Pull It Apart

In order to be an effective leader you have to be willing to take risks and set goals that others might perceive as too extraordinary, too difficult to achieve or too visionary. Today's business and economic climate has created an environment in which an out of the box approach to traditional business as we know it could represent a refreshing approach that would act as a magnet for attracting customers.

In order to explore what this type of approach would mean for your business, you have to step outside of what you do on a daily basis, which is difficult to do. You need a fresh set of eyes to take a look at what you do that will give you the ability to ask the "why" question on everything that you are currently doing. Why do we do this in this particular way? Why are we investing here? Why do we measure this, and why is it important? Sometimes, in order to put something spectacular together, you have to first pull it completely apart.

Our business is structured in a way that we have multiple business units with our parent company. This gives us at The Employment Guide the ability to look at how other businesses approach certain aspects of their business and find what might make sense for us to try. One of our sister companies is For Rent and another is Homes.com. We like to compare notes on what they are doing to give us a fresh perspective on some aspects of our business. It is almost like having a built-in consultant team.

This type of resource is going to be of even greater value in 2008 than in years past. Given the conditions with which we are all faced, including the credit and investment market upheaval, slower job growth (projected to fall to a total of 100,000 in 2008 by Kiplinger), identifying new ways to approach your business will be invaluable. After the innovation process, you have to make sure you have the resources to develop. That in and of itself can be a challenge, especially if you are in an industry that has faced restructuring, layoffs, etc. (such as the automotive industry). Then you have to allow for the proper amount of time for testing, quality control and a trial period before taking your new product or service to market. What is interesting is that while this process takes time, it is the businesses that can compress this time-frame and get their new product or service out to market first within their industry that will typically be looked at as an industry leader. It is my opinion that within the realm of electronic or internet related businesses the understanding that back-end development will need to take place after a product is launched is readily accepted more so than the "make sure the product is 100% before we roll it out approach." This is largely due to the fact that you can measure what your customers are doing with your product and modify the product to better meet their needs as you track usability. In fact, within our electronic media industry, this is now becoming the norm. Typically the website that you are on this week will change in some form or fashion next week. These changes are not readily noticeable, but they are in fact designed to enhance the returning visitor's experience.

So what are you going to do in today's business environment that will change the way you are approaching your business? What are you going to do differently? If you are ever going to take a great risk with the potential for high rewards, now is the time!

Take what you have currently and pull it completely apart. Can you put it back together in a way that so the end result is better than what you currently have? If so, do it.

Any time there is change there is opportunity. So it is paramount that an organization get energized rather than paralyzed.- Jack Welch, CEO, General Electric

Sound Leadership Principles

2008 is going to be a year in which many professional leaders at all levels of organizations separate themselves from their peers by way of producing excellent results within industries that are cyclical in nature. It is increasingly important that those in leadership positions have made a concerted efforts to plan their strategies for the year well in advance of whatever current market conditions might be, while remaining sensitive to the fact that (since we live in a business climate that changes faster than the leader of the current presidential primary elections) their plans will need to be constantly reviewed and updated throughout the year.

Below is a list of ten sound leadership principals we can all follow as leaders (at all levels) that become increasingly important when faced with challenges.

• Stay positive - Make sure that those that you lead understand your plans and initiatives to navigate the tough times, while simultaneously keeping the focus of the organization on proper execution of basic fundamentals and celebrating successes.
• Identify solutions, not just problems - When you find something that is not working or is need of repair, be prepared to offer suggested solutions to the problem in lieu of just being someone who comes across as always pointing out the negative.
• Catch your folks doing something right - You will be encouraging the type of behavior or accomplishments that you want among your teams.
• Listen - I mean really listen. Give those that you lead your full attention when you are engaged in conversation. Not only will this give you a better sense of the pulse of your organization, it will send the message that you care.
• Have high expectations - You have to keep yourself and those within your organization focused on performing at higher levels of success. This means you, too. Make sure the people that you lead see that you are willing to go the extra mile. If you expect more from your people, it will increase their willingness to roll up their sleeves while putting on their company hats if they know that you are also going to be in the trenches.
• Quickly identify and lose any and all dead weight - Constant poor performers, under-achievers, bad attitudes, constant complainers and negativity can quickly be a big drain on those in your organization that are getting it done. Identify it and remove it quickly. Not only will overall attitudes improve quickly, but you might be able to afford to pay your top performers better if they can absorb the workload that was being put forth by those who did not possess the will do or can do or simply did not fit in with the team or organizational culture.
• Put the right people in the right jobs - People are happier when they are doing what they enjoy. Have you ever promoted a top performer into a new capacity just to watch as they struggled in their new role? You will also need to take the time to hire the right people the first time.
• Invest resources in what works and quickly - If your organization is not focused on the ongoing research and development of your next big initiative, your company is at risk. It might take trying twenty different products, strategies, and initiatives in order to find the next $10 million dollar business. Keep developing product, and get it to market fast.
• Get your organization lean - Healthy organizations do not waste resources. Find where and on what you might be spending money that you can live without and get rid of the waste.
• Reduce your stress - Be sure to make time to recharge your batteries. Don't forget to make time for yourself and your family. Exercise, eat healthier, go for a run, read a good book, go for a family walk around the neighborhood, etc. A healthy mind and body will afford you the ability to make better decisions and will provide you with increased energy.
  

I am excited about the initiatives The Employment Guide has in store for 2008. These include launching HealthCareerWeb.com, the introduction of video job postings and many other great initiatives, as well as the ongoing development of new products to meet the needs of our customers well into the future.

What other sound principals that you utilize would add to the above list?

"The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been." - Henry Kissinger

Change and No Change

Let's face it, most publishing companies that operate in the classifieds business or within one of the classified verticals are undergoing a transformation from being traditionally print to electronic media oriented (at least the ones that hope to still be around in the future). We at The Employment Guide are no exception to this transition. As we become more knowledgeable about what the future of our business will look like and what that means to us as an organization, we have a better idea of how to navigate the directional waters to realize increased levels of success. It is through the acquisition of this knowledge that we will continue to differentiate our products and services from the competition and excel at meeting the needs for our customers (both job seekers and hiring managers/companies).


While the change that we are experiencing as an organization is fascinating and is a very exciting journey that everyone is embracing, there are still certain aspects of our business that need to remain the same, primarily our ability to execute. Proper execution is one of the best competitive advantages for us as an organization (coming in a close second behind the talented folks that make up our employee complement). The process of unifying our direction from the field level up to the senior management team has given us a profound competitive advantage in the past and will continue to do so in to the future. Our best ideas inevitably come from the field, our local employees on the front lines or even from our customers. A quick look back over our history reveals this to be true. We got into the job fair business via a customer's request. Here we are more than 1,000 job fairs later still reaping the benefits of following that suggestion. Another thing I like a lot about our organization is in the ability we have to adjust to the current business climate. This is an exceptional trait for any business but is critical when you operate a business that is cyclical in nature. Let's see: labor industry - employment advertising - cyclical in nature? DUH! This is also a great place to insert that we do not utilize this as an excuse for lack of execution but as another factor in determining our next best course of action.


It is my opinion that you can take quality leadership skills, sound decision making and quality operational skills and apply that across just about any industry and you will have a recipe for success. The secret ingredient on achieving a high success factor is in the passion and individual desire to be successful (not only for an individual, but for an organization as a whole). This is something that definitely starts at the top, and I am not exempt. I for one am very excited about the direction we are heading as an organization. I enjoy greatly talking about this with new recruits and current employees. As a former field general I can tell you that the thing I enjoy the most is getting back out in the field and speaking with our talented group of folks all over the country. It was, is and will continue to be the strength of what makes The Employment Guide successful, as well as truly differentiated from the competition, in fact all competitors! The journey that we are on is exciting. The transition we are experincing as an organization is one of the coolest things I have professionally been in a position to oversee.


So, as we experience organizational change and explore new directions, some things will not change. Mainly, our ability to properly execute will continue, which includes maintaining a strong bias towards the ongoing development of our people (who remain our greatest strength).


Do you embrace change, new concepts and ideas, or are you more of a traditionalist?

Chemistry 101

One of my first professional mentors made an analogy of how running a business should be like playing around with a chemistry set, and just as fun. As he described how it was fun to tinker with mixing a little bit of a product, person, practice, etc., with a different person, product, practice, etc., the analogy started to makes sense, sink in and stick. I still think about this approach to business and in fact heard myself using these words with one of the fine folks on our team this morning as we were discussing how to overcome challenges within various aspects of our business.

While I was not an enthusiast of the subject of chemistry in school (although I did blow up a few mail boxes in my day), I sure do enjoy this approach as it applies to what we do as a business in finding new business opportunities, the creation of new ideas and identifying opportunities through a unique blend of talented people. It also makes it fun. In fact, while a group of us were in the "lab" (better known around here as the conference room) the other day, I had an epiphany which has me focusing on a neat new business opportunity for our organization simply through the blending of people and ideas.

The practice of blending people and ideas works well in the creation of new ideas or business opportunities. It can also increase excitement levels among those that you lead when you take the time to shake things up a bit through the implementation of change. There is a book about this subject that is appropriately named A Technique for Producing Ideas authored by James Webb Young. It is a small digest-sized book of only 48 pages, but what a powerful read. A member of our senior management team gave me this book at one of our meetings, and I still take it off the shelf from time to time just to get fired up again about the thought of finding new business opportunities and improved ideas for higher levels of success.

I think it is good to remind ourselves occasionally that we do not have to continually do things in exactly the same manner, especially just because that is the way things have always been done. Trying new ideas is what breathes life into an organization and brings higher levels of energy and excitement as a result. This is especially true when the idea bubbles up in the organization verses being pushed down. Our 55 field offices are a great resource for new ideas and positive opportunities for change. I like to look for opportunities to change things. This is especially true when there is no history of change in an area of the business that has grown stagnate or when there is an opportunity to create new dynamic relationships within our organization.

Have you tinkered with your chemistry set lately? If so, what did you do and what were the results?

Attitude Change

In order to increase the ability of a team to accomplish a goal, the leader must first gain the all-important "buy-in" factor. The one consistent barrier to achieving the goal of having a team working as a cohesive unit is that perceptions and attitudes of team members might have to be altered prior to execution. In my opinion, possession of, or the development of this skill and the ability of a leader to execute this task is the first step in the process of becoming an effective leader. Leaders put focus on cause and effectively build advocacy among their team in order to produce long-lasting perception changes and desired results. How does this process take place? Here is a chart that I found online that I think does a pretty good job of displaying the process that individuals go through in determining whether or not they are going to change their attitude about a subject.

Chart originally from - http://chiron.valdosta.edu/mawhately/767/attitude.htm

The ability of a leader to accomplish a change in attitudes comes down to their individual leadership skill level. You might know people in leadership positions who do not have to work very hard at this or to whom this skill comes naturally. On the other hand, and good news for all in a leadership capacity, is the fact that this skill can be learned, practiced and professionally developed. Yes, leadership is a skill and can be developed through studying, practicing and developing one's own ability. I have yet to come across a subject matter expert who thinks otherwise. Maxwell, Blanchard and others all agree on this topic. I have even been an eye-witness to some amazing transformations and professional growth in some individuals who are within The Employment Guide and http://www.employmentguide.com/ organization. These experiences add weight to the argument that leadership skills can be developed. Have I changed your attitude about that yet?

Prior to setting out to achieve a specific task or goal, a leader must have a clear understanding of the perceptions and attitudes on his or her team. Even if a leader does not gain 100% buy-in from their team from the beginning, this process will allow for greater clarity of internal obstacles. This knowledge is very powerful and should give the leader more control of the guidance of their organization as they navigate towards exceeding his or her goals. Start the leadership process at this point and you will focus up front on what could become your biggest obstacle to success. By-pass this process and you are likely to end up with conflicts in opinions that give way to doing battle internally verses with the competition.

What has been your experience with this issue?