Elmer - A Natural Leader

Elmer worked for a school in a variety of roles – I’m not sure if he even had a job title...none could do justice to the scope of his duties anyway. The school started with pre-kindargarten and went through 12^th grade.

He took care of facility maintenance, the cleaning and the minor fixin’ to keep everything presentable and functional.

He also drove the bus, bringing the kids back and forth to school as well as on the various school field trips. The kids always arrived safely and were well behaved on his bus.

Elmer tended the boilers to heat the school and provide the hot water. The old boilers were cantankerous, but he would talk to the boilers about ‘acting right’, bang on a pipe or two, and work his magic to keep the building toasty warm no matter what was happening outside.

He could patch up a broken ‘thingamajig’ to get up and running again, and could repair anything without aid of the manual or even the proper replacement parts.

An endearing quality of his was giving directions – Elmer knew how to get anywhere and was happy to share his directions with you in detail...however, he always forgot one turn, usually toward the end of the journey, so we knew that we would have an expected ‘unexpected tour’ of the area before we found the desired location.

However, while his efforts kept the facilities and logistics humming along, Elmer was most noted for his leadership. He had no formal designation as leader, but he was always at the head of any crisis – first one to begin addressing the issue, taking action, creating a plan, helping others slip in to appropriate roles to bring things back to balance and normalcy, and Elmer was usually the last one to leave once the situation had been brought under control.

He always had a good word for the students, asking about their accomplishments, and when needed, a blunt word or two – a verbal ‘kick in the butt’ - to motivate a student that was not striving to achieve their potential.

Elmer never missed a graduation – be it a kindergarten class moving forward to first grade, or a class advancing from lower school to upper school, or the big one – high school graduation. In coat and tie, he was in the back of the auditorium giving a ‘thumbs up’ sign and smile as each of the students received their diploma, and his applause seemed seemed to be the loudest in the hall.

Not surprisingly, when graduated students returned to school for a visit, the first person they would find was Elmer – to share their latest accomplishments, and their appreciation.

He was a leader of men, women, and children, each of whom followed his lead enthusiastically, without need for designated authority or the mantle of a formal title.

Personally, I learned a great deal about leadership by simply following him around, and his influence continues to guide me today. Elmer was a great man, a wonderful individual - so accomplished and meaningful to so many people.

While few organizations have such a special individual as Elmer, many have a ‘go to’ person who helps to keep things running smoothly while helping others grow and learn, all without benefit official acknowledgment or formal authority. Like Elmer, they are natural leaders...support and nurture them.

Want more? See the Final Frontier for insight and ideas.

What You Have, What You Want

An effective way to begin planning almost anything is to list what you have and create a separate list of what you want – once you see this information side by side, breakthroughs can result.

Have-Want works for simple projects like planning your menu and for complex tasks like selling your business. Kicks off your planning with insight.

Imagine you have just done a quick tour of your pantry and find you have some corn-on-the-cob, small red potatoes, a few stalks of celery. Before you head out to the store, you think about what you would like to have for dinner, while looking at the list of what’s available. On your Want list you could list lettuce for a quick & easy ‘whatever I’ve got’ salad, or – seeing the basic components on the Have list for a lobster feast, you may remember the sale on lobster and mussels – lobster feast - a breakthrough dinner idea!

When considering the sale of your business, the tendency is to project the familiar - an operational view of the company – sales, inventory, payables, receivables, depreciated assets, and such. What falls through the cracks are those ’invisible’ things you take for granted – like industry knowledge, customer and competitor activities, intellectual property (processes and how you do business), and the company reputation. Each would have some value or usefulness for a new owner.

Doing Have-Want lists when considering a sale can reveal the obvious and, doing a side-by-side review, can lead to buried insights attractive to a buyer.

Here’s some rules for successful Have-Want assessments for project planning:

• Write down each list – writing it down is a form of thinking which digs deep in your mind and memory – there’s magic in writing out the lists!
• Be thorough, but relevant – in the Have List be sure to include intangibles which have value or recognition; in the Want List include timeframe and if you would work under contract after the sale. Don’t list every nut and bolt in the inventory, but remember to include your iconic logo or company identification
• Be specific but concise – define, not merely describe, the Have’s and your Want’s - could someone else reading the list articulate the value or importance of the item; short, concise, specific narratives transfer the information most efficiently
• Be honest, accurate – do not try to fool yourself – you’re too smart to fall for it anyway; accuracy can be in the eye of the beholder – so write from the other person’s view but with your knowledge...ask someone you trust to read it and interpret what you have said
• Put the Have and Want lists on your letterhead – although the lists start off as a personal exercise, you will likely find the information useful during the sale process; putting something on letterhead transforms notes into manuscripts – and creates a tool to aid in achieving the Want’s.

Clients who were thinking of a simple (and quick) assets sale, discovered they would be discarding 50% + of the value of their organization by doing the Have -Want assessment...a worthy breakthrough.

So, what are you having for dinner – leftovers or a lobster feast?

Join us on Thursday August 28, 2014 at The Power Conference: Women Doing Business for our workshop “The Final Frontier” at Bethesda Marriott Conference Center, N. Bethesda. For details click: www.wbo-mc.com/power-conference

Truth

As the story goes, when asked by his father about who chopped down the cherry tree, George Washington said “I cannot tell a lie, I did it with my little hatchet.” While this actually did not happen, throughout his life, Washington demonstrated a strict adherence to telling the truth, especially to himself.

Historical accounts tell story after story of Washington going beyond the known and established to undertake new and innovative projects – like the octagonal barn for thrashing wheat, or rotating crops to keep the fields vibrant. He was absolutely clear about refusing to permit an imperial Presidency.

These examples show Washington as an innovator, an entrepreneur, who took concept to plan to execution, and demanded knowing the truth about it at every stage (concept = potential; plan = risk/reward expectations; execution = resulting level of success).

Noticeably missing from history are stories of ideas and projects which did not succeed. Personally, I find it impossible that even Washington could have gotten it right 100% of the time.

What I do believe is he truthfully assessed the stages of the concept-plan-execution path and stopped a project if the result of a phase was insufficient or the risk too great – based on sticking to the truth rather than relying on a dream, a wish, or a hope to achieve success.

...And he learned from these experiences.

In the French and Indian War, Colonel Washington acted on the truth as he knew it – that the French soldiers and Indians were a small, ill equipped force, so he chased after them. Turned out that they were a much larger superior force with plenty of supplies and ammo. Washington led his troop back to Fort Necessity, where he fought a major battle and was forced to surrender to the French.

The truth as he knew it, from earlier observation and gathered intelligence, was not correct...when they chased the other soldiers and warriors far away from the protection of the fort, he learned tragically that they were a vastly superior force and well supplied. Seeing that he was impossibly outnumbered, Washington surrendered.

While this reflects a military failure by Washington, it is clear that he continued to tell himself the truth as circumstances changed, unlike General Custer many years later, who, because of faulty intelligence, refused to acknowledge the Indians were a superior force - and he tragically lost the battle.

Washington learned well from this defeat and was never again forced to surrender during his military career – like the carpenter who measures twice and cuts once, he sought intelligence from several sources and used this for better strategic battle planning.

As leaders, owners, or entrepreneurs, we can find ourselves in a situation where reality is a bitter pill and telling ourselves the truth is painful.

If a project is showing signs of failure, or a service/product line is meeting the needs of fewer customers, or the market price for your company is much less than you had expected, the temptation may be to rely on a dream, wish, or hope for a miracle outcome.

However, like winning the lottery, while miracles may happen...it’s not too often and not to you. Taking action based on reality (the truth) is ultimately a better choice.

Truth may not make things easier, but it can increase the odds and magnitude of success, compared to the alternative.

Facts are a building block of truth, and John Adams captures the point about sticking to the truth quite well in his quote:

Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.

Want more? See the Final Frontier for insight and ideas.

The Final Frontier

We are embarking on the greatest business revolution in 4 generations. It affects our whole economy.

The biggest change in ownership since WWII is starting now and will continue through the next 15 years. More than one half of small and medium business in the American economy are owned and managed by Boomers, and will have a forced change of ownership.

Who are they? Many current business owners have their personal fortunes, the scorecard of their careers, tied up in their businesses. They must find a way to get the money out of the business or assure its continuing viability, or have an unsuccessful retirement.

Do you know business owners in this situation – can’t figure how to get their money out? What do they need? Owners are looking for credible solutions.

We find that the keys to past success are usually the owner’s point-of-view and the culture of the company. We have found that outside solutions seldom work, they aren’t credible to the people doing the work, and they often have never worked elsewhere.

How do you begin creating a solution to a new problem? You should probably start with a common definition of what you have and what you want. Just defining those two often shows available solutions that were previously ignored.

We worked with owners of a technology distributor who wanted to sell the assets of the organization, had a figure from a recent audit, and hoped for a quick sale around that figure. We talked with them about what are the assets? In addition to office equipment and inventory – what else -  entity and name, customer records, sales process, industry knowledge?

Asked what they wanted, the owners said quick sale at top dollar. Which is primary – speed or price?

As our conversation expanded, the owners defined what they were selling (the complete entity, but retaining another separate corporation), had identified potential buyers (their knowledge of the industry could be useful to the buyer for transition), and that a couple of years was OK to get a better price.

Just getting the conversations and revelations took 90 days.

For a nonprofit teetering on the knife-edge of solvency, the conversation lead to determining a merger was a desirable choice strengthen the organization and keep the mission programs operating, then find partners, complete the combination of the two entities. The entire process took almost 3-years.

A contractor got 100% of their revenue from government contracts when we began the conversation about getting money out for the owners. What do you have, what do you want? The results over an 8-year period was to increase government revenue threefold, reduce government contracts to less than 30% of total billing, and to sell the organization for several multiples of its initial value.

A successful future begins with a conversation.

Rules of the road? Click: Selling Out 

Is Your Company’s Culture Spooking The Buyers?

At the Emerging Markets Forum put on by the Smith School of the University of Maryland (my alma mater) many eye-opening points were raised about confusion and uncertainty of both parties in doing business together.

I came away with two conclusions:

• much of the friction (failure) is due to a lack of understanding the business culture by each side
• this applies equally well between seller and buyer here in the USA when owners are selling their companies.

Most of us who started a business have a collection of practices, processes, and procedures for operating the company and making sales that works for our company. They are a hodgepodge of what we have learned over time, best practices adopted/adapted, regulations/industry requirements, and what satisfies the customers’ needs. This collection, combined with how you and your employees go about the day-to-day tasks, comprise the culture of your company.

Do you serve the customer, or do you suffer the customer; do you have SOP or do you rely on an “everyone knows what to do” philosophy; do you trust your employees and customers or do you require extensive documentation and supervision/approvals? These and other characteristics reflect your company’s culture.

The culture of an organization is a contributing factor to its success and may be looked on as the oil which keeps operations and sales running smoothly. However, when that is not the case, you were there to tweak the practices and your company culture absorbs the changes and moves forward.

Enter a serious buyer.

Once the review of the financials and other documents about value of your business has shown that your company is a solid prospect for acquisition, the buyer will want to see the “Your Company How-To Manual” - the what, how, and why of running this business, making sales, and generating profit.

Of course there is no physical manual containing this information, but the buyer is expecting to see sufficient documentation about your business to understand on an applied basis how it operates.

Whether the buyer is from the same industry or comes from outside it, they will want to assure themselves that operations and sales practices and processes can continue without you.

This is where the confusion similar to that in emerging markets comes in play. The culture, operations, and sales – which have served the company so well over the years – has had a central element – YOU – as the hub of the wagon wheel. This structure is strong and works smoothly with the hub in place, but when it is removed – which is the effect of the sale – the structure is unsustainable...unless a replacement hub is available.

The buyer must be convinced that the company can run and prosper without you as the hub, and the loss of some or all of the key players on your staff. Spending time talking about the how and why of running the business can help dispel confusion and concern, to some extent.

However, the more that practices, processes, and SOP are documented, why principal tasks are done a particular way are explained, and how the customer relationships are built and maintained, the clearer the picture the buyer has of sitting in the big chair operating their new company. Offering stories which demonstrate how the culture fits in this picture in a positive way—for the Ritz Carlton, a story would be about empowering every employee to spend up to $X on their own initiative to address a guest’s complaint/concern, which results in one of the highest guest satisfaction rates in the industry. Such stories show the how and why – which reduces the mystery and potential barrier to completing the sale.

A successful sale is the culmination of finding a serious buyer, sound documentation, proven practices, processes, and procedures, a supportive culture, and illustrative stories that convey the what, how, and why of operating the company. A sale begins with preparation.

Your career as a business owner end game – The Final Frontier

Does Business As Usual Attract A Buyer?

There are a multitude of first things that need to be done when you take over in an organization as the new person – especially if you are at the top of the org chart.

When I was elected president of the board of a country club, I immediately talked with the key staff and department heads, influential club members, primary vendors, and community supporters to get a good view operations and the business health of the club. I also looked at the books and administration files as well. While on the walk-about, I shared my views and thoughts about governance under the new administration.

When I took over operations as President and CEO of the National Captioning Institute, a promotion from within the organization, I spoke with the key staff and department heads, board members, major clients, primary vendors, and the auditors. This gave me a broad view of how effective the operations were and gave others the chance to see me in this different role.

In both cases, most operations and administration elements were in pretty good shape, but there were several items that had slipped, resulting from the casual and comfortable nature of long-term relationships between staff and external resources. Like contracts which had expired but were extended by handshake between parties – works fine while the same players are in their respective roles. However, when that changes, there is no documentation of the current contract provisions, and the person(s) with specific knowledge are elsewhere.

In a similar situation, the standard operating procedures (SOP) for the organization most likely have changed in practice but not been written down – everyone knows what changed when it happened – so no urgency to document the changes, so the task of writing them down gets further and further down in the pile of things to do. The problem comes when the players change and specific knowledge of SOP goes out the door.

What I have found in the sale or purchase of a company, a division, or a product line, more often than not, it is these casual agreements and undocumented changes that delay or kill the deal.

Unless, or until, the operations and administration can be substantially documented, prudent buyers will not go forward, because there is no assurance that the informal, handshake deals will convey with the sale. What holds the buyer back is fear of a situation where a reasonable deal becomes nightmare due to negotiation conditions and agreements before the ink is dry on the purchase agreement.

When working with owners, before taking the business to market, an initial step is housekeeping - dotting the “i’s” and crossing the “t’s” to assure current documentation and contracts are complete and readily available for the buyer’s due diligence. This project also helps the owner bring into sharp focus relationships and resources so much a part of the operations that they are all but invisible. What has been disrupted by the Internet – how can we capitalize on a new approach?

Once this is cleaned up, the owner can work on developing materials which present to the prospective buyer the benefits of owning this organization.

Business as usual can have too many ‘just because’ elements, which will spook a serious buyer. Better to convert them to ‘here’s how’ before setting up the sales tent.

What lies ahead for the owner – The Final Frontier

The Internet Tool– Faster, Cheaper, Better Results

OK, it is clear to me now – the internet is not a passing novelty, it is a creation tool of considerable versatility and depth, and fosters creativity at every turn. IaaT – the Internet as a Tool is here to stay.

Back in the ‘90s, my organization went through an image update – a new logo, and a branded, coordinated image to go with it. Our PR firm took on the project and immediately dedicated a design team to us.

At the time, we had a long established and recognizable logo of large lowercase initials and at the end, a stylized TV screen shaped into a caption balloon with an accent pointing down.

Numerous meetings were held – gathering input about likes, intent, style preference, and the like. Then the choice of color pallet – more meetings: how does this combination strike you; what about this color and this font, graphic, paper finish and color, and much, much more.

The result of the project after five months of work and numerous sketches, artwork renderings, and final art, was a new logo. The distinctive old logo was replaced by a three line text box with the organization’s name displayed - one word on each line in a pretty common sans-serif font (like Ariel) and a color scheme of dark purple and green with yellow letters. The colors reminded me of a circus and the logo suggested a vision of an animal cage. The project cost many thousands of dollars.

In contrast, last year I changed the logo of the Leadership Breakfast of Maryland – it had simply been the name in block letters. For this project I went to the internet and found many sites which do logo design and several that design logos using a competition framework.

The competition sites involved numerous artists submitting one or more designs within a strict timeframe which the client (me) could review, narrow down to the favored ones, and send feedback about what we liked and what we wanted changed.

The project started with a questionnaire about our business, mission, vision, color preferences (and avoidances), style likes and dislikes, and a general description of the image or message the logo should convey.

When we returned the questionnaire to the vendor, a three-week clock started, with the first week alerting artists of a new competition and sharing most of the information in the questionnaire (not my direct contact info). Later that first week I received the first designs - 10 initially and the flow of new logos increased dramatically up to the end of the second week.

I found several logo designs that interested me, and gave a critical review of likes and changes – sent them to the vendor who forwarded the comments to the artist. Within a day (often within hours) I would receive revisions to the logo and additional designs to consider. Then another feedback cycle followed by revisions and several alternative designs.

The project had a strict timeline – 10-days for initial designs, 6-days for refining the design, and 5 days to finalize and choose the winner. The process generated over 80 logo designs by 40+ designers from all over the world. The project start to end – when I received the graphic file with several sized logos in full color – took a total of 21 days. The cost was about $300.

The contrast between these two projects was startling. The traditional approach of one designer, several consultants of various types, 5-months, and thousands of dollars for a trendy result in the ‘90s vs. 40+ designers competing for a successful design, 3-week timeframe, and $300 in cost.

This is a vivid example of how the internet has disrupted traditional consultative approaches by using gaming theory to involve a larger number of players who seek to be a part of the project and compete on a winner take all basis. In addition, this new meme actively includes the client (me) in the design development.

The disruptive innovation of IaaT leads to paying for results instead of time logged, and getting a wide variety of ideas and possibilities from talented professionals, in an accelerated timeframe, at modest cost.

End game in sight? Selling Out is a good wrap-up.

What is Trust?

Picture this: Lucy has convinced Charlie Brown to run up to kick the football while she is holding it. Charlie races toward the ball and just before he kicks it, Lucy pulls it away – again.

Of course, Charlie kicks nothing but air and winds up on his back with a thud; humiliated and disappointed – again.

Lucy has convinced Charlie yet again to trust her - that this time she will not pull the ball away and Charlie will not kick the air – but she really has a different agenda in mind. Charlie knows in his head that Lucy has pulled the ball away many times in the past, but wants to trust her, so he agrees. You know how it ends...thud.

Trust. Is it absolute or are there different levels? Can it fluctuate up or down the levels?

Consider trust in these circumstances:

• A baby trusting her parents,
• A person who is blind trusting their ‘seeing eye dog’,
• A military squad trusting each other with their lives,
• A group doing Outward Bound trusting other members to keep them safe during the trust fall,
• A business colleague sharing confidential information with you, trusting that you will not reveal what he has said,
• A sales person trying to close the sale asking you to trust him,
• A casual conversation with someone who prefaces a revelation with “trust me”.

These items are about one person ‘trusting’ another, however, going down the list the strength of that trust drops from absolute to nonexistent. The baby’s trust is unconditional and the blind person’s trust in the seeing eye dog is earned unconditional – while sales person's request is met with skepticism and the casual 'trust me' is merely rhetorical.

The Lucy and Charlie example shows the two aspects of trust - emotional and logical. Lucy has shown many times she has her own agenda and Charlie knows that from experience but really wants to trust her this time so he can accomplish his goal - logic and emotion.

In organizations, trust is reflected in its evolved culture – from accumulated experience.

Think about an organization:

• does management ‘trust’ the employees?
• do the employees ‘trust’ management?
• do either ‘trust’ the customers?
• does the customer ‘trust’ the organization and its people?

With this in mind, consider:

Ritz-Carlton hotel gives their employees the ability to commit several thousand dollars without prior approval to satisfy an unhappy guest’s problem; a similar policy of customer satisfaction is practiced at Neiman-Marcus. Or what about Zappo's full refund for a year from purchase, including cost of shipping.

How do their employees and customers regard these businesses?

Kmart (and other retailers) say they want complete customer satisfaction, but have a hardy (and inflexible) list of conditions on that complete satisfaction. How do their customers regard these stores and, as a result, how do the employees feel about the customers?

I have found that leaders influence trust – from doing what they say and saying what they will do - ‘walking the talk’ – to the way they choose to have the organization conduct business. Like smiling at a baby gets a smile in return, demonstrating trust in others elevates their trust in you and the organization. Keeping in mind trust has both an emotional and logical aspect – the effective leader must address how the customers and employees feel and react, as well as how each benefits.

Some additional thoughts about trust:

I believe fundamental honesty is the keystone of business. ~Harvey S. Firestone

The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them. ~Ernest Hemingway

Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Trust, but verify. ~Ronald Reagan (from an old Russian proverb)

As I see it, trust is in the framework of all successful organizations and it does not get there by happenstance. Successful leaders work hard to instill it in all aspects of the entity and in every individual, not as a tool or a technique, but as a fundamental belief.

How To’s in under a minute – Sales Lab Videos

Selling Out

During a period of more than 10 years, as a CEO, Director, and Board Chairman, I have been responsible for disposing of three organizations and have been an acquisition target of two other organizations. I have also been a close observer of several other business sale transactions.

Here's what I learned.

Start Early. From concept to handing over the keys takes about 2 years. Seller or buyer, it takes time to find and qualify good prospects, and it's a process of due diligence, negotiation, and hand-holding until the deal is completed.

Carefully Select Your Help. There is a lot of work to do – some requires the knowledge of your people, other requires outside skill and expertise. Choose professionals wisely – keep away from a fee structure that rewards time spent rather than results achieved. Each deal varies in how long it takes to complete (or IF it completes) so, a term certain contract is not a good choice, especially if requiring a periodic payment even if no work is done.

It's Like Having Two Jobs. Due diligence and sale contract negotiation requires time and concentrated effort – but the organization must continue to operate above normal level during the process. You and your people will be working hard, long hours doing both and neither the sale or operations can be shortchanged – either can put the sale in jeopardy.

It's More Than Just a New Coat of Paint. Preparation for a sale goes beyond just prettying up the organization. Like a comfortable old house, where you know to avoid the third porch step, you will find 'invisible' practices within your organization that must be identified and changed – like a handshake contract continuation – deals have soured over the 'invisibles', don't ignore them.

Dot the i's And Cross the t's. While pulling out all the documents and other materials for the document requests – take the time to logically organize them for the buyer, and review everything for being current and complete. Other useful documents: a current chart of responsibilities (a/k/a institutional knowledge) of the staff, current process and procedures for operations, and other similar references that will help the new owners.

Courting the Other Party. If you are selling, increase visibility about your organization immediately after deciding to investigate a sale; if buying, look for prospects early and keep looking. This will give you prospects, but it also is an indicator of the degree of difficulty in making your best deal.

It's Not Over Until It’s Over. Deals can evaporate at any time, often based on a gut feel, rather than a discovered defect. It is critical that the communication between buyer and seller is active and that the effort does not let up when almost completed.

The organization must not be actively in the market at this stage of the deal, but continuing to be visible is important to spinning things up again if the deal falls through. Does that happen? Yes, too often – on one transaction, Dick had five buyers, each deep in the sale who canceled for various reasons – he was finally successful with buyer number six.

I have seen deals canceled because of major defects in the buyer or the seller, but I have also seen deals sputter and go dark when everything seemed as perfect as possible. The statistics on non-deals show there are fewer completed deals made than deals begun. In my experience attention to the details and clear, frequent communications increase the likelihood of success.

A view from the top – Tips 4 The Big Chair

Uggy Blob, Meringue, and Solar Energy

What happens when you soak a raw egg in vinegar?

Which kind of bowl will let you make meringue 'peak' faster?

What angle on a solar panel will yield the greatest current from a stationary light source?

These are examples of the varied questions the young scientists of Saint Charles School 5^th – 8^th grades explored for their annual science fair. Will some of these students become renowned scientists, like Benoit Mandelbrot, who developed the fractal – the study of roughness of surfaces?

The Junior Academy of the Washington Academy of Science, provides scientists and other professionals to judge science fair projects at Saint Charles School and other schools in the DMV area.

I was fortunate to be one of the judges for this event and found the students to be eager to present their finding, quite knowledgeable about their experiments and findings, and how their experiment fits into a bigger context of science. In fact, many of the student scientists, after being judged, would seek out additional judges to view their project display so they could present their findings yet again – and they did so with zeal and enthusiasm.

To an individual, the students had fun doing the projects and offered thoughts about how they could improve it next time to learn more. Presenters for projects about behavioral science showed a model of the brain and explained (in rather technical terms) which area of the brain was involved in the experiment and what functions it controls in the person.

As always, I learned much from the students – about the area of inquiry, as well as how they approached the experiments. In addition, the poise and energy of these young scientists is impressive (and much different from what I recall of myself and my classmates at these ages).

Answers to the opening questions:

What happens to an egg soaked in vinegar – over about 4-7 days, vinegar will dissolve the hard egg shell – which is made of calcium carbonate - to an uggy blob (not a scientific term), leaving the inner membrane to contain the egg white and yoke unharmed. Even without the shell, the remaining 9 other components of the egg are intact and keep the yoke safe and protected.

What kind of bowl is fastest to make meringue 'peak' – a chilled copper bowl is about four times faster than a chilled plastic bowl (temperature is a key element to successful meringue, binding the ingredients as they are agitated, and the copper holds the chill better than other materials).

What angle of the solar panel yields the greatest current from a fixed light source: The greatest current output was when the panel was at 90 degrees to the fixed light bulb. The student explained that the light source struck the panel sensors with the greatest intensity when it was bathed from directly above instead of washing the panel on an angle where the intensity diminishes as it spread out on the horizontal axis.

The kids had fun and learned from the judges; the judges enjoyed hearing from the kids what they had found and learned from them as well – perhaps a new scientist or two may evolve from talking with experienced scientists.

Check out the Junior Academy for additional stories of young scientist accomplishment.

Certainty

A popular quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin is: Nothing is certain but death and taxes. True - however, the timing of one and the amount of the other are not certain.

Leaders face certainty and uncertainty when painting their vision – e.g., revenue must cover expenses for an organization to be viable, but the timing of each must be in relative balance or problems will overtake any chance of success.

That there is no crystal ball to give a glimpse of certainty to the planning process does not stymie a good leader – do the thinking and research, be clear on the mission and goals, map a path to achieve success, and turn folks loose to achieve it.

It's a myth - a misunderstanding – that once the leader shares a vision, plan, mission, or goal that these are cast in stone and unamendable.

Just not true – if the element is not viable, it is wise to 'fail fast' and replace it with a better approach; if the element is falling short of what's expected, amending it for improved performance is imperative.

Results are important, protecting ego by holding course is not, and churning (making too many changes) creates a zig zag path of wasted resources. Putting in the planning up front pays dividends to the success of the mission.

The Constitution of the United States epitomizes this approach – the Founding Fathers have created a governance structure that has endured – it's in its 227^th year now, and the Constitution has been amended only 27 times during that period.

Ben Franklin's quote above is actually expressing his opinion about how the Constitution will fare in the future – here's the complete quote: Our Constitution is in actual operation. Everything appears to promise that it will last. But in this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.

Appears that Mr. Franklin was correct in his assessment, so far anyway.

This may be of interest to you -

Digital Disruption In The Public Sector: Making The Agency Of The Future A Reality Today

Free Open Source Content Management Systems Event December 10, Washington DC.

Featuring speakers from The White House, National Archives, FEMA, Acquia, Amazon Web Services, and others.

For more information and to reserve your place.

Words And Actions Make Leaders Great

Greatness is a perception by others. What makes a leader great is more than achieving the mission, goal, or results – greatness is also about how he or she got us there. It's a complex set of factors not adequately described by a couple of words – but we can get in the general vicinity with these three traits:

• saying what you will do
• doing what you say
• inspiring others to do their very best to achieve goals/results.

George Washington is admired as a great, if somewhat reluctant, leader. These two stories from the closing days of the Revolutionary War highlight his ability to inspire followers and achieve seemingly impossible results.

The momentum of the war was shifting in favor of the Colonial Army under General Washington's command and he wanted to press this growing advantage by crossing the Delaware River again to mount an unexpected attack on the British and the Hessians. Unfortunately, there was a huge problem – most of the troops had fulfilled their commitment to serve and were preparing to return home.

The troops had turned down an offer to pay them for continuing another 6-weeks, then the General visited the bivouac areas of the various units to speak with the men. His message was that there would never be another point in their lifetime that they could make such an important contribution to the freedom of their country as they could in the upcoming battle, AND that he would be honored to fight beside them to win the victory. The troops committed to joining him.

What money could not accomplish, a humble personal appeal to do for the greater good won their hearts and shortly, won the war.

After winning the Battle of Yorktown, General Washington and his senior commanders received a message that British General Cornwallis wanted to surrender. When the Cornwallis party arrived to present his sword in surrender, they attempted to present it to Washington – he refused to accept the sword and pointed to his second in command, General Benjamin Lincoln to receive the sword. By this simple action, Washington made clear that he did not see Cornwallis as an equal, and, more importantly, General Lincoln receiving the sword of surrender removed any doubts that Lincoln had Washington's support and confidence (Lincoln had lost a major battle to Cornwallis earlier in the war).

Great leaders are aware of the effect of their words, actions, and messages – direct and indirect – on their followers and others, and make good use of opportunities as they present themselves to reinforce the importance of the mission and goals as well as value subordinates bring to achieving the results.

See the New World – A View from the Big Chair

Reformatting the Hard Disk...Twice

In the early days the Personal Computer, a major upgrade was the addition of a 20 megabyte hard drive – plenty of space for programs, files and other treasure.

However, floppy disks were required for sharing files (predates networked computers, and long before WiFi). Several times a during a day I would need a formatted disk to hand-carry a file to someone also working on the same project.

DOS (where we had to type out all the commands) had a program to format disks – put a floppy in the drive, access the program, specify the formatting instruction, and hit enter to begin the process.

The program quickly formatted the disk – but once activated, there was no escape or undo to stop the process.

The early version of the format program assumed the default drive was to be formatted – which, unfortunately, was the hard drive - so when the enter key was hit, the hard disk was formatted, unless a floppy drive was specified...there was a fail/safe message “Are you sure: Yes/No” (which defaults to “YES”) before the formatting begins.

As with many repetitive routines, formatting became a mechanical thing – do this, type that, hit enter. Works fine unless one forgets to change the default to the floppy drive!

When I skipped the default drive step – the computer cheerfully reformatted my hard drive – oh drat!!!! why did I do that? Then I spent lots of time to reinstall all the programs and reload all the files to that newly reformatted drive, pledging NEVER to do that again.

BUT...

After some time, I skipped that critical step and once again reformatted the hard drive for a second time – I immediately recalled my 'joy' from that earlier time. Now I had learned the lesson and changed my routine to ensure the floppy disk was the target to be formatted. My success was bolstered by a change in DOS requiring the drive letter to be entered and the availability of pre-formatted disks.

Routines that become mindless and mechanical, but have significant potential for disaster, need a proactive fail/safe of some sort – pilots, for example, use a paper checklist to document the pre-flight inspection and preparation.

It is pretty much impossible to avoid the mindless – mechanical human approach to repetitive processes, but designing out the potential of a misstep (or seriously reducing its risk) is a valuable investment in avoiding a catastrophe and wasted resources.

Want to cut 80% of project time? Try Value Added Work Analysis

The Two Faces of I

“I” is a very powerful pronoun, but it has two distinct personalities – no doubt you have observed both.

“I” can be used to convey power and significance to the subject at hand – the speaker is going all in as the poker players would say – infusing their knowledge, experience, and reputation into the statement. They are signaling commitment and purpose. Some examples:

I know (personal knowledge)

I learned (personal experience)

My (I) vision (path to the future)

I will (personal commitment)

I promise (personal assurance).

Used in this fashion “I” creates a spotlight and the speaker is center stage – everyone else is outside the circle of light – in the shadows, unnoticed. “I” is inclusive of you and exclusive of all others.

Thus, the second personality – as strong as the pronoun is to focus attention on you, it is equally as powerful for excluding the others from being acknowledged. Please consider the message in the following:

I grew the revenue

I won the contract

I increased sales

I launched the new product line

I developed the new service.

If you were leading a successful team, department, division, or organization, your “I” contributes to the outcome but the accomplishment of others are significant factors in achieving the great results. Using “I” ignores the others, even when their participation is assumed or implied.

The use of “WE” is inclusionary, bringing the other contributors into the picture, sharing credit for attaining the goal.

Great leaders are mindful that the effective use of “I” can can build credibility with customers and stronger team bonds without diminishing leadership effectiveness or awareness.

The leaders' adage is: share the credit for success, but be first to accept the blame for mistakes. The corollary is “I” is a solo spotlight, but “WE” shares the glory.

To illustrate the two faces of “I”, recall the reaction to an organization's leader who repeatedly says “I” while speaking about the success of the organization; now recall the reaction when listening to a leader who talks about how “WE” achieved superior results. Which approach is more effective? For customers; for employees?

Great leaders share the spotlight with sincerity and avoid the ego trap of rhetorically claiming sole credit for success.

Entertaining experience - Sales Lab Video Channel

Leadership Is Actions and Words

Even when he was a little guy, my son had picked up some mannerisms and used some phrases that mirrored mine. I first made this discovery when he had a vocabulary of only three 'words': ma, da, chit – he learned the latter term when I got to the bank after the drive-in window had closed for the weekend (long before ATMs).

Our kids are like a sponge – they absorb everything and are constantly observing parents for the standard of how to do and act.

I was under constant scrutiny – my actions and conversations were a model for my son's development – it was an inspiring (and scary) realization for me – for him, I was a role model.

Actions and words of a leader have a similar impact on their followers and others outside the organization.

George Washington was a masterful leader in words and deeds. Notable examples are how he retained the army for the second crossing of the Delaware and the Cornwallis surrender.

A pivotal point in the Revolutionary War was the crossing of the Delaware for the battle of Trenton – unfortunately, the commitment of virtually all army troops had expired before the operation could be launched. General Washington got no takers when offering to pay the soldiers, but got an overwhelming response when he spoke with the troops, saying that they would never have another opportunity in their lifetime which would have such a significant effect on the future of the country and their freedom, as was facing them right now – and that he would be honored to have them fighting by his side to succeed in winning the battle – leading by example and appealing to the higher purpose.

The Army defeated the British in the seige of Yorktown, General Cornwallis sent a message that they wished to surrender and wanted to present his sword to General Washington to complete the process.

Washington refused to accept the sword, instead indicating his second in command, Benjamin Lincoln, would be the recipient. Lincoln had been defeated by Cornwallis in an earlier battle and honoring Lincoln in this manner would salve the pain of that loss, as well as signify Washington's continuing confidence in his Second. Also, this would make the defeat more memorable to Cornwallis, when his sword was not received by the leader of the Revolutionary Army.

As with a parent and child, the leader's actions are always being observed, his or her words are listened to and interpreted, and the leader's consistency in saying what they do and doing what they say is constantly monitored. Success is determined by the collective results – which achieved by the words and actions of the leader and the reception and implementation by the followers.

A leader who keeps in mind the effect of actions, words, and the consistency of the two may be successful in avoiding the equivalent of a three word vocabulary which includes an inappropriate word.

Rainmakers – insight in 300 seconds

Thank Goodness for Customers

We truly appreciate our customers for buying our goods and services – without them we would merely have a hobby instead of a business.

However, customers provide us with several valuable resources and contributions which may not be as obvious...less top-of-the-head mindfulness on our part.

• Customers keep us sharp and competitive – they have an expectations of us for providing value, quality, and service
• Customers tell others about our goods and services – bragging on our behalf when we exceed their expectations; warning others when we don't
• Customers give us feedback and suggestions – good, bad, or indifferent, they periodically have something to say and share it with us
• Customers like value, but expect fairness – when something goes wrong they expect a fair, hassle-free solution
• Customers demonstrate affiliation and loyalty by alerting us of problems or situations – often they are the first to report a problem with our on-line presence or alert us early about things like an emerging trend in slow delivery
• Customers realize we're not always perfect but expect us to strive toward practical perfection – how quickly do we identify and correct problems; are we innovating by adopting proven new technology
• Customers want to be treated with respect and consideration – they expect to us to follow up on commitments – like a promised return call or sending additional information
• Customers like simple and easy transactions – simple items like recognizing a returning customer so we can complete routine and contact information from stored data
• Customers return to buy again where they have a relationship and receive value, quality, and service – we can control all these variables.

Organizations that recognize the value of the customer beyond just today’s sale have a precious resource to aid in their success – like the 12^th player on the field for some football teams – the fans – which have a huge influence on the outcome of the game by being engaged and enthusiastic.

Organizations with no direct customers, or who do not recognize the contributions by the customers, will have a harder time achieving success. Know of any?

Philosopher George Santayana said: those who do not learn from history are obliged to repeat it mistakes – a business corollary of today is: organizations who do not recognize the value of listening to their customers are bound to make the same mistakes repeatedly, but not to the same customers (they have moved on).

Sales Lab Posts – a fresh outlook

Fishing and Catching

Two weeks ago, while at the shore in North Carolina, I came upon a seasoned angler fishing from a small dock on the sound. He had a couple of rods, a tacklebox bursting at the seams, a cooler, and was casting his line into the water seeking fish.

I stopped by for a quick chat about 'how they're biting?' - he caught me up short saying the fishing is fine, but the catching leaves a lot to be desired!

His explanation:

I have a variety of hooks, rods, rigs, sinkers, lures, and types of bait because fish have preferences – some like certain bait while others go for a specific lure, or are more likely to hit a line rigged a certain way.

The trick is to use the right combination of items to achieve the desired result...catching.

This made sense, so I asked how he knew what was the right combination? He grinned and said you have to ask the fish – by trying various configurations and remember which works.

He noted that two fishermen can be fishing in the same location – side by side – with one pulling in fish after fish as the other is waiting impatiently for a hit. You must offer what is appealing to the fish to get the desired results.

This wise fisherman may have been talking about fishing, but he was describing business – we can have the best equipment, processes, procedures, and presentation, but if it is not what the customer wants, it is not effective.

Like with the fish, to know the right combination that will meet the need of the customer, we must listen to what they have to say and develop a solution which satisfies that need in as simple and straight-forward a way as possible.

Fishing is like a business with the equipment, process, and energy, but catching is using the right resources to get the desired results.

Who knew that fish were so smart!

Applied leadership – Gibbs Rules

Word Inflation

A while back, I collaborated on a project to produce a document suitable for public dissemination.

I noticed that when collaborators sent back edits and improvements to the draft's author, each received a comment like: 'Awesome Changes!', or 'This will really make our document Awesome!', or 'The new formatting is Totally Awesome!'.

In reality, the changes did make the document incrementally better, but this exchange made me think about the non-communication that has developed from the over use of laudatory remarks for non-laudatory work.

This feedback to the originator is analogous to giving a trophy to everyone on the team, regardless of their contribution or skill level – it's a cheap 'feelgood' for showing up but does nothing to help the player (collaborator) improve their output. If a slap-dash revision is greeted with the same accolade as a masterwork improvement, what does the collaborator learn about their contribution?

Valid feedback is a precious gift from the giver because it shares an engaged point of view. The remark 'thanks, that clarified the point' provides value, as does 'thanks for the edit, but I did not see much improvement over the original wording'. How does Awesome convey either message? Any message?

I certainly hope you feel this post was Awesome, and will comment appropriately.

All Around the Town - Sales Lab Presentations

The New Game of Work

Future Shock in the ‘60s said we can't accommodate so much change before a melt-down; but change happens fast and it takes time to recognize and adapt. We did not melt-down, we coped.

Traditional old processes, like Information Interviews – mainstay of job transitions, don’t work anymore – much of the info is on the internet, LinkedIn and other social sites manage distant relationships. Now computers do what used to be entry-level jobs.

What to expect in the next 3 years:

• Do it yourself (DIY)
• Fix yourself – reorient how you get and use information and vision
• Scale – small or large; do you need an expert? Or will you rely on yourself?

Fail Forward Frequently (F³) – Do projects: experiment and learn; experiment again.

Doing a project for first time, it takes more effort and time than the next time. We learn from the first one and make the second one better. Learn and Apply.

Same is true doing something alien and strange for the first time – like new technology. Enough said?

What’s here now and what’s next: Chris Anderson: Makers; David Weinberger: Too Big to Know – two books about manufacturing and information acquisition changes that are radically affecting our world.Traits of a leader:

• Relentlessly tell yourself the truth and require it of others
• Surround yourself with people committed to change
• Keep reading, keep learning, keep doing, and keep sharing.

Economy is about 80-20 right now, but not evenly distributed – 80% below before but 20% is on fire. Why? Absence of buying customers. The winners are providing what customers need and want.The new game is more focused on you, rather than an organization. If you are not doing something worthy, start doing something worthy. The era of merely being a follower has ended – contributors welcome, others are 'retired'. For tasks – add technology not people. Meet ‘Boots’.

After 30 years of high water in the pond, we are now seeing the shopping carts & tires. Eliminate waste and 'cheap' inefficiency (serious change requires redesign – no avoiding it).

Business is NOT about being a bench-warmer and getting a ‘show-up’ trophy at the end of the year. Business is all about getting results, paying bills, and reinvesting for tomorrow.

Success comes from doing real work – not from the poseurs - no matter how articulate - who are not producing. Do it alone or collaborate, but share to build better with more efficiency

What To Do Each Day:

• What goals are you working to achieve – make progress
• How are you acquiring knowledge – apply it – share it
• Stay current with:
• your profession
• your industry
• technology, business, and the global marketplace
• Talk with customers to find out what they want and need – then provide it
• Anticipate the next 'better mousetrap'.

Will any of this help in the marketplace? You Bet!

Every day you must make progress toward the goal. After all, the marketplace is always in motion – stand still and you're losing ground.

The good news about rapidly changing technology is everyone must start at the beginning! As with mastering a new game, it requires investing time and effort.

It's new, so no one has an immediate edge...they must learn it too. Past experience can speed success, but so can focus and devoting time. First adopters have an advantage; subsequent adopters can get in as well – harder but possible. Late adopters must have that better mousetrap to enter – think of Apple with the iPod and iPhone.

The new game of work requires an open mind and creativity, rather than sticking to the traditional approach – for example if you were in HR, would you hire Seth Godin? Stick to puzzle piece recruiting on outdated specs vs. shopping for potential.

The new game rules also:

• Always provide value
• Sales – what do they want - I met him; he gave me a lapel pin; I gave him a show to present his program
• Share and Be Visible – write a blog, comment on a post, show up and contribute
• The 20 – 2 – 1 Rule: twenty face-to-face meetings a month; two blog posts a week; one event you own a month.
• Have a Top 10 – what you're good at.
• Who's successful? Get up and do what they do.

After all, work is like a game – do the right thing and get better – you win; coast and PacMan will eat you!


Join us Tuesday September 10^th at 6:30 PM for theCapital Technology Management Hub (CTMH) meeting (it's FREE) at Teqcorner in McLean, VA. Sales Lab'sRainmaker 21 – Your Dealer Network, 300 seconds of enlightenment, preceding the headliner presentation,What is the New Game of Work? by Jack Gates,Sales Lab. How to Register - CLICK HERE