Lead by Doing Less

History was made this week with the results of the US Election and the topic of leadership is on everyone's mind around the world. If you're a regular or even occasional visitor here, you know I have a deep passion for leadership and have been working in the field of talent development for about two decades.

Can one person run a country? No.
Can one person run your company? No!

There is a ravenous appetite for information that seems to be more pronounced than in any other time in history. Information is travelling at the speed of light. Theories, news, priorities, ideas, deadlines, profits, voices, thoughts, it never seems to end but to borrow from the Bard, how much has any significance?

The problem we often face is we don't know what may be important until its emergency has passed. Everything is code red, all meetings deemed critical, every email needs a reply. Hurry up, this is important! I need to get to the next crucial deadline!

Busy is the new black

Here's a suggestion. Ask your team to cut every meeting next week by 50%. That one-hour meeting on Tuesday is now 30 minutes. If it doesn't have a stated reason, cancel it. Only those necessary should attend. And without clearly stating who does what by when, the meeting may be a complete waste of everyone's time.

A room full of people not paying attention while staring at their smartphones looking at email that might be important is not a collaborative exchange.

If we do less, perhaps we can accomplish more?
__________________________________________________________________

Successful Leaders Do Less

There is a ravenous appetite for information that seems to be more pronounced than in any other time in history. Information is travelling at the speed of light. Theories, news, priorities, ideas, deadlines, profits, voices, thoughts, it never seems to end but to borrow from the Bard, how much has any significance?

The problem we often face is we don't know what may be important until its emergency has passed. Everything is code red, all meetings deemed critical, every email needs a reply. Hurry up, this is important! I need to get to the next crucial deadline!!

Busy is the new black

Here's a suggestion. Ask your team to cut every meeting next week by 50%. That one-hour meeting on Tuesday is now 30 minutes. If it doesn't have a stated reason, cancel it. Only those necessary should attend. And without clearly stating who does what by when, the meeting may be a complete waste of everyone's time.

A room full of people not paying attention while staring at their smartphones looking at email that might be important is not a collaborative exchange.

We need to do less so we can accomplish more.
__________________________________________________________________
Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

writeanything

Customer Service | Dead or Alive?

Here is another post from the archives that is not only an illustration of how customers feel, I felt it. Originally posted this past January. True Story.

Is Customer Service Important To You?
Marketing propaganda can backfire.

I am not the type who enjoys hopping in the car and heading to the mall to have a look around.

Strategy is not just part of my day job. An actual map and a plan help with such excursions.

Research and strategy are requisite.
The urge to shop is rare.

I had one such day this weekend. I had two specific items I wanted to purchase. I scored the first one in about twenty minutes. Four hours later I returned home having failed to accomplish the second one.

First Store (0-1)

The first store – which I found online and researched extensively – was out of stock. The "customer service rep" was quickly on to his next avoidance.

I pushed my cart of about $75 in impulse buys next to the counter and walked out of the store.

Second Stop (0-2)

Store number two was part of a larger chain where all items are featured on a central website. To find the location nearest you, just click the "store locator" tab on the top of the screen. Items and location confirmed.

After scouring the store for half an hour, I inquired about said item. “Yeah, we don’t carry any larger items in this location, we don’t have the room”, quipped the woman behind the counter. She was quick to get back to counting a list of something clearly more important than serving a customer.

Third Shop (0-3)

The third store was also out of stock.

The manager told me that she was expecting more “in a couple of weeks”.

I thought to ask about going on a call back list. No can do.

She walked away quickly flashing her forged half fake smile.

Busy Busy.

I have worked in retail - it is very tough to be on your feet and deal with guys like me who "saw it on the website".

Are these just strange random accidents? Is customer service alive and well? Are customers important to you?

knealemann
Helping you integrate all you do with all you do.

image credits: brandingtheman | thesun.co.uk

Start Less and Finish More

Too Much Content

Hundreds of thousands of books are published every year. Some think the publishing industry is dying. They are incorrect.

Publishing is going through the same transition the music industry has experienced for fifteen years.

What it looks like a few years from now remains to be seen.

There is a ravenous appetite for information that seems to be more pronounced than in any other time in history.

There are over 250 million blogs according to Technorati. Another 100 new websites were published during the time it took for you to read the first sentence of this post. Anyone with a keyboard and an Internet connection can publish information. It may be inflammatory or incorrect but seems irrelevant.

Theories are espoused and experts are self-created in a time when the loudest and most prevalent can infiltrate the grey matter of millions from the comfort of their sweat pants.

On the plane ride back from SOBCon last weekend, I made a short list of objectives – not wishes, not it would be cool if’s, objectives that I will accomplish. One is to read more, skim less.

While building and programming radio stations for years, the less is more approach was often the way to tighten things up and create more time spent listening. Play the most popular songs more often, upset your super core but grow your overall listenership. It sucks for us music heads but it works.

Are you reading or skimming your business?

Are you starting more and finishing fewer objectives? Are cluttering your day and blaming it on being busy?

Business owners and managers have far too much to deal with and it can be overwhelming. Leads must be followed, the online information explosion is impossible to keep up with, there certainly is no time for employee development while that proposal is the last email of the day as the clock approaches midnight.

Perhaps we need to get a little quieter. Maybe we need to start less and finish more. What are your thoughts?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: trendir

Strategy Is Boring

The eye glaze often happens soon after the question "what is your business plan?"

Instead of a strategic plan many want to hope last year's plan which was a variation of the previous year's plan will work out.

That is unsound thinking.

Building a strategy requires thought and work.

You need to map out objectives, write down realistic tactics, decipher roles and responsibilities, define target demographics, identify opportunities, exploit competitors' weaknesses, develop ideal customer profiles and execute a business plan.

Bored yet?

All too often you can hear the moans from miles around when the topic of strategic planning is brought up. There is fear that it will mean endless days locked in a boardroom hashing out the future of the company. After all, the world is changing so fast how can you keep up?

I actually had a business owner raise his hands to his ears and utter the "la la la I can't hear you" phrase which was my cue to escort myself out of the building. He was clearly not ready for a plan.

Strategy is Your Foundation.

Many find strategy unnecessary because it takes patience and time. What is more dangerous, some think they have a plan when it is clear they do not.

A common mistake is failing to grasp that it is an evolution, a process and something you refine constantly. But too many simply want to do the tactics without the strategy which might be the beginning of the end.

But who really needs a plan or a strategy?

@knealemann
strategy. marketing. social media.

photo credit: gawker

Customer Service: Important? Really?

Marketing propaganda can backfire.

I am not the type who enjoys hopping in the car and heading to the mall to have a look around.

Strategic objectives are not just part of my day job. An actual map and a plan help with such excursions. No map? Not good.

Research and strategy are requisite.
The urge to shop is rare.

I had one such day this weekend. I had two specific items I wanted to purchase. I scored the first one in about twenty minutes. Four hours later I returned home having failed to accomplish the second one.

First Store (0-1)

The first store – which I found online and researched extensively – was out of stock.

The "customer service rep" was quickly on to his next avoidance.

I pushed my cart of about $75 in impulse buys next to the counter and walked out of the store.

Second Stop (0-2)

Store number two was part of a larger chain where all items are featured on a central website. To find the location nearest you, just click the "store locator" tab on the top of the screen. Items and location confirmed.

After scouring the store for half an hour, I inquired about said item. “Yeah, we don’t carry any larger items in this location, we don’t have the room”, quipped the woman behind the counter. She was quick to get back to counting a list of something clearly more important than serving a customer.

Third Shop (0-3)

The third store was also out of stock.

The manager told me that she was expecting more “in a couple of weeks”.

I thought to ask about going on a call back list. No can do.

She walked away quickly flashing her forged half fake smile.

Busy Busy.


I have worked in retail - it is very tough to be on your feet and deal with guys like me who "saw it on the website".

But are these just strange random accidents? Is customer service alive and well? Are customers important to you? Really?

@knealemann
business. marketing. social media. communications.

image credits: brandingtheman | thesun.co.uk

Setting Up Your Strategic Plan

Teamwork is so important that it is virtually impossible for you to reach the heights of your capabilities or make the money that you want without becoming very good at it.
Brian Tracy

Yesterday, I mentioned the dreaded business plan that takes months to develop which includes grand ideas that no one refers to once the planning meetings end. Been there? Yeah, me too.

Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there.
Virginia Burden

Today, we talk about how to set up your strategic plan. The most difficult part of this process is buy-in from all involved. Once that happens, the rest is easier than drinking a glass of water.

A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of themself and their contribution to praise the skills of the others.
Norman Shidle

Have you ever felt yourself shut down in a meeting simply because you didn’t feel your ideas were being heard? Did you ever walk out of a meeting wondering why others hadn’t contributed? Are those two things related? Are they not simply the opposite sides of the same meeting?

No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.
H.E. Luccock

I often talk about how you can find your competitive advantage or unique selling proposition. Most think it’s about building a better widget or delivering your service faster than the other guy. Neither have anything to do with it.

Many hands make light work.
John Heywood

Have you ever had the privilege of launching something? If so, do you remember how it felt to be part of the co-creation? Did you notice that ideas were freely shared and everyone was involved? That is the starting point of a great plan.

Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
Vince Lombardi

I was in a meeting yesterday and mentioned my days of 50-page business plans and the person thought that was my preference. My preference is a plan that works – no matter what length it is. That’s the point. In fact, the shorter the better.

Here are 13 things you need to build a proper strategic business plan.

1. Open and honest dialogue with everyone involved. It may include people outside of your organization.
2. Titles are irrelevant.
3. Appoint one person as leader – not the highest ranking official!
4. Keep each meeting to no longer than 45 minutes.
5. End each meeting with the phrase “Who does what by when?”
6. Begin every follow-up meeting with a list of completed tasks.
7. Make your plan simple, executable, realistic and flexible.
8. Disregard your competition. They may be doing it wrong.
9. Keep your focus squarely on your customers and potential customers.
10. Use simple language everyone can understand.
11. The final document should be as short as possible. Edit if needed.
12. Choose no more than three objectives for the next year.
13. The entire process should be completed in no more than five meetings.

Good luck. And let me know how I can help!

P.S. If you are the boss, you must afford everyone the chance to be right. This is not about you.

Thursday: What is Integrated Marketing To You?
Friday: How Can Social Media Help?

@knealemann

What Is Your Plan?

Next Stop: Lobby

What do you do? What does your company do?

Can you explain it in a sentence or two – the dreaded “elevator speech”? Or do you require more time to explain? Sadly, you have about 10 seconds to say your piece because most are waiting to tell you theirs. That’s not a cynical observation but the majority of conversations consist of two parts – talking and waiting to talk. We all need to listen more.

Shush You

As far back as grade school, my mom received a similar comment on my report card – the boy needs to stop talking, he has the gift of the gab, he’s too social and distracted. Perhaps that’s why a career in broadcasting for over two decades worked out well?

YouIntegrate

I like to help companies with overall strategy and business plans because it’s paramount to have that foundation poured before ordering the custom cabinets and hardwood floor. I also like to help with integrated marketing and social media solutions, but more about that later in the week.

If you can build a solid foundation inside your organization, you stand a better chance to build the rest of your house. Your company must have an elevator speech and if it’s different from employee to employee, you may wonder why you have confused customers and potential customers.

Machines Need Not Apply

As the cliché goes; everyone needs to be watching the same movie.

This is not a suggestion to build companies full of mindless drones because that never works either. An internal collaborative environment works best but once decisions are made, they need to be consistent with everyone.

Shiny Things and Lollipops

I often see eyes begin to glaze, mouth starts to drop, attention drift to anything but “business plans” when this topic comes up but it is paramount to your success.

This reaction is common because most business plan conversations are agonizing experiences of swirling non-decisions and butt covering. You spend months on a document no one will read that contains grand plans you are unsure you can execute.

I had this conversation with a colleague about a year ago and he uttered the infamous phrase "Why does everyone keep bugging me about a plan? I just wanna do it." They still have no plan and they are not - in fact - 'doing it'.

And before you begin the eye glaze again, this does not need to be a laborious tree killing exercise. Pixar was born on a napkin. It's important to also note that business plans must be fluid and alive. Things change, times change, flexibility is essential.

Start by being realistic. What is your company known for? What do you want it to be known for? What areas of your chosen industry can you win?

Tomorrow: Setting Up Your Strategic Plan
Thursday: What is Integrated Marketing To You?
Friday: How Can Social Media Help?

@knealemann

photo credit: www.newslettercartoons.com