The Marathon and The Sprint

All of my friends and many of my clients know that I am a passionate fan of baseball and a loyal fanatic of the Atlanta Braves.  Last week our long marathon of a season ended with shock, grief and disappointment.  With three weeks of baseball left we held a commanding lead for the “wild card” spot in the National League.  Our broadcasters were talking about wrapping things up early enough to rest our best players and prepare for the playoffs.

With three games left we only needed to win one game, and we were up against a team that was very good but had nothing on the line.  On Wednesday night we found ourselves one strike away from victory, and by Thursday morning we were on the outside looking in.  It took a weekend for me to recover enough to reflect on what can be discovered from experiences like the demise of teams like the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox.   As part of my own healing process, allow me to offer some insights that can be employed in your life and leadership.

1.  What happens on one part of your team impacts every other part of your team:   All season long the Braves offense was…offensive.  It was one of the worst in the league in getting hits when runners were in position to score.  What carried them through was an amazing pitching staff filled with good starters and very good relievers.  However, because of the offense being poor they were forced to compete in close games all season long and ended up over taxing their pitching.  In the end, the team was let down by their strength.   On a team you can’t isolate your weakness, it will always tax your strength.
2. There is no substitute for a good substitute  (In other words, depth matters):  In any sport there will be injuries, trades, slumps and personal distractions.  The same is true in business.  What is essential is having a plan in place to plug in new talent.   The team that creates the broadest base of talent will typically defeat a team with a handful of superstars.
3. It is both a marathon and a sprint:  Every baseball fan understands that regular season of baseball is the longest of any professional sport.  It has been said that the regular season is a marathon, while the playoffs are a sprint.  The last week of the season dispels that myth because at some point, every marathon becomes a sprint.  While you must plan and strategize for the long run, the team that wins often does so because they out perform their competition in the critical moments.

Guest Blog: Maria Nica & Johanna Kulcsar, Senior Students at Emanuel University of Oradea, Romania

For the past several years our own Cammie Hauser has traveled to Romania to teach business skills and concepts to a new generation of entrepreneurs.  This summer we have had the pleasure of having two interns come to our country to learn and contribute.  It may be beneficial for you to see business through the eyes of young entrepreneurs living in a country that is getting its first taste of business and economic freedom.

America through our eyes

20 days ago after 24 hours of traveling we arrived to Orlando International, we were waiting 2 hours at customs to enter the land of the free. Romania is also a free country now, but it wasn’t always like this. Back in the days of our parents there were darker days…

We had an image in our mind created by the media and other communication channels that life is better

in America, or it used to be better. We arrived with these expectations to America. Some of these came true, but most of them were just our imagination…

In the past weeks many people asked us “what is different here? What is new for us?”.

Here is what we have found:

• Everything is bigger here than at home:
• the roads are wider and people drive more because of the long distances;
• the cars are bigger (pick-up trucks, jeeps) and people drive differently;
• our big cup of coffee at home is the small one here;
• you can get refills for your soda as much as you can drink;
• a lot of food all the time, a lot of restaurants.
• Better customer service – Employees are very kind and attentive with customers.
• The gas is cheaper than in Romania – also in Romania people don’t drive that much.
• Higher life standard than in Romania-but still our understanding about life in the US is very narrow, we have seen only a glimpse of America.
• A lot of credit cards – in Romania debit cards are more popular.
• You can leave your home without closing the doors-you can have a home without fences (Don’t try this in Romania!)
• People tease each other all the time! In Romania we are not used to that…
• People have a different mindset and entrepreneurial spirit is well developed – a lot of small businesses.
• In America it is not a question that marketing is essential for the success of a company. In Romania, people start to realize how important is to the success of their company.

We can see that the effects of consumerism are more noticeable here than in Europe, or in Romania. People want more and more, trying to fulfill their hunger for food, movies, video games, nice cars, nice home and a lot of credit cards. But if we look past the surface, we can see that people have the same problems, the same difficulties, the same struggles here in the US just like people in Romania, in Europe and all around the World.

At the end of the day we are all the same and all those differences don’t really matter. What matters is to be content with what we have and to use our God given gifts becoming the best version of ourselves.

Monday Morning; What do I do now?

I don’t know about you, but one of the most difficult challenges I face on Monday mornings is what challenge do I tackle first. I am convinced that if we could remain focused on our most strategic and profitable opportunities for the first 3 days of the week, it would transform our life and business. Here are some things I do passionately on Monday that have served me well. What works for you?
• Take a walk…This 1 hour of time really starts things off right and slow. It gets both the blood and ideas flowing.
• Journal…I try to brain dump and capture everything floating around in my head. A quick 15 minutes of getting random thoughts on paper is very helpful.
• Shower…20 minutes that makes me acceptable for others.
• Read…I spend 20 minutes on Monday trying to learn something, or sustain my passion and motivation
• Plan…At some point in the morning, all of this stuff swimming in my head needs a time to execute. I need 20 minutes to craft a plan that focuses on that which is most important short term, and how that is connected to my long term goals. I block time to execute priorities.
• Email…I typically allow 30 minutes to send out important and encouraging emails that initiate productive conversation.
• Meet… Before 11 on Monday I meet with my team to align agendas and priorities.

Justice

There is a great line at the end of the film Presumed Innocent. The sad tone of Harrison Ford’s voiceover states, “There was a crime. There was a victim. And there is punishment.” The film dramatically portrays the story of an innocent husband being tried and determined not guilty for a murder that was committed by his wife. Only in the closing scenes we discover along with Harrison Ford’s character the real culprit, and could easily be frustrated that she “got away with murder.”

Many of you may know I live in Orlando, FL. Recently my town has received a little press coverage about a tragic crime. The accused seemingly got away with murder. Yesterday morning a young woman was released from jail and set free to live her life. As I watched the words from the film came back to my mind. “There was a crime. There was a victim, and there is punishment.” In the end, nobody really gets away with anything. We are either elevated or destroyed by the choices we make, and our poorest decisions can haunt us like a never ending punishment.

I share these thoughts in a blog to promote the notion to my portion of the entrepreneurial world that the economy is our jury. In time the jury will either acquit or convict our business for the decisions we make. If we succumb to short term thinking, make a quick buck schemes, treat our staff or customers unfairly the same will eventually be said of us…”there was a crime, there was a victim and there is punishment!”

Today, consider each decision you make and know…There is justice!

Flash of Insight

 Yesterday I enjoyed one of those E.F. Hutton moments.  I was walking with my daughter amongst a crowd of people when she asked me for my opinion.  For those of who are parents of teenage daughters we know how flattering this can be.   For a moment time stood still, and I did not want to be shallow, superficial or unwise.  As an ENTP I have two abilities that served me well in the moment, rapid mental processing and verbal processing.  Most of the time those abilities only allow me to stay incredibly mindless things at inappropriate moments, but in this moment I was provided a flash of insight. 

I don’t need to go into great detail about the situation, only to say I wanted her to understand something about decision making and how I view the world.  How do I encourage my daughter to make her world bigger without feeling lost?  These are the words that flowed from my brain, through my mouth to her ears and the unexpected listeners in the crowd.   “Your enjoyment in life, and your usefulness to other people will increase if you make your world bigger, and your truths simpler.  Tragically, many people are neither joyful nor useful because they make their world small and their truths complex.”  

My daughter looked at me and said, “huh?”  Others in the small crowd stopped their murmuring for a moment and said, “would you repeat that?”  At that moment I was not completely sure what I meant by the statement, and in repeating it I found the need and opportunity to embellish on the thought.  The world, along with all of the challenges and opportunities is a complex place.  We live in a world where one size does not fit all, and because of that reality many people shrink the scope of their influence.  There are some that greet this complex world with broad, very open minded, sometimes impractical, and often delusional solutions.  My desire for the next generation of Gutek’s would be to carry simple, universal, timeless truth and figure how out the simple truth throughout history provides value to a complex world.

What do you think?

What do Leaders do?

It is true that much of the thinking about leadership lives in the land of concept and theory.  There is no escaping that the greatest impact a leader has on an organization is in the nebulous arena of culture.  With that being said, it is important to know that certain tasks are under the prevue of the leader and you may find it helpful to see a quick list that outline what exactly a leader does.

This list is not in any particular order, but all of them must be done.

1. Leaders attend critical meetings:  As a leader the primary thing that will show up on your calendar are meetings.  A couple of thoughts about meetings you should attend;
   1. You should lead very few meetings and must be cautious about dominating meetings
   2. Do not attend meetings that do not deal with issues that are at a critical level
   3. Be fully engaged in the meetings you attend
   4. The meetings should allow you to execute the others things you do
   5. Leaders cast the vision:   On a regular basis you will be painting a picture of what the business looks like when it is working well.  Never miss an opportunity to recalibrate your team on the vision.
   6. Leaders allocate resources:  The leader will determine priorities in a business and the most practical way that happens is through budgeting and spending.  Failure to understand budget reports, P & L statements and balance sheets will limit your effectiveness and credibility.
   7. Leaders make decisions:  Truman said, “the buck stops here.”  George Bush referenced himself as “the decider.”  There is no escaping the fact that one of the uncomfortable realities of the leaders job is that she/he will make the final decision.
   8. Leaders use words:  Never, ever forget that when you sit in the leader’s seat, people are hearing every word, they may not be listening, but they do hear.   Even your casual quips, jokes and comments have a greater impact simply because you are the leader.
   9. Leaders recruit and identify talent:  The effectiveness of every leader hinges on the talent they are surrounded by.  From internal promotions, to external recruiting, job talent development is as essential as allocating financial resources.

Does Social Media Work?

Does social media work?  Short answer, I don’t know.  What I do know is that there is a lot of traffic out there.  Recent statistics reported by Fast Company on the growth of Twitter are astounding;

2006, 9,600 users

2007: 683,000 users

2008: 4,000,000 users

2009: 71,000,000 users

2010: 195,000,000 users

This past weekend Daytona Beach hosted The Great American Race, better known as the Daytona 500.  A colleague shared that she set up a popcorn stand, (one single stand) at the International Speedway.  During the day they sold over $10,000 in popcorn.  It never hurts to set up your business in the middle of a crowd.

If your product is terrible, you will be uncovered.  If your service is lacking, people will learn to avoid you.  But being where the people are is not a dumb business strategy.  People are on Facebook, people are using YouTube, and by the way there are more than a few tweeters in your neighborhood.

At one time I would have considered myself fairly “high tech,” but technology is now being introduced faster than I can keep up with, rendering me a “digital immigrant.”  You may feel this means it’s not worth getting in the race, but I suggest that even if you don’t “win,” it still pays off to be where the people are. Begin incorporating the natural traffic patterns of “digital natives” and get out there on the super distribution freeway known as social media.

Bullet Point Principles

Margaret Wheatley shared, “we have the ability to do business at the speed of light, but not the speed of life.” This truth prompts leaders to look for insight in bullet point format. Nuance can get lost in succinct, abbreviated concepts. However, I thought it would be helpful to outline some brief principles that guide my thoughts and coaching. After putting together what I have tentatively called my “bullet point principles” I found renewed clarity. It is an exercise I would encourage you to consider. Below are some of the principles I quickly jotted.

• People love to be well led
• Leadership without systems is chaos, systems without leadership is death
• Leadership is more about who you are than what you say
• Leadership is more about where you are going than where you have been
• Profit in a business is an indicator of health
• A business can’t execute somebody else’s game plan
• Uniqueness, and differentiation are assets in the marketplace
• Creativity is a byproduct of healthy culture
• Marketing is about laying a path from your front door to the customer/client you are designed to serve
• Marketing is not part of what you do, it is the sum total of everything you do
• Happiness is the byproduct of a worthwhile pursuit
• Ethics is the byproduct of thinking long term and keeping in balance all stakeholders.

I would love to share more about each of the concepts. I imagine for many you, the words alone strike a chord and resonate.

Glenn Gutek

Love is in the Air

Monday is the day we recognize our fascination with romance.  Flowers, candy and cards are purchased to surprise those near and dear to us with expression of care and gratitude.   Have you ever wondered how you can express love to your customers and clients?   Of course you can send them a card, or offer a special one day discount.  I would assert that is romancing your customer or client, but I wonder how you can let them know that you really love them.

Short of purchasing diamond jewelry for the 3,500 to 7,000 households, what are the things an entrepreneurial leader can do to truly communicate the depth of your love and gratitude for the people that make your business soar?   Allow me to briefly offer up three suggestions that you can do in the next week;

1. Increase the value of your business through training your team in product knowledge and customer service.
2. Elevate the importance of high ethical standards to every member of your team.
3. Do something creative with your team to keep them engage in the activities of your business.

These three simple strategies will translate to the customer and prompt them to be grateful that they spent their money and time with you.

Glenn Gutek

Greatness

Tonight I have the joy of doing a presentation for a gathering of professionals in my home city of Orlando, FL. What is really fascinating about this opportunity is that this door was opened by our neighbor’s boy when we lived in the Florida Keys a lifetime ago. Time has a way of moving forward, and people have a way of growing up, and sometimes the high school student next door becomes a leader in his/her chosen profession.

Tonight’s topic for the Practicing with Professionals Group will be, “What makes a great business great?” Is it great product? What about great people? Would it be great location? Could it be all about a great price? I might suggest the answer is, “yes.” Jim Collins asserts in his masterpiece, “Good to Great,” that the reason we do not have many great businesses today is because we have a wealth of good businesses. This indictment has prompted to reflect long and hard on the notion of greatness, and the pursuit of greatness.

One of the many epiphanies that have come along the way is that greatness occurs when a confluence of people and events come together to produce something of unique value. To answer the question what makes a great business great with one simple answer does an injustice to the concept of greatness. It is the leaders role to passionately pursue greatness, but it seems that greatness occurs when a variety of things come together to form a synergistic dynamic.

The right product or service, targeted for the right market, developed by a diversity of the right talent, forged in the right culture come together and take something that was otherwise normal or expected and turn it into incredible.

Some may read this and falsely conclude that greatness is a byproduct of luck or good fortune. I would never dismiss the value of providence, but I would argue that individual entrepreneurial leaders have an important role to play. Entrepreneurial leaders may not be able to manufacture luck, but they can actively engage in the pursuit of greatness.