ValuExecBlog

John Wooden : A Game Plan for Life. The Power of Mentoring

Let me come straight to the point. John Wooden & Don Yaeger's book 'A Game Plan for Life. The Power, of Mentoring' is very simply a 'must read', not only because it adds to the knowledge that we have of a wonderful man and his guiding principles and values, but also because it is filled from cover to cover with wisdom, wisdom that you can take and embrace immediately. Wooden's father lived by a very simple rule 'Don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses. Just do the best you can. Nobody can do more than that'; advice that he passed on to his sons and one senses that that is exactly how John Wooden has lived his life - no complaints, no excuses, just doing the best he can.

Do not approach this book simply as a guide for mentoring because you will miss out on the subtle nuances that are dotted throughout the book on values by which to live your life by. And at the same time, do not approach this book simply as a guide for living your life because you will miss out on the subtle messages on mentoring. The two themes are intertwined and my take out of the book is that unless you embrace both, you run the risk of not living your life to the full. Mentoring enables you to give back to society. 

I was interested in Wooden's choice of his 7 mentors because I believe that says alot about the man. His father and his beloved wife, Nellie were included as were 3 coaches that signifcantly influenced his life. But, also included were Mother Teresa and Abraham Lincoln. As Wooden suggests 'We can all benefit from studying the lives of great men and women. Their courage, vision, and actions can serve to mentor us in a different kind of way - we can seek them out. A person cannot always choose who will surround him or her in life. We always can choose what biographies to pull from a shelf, or what studies to seek in the library. Sometimes we select the mentor for the lessons we want to learn. And the mentor doesn't have to be someone who is physically present in your life. It isn't necessary to have ever actually met an individual to have been mentored by him or her.' I have never met John Wooden but I have often imagined sitting with him and just spending hours listening to him talk about life in general. What an experience that must be.

When next you are at a bookstore, or on Amazon.com or even visiting your local library, pull 'A Game Plan for Life. The Power of Mentoring' from the shelf and study it. You will learn a great deal from a great mentor. Happy reading.

ian  

 

Simplicity ~ Making my way through the chaos

I noticed that I seemed to be saying 'there has got to be an easier way,' quite alot recently and by 'easier' I mean a 'simpler' way. What intrigued me was that I wasn't saying 'there has got to be a better way' but rather 'there has got to be a simpler  way.' Which got me thinking - is the result of all the chaos that we found ourselves in last year, a desire now to move to the more simpler things in life?

And so in search of the truth, I turned to the one person that I know who would have the answer - Edward De Bono. Dusting off my copy of his book 'Simplicity' (Penguin Group; 1998) I turned immediately to page 279 and read the 10 Rules of 'Simplicity'

1. You need to put a very high value on simplicity
2. You must be determined to seek simplicity
3. You need to understand the matter very well
4. You need to design alternatives and possibilities
5. You need to challenge and discard existing elements
6. You need to be prepared to start over again
7. You need to use concepts
8. You may need to break things down into smaller units
9. You need to be prepared to trade off other values for simplicity
10. You need to know for whose sake the simplicity is being designed
    

Well, nobody said it was going to easy - or - simple for that matter. However, armed with these 10 Rules, I am determined to embrace 'simplicity' but leave you with the final word from De Bono 'In an increasingly complex world 'simplicity' is becoming one of the 4 key values.'

Here's to the simple things in life.

ian  

Don't tell me the problem!

There is always a right way and a wrong way of doing things. Take the case of Estee Lauder for example. Recently, they announced their four-year strategic plan and outlined a set of performance goals for fiscal 2010 through to fiscal year 2013. In line with their plan however, they announced that they would be retrenching approximately 2,000 employees or 6% of their workforce. 

The company also outlined the geographies where they expected growth to come from over the strategic period (60% of sales would come from outside the USA); the operating margins they will achieve by fiscal 2013 (12% to 13%) showing a step-change improvement annually starting from a low fiscal base in 2009. 

In addition, the company provided a time frame for turning around under-performing brands (between 18-24 months) and the time frame for realigning their organization structure in keeping with the changing growth dynamics of the various geographies. They indicated that they would improve productivity and reduce the complexity that was hindering the execution of strategy. Furthermore, the company will invest $50 million to fuel market share growth, a better understanding of their consumers' needs and research and development for future product pipeline.

Now take the case of Pacific Brands which owns the 'Bonds' clothing range which is an icon in Australia. Recently they announced that they would be moving their manufacturing facilities off-shore to China. This would entail a loss of 1,800 jobs - 200 less than the number at Estee Lauder; but two days after making that announcement, it was revealed that their CEO (Pacific Brands CEO) recently had a $1 million salary increase and was now being paid in the region of $2 million / year.

Now, here's the thing. Two different companies with two different approaches to the market. Both cutting their workforce by +/- 2,000 and, I would guess, both CEOs probably earning around about the same salary. Yet, one company leaves you with a warm feeling of confidence whilst the other leaves you feeling ever-so-slightly angry. 

One company communicated very clearly their strategic plan and even though they provided the bad news about letting so many people go, they also provided a solution and the good news that they will be investing for future growth which, one would hope would create future jobs. The other company communicated only the bad news which I am sure was an inevitable strategic decision and which their senior managers had given a lot of thought to - but they provided no solution, no 'hope' for the future, nor any indication that they had a strategy for the future. The result, you are left feeling that those people lost their jobs so that the company could some how fund the CEO's salary ( I know this isn't the case, but perception is reality).

Once, a long time ago, I had to cut 10% of my workforce. It must rate as the most difficult and gut-wrenching thing that I have ever had to do. Even though it was painful for all involved, the employees could see the pain that I was going through. They might not have like the cuts, but they supported me because they could see my pain. It is difficult for employees to empathize with a CEO who announces job cuts and then a salary increase for herself of $1 million.

So, the take out is this - in today's climate, we have to step out from under the cloak of fear that has clouded our thinking in the past with regard to providing too much information to the public that may be used by our competitors. We have to clearly communicate our strategic direction over the next 4 years. It is not enough to say that because revenues and profits are falling, people will lose their jobs. We need to show that we have a plan that accommodates the present climate but also outlines clearly what our plans are for future growth. We need to communicate our key metrics and the time frames that we will measure ourselves against. We need to take a leaf out of Estee Lauder and show that we really do know what we are doing. We need to bring 'hope'.

As the old saying goes - Don't tell me the problem, just tell me the solution.

ian

'Making the Number'

Ever so often you come across a business book that makes you sit up and pay attention to what is written between the covers. Ever so often, you come across a business book that makes you realize that you have in your hands a treasure chest of pure unadulterated value. 'Making the Number: How to use Sales Benchmarking to Drive Performance' by Greg Alexander, Aaron Bartels and Mike Drapeau (Penguin Group; October 2008) is one such book. If ever there was a time for companies to embrace Sales Benchmarking, that time is now because of its 'ability to increase profits and positively impact each business function within the organization.'

 There are 3 tests that I give to business books: first, 'does the technique being espoused by the author add value?' Secondly, 'will the technique stand the test of time or is it nothing more than a fad?' And finally, 'does the author(s) provide sufficient information to allow the reader to convert theory into practice from the information supplied in the book?' Sadly, many books fail in one of these 3 tests which then leads to a second barrage of questions that ultimately determine whether I embrace the technique in the future or not. But, not so with 'Making the Number.' 

First, there is no doubt in my mind that companies that embrace Sales Benchmarking will see positive impacts to their revenues, their profits and their shareholder value. Secondly, we are today seeing that those companies that have embraced 'best-practices benchmarking' and 'world-class status' are surviving in today's business climate and are in fact making profits whereas those that have embraced mediocrity have fallen on their sword. Finally, the authors provide a five step action plan to guide you through implementing Sales Benchmarking (not that you won't require a little help along the way). If that is not enough, the authors have included actual case studies for your reference. 

But, I did say at the outset that the book is a treasure chest of value. Because of the very nature of Sales Benchmarking, the book will take you through 2 valuable concepts. The first is the concept of 'The Formula for Sales Success' and the second is the 'Sales Management Maturity Model Scale'. The understanding of both concepts is extremely important in the execution of strategy whether or not you undertake Sales Benchmarking. 

If you are serious about making your numbers, then 'Making the Number' is a must read. If you are serious about becoming 'world-class', then not only is the book a must read, but I would also suggest that you visit www.salesbenchmarkindex.com. Happy reading.

ian    

'The man who sold Hot Dogs'

By now you would have gathered that I am, deep down at least, an optimist. To that end, I came across the following article by Doug Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Training Network, that was taken from ehotelier.com, January 30, 2009. The article entitled: 'First step in new sales: Believe it is possible!' addresses the hospitality industry, however Mr. Kennedy's message is relevant to all of us regardless of what industry we work in. Key points coming out of the article:

> Don't cut the level of optimism for the future

> Your level of optimism is visible every day in the actions of sales managers and employees as a whole

> The lack of optimism in sales becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy

Mr. Kennedy's final words provide valuable advice to us all: 'Make sure your actions as well as your words demonstrate a strong belief that although we might currently need to work a little harder and a little smarter than we did during those last few years of record profits, there is still plenty of business out there to be won.'

My thanks to Mr. Kennedy and the team at ehotelier.com

ian

I need your help, please!

Every year I revisit our Mission Statement to make sure that we have not strayed too far from it or that we are living up to the standards that we have set. If we have strayed then I want to make sure that all associated with the company are happy with the new direction. And if we are not living up to our standards, I want to know why? To date, we haven't strayed at all, probably because our Mission is so wide. And, I am pleased to say, we have met our exceptionally high standards, if feedback from our clients is anything to go by. There is however one area that I feel I have erred and that is with this Blog. Although, I have received some very nice feedback, I have not actually asked you what it is that you would like to read or know or get help with. And for that I do apologize.

Our Mission is simple: 'To create outstanding value every day for our clients, staff and the community that makes for a better world.' It can be a smile, a warm welcome, a simple thank you or finding the solution to a particular problem. 

So if you have any ideas as to how I can create outstanding value for you through this Blog - please let me know. And if there is a particular subject that you would like to know more about, feel free to again let me know and I will see what I can do.  The way I see it - this is just as much your Blog as it is mine.

What brought this on apart from the regular visit to the Mission Statement - I subscribe to a number of other blogs and it seems to me that they have become more intense (almost bordering on panic) with their offers and their messages. But on closer inspection, their messages are the same and no different to what they have always espoused. Times are changing and they need to change. I don't want to make the same mistake. So let me know where I can create value with this Blog for you. And please feel free to send this to whoever you know, open it up to others in your organization, your colleagues and friends. Let's start a "How can we create outstanding Value' open-blog debate. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

ian

Yes, we will!

It never ceases to amaze me how resilient we are as a species. No matter what life seems to throw at us, we always seem to bounce back. We may be hurt, we may be in pain and we may even be down; but on average, we always seem to bounce back. That is the wonderful thing about us humans!

Whatever you may call the current crisis that we are facing, be it meltdown, recession, catastrophe, shameful, unfair - there has been no limit to the descriptors used in the media - one thing I know for certain and that is we will bounce back. Yes, we will. We will be a little stronger, and a lot wiser; but we will bounce back.

The question that I ask though when we do come out of this is 'what do you want to look like? How will you describe the way you behaved? What will our actions tell others about ourselves? How will what we do today in this crisis position us for the future? How will our companies or departments look like and what would we have done to shape those companies or departments? Did we put our hands up to be included in change or did we keep our heads bowed?

Prior to his becoming President, Barack Obama suggested that each of us is responsible for doing our part and that we can not and should not wait for government or for others to fix the mess. We need to take the initiative and do our part. 

To say that I am not worried by the state of the world's economy or even for that matter, for the state of my country's own economy, would be a lie. I am in the consulting business and will be impacted by the crisis. I am also in the middle of raising funds for a new business venture that we will be launching next month - now how idiotic is that!! But, I am also excited by the changes that are happening across the corporate world. No, I am not in favor of regulation on executive salaries and will have to live with 'social capitalism' for now. I am excited that in order to survive, companies are off-loading weak or debt-ridden companies that were nothing more than a noose around their necks anyway and created no value for shareholders. I am excited that managers are being forced to find costs outside that of simply 'cutting labor' because a more business and operationally savvy manager will be born. Weak companies that should have folded years ago, will disappear and well-managed companies will get stronger leading to more value overall. The supply and demand for labor at all levels will change as labor enters the realm of 'free agent' status. And, finally outside of the corporate arena, I am excited that we, as individuals, will change as we take stock of what is truly important to us and realize that spending beyond our means is not always a wise investment. 

Yes, we will get through this and when we do, I want to make sure that I can look back and honestly say that I played a part in the changing landscape; that I painted on the new canvas and was not just a spectator or a critic from afar. And also, when we do get through this, I want to make sure that I am ready to move quickly on the opportunities that will surely be available. Yes, they will.

ian

Making Sense of it All

Nature is a wonderful teacher. If you have ever witnessed a fire, fanned by gale-force winds, race across a bushland, you will know that the resultant destruction is often swift and devastating. Anything that is dry and brittle is devoured with a ferocity that defies belief. The direction of the fire can change quickly as it is guided by winds over which we have no control. The heat and the roar of the fire can be felt and heard meters away and the smoke and the ash can be seen for miles providing a warning to those not immediately in its path to prepare for its impact. At its very centre, there is nothing that you nor anyone can do for the heat is just too intense. So you concentrate around the edges, beating back the feeder flames so that they don't become monsters in their own right. In addition, you work quickly to build a buffer by back-burning a barrier over which the flames can not cross. You work fast, and untiringly willing the wind to die down and the heavens to open up so that you can restrain the fire. Eventually, the fire devours itself and dies as there is no more fuel that it can feed off. Your buffer has kept it in check. All that is left now is a devastated landscape, a scorched earth and smoldering trees that once stood tall. You are exhausted, and you go home too numb to count the cost.

But whilst you lie exhausted, the process of birth begins almost immediately. Nature begins to rebuild. Green shoots of grass break through the earth's crust and a few months later what was once a blackened, charred earth, is now littered with green tufts of grass. New trees are emerging and those trees that had been healthy and strong before the fire, although scarred, are showing signs of growth again as new leaves appear on its branches. The landscape has indeed taken on a different appearance from what it once was. Not only is it marked by burnt monuments of trees that once stood tall but it is also marked by new varieties of flowers, grass and saplings. You grieve over the burnt monuments but as you look at their charred remains, you realize that they were hollow and that they were dead internally long before the fire; a fact that nature knew a long time ago. Then you marvel at the growth and the beauty around you.

As Nature teaches us - despite outside appearances, companies that are internally weak or hollow on the inside, will be destroyed by the current crisis. Companies that are healthy and strong internally will, although scarred - survive. Throwing money at the weak is like throwing more wood on the fire. The landscape is changing but just as Nature begins the building process immediately, so too must we.

We need to review our current business models of growth. We need to review our strategy within the changing landscape. We need to review our processes and our internal systems and be ruthless in discarding those that are monuments of landscapes of long ago. We need to review the talent that we have left in our company, and know how we will retain them. We need to plan for the day we will need to attract the best of talent back into our fold when growth occurs and it will. We need to review how we are going to keep our loyal customers who are lying exhausted and who have lost so much. We need to find ways to strengthen our companies so that they will in fact grow because through growth will come confidence. Importantly, we need to review shareholder and investor expectations of what is considered reasonable growth. 

So, I ask you - now that you have made all the cuts and have laid off people by the droves; reduced your advertising and administration spend; downgraded travel and closed unprofitable branches and knowing that as one business journalist put it, 'the hangover from 2008 will last long after the last firework is heard exploding in the night sky.' - I ask you, 'What's next? and have we in fact learned anything from what Nature teaches us.

ian

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

Some companies just don't get it. South African Airways has just announced that in the interests of improving productivity, efficiencies and ultimately the service offered to is valued customers, it will be outsourcing its call centres. Apparently, this would have an initial impact on its reservations and its loyalty program.  

Forgive me for being a cynic but my experience with call centres is that they tend to benefit the organization and not the customer despite what the company may say and no matter how it is couched in its mass mailings to customers. I have to admit that I have never understood why companies are so eager to pass on any opportunity to deal directly with its customers and taking customers calls for bookings and their questions surrounding their loyalty programs are such opportunities.  

I suspect that someone at head-office in South African Airways looked at the call-centre not as a profit centre able to generate sales revenues but rather as a cost centre filled with people answering irate customer complaints or simply taking orders. Time they woke up a smelt the coffee. Remember those days so long, long ago when sales people were seen as simple order takers - who were told to always follow the company line. As competition grew more fierce and customers more discerning, that soon changed. The same will happen with call-centres. Companies need to see them as natural extensions of the sales team, powerful individuals in their own right who have the ability to up-sell customers or disengage customers. I am not sure that that is something I would want to outsource.

ian

Learning from The Master

In the October 2008 issue of Toastmaster, the monthly publication of Toastmasters International Inc., there is a wonderful interview by Craig Harrison with Coach John Wooden, Head Basketball Coach, University of California, Los Angeles - on lessons in leadership. Inspired by the article, I visited Wooden's website at www.coachjohnwooden.com and soon realized that I was in the presence of a Master. Here was a man who was larger than life; who had reached the top of his profession and yet was modest, and humble; who had no airs about him and just told it like it was. His philosophies on success, leadership, team-building were so clear and yet so simple that you could not help but marvel at the man's clarity of wisdom. Here are some of Coach John Wooden's pearls of wisdom taken from Mr. Harrison's article:

On Leading and Motivating Teams
"In my opinion, one of the greatest motivating tools we have is a pat on the back. Another technique is listening."

Tips for New Leaders
"Lead, don't drive. And give credit. Don't blame. Criticism must always be given in a gentle way, never harshly. As a coach I had 3 rules:

1. Never be late
2. You must never criticize a teammate
3. I would not tolerate profanity from anyone, anytime

Pursuit of Excellence
"My bench never heard me mention winning. My whole emphasis was for each one of my players to try and execute the fundamentals to the best of their ability. Not to try to be better than somebody else, but to learn from others, and never cease trying to be the best they could be."

On Resolving Conflict
"Unless a problem is brought to the forefront, it will just continue to fester."

On Struggle and Difficulty
"Hardship brings people closer together if you share it."

On Patience
"Leaders must have patience for those under their supervision. Don't expect too much too soon. Maybe it was easy for you, but that doesn't mean it's going to be easy for somebody else. And then you must believe in what you are doing, that what you're doing is the proper thing, the right thing."

Tremendous insights indeed from a true Master!

ian

I would recommend that you review Coach John Wooden's 'Pyramid of Success' which you can download from his website (provided above). The building blocks are a reminder of what builds winning teams.

Keeping Me Honest

I have the utmost respect for anyone who creates a tool or product for the greater good of man or beast so when someone asks me to review or comment on a new product, I do so gladly but only on the proviso that I will say it as I see it.

On this occasion I have been asked by Dan Baluta to comment on a project and task management application that is based on David Allen's book 'Getting Things Done' called gtdAgenda that you can access at www.gtdagenda.com. Before commenting about it on this blog however, I wanted to use the system for a while and see if it indeed made my life easier, or as some of these new systems have a tendency to do - make my life more complicated; I wanted to see how easy it was to switch over from my current management system but importantly, I wanted to see if I could customize it to suit my needs. The timing was excellent as I had a number of projects on the go and I was being swamped with tasks that needed to be done and prioritized. If ever an application was to be put to the test - this was it. 

At the outset though, I must warn you that I am a bit of a goal freak. I have goals for every aspect of my life be it career, physical, family, spiritual, mental etc., and I am constantly monitoring progress towards those goals; adding activities or 'crossing them off', working on new projects or reshaping existing projects etc. so working with a project and task management system was not particularly new to me. What was new to me however (and I am ashamed to admit it in this day-and-age) was using a web-based application. I have used a paper-based system for years. Nevertheless, Dan set me up with an account (as this is a paid service application) and I jumped right in. Big mistake!

As with all new applications, it always helps to read the instructions before jumping right in, not that gtdagenda is all that complicated; but it is worth spending at least 5-10 minutes 'Taking the Tour' and reading the section entitled 'Use gtdagenda to implement Getting Things Done (GTD) by David Allen'.

I found it easy to set up my goals just as it was easy to link projects to each of those goals. Then adding tasks to each of those projects was simple enough. The process flow in setting up goals, projects and tasks is very easy to follow. A list of all your projects is displayed to the right of the page which enables you to switch from one project to another with ease which is a feature that I found extremely useful.

Another aspect of the application that is a tremendous help is the 'Next Actions' list which is the first thing that is displayed when you sign in to your account in www.gtdagenda.com. In addition, your goals are always displayed at the top of each page that you are using. Keeping your goals in front of you at all times is for me crucial, as I do believe it keeps you honest and focused on what is important and prevents you from straying too far off the beaten track.

The application allows you to develop checklists which can be weekly, monthly or yearly and I do like the way the checklist is configured. I would however have liked to have been able to develop separate checklists for each of my goal categories (i.e., one for physical and one for spiritual etc) as I found the application lumps all activities into the same checklist. In hindsight though, this isn't necessarily a bad thing as it did enable me to see on one page everything that I routinely do (or wanted to do) during the week. It did make me realize that I was being a little unreasonable in my expectations of what needed to be done.

There is a 'Context' section that informs you whether tasks are to be done at home, via the computer or any other means that you may wish to include. How useful this feature is I haven't quite determined yet and the jury is still out for me. There is also an e-mail address at the bottom of the task list page the purpose of which is not clear to me. I assume it is there if you need to contact gtdagenda should you have a problem. I could not find any mention of it in any of the readings. One feature I would have liked is for all my 'Next Actions' to be e-mailed to me when I log in to my e-mails every morning. Always good to have such timely reminders.

In short, the gtdagenda application has kept me honest. Critically, it has forced me to prioritize my projects and tasks and to clearly define those activities that I need to do next. By forcing me to prioritize, I have been able to focus on those projects and tasks that are important to the achievement of my goals.

The application did indeed make my life easier; I found it easy to switch from my current management system to the gtdagenda application and I was able to customize it to suit my needs. I would certainly recommend it for anyone struggling to manage their time and for those dealing with a myriad of projects both at work or in their personal lives. 

ian