Hello, my Name is Change …

I’ve been operating for quite a long time, however, we have never really talked. I can feel the tension when I am around.  Apparently doing something different all the time is distressing. Perhaps if we got to know each other better, things between us wouldn’t feel so strained.

Let me tell you a bit about me. I am very spontaneous and sometimes occur v e r y slowly while at other times I seem to happen in a mad rush, instantly and in overwhelming ways. I do things differently because it’s time to make things fresh or more effective or more efficient or more beautiful or just less boring. Generally, what I am doing has a good rationale or intention.  I just don’t often communicate it very well.

At times, I can be moving things around and not realize that I’m creating havoc. One of the big challenges of working with me is that I can’t always make things clear and obvious. There are some questions that I just don’t have answers to or can’t respond because I don’t know the answer myself. There may seem no pattern to you, however, I am always after a result that seems worthwhile.

That doesn’t mean that everything I do is good or even works.  It just means, “this” is what’s next.

Here is a little about you that I know.  Since I have been around for so long, I have seen a lot. As a Human, you often say you like Change, however, what is generally true is that you like other people and situations to become different versus you having to become different.

If you are asking for or trying to make something new or different happen, then you aren’t uncomfortable with me at all!

Having said that, if you didn’t seek or ask for things to be different, then you often resist my presence until you get tired of fighting and adopt my different ways or until you wear me down to the point where I go away in terms of that topic.

You seem to like Variety, but not Change. It’s hard not to take that personally. My mind recognizes that your resistance is not about me, however, my feelings still take your resistance personally. The resistance says “Change, you are wrong”.   That’s pretty harsh.

When I bring you something different, I am not making you “wrong”, I am trying to give you something that ought to be better for you or what you care about.

Sometimes, I am dressed up to look stupid or foolish.  It may turn out to be the case, however, if we simply make a connection and engage, we usually find a way to make things work.

Humans are an amazing species.  They bring the best and worst of all things possible.  However, I usually don’t last if someone is trying to use me in harmful ways.

I am best drawn upon with a clear intention designed to make people or things around you better in some healthy way.

Here are some tips on how we can get along better.  We begin by understanding one another a little better.  So as of today, I will work to recognize that I am not always wanted and that you already have ways of doing things that work for you, or you wouldn’t do them.  Next, it is my job to help you understand what the new direction of things is, why it is useful, what I want or need from you and how you are better off for working with me instead of against me.  Sometimes I am subtle and other times hit with a 2×4.

Please remember that the need for me is almost never about you.  It is about making something or someone better or meeting needs that matter or surviving in unusual times. Whether you designed the Change for this task or you caused or allowed it; start by connecting with me and see what I am about in this situation.  I can be flexible, I can be patient and it is important to respect one another as we go through the adaptation to new things.

I am Change. If you work with me, I provide great opportunity to meet needs and on occasion, even your wants.

So when we next meet, please don’t just roll your eyes, or utter under your breath “this too shall pass”.  Say hello, be curious, ask me questions.  If I am unwilling to help you understand then you should stop me from going forward until we are aligned or asked to not work together in the future.

I am Change.  I am neither Good nor Bad.  I just am!

What I know about both of us is that when we connect and engage together, things get fun and interesting in great ways, and in a hurry.

Thanks for letting me talk with you. I am around all the time.  Also, I have more to tell you, but that will have to wait until our next conversation.

 

 

 

#1 of a Series – How To Hire Well and Fire Well

The failure rate for Start-ups and Business in general is too high.  We believe that the failure rate can measurably decrease  if companies do a better job of hiring, deploying and exiting people who don’t fit

This topic has an effect on us all in the Business of Commerce.  This touches on but is NOT Legal Advice.   It is the Strategy and Structure for doing these functions well.

They are applicable to any sized business but this series is devoted to Entrepreneurs, Senior Managers and Start-up to Medium sized businesses.

We begin with the core elements.  There are two aspects to this:  Strategic with Process and there is Compliance (as determined by local, State and National Law)  It is always useful to have legal guidance in matters associated with employment, if only to make sure you don’t get blind-sided by some little known law or ordinance.

As for the Strategic With Process Side of things, there is a flow and this segment attends to the Hiring Process:

Checklist for yourself as a Hiring Manager and a Company: (there are 34 actions involved in Hiring someone, this is the category overview) If you would like the detail on all 34, please send an email to bobsmith@mysuccess.com for the listing:

1. Have a clear Job Description that identifies, Tasks, Areas of Responsibility, current performance results that are needed.
2. Organization Structure, have an organization chart to identify who is responsible for what in your organization and identifies how things get done.
3. Identify the people and areas of the company that have the most effect on this position
4. Identify the people and areas of the company that are primarily impacted by this position
5. Clarify Reporting and Deliverables for the position
6. Source Candidates for the role
7. Screen for core skills, background, competency, thinking, work style and communication skills
8. Bring good candidates to be interviewed in-person and onsite
9. Collect feedback from interviews and have Hiring Manager make a decision and offer
10. Guide the candidate through offer acceptance and on-boarding

These are the core elements.  Our next Blog will post the elements for Firing Well.

The Real Reward of Being Responsible!

We are told to be responsible from the time we can make our first sentence.  

We know the effort of being responsible, we know the cost of being responsible, but there are two things we don’t get enough information about:  What does it “mean: to be responsible?  and  What is the “reward” of being responsible?

For your consideration:

In today’s world, what it means to be responsible is for you to be the person you count on for ensuring that your core needs and agreements are met.  This includes the things associated with your health, your own sense of well-being, your overall sense of optimism with enjoyment of life, your income, growing knowledge, improving your skills, your desired sense of family and your chosen relationships.

It doesn’t mean you do them all personally, it means that you intentionally put yourself in a position to meet your own standards for those items with all of your resources (time, money, energy, other people, specific skill sets, etc).

The reward of being responsible is not “control”, which  is sold a lot as the big benefit.  The reward is getting the true freedom of choice.  You get to choose where you spend your life’s energy, time and focus.  

There are always problems, but the problems of NOT being responsible are vastly different than the problems of being responsible.  When you aren’t responsible for your own problems, someone else becomes responsible and they usually won’t leave you satisfied.

In terms of being responsible, more than likely, you aren’t going to get applause for being responsible.  However, you will deal with problems that are of a much higher quality.  For example, being responsible usually eliminates the dramatic struggle to make the monthly rent or house payment.

Instead, a problem can become how to find time and freedom to take a desired vacation.  (It is still a problem, but a much more enjoyable one for me).

Above all, if I won’t be responsible for meeting my needs, I will end up making my Family doing it and if they can’t, then the City, County, State or Federal Government will end up with the job.

Though well intended – I don’t see any those organizations actually solving the problems or people not being responsible for themselves.  They just focus on symptoms.

It isn’t easy, but it is worth your life’s energy to focus on becoming better at being responsible for yourself.

 

Bullying! – The Intellectual Side – How Insensitive are we supposed to be?

To me, Bullying occurs when someone knowingly hurts another with comments they make.

They are very often disguised as humor, and when someone reacts from the pain they are further harmed by being told they are “too” sensitive.

It makes me wonder how “sensitive” we are supposed to be – which of course doesn’t matter, because we are as sensitive or insensitive as we are.  It is just so.  Being sensitive is a response to being violated in some way.  It could be ethics or boundaries or values or rules or agreements.  All kinds of things.

Generally, physical bullying heals much faster than intellectual or emotional bullying.

Anyone who has ever felt diminished, demeaned, humiliated, shamed, dismissed, belittled, etc – knows what I am referencing.  I have yet to meet with anyone who hasn’t had that experience.  Often times, a bully was bullied sometime before and made the decision to be insensitive and/or angry.

Someone else’s insensitivity is not my fault, but it is useful for me to think of it as my problem – because it gives me choices.  I can engage it, I can distance myself from it – I can confront, I can get help to address it.  I just won’t let myself be a repeated victim of it.

I have ended relationships with people who became “toxic” to my emotional well-being.  I have challenged individuals who Bully.  I challenge them with curiosity because I want to know how I am making it possible for them to think it’s ok for them to do it.  I have learned that it takes two for bullying to occur.

I don’t know the answer to the question  “What constitutes being too sensitive?” – I have some views that explore how much to personalize what other people say.  I just don’t have a fixed answer.

Simply being real about it, being authentic and having healthy boundaries will make a difference.  It is also something that you get to learn and grow with throughout life.

More later.

The Future of Medicine is Moving from Patients to Customers

The natural Medical Practice Model is built on the basis that a Practice or Clinic has a location and people (described as Patients) seek out the Medical Services for whatever is bothering them.  It is often Symptom driven and sets up a very reactive climate where the Physicians, PA’s and Staff attempt to help the Patient by knowing more than the Patient about the ailment and providing guidance with treatment to resolve the problem or reduce the issue.

 

A number of factors including Obama-Care, the 2014 changes, the economy and the current forecast are bringing major changes to the model.

 

The primary job of the Physician is to make sure that the Practice/Business performs to its full potential and produces sufficient results to justify staying open. 

 

With all the changes, this has simply gotten harder.  So the idea of changing the relationship dynamics  to a Dialogue where information and performance expectations are explored, developed and shared becomes a way to proactively “own” your market.  What this really means is that if you look at what Matters to the people who can come see you, then you have a basis of offering things that are meaningful and compelling to them.

 

You can be proactive here and focus on the process of Setting and Managing Expectations as well as destroying unrealistic expectations and demands.

 

Here is an example: As a Patient I have experienced endless waiting to see a Physician at times and I have the feeling that I am just herded based on the convenience of the Practice. It is annoying, frustrating and the world I live in, I am penalized for not being on time or keeping my appointments.  Very often, this is missed or ignored at the Practice.  Of course I hear people complain, but Staff usually shrugs it off, apologizes and then stays mad at the Practitioners for being made to hear it all the time.

 

As a Customer, I have had to wait for all sorts of reasons – but usually, the provider makes my waiting matter by helping me set, manage and update my expectations.  They offer something to “make it right”, like a reschedule option or a discount or an extra bonus or some obvious consideration.

 

One office started with this solution.  It sends a text to every person coming to see them.  The text says this:  We try our best to be on time, but many times people need unexpected attention.  We don’t let anyone leave without doing the best we can to meet their needs and this includes you.  We will be as prompt as we can and are happy to update you at your request.

 

Complaints dropped by 60% the first 2 weeks and people were willing to wait because they knew they would get the attention they needed and it would be thorough.

 

This is a great example of treating People like Customers you value versus Patients you just deal with.  Customers naturally include attention to the Relationship, Patients generally feel like they are at effect Medicine.

 

Very often, Patients don’t “own” their well-being, they try to make the Doctor, PA or Practice be responsible for them. 

 

As a Customer, the same people make it a point to know what they want and will converse as well as participate in getting the results they seek.

 

More later

Revenues, Revenues, I need more Revenues

When revenues aren’t happening, the natural reaction is to respond in the extreme. Chaos reigns and nothing seems to work the way it is supposed to.  Everything seems to be out of sorts and a mess – even if you know better.

The thoughts are that there is something wrong with the market because people aren’t buying OR something is wrong with me because I am not selling.

BOTH are right.  Not from the basis of blame, but from the basis of where you can look to re-calibrate your efforts to attract more or new business.

For example.  An equipment manufacturer noticed a sudden and significant drop in revenues.  It seemed sudden, but in reality, there had been little signs that got missed.  They didn’t notice that it was taking more contacts to get prospects and that orders rates were slowing and that customers had started to order at more minimal levels.  In hindsight, they could see it all, but not real time.

What did they do?  First they panicked, then the settled down into be really anxious and worried and finally they started to get real. (This took about a month and they lost time unnecessarily.  The first thing they checked on was their current product offering.  Was it still useful to customers?  Was there a price point that the customers could afford and would buy more?  Had the market needs changed and they missed it?

They discovered that their customers just didn’t have money to purchase the new products, even though they had needs, so the manufacturer had to start figuring out new business models.

The first thing they did was talk to existing customers to find out what they were frustrated or concerned about relative to the products that they were currently using.  Then they started looking at what else the customers themselves needed in order to generate more revenues for themselves with those products. “They made the problems of the customer become their problem.”  They found some ways to meaningfully help customers, which ultimately helped them.  they got closer to the elements influencing their market and got invaluable information.

In some cases, they created some joint projects with their customers to help grow their customers busine     sses.  In other cases they started offering resources to help customers get more use and return on the products that they had already purchased.

The theme became “helping customers increase revenues and lower costs that our products affected”.  Within 3 months, new smaller revenue streams started generating cash flow and this helped buy the time needed to add additional subsets of product and services to their market.

The manufacturer had no plans to be in the businesses that they ended up generating, but adapted to the market.  It didn’t solve all their problems, but it helped keep the doors open so to allow for market changes and new ideas to bring forward successful directions.

In any economy, business still grows.  Our job is to find out what sectors of the market are growing and participate with it.

Your Very Own Personal and Professional Chief Strategy Officer

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For a moment, let me have the role of being your very own Personal and Professional Chief Strategy Officer.

Together, we are going to create a quick updated “map” of where you are and where you are headed.

There are many categories of life that we attend to, but the most prominent are the categories that exist with your most highly held values and points of real interest.

Key categories of action in living:

1. Life/My Ongoing Experience/My Future
2. Job/My Career Path
3. Primary Relationship/My Significant Other
4. Family/My Family

When these work – life works.  Conversely …

As we age, our priorities change and the things that really matter to us change.  It is useful to have a quick check-in to update where we are on our respective roads in Life.

Take 10 minutes, right now, just for the helluv-it and answer these few questions:

1. What is one aspect of you that you bring to everything you do?  It can be almost anything, but it is a constant theme (hint – people will compliment you about this aspect of you, but because it seems easy – you mostly ignore the compliment).     Example:  I am both Appreciative and Optimistic.  It allows me to see the plusses in people or a situation and then see what is possible.  From that, I generate choices.

There are more components to this but you have to go to my blog to see it

www.mcbsmith.wordpress.com   —- (this is were things pick up from the SRLV article)

[In my case, I never stop trying to push limits and help people get what they need; in Fred’s case it is that he can’t let something broken sit unattended to; in Melanie’s case she must find a way to express everything artistically.]

2. For you what are the 3 most important things in a job?  (Now prioritize them 1,2,3).

Take s just a moment but there is real juice here.  Answer this question before you read further (it is worth it, I promise). ……………….

Those 3 elements will always be present to let you know why you are satisfied or dissatisfied in your work at a moment in time.  If you find yourself too frustrated or too unhappy with your work right now, if you check, you will probably find that you aren’t able to have access to 1 or more of the 3 most important things to you in a job.

This has HUGE career implications – I hope they are obvious to you.

3. For you, what is really essential to have in your Primary Relationship?  This is a fun one, because it lets you design what you want in an ongoing way and leaves an opening for your Significant Other to do the same.  It is the foundation for all things possible in love.

Sarah wants connection, love and fun while Tim wants affection and shared interests.  Bob wants a Partner and a Lover, Nancy wants to Love be loved through supporting her man and being free to be the artist that she seeks to be.  There are lots of nuance possible here and it is always uplifting to ask your interest in love – what matters to them.

4. Finally, for you, what’s important about your Family?  This is the segment where you consider for a moment the experiences you “with” them and “for” them.

For example: Steve wants to experience closeness, love and trust while Michael wants a sense of safety and acceptance.  Sarah wants harmony and support; Mary wants mutual support, mutual respect and shared love.

The actual words are points of focus for all that we Be, Do and have in our day-to-day life.

By answering these 4 questions (for now – fully reserving the right to change our minds later) – we set a focus that generally last’s 3-4 years.

The icing on the cake is that when we have frustration or get angry – it usually means that one of these criteria have been unmet or run over.  It is our own built in feedback system to let us know when we need to do something different or check to see if what we are doing is really good for us and/or useful.

This has served me for years.

The Highest and Best Use of You

Think you don’t under-utilize the best of you?  Think Again!

Not just “fluff”, but grounded in research.  Few (I don’t know any) people can really see themselves objectively.  We carry a natural bias through our own values, beliefs, priorities, interests and preferences.

We tend to appreciate others for their results and primarily appreciate ourselves on our efforts.  It is a major gap.

For example, people have told me that they don’t have any clue or vested interest in what I go through to write something like this, they only really care about whether it is useful for them and doesn’t waste their time or energy.

Another important observation is that we tend to undervalue what is “easy” or feels “effortless” to ourselves and we will over-value what is difficult.  This causes us to miss the significance of our real gifts and skills.

Have you ever had people lavish you with thanks for doing something that was “no big deal” to you?   If you have, then you know the experience of an under-utilized gift.  This gift produces results that make you really valuable to other people and organizations.  It is what they want to count on you for and represents ways that you make a real difference just being and acting as yourself.

So here is what to do:  Make a list of the 2-3 things that people often compliment you on or appreciate about you or what you do (and it is not impressive to you or you think of it as easy or no big deal).  This is especially useful to do for you best friend because we often think that what we know about them, they already know about themselves.

After that, take a look into the world where you primarily work or live and identify areas where problems exist or occur and you can make a difference.  Consider the value that this result has for others and value yourself accordingly.

As a result, you will experience less struggle in your work and you will thoroughly exploit the “Highest and Best” use of you.

This is as good as it gets.  Enjoy!

Simplify The Message

When someone asks “what do you do?”     The question is not actually about you!

That question is about them because they are wondering if they can relate to or need the byproduct of what you do.

The most frequent mistake people make in presenting their businesses is the absence of simplicity.

When we get asked the question, we often fumble for a lightning “elevator pitch” or end up delivering an over-rehearsed series of words that bounce off the listener.  Most people report being nervous, tongue-tied or awkward.

The answer to “What do you do?” is most telling to anyone listening.  They check for your comfort, clarity, ease, sincerity and value for what you are saying.

At the same time, listeners are often preparing for what they are going to say to you in response with what “they” do.  So, many times people aren’t really listening (you’ve seen it before, the “look” of not really taking it in).

So what do you do about that?       Try this:

First say “thank you for asking, I’m Bill Davis (give them your name – even if they can read it on your tag).

Then describe the “impact” you are trying to have.  For example:

Finance: I help people who worry about money to worry less.

Text Marketing: I help Managers drive more revenues.

Law: I help people keep what they have worked so hard to get.

Hospitality: I help people relax and businesses care for their customers.

It’s about them, not you.

Brevity is Beautiful

I spoke with my Dad last night.  We haven’t talked in a few weeks and throughout the day I had noticed a sense of appreciation for him, bubbling inside me.

I started remembering different places in my life where he had a profound effect on me.

For me, I am my own person and I clearly could have made many things in life far easier for me if I would have listened rather than rebelled. We all have to find our own paths.  But I digress.

There was a time when I was 7 and he used to take business calls at home in the morning.  At that age, his voice thundered with energy and he sounded so crisp, I knew I wanted to be like him.

As I hit my teenage years and my awareness emerging logic surfaced, I became clear about how I didn’t want to be like him.

A couple of decades later, I finally put it all together in a useful way and wouldn’t you know it was his influence that put me on the path of my ultimate career.  I was doing nothing like he had done and yet he had shown me this particular track of thinking to pursue.

There are times when we played, fought, banged heads, disagreed, took positions, debated, explored and more … At times I did my best to alienate him and he still reengaged later on.

We had hundreds (if not thousands) of interactions and he has seen me at my absolute worst and best.

Having the desire to communicate the sum total of all this appreciation, I called him last night.  I said, I want to tell you something but it requires that you be very present and undistracted.

He said, “I’ll do my best”.

I said “ok, here it comes”.   Very small dramatic pause …

“Thank You”.

Stunned silence.  Then he says, “for what”?

I told him that there were way too many things to itemize in my appreciation, but that the fullness of all those things could only best be expressed with “Thank You”.

I know he didn’t do what he has done for the thanks.  At the same time, it is hard to ignore great contribution.  I am certain that my
thank you” woefully understates the things I associate it with, but this is what I told him and I was surprised that those two words were really the essence of the thought.

He ended the call by saying that “Brevity is Beautiful”.

I responded by saying I agreed, because the undertow of meaning is present with the brief expression.  I feel fortunate that I had the chance to express it to him, even if I couldn’t convey the full depth of feelings.

Merry Christmas all