Leaders Must Get Their Hands Dirty

The future of business is heavily dependent upon the mindset, motivation and desire of its leaders.  Whether you are a front line manager, director or executive – the next year will be a defining year for the economy. Your commitment to get your “hands dirty” is inextricably linked to the increased performance of workplace leadership.

The world is watching the continuous disruption of our economic order as our leaders resist confronting the real problems that are impacting employee morale & engagement, reductions in customer service ratings & trust. Diminishing performance is no accident. It’s a function of how people respond to their leaders. At a time when we need to find new ways to reboot momentum that requires more than just hard work; leaders must get their hands dirty.

Leaders must step-back and finally accept the bigger picture of their role and responsibilities. Leadership is not only just about the bottom line, but how their decisions, attitudes and reputation – impact the people around them (the real bottom line that most leaders ignore). It’s about leaders getting their hands dirty and touching the business that has changed radically since the last time they met with a customer, participated in a logistics meeting, contributed to a marketing discussion and/or the last time they sold something.

The volatility of the last few years can’t be ignored and must be faced head-on. Times have changed and leaders must now rapidly comply with the new ground rules that the global market has placed upon them. In the past, it was easy for a leader to delegate major problems to their staff – so as not to place themselves in a vulnerable position. But in today’s marketplace, leaders can no longer run and hide. The marketplace requires leaders to confront issues that can potentially ruin a client relationship and the livelihood of their employees. The more problems leaders delegate, the weaker and more volatile their organisations become.

Here are some ways that leaders can get smarter about how to touch the business and people they serve:

Re-Build Trust & Earn Relationships

Don’t assume people trust you just because you are in-charge. In most cases it’s the opposite. Be human and allow people inside of your domain. Encourage transparent interaction and make yourself approachable. Getting lonely at the top is your fault, not the responsibility of others.

Share your Points of View

People want to know what their leaders are really thinking. Stop hiding and get involved in the conversation of others and share your points of view. You never know when your voice can make an enlightening impact to advance those around you.

Reconnect Yourself with the Business

Invest in reconnecting with your employees, your clients and your business. Leaders get lost in office politics and forget about who they should be ultimately serving. Don’t forget: the day you stop touching the business is the day the business begins to manage you and your relevancy vanishes.

Ask for Help and find Growth from Within your Organization

Just because you are the leader, it doesn't mean you know all of the answers. I've met many leaders who would rather read a book to help them solve their problems, rather than asking for help from the people with whom they work with. Using other people’s wisdom is important in developing your perspectives – but growing as a leader in your own organisation requires you to ask for help from your colleagues. Your ego only removes you farther away, not closer to your organisation.

Showcase your creativity and get involved on the front lines

People expect their leaders to be innovative. Get back in the game by allowing others to see your creativity in action on the front lines. Leaders need to do more and observe less. Action is observation in full motion.

The best leaders get their hands dirty and in the next year it is a requirement. Don’t be selfish and wash your hands clean. Don’t wait to solve the problems in front of you. Get involved and stay active. Be transparent, make a difference and watch the immediate impact you can create.

The Power of NO

The Power of NO

NO ➔ Shortcuts


NO ➔ Quick fixes


NO ➔ Blaming others


NO ➔ I'll do it tomorrow


NO ➔ EXCUSES !!!

Who would you be if you harnessed the power of NO?

Motivational Monday - The Power of Imagination

Desnos, was a French poet and an active member of the French Résistance network Réseau AGIR during World War II. Under the direction of Michel Hollard he would often publish under pseudonyms. For Réseau Agir, Desnos provided information collected during his job at the journal Aujourd'hui and made false identity papers. The Gestapo arrested him on 22 February 1944.

He was first deported to the Nazi German concentration camps of Auschwitz in occupied Poland, then Buchenwald, Flossenburg in Germany and finally to Terezín (Theresienstadt) in occupied Czechoslovakia in 1945.

  

One day Desnos and others were taken away from their barracks. The prisoners rode on the back of a flatbed truck; they knew the truck was going to the gas chamber; no one spoke. Soon they arrived and the guards ordered them off the truck. 

When they began to move toward the gas chamber, suddenly Desnos jumped out of line and grabbed the hand of the woman in front of him. He was animated and he began to read her palm. The forecast was good: a long life, many grandchildren, and abundant joy.

A person nearby offered his palm to Desnos. Here, too, Desnos foresaw a long life filled with happiness and success. The other prisoners came to life, eagerly thrusting their palms toward Desnos and, in each case, he foresaw long and joyous lives.

The guards became visibly disoriented. Minutes before they were on a routine mission the outcome of which seemed inevitable, but now they became tentative in their movements. Desnos was so effective in creating a new reality that the guards were unable to go through with the executions. They ordered the prisoners back onto the truck and took them back to the barracks. 

Desnos never was executed. Through the power of imagination, he saved his own life and the lives of others.

The Six Rules of Personal Success

Of all human abilities, one stands out, the ability to see the Big Picture. The things that are important in life, and not to be distracted by small, trivial, and irrelevant things; the intelligence to separate the message from the background noise. ‘The Big Picture’ is about the grand goals; the big dreams and aspirations people treasure in every stage and aspect of life. But how can you grasp and hold on to the Big Picture? What does it take?

1. Get Your Priorities Right

Setting priorities right is about making intelligent choices, deciding what goals to pursue in which order, which takes vision and foresight. Intelligent people rise over the hills and valleys of the present to gaze over the hills and the valleys of the future and see the invisible and the challenges it holds. Renowned entrepreneurs like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg had such vision and foresight; they could see how technology could change the lives of everyday people; and came up with products and services that will turn their vision into reality.

2. Use Your Resources Wisely

Using resources wisely is also about making intelligent choices. It is about deriving the most value out of limited resources; shopping around for the right merchandise by asking three simple questions:

• Do I need this piece of merchandise?
• Is the price right?
•  Is this merchandise the best use of my money?

In some cases, using resources wisely means more than shopping around for bargains for the right merchandise. It also means paying the least interest and finance charges for the things you buy on credit.

3. Stay Focused

Staying focused means sticking with your priorities and goals; focusing on the message, not on the background noise; and executing. Take the right steps to reach your goals. That’s all that matters in the end.

It takes patience, persistence, and discipline to stay focused. Patience to overcome the hurdles that stand between you and your goal; persistence to overcome the failures, setbacks, and temptations that may take you off course; and discipline to play the game right, to comply with all the rules: know what you are doing, be punctual, and work out all the details.

4. Develop the Right Relations

Reaching a certain goal requires moral and psychological stamina.  It takes skills and resources no single individual possesses. This means that in pursuing personal success, people need friends and partners to overcome the many obstacles that stand between them and their personal goals.

5. Don’t be Greedy

Greed is the idolization and relentless pursuit of something that lets people distinguish and set themselves apart from others—money, power, status, and so on; the feeling that they never have enough of it, and nothing can stop them from amassing and accumulating it.

Greed is an obsession that—like alcohol—numbs people’s senses, blurs their vision, and makes them lose sight of the Big Picture. Greed leads people to live a life of imbalance and disproportion, a life of reckless and dangerous behaviour. People who want everything in life fail to negotiate with others and compromise, and end up losing everything. People, who want everything from personal friendships and partnerships and become selfish and arrogant, end up destroying them.

6. Don’t be Complacent

Complacency is the opposite of greed. It’s the idolization of things people have accomplished, the feeling that they have reached the telos (ultimate destination).

This may sound contradictory to what was argued earlier about staying focused, but success isn’t an entitlement. It cannot be taken for granted. Successful people cannot afford to be complacent because good times do not last forever, especially in a rapidly changing world. That’s why complacency is dangerous. People who are complacent with their accomplishments fail to catch up with the rest of the world and are left behind.

Business Tips: All Business is People Business

All business is people business. The people you attract on the road to wealth will determine your success as much as, or more than any other factor. At the same time, the mistakes you make in choosing these people will hinder you and hold you back as much or more than anything else. 

People are everything!

Networking Skills

Networking skills are crucial to your business success. Join local business associations and attend meetings regularly. Introduce yourself to other members and ask what they do. Do not talk about your own products or services. Instead, encourage other members to sell their products and services to you. People in business love to talk about their work. When you show a genuine interest, they will tell you in great detail what they do and how things are going. Listen intently when they speak.

Make No Effort to Sell

You will notice that I advise against trying to sell your products or services to the people you meet. By the Law of Indirect Effort, the more you don’t try to sell your product or service to people you meet, the more likely it is that they will become interested in learning about what you make or sell. The less you say, the greater the impression you make. The more you encourage a person to talk about his or her product or service, the more likely it is that he or she will be interested in your product or service.

Finding the People You Need for Your Business

When you start your business,  you will have to do everything yourself. But as soon as you begin selling and delivering your products and services, you will need help. How do you decide which people you need? How do you select them? Fortunately, these questions have been asked and answered successfully millions of times. One of the most important of all business principles is “think on paper.” Success begins with a pad of paper, a pen, and you.

Describe Every Function

Make a list of every step or function that is necessary for you to create, acquire, market, sell, deliver, get paid, and service your product. What are the steps, from beginning to end?

Instead of writing a job description, write a “function description.” Each job is made up of one or more functions. For example, when someone phones your office in response to an advertisement, the functions may include answering the phone, identifying the problem or need of the customer, transferring the call to the proper person, making the sale or taking the information for a sales call, processing the order, shipping the product, collecting payment or billing for the product, accounting for the sale, arranging to replenish inventory, reporting the sale to the business owner, and so on.

Action Exercise

Identify at least one business group or organization that you can join. Attend meetings regularly. Increase your networking skills, make networking with other businesspeople a regular part of your business life. Remember, all business is people business!  

Thank you for reading this article about improving your business. Please share and comment below!

Motivational Monday - The Bumblebee

According to scientists, the bumblebee's body is too heavy and its wingspan too small. Aerodynamically, the bumblebee cannot fly. But the bumblebee doesn't know that and keeps flying.

When you don't know your limitations, you go out and surprise yourself. In hindsight, you wonder if you had any limitations. The only limitations a person has are those that are self-imposed. Don't let anyone put limitations on you.