Zane Safrit

Interview with Richard B. Sanford: Author of Success by Design, Part Three

Richard B. Sanford launched eleven successful small enterprises over a 40+ year career, creating 11 successful companies during that time.

He joined the show recently to talk about how he accomplished this and his new book: SUCCESS BY DESIGN: How to Create Ever-Increasing Income, Profit & Wealth in the World of Small Business.

You can listen here.

You can read Part One of our conversation here.

You can read Part Two of our conversation here.

In his book, Richard compiled what principles, steps, tip and practices brought him this success over 40 years. His book shows the reader how to think and use "SIMPLIFIED STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLANNING" to generate ever increasing income, profits and wealth in the world of small business.

One of the things you repeat in your monthly, quarterly and annual performance reviews is you repeat the positive, you repeat the accomplishments. In fact you start all your meetings with them.

Exactly. Just praise the heck out of them.

It’s just...positiveness opens the mind to new creative responses. It gives them courage:

“I’m not going to be criticized for contributing new, greater ideas.”

Why? Because successes are praised.

Praised in front of my fellows. Wow I did good. We really iced that one. This is working!

Ok, now. What didn’t work?

Well, we had this little problem here.

Then everybody pitches in with ideas that ‘maybe if we’d don’t it this way, it would work.”

Then they’re willing to accept improvement. If you’re already a success, there’s no harm in admitting something didn’t work. You’re building a team. Creative ideas are not restricted to one team or function in a company.

You cross-pollinate it, come up with great ideas. they come up with better ideas than I have. But, most entrepreneurs have the the only idea. They’re the leader, right? So, they must have all the great ideas.

Wrong.

A lot of good ideas come from every direction. Seeing with a different perspective.

I worked to grow a team. I can do it alone. I can’t grow it alone. Now, if you don’t want to grow, if you just want to muck along, that’s fine. Many mom and pop stores create a comfortable living, they have good intuition and they succeed in the marketplace. they perform a service to the community and it works for them.

But, growing and expanding requires a new level of management. You can no longer keep it locked up inside your head. You have to communicate it with people.

And that’s where strategic planning is vital is you expected to succeed.

Now what you’re describing is the solution to this vexing problem with employee engagement. Statistics show only 30% of employees are actively engaged in an organization. 10-15 % are actively sabotaging. The remainder are indifferent.

Truly. But that comes out of big business; that's where that concept was germinated.

It’s true.

You have a simple solution.

You can take every division in a large company and turn it into a small company, couldn’t you.

I just don’t understand how these big companies put up with failure in divisions and disguise it. Bury it with the total.

" Yeah, the company overall made big profits."

Ok. But what happened to that division? It should be a separate company held accountable for what? Creating ever-increasing levels of profit, income and wealth. Or you sell it or close it down.

That takes courage.

Yeah. And if you’ve created the kind of environment you describe, one of trust and accountability, focused on the positive and correct the problems, then that kind of discussion should be manageable for everybody.

Yep.

You're a very practical, pragmatic, business leader. But, we've still reached the imagination moment in our show. Let's imagine President Obama has listened to our conversation. He calls you.

Dick, he says, I like you passion for small business and your success. Would you come to the White House? I’d like to hear 3 things we can do to help small business heal itself from the inside out.

What would you tell him?

What would they be, huh?

Yeah. Putting you on the spot here.

Number one, government should never be involved in business. Doesn’t know how. Doesn’t have the right attitude about problems. They should involve themselves on public policy.

It might help by saying because government is so involved in our education that we recognize that the job creator is not big business it is small business and what can they do, what can government do, to increase the success results, lower the 80% failure rate for those first years. And if you do, then another 80% fail to make it through the 3rd to 5th year. How can we increase the odds for success?

Number one, you can go to small business and say:

Let’s create educational courses starting in high school on entrepreneurial leadership and strategic planning, specifically. And take it into college level and the MBA level. Entrepreneurial education, not big business.

That would be one thing they could do.

The 2nd thing they could do is significantly reduce the burden of taxation, double taxation. You tax the business, then you tax the leaders who make the most money, then you tax the employees. Reduce that tax burden as much as possible. You can’t reduce the Social Security and Medicare tax burden. But you can the income tax burden.

And why is that? Because the more the owners earn, the more the employees earn, the more taxes they pay to the federal government. You don’t want to tax the goose that lays the golden egg. And that’s what they do. That would be helpful.

I haven’t given much thought to going to the White House again. I did for a period of time in my life as a member of the US Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Board. And, um, probably shouldn’t get into politics - it’s personal and subjective. But those are two things that are non-political.

Start teaching what is needed for entrepreneurial free-enterprise development in the country. Recognize the really important role that small business plays in the health of our economy.

The other thing is get off the backs of small business. Get some of these regulations cleaned up.

You ever see a Congress go through regulations and say:

These are outdated. And these are no longer critical.

It’s like they are saying that:

" Once we made this law that life stops."

And that’s baloney. Our society constantly changes. And there are so many burdensome regulations that no longer make any sense at all. They just get in the way and they cost money for small business to have to perform certain regulatory responsibilities that are just unnecessary. But that are no fun in getting Congress to work on this. There’s no fame or fortune in that, is there?

No. And as you’re talking we could have bi-partisan agreement that Congress may be the last institution to acknowledge the changes that have occurred in the past 5-10-15-20-30 years.

Too bad we don’t have a law that says if you make a law you gotta find a law to get rid of.

Let’s go back. What’s the biggest change in thinking you have witnessed over the past 40 years with regards to small business?

One. The awareness that small business is not mom-and-pop cornerstore business. The awareness that it is the job generator, an economic booster, in our economy. It was always big business. But big business is touted only after a single person creates an idea that builds a big business. Every single one of these giant business, these big businesses, all started with a single American citizen’s idea for a better way to serve the needs of society. For a better product, a better service, a less-expensive way of performing it.

You can’t think of a single company. Take a look at Jobs, take a look at Henry Ford. Take a look at Thomas Edison. Every one of them. Great inventors. It was a single person’s idea. And that’s true today.

So, what aren’t we spending more time on improving the garden that grows small business? Because one by one a small business is not that influential. I think the biggest change was in small business recognizing it rattled the chains and forming the Small Business Administration. Unfortunately, those people are not small business people. They don’t have a clue about what the demands and responsibilities are for creating a successful small business. Based on which administration you are serving, they think they have the ideas. And they don’t. And they become arrogant. They don’t know. They’re guessing. Which is typical of government. They never look forward, which is why we have a funding problem with social security and medicare.

But in any event, changes in small business administration occurred in Jimmy Carter’s administration when he promised if he was elected he wouldcreate the first ever White House conference on small business. And, he failed to keep his promise until the last 6 months of his administration. And then the hoop and holler of small business forced him to conduct the first ever White House conference on small business.

And what did that do? What it did for us is we became acquainted with each other. Think about the character of a small business leader. We operate in our cocoon, in our little market area at home. Pay attention to our business and we don’t go looking for trouble.

But if you aren’t a collective force you can’t bring about change in this country. So, we became acquainted with each other, city by city, state by state. And out of that came the creation and growth of small business associations in most all states. And now there is a Small Business Association of America United. Many of the states small business associations can participate. And now you have some political muscle to attempt to inform and bring about positive change.

Beautiful. Great answer.

Readers are leaders. Jim Rohn says that. I just like it and use it with these shows. You're a leader. What are you reading these days?

I read for both entertainment and to improve my mind. Stay current. I read Lee Childs murder mysteries. They’re great. I like the discipline of solving crimes.

Right now, on the self-improvement side, I’m reading a text: George Steiner’s Strategic Planning. It was published in the 70’s. I was hoping it had a partial focus on small business. But as I read into it it is a typical big business book. You oughta see the graphs...you need a math degree to even understand him.

But, I read it because I want to see if there’s something I can use to improve my model. And the most interesting thing I’m reading right now is The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success by Wayne Breitbarth. He’s from Michigan. It’s a primer on social media, social networking. I found that I signed up for LinkedIn and don’t know how to use it. His book is a primer, how to do it, step-by-step. How do you get a password, how do you log in, how do you update it?

Young people intuitively know how to do this. But, I’m not a young person. But if we can get the how-to books.

So, that’s exciting. I’m going to expand that. A lot of people are following me but they don’t know what I’m doing. They don’t know I’m having this radio interview. And they need to know, those who are interested in.

I smile when you say Young people intuitively know how to do it. I tend to agree with you. On the other hand, I know that as they grow up, with the 10-15 years headstart on us, I’m 56, in using all this so that it looks so natural. But behind the scenes they went through the same learning process we go through right now.

You include in the back of your book a number of great quotes from business leaders and writers. What’s your favorite one?

Calvin Coolidge’s treatise on persistence. Just never ever ever give up. Keep searching. Keep digging. Keep looking. Keep reading. Keep learning. Just persevere. Never give up. And I love that.

But all the others work as well.

• You got to be committed.

• You got to think like a leader.

• You got to attract people.

 

Are you speaking anywhere?

I use to when I was really active in the Small Business Administration of Michigan that I founded in 1969. More recently, no. I’ve started getting a few inquiries.

At my age, I only have so much energy. I’m 80 years old. You have to know who you are. That’s why I’m not marketing to bookstores. I just don’t have the energy to travel around and do book signings. I pick the markets that I can reach electronically.

But, I do speak occasionally at Rotary Clubs on these issues.

I might consider...there are some of these Success Seminars where they bring in a whole group of speakers. Most of it is on attitude. You know how can you speak to a big audience on anything specific. But some of it is informative and I might consider something like that.

I enjoy Arizona in the winter and Michigan in the summer. Mrs. Sanford and I are so blessed. We’re so fortunate. Our family, 4 girls and 8 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. We enjoy that. We enjoy each other so I don’t want to act like a younger person with that time commitment.

I will do what I can to help promote your book and the solutions you provide for small businesses. It’s such a well-organized, clear, concise manual that any business of any size, even the bigger ones, could take and implement and begin to chip away at that failure rate of 80% in the first 3 years, another 80% in the next 3 years. We can add a few jobs, get the unemployment rate down around 45-%, see the economy grow.

Well, thank you for the compliment. If anyone wants to learn more specifically about me or the book they can go to my website. www.SSBP.biz and that stands for Simplified Strategic Business Planning.

Excellent. Your daughters or your grandkids will show you how to get on Twitter?

Nah, I haven’t done that. One thing at a time, Zane.

Well, when they do let me know. I’d like to connect with you there. I’ll connect with you at LinkedIn.

Dick, I’ve enjoyed the conversation, it was as rewarding as the book.

Interview with Richard B. Sanford: Author of Success by Design, Part Two

Richard B. Sanford launched eleven successful small enterprises over a 40+ year career, creating 11 successful companies during that time.

He joined the show recently to talk about how he accomplished this and his new book: SUCCESS BY DESIGN: How to Create Ever-Increasing Income, Profit & Wealth in the World of Small Business.

You can listen here.

You can read Part One of our conversation here.

In his book, Richard compiled what principles, steps, tip and practices brought him this success over 40 years. His book shows the reader how to think and use "SIMPLIFIED STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLANNING" to generate ever increasing income, profits and wealth in the world of small business.

One of the reasons I love your book is you wrote

There are many things out of our control. Customer Service is not one of them.

Dumb question, but it seems no one answers it well: why do so many companies either ignore customer service or control it by minimizing it?

They don’t have a strategic plan. And, in the strategic plan you address an objective about how are we going to treat the people who buy from us, the people we want to buy from us.

How will we consider them?

Why is it important to nurture them and in nurturing them does service play animportant part? Yes.

How will we define our service?

So, in reading these annual reports, it’s so interesting to read them not only in bug business, stock company’s annual reports but in small business. Look at the cars and trucks driving around the advertisements and they talk about service. And most, usually, it’s a joke.

“We’re the best in the valley!”

These big fat claims that are all subjective and not objective. You can’t evaluate them. how do you hold a business accountable, if you’re the customer and you’re buying pool services, which I did this week. And I needed a new pool service company because the company I’m using isn’t getting the job done. And so, I looked at the ads and I finally made a selection.

And I asked them how do you rate your service. And they said:

“Well, we give the best.”

“ I don’t know what best means. Could you define it for me? “

Several of the company stumbled all over themselves. They couldn’t define it. I want an objective statement.

About 25 years ago, I started working on that. I was preparing some sales and marketing materials about our service, which was incredibly outstanding. Finally, I came to the conclusion that you have to make the service statement quantifiable, so it can be measured by the customer. And I came up with a 3-part statement on our service.

And that reflected on my strategic plan about how I would manage effective service in the company. And it worked like magic. And I share that in my book as well. I give it to the world.

That’s such a great answer, especially the quantifiable answer. I see the same stock stuff of world class customer service.

Yeah, how can you hold them accountable for doing that? You say:

“You didn’t give me world-class customer service!”

“Well, what do you mean...?”

“It’s your statement. Define it for me.”

“I don’t know how to do it.”

“ What value is it?”

And right there is an integrity issue.

Your next step is the Action Plan and the Action Planning Process. What are the 5 steps with the Action Planning Process?

Well, first of all, that would be skipping over the next step in strategic planning. It goes Mission to Purpose and then doing your research and development and establishing objectives. And I establish objectives in the 5 or 6 or 7 areas of business function.

What will finance and accounting objective be, our personnel objectives be, our sales objectives be, our marketing and promotions objectives be, our manufacturing process objectives be?

Because in each of those functions of your business needs a values statement or objective. For instance, Finance and Accounting. An objective is:

“Never spend more than we take in.”

Sound pretty simple?

Pretty straight forward.

Secondly:

“Never fail to report every penny of income.”

Why is that important? Well, if you fail to report a penny of income you are defrauding the government. And there’s some pretty severe penalties for that.

Now, on the expense side, Thurgood Marshall - a Supreme Court Justice - wrote a treatise on the fact that you take every business expense you can then you can argue with the IRS is legitimate or not. And that is not breaking the law.

You report every penny of revenue otherwise there are serious penalties for defrauding the government.

And there are others. So, you set up these objectives.

And once you have your objectives then you say, the question comes:

“How will we do it?”

And there in lies your strategies and action plans.

Listening to you talk about the need to report every penny of income, there’s an adage that if you’re going to defraud the IRS on that level then you are likely to defraud your self or your partners on another level.

Exactly. It’s a value.

And that’s going to manifest into defrauding your employees, your customers, your investors.

I had to laugh when you pointed out what I overlooked. I tend to be impulsive and quickly assess what needs to be done and just jump ahead to the action plan.

Yeah. Most entrepreneurs do that.

“Let’s get in there and do some action.”

“Ok. What kind of action? How are you going to measure it? What do you do if it doesn’t work? ”

So, once you have your values in place, your values of business, meaning your objectives, in each of those elements then you can measure your action plan. That starts with a strategy, that’s followed up by the tasks and tactics and the timelines and who’s going to do that.

You have a strateguy. And that is to say Expand our marketing budget and reach this new market. That’s a strategy.

Well, what’s the task involved? Well, Charlie needs to sit down and create some new sales material. And then we need to decide which advertising medium we’re going to use. And what frequency and how will we measure it? And once that’s done, we let the contract. And, our timeline to complete this is 3.5 weeks by this date. And Charlie’s involved in making this happen.

There’s one unit of strategic action. And you write it down.

Well, why do you do that? Because next week you have a business meeting with your leaders or managers and you ask Charlie:

“What’s our progress? Show me.”

Simple.

Does that mean you always make your timelines? No. But at least you know you have to adjust them.

If you have a timeline then everyone can organize and prioritize their day to stay up with it.

Exactly. It stays in the entrepreneur’s head. And then you have people say

“Well, I didn’t know you had to have it done by March 1st. It will take longer than that.”

Then there’s always the discussion of why isn’t it done?

If you lock up the ideas in the entrepreneur’s head and don’t write it down, how can you expect anyone to perform? It gives manager’s confidence. Yeah, it puts them under pressure, but we’re all under pressure. But it gives them exactly what’s expected of them. And then if you have a personnel problem, then you can go back to your plan and ask what our objectives in the human resources area?

"Well, Number One is that we respect each employee.
We expect each employee to respect the responsibilities of the job.
Number three, failure to do so then we are obligated to help them find a job where they can perform, either inside or outside the company."

Where in your 40 years of business experience, where does this process usually break down?

One area where this process breaks down is when an entrepreneur is frightened to share their ideas and their plans for fear that someone is going to steal them and go into competition with them.

What that does is severely limit an entrepreneur’s ability to grow. And I discuss that in the book. Planning meetings where the entrepreneur finally has to say:

You know, if I treat my people right and I reward them for success, I’m not greedy, probably 75-80% of them will stay with me. And those that don’t often become the 80% that fail if they try to go into competition because they don’t pay the price. They’re the short-cutters. Not all of them...

I helped develop managers and several of them I helped go into competition with me in slightly different markets because I wanted the reputation in the company that

“ Work for Dick Sanford and his company. They do a great job, they do it right. They grow. He’s tough as nails sometimes; he expects performance. But boy I sure like making the money and the security of the job. “

That’s the kind of reputation I want.

And that’s another objective I want to have in human resources. We want to create an environment where we’re the best place to work. So, then, talent comes to you. Your employees recommend people to you. We never had a shortage of talent. And if we had a misplaced person, not at the clerical or primary function level, but in the supervisor level...not everybody is capable of performing at the supervisory and management level.

Who’s fault is that? Is that the person’s responsibility because they wanted more responsibility and money? No. It was my fault or one of my executive’s fault.

So, what are we going to do to help this person. Turn ‘em out into the community so they can hate us and say bad things about us? No, no. You call the manager in and ask them:

" Are you happy? Are you happy where you’re at? Because you’re not achieving..."

And they’ll blame everybody else but themselves but finally they’ll come:

“No, I’m not happy. It doesn’t fit here. ”

And you say:

“Well, what can we do? Can we change the job, the responsibilities, maybe outside the company?

They’ll say:

“Oh. You’re trying to fire me.”

“No. Not at all. If you need a job that we can’t fulfill in the company then start looking. I’ll pay. Go look. And we’ll give you a good recommendation.”

And it worked!

So simple. So clear.

I like your Chapter Six. Introducing Your Strategic Action Plan. And in bold you wrote:

You Cannot Do it ALL!

That's a big challenge sometimes for entrepreneurs. Letting go, letting others.

You can’t do it all. You become tired and stressed. Make bad decisions.

Run off the good talent.

Exactly.

He’ll say:

“Dammit. He won’t let me do it. I’ve got a better idea.”

Well, better ideas come out in the strategic planning, in the process. I show them how to do that. HOW. How to think. How to plan. How to execute. And that’s what’s missing out in the marketplace.

That’s what I’ve seen in my research. SUCCESS by DESIGN is the only entrepreneur book on how to do it that’s available.

Chapter 7 is all about the important of reviewing results. This next question may seem like a dumb question, but what’s the importance of frequent reviews?

A lot of our citizens in this country are church-going members. Possibly, you, yourself are.

Why do you go every week? Why do you hear the dogma every week? Why do you say The Lord’s Prayer every week? Why is that?

Why do we pledge allegiance in school frequently? Why do we sing the Star Spangled Banner?

Why?

To remind us of who we are, and where we are, and what we’re doing. Which means just saying it once, let’s say you have a strategic planning meeting and you’re woriking on the mission and you create the mission for a profit-making company I recommend - create ever-increasing wealth- why would we repeat it?

Because you forget it!

Ok, we’re going into strategic planning session. Let’s recite the mission.

Oh, we’ve done it.

No. Let’s recite the mission so the thinking that came up with it can be evaluated.

You come up with an idea...is that going to increase our income? No? Well, then we just don’t do it.

Or, we create increasing income but it won’t create any profit; it creates losses. Oh. So that’s the acid test right up front, isn’t it?

So, you repeat it and repeat it and you have them repeat it to their staff.

But you can’t ever let up or bad stuff comes in and blind-sides you.

I’ve had that happen. Things come in the back door and before we know it we’re losing money.

How did that happen?

Well, we never measured it against our mission. It just wasn’t designed to do that. What a stupid mistake! Not stupid, we’re all human.

Why do you tell people you love them? We need to be reminded every single day, the older you get. Why? You don’t want to forget and you don’t want them to forget.

Calvin Coolidge’s advice on persistence I value:

Persistence. Every day in every way, persevere.

Same way with your values, with your strategic plan. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Polish, improve. Repeat.

**********

Part Three of this conversation will be published Tuesday, November 22.

Interview with Richard B. Sanford: Author of Success by Design

Richard B. Sanford launched eleven successful small enterprises over a 40+ year career in Small Business.

He joined the show recently to talk about how he accomplished this and his new book: SUCCESS BY DESIGN: How to Create Ever-Increasing Income, Profit & Wealth in the World of Small Business.

You can listen here.

In his book, Richard compiled what principles, steps, tip and practices brought him this success over 40 years. His book shows the reader how to think and use "SIMPLIFIED STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLANNING" to generate ever increasing income, profits and wealth in the world of small business.

I very much enjoyed this book for its real world, do-it-now, approach to achieving success in the world of small business. That world, he reminds, is the world that creates new jobs. That world seems a bit dismal given our current economy. And this book can turn that around and our economy around.

Mr. Sanford. Thank you for being on the show.

You’re welcome, Zane. And, please call me ‘Dick’. I answer to that better than Mr.

Thank you for writing a great book.

Oh, you’re welcome. It was a pleasure to write.

I found it well-organized, well-written and eminently doable. You know it’s really more of a manual which is what I think small business needs.

I tend to call it a ‘handbook’.

Now who were you writing this book for? Describe the person that needs to read your book, where do they sit in an organization, what are their fears?

There are two audiences. First audience would be for a budding entrepreneur who is considering a startup small business and they have a dream in their head. And they really haven’t had any training or experience to guide them to come up with a good strategic plan for creating and building the business.

The 2nd audience are for those entrepreneurs who have survived the 1-3 year obstacle course you have to go through to become a success. Now, they’re looking to grow and expand their business. And here again, lacking strategic planning tools that’s not taught in high schools for small business and not taught in MBA programs...they’re all aimed at big business.

The tools needed in big business aren’t available to small business people - meaning a large staff of researchers and strategic planners and data banks and consumer analysis reports. Strategic planning in small business is done in the head of the entrepreneur with very limited resources and no real plan to guide them in doing so.

Somewhere in the back of my mind is a question, for probably another whole show, about the lack of strategic planning skills taught in high schools. I always think of strategic planning in many respects as the ability to organize an idea and lay out a plan and then be able to communicate it. That skill is not taught in our high schools says a lot of what our future holds for us.

Right on. Depending on who you listen to, 70-80% of all new business startups fail by the end of the first year. What a waste of resource and capital and energy!

Again, the purpose of my book is to increase the chance of success of those startup rates.

Now let’s talk a bit more about the purpose of your writing this book. As I was preparing for this show, I looked at your background and what stood out was 40 years in business, 11 successful startups. And I’m thinking you’ve probably got grandkids, you’re probably living somewhere warm and sunny in a relaxed setting. And here you are writing a book and a very good one.

You’re right on all of it and I even have my first great grandchild.

Yeah, you’re right. I’m in Arizona this morning, got up early, did my homework and prepared my mind for this show. I’ve been looking forward to it.

I watch so many people. I came out of a very poor family from an industrial workforce. And I watch so many of them lust for age 65 so they could drink all the beer they could drink and sit in front of a TV and die. That was not my idea of a rewarding retirement.

It’s fun to read, to think. It’s fun to create. It keeps you alive and vital. So, numbers of associates have told me:

“You can't fade out of this life and leave behind this model that you’ve pushed on to us and forced us to comply with to create successes. And you’ve gotta share it.”

In some respects, this book is a startup. What is your strategy for reaching that goal?

Very simple. I use the same model I use with all my businesses. I take it step by step and I’m underway.

Right now, I’ve identified the markets I want to reach and I’ve identified the methods in which I need to brand myself in the public domain before I start selling to those markets. So, it’s working. And evidenced by your wonderful invitation to talk about my book and my model on your radio blog. It’s a compliment.

I turn the compliment back to you. Thank you for being on the show. I‘ve looked forward to talking with you ever since I read your book.

And most small businesses start with a business plan. But you write that a strategic business plan is better than a business plan. What's the difference between the two and why's the former better than the latter?

Well, when I left big business and became an entrepreneur I’ve got some assets. I had some savings and some capital. So, I went to the bank and said I’d like some capital to start a business. And they said:

“Well, you need a business plan.”

And I said:

“ Oh, ok. What’s that look like?”

And they said:

“ Well, talk to your accountant.”

And what happened in retrospect was I had this dream in my mind about the business I wanted to create and launch. I told this dream, I described this dream, to my accountant and he replicated it with numbers. So, in other words, he took my dreams which were imaginations and he converted it into numbers and a business plan and the bank said:

“Oh, great! Great business plan. And we’ll loan you some capital.”

That is not a strategic plan. I hadn’t done research and analysis of the market - the products and markets I would provide - the space I would need and the business values I would applkly to a startup and running a business.

And as I progressed, I said:

“Gee. I need a strategic plan. I’m flopping all over the place, running around, do this do that.”

So, I went to the library, to the college. And said:

“Ok. Where are the books on strategic planning?”

And discovered that all of them, all of them, were written for big business. And all of the said:

“Here’s what you do. Do this. Do that. Do this. Do that.”

And none of them told me how to do it.

And that is true today. I search in libraries and I search in libraries and anything to do with strategic planning, without exception, they say “here’s what you do” and they never tell you how to do it.

So, I said to myself:

"How do I modify strategic planning for big business scale, modify this and simplify this for entrepreneurs?"

And over the years I developed my model called Success by Design.

That’s excellent.

The first step in creating a strategic business planning is defining the mission of the business. You write that there's only one mission for every business. You advise the reader to bookmark that chapter until he understands this. What is that central mission for all businesses?

First of all, I would invest if possible in American corporations and buy stock and look at their annual reports. They used to all have a mission. Today they disguise it.

And the mission was wonderful. They were flowery and told what they were going to do to change the world, benefit humanity.

Pretty soon, I got to thinking:

" That is not the purpose of a profit-making business."

There is only one mission that meets my definition. And that is for every profit-making business is to create ever increasing income and profit and wealth. Failure to do that, the business self-destructs. And big ones, big businesses are doing it every day. They lose their focus about why they were created and to whom they are accountable for their performance.

And all the good things that happen in business and our economy are a result of a profit-making business. And profit-making comes from ever-increasing income. Just for the purposes of inflation, if you don’t increase your business income 3-5% then you’re falling behind!

So, their missions...they don’t understand, apparently that that is their obligation to their shareholders, to their employees. What kind of employment is it in a business that is losing money. They’re heading for the failure circle, not the winner’s circle.

That’s the only legitimate mission I use.

Now, in my book I describe some reasons that businesses don’t want to lay that out because there’s a certain element in our society that has demonized profit-making which is kind of ridiculous. Because all of the good things in our economy, in the life of consumers comes from companies who create profit and invest it back in their employees, invest it back in their communities.

We’re the greatest charity giving entity in the world. I wonder where people think that comes from. You think that comes from a business that loses money? Not so.

That’s the mission that I use. But I give them some latitude. As you mention, I ask them to book-mark in my book and if they can come up with a better one, then use that mission.

Has anyone come up with a better one that they’ve shared with you?

Never have, Zane. When they start to think about it....that’s like saying

“Gee, I’m going to make society better by losing money. That’s my mission.”

When they speak it out, it’s very obvious what it should be.

Hand in hand or should I say step by step, comes this next step. And that’s the step of creating your purpose. What's the difference between a company's purpose and its mission?

The company’s purpose is what you will do to be beneficial to society and to customers and clients. It’s what you will do that will generate profit. That becomes specific as to the profit, the product, the markets, etc. And what business are you going to be in and how are you going to conduct that business.

So, that’s the description about how to think about creating a purpose. That’s chapter two in my book.

Listening to you, you’re so clear, you’re so crisp, it makes me wonder if there’s not some sorta mental malaise in our business leaders that they are not able to differentiate between the two or are afraid to differentiate between the two.

True. I discussed that in the purposes as well. Businesses today are demonized for making a profit which is ridiculous because all good things come from making profits. They don’t come from loss or failure.

So, they hide it. They use generally a purpose as a substitute for a mission. I don’t have any problem with that. If you want to hide the mission, that’s ok. I did when I created descriptive promotional and sales material for my business I did not lay my mission out for that to attract the detractors. So, I put the purpose out - how we’re going to benefit society and consumers, our clients.

I did the same thing as big business. When you’re being demonized for your mission no sense in adding fuel to the fires so you publish your purpose.

But, if I were sitting on the board of directors for a major corporation I could tell ya the first thing I would say is:

" Is this company making a profit? Or are you heading for the loser’s circle. And exactly what are you doing about it. From income comes profit, so what are you doing to control expenses and not waste our income. Convert it into profit and from profit creates wealth."

We share it with our investors. We share it with our communities. If you go out and just walk around the community and look at all the good things that happen from just the profit-making companies, it’s incredible.

As I’m thinking, and I didn’t have this question as part of the list we’re going to go over, and this might be a personal observation. I think people have no problems with companies making tons of profit, take Apple, when they’re bringing value to their lives, solving a problem, making their lives better.

All you have to do is to talk with your friends and ask them what kind of computer do you use. Is it ok? Should I buy it? And they’ll say yeah! Is it ok for Dell to make profit? Well, what isn’t ok to make profits?

These detractors...well, they’re never asked the question:

Do you like the jeans you’re wearing?

Is that a good product?

Is it ok for them to make a profit and stay in business?

And they’ll say:

"Oh, it’s those other giant big corporations, mystical...they’re terrible, they’re attitude."

It’s a lack of education from grade school on. We don’t teach enterprise. We don’t teach free enterprise. We don’t teach strategic planning.

**********

Part Two of this conversation will be published Monday, November 21.

Part Three of this conversation will be published Tuesday, November 22.

Radio Guest: William Seidman, CEO of @Cerebyte

Dr. Seidman is a recognized expert on how to develop and sustain high performing organizations. In particular, Dr. Seidman is renowned for understanding the processes required to discover and use expert wisdom to create extraordinary organizational performance.

Dr. Seidman’s received his doctorate from Stanford where he spent eight years studying management decision-making. As part of his doctoral dissertation, he developed a groundbreaking technique for analyzing management decision-making. The technique is the core of Strategy to Action methodology and has been recognized by KMWorld, The Innovation Center, IDC and others.

Dr. Seidman is CEO & co-founder of Cerebyte, which gives organizations the ability and the confidence to dramatically improve their performance. Their pioneering technology, based on the latest science of how we think and learn, enables them to quickly capture top performers' "secret sauce" and raise the performance of everyone else to that same high level. Their solution has been adopted by companies such as Intel, Jack in the Box, American Family Insurance, Nike to name a few.

Aligning with the latest research in positive deviance, fair process, neuroscience and mass customization, their solution makes it possible to quickly capture your top performers' expert knowledge, approach and values, and then systematically help everyone else apply them in theit work.

 And he is the co-author of Strategy to Action in 10 Days: Creating High Performance Organizations.

From his website:

Strategy to Action provides a groundbreaking approach that quickly infuses any organization with the skills, attitudes, behaviors and culture vital to extraordinary performance. This practical, step-by-step approach guides readers to create a highly predicable, scalable and engaging environment that will have everyone in the organization performing like a superstar.

After reading it, understanding his principles and his methodology and as important the science behind it...I would have to agree:

This practical, step-by-step approach guides readers to create a highly predicable, scalable and engaging environment that will have everyone in the organization performing like a superstar.

Dr. Seidman reached out directly to me on Twitter which is a positive deviance from the norm of CEOs and founders who remain reluctant to embrace Twitter. He’s open, clear, passionate and brings a scientific solution to transforming everyone into organizational stars.

LISTENING OPTIONS

Live

• Listen in streaming on-demand here.

• Call 646-915-9212 during the live portion of the show: 1PM to 2 PM, Central.

Later

• Listen in streaming on-demand here.

[NOTE: Sometimes I am sent author's draft copies, pre-release copies of books yet to be published or published books authors and their publishers and publicists. If I like them, I invite them to be a guest on this show. Sometimes, they agree; sometimes they don't. 

If they do, I transcribe our conversation and publish them as posts, either in their entirety and/or as excerpts: See Radio Show Highlights,  What Are You Reading and Solutions for President Obama. Sometimes, I write a review of their book. My payments are the book and the conversation. ]

Six Disciplines of Excellence: A Review

Are you small business leader looking for a quick fix? You think that maybe what revenues lack is a cute ad or a viral cartoon? Maybe a nifty new slogan for your brand or more Facebook friends? Or, wait, you want to jump on the latest craze and sign up for those discount coupon programs....

Well, if you are, then carry on. There is nothing to read here.

However, if you are a small business leader who looks for the means and tools to create a sustainable means to success, if you want to create a culture of learners that constantly help each other learn the new skills you will need to remain leaders in your business and industry, and who wants to confront the challenge of executing strategy consistently ... I may have a book you should read. And keep it close at hand. And read again and again.

Six Disciplines for Excellence: Building Small Businesses That Learn, Lead and Last is a book many times over the years. I first read it in 2006-ish. And then again in 2008. I interviewed its author, Gary Harpst. You can listen to our conversation here. I included it in my list of well-worn business books to keep close at hand.

You're asking So what?

Fair enough.

Gary outlines 6 disciplines for ...They are:

• Decide What’s Important

• Set Goals That Lead

• Align Systems

• Work The Plan

• Innovate Purposefully

• Step Back

See any shortcuts? See any cutesy social media tricks or tips. No.

Notice also that top 10 tips and current business bingo buzzwords are absent, too.

Business excellence, dare I say, transcends au currant business theories and experts. Business excellence is built with the same principles regardless if your business operates today or last century. Those principles are these six principles which Gary has listed, described and discussed in detail.

And he describes and discusses them in a single chapter in such detail that at the end you have a plan to bring that principle to your business business today. And tomorrow. And bring others into your plan to learn that principle today and tomorrow. That is the foundation for your excellent business: A culture of learners who collectively create a culture of leaders.

Business now changes so fast, so often, as we face a global marketplace. The companies who can create a continuous, sustainable, culture of learners are the companies who will create cultures of leaders. That makes their business a leader. Today AND tomorrow.

Now you have a book with routines and practices that bring universal principles into your business today. Each of them are doable today. There are no great big investments required. The risks are small. The steps are doable, each and every day.

Now, there's no excuse. That's so what.

2 Biggest Derailment Factors for Executives

 Erika Andersen, founder of Proteus International and author of Being Strategic: Plan for Success, Outthink Your Competitors, Stay Ahead of Change, joined our show recently. You can listen here for the insights and inspiration she shared.

During the show I asked her:

As people move up in a career ladder, move up in the standard hierarchical, top-down, command and control environment how do they avoid their own American Idol syndrome?

I read a study a few years ago that said the 2 biggest derailment factors for executives were:

• not listening to accurate data from the people around them, and
  

• not having those sources of data; not having people around them who will tell them the truth.

So, not having the people to tell the truth and not willing to hear it when it’s told to them when they do... are the two-sides of the same coin that is shown in this study to be the biggest factor of derailment for executives.

Erika does not present a problem without also offering a solution. She continued.

There are three skills to use to do this [avoid our own American Idol syndrome.]

1. Being a Fair Witness
2. Pulling Back the Camera
   
3. Sorting for Impact or Fit

If you know you have to be a fair witness to accurately envision and move towards the future for you and your company then you will find a way to get that data.

There are two ways to do this.

1. Good leaders put in systems that will collect the data. They have ways of doing employee surveys. They get real data about how people are doing....They have good metric-based ways of getting the data to allow them to be a fair witness.

2. They are smart enough to create the relationships with those that work with them that are based on trust and authenticity. Those people can and will them the truth. And how you do that is you listen to them. If you as a leader can never shoot the messenger...no matter what the message...then that person will come again and again when they have another problem or concern.

If you are engaged consistently with your team in being strategic it’s much more likely to come out as part of the conversation.

She talks more about these three mental skills, the deceptively simple definition of being strategic, and some inspiring client profiles of those who were able to live the daily habit of Being Strategic.

You can read highlights of our conversation here.

FTC disclaimer: Other than two free copies of her book and the joy of learning from her book and her conversations on our radio show there was no compensation. I am way ahead in my life as a result. I hope you are will be, too.

Highlights from My Conversation with Erika Andersen, author of Being Strategic

Erika Andersen, founder of Proteus International and author of Being Strategic: Plan for Success, Outthink Your Competitors, Stay Ahead of Change, joined our show recently. You can listen here for the insights and inspiration she shared.

As founder of Proteus International, Erika Andersen has built a reputation for promoting learning and change in ways uniquely tailored to her clients' challenges, goals, and culture. She does that by focusing on thoroughly understanding each organization and on collaborating with her clients in ways that are engaging, direct, and "learner-friendly." Erika uses metaphor and models to help people learn about themselves and their organizations, and then to decide how to move toward the future they envision.

She has served as consultant and advisor to the CEOs and top executives of a number of corporations, including MTV Networks, Hewitt Associates, Turner Broadcasting, MillerCoors, NBC Universal, Union Square Hospitality Group, CBS, Madison Square Garden, and Comcast Corporation.

Her book, Being Strategic, is one of my favorite books. It's one of the three books I keep handy. Why? In an ever-changing environment it is important that I assess opportunities while Being Strategic.

Erika, welcome to the show. Thanks for being here, again.

Thank you for a wonderful introduction.

How are you? Where are you? What project are you working on now with your clients Being Strategic?  

 So many wonderful things....As you know the book came out in paperback last month. And I was talking with my editor and wrote a forum about what’s changed since the hard cover came out that so many people are interested in our approach to be Being Strategic. We have more work than we can do. We’re training our consultants and hiring a few more people to help with this process.

It’s a combination of many things. One is we’ve been very helpful to clients and they tell others. And one very positive thing I’m seeing is that A lot of executives, and a lot of business owner as they’re starting to find their way out of this economic difficulties, they very strongly don’t want to drive their back in the ditch. Revenues are up, expenses are down.

Let’s not mess up again A lot of people who weren’t thinking this way in years past are now starting to think the way I propose:

• What are we solving for?
• Where are we starting for?
• What is our hoped-for future our reasonable aspirations?
• What do we need to do to get there...?

We’re having a wonderful time helping people trying to figure it out.

These are some of the core questions in the process for Being Strategic.

I was just talking to someone recently, a very smart guy and he was saying the things you talk about are not easy, but they are simple. I love that distinction. I think it’s absolutely accurate.

To have the kind of mental discipline it takes to be strategic in the way I define it ...consistently making those core directional choices that will best move you toward towards your hope-for future. Those are not complicated.

• Understanding the problems you’re trying to solve.

• Be clear and accurate about where you are relative to that problem

• Getting a good 3-dimensional sense of the future you want to create for yourself.

• Figuring out what are those core directional choices that will get you there.

• Being consistent in following them.

It's not a complicated process. It requires disciplines, courage, ongoing clarity and being willing to hold yourself accountable for making those choices.

You wrote a great column in Forbes magazine titled: The Basics of Being Strategic about Change. And in it you define nicely what being strategic means. What does being strategic mean?

The sentence I always use is "consistently focusing on those core directional choices that will best move you towards your hoped for future" and then, as we discussed, outlined the steps for how to do that.

I really more and more think that this is a Swiss army knife that what we call being strategic is an approach and a set of mental skills that is almost always universally applicable.

And I find it’s especially useful during times of great change. If you as the leader work with your team to create a clear and clearly articulated and compelling vision for the future, that is hugely reassuring. If the leaders can get clear about the future, and "it might change, but we’ll keep you posted"... it’s my experience that productivity will go way up.

You say this definition is deceptively simple. I agree. I looked at it and thought...Yeah, very concise, very clear.

What don’t we get about that very clear, very simple, one sentence definition of being strategic? What’s the biggest surprise in this process?

I think there are a whole series of surprises.

There are so many things implied in that sentence. First of all, it say it will move you towards your hoped-for future. That says you are clear about where you are headed. Sometimes when we start working with clients they say they’re clear about the future they want to create x percent ebitda or x percent revenue growth. etc.

I say "Yes, those are financial goals". They are good to have them, but those are only one aspect of a future you want to create.

But, there are all kinds of ways to get to those goals. What kind of business do you want to have?

• Do you want to get to your EBITDA goal by paying people lousy wages...?
  
• What kind of a company do you want to be?
  
• What kind of a company do you want to have?

But what I found is that when companies or individuals 3-dimensionalize their vision of the future it is both much more accurate and much more compelling. Then you can decide more clearly what you need to do to get to that hoped-for future.

Erika shares a great story from one of her clients: Danny Meyer from Union Square Cafe and Union Hospitality Group. And she shares the 5 tenets of their Enlightened Hospitality:

• Take care of each other
• Take care of the guests.
• Take care of the vendors.
• Take care of the community.
• Take care of the bottom-line.

Speaking of those 5 tenets of enlightened hospitality. You describe 5 steps for this process of Being Strategic. What are they briefly. Which one is the one we stumble on most often?

The first thing is to get clear on the problem you’re trying to solve and the challenge you’re trying to address. The reason we have that there is that THAT is the first stumbling block. People try to solve a problem before they have agreed on what the problem is. People are arguing over dueling solutions before they have agreed on on the challenge or problem they are trying to solve.

The 2nd thing is Where are you starting from relative to the challenge. If you think of the challenge ass the hill you are trying to climb then the next thing is it’s important to know where you are relative to the hill you are trying to climb.

The third step is the castle on the hill. What would it look like if you climbed the hill? What would a successful future look like a future in which you had addressed the challenge? The clearer, the more 3-dimensional, the more accurate the description of this future, the better.

What are the trolls on the hill on the way up? What are the things you’re going to have to get over, get around on the way up?

Now, you have the whole picture.

The final step is how are you going to get up there? That’s strategy and tactics. Those next one is what are the strategies or tactics. What are the core directional choices you will have to make? What are the tactics, the actual steps you will have to take to get up that hill?

Your process turns the Stephen Covey’s model of begin with the end in mind...upside down. Why?  

I know that’s a very popular thing.

My problem with that is the American Idol syndrome. Unfortunately too many of the contestants don’t know where they are starting from. A lot of them don’t have a good idea of where they are relative to their goal of being the next American Idol.

American Idol should be a cautionary tale. That some persons really are not capable of that. That is not a reasonable aspiration. If they were to aspire for something within their capabilities they would be a lot happier.

Why do you want to be the next American Idol? How can you have a career with very modest singing talents?

I want to help people become what they are capable of becoming.

One of the things I talk about for being a critical mental skill is that of being a fair witness. Being a fair witness is a key discipline in the process of Being Strategic. That is a thing we tend to stumble on. We tend to not be a fair witness of our own reality. We tend to do a lot of wishful thinking cherry pick the data. A lot of la-la-la, no don’t tell me that. The more you can hone that capability, the more we can serve as our own fair witness, in an accurate and objective way the better it will be for you.

 You recommend Being Strategic become a daily habit. In fact, that’s the first recommendation in your book. Can we revisit why it’s so important to make being strategic a daily habit? 

To talk about that I want to pick up on the PBS event called "Being Strategic with Erika Andersen." The folks at Detroit PBS really got this. What they got and what I was able to communicate on the show was that this is a set of skills you use to create the life you want.

That’s why it’s a daily habit. We are all up against daily challenges we want to solve, to be successful. Whether it’s relationships or careers or kids I have yet to find an area where it is not important to think in this way.

When we last spoke you were jetting off to Detroit to film a PBS show about your book, Being Strategic and its solutions. Tell us about that experience and response.

The audience was so enthusiastic. We handed out to them a planning tool. I had them write down their biggest challenge. And the camera shots showed them nodding and writing down vigorously.

What indicate you are making progress towards your reasonable aspiration for this project with PBS?

There are some that are very clear: book sales, are we getting more work, are more people wanting to engage us, are we getting more emails.

Now, we have a couple of new measures. We have started Erika’s Insider List. People have often asked for more follow-up and we made an offer that people who want to participate, that twice a month I’ll send out an email like a newsletter with more content, asking for people’s input, early announcements about what I’m working on.

We want to build a community around that conversation around work, and making it and teaming and how to create the life you want for yourself. And a measure for that will be how many people want to join in on that.

We have a number of tools to enliven that conversation. We have a Facebook fan page , Erika Andersen, and a new website at Erika Andersen.

You have a great new site. Congrats on that.

Thank you for that. We worked with a wonderful group led by Tim Grahl from Out:Think. I really like the website.

That’s where they can sign up for the Erika Andersen Insider List.

We just started a new conversation on the Erika Andersen Facebook fan page on curiosity.

Your 2nd skill in Being Strategic is pulling the lens back to pull in more data. An executive might have more resources to pull in data. What resources can an aspiring executive use to pull in more data, to step back and pull in more data?

Let’s talk about that in context. There are three mental skills that are most important in Being Strategic.

• Being a Fair Witness

• Pulling back the Camera

• Sorting for Impact or Fit

I love the metaphor of pulling back the camera. It’s so precisely accurate. Everyone watches TV. everyone know if there’s a close shot on a bottle, the top of the bottle, a little round thing. You don’t even know what it is. And the camera pulls back and it’s a water bottle and it pulls back and you see it’s on a table...and they’re having a meeting.

You get enough data to understand context for what you’re seeing.

When people say someone aid to be too tactical in my experience what they mean is that person consistently operates with their camera pulled in too tight to the action.

I’ll give you a business example. Let’s say that there’s someone is a salesperson and they’ve always done pretty well. Always met their quota. And then suddenly they stop meeting their quota. It would be easy for her manager with the camera pulled in too close to say they’re no longer a good salesperson, they are not meeting their quote so I need to fire them.

But let’s say he pulls the camera back and says "let’s look at the circumstances around her selling."

And what he finds out is that the line of products she’s responsible for selling has been really revised and they’re have been a number of problems with that product. It’s not working properly, people are returning it and there’s a low number of re-orders. 80% of her missing quota is this product.

Once he pulls the camera back and gets more data then the whole problem is solved.

Can you describe a client whose biggest obstacle was the American Idol phenomenon or his own echo-chamber and how you helped them through it? Maintaining confidentiality of course.

This happens in large ways and small. This client has been having some problems with folks who work for him. 2 of his reports and he and I sat down together. He’s a great manager and he’s pretty conflict averse.

I called him a week later and asked how’s it going and he said "I think it’s going pretty good."

And I asked him if it was going good or did he think it was going good?

I reminded him that he promised to be the keeper of the flame. And that meant he had to regularly check in to see if those agreements had been met. And the next day I got an email saying he’d sat down with them and found that about 75% of the agreements had been met.

My bias is that if you have the real information and you don’t just float in your own information if you really check, if you really get curious, gather the real data then you can know whether you are moving up the hill towards that castle or wandering the woods someplace.

It’s just so important to continue to look for what is really true.

Being strategic is not a one time thing. It’s a habit of mind and action. You have to stay open and stay curious to stay on that path.

It’s like you’re using a GPS in our car and the bridge goes out. You have to reroute yourself.

As people move up in a career ladder,  move up in the standard hierarchical, top-down, command and control environment how do they avoid their own American Idol syndrome?

I read a study a few years ago that said the 2 biggest derailment factors for executives were:

• not listening to accurate data from the people around them, and
  

• not having those sources of data; not having people around them who will tell them the truth.

So, not having the people to tell the truth and not willing to hear it when it’s told to them when they do... are the two-sides of the same coin that is shown in this study to be the biggest factor of derailment for executives.

These three skills, Being a Fair Witness - Pulling back the Camera - Sorting for Impact or Fit, are the mental skills to use to do this. If you know you have to be a fair witness to accurately envision and move towards the future for you and your company then you will find a way to get that data.

There are two ways to do this.

1. Good leaders put in systems that will collect the data. They have ways of doing employee surveys. They get real data about how people are doing....They have good metric-based ways of getting the data to allow them to be a fair witness.

2. They are smart enough to create the relationships with those that work with them that are based on trust and authenticity. Those people can and will them the truth. And how you do that is you listen to them. If you as a leader can never shoot the messenger...no matter what the message...then that person will come again and again when they have another problem or concern.

If you are engaged consistently with your team in being strategic it’s much more likely to come out as part of the conversation.

How do you incorporate it into your very busy schedule? How do you accomplish the daily habit of Being Strategic?

We absolutely eat our own dog food. My wiring is such that it would be very difficult for me to tell people to do stuff in their business that I don’t do in my business.

Last summer we rebooted our whole vision and strategy based on the kind of understanding that we now have 2 brands: the company brand and the Erika Andersen brand. Updated our vision. New strategies. New tactics. And we refer to it and come back to it and hold ourselves accountable.

What are some daily habits you use to sustain the daily habit of Being Strategic?

There are a couple of things I do to help. To help me be a fair witness I’m really trying to be quite active in managing my self-talk. the part on the DVD is about 12 minutes is with me and my partner Jeff. I notice I become aware of what I’m saying to myself. You notice you are trying to talk yourself into things. And that is not being a Fair Witness.

I try to change that internal monologue into a I need to get curious about this. I really monitor my self-talk to help me become a fair witness.

That’s one thing I do.

Another thing I do is I consciously pull back the camera. If there’s a problem that’s happening in the business or a challenge I don’t understand, I just consciously pull back my mental camera so that I’m having in the view finder the data or the circumstance so that I’m seeing that problem or challenge clearly.

Where do we get that DVD?

The easiest place is to go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble and put in "Being Strategic."

You mentioned on our previous show you have a list of 10 books you want to write. And you have just posted the title of your next book: Leading. What is your reasonable aspiration for that book?

I’ve outlined and written the first couple of chapters. It’s based on a leadership model I created about 15 years ago and we’ve been using.

It’s a leadership model based in folk and fairy tale. I extracted these patterns as I read to my children 15 years ago. There’s a fairy tale that exists in every culture. cultures. The shape of the fairy tales is that there are three brothers. There’s a task. You know, and you have to get the princess off the glass mountain. The two older ones fail miserably and in very predictable ways. The youngest does it. He rescues her and marries her and they are the king and queen and they live happily ever-after.

There were always certain characteristics that this guy had to develop or demonstrate in order for to be successful and be their leader.

I extracted the pattern and found 6 characteristics that are invariably necessary in these stories in order for people to follow him. These are characteristics that we are wired to look for in our leaders. It’s part of our DNA. If you think about it until a hundred or so years ago the leader we chose to follow was a life and death decision. If you chose badly then you’re in big trouble.

That’s what the book is about:

• What are these 6 characteristics?

• Why are they so important?
  

• What do they look like, how do we recognize them?
  

• How do we develop them so we can become those leaders so people will follow us?

I’ve noticed this fascinating phenomenon in organizations that the anointed leader is NOT the real leader. The unofficial leaders in these organizations much more often have these characteristics that people are looking for.

Jim Rohn wrote that Leaders are readers. I know you’re an avid reader and have an eclectic taste in reading. What are you reading for work or not?

Shogun. My new husband turned me on to it. A huge bestseller by James Clavell. East meets West. It’s about culture clash and learning and curiosity and the huge differences in cultures. The only way he stays alive is he’s extremely curious, a fast learner and not afraid of questioning his own assumptions.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. It’s about this African-American woman in the ’30’s who had cancer and had cells taken from her without her awareness and turned out to be hugely important in the study of cancer.

Forgive my manners or their lack. I should have asked you this most important question: How’s married life? Congratulations, too!

Married life is super fantastic. I’m married to the most wonderful man in the world. I used Being Strategic to find this perfect man. My life with Patrick exceeds my every vision.

Let’s go over your website and Facebook and Twitter.

• Website is Erika Andersen

• Facebook fan page is Erika Andersen

• Twitter is Erika Andersen

It’s another delight. Thank you for coming on the show to talk about your book.

Highlights from My Conversation with Joan Koerber-Walker, founder of Core Purpose

Joan-Koerber Walker is the founder and President of Core Purpose. She joined the show for a 2nd time recently. You can listen to our conversation here.

Core Purpose specializes in building solutions that enable clients to focus more of their resources and energy on what they are passionate about and best at in a way that makes financial sense.

See? Joan and her organization help their clients find their core purpose, connect that with their clients’ employees and execute in a sustainable fashion.

Joan was the CEO of Arizona Small Business Association where she worked with the talented team of staff and volunteers tackling challenges like health-care, workforce development, and growing local businesses as an economic development strategy. And before that she was successful in the Big Corporate World.

Joan, how are you? Thank you for being on our show. How are you? What are you working on?

When we spoke last summer we talked about we were in a recession, a depression and how were we going to tackle all the challenges that impact business at every level.

We’re still bumping along the bottom. Companies, start-ups or big global companies are still struggling with the question of why are in business...what are we trying to accomplish and who will we get to the yes that gets every team member to sparkle.

And when you get to the yes that’s when you’re following your core purpose.

You live in Arizona. How is Arizona's economy now?

Arizona was hit hardest by this economy. We’ll take them as a leading indicator for the rest of the country for receiving from this economy.

Arizona’s economy was based on two areas hit hardest by this recession. We had two primary streams of income:

• Income stream #1: real estate.

• Income stream 2 was retail, consumer, spending.

When we had banks collapsing, real estate construction coming to a halt and foreclosures rising then retail spending came to a halt.

Budget cuts but not enough to balance it. Tax increases were approved to keep key ares of the infrastructure then

When government can’t solve the problems their self then citizens come up with creative ideas to solve these problems.

There’s been pretty high profile legislation in the recent 12 months. We’ve seen everyone coming together on a critical issue to find a way to come work out what’s come to be a national issue.

That’s the Arizona Immigration Law, SB-1070. It pertains to jobs, business growth, what’s your thoughts?

It’s been very momentous piece of legislation. From a small business perspective, it’s the first time a state is boycotting another state on this issue. That’s how divisive it is.

The important thing about SB-1070 is that it’s not an immigration bill. It’s an illegal immigration. It’s focused on people breaking the law.

The challenge is that it’s based on federal law. And not all federal laws are that great. And it’s like a patchworked quilt where not everything lines up right.

It has ramifications for law enforcement, business, current residents.

Hundreds of small business people gathered and shaped themselves in a big SOS asking the Washington to please help. Otherwise, we’ll continue to have these patchwork solutions in each state.

Arizona is a gateway where these problems come through and they don’t stay here. And they show up in places like...Iowa.

We have to remember that there are different issues that have to be addressed. Issue one is we have to secure the border. Equally important is the crime statistic you hear about. They are not the guy coming across the border to find a job. It’s the people in the business of bringing people and drugs over the border. Very often instead of taking cash back across the border they take guns. That creates problems for our partner south of the border.

The reason you see laws like this...holding employers accountable for hiring undocumented workers, penalties for aiding and abetting bringing people over the border and checking people for citizenship when they break the law.

The reason they go after employers is that if there’s not that opportunity for a job then less will come over.

Now, dealing with SB-1070 is like closing the barn door. You still have the situation of all those people here now. Some of it is generational. And it gets difficult when both sides start screaming at each other.

It goes back to a post I wrote, Answer or Hypothesis, where you need a place to test a solution. Thinking about your own career, our roles as leaders, it’s really important we remember we rarely have a perfect solution. We have a hypothesis and we test it. We take a step forward.

The reality is that when you have a complex answer you have to start with a hypothesis and test it, take a step forward, test the parameters.

Compare this conversation about the SB-1070 bill to that of a company needing a solution to a complex problem. Every department has their stand, their perspective. It seems like there was no real clear purpose leading that discussion.

No, no. Their purpose was clear. They were going to act because the federal government had not. They had specific things they needed to stop. And they had only a few things they could do.

The reality is that the states do not enforce federal law. So, they created a state law that mirrored the federal law.

They had to do something and that’s the best they could do.

Let’s say we talk a year from now. And Arizona’s governor, Jan Brewer, has made you Immigration Czar. What are the three things you’ve implemented that move this conversation forward.

That’s tricky. It’s tricky because the reason we’re talking here is that the conversation is very diverse. We’re a nation of laws. The reality is that we can’t restructure a state or federal law and implement it in a year.

Whomever is given the job will fail, if they are measured on a 12-month forecast.

Let’s bring that back to having a core purpose, understanding why you are doing, what you are going to do and how you are going to do it and getting a consensus on yes among all the members.

Everyone’s going in their own direction instead of one unifying goal.

SB-1070 is addressing a challenge we hope can be solved in our lifetime.

The first thing is everyone on board has to agree why you’re doing what you’re doing. If you cannot as a leader clearly explain why we’re doing what we’re doing...it’s highly unlikely a consensus will follow.

If you have the wrong core purpose you get the wrong results.

We saw that in the banking community, the Wall Street debacle. If the reason you’re in business is to make more money and that’s it....you’re going to make a bad decision.

Those things we talk about are the results of making good decisions. If you’re in the business to make life better for your customers or make a better widget...to prevent pain and suffering...those are reasons to be in business. You can find people who truly believe in your purpose and you can hire those people and you’re not going to have to motivate them because they come to you motivated. You just need to give them direction.

The first question that I ask is why are you in business. Why are we having this meeting? What do you want to accomplish by following the path you’re following.

If they can’t answer those questions then they’re not going to get the results they want.

Let’s talk about what you do with Core Purpose. What are the catalysts that bring a client to you? What are the events that let them know we’re not on track on moving towards their common goal.

The time that people normally come knocking at my door, the people I spend my time with are Boards of Directors, Executive leaders, General Managers, people who are leaders. Leaders need help. They don’t have people they can turn to for help.

Normally when there is a challenge, it’s marketing is changing, it’s customer base is changing, there’s a problem the leadership has looked around the room and said we don’t have a solution.

Then someone in their organization will say “Someone needs to call that girl. And approaching 50 I like being called a girl.”

Most of the time when they say ‘we have this problem we need to solve.’ normally that’s not the problem. That’s the symptom of the problem. We keep going and asking why this is happening. And we’ll follow the why’s all the way back to the root causes.

When we go in and start asking those questions and that root cause can be anything...

The main thing is that being in business for over 30 years Core Purpose has a network of over 200 experts we can bring in to address those root causes. We can do triage but we can also bring in the best experts from around the country who can not only stop the bleeding and start getting the organization healthy again.

Our goal at core purpose is to help companies make the most of who they are...for the people who matter: their shareholders, their employees, their customers and partners.

Just imagine if every company focused on doing what’s right then we wouldn’t have an economic downturn.

That’s a great economic recovery program. It sounds so simple. How do companies get off-track?

We have to separate it into public and private companies. When you look at public companies you are only as good as your last quarter. And the markets adjust. That drives us to short-term decision making so that our stock price doesn’t tank and we have a ll sorts of problems from that.

We drive public companies to short-term, opportunistic, decision-making. That’s what effected our economy.

John Talton wrote an incredible piece talking about Apple, specifically about the iPad.

• 25,000 employees working at Apple here in the US.
  

• 250,000 working for Apple overseas.

Is there any question why we have a competitive challenge here at home.

On the other side, let’s look at small business. Small business is very much in survival mode. It’s only as good as its last bank statement. If that business starts runs out of money it’s going to come out of the small business owner’s pocket.

Where is the capital coming for small business in his downturn? It’s coming from the small business owner. Banks, angels, VCs are all on the sidelines. It’s coming out of the personal life saving of the small business owner. They invested their entire life savings in this company.

The challenge that faces big and small companies goes back to short-term decision-making rather than going back and looking at the root causes with a team that shares a common goal.

My friend Erika Andersen coined a favorite phrase of mine. That’s reasonable aspiration or hoped-for future. She used it in her book Being Strategic. What was your reasonable aspiration or hoped-for future when you created Core Purpose? Has it changed in this past year?

That’s a tricky question!

Core Purpose is one of the things I’m involved in. In the case of Core Purpose, we started in a downturn. Core Purpose started in times like these...It does best in times like these because people see they need help. Our purpose in starting Core Purpose was in helping people grow.

We’ve continued with that focus. That’s served us well.

I love being involved in multiple projects. I serve on the Board of Directors of a bio-tech firm in San Diego. That’s personally when I look at my RA it’s that not only my core purpose as an individual but find organizations whose core purpose I can believe in and help them get there.

I hope that I can do that for awhile.

What are some of the metrics, other than longevity, that show your progress towards hoped-for future?

Our customer base has expanded and we’ve learned over time who our customers are.

The small businesses in the community, we’ll work with in a seminar format and through our blogs and giving back to the community. Many of the problems we work on are too expensive for small businesses to pay for.

I personally find it very rewarding to work with small businesses. That’s why I work with organizations that help small business in disadvantaged communities. That’s why I write the Core Purpose blog which doesn’t sell anything. That’s why I’ll talk with any small business for an hour for free. And then I’ll point them to the resources they need.

That’s how we move forward.

I was going to Tweet about this but then I thought maybe you don’t want a lot of quirky people talking with you for an hour.

I have 5 public Twitter profiles:

• JoanKW
  

• JKWLeadership

• JKWGrowth

• JKWinnovation

• CorePurpose

Each of them is focused on  those subject areas.

Tweet me a question and I’ll see if I can find a solution or articulate a hypothesis.

All entrepreneurs face and overcome challenges along their journey. What have been the 3 biggest challenges you’ve faced and overcome since starting this journey.

The biggest challenge I faced when I started was being alone. All of a sudden when I left corporate American was how do I survive on my own. That’s rebuilding an infrastructure that’s cost effective. Understanding what was the right working structure.

Marty Zwilling wrote a post about Corp executives who leave. If you’re over 40 don’t, because you’re too set in your ways. That’s a real challenge from being part of an eco-system to being on your own.

#2 is understanding capital budgets. When you get into start-up mode, if you think you're going to be cash-flow positive in a year, you need the money to run it for a year. You get paid last. You have to have enough personal capital to pay your own bills during this time, while you’re building that business.

If you can’t finance your business and your home life then you are dangerously under-capitalized.

Make sure you understand what you need to live and support your business. You have to enough for both.

#3. It’s going right back to where we started this conversation. Know why you are in business. You may change the how. You may change the what. But stay true to why you started your business.

Jim Rohn said Leaders are readers. You’re a leader. What are you reading? What’s been your favorite books this year, fiction or not, business or not?

Actually this Fourth of July I read two trash novels with no redeeming values. Leaders, sometimes, need to regroup.

I also was re-reading The Recipe: a recipe for leaders that Core Purpose recently published.[can't find the link. sorry.]

I just got a preview copy of Bob Sutton’s new book Good Boss, Bad Boss.

Where can we find you on the web?

The easiest ways is to go to JoanKW on Twitter. If you’re looking for my blog it’s JKW.typepad.com. The company site is Core Purpose dot com.

Thanks, Joan, for another great conversation with insights, tips and solutions not only on business challenges but on the tougher challenges facing us.

Asset Management Model Is In Transition...?

NEW YORK, Jun 28, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) ...An independent study from CREATE-Research, commissioned by Citi's Global Transaction Services and Principal Global Investors (Principal), has found that asset management business models are in transition. via www.marketwatch.com

Current asset management business models should be in transition.  Consider this:

Of the 25 metrics in the Shift Index, one metric in particular stands out: return on assets for all public companies in the US. Since 1965, return on assets has collapsed by 75% - it has been a sustained and substantial erosion in performance. There is no evidence of any flattening of this trend, much less turning it around. - John Hagel III at his Edge Perspectives blog post titled: Economic Recovery? Don't Count On It.

John goes on to write:

The fact that this trend has continued over such a long period suggests that the causes of the performance erosion are deeply embedded in our current management practices and institutions.

So...yes. It's a good thing that asset management business models are in transition.

Because, without it...our economy's performance will only continue to erode.

John is the author of The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion.

He was a guest on my radio show recently. You can listen to our conversation here.

Radio Guest Joan Koerber-Walker, founder of CorePurpose

Joan Koerber Walker joins our show tomorrow at 9:30 AM Central. Listening options are listed below.

Joan is the founder of CorePurpose, a consulting and services aggregator specializing in building solutions that enable its clients to focus more of their resources and energy on what they are passionate about and best at in a way that makes financial sense. Before this she was CEO of Arizona Small Business Association she worked with the talented team of staff and volunteers at the Arizona Small Business tackling challenges like health-care, workforce development, and growing local businesses as an economic development strategy.

She was a guest last summer. (You can listen here.) During that show she shared her passion and solutions for small business and innovation, stories of creativity and innovation driving small business growth and the jobs they create as a result.

We’ll catch up with her and her business and more tips, resources and wisdom on businesses and individuals finding and staying true to their core purpose.

Here she is recently talking about the very common experience of innovators, startups, entrepreneurs, small businesses, anyone in fact who’s pursuing their dreams. That is failures and hurdles in her post Have You Ever Failed?

LISTENING OPTIONS

Live:

1). Listen in streaming on-demand at this link.

2). Call in during the show at 646-915-9212

Later:

1). Listen in streaming on-demand at this link.

Highlights from My Conversation with Patti Blackstaffe, founder of Strategic Sense

Patti Blackstaffe joined our show this week. You can listen here.

Patti is the President of Strategic Sense. She and her team help you and your team make sense out of your strategy.

Thatʼs the operative word AND. You see 70-80% of employees have no idea what their companyʼs strategy is. And the majority of those who do know, donʼt care. That means most companies have about...6-12% of their employees who both know and care about their companyʼs strategy. That means most companies could double their results if they could make sense out of their strategy in the minds of their employees and have oh, say 12-24% of their employees know and care about their strategy.

Pattiʼs mission is to bring positive change to the human relationship (between managers and their employees and leaders and their customers) crashing open the doors and busting down the barriers to success. The results and solutions shared are as appropriate in big corporate as they are in small business – for gaining momentum and remaining ahead of the competition – because it’s all about relationships. She brings 15 years of experience in Behaviour Management to her clients and a load of tools and resources, tips and habits, to help her clients make sense with their team of their strategy.

Patti was first on the show back in May, 2009. ( You can listen here.) A fabulous guest then and over this past year,she’s continued to expand the value she and her team brings to her clients. And with Facebook and blogs and Twitter....her legions of fans have benefited along the way.

Patti. How are you? Thank you for being on our show.

Thank you, Zane! It is indeed a pleasure to be a return guest on your show, always a pleasure to share with such a gracious host.

Now, let’s jump in to the most important topic and the operative word AND. You just got married. Congratulations. Tell us about the wedding, your lucky groom.

It was truly the perfect day, Zane, all about family and dear friends. It was a day wedding and all the kids brought instruments and they jammed all day – I don’t think I have enjoyed a day quite so much. As for the new husband, he is truly one of those people everyone WANTS to know.

I think the key when we met was his incredible leadership and teaching skills – how attractive to me, of course, .....

You were recently voted one of the world’s top leadership gurus. Rightfully so. Tell us about that.

That was pretty exciting, apparently this organization in the UK sends out over 22000 emails to organizations and individuals and it is decided by vote. What was exciting about it for me was that out of the thirty I fell somewhere around 11, and the only woman within that first 11 people.

Walking the talk now, what are the 3 most important characteristics of a leader? These are the ones that if missing this person cannot be a leader?

• Empathy

• Listening

• Communicating Expectation

Which is most important?

• Empathy

Why?

For the employees, for the families of the employees, for the customer, for the suppliers.

Without the ability to put one’s self into the shoes of another person, we cannot even begin to know how to lead. We lead in all aspects of our lives, but leadership cannot be dictatorship, leadership is about serving, making a difference in the lives of your customers and all stakeholders.

Are empathy skills inherited or developed?

That depends.... but I believe the corporate environment has a tendency to promote what in the private world will not be tolerated. There is a book called The Corporation that describes organizations as pathological in its pursuit of profit and power. It is an exceptional breeding ground for cold decision-making, spreadsheet management and over blown process, much of which could be simplified and humanized.

What’s the impact on an organization if a leader lacks this quality of empathy?

Without empathy, there are some pretty clear results a company will witness.

• Loss of talent – resulting in exhorbitant hiring and training costs

• Loss of engagement – resulting in productivity loss

• Internal discontent – a virus that spreads fast and furious resulting in anger, frustration and employee shut-down.

All of these things are the killer to the organization’s bottom line. When a company’s employees are miserable and wanting out, the customers want the same.

If an organization waits and lets it get to the point of mass exodus, they have let it go far too long. And often it is a horrendous job to clean up – that cleanup can only be driven from the top.

What can we do to correct that? Who can do it? Us, colleagues, companies, schools, parents?

The first step is to begin very young, empathy is built within when we are taught and made to take personal responsibility for our own actions. When we are shown over and over again the effect/affect our actions have on others.

Behaviour creates the culture! Within an organization, the top dog needs to define the desired culture and all behaviour within the organization needs to support that cultural goal. This means, when at any level – I mean every level – behaviours which fray from the cultural goals are stopped immediately. There must be clear consequences and well defined and communicated expectations.

“This is how we treat our people” cannot be empty words without clearly defined actions and consequences to support it.

We talked in our first show about your reasonable aspiration or hoped-for future* with starting your business. What was it? Has your success encouraged you to redefine it or expand it.

Originally it was to make a difference in the human experience within organizations – for the leader, for the employee and for the customer. To teach people that improving the human experience, working with passion and allowing your teams to shine will improve the business and allow folks to thrive while rocketing past their competitors.

I expanded in a way I did not expect. One of the really wonderful things that came of my work within large organizations has been my transition into taking those same great strategies and lessons into small businesses. To provide a resource for helping businesses and people of all size organizations to build the relationships that make businesses soar.

What have been some metrics or data that point to your progress on this journey in reaching your hoped-for future?

The ongoing request for more of my information in “product form” and that is coming.

The increase in calls which have been unsolicited.

The enthusiasm with which referrals and references are shared.

You are now a successful startup. Right? And in every startup there are obstacles. The difference with a successful startup is finding solutions or opportunities within those obstacles.

What were your 3 biggest obstacles? And how did you solve them, learn from them?

• Finding resources at a reasonable price 

• 2008 Recession and downturn 

• Sales – selling self as a product.

Good entrepreneurs dig deep into research at the start to learn “what they need to do” and there is a lot of information out there about that, but few of them actually tell a person HOW. Taking the time to find the manner in HOW to make some of the great ideas happens was a challenge, actually that is why the team was built this year. They are working with small business to give them a very quick and affordable HOW for many of the tasks they struggle to figure out.

I hit on some statistics about the disengagement that exists in companies. And here in the US with the recent recession, it’s become worse.

Why is that?

Anytime fear gets in the way of travel, a whole lot of redirects occur, when what we thought we knew changes is redefined, we become scared.

Say you’re traveling down a road with a destination in mind... and you are pretty sure you know the route, but you only know one. Suddenly, a huge tree the size of a MAC truck falls in your path and you can no longer navigate the same way you always have.

Pretty scary to imagine, without a map, without a GPS, how you are going to get where you were going. You don’t know what road to take, where to turn or whether to just go back.

But you cannot go back....you need to reach your destination. In nothing short of a moment you have forgotten about the singing in the car, about the lunch in the cooler and the entire scenery no longer holds beauty for you as you focus on trying to navigate your way without any idea of how to get there.

Meanwhile the passengers in the car have been told to be quiet while you focus.

The recession seems to have hit organizations the same way. They THOUGHT they knew what they were doing, but what they were doing no longer seems to be working for them, so they find that laser focus, trying to navigate through it and they seem to lose all connection with the people who really make it happen – the employees, suppliers and customers.... they begin to simply start showing indifference to anything that doesn’t seem to be related to the road they are trying to find. And voila, welcome disengagement!

Is it reasonable to expect a cure to that mindset?

An organization that finds a cure stops with the laser focus and starts utilizing the talent they have with them. Something like stopping long enough to ask anyone else in the car if they have ever gone another way or heard of anyone going another way... the resources are all there

• Frontline knows what the customers are saying

• Customers know what they want from you

• Suppliers need to have a vision in order to provide for you the best solutions to meet your demand.

These are the thrivers, these are the ones who will get to their destination regardless of the trees.

One perspective on this economy is that it’s a near total disconnect that exists in most organizations among those responsible for its purpose.

Let’s imagine our president turns to our ally to the north and says Patti. You’re a leadership coach. You help leaders make sense out of strategy for themselves for their organization. You’re one of the best. I need advice from one of the best. We have a national problem in that too many of us cannot make sense out of our strategy. What three things can we do to change that, to make a strategy make sense?

• Drop existing agendas

• Lay the real problems out on the table and use the following criteria to build the strategy

• What is the RIGHT and ethical thing to do for all involved

• Know you will not please everyone, but your choices will not be about what meets the agenda of a specific group.

• Define clear actions everyone can do to get involved in meeting that strategy, something they can rally around, take part in and watch with transparency the results unfolding.

What social media tools do you use?

• Facebook

• Linkedin

• Twitter

Why are they important?

Building company and personal branding, credibility and reach.

Which one do you depend on the most?

All of them equally, but for different reasons.

What’s your thoughts on Facebook? Just curious.

It is a great platform, in fact it offers a mini blogging platform of connection that few other sites can offer, but is the platform from which all others were formed. The manner in which it allows people to connect is phenomenal and can be utilized for business to help build those vital relationships companies need to measure their client interest and engagement. The sharing capabilities enable us to see so many things we would not see were it not for the ‘referral’ of our friends.

Let’s talk client leaders and social media. Yes or no. Should leaders use social media?

Depends on the client, I would not recommend it for everyone, just like I would not recommend all or nothing in any kind of activity. It is for the client leader who is interested in building a relationship with their employees, customers, potential customers and people interested in their industry. It is an amazing place to ‘give back’ and offer something of yourself, your knowledge and allows people to learn you are human just like them.

But remember, not everyone is personable; someone with the bedside manner of Dr. House could certainly do more damage than good using social media. I also believe it is imperative people know WHY they wish to use social media. Do they want to hear feedback, share news, offer specials, etc. A great analysis of what is “missing” in their organization may very well lead directly to one social media platform that will fill that hole.

Why do so many still turn up their noses at it?

Fear, legal, personal, technical.... It is a new world, and old world business does not fit within the social media world. Those Businesses that are not aware Gen. Y is a global community of people who share “almost” everything and love to collaborate at a distance, they cannot see it. Businesses who do not operate with transparency and openness, but protect everything right down to strategy and direction, they cannot imagine being placed in a situation where anything are shared... and there are still a ton of organizations like that.

How do you council a leader in their first steps of social media’s use?

Just as I council them with people... begin by listening, don’t be too hasty to leap in without knowing the culture, the environment and the accepted norms. Slowly integrate yourself into the environment just as you would with any new culture.

Once you have a handle on what NOT to do, and those things will be made evident because social media folks take no prisoners, they will call out a spammer or an annoying follower in a minute. Avoid the traps you have learned and begin slowly, getting to know people and learning who they are... life is about relationships, you build them slowly.

Leaders are readers. You’re a leader and I know you’re an avid reader. What’s been the best thing you’ve read this year. 3 books or sites, business or not, fiction or non.

I am a rabid study of human behaviour, so I do spend a lot of time on books that truly provide information and learning for me, I thrive on them.

I am currently reading a great book called Why Your World Is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin.... this is the most intelligent read I have had about oil and it’s role in the world – especially in light of the disaster in the gulf, I recommend it to anyone who doesn’t understand the decisions made that surround oil in general.

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath, brothers, who make a very good case as to how to make your idea, company, product sticky, so people cannot live without it.

The Element by sir Ken Robinson... how finding your passion changes everything.... it describes very vividly how we as a society have neither honoured or respected the need for creativity in our world, we beat it out of our kids, we fail to reward for creativity and it is considered an intangible, but is truly the bases behind all great innovation and change.

Not all of my guests do this. But you regularly share some great quotes on leadership and customer service. What’s your recent favorite quote?

It is an old quote but is applicable in so many ways... it is by Jim Rohn, one of the best motivators I know, a man who truly understood “strategic Sense”

“Character isn’t something you were born with and cannot change, like your finger prints. It’s something you weren’t born with and must take responsibility for forming.”

Where are you speaking?

Mostly private corporate gigs at the moment, because of the wedding and upcoming summer I have kept the time more relaxed. We are booking into End of November, however, and one can email us at info at strategicsense.ca for our rates and schedule.

Where can we follow you on the web?

Our website, Strategic Sense.  That site can link you to any of our social media platforms, our blog or services. We are doing a lot more remote coaching over skype for executives, directors and managers, and they are finding this rather convenient.

Patti, thanks for talking with us! As always, you're a gracious and inspiring guest and leader!

* reasonable aspiration or hoped-for future is the term coined by Erika Andersen in her book Being Strategic.

Radio Guest: Patti Blackstaffe, President of Strategic Sense, Inc.

Patti Blackstaffe is the President of Strategic Sense. She joins the show again Wednesday, June 23, at 9:30 AM, Central. Based on her success since our first show together I'm expecting an encore performance with more ideas and resources for leaders of any organization to put together the teams you need to grow and sustain your success.

Patti and her firm are on a mission to bring positive change to the human relationship (between managers and their employees and leaders and their customers). They’re crashing open the doors and busting down the barriers to success. The results and solutions shared are as appropriate in big corporate as they are in small business – for gaining momentum and remaining ahead of the competition – because it’s all about relationships.

Patti has over has over 15 years of experience in Behaviour Management, Plans of Action, and Business. It’s this experience that lead to the inception of Strategic Sense. Bringing together a team is what she does best and you’ll love hearing how she’s brought together a fantastic team at Strategic Sense and her tips and resources she’s gathered that you can use to put together your own fantastic team and crash doors and bust down barriers on your way to success.

You can find out more with:

Strategic Sense on Facebook

Strategic Sense blog

StrategicSense on Twitter

Come join us with either of these listening options:

LIVE

1. Call in during our live conversation from 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Central. 646-915-9212

2. Listen in streaming mode at this link.

LATER

1. Listen in streaming mode at this link.

4 Business Books to Keep Close-at-Hand

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. - Sun Tzu.

Well, Sun...I'd say:

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer...and your best books closest.

There are many great books for businesses. I read most, if not all, of a new business book each week.

There are 4 books I keep close-at-hand. Some I have kept close at hand for 6+ years.

If you're a small business owner, leader (...if you work in a small business... you are all of those...you have no choice, really...) keep these books closest at hand.

STRATEGY

Being Strategic: Plan for Success, Outthink Your Competitors, Stay Ahead of Change. Erika Andersen, its author, is one of those rare authors who offer a clear vision of possibilities and a means for everyone to map their way there. That vision of possibilities is OUR possibilities. Her mission in life is to help people have the life they want and figure out a plan about how to achieve it. She accomplished that with this book. Her book and its methodical, daily, approach to Being Strategic can be used for having the career we want, the business we want, even finding the love of your life.

I met Erika 18 months ago. I read her book then. I have kept it close at hand since then.

She was a guest recently on my radio show. You can listen here.

EXECUTION

Six Disciplines of Excellence: Building Small Businesses that Learn, Lead and Last. Gary Harpst is the author. He, too, offers the tools for small business to articulate their shared purpose and the means to reach that shared purpose together. Gary has laid out a plan of strategic execution with six disciplines where businesses create a culture of learners and leaders. This is employee engagement taken to a higher level. This culture of learning and leading sustains their ability to find new solutions as their growth brings greater challenges.

I read this book 3-4 years ago when I was CEO of a small company. I have kept it close at hand since then.

He was a guest recently on my radio show. You can listen here.

TALENT

The Smart Interviewer: Tools and Techniques for Hiring the Best. Brad Smart is the author. This book presents the CIDS interview for hiring new employees. CIDS stands for Chronological In-Depth Survey.

I used CIDS 4 times. 3 times I found a great, A-Player, person who was welcomed with open arms and made tremendous contributions. The other time I was able to avoid making a disastrous hiring decision.

 

That kind of success is rare with any resource. But from a $13.00 book....? Figure the ROI on that! Just the savings from avoiding that one hiring mistake brings an astronomical ROI percentage.

Brad was a guest on my radio show. You can listen here.

MARKETING & SALES

Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force, by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba. This is the end-goal isn’t it? Create customer evangelists who volunteer to generate referrals, sell your products and put their reputation at risk in the process.

The conversion rates are higher as are cross-sells, repeat purchases, upsells and customer loyalty.

Lower metrics are seen as result in marketing and advertising expenses, customer churn, employee churn.

All this translates to...higher profits, higher cash-flows.

This book and its authors continue to play a huge role in bringing companies back in touch with us, their customers. Maybe, that’s why their website is Church of the Customer. Maybe, that’s why they have 100,000 people who subscribe to their blog?

I could and have in the past testify for them. When all marketing tools and resources generated zero results as industry in which my company then raced to commodity-hell...Ben and Jackie appeared with some timely support. And truth. Again and again.

I read their book back in....2003. It’s stayed close by since. Now, I’m their customer evangelist and not as often as I should.

Jackie was a guest on the show last summer. You can listen here.

Tomorrow's Guest: Erika Andersen, author of Being Strategic

Erika Andersen, founder of Proteus International and author of Being Strategic: Plan for Success, Outthink Your Competitors, Stay Ahead of Change, is our guest tomorrow. The show starts at 9:30 AM, Central.

As founder of Proteus International, Erika Andersen has built a reputation for promoting learning and change in ways uniquely tailored to her clients' challenges, goals, and culture. She does that by focusing on thoroughly understanding each organization and on collaborating with her clients in ways that are engaging, direct, and "learner-friendly." Erika uses metaphor and models to help people learn about themselves and their organizations, and then to decide how to move toward the future they envision.

She has served as consultant and advisor to the CEOs and top executives of a number of corporations, including MTV Networks, Hewitt Associates, Turner Broadcasting, MillerCoors, NBC Universal, Union Square Hospitality Group, CBS, Madison Square Garden, and Comcast Corporation.

Her book, Being Strategic, is one of my favorite books. It's one of the three books I keep handy. Why? In an ever-changing environment it is important that I assess opportunities while Being Strategic.

And her book offers powerful, clear, actionable steps to insure I am Being Strategic in my plans for big projects or small. In fact, I ask each guest on this show to take a step recommended by Erika in her book. That step is to identify the 'reasonable aspiration or hoped-for future' for a project, a business, a life-change they offer to help their audience and the audience for this show. Their answers are always inspiring, just like her book.

We’ll talk about her ‘reasonable aspirations’ for writing this book, what signs tell her she’s making progress (and she’s making great progress and that helps us all) and how her approach both in her book and her consulting can help all of us reach our goals.

You have two listening options:

LIVE

1. Call in during the live portion from 9:30 AM, Central to 10:30 AM, Central. 646-915-9212, here in the US.

2. Listen in streaming mode during the show or later.

ARCHIVE

1) Listen in streaming mode.

Pop Quiz: What's your mission statement?

If you're like most people in an organization, well over 2/3's of us and our colleagues would freeze if asked that question. And, many of us might answer:

Um, yeah, well it's...I mean we're...um...focused on integrity, delivering world-class customer service using state of the art technology...right?

Wrong. That's the mission statement from the website you were just on. The one you left because they spoke in cliche's.

The irony here, ok, let's be honest, the dark humor here is that according to a recent study for Institute for Corporate Productivity 84% of organizations queried have a mission statement in place, 62% of those companies said that just half of their employees could repeat the company mission statement if asked.

Let's break this math down hammer-time:

* 84% of companies with a mission statement

* 62% of them said half of their employees, or 50%, could repeat their company's mission statement.

* 26.04%. (84% x 62% x 50%)

26% of employees can recite their company's mission statement.

Despite that, "It's not uncommon for people, particularly those in leadership roles,to think that the core message coming from their mission statement is inspiring and that it permeates the company," states Mary Key, Pillar Director for i4cp.

I'm willing to bet that the core message coming from their mission statement was a core message drafted in private by those in leadership roles. People own what they buy or they create. And, no matter how often you tell peopleto memorize your mission statement....they will never buy it. Nor own it.

The trick is creating a mission statement that means something to those asked to memorize it. Here's one process. I'll warn you now: the process can be messy and require more time than your PR agency required to draft your original.

Invite all in your organization to help create it.

Their time and ideas are their investments. They will own the mission statement as its creators. And its meaning will be theirs.

Link from the blog post Is Your Mission Statement a Secret? from Be Excellent® - The Official Six Disciplines® Blog