Coach John G. Agno is your own cultural attache; keeping you abreast of what's effective in leadership. People learn better and are positively motivated when supported by regular coaching.
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WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? Leadership is an interactive conversation that pulls people toward becoming comfortable with the language of personal responsibility and commitment.
LEADERSHIP TIPS “The crux of leadership development that works is self-directed learning: intentionally developing or strengthening an aspect of who you are or who you want to be, or both.” Primal Leadership by Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis & Annie McKee (Harvard Business School Press)
Entrepreneurs are using cash as asafety net. With the economy struggling, business leaders are glad they've been hoarding cash. Over the past 20 years, the cash levels of companies with less than $19 million in sales rose to more than 35% of assets from 15%. For the largest companies, the level has doubled to more than 10%.
Kathleen Kahle, associate professor of finance at the Eller School of Management at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, and two other professors studied 13,000 firms of all sizes, finding that all were clinging to cash. Reserves grew particularly fast in the late 1990s and early 2000s, following the bursting of the technology bubble and the September 11 attacks. Being confident you can make payroll and have reduced or no loans or debt is a good thing in today's economic climate.
Small companies are typically less diversified than large companies, and therefore less equipped to handle political and economic storms. "The concern is that it is not clear what the firms will do with the money," says Amy Dittmar, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan here in Ann Arbor.
In an age when widgets--small, Web-based programs--are all the rage, companies are increasingly creating online tools that offer to help their customers.
You will start seeing a lot more of: messages that, in and of themselves, provide a service. Nick Law, chief creative officer of the agency R/GA, has been doing this kind of thing for years, most notably with Nike+, a site that helps runners track their performance. Appearing useful is of particular interest to marketers keen to place ads on mobile phones, a tricky prospect since the potential annoyance factor is so high.
Companies are even wrapping ads around community outreach. Eager to reinvigorate its image as a basketball brand, Converse last fall began organizing games for Miami's inner-city youth. Kids got to try out new shoes and meet Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who signed autographs and refereed. Converse also created an application on Facebookthat allows people to sign up friends to play an online basketball game. Converse says it now has more than 40,000 people to add to its database of potential customers, as well as information on where they live.
Here are some useful ad tips:
Consumers actively seek out services, even if they are veiled ads. And they spend more time with the brand than they would watching a 30-second spot.
When consumers sign up for a service, marketers can gather everything from demographic information to product interests to names and addresses--data they can use for a harder sell down the road.
World leaders are speculating that America's time of global dominance is finished, and that new powers, such as China, India and Russia, are poised to take over. It's an idea that has had as much currency within the United States as elsewhere.
A World Bank analysis predicts that both China and India "could almost triple their economic output" in the next ten years or so. By the late twenty-twenties, China could overtake the United States as the world's biggest economy.
There are good reasons for skepticism about such grand forecasts. Economic statistics in autocracies such as China are notoriously unreliable, and it's worth recalling all those predictions, a few decades ago, of Japan's imminent global domination. George Soros says that as the U.S. is in danger of a recession, China is in danger of an asset bubble--one that could easily lead to a financial crisis. But Soros thinks that China in much better situated than the U.S. because they have the power to stimulate domestic consumption (via government spending).
But many are quick to write off America's cultural, political, economic, and military clout because the American economy has to rely on infusions of cash from China, Singapore, and the Gulf states suggests that something important is taking place. Exactly what is happening, and with what consequences, are matters of dispute.
Pricing has an immediate impact on your business -- positive or negative. That's why it's strategically important.
Unfortunately, common sense pricing is not always common in practice -- due sometimes to lack of knowledge of how to set prices, but much more frequently simply to bad assumptions based on the unquestioned acceptance of prevailing myths and rules-of-thumb. Pricing determines the profit of your business both directly -- as the result of revenues less costs -- and indirectly -- in its influence on stakeholder (customer, vendor, employee, investor, etc.) perceptions.
Amazon.com has a reputation of frugality that drives innovation that delivers low prices and ease of purchase to its customers....which eliminates the need for comparison shopping at brick and mortar book stores. For Borders and Barnes & Noble, the online competition is putting immense stress on their brick and mortar stores' business. After the dot-com bust, Borders transferred its online business to Amazon.com in 2001. Amazon operated a new Borders website, keeping all the revenue generated aside from a commission paid to Borders. Today, Amazon.com is recognized as more than an e-tailer of books and CDs--adding downloadable videos and MP3s plus selling other companies the Web services it uses to keep itself humming.
However, if you believe your customers' loyalty is to price alone, you are destined to wind up in a "How long can we go and still add margin dollars?" battle with your competitors. If your competitors are larger -- or better financed -- or better connected-- the odds are overwhelming that you'll lose.
In making volume pricing decisions, be very careful of over-reliance on your cost details. Most entrepreneurs' cost details represent best estimates (including cost reduction ideas) -- and exclude the extraordinary (never to happen again) mistakes that caused overtime and material waste on the last order. Be assured that the highest percentage of credit problems, schedule changes and other cost impairments will come from your discounted high volume deals.
Every business must receive an adequate gross profit from each sale to pay for corporate overhead, reasonable wages and the selling expense of telling the market the value of its products and services. If fact, you must be willing to risk losing orders (regardless of their perceived importance) if the sales revenue can not be obtained at prices that yield a reasonable gross profit.
The good news is that most people believe that "price is a reflection of quality."
In a study published online, earlier this year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, students at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the California Institute of Technology were placed in an MRI machine and given sips of red wine--including the same one presented twice, with two different price tags: $5 (the actual bottle price) and $45 (a fictional price).
The subjects all said they liked the "expensive" wine better--a preference mirrored by increased activity in their prefrontal cortexes. When people know a wine is expensive, the pleasure they get from it is enhanced in the area of the brain where such sensations are processed.
The lesson, says Baba Shiv, an associate professor of marketing at Stanford: "There's a temptation among marketers to keep reducing prices. We're saying be careful before you embark on that strategy."
Believing that lack of profit results only from higher costs fails to recognize the importance of setting and maintaining adequate profit margin pricing. And if maintaining adequate margin pricing causes you to walk away from some business opportunities, so be it. The business that you lose due to high prices is the business you can't afford to maintain.
Companies and government agencies have long anticipated the "retirement brain drain"---the tidal wave of Baby Boomersstarting to leave the workforce, which could wipe out decades of institutional memory and leave the organizations without many of the skills and insider knowledge they had taken for granted. But few have taken adequate steps to prepare for the inevitable.
"If you ask companies about it, they say it's a very high priority, but if you ask them if they're doing anything, there aren't that many that are," says Diane Piktialis, research working group leader at the Conference Board, a New York based business research organization.
Many industries have already started to see the first wave of Baby Boomer retirements, and some companies are experimenting with solutions such as phased retirements, incentives for workers to stay on the job longer, efforts to transfer knowledge from retirees to younger workers and attempts to bring retirees back for mentoring or short-term projects after they have departed.
Two companies that have taken the practice of hiring back retirees are Procter & Gamble and Eli Lilly. Faced with the prospect of losing large numbers of Baby Boomer researchers, the two companies joined forces in 2003 and launched YourEncore, which created a pool of former employees and other experts whom each could call on for temporary help.
Since then, YourEncore has grown by leaps and bounds, with 28 member companies, and counting---including Boeing, General Mills and Unilever---and a pool of 3,600 scientists and specialists in engineering and product development.
Workers are paid an hourly rate--calculated from their base salary when they retired, inflation and other factors--and YourEncore handles the paper work, withholding money for Social Security, paying the employer's part of payroll taxes and providing liability insurance and workers' compensation.
The business casual trend has created entire companies of people who are unsure of what to put on in the morning. Too often, they make the wrong choice.
If you work in a corporate environment, it's just as important to get business casual right as it is to nail traditional business dress. Maybe more important: Savvy corporate politicians know that casual days are the times when their appearance will be most closely watched.
"People actually judge more on those days because they assume they're seeing the real person," says Jonscott Turco, a New York psychologist and human resource-consultant.
Traditional business dress is seen as a uniform; it does for the office what uniforms do for prep schools. It simplifies decision-making and makes hierarchies easy to read. We all want to identify the upperclassmen when we step into the elevator.
When the uniform is put aside, people feel free to set aside the power signals and express their style sense. But they often fail to recognize that, just as in high school, they're still being judged.
Creative expression aside, there are few upsides to the business casual trend for workers. Since different offices interpret it differently, moving from company to company can mean acquiring a new business casual wardrobe at each career stop. Here are a few tips for avoiding the business casual traps:
Break down the suit without straying far. Pair dress pants with a non-matching blazer. Shirts should be high quality--they're what people see over your desk.
Women: Keep your skin and lingerie to yourself. Beware the wrap dress, which can be clingy and low-cut. Remember: Collars convey power. For the free Executive Woman's Dress Code ebook send a request by email to: [email protected]
If you're sure jeans are appropriate, go with dark colors. They look dressier. Be sure they're neat and pressed-looking. And ban those low-risers.
Come one, come all to the Carnival! That's the Carnival of HR, Edition #31, hosted by Ann Bares of the Altura Consulting Group and boasting 24 entries that reflect a wide range of HR topics and bloggers. What a great opportunity to boost your knowledge on a variety of human capital topics.
Women managers bring uniquely feminine styles, motivations and skills to professional life and have learned to use some of their strengths -- like empathy, adaptability and strong verbal skills -- to their advantage. Unfortunately, another typically feminine characteristic, self-doubt, often follows women into the workplace.
"I don't know whether we're wired this way or taught it, but women want to please and to fit in. We care what people think and don't want to rock the boat, so we wind up underselling ourselves," says Ann Hambly, president of Prudential Asset Resources, a unit of Prudential Financial, in Dallas. "I've seen other women do it, and I've seen myself do it."
Ms. Hambly is working to eliminate this tendency. Meanwhile, she compensates for it by talking in the facts-and-figures language she knows her largely male team prefers and by taking on challenging assignments that demonstrate she isn't timid or risk averse.
Still, self-doubt and unwillingness to be aggressive can result in lower earnings, diminished stature and missed opportunities, even for women who are qualified and enthusiastic managers.
Source: Don't Let These Common Traps Keep You From Getting Ahead, The Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2008
Since the culture at most companies has been shaped over time by male executives, women are at a disadvantage when it comes to gender-based differences in communication styles.
A report, "Women and Men in U.S. Corporate Leadership: Same Workplace, Different Realities?", by Catalyst found that 81% of women said that "adopting a style with which male managers are comfortable" is an important or very important strategy to advance one's career.
Communication styles rooted in childhood training or unconscious beliefs can be tough to change. A first step is becoming aware of how you talk at work.
Our perceptions represent the way we see the world works and they also strongly influence those we live and work with.
Catalyst asked 296 executives of both genders to rate by percentage the effectiveness of female and male leaders on ten different leadership behaviors. Both genders said men are better at networking, influencing upward and delegating. "Women as well as men perceive women leaders as better at caretaker behaviors and men as better at take-charge behaviors," says Ilene Lang, president of Catalyst. "These are perceptions, not the reality."
• It allows us to control impulses and select the most appropriate behaviors.
• It shows us how to avoid reacting in negative and potentially self-limiting ways.
• Knowing our strengths and limitations makes us more understanding of others.
• Gaining an understanding of issues reduces conflict in ourselvesand in others.
Working with an executive coachcan help you to be clear on the communication style at your level within the company and to confidently practice this style so you will be heard at work. Of course, you must agree to be coachablebefore deciding to work with a personal coach.
If you know women executives in your organization who need to become better and more creative leaders, suggest you point them toward: www.CareerWomenCoaching.com
For a self-coaching guide to career women success, go to:
Back in 1974, when it was difficult and expensive to buy gasoline, I discovered that a recessionary period was an excellent time to build market share.
As general sales manager for a recreational vehicle and boating industries supplier during a tough time, I found that prospective customers were more receptive to switching suppliers. At the beginning of 1974, our company had less than 50% of the market. To insure corporate survival, the management team became very energized and focused on increasing market share because the alternative was unacceptable. By 1976, our company had increased market share to over 90% and profitability soared.
Here are four steps your company should consider now...while the economy is experiencing a recession:
First,invest heavily in research and development now so that new products and services are ready for launch as the economy begins to grow again. Your competitors may be inclined to cut R & D, particularly if they face high interest payments, substantial drops in revenue, and the like. If so, your acceleration of investment now will yield a strong product advantage in the coming years.
Second,spend some time learning about the customers of your weakest competitors. You might be inclined to go after their largest and most attractive clients. However, be aware that your rivals are probably working desperately to save those customers. They might not, however, have the time and resources to focus on smaller clients. Focus your attentionon these potential new customers, particularly those with attractive growth prospects and strong balance sheets.
Third,identify your most critical suppliers and distributors, and determine if any face the possibility of severe impairment to their business due to the economic downturn. Assess the risk to your business if they should falter badly or even fail completely. Then, examine ways in which you might help those suppliers and distributors weather the downturn. Even the smallest gesture can sometimes build an enduring loyalty that will pay off for years to come.
Finally, think carefully about your talent needs. As weak companies lay off employees, many good people will find themselves searching for work. Other skilled workers may still have a job, but they may be disenchanted with their struggling firms. Capitalize on this opportunity to identify and attract talented employees, while slack exists in the labor market.
Source: 4 Steps to Growth During a Recession, Harvard Business Review, April 8, 2008
When men blow their tops at work, they appear authoritative, but women are penalizedfor such behavior, a new study finds. Research published in the March 2008 issue of Psychological Science, about 400 male and female professionals watched video dramatizations of botched office situations. When women got angry, they were overwhelmingly seen as incompetent, out of control, and worth less pay than their male counterparts. As for men who got mad: "People assume it's reasonable," says study co-author Victoria Brescoll, a Yale University researcher.
When they explained why they got angry, women gained points and men lost them--they appeared weak. Debra Condren, author of Ambition Is Not a Dirty Word, says that to avoid the anger penalty, women should stay calmat work and use humor, which "can be disarming," when vexed.