Super Job for You

The idea of individuals having New Years Resolutions is timeless. It is a means of taking stock of where a person is and where they want to go and filling in the gap with plans and intentions.

Along those same lines it would be a good thing for every business owner to sit down and take the time to write out a few resolutions for the organizations they lead.

Research suggests that some of the top individual resolutions made include losing weight, exercising more, eating healthier foods, quitting smoking, going back to school, finding a better job and getting out of debt.

Here are seven New Years Resolutions for any leader for better business health and general well being in 2010 and beyond. Use these can be used as a starting point to create a more personalized business list.

First, let 2010 become the year in which you further strengthen the business base by losing the clients you do not wish to do business with any longer and by adding more of the kind of clients you want to do business with. Consider this as “losing weight.”

This isn’t likely to be done “cold turkey” by simply calling a current client and telling them “You’re fired!” but if time is taken to develop a strategy and a plan, half of the resolution can be taken care of during the next 12 months.

Likewise, if a strategy is developed to target better clients and it is executed, it can happen. The hard part is execution. This is the similar to “exercising more” because it will allow your company to live longer, and be much healthier in the process.

Second, let 2010 be the year in which you make and act on the difficult decisions that will improve the business for the long term. This is the same as making the decision to quit using all forms of tobacco. Making the decision is far easier than making it happen. But when it takes place, you are far better off having done it and see almost an immediate improvement in health.

This might mean investing in new hardware, software or new office furnishings. It might mean closing a division or ending the production and sales of product lines. It might mean having fierce conversations with long tenured employees no longer doing what needs to be done. It might mean saying goodbye to some of those same individuals.

Third, let 2010 become the year in which you make and honor a pledge to become a better business person, learning what you need to know. This is the owner’s version of “going back to school.”

More than anything else, making this resolution happen is being vulnerable; saying out loud and admitting to yourself and others “I don’t know it all.” It means being honest enough to say that “There are things I need to know to become a better business person” and it starts by making the decision that you need to learn more; that you do not have all the answers.

Fourth, let 2010 be the year when you make the transition from owner to leader. This is like finding a new job, because it is finding a new job within the organization.

An owner focuses on three numbers: sales, expenses and profits. A leader determines Key Performance Indicators and tracks them to see what people are doing to drive sales, keep expenses in line and grow profits.

When an owner sees an employee they see an expense. In the mind of the owner, those expenses must be kept to the minimum to improve profits. The leader sees people on the payroll as an investment and continually asks “How can I better make use of the talents, strengths and abilities of this person for the company to excel?”

Fifth, let 2010 be the year when you invest in your people. This is sending people back to school within your company. If people are the most valued asset in your company, shouldn’t some money be spent making sure they are keeping current with what they need to learn to make sure your company stays ahead of the competition?

Sixth, let 2010 be the year your company operates from a written plan instead of the seat of your pants! Let your people know that you have a plan and share the information with them.

Seventh, and last, let this be the year that everyone in company hears directly from the owner “Thank you for your hard work and service to our clients. It is appreciated by our clients, your co-workers and by me.”

September 3 was the beginning of the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) football season. It ends when 64 of the top colleges play in bowl games in December and January 2010, culminating in the Championship Game to be played on Thursday, January 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

The game has come a long way since the first official intercollegiate football in America between Tufts University and Harvard on June 4, 1875. Hundreds of colleges field teams each week in the fall. Millions of fans watch games from the stands, on television or via the internet.

In the next five months there will be dramatic finishes, come from behind victories, last minute meltdowns and unexpected defeats. What does this have to do with business? What does this have to do with your business? Much more than you might think.

At the core of a football team is the concept of teamwork. Teamwork on the field is not just expected; it is required. While each team may have stars, even superstars, when those individuals are on the field they are part of a greater effort operating as a single unit.

Most organizations stress the need for teamwork. During interviews of prospective employees, owners and managers ask about it. It is expected that every employee will be a team player. But when it comes to rewards and punishment, most companies do this only at an individual level.

Employees receive a mixed message. It is little wonder that leaders and managers struggle with teamwork because they are saying one thing–“be a team player”– and at the same time, rewarding individuals for results that might be to the detriment of the team. Think Terrell Owens.

College football is not for dummies. Coaches strive to maintain a competitive advantage and are required to both create and use plays to score points and defend the goal line. The ultimate objective is to win games. In order to understand and execute the plays the team runs, players have to understand and do what is asked of them in a fast paced, time sensitive, public arena. The Rose Bowl currently seats 92,542. Imagine being 18 years old and having all this many people screaming and booing at you. Clearly, college football is not for the slow, stupid or meek.

To improve teamwork and minimize the distractions of visibility, everyone on a football team is clear about their “main thing” while playing. This sounds so simple. Yet, how many businesses whom purport to think they operate as a team actually know what their “main thing” is? Most employees have a main thing: to collect a paycheck. This is quite the opposite from winning a football game. What is your company’s version of winning a football game? Do you have one?

When a team takes the field, they huddle. The huddle is the way the on-field leader directs the rest of the team. It is a very short meeting. The team then breaks, individuals go to their assigned positions, and then each individual executes according to the plan.

Most companies don’t huddle unless it is an emergency. All too often there are versions of a daily huddle, but they occur in the form of a one on one meeting between supervisor and employee. If the supervisor were to meet with every direct report at one time, it would be more efficient, it would improve communication and it would reduce errors. What is preventing your business from implementing a daily huddle?

Each football team has several coaches. These individuals are responsible for teaching the players the fundamentals of the game. Strategy and tactics are drilled. The players are honed into condition to play a mentally and physically exhausting competition by a coach who understands what the competitive playing field is.

Football teams devote massive amounts of time to practice, with the goal of allowing each player to improve their individual and team skills. Unfortunately in business not enough time is actually given over to practicing skills as a team. Instead, there are meetings and then each individual is usually responsible for improving their own set of skills. Even when an organization officially encourages employees to better themselves, most people opt out. What can your business do to encourage more practice to make the employees better at what they do?

If you were to compare your organization to a leading football team, how would you rank in terms of level of teamwork? How strong is the concept of teamwork beyond everyone getting a paycheck with the same company name on it? Have you established a reward system for both the team and for every individual? Have you defined what winning is for your business? Does your business and each department have a “main thing” or does everyone do their “own thing?” Does your business have daily huddles? Are employees at every level being coached or are they being kicked? Do you hold practice for people to learn and improve their skills? Or are people on their own to determine what and how they should improve? Are you being the best coach possible? These ten questions are given to you to improve how your team operate.