewed started to go on about big corporations having big profits. Almost like ‘how dare they!”

My thought for this guy, don’t like it, start a cooperative.

I noticed in the background of the rally there were a bunch of flags and banners for various groups some of which prefer a stance of ‘by the people, for the people’ but these seem to come from a more political base than a doing or business base.

With just five people a cooperative can be set up, sure it’s not as easy as having one or two directors, but nonetheless it can be done. And with a good core set of values and guidelines these trusty five can do great things, if they want…

The person protesting went on about corporate greed, and most of the businesses he mentioned started out as nothing more than an idea, then things grew, and grew!

I suggest these people get over themselves, get into a cooperative and turn the margins they make into great things for the people. Want to change things, then take action, stop blabbing on about how unjust they think things are and asking the government to change things.

Also, these people need to look at the number of businesses that don’t have ‘corporate greed’ but run backwards trying to make a living, and many of them go bust fast. But no, the protesters only seem to see the small percentage of ‘big guns’ rather than the big percentage of ‘corporate battlers’.

Tags: my view, protests

Step in early or wait for the problem to arise.

Sep 14

Posted by Steve Gray in Leadership, People!, Risk Management | 1 Comment

It’s a dilemma many Supervisors, Managers and Leaders face. You have a team who waiver from the path occasionally, do you let it go until it becomes a problem, or do you step in early and keep things on track.

I figure if you take a Leaders view you provide the guidelines so the team can follow the lead, therefore you don’t wait for a challenge to arise, you provide a great set of guidelines to ensure things stay on track. If things stray from the path, you then get to put on your ‘coaching hat’ and provide support to ensure the team are aware of the guidelines and assist them to explore how they might have ‘strayed from the path’.

This is one of the reasons I often suggest a great set of Values – Mission and Vision be in place as a foundation to always work from. It allows the Leader to have back up, to allow the team to explore if they are holding true to the values of the organisation.

I guess it becomes a case of ‘see something, do something’ before things become an issue. In a decent situation it can be more of a chat which takes place asking questions about how things are going, and what sorts of examples the team may have about how things are going and if they match to the values etc.

This can be a more powerful position to work from as it works more on the teams internal motivation and thought processes rather than having things imposed or pushed on them when challenges arise. It’s as if they have come up with the solution or drive to solve the challenge, rather than being told the answer.

The real trick to all of this is getting things to fit to the way people communicate – If people are not used to being asked questions relating to ‘values and beliefs’ then they might find it hard to respond, let alone act on the information. However the Leader who is a more flexible communicator will find ways to weave these into normal conversation and start the ball rolling, perhaps using examples of how things might fit in certain situations.

Be flexible in your approach, get in early and lead the team then tweak the details to suit, I’m sure you will find leadership can become a whole lot easier if you try this out.

Tags: communication, Leadership, training

Business culture – Some more points

Jul 14

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | 1 Comment

Your team fits to the culture of the organisation, some because they have to (mortgages and other commitments), some because they want to (they love the job no matter what their commitments are).

Your aim as a business person should be to make the workplace culture brilliant so the team WANT to be there and readily go the extra mile because it’s the right thing to do, not because things are a have to…

It’s a lot about creating an environment where people get things to feel right, where they get a ‘sense’ that things are good. Let’s start with that.

Your team has a sense of…

Belonging – In the work you do and the team you are part of, if you belong you will feel a greater sense of esteem, people like to be with people they like and if they readily fit because they were chosen not just for their skills and abilities but also for their team fit then all the better.
Connectedness – To the people they work with, to the culture of the organisation, to the customers and the overall service and product the organisation provides. It can also take in the broader community with support for groups who do broader works in the community to assist others (Good corporate citizenship).
Achievement – A sense of achievement can be a great boost to all. In your organisation what gets measured and how do the staff know ‘where they are at’ in the scheme of things, are they meeting quotas? Are they being valued for input? Do they feel like they are part of a team who wants to achieve more… All of these are vital and it’s up to you to see that the team can have a sense of achievement. Stuck for ways to measure this? Just ask the team you will soon get a bunch of ideas for things to measure.
Contribution and value adding – Do you or your organisation value the contributions of your team? Do the team readily put ideas forward for your consideration? What do you have in place to get the ideas going in your workplace… a suggestion box might seem like a great start but really you might have to ‘kick start’ a few idea development sessions to brainstorm options… but don’t let it stop there!
Purpose – What is the purpose of your organisation? Those mission and vision statements along with value statements and the like can be a great bonus to people fitting to the purpose of your organisation – It’s probably a great interview question to ask “What do you know about our organisational purpose?”
Being valued by others – Do others value the people in the team, their contribution, their personality fit, their communication style? If not why not and what can be done to alter that?
Organisational integrity – The structural integrity of the organisation is a big factor to people feeling secure and stable in the business. If the business is stable then the team will feel it too and before you know it they will ‘go deeper’ and look at other internal organisational issues (often subconsciously) from the processes to cause things to flow in the organisation to the robustness of systems and hierarchies and connections. It’s a big area to explore… Just like you should not build a business on a poor physical foundation so to the psychological and philosophical foundations they have to work with.
Leadership – No lead, no direction, from the people to the plans and strategies they have in place to achieve more and create even greater security for all in the team.
Safety – Last but certainly not least. If the above points add to a sense of safety that’s great, but the physical side of safety is VITAL and will assist the above points to come together, esp these days with a greater focus on softer issues, such as workplace bullying and its prevention.
Security – The organisation provides a profitable income for itself and the team are aware they are part of a sustainable and solid organisation which is able to ‘improvise, adapt and overcome’ various challenges it may face along the way. Physical security is clearly an issue as well so the team can feel comfortable in the knowledge harm is either eliminated or minimised.

Did you think that business culture was not important? Hope fully now you realise how it’s EVERYTHING in your organisation, without it you may as well throw money out the window, it’s quicker than watching a business fail a long slow death simply because your team had a sense of things not going quite how they should…

Tags: business, business culture, business success, communication, culture, HR, hr leadership, lateral thinking, Leadership, People!, Risk Management, training, your business culture

Your business culture needs work

Jun 5

Posted by Steve Gray in Growth, Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | 3 Comments

When you want a new staff member to ‘fit in’ you generally go for a good culture fit when you interview them. Usually this means the recruits actions and thoughts fit well with the rest of the team and the way they do things, their patterns of behaviour. It makes sense to do that, however what if you want things to change in your organisation… perhaps more growth, explore new markets, push some boundaries. Then things might be different.

Consider the role of a senior member of staff, perhaps a person in a strategic planning or Human Resource Development role. Your aim may well be to push some boundaries and open the playing field up to new ideas and options. In that case you may want a person with a different approach or cultural fit to the rest. This then raises questions about the type of cultural differences and skill sets you might want to have with this type of recruit.

How will you decide what culture and skill sets you require? That depends on the role and how much of a ‘shift’ you want to create in the system. Clearly if you go for a person who is totally different in their interests, values and beliefs to the rest of the team, you may end up with a situation where the gap between your current culture and your ‘imposed’ one is too great to sustain for any length of time. I liken it to a bridge trying to span a distance which is too great for the structure to hold for long, eventually it fails.

Your new cultural direction should consider the following points.

The change should be different enough from the existing situation but still maintain structural integrity.
Creative approaches or not? – if the existing culture requires stimulus to get it moving then a more creative skill set can do just that.
If the growth pattern of the enterprise is stagnant then a more profit driven or sales oriented person can add value.
Managing the change might need extra effort on the part of the HR dept, supervisors and team leaders to oversee the new direction.
Is this culture re-shuffle a part of an ongoing strategic plan? – If so it will probably fit with a core value of innovation. With that underpinning the new approach, the team should see the benefits this will bring for the longer term.
Although a different cultural fit might be the main aim it doesn’t mean the core organisational values need to be ignored, in fact they are probably going to be strengthened by this new approach as terms such as respect – innovation and service get a bigger airing and may be explored at a deeper level.

Like anything changes to a business need to take into consideration various factors before being implemented but the above cultural development points might be a good starting point to consider.

Inspire the Team

May 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People! | 1 Comment

Are you inspiring your people?

Are they waiting for you to inspire them? Did you aim to inspire before they even started with your company…

Imagine a new employee getting a letter and a gift before starting with a new company… This way you can set up a positive position with that person before they start. The gift? A simple congratulations gift, flowers, a congratulation helium balloon etc, delivered to their home.

Then when they start, how will you wow them then… A great office environment, a well set up workspace, a warm welcome, allocating their start day in 12 months time as an anniversary “day off” for them (then every year after that)

What about existing workers, how do you inspire them so they feel truly valued? Random morning teas, small gift vouchers to mark great project milestones and completions.

Think about other ways you can do things to keep them interested, motivated and productive. The worker retention and greater morale these few activities can create is generally very profitable and well worth the investment of time and effort. Of course you need to make sure this kind of activity can be kept up – if your organisation is big enough to have a HR Dept, put them in charge of it. Either way inspiring your team should be a task which you make a top priority in good times and bad.

New Leadership Book – Leadership Excellence

May 3

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | 1 Comment

Released recently on Amazon here’s an e book with a leadership twist, it’s a how to manual so you can develop the skills of an excellent leader.

Ok I wrote it, so lets get that out of the way… (awkward moment) but hey If I don’t tell people how will they know? Here’s the link

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XTTUMS

Or for those without a kIndle to view it on, you can also get it here in a variety of formats to suit your needs from Smashwords, great for ipad and iphone users.

I hope you enjoy it…

Tags: business, business mechanics, business success, communication, hr leadership, Leadership, leadership excellence, People!, recruitment, steve gray, success, training

Three Persuasive Business Points

Jan 29

Posted by Steve Gray in Leadership, Planning, Starting out in business | 2 Comments

Here are three points I think you will find make a persuasive business argument, take one of these factors out and you will be out of business fast. Let me know what you think in the comments…

1. Have something to sell.

2. Sell it.

3. Make a profit.

To do so you need to market the offerings, have a process to sell with, manage the money.

To do that you need to have a handle on the HR, finances, marketing, overheads and it then starts to get more in depth from there. However you probably should be thinking in the terms of the basic 3 things to do, then see what’s happening from there.

May I suggest, you make a BIG poster or three with those key points on it.

Then consider breaking things down from there, so at any given moment you can know how each area is going, which one to tweak next and set a plan for the next one.

On your breakdown you will probably have a list of finer points relating to each area, then you can ask yourself, “which smaller area works well and which needs adjusting?”

Lets face it, business is not easy, in fact very challenging at times! But if these simple steps can make it easier for you then that’s got to be a good thing.

Oh wait I forgot! there’s a fourth point, oh silly me… Notice how you are looking at the business as the owner (from the perspective I have written it), note also how you are looking at the business, as a whole. Therefore you are taking a leaders view, a coaches view if you like.

Therefore you can be the coach and suggest strategies, work with your people to develop tactics, involve them in the game, many of them will know their parts in the process and know you have a chance to direct things that bit further. Go on be the leader, check out the strategies and concepts you need to put in place, then bring it all together like a great symphony, all orchestrated and conducted by you the business leader.

Tags: business, business mechanics, business success, hr leadership, Planning, Risk Management

Elegant service communication

Sep 10

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

I love it when I meet people who chat about things of instant interest to me. Recently I got chatting with a person about service, particularly the first few delicate moments when you connect with people in that all important exchange where you aim to connect and attain an idea of what they want from your business.

The chat started with the difference between “May I and Can I…” May I assist you, or Can I assist you, what happened next was a BFO, (Blinding Flash of the Obvious).

You see it was so simple when he explained it. “Imagine you are at the top of a cliff and your task is to push someone off, would you say “Can I push you off or may I push you off…” ” Can I”, relates to skill and “May I” relates to permission to do a thing.” I was engaged in the conversation now, what a great hook! Yes he clearly knew his English and the lesson was simple but so good. Actually on thinking about it none of the above would get you far in the pushing stakes but it makes a point also about service being more about offering, rather than demanding. Chances are you would not ask a person if they wanted to be pushed!

I asked him for a view on my old favourite, “help and Assist” he agreed, Help is needed when you are in dire straits, assistance is softer and more readily taken up unconsciously. So many people will say “Just looking thanks” when you offer help, but more people take up an offer of assistance “May I assist you…”

It could go further you could say “May I assist you to find what you are after today?” That way you are being specific about what you are offering. Without the specifics it is so open you might get in a bit of a bind, like this… ‘May I assist you?” asks the store attendant… “Oh yes, you can give me a million dollars, that would be great assistance…” replies the customer.

Take the time out to consider the small things like this which may impact on people you deal with so the service you offer is as elegant and correct as possible. We also chatted briefly about G’day as a greeting, I will leave that one for another article.

Well time got the better of our conversation too quickly and circumstances meant we had to part ways, all I can hope is that I said goodbye in an elegant manner!

On providing great service, “I don’t know if you can but you may…”

Tags: business, business success, creativity, have fun in business, innovation, lateral thinking, sales skills, The Customer Service Dept

How To Make Employees More Productive

Aug 27

Posted by Michael Crooks in Human Resource Management, Leadership, Planning, The Board Room, The Sales Dept | 2 Comments

Most companies are extremely aware of their external markets such as clients, customers, distributor networks and even vendors. But many fail to realize that employees make up an internal market. There are plenty of organizations that bend over backwards to get feedback and input from customers and clients. Far fewer work as hard to get feedback and input from employees. I sincerely believe that any organization that doesn’t view its employees as an internal market is shortsighted. And if you think the majority of your employees are happy campers – I’ve got news for you.

In a report released January 5, 2010 by The Conference Board based on a survey of 5000 U.S. households, only 45 percent of those surveyed said they are satisfied with their jobs. 55 percent are not satisfied with their jobs! According to Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board, “The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity.”

What the report doesn’t tell us is WHY 55 percent of employees are dissatisfied. And while specific reasons for dissatisfaction vary by company, job and employee, I believe it can pretty much be summed up as a disconnect between those in the ivory tower and those in the trenches.

One of the best books I ever read on management and problem-solving is an 80 page book called, “I Know It When I See It” by John Guaspari. In the book, the Boss demoralized his employees by telling them that the key to increasing the quality of their product is to, “Try Harder! Do Better!” It had the same effect as unfunded government mandates – no one was given the information, tools or ability to accomplish the edict. What followed was employee frustration, job dissatisfaction and further loss of market share.

If your company is large enough, consider an undercover operation to include the top echelon. In disguise either shop your company or get a job with your company. See first-hand what affect your policies and directives are having on those who must deliver your product or service. In smaller companies, I encourage bosses and managers to get out of the back room. Run the cash register. Load some trucks. Ride and work the route. Stock some shelves.

The easiest dollar made is from a happy, repeat customer. But that’s a lot harder to achieve when employees’ are hampered by decisions based solely on numbers made by people sitting behind desks who are out of touch with reality.

Tags: employee happiness, employee satisfaction, Michael Crooks

Great profits…

Jul 31

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, Planning | No Comments

‘

“Great profits come from great products and services…”

Seems like a simple enough statement, but what makes a great company??

Simple…

Great people.

Therefore great people make great companies, so it stands to reason if great companies recognise this they will do their utmost to make sure they make greater people out of the ones they already have.

It also stands to reason a great company will be passionate about people because of this knowledge and provide a “loving environment.”

“What’s a loving environment…?” Lets brainstorm for a minute. (Go ahead I’ll wait…) Enough of the waiting here’s a list to contemplate.

Elegant systems people love to use.
Great training which works with the team to provide relevant skills and information for each level they are at.
Great support, especially if you want your people to succeed to the max.
Elegant communication, your people talk, and not just about the weekend sport or other activities, they talk work and they do so with great interest.
The chance to put in, to give, to be an active part of the organisation. Why because they like to achieve, they want to achieve they CRAVE achievement. Why? because it gives them a greater sense of purpose.
Great service. Your people go all out to be exceptional, and new recruits get to model the exceptional behaviour of your best people, if they don’t do it or get it they are out and you search for better people.
Great examples. Your best people are champions and the rest of the team aspire to be like them, yeah? Of course, if not…. keep training them.

To do all this takes time and expertise, you have to make sure you get the expertise and share it. You know what, I don’t care if you have to do courses after hours, work on your systems on weekends, tweak policies or procedures at 2am, do it.

Do it because you have to make sure your business is the best and will stand the test of time and tough business environments (like a recession and or depression.)

Do it because to live in utopia we need utopian thinking and we need it to start somewhere. If you are not thinking utopia, what are you thinking? Mediocre? or something less than great… why?

Okay it requires effort, but if you already have a team put up this list (add to it if you want) and have them provide ways to get the list into action. Then act on the information as soon as possible.

Now look for the gaps, gaps in the attitudes, gaps in the systems, gaps in the budgets, profits, processes, service provision… Then fill the gaps fast, before long your company will be exceptional and not just great.

Your business, your image, so who’s in charge of it?

Jul 15

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People! | 3 Comments

Many smaller businesses get to the point of understanding that to be a business owner and not just a business operator you need a team of people to run the business and you are now reaping the rewards from doing just that.

While you have been busy doing it and aiming to do it well, is there anything you may have forgotten? For instance the image of the business?

It could be the display space in the window, or the signage which has slowly faded, or the vehicles your delivery people charge about in. No matter what it is, it represents your business image which in turn reflects what people (customers!) think of the business.

Who’s in charge of the image is an important and often overlooked area. Simply put most organisations say it’s the job of the Marketing Dept, while others will shove the responsibility to a junior to “set up the window display”.

Think about the situation and consider having a person (perhaps with a back up person) to ensure each week the “professional image” of the business is run through a checklist. It can be simple to begin with and build from there to become a fully blown in depth process, but please make sure it is a top priority as customers can be quick to judge and long to forget.

Here are some key areas to consider:

How well is the cleaning done in all areas, the slightest thing can put people off.
Are delivery drivers forbidden from smoking in a vehicle at ALL times?
Do vehicles with the business name on them present really well, or do they need to be cleaned and checked more often?
Display areas for stock, how good are they, and what are you comparing them too?
Signage, fading or in need of a clean?
Your uniforms… up to standard or?

Start a checklist up and ensure the person in charge of the overall image of the business uses it regularly to effectively assess the business image.

Tags: business, business success, HR, innovation, Leadership, mums in business, People!, Planning, small business marketing

What are your people doing, working… or?

Jul 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Planning | No Comments

Everyone seems busy right… But things are not moving very well, the people are all busy? Should I put another staff member on…

These and a whole bunch of other questions could be bothering you if your business is a bit bigger than a few employees.

You think back to the early days of doing everything yourself, you worked 12 hour days and then some, finally getting some breathing space when you took on some staff. You trained them and you could see great progress but now things seem different. What’s happening?

Perhaps your people have found a comfortable place for themselves and are keeping themselves busy (it makes the day go faster…) and not overly concerned about the effectiveness of things.

You have a meeting with your key people “Blah, Blah Blah!!!” you go on about how the key guys should lead the team, how they should get up noses, rattle the cage so to speak, and for a short while you see some “scared rabbits” run about and things pick up and then fade, now they are all back to busy but not overly effective.

Your method of getting people to do things seemed great at the time, but knowing it failed after a few weeks was disappointing, you feel like you have to watch the team the WHOLE time, and that’s not what you want to do.

The answer…

Take a look, wander about, listen, observe start making mental notes. What’s working, what’s not… and what are they doing to look so busy yet be so ineffective!

Ask yourself…

Are they doing “administrivia” and dragging it out to fill time.
Are they calling suppliers to get useless info for customers who probably won’t buy anyway, or only want a small quantity of a low priced item.
Chatting about ‘garbage’, or doing silly rubbish, which is personal, rather than getting to the tasks, which really need to happen.
Are your management team, managing too much and not leading enough? Are they not in a position to connect with staff due to too much paper work, or other garbage which is really just a waste of time.

Any of these can take the wind out of the sails of your business, but before you call one of those “rant and rave” meetings to put the wind up people (which will just buy you more enemies anyway). Consider a different approach.

(And yes here’s the answer/s…)

Check out if the team has great technology to support them and make the tasks easy to achieve.
Make sure your systems are easy to learn, follow and implement.
Use multitasking to keep them mentally stimulated and able to do various new tasks from time to time.
Chat to them about what works from their point of view, become a “one on one focus group leader” with each person and get REAL information, not the sort that filters up through the ranks and becomes watered down as a result.
Ask what keeps them coming to work, and not just money and holidays.
Coach your management team to do the same, train them to build rapport, not build ramshackle bridges to nowhere.

In all honesty if you set up a great business to begin with, you will probably find it can remain that way, but it may need some of your original passion for the business to shine through, so the results you want to achieve can be very tangible, you just need to have the right things happening in the right way… Now go out there and make YOUR business highly effective and get the people doing more of the right things in the right way. Then and ONLY THEN will you really profit from the business you started out with so passionately.

Tags: business, business women, HR, hr leadership, Leadership, mums in business, People!

Workplace Bullying Policy

Jun 14

Posted by Steve Gray in Health and Safety Dept, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | 1 Comment

Don’t turn off and stop reading because you are a small business, Don’t stop reading because you believe you have all the bases covered on this one, and just because your people in the HR department say there is no need for such a thing due to no cases of it at this point be wary of that.

Imagine you employ a bright eyed graduate or fresh faced school leaver brimming with interest and potential, then after a few weeks you see them with less of a smile, less of a pep in their step. For most people watching this person they might say, yep the realities of being in a job have kicked in, he he!

That can be the case, but what if they have found their supervisor or a co-worker has given then some grief, a few terse words, a few statements which have impacted on their esteem. This might seem like petty stuff but the impact of this sort of situation can get out of hand very quickly, the worker may feel powerless, in a bind, awkward, berated, useless and so on.

Your business has a duty of care, you have a duty of care and this needs to be stated up front that everyone in the organisation also has a duty of care. Therefore that being the case guidelines need to be in place to clearly out line what actions are taken in situations like this and to spell out some basics as to what might constitute bullying, harassment and other situations which might impact a persons esteem.

Okay so now a bunch of you are saying “Hey the hell do I have to care about a persons esteem? Heck I pay them to do a job, they should do it and put up with the situation, they should harden up, the world is a tough place…”

My view on that is how can you not care about a person you employ… If you are not into caring, avoid being in business. If you don’t care, your customers won’t either and then your staff will soon disappear. Yes it’s that basic, and you need to ensure you have the situation covered or you could be caught out VERY QUICKLY.

So do the right thing and have one ready to implement now, I suggest at the very least you do a search on google and see what comes up, grab one that suits and use it. for a rock solid start try the public service in your country and see what they have you can edit to make it your own. one I looked at recently had a 44 page doc you could download easily enough and it had various examples as well. http://www.apsc.gov.au/ethics/respect.pdf

To finish, imagine this, you are interviewing people for a job, on telling them about the organisation you are able to show them a copy of your bullying policy. It shows you care, it shows you will not tolerate people who don’t care, it shows you want to have happy people enjoying being part of the team, together everyone feels safe and in a organisation which values people, enough said…

Tags: bullying, HR, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management, workplace safety

Basics are basics…

Jun 1

Posted by Steve Gray in Finance, Growth, Leadership, Risk Management, Starting out in business | No Comments

It’s June 2009 the global financial crisis is still happening. Watched a documentary on Chinese businesses going under, huge factories closed down, lots of out of region migrant workers now displaced. Sure this was one province (Guangdong) and particularly one city Dong Guan, so probably not a big cross section to measure by. The show was on SBS Australia’s Dateline (May 31) and showed a range of businesses closed and gutted out.

Here’s a quote from the show “In Guangdong province alone, 60,000 factories have now closed down and millions of migrant workers are searching for work.”

My first thought was what were they making? well it’s interesting the businesses included a printing plant, toy factories, and jewelry manufacturing… My second thought was do they make for the local market or export, export… third question, is the product a need or a want, mainly want.

So it comes down to the basics if the majority of what is produced is not for needs when a downturn comes the wants are dropped first. When an external order from overseas is pulled then the whole thing can collapse quickly. as the local economy is hanging on wants, the failure of one is felt across all.

Learn from this huge scale disaster and make sure you have a balance of income from needs based sources as well as wants based sources. If you have shares in a grocery company Co for example it seems logical that they supply the needs of people, then take your own business think about how you can supply to the needs based customers. Think carefully about this as a form of insurance to ensure you can balance your wants and needs to ensure sustainability.

Happiness – workplace style…

May 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | No Comments

Just for a moment think about your life, do you do things better when you are happy or grumpy/sad? Now think about business, do you prefer to deal with people who are grumpy/sad or happy?

It’s a no brainer really, however there are many people looking to change jobs, move on, move up, move out! Why generally because they are unhappy. As an employer it’s part of your unwritten “duty of care” to provide an environment where staff are happy.

A small family business might seem like a great thing and how you treat family can be quite different from general staff. You might be happy to work at an old desk loaded with irrelevant papers and bits and pieces, but an employee probably will be put off by that.

I guess the moral of this is think about it. Take time to evaluate, if a new employee is due to start next week, make it a major priority to make their starting off in your business fantastic.

Here’s a few reasons why:

Change can be difficult for people, new surrounds new names, new everything! It can take a while to get used to.
Moving jobs means altering routines, wake up times, transport changes, family routines alter.
A new job with different systems can take quite a while to adapt to.
A new role may mean there are changes to who is leading who, this can cause challenges.

So imagine starting them off in the ideal situation…

Start them with half a day’s work, late in a week, so there is little monday rush and weekend panic.
Be their “work buddy” show them where everything is and how things are done.
Check in with them regularly to see what stands out as issue, then aim to resolve them fast.
Make sure all the “paperwork” is sorted for their superannuation and so on, early…
Advise all other staff to wear their name tags more often in that start up phase so the new person does not stress about things like names.

We could make a really long list here (please do!) and I hope you get the idea. Happiness even in a recession is vital to ensure your staff perform to their best ability, perhaps not in the short term but later on when they are up to speed.

Make time to be there for the new recruit and ensure as many things as possible go right for them so they feel at ease.

Change, innovation and pure survival…

Oct 29

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 1 Comment

In the tumultuous financial crisis and the uncertainty it causes, there is one thing for certain, Change is happening. Sure it’s not a change that organisations implemented, and for many it’s a change they did not have a contingency plan for but it’s happening and if your organisation needs to do something about it, then your training in innovation will put you in good stead… What’s that you have no training in innovation… ooh.

Well lets get one thing straight the ability to handle change is important, the attitude, the planning, the stance the leadership skills, they are all important in an age where Improvise, adapt, overcome becomes the hallmark of a survivor.

If you need to be able to think about new strategies and brainstorm with others, then petty office politics and ineffective interpersonal communication needs to be put aside. In a crisis it can be “every man for himself” or “Lets get the team together and nut out the best way forward NOW…”

Either way it probably comes down to you the leader to find a way forward, to make the right moves (or at least have a go) sure you might make mistakes, sure the road might be tough, sure there can be unexpected thing pop up, but if you don’t face reality then you might be wondering what’s happening next.

Wonder no longer, and be the one that sets the team up to thrive, if they fall short of that they survive, so the high goal needs to be there to ensure things go on. It’s up to the senior people in the organisation to provide the leadership, to use innovative and creative techniques.

In sot if you are not providing the right environment, skills, attitudes and mindset to make it through then folks the end is nigh, but if you are putting you best feet forwad, then if the grim hand of failure comes your way you will have known you put in a top effort to weather the storm. I guess the decision to act and make a stand is up to you, or not…

On the edge…

Oct 27

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Franchisees, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

When tough times strike my heart goes out to those businesses on the edge, and of course instead of talking about daily things that can trip up a marginal business, we are now talking about bigger fundamental global meltdown type trip ups.

So when the going gets tough how many of the businesses on the edge have a debt reserve fund, or a plan b, or an innovative structure, system, marketing plan etc to get them out of the jam? probably too few. Then on the business front, if they are a “want” type of business do they have their fingers in the pie of a “needs based” business to be able to handle the changing spend patterns of consumers… probably not.

Here’s 8 quick points to give you the edge in tough times.

Have a plan A, then have a plan B, just in case!
Have some reserves, stuff happens so be ready for downturns.
Needs based V’s Want based, if you sell gifts for example, you might want to look at developing a needs based business to complement it, this way you cover your butt when customers walk away from the niceties. Consider diversifying into an online business of some kind that is easy to manage from your want based business, get busy while it’s quiet.
Keep marketing, but make sure it’s making you money, don’t throw money out and get NOTHING back, measure it carefully, get smart about how it works.
Keep the team informed, fear can run deep and fast, let them know what you are doing or plan to do to weather the storm. Batten down the hatches but make sure they know where the exits are…
Lead, now more than ever the team needs you, teach them GREAT customer service, if people get picky you need to have the BEST people upfront, with the BEST service, now more than ever. Get out on the floor and look for gaps, are they smiling, are they happy, do they know the products and or services inside and out? No? train them…
Be nimble, change is a given so learn to love it, zig when the others lag or zag. This way you can be there when the others have fallen by the wayside.
Improve your systems, now is a great time to tighten up on how things tick over, ask hard questions like “Are we doing things the best way?” “How can I jump start and or utilise my peoples collective intelligence to give us a lasting edge?”

You get the idea, make a difference, a poisitive difference so your business can take on the challenges tough times provide and see it through successfully. So jump up to the whiteboard and make a start NOW!

Think Globally, Act Locally

Sep 21

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, The Board Room | 1 Comment

I have just been to see WALL•E the animated film, it was fantastic, the graphics, the story, the whole concept was exceptional. So the environmental message? Yep there was one, and as such I figure on a local basis we can be doing things to prevent a “Wall – E – World” from happening… (hey that’s not new is it…)

I know our “Local Authorities” have a long term plan, is it all about growth or does it take into account looking after things, being the guardians of the planet at a local level. If “all hell broke loose” Could our region survive? Would we have enough of the “right resources” to keep going?

Chances are the long term plan is laced with “Innovation” and “Leadership”, “growth” and the such like, yet down on the ground realistic local action that I can tangibly say “Yep they’re doing something…” is not visible.

Lets take it to our businesses, do we have the ability to diversify in a way that gives us a support base if things go bad? A Debt Reserve Fund of some kind? A range of other “business interests” that allow us to fully serve the wider community? Mostly… No.

I figure that if I went to the local “Planning guide for the next 50 years” created by local authorities and searched in there for business “goals” or “ideals” to assist my business I might go away a bit befuddled by the academic language, the jargon and the rhetoric, however I probably should be silent until I see the “beast” and let it prove me wrong, (or right…)

I urge all business people to act responsibly and find ways they can make positive impacts at all levels of “stake holder interaction” (there’s my chunk of jargon for the day… ) so our future can stand the test of time.

The sprung leader…

Sep 12

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Excellence!, Growth, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, The Customer Service Dept | No Comments

Following on from the spring cleaning theme… is your leader leading the charge? did they “twig” to the change of season? did they come in the door with a renewed spring in their step? Well if the answer is no, maybe you should take the lead and remind them.

Get them focused – ask them to be flexible – give them support and watch them flourish (if not just run the show yourself and do your bit to make the Biz better.)

You see, often it’s the small stuff which happens that makes a difference, and people notice. In a retail setting, pull things off shelves and give the place a great wipe down. In the office, get in a tad earlier and clear out the “crusty” bits from around your area, in the lunch room, in the client areas… make a difference, do it for you and of course you are doing it for “them” the customers.

Reframing, renewing, refreshing it’s all good, so make the most of it.

Wisdom comes in many forms…

Aug 28

Posted by Steve Gray in Chill out!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, Negotiation, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

Fast thinking and wisdom can work wonders, I saw this today and thought it’s well worth reproducing here, enjoy!

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa, taking her faithful aged poodle named Cuddles, along for the company.

One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that he’s lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old poodle thinks, ‘Oh, oh! I’m in deep doo-doo now!’ Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap the old poodle exclaims loudly, ‘Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?’

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. ‘Whew!’ says the leopard, ‘That was close! That old poodle nearly had me!’

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, ‘Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, ‘What am I going to do now?’, but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says ‘Where’s that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!

The moral of this story….

Don’t mess with the old .. age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill! Knowledge and wisdom only come with age and experience.

I am in no way insinuating that any of you are old, perhaps some are just youthfully challenged!

Over time I have come to respect the wisdom of the more “mature” around us, and as I get older I hope I can benefit more from my own wisdom and have the good sense to draw more on the wisdom of others.

In business it can seem like we know it all, (or we think we do) but the reality can be different. I guess the point being to know the difference and profit from it.

Their vision v’s your vision…

Aug 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management, Starting out in business, The Board Room | No Comments

How about this, an organisation has the following core values as part of it’s vision.

Responsibility and Leadership
Achievement and Excellence
Citizenship and Community
Initiative and Commitment

Sounds great, things to aspire to… one problem they don’t do it, well not all of it, here are some points…

Staff are failing to take responsibility, citing they do not have the resources to do their jobs fully.
Leadership is lacking, no one sure as to who they should follow or what they should do… whose roles is who’s and where do the ‘borders’ stop.
Excellence… again resources or the lack of them are cited as an issue… Systemic issues are cited… not enough time… not enough support…
Initiative and commitment… A stakeholder took initiative and they basically shunned it, the same stakeholder is working with another stakeholder to build commitment… guess what shunned again.

Not much left except for the third point and they probably have issues with that too…

The vision statement goes on to make a lot of claims about excellence in the provision of service etc… It’s all interesting but they are failing at it. My view, they are failing to hold up the core values and use them as a solid foundation to work from, instead it has become a blame game.

Here’s the irony if you like, this organisation is a school.

A bit deeper look will show that it’s not a simple organisation as there are various stakeholders, parents and students, teachers and admin/managerial staff, so the connections between each, if tenuous, can create a nightmare approach to communication, who said what, when, why, how and so on.

I would love to share the details but the story still has depth despite names and specific issues, but basically a parent supporting their child to achieve, have a commitment, and be accountable has come across some barriers in being able to make this happen.

The big point here is that a symbol has been created (the vision statement with core values) but not followed or fully utilised. I suggest the school (or any organisation for that matter) could alter this disasterous set of situations simply by making sure at every step that the foundation is used to build on, not to branch out from with tenuous connections.

Learning opportunity, if you have a foundation to work from, your role as a business operator, principal, teacher, owner operator, director or whatever. Do your best to work with that foundation, in this case the foundation extols excellence as a hallmark and so it should, but to have a range of stakeholders pointing at each other blaming and shaming, then the end result is far from excellent. By the way, you can “rest assured” the parent is sticking to their guns and will be holding the school accountable to their foundation or core values and hopefully the end results will be worth the rigour and affront.

Things to do to avoid just the title of leader…

Aug 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Innovation and Creativity, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | No Comments

Think in symbolic terms, if you were a warrior or a goddess, then the title of leader can become more, much more. If you imbue your role with this kind of title (perhaps even just internally) you can then develop a model to work with.

Lets go deeper. I have used the terms Goddess and Warrior, male and female counter rankings. Note I didn’t call the guy a god (that would be a bit much) yet it seems the title of “goddess” is one our culture is comfortable with.

Each of these would share traits in common, so lets put some key traits to the title of leader in here first and then we can start to build a deeper profile from there…

- Strong
- Ethical
- Wise
- Flexible
- Empowering
- Forthright
- Strategic
- Humble
- Hunter – Gatherer
- Spiritual – Inner knowing – Outer reflective
- Commitment
- Powerful
- Focus
- Patient
- Trusting
- Service
- Positive, beliefs and values

So there are “Some” traits a leader might have… and note they can be applied to either the Warrior or the Goddess… so then lets now split hairs and find the things that could shoe the differences between the Goddess and the Warrior.

The following are “loose lists” of possible traits that we can use as starting points for discovery (feel free to add your own to personalise the list for yourself).

Goddess
- Beauty
- Mystery
- Symoblic
- Imagination
- Radiance
- Healer
- Divine
- Evoke/invoke wisdom
- Inner glow

Warrior
- Awareness
- Discipline
- Athletic
- Bold
- Brave
- Openness
- Diplomacy
- Clarity
- Lead by example

Using these lists of “possible traits” our role as leader can now take on a fresh dimensionality. We can now explore what traits we want to build up and those we may like to regress. Some may want to use both the male and female traits and explore them as natural guideposts for the development of our leadership skills.

Think beyond basic leadership skills and open your hearts to the ideas of being a leader that can explore a higher state, a spiritual state if you will, so that the depth of integrity you exude as a leader can include heightened depths of excellence, both for you and for those you lead.

Tags: Leadership

Why do I need to lead?

Jul 29

Posted by Steve Gray in Leadership, Personal Development, Starting out in business | No Comments

“Leadership, why do I need leadership skills?” This is a question I get asked often. So in quick response to that I often come out with… “Oh you need this for lots of reasons…” and then stumble through some of them… sometimes I even forget some of the gems.

Leadership why you need it.

If you are in business.

Who provides the direction for the team to follow?
You get asked to supervise or “manage” a team?
Who ensures the team have the resources they need to do their tasks well?
You want more from your current role and need to find a way forward.
Who gets and keeps the team focussed?
You can see things can be done more effectively but no one is “stepping up to the plate.”
Who keeps the red tape to a minimum for the team so they can do what they need to do?
An emergency situation arises and time is crucial, you either jump in and lead or sit back and wonder what might have happened.
Who goes into “bat” for a team member?
You are recognised as being great at what you do, and you are asked your opinion on issues, you can shy away or…
Who gets in and gives a hand?
You want to start a business and have the “skills” to do the tasks well, but you lack the drive to go the next step.
The boss is off sick with the flu, you could sit back and slack it out… or?
The value of businesses is shown to be higher when decent leadership is in place. (According to the Institute for Strategic Change, the “stock price of ‘well-led’ companies grew by over 900% over 10 years, compared with 74% for poorly led companies”.)
You deal with customers in a service capacity and not just as an order taker, and you want to deliver sterling results.
Who knows how to do all these things and more…

In general life

What if you get asked to be part of a committee for a club you are part of?
Who provides direction when you go out to dinner and decisions need to be made (which restaurant, which food style, which menu options…)
Who makes sure things happen in their right order for special events…
You want to get more out of the people you deal with on a daily basis and not end up repelling them with nagging in a bid to get results.
Who provides the direction for daily living to make it a great experience day in day out…
Who sits back and watches their children explore creative play options and steps in to provide direction when needed?
You want to boost your confidence and forge new ways forward in life.
You want to seek out fresh opportunities in the way you live your life.

Discovering you are living in a world loaded with challenges is sometimes difficult, and over time I have learnt there are some things you can do to make the challenges less of a hassle. I hope the 7 Steps to Leadership Excellence program is able to give you the edge in this challenging world.

“In life there are opportunities to excel, or not… you get to choose.” Steve Gray

Motivated or driven?

Jul 7

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | 1 Comment

In business you deal with people and as such they are an important aspect to the business (in fact read that as VITAL to your business!) so vital that without them things don’t get purchased, sold, manufactured etc… So in the scheme of things you need them, and as such the big question is do you DRIVE them or MOTIVATE them

Firstly the difference as I see it.

DRIVE – Push, bully, manipulate, rush, yell at, demean…

MOTIVATE – Influence, encourage, coach, mentor, support, work with them, respect them…

This goes for internal and external customers, (the staff and the paying customers) if you want the paying customers to stay and buy more of what you have, treat them right, and if you want to keep staff turnover to a minimum, the same TREAT THEM RIGHT!

Simply put figure out what you do, and what other people in your organisation do and see if it is MOTIVATING, because if it’s driving them, it will be driving them away.

Go on, take a REAL look at what’s happening, and if changes need to happen, make them and make them NOW!

A little enthusiasm can go a long way….

May 30

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, The Customer Service Dept, The Sales Dept | No Comments

Here’s a short video from Tom Peters, if ever you wondered what comes first passion or skills, here’s Tom’s answer…

Thanks to Tom and the team at Skill Soft.

It’s monday, what now?

May 26

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Growth, Leadership, Planning | No Comments

The weekend has been and gone, and here you are back at Monday, ready to face another week… Firstly are you excited about the prospect of another week? Or is it something you wish would end quickly? Whatever your state of being right now, take a moment to focus.

Grab a sheet of paper, then quickly write down the company goal, or mantra (if you have one) and then look at it. Now ask yourself, “Am I achieving the goal, is my team achieving it too?” or “Do the team even know what the goal is?”

Okay so the goal is sorted, and before you “beat yourself up” for not working towards the goal as well as you would like, then I suggest you jot down things you can put in place today, right now… to help to make the goal a reality.

Perhaps you can take each area of the business and focus on that.

- Marketing – Is this focussed towards the goal?

- Operations – How are things being done that help to achieve the goal?

- Management – Of all the things under this heading, what things are focusing me towards the goal?

Now you have your week off to a flying start. make all your plans, to do lists etc work from that.

Have a great week, make it a great week, but make it fit to the plan!

Leaders seek out top talent

May 15

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning, Risk Management | No Comments

Leaders are an interesting lot, often found wandering, “dazed”, plodding, planning, scheming and making sure everything is in it’s right place for the team to do what the team does best. So in the plodding and wandering the astute leader searches and hunts down exceptional people to be part of the team. They also work hard at developing the talent they already have.

Leaders find great ways to recruit or “poach” people to cause them to “come over” to their team.

The reason great leaders go for top talent is really simple, they want the best in their field to be part of what the leader has, and make it the best it can be. Over time the leader might have a few top people and then lose them to another leader, but then all they do is soul search, tweak a few skills and attitudes (their own) and move on to find even better people.

Training people to be better at what they do means being a good evaluator, negotiator, assessor, mentor, coach, trainer… the top leader then influences their teams skill uptake to ensure they are at the top of their game.

Remember Great leaders love people and therefore it’s simple that they would seek out the best, finding and keeping them becomes another thing entirely.

Tags: Leadership, People!, training

How to Select the Right Person to Join Your Team

May 8

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, People!, Planning | 2 Comments

The reason people select the wrong person is because they don’t ask the right questions in the interview, they don’t probe to uncover real competencies and capabilities, they don’t explore the person’s true personality and attitude, and they get swayed by enjoyable ‘chats’ that should in fact be probing interviews.

We all like to work with people we like, but we also need to make sure those people we employ are going to deliver and produce results for us. The process of selecting the right person is both subjective and objective, but it does need to be a process.

Focus on doing these 7 things:

Know what you want done – write the Position Description first.
List the attributes of the sort of person you want (not physical attributes..!)
Understand your culture – be honest – and know what sort of person would or wouldn’t fit that.
Then, after you’ve done that, meet and interview.
Don’t be swayed by anything other than your original set of criteria, because that is what you want.
After the interview, give the person a rating against your set of criteria, and use that objective method of assessment to recruit the right person into your team.
You could also go to this website http://www.bossgroup.com.au/products/28 and download the 12-Step People Management Blueprint and simply follow the 12 steps! It really is that easy! (But hurry! The price will increase significantly after May 30th, 2008, so if you purchase before then you’ll make a big saving !)

Do You Have What it Takes to Lead?

May 1

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Leadership, People!, Planning, Starting out in business | 1 Comment

Think about the leaders you’ve had in your life – that is, the people you’ve respected and listened to, and in many cases followed. School teachers, uni lecturers, people you’ve worked with, mentors, coaches, captains of sporting teams, friends, family.

Why did you see those people as leaders? Why did you accept them as your leader at the time?

I had a discussion with a friend the other day, and we were discussing the fact that leadership is not about being the head of a company or a team, it’s about a way of being. It’s having the ability or the presence to inspire people to trust you. You can’t lead if you don’t have the trust of those around you.
I came up with my list of what leadership means to me, and what attributes a person must have to be a leader:

Talent
To me, a person needs to demonstrate talent – they need to have ability and capabilities, they need to be able to lead by example, and also be a high performer that sets them ahead of the pack. They need to be very good at what they do.

Judgement
To me, this covers many qualities and attributes. A leader has good judgement with decision-making, delegation and being able to recognise what to delegate to whom for maximum results, they need to have good judgement when it comes to understanding their impact on others, and have the right balance of empathy and objectivity.

Commitment
A good leader can give the same as they expect – they can put in and demonstrate that they’re in it for the long haul. Self discipline underpins commitment, and without it, a person will never be able to improve and grow their skills. Leaders have commitment and self discipline.

Strength
Having the strength to do what needs to be done and to support others when they need it, is a core part of leadership in my mind. Leaders need to be strong for the people who follow them, and they need to be able to weather the storms, as well as forge new pathways.

Focus
A leader needs to know which direction to lead the team – a focus on both the journey and the outcomes is important. In my mind, a good leader needs to be really clear on the game plan and the end game.

A person who consistently demonstrates strength of character, talent, commitment, judgement and focus will gain the trust of those around them.
Finally, as the quote above says, you can’t have leadership without trust. Do you have what it takes to lead?

How to Attract the People You Need

Apr 29

Posted by Jenny Stilwell in Growth, Human Resource Management, Leadership, Planning, Starting out in business, The Operations Dept | No Comments

Just because you select an ideal recruit for your business, doesn’t mean they will automatically want to work for you. Why not?

Many businesses overlook the fact that they have to sell their offer and make it an attractive option for prospective new employees.

If you operate in a competitive environment where good recruits are scarce, or when you are trying to attract very high calibre people, it is essential that you make your business, and the position, sound as appealing as possible.

Here are some factors to consider:
1. Consider what drives people to join new companies. They typically want:
a. a new challenge
b. more money
c. opportunities for promotion
d. to work in a larger company
e. to work in a smaller company environment
f. to work closer to home
g. to work in an environment where they can improve their skills and learn
h. to work in a company full of friendly people
i. to work for a market leader
j. a manager who will spend time with them to teach and mentor

Does your business offer any of these enticements?

2. If it doesn’t, you may have issues with how the business is structured, or how it is performing, and may need to make some internal assessments and adjustments before you are able to attract the kind of people you need and want.

3. If you do meet some of these criteria, then the next question is, how do you sell your business and the position to the candidate? At every point possible!

a. The advertisement
i. Outline what’s positive and different about your company
ii. Make it sound interesting
iii. Provide several ways to respond to the advertisement (email, phone call, fax) – it appears more professional
b. Your website
i. Presentation – professional or amateurish?
ii. Overview of your business – should provide reasonable detail
iii. Clients – some reference to clients is a positive indicator
c. The interview
i. Reception and greeting – friendly, and again, professional
ii. Positive interaction – encourage questions at the end
iii. Be animated when interviewing and talking about your business
iv. You and the company must reflect the culture (professional/casual, committed, creative, service focus etc.)
d. Follow up
i. Needs to be a fast turnaround if you want the person
ii. Well organised – timeliness, information in the offer

If you do all of these things it is more than likely that you will be able to employ a candidate who matches your requirements, and the culture of your company. Good luck!

Tags: business, HR

How to be a great coach.

Apr 25

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Personal Development | No Comments

Firstly.. Why be a coach?

You would not expect your favourite sports team to be effective without a coach… nor would you expect the people you lead to be effective without a leader.

To get high-level productivity from the team your role as a leader takes in a great deal of coaching and mentoring skills. Therefore your aim should be, to be the best coach you can be.

How to be a great coach

Here are some great points on what makes a great coach, take a look a them and decide which of these skills you already have and which ones you may need to work on.

Love people – Great coaches know they are leading people in a great cause of some kind and that the value of that is very high, to get the most out of the team and therefore the task at hand they know that people will be the device that makes the task happen. If the coach loves people they will then find ways to enhance their teams skills to be all they can be. To do so they have to love people after all it’s all they have to get the job done.
Motivate them – If you want the best out of people yo need to motivate them in ways that inspire them to do great things, to go the extra mile and see the results of their efforts and be pleased with them. Motivation is NOT driving them, yelling and screaming, pushing them hard, its more about finding ways to encourage them to find those things in themselves if they need to.
Be a coach – Being a coach might even entail you putting on a coach’s hat, then working with your people. Consider this, what if you had a team meeting and you did just that, put on a hat that said coach. It would probably lighten the mood and let the team know you are coaching them, providing support, motivation, guidance and the skills to encourage them.
Get their opinions and thoughts – Why should you be the one with all the ideas? Let the team use their collective intelligence to explore more effective ways of doing what they do. You might just get a lot more than you thought.
Explore mistakes – In learning to walk you stood up and fell down a few times until it all came together, after a while the bruises, scratches and scrapes healed and you explored walking some more, no one said you couldn’t do it did they?
Mistakes therefore are just opportunities to learn and grow and you need to ensure that in the pursuit of better outcomes that the more mistakes the team makes should therefore mean they are pushing the boundaries further to discover better ways to get results.
Be a great communicator – Listen a lot and when you speak or write make it elegant and effective. You will also want to be asking great questions so you can get great answers and allow you people to be all they can be.
Know there are differences and work with them – We are all different. A great coach will be aware of this and find ways to connect effectively with all people despite their differences.
Empower people – You have a team, how do you want them to do things? To their full potential or less? The answer HAS to be full potential anything else is a cop out. Therefore it is your solemn duty to find out how to empower them, and keep looking for ways to take it further.
Solve challenges and problems together – As a coach you may ask questions, which are more about how to solve challenges and problems, than telling them how to do things.
Keep meetings effective – Get to the point and stay on track with the agenda, get very strict about the meeting structure, that way you can sort things out better. Any chace you get, train your team rather than merely meet with them.
Work on the positive and reward the behaviour you want – Who wants to push a “negative barrow” about? After all it’s hard and like an uphill trudge, the more you push the heavier the barrow gets and the steeper the incline. When it’s positive you might just find the barrow carries you for significant parts of the ride, with the team taking it in turn to push.
Be an advocate for your people – As much as your team “puts in” to get results, be sure and back them up if the need arises. If they need a reference do it. If they need support in dealing with other issues at work do it. Be there for them, after all they are there for you and the tasks at hand, the pay off will be a team of truly committed people wanting to readily go the extra mile.
Self edit – As a coach your commitment to being all you can be will mean you are leading by example. Before long you will be seeking out every opportunity to hone your skills in all aspects of being a coach and editing yourself to get better results.

Give your team the edge

Apr 22

Posted by Steve Gray in Human Resource Management, Leadership, People! | No Comments

If you want to run a business that has a team with real power in what they do I have one piece of advice, in fact I will give you a really easy way to take that advice and put it into action… ready?

Coach them… too simple eh? but it works, you be the coach and say to yourself “If I am going to be a coach and asisst my team to be all they can be then I need to know about being the best coach I can be…” so lets grab that notion for a moment and run with it.

So to put the notion into action, grab a writing implement… now jot down as many attributes you would like a fantastic coach to have… write fast, write now, and go for a really long list. If someone comes past your door grab their attention (not by throwing a writing implement at them you need that…) and ask them for three really top attributes they would want to see in a coach.

Do you have a good list with over 15 attributes on it? Okay so now tick the attributes you already have and run a line through any of the points that are to do with yelling at people, and otherwise negatively driving them to perform.

Over the next few days keep the exercise happening in your mind and search for more things to add to the list, your list.

Now work on it, take all the positive qualities and do your best to tweak them and put them into practice.

Want to go further? Start your own coaching journal with all the attributes listed in the front of the journal and jot down notes on how you went and what you did to introduce these points into your own personal style of doing things. before long you will be finding great ways to work with people and get even greater results!

Happy coaching

The connection…

Apr 2

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Planning | No Comments

Your business is all it can be due to a few factors and often it boils down to how people connect, customers to staff, staff to staff and any other stakeholders you may have in the equation.

You see it’s about your values and beliefs and theirs, if you are employing staff it is important for the business to connect (If there is no connection it’s like having one computer off a network and expecting someone to be able to work with it but of course they have no access to info and resources, so how can they.) To connect you need to be able to say what values and beliefs you have and how you are going to match those with the employee you want to hire.

It also works with customers and clients, get the right ‘connection’ and you are probably on the same ‘wave length’ as an ideal customer.

Take the time to figure out what is important to you so you can find out if they are on the same wavelength. The connection can be well worth it in the long run.

Leadership is it… PERIOD!

Mar 19

Posted by Steve Gray in Excellence!, Leadership, People!, Personal Development, Planning, Starting out in business | No Comments

Leadership is it… If you have ever wondered about what makes a solidly compelling and successful company, well check the list and see what you think…

A leader leads by example… If it’s a brilliant business the leader is brilliant and that excellence is passed down with ease. They follow excellently because they were led excellently, and when they get to lead they do the same.

A leader plans… For the future, for the next five minutes, for the next five years to ensure success.

A leader is creative… It’s the only way to have an edge in business, call it innovation or any other term it’s creative approaches that work in a changing world. Anything else is a cop out.

Leaders go for positive results… That’s what they do because it’s good for business, good for staff great for customers and in the long run it can be fantastic for the environment.

Leaders love people… They know that to get the wheels turning it takes people, people to buy, people to sell, people to create, people to manage and people to lead.

Ever had a doubt about what it is that makes a winning business? Well not now, I have just told you… leadership of the highest order makes the difference…

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