In the past few months we have been reading business fables for the Business Book discussion group. Here are a couple of reviews to spark your interest. To get a copy of a business fable or to inquire about the book group call Terry Zarsky at 531-6333 extension 2308.
Juggling Elephants: An Easier Way to Get Your Most Important Things Done-Now! by Jones Loflin and Todd Musig, 2005.
In this fun business fable, Jones and Todd apply lessons from the circus to our everyday business and personal lives. The moral of this story is easy to discern. You are the ringmaster in your own circus, and your circus is made up of multiple rings. Those rings represent the essential pieces in your life: business, relationships, and personal growth, to name a few. This tale escorts you through discovering the rings in your life, the acts you currently have, those you may want to add, and how to manage those acts in a way that is satisfying to you as well as your colleagues and family. In other words, this story will help you become a better ringmaster in your own circus.
The Myth of Multitasking: How “Doing It All” Gets Nothing Done by Dave Crenshaw, 2008.
Dave Crenshaw questions the existence of one of our most valued skills – multitasking. He illustrates his point through a business coach and a struggling CEO looking for some pointers in time management. With a few short exercises the coach is able to expose the cost of multitasking in our daily lives.
Dave’s scenario begs us to take a few minutes to look at our day. Where do you spend most of your time? How many times are you interrupted in a day? Who interrupts you most and for what reasons? Is there a more efficient approach?
To answer the last question our business coach provides his charge with several techniques to streamline her time along with worksheets to move her in the right direction.
All in all, this is a brief but informative read, providing a clear depiction of the time management problem as well as the means to overcome it.
Leaders at All Levels: Developing the Talent Pool to Solve the Succession Crisis by Ram Charan, Recorded Books, 2008. (CD Book)
In today’s corporate world when the top management steps down for any reason there is often a waiting period while the company searches for a replacement. Often people are temporarily put in place to see to the day to day duties, but the company fails to keep moving forward as this person is not seen as having the authority to really do much that is new. One way of getting around this problem for your company is to hire and develop your own future leaders. Although positions from managers to CEOs are covered the author shows how hiring young people with future potential and making sure that they get assignments and positions to develop the skills needed in the future can affect the success of the company and can help your company.
Sometimes you may identify 3 or 4 potential newcomers at entry-level positions and give them opportunities to learn and show what they can do for you. By exposing them to all aspects of the business from many angles you will develop a person who really understands your business, the competition and the potential market. By fast tracking these people to specific goals, assignments or positions you can make sure they develop all of the necessary skills and relationships to take the company to the next level.
Ram Charan shares stories of companies that excel at developing their future leaders and he tells stories that show the progression of some of these future leaders. By reading this book you can help develop a process to create and nurture future leaders within your own company.
by Rob Salkowitz, John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
With three-plus generations currently active in the workplace, there are many books that examine the different work styles of generations. There are also many books written about how technology affects people in the workplace. What has not been explored in depth, however, is how technology affects the interactions of generations in the workplace, until Salkowitz’s Generation Blend: Managing across the technology age gap. This book focuses on how new ways of communicating, collaborating and managing information technology affects all employees, and gives organizations a plan for how to create understanding amongst the generations.
The most prevalent generations currently in the work place are the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1962), Generation X (born 1963-1980), and the Millennials (born 1981-2000). Due to shared experiences at the same point in history, there are certain qualities possessed by each generation that affect their workplace styles as well as their attitude towards technology. Baby boomers are often thought to be skeptical of new technology, especially given media coverage of the potential dangers. Generation X is thought to be techoliterate, comfortable with technology although cautious; while Millennials are considered technosavvy, often adopting new technologies without fully considering the risks.
After examining the conflicts that may arise amongst the generations due to the digital technology age gap, and giving full descriptions of the workstyles of the 3 prevalent generations in the workplace, Salkowitz offers 5 questions that any organization should ask themselves in order to best manage the technology age gap, which should help create understanding amongst generations regarding the utilization (or lack thereof) of certain technologies by the organization. Case studies are presented both to illustrate why the technology age gap may actually be beneficial to the workplace, as well as to give examples of the different steps that each of the generations may be taking to eliminate the technology age gap.
by James Kilts with John Manfredi and Robert Lorber, Crown Business, 2007.
Whether you are trying to learn new management approaches or find a method to use for your new business we can all learn from Doing What Matters. James Kilts uses mainly Nabisco and Gillette as his examples but he uses other companies as well if they are the stellar performers in this area. Doing what matters will focus you on the areas to address in your business that will give the greatest returns while maintaining your integrity.
Doing What Matters is divided into three sections:
Fundamentals - Attitudes and People
Leadership
the Future
Using the turnarounds at Nabisco and Gillette Kilts shares why he feels this way of doing business is the right way for him and the gains made by the two companies who both came back from a market share loss.
People are the basis for all companies and Kilts shows how you can set expectations from day one on what employees and shareholders can expect. If goals were not met in the past but the employees were rewarded for their efforts they now know that goals must be reachable and met in order to secure even greater rewards. Kilts believes in not promising lofty goals, but exceeding expectations. Employees can succeed on their own, but with the right leadership they will not only succeed, but you will be able to develop succession plans using the employees in your own company that have developed into fantastic and credible leaders.
Setting a path for your company cannot be for the short term it must be for the future and for the long term. If you lose your integrity you will have a much larger problem to overcome than a loss of market share. Build on the brands you have and the research and development aspects of your company to continue to build your market share and your reputation.
by Patrick Lencioni, Jossey-Bass, 2007.
Brian Bailey thinks he is a good manager and he gets the opportunity to become CEO for a struggling sports equipment company. He succeeds in turning the company around, but then finds himself at loose ends when the company is sold and his position is eliminated. He first decides to take a year off, but quickly realizes he needs a challenge. He gets involved with an Italian restaurant and realizes that what he brought to his sports company was that he knew the value of individual employees. He develops a program to define the three signs of a miserable job and how to overcome them.
They are irrelevancy, anonymity, and immeasurability. Everyone wants to feel that what they do is important, valued and contributes something. They dislike being unknown and they need to be able to see results. Attacking these three things can make the company or job more satisfying and reduce turnover rates and costs.
Brian discovers this process works for the restaurant and again becomes a CEO at a sports retail store to see if it works for a larger situation. It does and he is off to find new challenges.
The benefits of identifying and addressing the three signs of a miserable job are increased productivity, higher retention/lower training costs, and competitive advantage. The obstacles of trying to change are twofold, from both the employees and the employer. The obstacles to overcome from the employee’s viewpoint are emphasizing money as the only relevant item in a job and are they in the right career. The obstacles from the employer’s viewpoint are failing to recognize employee satisfaction issues and believing the wrong reasons for why the employees are all leaving.
Making the jobs relevant by identifying what difference employees make for whom when they do their jobs to the best of their abilities, having measurable tools set by the employee and employer to more accurately gauge the impact of the employee and getting to know the employees as individuals and not just bodies doing a function can easily take your job or company to the next level. The tools shared by Patrick Lencioni are easily applied to your situation.
Also available as an audiobook.
There are many ways to achieve communication and commitments to new procedures and processes in the corporate world. Sometimes the only way is to have someone at the top of the organization send down the new way and have those below implement it.
However, if your organization wants to obtain better buy-in by the people implementing and using the new procedures and processes one way to go is consensus through conversation. Using this way allows all those affected by the outcome to have a say about the necessary changes, but because they have agreed to the desired outcome or have said they can live with it the changes can be accomplished with less angst on the people making the changes.
Larry Dressler walks us through the steps to obtain consensus and how to make sure we have involved all of the right people. He details what needs to be done at each step to make sure you get consensus and what to do if you do not obtain it. He covers preparation, basic steps, and dealing with disagreement. He also presents the six traps that undermine consensus and ten tips for better consensus meetings.
A list of resources is provided for those that want to delve into building consensus decisions and learn how to better apply them to their businesses.
This book will help you identify the 8 skills that help determine who will succeed as a leader in business and those who won’t. There are many skills that leaders can possess and Ram Charan has identified these 8 as the determining factors for those who will reach the top of their field and potentially become CEOs, Presidents and entrepreneurs.
The 8 skills are:
1. Positioning and re-positioning the business
2. Pinpointing and taking action on external change
3. Leading the social system of the company
4. Judging, selecting and developing people
5. Molding a team
6. Determining and setting goals
7. Setting laser-sharp dominant priorities
8. Dealing with forces beyond the market and outside of your control
The successful businessperson will be able to see those people around them who have complementary skills and help them to obtain the highest level they can. Surrounding yourself with those who have skills you don’t have and mentoring them can help you get the needed help and knowledge when you need it.
Ram Charan uses examples from many companies both successes and failures and shows how and why the companies flourished and failed. The successful leader needs to be able to see opportunities beyond today and build a team and the needed resources to be able to respond to these opportunities. Criticisms can be hard to take, but the successful person learns to set a course and stick to it even when those around him are criticizing the course of action. Being decisive is an attribute that must be acquired by those who want to excel in the business world.
Kick Start Your Success helps master four key steps to success. They are: “gain confidence by defining your goals, obtain focus and convert your goals to words, find your voice and start powerful conversations that catapult you forward and triumph by becoming ‘Inter-ask-ive’ and achieve your dreams.”
Romanus Wolter includes actions you can take today to start reaching the goals and dreams you have. These powerful steps, visualized by the examples included, allow us to create an atmosphere around us that supports us in achieving our dreams. Wolter gives the tools and techniques needed to create conversations with others so that we may excel.
Each chapter ends with an exercise for you to incorporate what you have learned as you go. By following these steps you will have a very well defined plan of the things you need to do to accomplish all of your goals. These steps include developing an instant impact message and a success script. If you can communicate your goals, you can gain the buy-in you need from those around you.
Wolter includes steps to take with those around you who are naysayers about what you want to accomplish. Stay on track by incorporating these steps in your life so that you can achieve all that you set out to.
Monday Morning Mentoring reminded me of Tuesdays with Morrie. Both are books, which tell stories of how one person can be a mentor and a guide to someone else’s growth. In Monday Morning Mentoring Jeff has reached a crisis point in his life. He asks an old family friend if he can help guide him. Jeff has lost enthusiasm for his job and where he is at and has become a negative role model for those around him.
Tony agrees to meet with him once a week to help him work through his issues. “Trusted counselors, mentors and guides make an indelible mark on the lives they touch, and they can provide the two ingredients to success in life–caring and sharing–that cannot be learned or purchased” is one of Tony’s insights and it is what this book accomplishes. By listening in on the sessions between Jeff and Tony we learn how to give back to those around us and how to be a positive role model for everyone in our lives. They meet for ten weeks and share ten key points with us.
Mentoring works because “we all need people who will help us look at situations from a different perspective.” Tony shares his wisdom with Jeff and helps teach Jeff how to look at each situation he encounters from two or more perspectives. How will others be affected by our actions and what will the outcome be on them. If we can’t positively affect them in the long run maybe we are not looking at the situation from the right perspective.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is “ There is a direct correlation between the books you read and the success you achieve.” Use this book and many others to help you get where you want to be in life.
Are you a business owner who needs or wants to take your business to the next level? Step Dynamic will help you avoid the common pitfalls that can lead to disaster for you and your business.
Growing your business is what we all strive for however, many businesses run into problems that can seem insurmountable when they start growing. Step Dynamic will help you stay focused on the right parts of your business during every stage of its growth. Making the wrong decisions can be costly and sometimes deadly for your business.
This easy to read, powerful book is a great way to start thinking about and implementing the next steps to grow your business. We follow a business owner who is trying to take the next step in growth to see how other businesses have approached the process and what they had to do to overcome the pitfalls. The pitfalls include stepping up too soon, shooting past the step, and capitalizing on your capital. Step Dynamic includes knowing your capabilities and revenue streams and knowing when to increase capabilities and sales to take your company forward.
Preparation is the key to not having capabilities that are underused or sales that you can’t easily service.
