Mike Michalowicz's Blog, page 69
May 20, 2016
The Criticism Challenge
If you have ever had an employee need harsh criticism, you know just how difficult a task it can be. Most people don’t like to dish out criticism, which is a good thing, but as entrepreneurs, there is sometimes no way around it. But there is a right way and a wrong way to give harsh criticism to employees. And your mission is to make doing it the right way a priority!
Criticism Challenge
If you give harsh criticism, or any criticism, in an appropriate manner, you will likely help create a better employee. Give it the wrong way, and you may see that employee retaliate or walk out the door. Neither of these are scenarios are what you probably want, so focus on learning how to effectively give criticism, so you avoid offending them.
Keep these tips in mind when it comes to giving harsh criticism to an employee:
1. Before you give the criticism, explain that you are sharing it with them because you care about them.
2. Pat on the back, kick on the ass, pat on the back. This is what I learned from my college lacrosse coach. Whenever he wanted to correct a mistake, he would first say what I did right (the pat on the back), then he would point out what I messed up on and needed to fix (the kick in the ass), and then he would tell me how well I was progressing and to keep pushing on (the pat on the back). This sandwiching technique works because it softens the criticism and leaves you inspired to fix it.
3. Never criticize the person, only criticize the act. You never want to make it personal. For example, don’t say something like “I don’t like it when you…” Instead, say “On those occasions when it is said…”
4. Always criticize privately. This is just a common courtesy. You wouldn’t want someone to criticize you in front of others. No matter how nice you try to do it, you will still put that person on defense and risk humiliating them, so it’s just best to avoid it all together.
5. Let them save face! This isn’t about them agreeing that they messed up; it’s about correcting the behavior (or at least that is what it should be about). If you attack them, they need to go on defense. And part of any good defense is justification to keep doing the behavior. So give them an out, so they can have an “excuse” for the past behavior (save face), but they do not have an excuse to continue. A great way to help them save face is to say something like “I bet you are not even aware of this, since I used to do the same thing and did not even know.” If they acknowledge they were not aware, they have saved face. And now, since they are aware, they can’t continue with the behavior.
The Right Course
When giving an employee criticism is not done correctly, it can seem mean-spirited, feel like a personal attack, or just make them angry. When it is handled the right way, it can help improve situations and behavior, inspire change, and start a conversation about what is going on. It is important, as well, to make sure that when you give criticism, you aren’t just venting frustrations or trying to boost your ego, that it really is to improve a situation.
Even if you don’t have an employee right now that needs some criticism, you may in the future. It’s always a good idea to make sure you know the right way to handle the situation. That is part of what makes great leaders, well, great!
May 18, 2016
Episode 89: Profit First Explosion Featuring Chris Curran
Show Summary
Today we sit down with Chris Curran, our rockstar engineer and Profit First Podcast producer about how some of these ideas came to him as he was producing the show… and how his own business has exploded as a result of implementing profit first and some other strategies! Gain some cool insights, plus hear us play a little song for the first time in studio – we didn’t rehearse (we apologize in advance) but we belted out “Here’s To Us” by Halestorm. Join us for this crazy ride on Episode 89 of the Profit First Podcast!
Our Guest
Chris Curran handles podcast production for FORBES Podcasts, Dun & Bradstreet, as well as select business authors including Mike Michalowicz, Pamela S. Harper, Dr. Dan Peters, Melissa G. Wilson, Dr. Laura Mattia and Erik Townsend.
Chris has previously been on staff at some of the most prestigious recording facilities in the world: The Hit Factory, The Soundtrack Group, and Quad Recording.
He has many album credits including engineer, producer or assistant engineer roles on projects with Foreigner, Sarah McLachlan, MC Hammer, Itzhak Perlman, Naughty by Nature, Ice Cube, Jeff Buckley, Philip Bailey, Biohazard, God Street Wine, Biggie Smalls, Puffy, Heavy D., Helmet, Monster Magnet, Nuno Bettencourt, Onyx, Quicksand, Savatage and many others.
Chris is also the author of Leap Beyond Your Limits, as well as the host of various podcasts including The Podcast Engineering Show, The Mystic Show, The Profit First Podcast and Social Media Unscrambled. When not working, Chris is a student of Sahaj Marg Meditation. To contact Chris, email him at: chris @ fractalrecording . com
Show Links
Website: www.fractalrecording.com
Facebook: Fractal Recording
Twitter: @FractalSound
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Mike Michalowicz will be speaking at Scaling New Heights 2016 ( #SNH16 ) at the BEAUTIFUL Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas!
May 22-25, 3016
For more information on this conference and to register, click here!
.
Corporate Partners
Receipt-Bank – Software and service to make the gathering, storage & processing of bills, receipts and invoices as easy and as cost effective as possible for businesses.
Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.
Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.
TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!
Fundbox – The simplest and fastest way to fix your cash flow by advancing payments for your outstanding invoices.
May 17, 2016
It Doesn’t Have To Be A Difficult Decision
Obviously, there seems to be a tendency among doctors for life-or-death decisions to be the hardest decisions. The best decision, in fact, seems to be in simply buying more time; In delaying the decision. Rarely is that best for the patient.
Entrepreneurs seem to face the most dire business moments with the most pondering. The enormity of the consequences seem to require the most consideration. But ironically, its the elongated pauses that causes the most damage. Dire situations are often best served with rapid and deliberate decisions. Pick the way to go, and then go. Time is a-tickin’.
May 16, 2016
Episode 88: Profitability and Spiritual Abundance with Edwene Gaines
Show Summary
Welcome to Episode 88 of the Profit First Podcast! WARNING: this episode contains references to spiritual and biblical beliefs… and if that scares you off it’s unfortunate. Today we have the privilege of speaking to famed author Edwene Gaines about the concepts of her book, The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance. Whether you share these beliefs or not, the rules and guidance you will gain in the next 38 minutes are irreplaceable; Listen in, enjoy, and be prepared to awaken the knowledge you already have inside you to achieve another level of profitability!
Our Guest
Edwene Gaines, author of the book The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity, A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance*, is owner-director of Rock Ridge Retreat Center in Valley Head, Alabama. She has made a 100% commitment to the transformation of the abundance consciousness of the world.
An ordained Unity minister since 1979, she is also president of The Masters’ School. She has trained approximately 500 Master Prosperity Teachers. She travels about extensively presenting Prosperity Workshops. She has created and markets CD’s and affirmation cards through her company Prosperity Products. Her book is now available in Spanish as Las Cuatro Leyes de la Prosperidad.* published by Edicion Lectorum in Mexico City.
A Certified Firewalking Instructor, she facilitates the Firewalking Ceremony several times each year. Edwene has served as a member of the International New Thought Alliance Executive Board. In 2006 she was honored by the International New Thought Alliance with the Torchbearer for New Thought Award. That same year she was honored by Unity Worldwide Ministries with the Light of God Expressing Award at their annual conference. In 2014, she was honored by Emerson Theological Seminary with an honorary doctor of divinity degree.
In 2016 Edwene was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters be the Centers for Spiritual Living Holmes Institute.
She is committed to power, passion, prosperity, and performance.
Show Links
Website: www.prosperityproducts.com
Facebook: Edwene Gaines and Edwene Gaines Seminars
er.
Mike Michalowicz will be speaking at Scaling New Heights 2016 ( #SNH16 ) at the BEAUTIFUL Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas!
May 22-25, 3016
For more information on this conference and to register, click here!
.
Corporate Partners
Receipt-Bank – Software and service to make the gathering, storage & processing of bills, receipts and invoices as easy and as cost effective as possible for businesses.
Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.
Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.
TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!
Fundbox – The simplest and fastest way to fix your cash flow by advancing payments for your outstanding invoices.
May 13, 2016
Fix Problems When They Are Small
In 1982, George Kelling and James Wilson published an article entitled Broken Windows. The article argued that a crucial and necessary step to keep order in a dangerous neighborhood, was to fix broken and unrepaired windows. Kelling and Wilson state that if people in these neglected neighborhoods see a building with broken windows, that they will be tempted to break more windows (I suspect you may have even felt an inkling of desire to throw a rock at a building with broken windows yourself). And as more windows get broken, the temptation grows in the community to commit riskier and more damaging acts. It’s the snowball effect of neglect.
If your business is a sloppy space, it will promote more sloppiness in work. If your nature is to be confrontational with your employees, it will promote them to confront clients. What happens in one instance, will start to happen in all. Start fixing your businesses “broken windows.” And, for God’s sake, if you have an actual broken window… fix that first.
May 12, 2016
Five Frogs Sit On A Log
The riddle has been around for ages:
“Five frogs sit on a log. Four decide to jump in. How many are left?”
If you respond the same way I did, the first time I heard this riddle, you would say “one.”
But the correct answer is “five.” There is a big difference between deciding and doing. A big difference.
Do you make big decisions in your business? It doesn’t mean it is getting done. In fact, making a continuous stream of big decisions is the easiest way to do nothing at all. Just make a decision and when the pressure surmounts to take action, make a new decision.
Are you a decider or a doer? You decide – scratch that, you do.
May 11, 2016
Episode 87: Profit First in Style with Caitlin Podaras
Show Summary
Business owner, Caitlin Podaras implemented Profit First and found that her business was not going the way that she anticipated… so she shut it down and decided to start up a brand new business. On this episode we coach Caitlin through a proper and quick shutdown of what’s not working, and explain how to ramp up a new business – and do it in a very successful way even you don’t have a penny to spend. Welcome to Episode 87 of the Profit First Podcast!
Our Guest
Caitlin Podaras is the owner and founder of Style For Today, an online personal styling service for women. She started the company in 2014 when she realized that not everyone loves shopping as much as she does, and that she could turn her pastime into something bigger to help women feel more confident in their own personal style.
She is a firm believer that the right outfit can change your entire day (and maybe even your life) and that’s why she makes it her mission to help her clients feel great about themselves in whatever they’re wearing. Caitlin recently updated the services of her company to include online wardrobe editing, capsule collection styling, virtual styling and more.
In her free time she enjoys hanging out with her fiancé, her friends and her 10 pound chiweenie dog named Peyton, who is also the Chief Companion Officer of Style For Today.
Show Links
Website: www.stylefortoday.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/shopstylefortoday
Instagram: www.instagram.com/style_for_today
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Mike Michalowicz will be speaking at Scaling New Heights 2016 ( #SNH16 ) at the BEAUTIFUL Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas!
May 22-25, 3016
For more information on this conference and to register, click here!
.
Corporate Partners
Receipt-Bank – Software and service to make the gathering, storage & processing of bills, receipts and invoices as easy and as cost effective as possible for businesses.
Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.
Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.
TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!
Fundbox – The simplest and fastest way to fix your cash flow by advancing payments for your outstanding invoices.
May 10, 2016
How To Turn A Miracle Into Routine
Getting a business off the ground is nothing short of a miracle. People who you never knew before are now clients (and they trust you with their business). People who you have never met before now work for you (and trust you with their livelihood). You’re doing work you never knew you would do (or be able to do).
Entrepreneurs pull off miracle after miracle. But now it’s time for that to stop. It’s time to turn those miracles into routine.
Stop flying in and fixing things. Stop making miracle sales. Stop talking down clients, employees (and yourself) from the ledge.
Start building systems. Start making those miracles that you do every day, become a process so that someone else at your business can make those miracles happen. Automatically.
Don’t Change; Leverage.
I was contacted by a business that’s struggling. Atypically, the concern was not financial. The founder was struggling with his own micromanagement. He can’t help but insert himself into every part of the business, unintentionally stunting the growth of his employees and his company.
It is a surprisingly common dilemma. Micromanagement was necessary in the early days. The entrepreneur needs to do it all, and manage a few people. There is no time devoted to systems and process, so everything just sits in the founders head and the “system” is micro-managing. But what got him here, won’t get him there. The fix?
Simple! Don’t fix it.
Let me explain. If the owner tried to defeat his micromanaging behavior, it would be a battle of willpower. It was a behavior that served him well. It was a habit that was chock full of successes and emotional rewards. His brain is literally wired to micromanage. And willpower won’t fix it.
He may be able to pull it off for a week or two. He may be able to loosen the reigns, briefly. But the moment something falls short of his expectations he will jump in again to micromanage. In fact, he is wired (like we all are) to keep our habits intact. So if he believes micro-managing is necessary, when he removes himself from doing it, he will unconsciously look for failures so he can return to micro-managing. He will look for any reason to sustain his established, old habit.
The solution isn’t to fix a habit, it’s to redirect it. Since his tendency is to constantly check-in and give input, we simply give him the “check-ins” before he seeks it out. Instead of him asking how things are going, triggering fear and inserting himself, he now gets reports that give him the status before he asks.
Studying his micromanaging ways, we found that he has “ten areas of concern.” Each employee now knows the ten situations that will trigger his micromanagement and always report the problem with a solution already in place.
Since the fear triggers have been removed, he no longer feels compelled to micromanage. He is using all this spare energy to sell the big deals. They didn’t have a financial problem before, just a management problem. Now they don’t have a management problem, and sales are on course to double.
Don’t try to willpower your way through habits; Understand their triggers and redirect the energy.
May 9, 2016
Episode 86: Profitability and Physical Health with Denny Krahe
Show Summary
Denny Krahe joins us to talk about the importance of fitness when it comes to the profitability of your business. We explore how you can implement fitness regardless of what your work schedule is… and the reason why you have no excuse! Plus Denny shares some cool tips and tools you can use to get healthy – at the end of the day it’s very clear that the more fit you are, the higher your energy is and the more profitable your business will be. Welcome to Episode 86 of the Profit First Podcast!
Our Guest
Denny Krahe is a running junkie! In addition to running 5-6 days a week, he is building his business around helping runners avoid and prevent several of the most common running related injuries. After 10+ years working in various settings as a Certified Athletic Trainer, he started his own personal training business. While Denny enjoys that line of work, running is his true passion. He has since shifted the focus of his business to align with his passion for running, and now provides coaching services for runners with a focus on injury prevention and improving over time. He also hosts the “Diz Runs With…” podcast, where he talks with runners about “Running, Life, and Everything In Between” and will be delivering his first keynote at a race event in August 2016.
Show Links
Facebook: dizruns.com/facebook
Twitter: twitter.com/dizruns
Instagram: instagram.com/dizruns
Pinterest: pinterest.com/dizruns
YouTube: dizruns.com/youtube
er.
Mike Michalowicz will be speaking at Scaling New Heights 2016 ( #SNH16 ) at the BEAUTIFUL Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas!
May 22-25, 3016
For more information on this conference and to register, click here!
.
Corporate Partners
Receipt-Bank – Software and service to make the gathering, storage & processing of bills, receipts and invoices as easy and as cost effective as possible for businesses.
Nextiva – VOIP phone providers for small businesses.
Fundera – Single source online funding for entrepreneurs. Also offers an adviser program for CPAs, bookkeepers and business coaches.
TSheets – The #1 customer rated time tracking solution!
Fundbox – The simplest and fastest way to fix your cash flow by advancing payments for your outstanding invoices.
