Colin Myles's Blog, page 19

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6 Words to Lose Trust . . . Leadership

" That will make me look bad "

The last couple of weeks I have bumped into and had conversations with two old classmates. One from high school and one from college.

In the course of catching up on family and work life, an interesting topic of leadership style popped into the conversation. Whether it is because we are getting older, but one item stuck with me in one area where both my friends shared a similar story. One works for a global business and the other for a successful local family business.

They both wondered what practical leadership/management skills where been taught in college and universities in the last twenty years. The similar narrative of both goes like this . . .

It was one of those days when gremlin's and ghost in the machines were affecting the daily work.  As time goes on you learn that some days are just like this and the sooner you let go and stop trying to control the situation, things have a way of sorting themselves out.

However a recent hire with enough certificates to paper a whole room, was becoming exacerbated. They kept trying to speed up the fixes and tasking their team with irrelevant ideas. It got to the stage were about 61% of what would normally be accomplished, was all they were going to achieve this day.

This person kept questioning the ghosts and gremlins and hassling other departments for fixes. By the middle of the second day, hands on hips, they addressed their team " is there nothing you can do to increase the accomplished percentage ?" Some raised eyebrows and then the immortal words were uttered " This Will Make Me Look Bad ".

Inferring the golden halo glow wouldn't be around their heads, when they had their weekly pow pow with the top brass. Pretty soon the water coolers, were surrounded by amateur actors giving Oscar performances, of those famous six words.

My friends relayed how quickly the team lost trust. This person's team, knew from that day on they couldn't be trusted. They realised they were cogs to be used, in making their highly decorated boss look " successful and all knowing ".

Now for the plot twist. This team was highly efficient. In days of past when the ghosts in the machine and gremlins occurred, amongst themselves they would make up for lost ground, when things had calmed down. Now there was a shrug of the shoulders. Pride in their work seemed to have vanished overnight.

And this highly decorated person, struggles to explain the drop in executable actions in their area. One of my friends attempted to coach this person out of their challenge, to no avail. They could not understand that their main aim was to serve the team. Zig Ziglar's famous words went right over their head . . .
People don't care how much you know
Until they know how much you care

This person's position is under review. Both my friends are looking at their interview process as to how a person with limited empathy got through the hiring process. It is something both are big on, as they know it is the sum of the parts, that make the whole successful. What concerns them most is how the volume of certificates hid the lack of depth within the person.

True leadership is having the humility to serve.

Colin Myles Author

The Importance of Morale

100% of your customers are people
100% of your employees are people
If you don't understand people
You don't understand Business "   Simon Sinek


Morale can be said to be " the mental and emotional state of a group, led by enthusiasm and confidence".  It flows from how people are treated and communicated to as a human beings.

Morale ebbs and flows. If you want it to flow more than it ebbs, there are a couple of things you need to watch out for. Lets go back to two words "Treated " " Communication ".

It defies the law of life to believe you can communicate one thing and then act opposite to your communication and expect morale to flow. It won't, it ebbs. One big way to cause morale to ebb away is to try and pull the wool over people's eyes. I have probably worked and done business with people from about thirty different nationalities and have never met a single person who likes to be made feel a fool. Once people know they have been fooled, morale goes down the tube. This can be an institution or belief in your product or service.

People expect to be treated with a certain amount of dignity. Whether this is in the workplace or they are your customer. Treat them as second best and their morale or belief in you disappears. When their morale drops and they have lost faith, your sales go down. I think Richard Branson said it best " treat your employees as you would like them to treat your customers ".

You can see from the quote above this strange radical truth. 100% of your employees and customers are people. So to be a success in business you want people to be enthusiastic and have confidence in you. Their morale and level of happiness needs to be as high as possible for them to remain your customer.

Have you ever walked into a shop and felt invisible ?
Have you ever had a query and the person on the other end, made you feel a fool?

How high was your level of confidence and enthusiasm in doing business with them again ? Low !

Think of morale as floating about on the ether, confidence and enthusiasm effect it's ability to create magic for your business. Do you believe people have confidence and enthusiasm for your product or service.

Remember, the sales figures don't tell lies. Their is no numerical number you can attach to these two items in your account's ledger. Morale may appear to be mystical, but we all know it, because we feel it. We humans feel it, in how we have been treated and the confidence, the other side is going to deliver on their promises.

As  a living breathing person, you know when morale is high or low. It is not mystical but a human feeling and all your employees and customers are people.


Colin Myles Author

P.S.
Over time, people will forget what you did, they will even forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel."  Maya Angelou

Kudos to the Hustle

Over the last couple of years there use to be an excellent coffee shop in an industrial estate. I use to pop in when I was on that side of the city. Grab a coffee and head back to car to read for forty minutes.

Last November it closed down. About three weeks ago, a mobile coffee shop has appeared. They spotted a gap for coffee made from freshly ground coffee beans in this area. A simple operation of coffee, water and muffins.

After a couple of weeks to make sure it wasn't just a once in a while operation, I purchased some coffee. Freshly brewed, good taste and friendly service.

So I have to salute this entrepreneurial person for spotting a gap and making the decision to operate in this area. I hope their decision pays off, because it is the small entrepreneurs who make up the backbone of any thriving economy. The person who is willing to hustle where others fear to thread.

As to the viability of this venture in this location, I don't know. I don't know the ground rent for their spot or the general operating costs. However I do know that for any venture to have a chance of survival, they must generate 5X in sales for what they pay in rent.

So in my own little way, I will be purchasing coffee from this mobile unit any time I am in the area. My little way of helping them get the sales they require to survive and thrive.

Colin Myles Author

P.S.
If any new venture has opened up in your area, give them a try. If you have a good experience, become a repeat customer and tell as many people as possible. Keep the backbone of your local economy strong.

Faster Higher Stronger

This is the Olympic motto ; Citius, Altius, Fortius.

As you head into the new year, with resolutions made and goals set, let us re-define the above motto to assist you keep those resolutions and reach your goals.

In place of faster, what is the one habit you need to achieve your goals ? Look at the goal, go deep and ask yourself " what one habit will allow me to reach my goal faster ?". Choose it, persist with the habit until it becomes part of your daily routine.

Higher ; what one action will raise you up to the next level of where you want to be. More networking, better SEO, a quality e mail list, an increase in sales ? This action is tied to your habit. It should compliment not distract.

Stronger ; translates as consistent. If you don't practice your habit and action on a daily basis, your chances of becoming stronger and more consistent are slim. Stronger, consistent are not sometime things, but everyday activities.

For your subconscious to work with you and not against you in meeting your new year's resolutions and goals, you must assist and enable. The only way you can assist your subconscious, is to improve your daily habit and action. Which leads to consistency.

Consistency one remembered is faster than anything else to reach the next level. An Olympic athlete trains for four years for that one shot, to join the pantheon of gold medal winners.

You can achieve the same with, Habit , Action and Consistency

Colin Myles Author

P.S.
Faster higher stronger becomes habit action and consistency for the achiever

Pursue What You Love

" It's weird how society works ; Rather than allowing you time to find the thing you love and can pursue with complete conviction, we ate told , you must work , no matter how much you dislike it "
Conor Mc Gregor


Another year has passed and a new one begun. Did you pursue what you loved last year ? I hope you did.

If you didn't, well here is another opportunity to do so. Time to stop making excuses. Time to stop the self doubt and procrastination.

Only you know in your heart of heart's what you would like to pursue in 2018. You and you alone know what you love. And you and your heart must work together to pursue what you love.

The heart is five thousand times stronger than the mind, when it comes to attaining your desires. No amount of positive affirmations will work, if your heart is not joined with your words.

Start small, part time and together with your heart pursue what you love. You have heard it said about a person of success, how they put their heart and soul into an activity. The ancient folk understood human psychology and desire. They knew you had to put your heart into the words you spoke, in order to create.

Don't let 2018 be an empty year. Put your heart and soul into pursuing what you love. Remember the heart is five thousand times powerful than the mind.

Use the power of your heart to accelerate a great year ahead.

Colin Myles Author

1 : 5

I was reminded of this customer experience paradox, last week.

While having a coffee with an old friend another person entered the coffee shop, waved and joined us. This person was a friend of my friend and an acquaintance of mine. After another twenty minutes or so we all left.

As I walked back to my car, I remembered why this person was only an acquaintance of mine. Because of their negativity. For the twenty minutes or so they were in our company, they had a negative story to relate about any idea, business or place that came up in conversation.

The paradox in customer experience is this ;
Every time a customer has a positive experience . . . they go out of their way to tell one person.

Every time a customer has a negative experience . . . they go out of their way to tell five people.

Strange but true. As humans we are hard wired to relate a negative story faster than a positive one. Not all, but a majority of us do it. Think back to when you had a positive and negative experience as a customer. Which one did you tell people about first ?

What does this mean for you as a small business owner or entrepreneur ?

You are going to have to be more vigilant about creating positive customer experiences. It is the only way to prevent the paradox of 1 : 5 affecting your business.

Colin Myles Author

MAKOTO . . . Way of Heaven

One of my favourite forms of poetry is Haiku. The ability to express so much in seventeen syllables is a true skill.

Over the weekend while reading a book on Haiku, one of the old master's Onitsura stated " Makoto is what the Haiku poet is searching for ".

Makoto is a Japanese word meaning " truth, sincerity or the absence of falsehood " and that yearning for Makoto is the way of human beings.

This I believe to be true. From the street seller to the C-Suite, people long for truth and sincerity. They don't want to waste energy trying to decipher words, phrases, actions and false moves.

It sucks energy our of  a life. Instead of been able to carry out their work, people spend their time wondering and stressing. Attempts at being clairvoyant and reading signs from the boss can be futile. It just wastes time and prevents people performing to the best of their ability.

When companies write out mission statements or look to improve their culture, one has yet to read that erasing falsehood is a priority. They make small feelgood gestures, food, beer, pool table, yoga, sleep pods etc.

And all people are yearning for is truth, sincerity and an absence of falsehood. It is that simple !
MAKOTO

Colin Myles Author

P.S.
The master concerns himself
with the depths and not the surface
with the fruit and not the flower
he has no will of his own
he dwells in reality
and lets all illusions go
Lao Tzu  Book of Tao

P.S.
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When Central Purchasing Goes Bad

Last week I enjoyed a couple of days off. One evening an early light dinner was arranged with an old friend.

A couple of hours went by enjoying food, glass of wine, couple of coffees and good conversation. As we said our good-byes and I had started to walk home, it hit me. A big attack of hunger pangs. Beside me was a national fast food outlet. " A portion of french fries should abate the hunger " I thought.

I placed my order ; " sorry we have no french fries ". The look of surprise on my face registered. The assistant apologised and said " he only works there and wasn't allowed to place orders. It was all done centrally by head office and they hoped to have french fries by 10 pm that evening ".

This assistant is always very pleasant whenever I visit, so I just smiled and ordered something else.

Upon reflection, a couple of things came to mind. I should mention this incident happened around 6.30 pm on a Tuesday evening.

1. If head office knew this outlet was low/out of fries, why was someone not sent out to collect from other outlets and supply them with enough to carry them through the night ?

2. Across the road is a supermarket. Why did no one authorise the assistant to take some petty cash and go buy enough fries to cover them until their delivery came through ?

3. With all the sophisticated data and software systems available today, how was this outlet allowed to go below minimum stock levels ?

4. Imagine if instead of being a small national fast food outlet, it was one of the global giants. A great deal of fun would have been enjoyed by the world at their expense. A tarnished reputation would have ensued.

A couple of thoughts if you are using a central purchasing/stock control system.

Yes things can go wrong, that's life, but have a back up plan in place. I felt sorry for the assistant having to explain to customers why a fast food outlet had no french fries. He handled the situation with a smile, but should never have had to deal with it in the first place.

As I was leaving one of my neighbours came in with his grand kids to pick up their phone order. Can you guess his greeting to me ?

" Hi Colin, Imagine a fast food store with no fries " as he laughed. The two assistants simply blushed.

Please ensure you have a back up plan if your central purchasing/stock control system fouls up.
You don't want people laughing, when they think about your business . . . do you ?

Colin Myles Author

P.S.
" Say what you do and do what you say " Business Maxim 101

The Mystery of the Peter Principle

" People rise to their level of incompetence " Laurence J Peter

That is the Peter Principle. When I came across it about seven years ago, it explained a lot that use to baffle me.

When you dig a little deeper, you find people who were promoted because they were good at their previous job. No thought was given as to whether they had the skill sets required for their new position.

And very rapidly they rise to their level of incompetence. Which in turn leads to a high level of staff churn. It also leads to a political work culture of " ass covering " and the " bozo effect ".

The promoted people don't want anyone to outshine them, so they promote those who can't or won't. In turn leading to more incompetence. The real work is being carried out by those who have not reached their level of incompetence yet. Resentment builds up and a high instances of toxic behaviour becomes the norm.

The mystery for me at least, is why when people know about this principle, they continue to ignore it. Over the years, I have noticed it tends to occur more when the job market is tight.

Your business has a vacant position and few applicants. None suit the bill, so you look inside and say " John / Jane are good at their job, let's give them a shot ".

Before you give them a shot, take the time to see if they have the skills needed for the new position. Unless you are willing to spend money assisting them to acquire the new skills, don't promote them.

I appreciate this can be hard. Maybe hire in a temp while you continue your search. Tempting as it is to promote to fill a gap, the long term damage to your business and work culture could be devastating.

Your managers and HR department should be singing from the same hymn sheet, when it comes to skill sets for a job. Ability in current job should not be the only criteria for promotion.

You don't want all your key positions filled by the incompetent. Next time you think of promoting someone, go back and study the Peter Principle. It may just prevent you from making an expensive mistake.

Be vigilant, don't promote without consulting " Peter " first.

Colin Myles Author

P.S.
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