Credit, Ceiling and the Cliff - 3 "C's" for the USA to Tackle

The United States seems to find itself in a continued fiscal mess and now is not the time to play politics.  The ceiling, the cliff and a possible downgrade to their credit rating have investors selling and holding cash.  Companies, hereto, are sitting on a lot of cash, and rightly so.  I am watching the 200 day moving average and hoping that the volatility index stabilizes or further selling is likely to continue into January 2013.  Some investors are heading to gold stocks.... I am not.  Some are actually buying Research in Motion stock...  I am not.

"Thelma and Louise" comes to mind as the cliff  deadline approaches......  The unanswered question is: "Is the cliff the Grand Canyon?"  I don't believe so.....  January will see Bush tax cuts go and a new policy begin; it is the uncertainty that is killing everyone!

Looking at the various polls, more than 54% of US residents agree to increase taxes, cut spending and pay down the debt - so if the majority can agree why can't the political leaders get this done?

4 Ways to Improve the Health of your Organization

For some time now I have been a big fan of the Crossan, Fry and Killing - brilliant strategic thinkers! In their 8th edition of 'Strategic Analysis and Action' they include measuring operational performance  and organizational health.  Think about the areas of Learning, Enthusiasm, Boundaries, and Sustainability when looking at Organizational Health and I ask that you expand from the qualitative headings and ask yourself the following questions.

1.  Are "Lessons Learned" captured?  How do the people in the organization currently learn from each other?

2.  How do your employees feel about their work?  How enthusiastic are they?  How often do you survey employees?

3.  Do individuals stay in small sub-groups?  Or are teams created that enable "openness"?

4.  How much capacity does your staff have?  Or Are the "tanks empty"?

In the following weeks I will explore each of the areas in more detail.

Rhonda

Recognize the Power Shift and How

Executive Leadership Requirements are Changing

Working in the social era requires leaders to embrace: team work, shared leadership, thought development and innovation by unlikely contributors – Are you prepared to enable them and drive power up versus down?

The so called: “Bosses” need to recognize that their true power lies beneath them on the organizational chart.  Real power comes from your ability to harness the resourcefulness of others by collaborating, sharing authority rather than dominating it.  People, your people, are connected and it is in those networks where problems are solved much more rapidly than in the past.  Understanding this shift may have a direct and positive impact on how you serve your staff and customers – This can be a Bottom-Line Booster and Competitive Advantage so why do some managers, leaders, supervisors… people in position of responsibility, hold on to the old paradigm?  Title?  Ego?  Both, I suspect, yet new organizations are throwing out the old titles:  the head of Honest Tea is the “TeaEO” – Seth works at all levels. 

What’s really in a title?  http://www.banffexeclead.com/AcumenPDF/Leadership%20Articles/Leadership%20Acumen%2027%20V10%20Job%20Titles.pdf

It’s worth the read and when you are done, think about the “network”, not vertical or horizontal alignment, or the “matrix”, but rather the social era and how today’s young leaders are tossing out the old paradigm of top-down.

Client Success for Community Consultants 2012

I often write about the sadness that I feel at the end of the semester when my consultancy students complete their client engagements and are eager to graduate.  From September to December I witnessed firsthand how a rocky team dynamic can shape and better a team in the end.  I saw clients both grateful and amazed at the work that had been done.   And, I sat proudly during a presentation where the message was a difficult one – ‘You Must Change’.

Each year the communityconsultants seem to take the program to new highs – for that I am grateful to all who taught these men and women before me and to the consultancy students for they allowed me to stretch them even further.

Well Done and Thank You!

The Hype Cycle

Gartner’s annual maturity assessment of technologies and information technology trends (Gartner.com) is something I like to follow- the cost is crazy but if you can wait, it will find its way to analysts who write about these companies and their technologies.  Organizations can use the Hype Cycle for decision making that will maximize impact and value.  Looking at a “smart phone” hype cycle, the makers of Black Berry can clearly see that what lies ahead of this organization maybe too steep to conquer (my opinion).  The makers of BB are in need of a name change, and technology insertion that is in keeping with future technology needs (note – “future”); but lets stay with understanding impact of "hype".

The “hype” today is BB10, BB10 – What happens when a product is talked about in anticipation of a launch?  The expectation goes up.  What happens when it fails to live up to the excitement?  The “trough of disillusionment” follows and then it is likely over.  I am sure the makers of BB10 are worried about whether they do in fact have the “technology trigger”, that… one thing that will launch BB back into technology-respect or if it will hit the trough, the downward slippery slope.

Rhonda....

Managing to a Manic Market and Low Volatility

I am starting to see a change in tmarket condition, couple that with a low volatility and there is an opportunity for the market condition to change.

My Business Partner and Economist, Mike Tucker, purports that there are nine market conditions based on, of course, Supply & Demand fundamentals and what then happens to Price and Quantity demanded can be the difficult question to answer.

So, business leaders….  It is time to be on your toes for the next quarter.  Low volatility in a manic market (up/down) and recessionary global activity has me concerned that the market (1 of 9) may be about to change and Leaders need to recognize and respond accordingly.

I am looking at a change in Demand (reduced), where supply remains robust – Price will go down and quantity demanded will be questionable.  Another market condition is a change in Demand (reduced) and supply follows; Quantity demanded will go down and Price becomes questionable – can the market hold its asking Price?

Remember, low volatility is the clue here….

Today, at some point... give pause to those who died on 9/11; having spent more than a decade working in aerospace and defence I am grateful to those who serve in uniform and who provide services and equipment.

Hey….Come Down from the Cheap Seats for Better Decisions

Over the summer break from teaching my work in my private practice has seen a few repeated mistakes from clients, which has me commenting about the macro environment conditions.

For example, it is no secret that the Euro-zone is struggling but it is also not to anyone’s surprise either so why then are companies trading at such a discount and near or below book value?  Too much emphasis is being spent on what I call the “cheap-seats”.  You know the ones…. Way up high in the rafters where you cannot see the specific plays unfold.   Apply that scenario to business and you will see we are making decisions from too much macro data – and now we have a problem.   

Do this one simple thing:  When you are reviewing or creating your strategic plan look at the micro economic information first then complete your situational analysis and better business decisions will result.

And 1 more thing:  Happy Birthday to my business partner - Mike Tucker - an economist that makes economics interesting! 

Executive Compensation …..

What is wrong?

Like you I have been watching and listening to how much bonus money is, and has been, paid to the big bank executives and executives in general.  And like you, I am getting more and more annoyed with their respective boards because clearly “big money bonuses” are incentivizing the wrong behaviour!

You do not have to look far to see that corruption is all around corporations.  Corporate governance needs to take a step back and revisit this now.  Sure it is a very complex structure – align pay with performance etc. but it should be capped – just my opinion but a worker-bee is a worker-bee and if you look back 15-20 years an executive compensation use to be 10-1 now it has gone to the ridiculous! 

So let’s take step back to where real risk-reward lies and that is with the entrepreneur.  The lady or gent who worked 7 days a week to make a dream come true and to ensure payroll was met and who was the last to be paid….  They deserve the wealth.

Cheers to the Entrepreneur!

Small Business Should Not Avoid Technology Upgrades

All too often small business fall prey to tight budgets and the mindset that: “What we have is working for us!”  Boy, if I had a penny for every time I heard that…..

What we have learned from our small business clients over the past 6 months are:

1)      Small business owners tend to not take advantage of technology upgrades.  Finding yourself way behind on versions may mean that the provider is no longer supporting your version.  Now you have an even bigger cost to face.  Keep current.

2)      Small business owners do not give enough attention to the customer records process. Technology is more than a repository that exports a file to the accountant.  When the data is entered (pain-staking, I know) it can provide deep insight into your product/service offerings and point you to trends.  This is invaluable to a small business owner to be able to notice changes and to respond accordingly.

3)      Small business owners tend to lag on a having a website strategy.   We hear over and over that “We have a website…. It’s been there a while.”  If that sounds familiar, you are not alone.   Your website is a constant marketing tool.  Spend some time and money and use it to create and sustain customer engagement.  Digital brochures do not help.

These are 3 points that can help you hone your message and grow your business with the effective use of technology.

3 Steps To being Responsible in Social Media Marketing

As a Social Media Marketer you need to keep 3 things in mind as you run your campaign.  A customer has a complaint, the product has a technical problem or a mistake has happened in upstream activities - -  regardless you need to take these 3 steps:

1)  Acknowledge - Once you find out the actual problem - take responsibility.  Failure to do so will have the customer keep living the experience by repeating and with that their unhappiness now includes you!

2) Apologize - An upset customer must be calmed down, if you can - try the "feel/felt/found" technique before you apologize.  It goes something like this:  "I would feel the same way..."  "I have found that calling as quickly as you have is important...."  This leads to number 3:

3) Act - You have acknowledged the problem, taken responsibility and placed yourself in the customer's shoes - - Do something.  Any front line person needs permission/budget to ACT.  "Calling the manager.."  No, not the best approach.  "Placing someone on hold for an extended period of time..."  No, not the best approach.

3 simple steps to build credibility and customer satisfaction, should you experience some customer satisfaction turbulence.

Try it.

Women in Leadership

Where there’s a WIL, there is a way!

There is little doubt today we are much more self-conscious about who leads us and how.   For young women today, “everything is possible” - - rewind some 50 years ago and that was not the case, but the good news was women in the 1960’s were breaking the very ground young women stand on today.

The Business Insider reported that in 1996 there was only 1 CEO in the Fortune 500 companies.  Fast forward to 2010, 15 companies on the Fortune 500 list were run by women.  What is disappointing is there are 47 companies, or 9.4% of the S&P 500 that have no women on the board of directors at all! 

Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-07-09/strategy/30050996_1_female-ceos-stock-market-companies#ixzz1nxqvVVH7

Let’s stay with looking more at the positive side of the growing trend; here is a small list of Women in Leadership….

Financial Post 500 (28 Companies With Women CEO/Heads) 

·         Shelley Broader, Wal-Mart Canada Corp. (#12)

·         Louise Wendling, Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. (SVP) (#29)

·         Monique F. Leroux, Mouvement des caisses Desjardins (Desjardins Group). (#30)

·         Karen Kinsley, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (#35)

·         Dianne Craig, Ford Motor Co. of Canada (#38)

·         Laura Formusa, Hydro One Inc. (#72)

·         Monique F. Leroux, Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company (#85)

·         Kathy Bardswick, Co-operators Financial Services Ltd. (#92)

·         Nancy C. Southern, ATCO Ltd. (#104)

·         Dawn Farrell, TransAlta (#119)

·         Linda Hasanfratz, Linamar Corporation (#146)

·         Barbara Bellissimo, State Farm Group (#152)

·         Sophie Brochu, Gaz Métro, Inc. (#161)

·         Karen Gavan, The Economical Insurance Group (#167)

·         Monique F. Leroux, Desjardins General Insurance Group (#189)

·         Katherine (Kathy) Bardswick, Co-operators Life Insurance Company (#235)

·         Mandy Shapansky, Xerox Canada, Inc. (#238)

·         Debra Armstrong, Bank of America MBNA Canada Bank (President) (#269)

·         Heather M. Reisman, Indigo Books & Music Inc. (#283)

·         Marilyn McLaren, The Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation (#289)

·         Christine M. Day, Lululemon Athletica, Inc. (#345)

·         Nancy L. Knowlton, SMART Technologies, Inc. (#350)

·         Tamara Vrooman, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union (#356)

·         Ellen J. Moore, Chubb Insurance Company of Canada (#361)

·         Monique F. Leroux, Caisse centrale Desjardins (#419)

·         Tracy Redies, Coast Capital Savings Credit Union (#429)

·         Marie-Claude Houle, EBC Inc. (#430)

·         Susan L. Riddell Rose, Perpetual Energy (#485)

Research from Becca Lipman purported that large companies with female CEOs are outperforming organizations run by men.

March 8^th is International Women’s Day - - Support one another, email or call a women who inspires you. 

Lastly, for all of those brilliant young women I have had the privilege to teach – take a moment and picture your name on this list.

Why Some Ads Go Viral and Others Don't - Video - Harvard Business Review

Why Some Ads Go Viral and Others Don't - Video - Harvard Business Review

Skipping past the commercials seems to be normal watching behaviour.... Research indicates a change in where the "punch" occurs can retain the viewer.
Have a watch.

Should multiple voices represent the Company?

Over the weekend this question came up a couple of times from clients and that has prompted me to write a short response to all of you.  “Yes”, I believe “voices” can resonate better with the target customer.  Take for example a great Canadian brand WestJet.  You never see one voice but rather you see multiple voices with one message “I’m a WestJetter too”.  What must happen is the communication strategy must be clear so that we are all “on message” and not having conflict arises from differing communiqués.  Now Apple had a single voice in Steve Jobs; will Apple now employ multiple voices to further engage…  Tell me what you think?

Social media can help build and sustain your voices – Use social media tools to engage the customer.  Remember, create the communication strategy first, unify the message and have those voices engaging!

When do you need a Contingency Plan?

Follow this simple 3-Point Rule…..

First things first, let’s look at this from an impact and likelihood standpoint:

High Impact – High Likelihood - - Strategic Plan;

Low Impact – Low Likelihood - - Operations Plan and;

High Impact – Low Likelihood - - Contingency Plan.

Using this 3-point rule you can quickly assess the likelihood of occurrence and the potential impact.  The Contingency Plan is all about the “Who does what when IF “_____“should occur?   Here you should list out what events/triggers can change the business?  Authors Nolan, Goodstein & Goodstein suggest that events stem from either the:   1) External environment and 2) Internal issues.  Most organizations have the Strategic and Operational Plans but they miss out on the Contingency Plan development.   

For example, during an acquisition, the target is identified and you start working away quietly.  You may need a contingency plan to deal with a second bidder, assuming the impact to your business is high if you lose out.  If you do not plan, in this case, for a second bidder and one appears, then emotion can be left unchecked and price escalation is the result.  Or the outright loss deeply affects your competitive position in the future.  Take another....  An organization is planning to have a contract renewed, assuming it will be as management knows that the service levels are good and there have been no supply disruptions - business as usual, right?  Then "Suprise!" 

Management teams today should develop Contingency Plans as potential changes that are of high consequence, albeit a low likelihood of occurrence are out there. "Surprise!" does happen….. 

What to do…

When you bite off more than you can chew?

A famous idiomatic expression that suggests you have taken on more than you are capable of.  So, rise to the challenge!  Here are 3 very simple, straightforward things you can do that will help you tackle what seems to be a gargantuan challenge.

1.      Take one bite at a time.  Often we see the enormity of what we have committed to and fear sets in - - stop, take a step back and break it down.

2.      Prioritize and set expectations.  Often we get ahead of ourselves in promising and delivering.  Prioritize the task with key stakeholders and set expectations.

3.      Recognize that you may need support - - Ask for it.

I cannot recall a leader/executive in the making that did not bite off more than they could chew at one time or another…  Nope, I cannot think of a single one.  Why?  Because the “can-do” courage, the nudge from within says:  “I’m Hungry!”  If you are not hungry, chances are you are complacent – reach a little.  That is how you develop.

RIM!

Too little, Too late…. And here’s why we Do SWOT Analysis

A change in the executive is supposed to reassure the investment community that Research in Motion can ….. Compete in the new smart phone market…. Next Year?

Each year the senior management gets together and reviews the Strategic Plan, and here’s where complacency becomes evident.  The “external analysis”, opportunities & threats are real and the “strengths” need to capitalize on opportunities and mitigate the identified threat. You must not conclude your planning session without scenarios assigned a probability of likelihood and charted.   You cannot wait 4 years, each of which has noted the threat of Apple to your smart-phone business before you do something.  

Next time you are asked to take part in a Strategic Planning session, take the SWOT Analysis seriously.

Respect your competitors’ desire to displace you!  Hear what your customers are saying and innovate – this will help mitigate threats to your business.

Stop the Meeting Rollercoaster with

8 Minute Meetings

If you come from an organization that seems to have a lot of long meetings (1 hour & 2 hour) and most then wonder, “Why?”

·         I’m in a meeting

·         I have back-to-back meetings

Sound familiar?  If you want to increase efficiency and engagement from your team try having an 8 minute meeting, keeping these in mind:

1.      Enable Action - You do not have to play every instrument just be the conductor

a.       Provide guidance– this is your role if you call the meeting

2.      Have frequent check-ins

a.      Smaller numbers – 10 or 12 at a meeting creates loafing.  Over the years meetings and invitees have ballooned; lower the list and… look out for the pout!

3.      Lead and engage with open/honest communication

a.      Specific status updates

b.      Last question before you adjourn – “What do you need me to do?”…  Back to point #1, Enabling Action requires you to “Remove obstacles”.