3 Things Every Mission Statement Must Have

A lot of companies struggle when creating their mission statement.

Author Peter F. Drucker provides the following good advice in one of my favorite book's of his, The Five Most Important Questions You Will Ever Ask About Your Organization:"

Every mission statement has to reflect three things:

• Opportunities
• Competence
• Commitment

In other words, he explains:

• What is our purpose?
• Why do we do what we do?
• What, in the end, do we want to be remembered for?

How well does your mission statement meet Drucker's recommended three requirements?

5 Compelling Benefits Of Having An Ethical Culture

In Andrew Leigh's book, Ethical Leadership, he provides these compelling and important benefits of having an ethical culture in your business/organization:

• Customers prefer dealing with companies who put ethics at the center of their culture.
• Most employees would prefer to earn less working for an ethical company than being paid more and working for an unethical company.
• More than one in three people at work say they've left a job because they've disagreed with the company's ethical standards (Trevino, L and Nelson, K - 2011)
• If you adopt an early warning system against misconduct it reduces the risk of you facing expensive litigation.
• An ethical culture helps you make your company a strong affirming place to work in.

"The foundations of an ethical culture include values, attitudes, meaning, behaviors, purpose, and management practices," explains Leigh.

Right Ways To Respond When Things Go Wrong

"From Tylenol's textbook handling of product tampering to Toyota's troublesome automobile recalls, how a company recovers from crisis can mean continued business success or bankruptcy," explains author Jim Moorhead.

In his book, The Instant Survivor -- Right Ways to Respond When Things Go Wrong, Moorhead presents a four-step, crisis survival kit to show leaders how to weather professional, and personal, crises.

He explains that a company's ideal crisis management team does the following when a crisis occurs:

• Review their crisis management plan and talk through the company's business, communications, and legal goals.
• Identify the risks and opportunities the crisis presents and analyze the options to consider, the people and resources to deploy, and the allies and experts to call upon.
• Debate, argue, and finally agree on a strategy to implement.
• Stay in constant contact to gauge how they're doing and make adjustments as the crisis unfolds.
• Look for how to be stronger after the crisis abates.

And during a crisis, Moorhead says a leader must stay visible. "Think about why it's so reassuring when a leader stays visible during a calamity. A leader demonstrates psychological strength, control over events, and focus on a solution. A leader secures support through the courage he or she demonstrates," explains Moorhead.

Recently, Moorhead answered these questions for me:

Question: How best should a junior level executive in a company convince a reluctant CEO or President to have a crisis management plan?

Moorhead: I would suggest that the junior level executive ask a series of questions, with varying degrees of intensity depending on the relationship such as:

• Do you think our competitors have crisis management plans?
• Why do you think so many Fortune 500 companies have chosen to have them?
• Do you think the expense involved in having a plan would be worth it if we have a crisis?
• How would we explain to the Board that we didn't have a written plan if there's a crisis?
• Did you notice what bad press one of the oil companies got for having what was regarded as an out-of-date plan?

If the junior executive makes some progress, I suggest she/he offer to contact some law firms and crisis and public relations firms that can describe the basic features of a plan and help draft one.

Of course, a plan that rests on the shelf without any type of training including crisis simulations is often of limited value, but having a written crisis management plan is an essential first step for any organization.

Question: How has Social Media (particularly Twitter and Facebook) changed the dynamics a company faces today during a crisis versus pre-Social Media times?

Moorhead: Have you ever played an advanced level video game? Sometimes the beginner level is manageable, but most players struggle at the advanced level. The Social Media surge has moved all companies to the advanced level, where the communication speed is blinding, the potential number of bloggers and other commentators limitless and the needs of each channel different (Twitter versus Facebook).

Done well, Social Media presents a huge opportunity for tuned-in, nimble companies to interact in real time with their customers and other constituencies, to spot and address trouble in its infancy and to build loyal followers based on credible promises made and kept.

Thoughts From The Book, Decide

Two of my favorite observations made by author Steve McClatchy in his new book, Decide, are:

Goals:  The reason so many people fail to achieve their goals is because they have not committed to defending a time in which they will work on their goals.

Management vs. Leadership:  Management is keeping things the way they are today.  Management Maintenance.  Leadership is moving things forward from where they are today.  Leadership = Improvement.

Steve McClatchy

Coherence: The Secret Science Of Brilliant Leadership

Coherence:  The Secret Science of Brilliant Leadership is the new book by author Dr. Alan Watkins.

Trained as a medical doctor, Watkins is now an honorary senior lecturer in neuroscience and psychological medicine at Imperial College, London and an affiliate professor of leadership at the European School of Management, London.

• According to Watkins, coherence is the biological state achieved when elite performers experience maximum efficiency and super effectiveness, where body and mind are one.

Coherence provides one of the most unique approaches to showing leaders how to be younger, smarter, healthier and happier -- which gives them the power to make decisions under pressure and achieve sustainable success.

Prepare to spend quality time reading Coherence. It's not light reading.  Kind of feels like a medical text book in parts.  But, it's worth your commitment to it.

I particularly found useful Watkin's discussion on culture, where he wrote:

Culture is the collective attitudes within a group, team or organization, and they manifest in:

• Customs:  traditional practices that may be honored, not necessarily repetitive.
• Rituals:  stylized conceptual totems representing an aspect of culture.
• Symbols:  stylized conceptual totems representing an aspect of culture.
• Dogmas, myths:  unchallenged and unspoken beliefs within a system.
• Metaphors:  stylized stories used to reflect culture.
• Stories:  key bind narrative of culture.

Thanks to the book's authors for sending me an advance copy of the book.

All The Lessons You'll Need To Function At Work

A lot has happened since 1997 when Robert L. Dilenschneider wrote, The Critical First Years of your Professional Life.  That's why, 17 years later he released a new edition of his best-seller.

• "The book contains all the lessons you'll need to learn about functioning at work," explains Dilenschneider.  

His lessons are based on his four decades of experience in the work world, along with research and dozens of interviews with business experts.

The new edition of the book is particularly relevant today, because, shares Dilenscheider:

• Not knowing the ropes puts you at a competitive disadvantage.
• Times have changed, and there are fewer people in today's workplace willing to help you understand how the world of work operations.

Lessons in the book include:

• You and Your Bosses
• Working the Grapevine
• Networking
• Making Allies of Your Elders
• Image
• Having Influence at Any Level
• Your Work and Your Personal Life
• After a Setback
• Mentors

Former Chariman and CEO of Lockhead Martin Corporation, Norman R. Augustine, says the book, "Offers practical advice on how young people can take charge of their careers and develop independently both the skills required to excel in any environment and the savvy to know when to move on."

Dilsenschneider explains that after reading the book, you should:

• Gain self-knowledge
• Feel empathy
• Know how to present yourself well
• Master how to retrieve information effectively and be informed
• Be able to solve problems at work

The book is co-authored by Mary Jane Genova.

Knowledge Versus Wisdom

Knowledge is the process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification -- Martin H. Fischer

Decide

Many years ago, I worked with a person who could not make decisions.  Neither big nor small decisions. That indecisiveness paralyzed our business in many ways.

Unfortunately, the book, Decide:  Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress, and Lead by Example, had not been published.  Had it, I would have shared it with my co-worker.

• Decide, published this past February, teaches readers how to make better decisions based on the real results they want to experience.

The author, Steve McClatchy, explains how to use the two forms of human motivation -- Gain, or Prevent Pain, to make more effective decisions.  For example, he demonstrates how inserting a Gain task in the middle of a Prevent Pain day can give you the energy you need to move forward and make the Prevent Pain tasks take less time through motivation.

Deeper into the book, you'll be reminded about not only the problems with procrastination, but also about the benefits of procrastination, and, if you are a procrastinator, how you can make better use of those benefits.

I particularly found useful the chapter on Managing Interruptions.   McClatchy explains that a typical day for a worker interruptions rob us of valuable think time and time needed to make effective decisions:

• Interruptions by things that aren't important and recovery time - 28%
• Productive content creation, including writing emails - 25%
• Meetings (in person, phone, video, online) - 20%
• Searching through content: web, paperwork, and digital communications - 15%
• Thinking and reflecting - 12%

McClatchy is a speaker, trainer, consultant, writer, and entrepreneur.  He is the owner and Founder of Alleer Training & Consulting, a firm focused on helping companies and individuals improve performance and achieve maximum results. Decide is his first book.

Thanks to the book's publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Today's Leadership Quote By Theodore Roosevelt

"Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty...I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life.  I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well." -- Theodore Roosevelt

Powerful Quotes From The Book, Just Listen

Just Listen is the book to read to learn the strategies to make you more compelling, and break down the walls that keep you from getting through to the people you need to buy into your ideas and goals.

Some of my favorite parts of the book are the following compelling quotes author Mark Goulston includes throughout the book:

• Good management is the art of making problems so interesting and their solutions so constructive that everyone wants to get to work and deal with them. - Paul Hawken
• Don't be afraid of sharing your vulnerabilities.  Vulnerability doesn't make you weak, it makes you accessible. Know that your vulnerability can be your strength. - Keith Ferrazzi
• Humility is the surest sign of strength. - Thomas Merton
• Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. - Bill Gates
• Good management consists of showing average people how to do the work of superior people. - John D. Rockefeller
• The secret of getting ahead is getting started. - Agatha Christie
• Don't find fault. Find a remedy. - Henry Ford
• To succeed in your career, it's less important what you know or even who you know than who truly knows you and how they know you. - Ivan Misner

Insights From The Authors Of Step Up: Lead In Six Moments That Matter

The new book, Step Up, shows readers how to step up to the plate during six critical leadership moments.  Readers learn how to:

• Use anger intelligently in the workplace.
• Recognize and deal with terminal politeness.
• Make decisions when no one else is making them.
• Take ownership when others are externalizing a problem.
• Identify and leverage pessimism.
• Inspire others to take action.

And, before you start to read the book, you can take (via a QR code in the book) a fifteen-minute online Step Up Leadership Assessment, which will give you instant feedback on your leadership readiness and point you to the most relevant chapters in the book.

The book's three authors recently shared these insights with me:

A Conversation with Henry Evans and Colm Foster, authors of Step Up

What is a “leadership moment”?

• These are moments when leadership is required in order to see a problem solved, opportunity seized, momentum changed, relationship(s) built, or when the intelligent expression of emotion is required to drive a desired result. Leadership moments are when there will be an “easy thing” to do or a “right thing” to do, and you choose the “right thing,” even though it may be hard to do so. Some of the moments are counter-intuitive and will contradict some of the prevailing wisdom about leadership.

What are common misconceptions about leadership?

• That people who have the formal position of “leader” are good leaders and/or are always ready to lead. Another misconception, in our experience, is that people at all levels of organizations sometimes feel helpless and think that without a formal title they cannot lead.

Many books outline how to harness positive energy. Are negative outlooks—pessimism, skepticism, criticism—ever useful?

• In short, yes. The emotional intelligence community, ourselves included, have taught that emotions such as anger and frustration should be banned from the workplace. We have now changed our view. In our research and work with clients, we observe that the intelligent use of emotions like anger can lead to better business outcomes and stronger relationships. Stupidity is a problem, but not always anger, if channeled productively. Pessimists are often misunderstood and under-appreciated. Sometimes your pessimists are providing a counterbalance for unbridled optimism.

Are the six leadership moments important for both managers and non-managers? Can mastering how to act in the six moments help people advance in their careers?

• Yes. Leaders must demonstrate these qualities, and we promote the use of the six moments as criteria for reward and promotion across teams. We also believe that if you are working for someone who does not possess these qualities, you should train up, or trade up (get a new boss). Lastly, when you find yourself in a moment when you and your team are experiencing a leadership void, you can learn-how and when to demonstrate leadership in those same moments. You don’t need the title. You simply need to know how to recognize the moments when leadership is required, and of course, what to do when you are in one of those moments. If you demonstrate these qualities consistently, people are likely to view you in a new light, that of a leader.

What’s an example of a leadership moment in the news that a prominent leader stepped up to?

• Just a few weeks into the job, GM’s new CEO Mary Barra stepped up to the company’s recall crisis. The evidence looks like a leadership void may have led to the crisis and Mary stepped in to show very publicly how to turn this into an opportunity to lead.  She has been much more open, transparent, and accountable than auto company leaders have traditionally been about recalls. She still faces huge challenges ahead to solve GM’s crisis, but she has already been an inspiring example of how we can all step up and show true leadership when needed.

What can readers of your first book, Winning with Accountability, expect with Step Up?

• Winning with Accountability is a language-based system for driving better business results, and building better relationships through the language you use when making and requesting commitments. Step Up focuses on the six critical leadership behaviors required for leadership, regardless of your title or formal position. As with Winning with Accountability, you can expect more ideas that are easy to access, immediately applicable, and which naturally connect to your current business reality. In both books, we are action-focused, not theory-focused.

Thanks to the book publisher for sending me an advance copy of the book.

Good Coach Versus Bad Coach

Former Verizon Wireless CEO, Denny F. Strigl offers these tips for how to be a good coach to an employee.  He explains that good coaches help performers by:

• Keeping them focused.
• Giving them objective, helpful feedback.
• Acting as a sounding board for new approaches.
• Identifying blind spots that may be holding the performer back.
• Reinforcing key values, principles, and behaviors that improve performance.
• Recognizing positive behavior and performance.
• Providing encouragement after setbacks and failures
• Setting "stretch" goals.
• Acting as an accountability partner.

Strigl believes that some managers fail in their coaching roles because they:

• View coaching as babysitting.
• See coaching as only correcting performance.
• Don't spend enough time with their employees.
• Are reluctant to criticize.
• Have social relationships with their employees.
• Have a "sink-or-swim" philosophy.
• Believe coaching is not helpful or meaningful.

"Coaching may actually save time by preventing extensive retraining or intervention to get a failing employee back on track or keep the person from falling off course in the first place," explains Strigl in his new book, Managers, Can You Hear Me Now?

Every conversation you have with an employee has the potential to be a coaching conversation!

High-Performing Teams Are Made Of This

According to Ron Ricci and Carl Wiese, authors of the book, The Collaboration Imperative, high-performing teams have the following characteristics:

• People have solid and deep trust in each other and in the team's purpose--they feel free to express feelings and ideas.
• Everybody is working toward the same goals.
• Team members are clear on how to work together and how to accomplish tasks.
• Everyone understands both team and individual performance goals and knows what is expected.
• Team members actively diffuse tension and friction in a relaxed and informal atmosphere.
• The team engages in extensive discussion, and everyone gets a chance to contribute--even the introverts.
• Disagreement is viewed as a good thing and conflicts are managed.  Criticism is constructive and is oriented toward problem solving and removing obstacles.
• The team makes decisions when there is natural agreement--in the cases where agreement is elusive, a decision is made by the team lead or executive sponsor, after which little second-guessing occurs.
• Each team member carries his or her own weight and respects the team processes and other members.
• The leadership of the team shirts from time to time, as appropriate, to drive results.  No individual members are more important than the team.

Four Ways To Drive Value For Your Customers

Great customer service tips from author Micah Solomon's book, High-tech, High-touch Customer Service:

You provide value when you deliver the four components that reliably create customer satisfaction:

• A perfect product or service
• Delivered in a caring, friendly manner
• On time (as defined by the customer)
• With the backing of an effective problem-resolution process

Micah has been named by the Financial Post as “a new guru of customer service excellence.” He is a keynote speaker and consultant on customer service issues, the customer experience, and company culture.  He previously co-authored the bestselling, Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit.      

Fit At Last. Interview With Author Tim Kearin

The new book, Fit at Last - Look and Feel Better Once and for All, co-authored by Ken Blanchard and Tim Kearin traces business author Blanchard's weight-loss journey with fitness expert Kearin, and how finally at the age of 73, Ken dropped over thirty pounds in the course of a single year.

In each chapter, Ken shares the personal ups and downs of his story, relating how anyone can use his Situational Leadership approach to determine their developmental level in each of the fitness areas outlined by Tim. From there, it can be decided what type of leadership someone needs to move to the next level.

Fit at Last isn't strictly about fitness -- it's about commitment. Given the proper tools, anyone can move from a superficial interest in fitness to creating and maintaining long-term devotion to personal health

Tim recently shared more about the book with me: 

Tim Kearin

Question: What was the most rewarding thing for you as you helped Ken make his impressive transformation?

• Tim: While several things come to mind, the most rewarding was seeing Ken want to get fit for the right reasons. He had attempted fitness so many times before and would make good progress but because he was doing it for someone else or for some short-lived reason, the commitment would disappear and he would resume his old habits. This time, he finally realized he must do it for himself. With the right purpose, all the elements of Ken’s program not only worked, but led to Ken continuing his health and fitness progress today—over three years later—with no end in sight.

Question: After a business person has worked with a trainer or coach and made their weight loss/transformation, what are the key things that person must do to not regain the weight and resume bad habits?

• Tim: First of all, they must remember that they had likely gained weight because of poor eating habits and little or ineffective exercise. In order to maintain their transformation, they must be willing to accept this new routine as a lifestyle change. The most important item at this point is support. This should come from someone who genuinely cares about them and should also include an occasional meeting with a trainer or coach for accountability.

Question: Thirty years ago, martini business lunches were common, and there was somewhat of a negative stigma associated with business people who embraced fitness and exercising. What caused the change to where we are today?

• Tim: Back in the day, the general thought was that exercise was something only athletes did. If you wanted to study sports science in college, you learned Physical Education. Then the fitness revolution began. Running became popular for the recreational athlete and health clubs were popping up everywhere. Professional sports teams were hiring strength and conditioning coaches and fitness trainers began making a living. Along with this, media coverage and general education have heightened public awareness of the benefits of healthy eating and proper exercise.

 Ken Blanchard

Question: Why is willpower so difficult for so many people?

• Tim: Willpower is one of the most powerful elements of personal character, but human nature leads us to taking the easy way out. Since personal improvements require a great deal of willpower and effort, we need to have compelling reasons and a distinct purpose. We are creatures of habit and habits are difficult to change. For example, I've never met a smoker who didn't know smoking was harmful and that they should quit, but it's easier to tell yourself you will work on it later. The same is true with improving your health and fitness. Ken and I both feel there’s no time like the present to commit to your commitment!

Question: If a person can't hire a trainer or coach, but wants to make a transformation to become leaner, more fit, and more healthy, what do you recommend they do?

• Tim:  Ensuring success involves several steps. First, people need to have a distinct purpose around making the change. Then they should get a medical check and educate themselves about general health and fitness in the areas in which they feel they need help. The next steps are to establish realistic, trackable goals, and gather together people in their life who will act as a strong support system. And if possible, it’s best if people can at least start off with a consultation with a fitness professional—someone who can help them create a personalized plan and then periodically check their progress.

Question: What do you hope the "Fit at Last" reader will do after they have finished reading your book?

• Tim: If readers are inspired by the book and decide to make a change in their fitness level, I hope they put the principles to work and finally make a commitment to their commitment. I also hope they pass the book along to someone else who is interested in improving their fitness but has had difficulty making a commitment. I would love it if readers would share their success stories with me by emailing me at tim@fitatlastbydesign.com or contacting me through my website.