What's Impeding Your Progress?

When it comes to defining what is impeding your organization’s progress and holding back your people from realizing all that they are capable of achieving, Ralph Waldo Emerson summed it up as well as anyone ever has.

His observation was that “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine.”

As human beings, you and your people have the innate ability to simply get in your own way. All too often, the biggest obstacle that is holding back your people in their life and work are their own self imposed limitations.

As a leader it is your direct responsibility to bring out the best in your people. In like fashion, you are also charged with the additional responsibility of improving performance, productivity and efficiency.

Yet, just like your people… You as well struggle to keep up with the demands of the day and allow your own self imposed limitations and bad habits to impede your personal performance.

A few years ago in his popular comic strip Pogo, cartoonist Walt Kelly poked fun at this aspect of life while at the same time addressing the matter head-on when Pogo said to his troops “We have met the enemy… And he is us!”

The continued forward progress of your organization is dependent on two primary prerequisites; leadership that can engage and people that are capable of achieving peak performance.

People only achieve success when there is someone to show them how to succeed and subsequently provide them with the support and encouragement that they need in order to succeed.

Concurrently, your people need superiors who lead by example, for it is by the specific example of demonstrating the organization’s standards for excellence that will provide your people with their most powerful source of influence to do the same.

Albert Einstein aptly addressed this process when he stated “Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means.”

While your organization has great potential, it will never get to the next level until such time as its leadership addresses the obstacles that are currently impeding the organization’s progress.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank | All Rights Reserved.

One Chance To Get It Right

The recent difficulties associated with the flawed roll-out of the Affordable Healthcare Act should serve as a stern reminder that your organization or business has both a responsibility and an obligation to the customers whom you are privileged to serve to get it right… the first time.

Regardless of the products that you may sell or the services that you may render, your organization’s #1 job is to render them with excellence. As they say in the cookie business… You can’t allow your work to go out “half baked”.

As you know only too well, it’s tough out there in the New Economy. And just as important is the fact that it is more competitive out there than ever. Your organization simply can’t afford to take a cavalier attitude about anything thing that it does.   

When was the last time that your organization really took the time to identify exactly how many ways there are for your potential customers to have some form of contact with your business operation? Believe me when I tell you, that there are far more points of connection than you may realize. The same thing holds true for your organization as it does when you personally meet someone new, as there is only one opportunity to make a first impression.

It’s important to realize that you’re never going to make the sale at the time of your first contact. In fact, the latest research states that on average it takes nine contacts with a prospect before he or she makes the decision to do or not do business with your organization.

While you won’t have the opportunity to earn your prospect’s business at the time of your all important first impression, you will definitely have the opportunity to lose their business in those first few seconds of your initial contact. It may be as simply as a broken link on your website or a staff member who doesn’t have their game face on that particular morning.

You’ve heard me say this before and I’m going to say it again… because it’s important. What ever business you think that you are in, you’re not. Your organization is first and foremost in the people business. Secondarily, you are in the relationship business. You need customers who are more than merely satisfied. You need customers who are going to be genuinely “loyal” through the years. And that can only occur if you and your people are willing to invest in the process of building long term mutually beneficial relationships that stand the test of time, service and competition.

Otherwise, prospects and customers will continually come and then go. The result outcome will be that your organization will ultimately plateau and then fail to grow any further due to customer migration.

Several years ago, one of the national accounting and consulting firms performed a research study on customer satisfaction. What they were surprised to discover was that 88% of all “satisfied” customers were willing to switch to another company for just about any reason. While the issue of price was not the prevailing quantifier, 80% of satisfied customers indicated that they would do business elsewhere next time for a lower price.

If your organization is going to truly capitalize on its opportunities to develop meaningful customer relationships, then you must first define “who” your ideal customers are, “what” it is that they want, what their “needs” are and exactly what it is that they “expect” from you. When your organization and your people learn how to appropriately respond to the wants, needs and expectations of your ideal prospects and customers -- You will stand a far greater chance of building customer loyalty and solid relationships that can stand the test of time.

In the event that you’re not convinced of just how critical this issue is in the New Economy, then consider the following fact:

On average, U.S companies currently lose 50% of their customers every 5 years.

Secondarily, your organization would also be wise to consider the observation of the Gallup Organization of nearly ten years ago, which stated that “Regardless of how high a company’s satisfaction levels may appear to be, satisfying customers without creating an emotional connection with them has no real value.”

The only way your organization will ever make an emotional connection with its prospects and customers is the day that the organization commits to creating customer relationships that are based upon “value”.

Until then, your prospects and customers will have no other way of quantifying their relationship with you except to default to the age old measurement of “price”.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.

Embracing Change

The single most important role of leadership is determining the future direction of your organization.

In such capacity, your responsibility as a leader demands that you properly align organizational structures, people and processes. The ever present challenge that most often impedes this essential leadership function is the lack of clarity about the leadership skills that are required to actually effect organizational alignment.

There is a very distinct difference in the leadership skills that are necessary to develop a sound strategic plan for the organization and those which are required to actually build organizational culture and manage change.

As market conditions, economic conditions and trends change… The functionality and direction of your organization remains in a constant state of flux. Resultantly, the objectives and goals of your organization will as well constantly be evolving.

In that the wants and needs of citizens, businesses, vacationers and consumers are constantly changing, it is incumbent upon your organization to be positioned to respond appropriately. This continual change will ultimately impact your organization’s functionality, direction and organizational alignment.

When leadership is immersed in the day to day operational challenges of the organization, it becomes every so easy to fall behind the curve of change. There are countless numbers of organizations that were once well regarded household names that are no longer part of the business landscape because the failed to keep abreast of change.

Regardless of what is happening inside of your organization on a day to day basis, whether at the end of next quarter or the end of next year -- Your leadership and the organization are going to wind up “somewhere”.

Your organization’s leadership needs to comprehend that the organization is not only traversing market conditions, it is also traveling in time. Consider this concept from the following perspective… Your organization has places that it wants to go in the future.

For example, business organizations want to go to a place where they have increased sales, lower operating costs, new markets, better workers, new products and better equipment.

In like fashion, municipal organizations want to go to a place where they have more visitors, more diversity of attractions, activities and entertainment, lower crime rates, better public safety, better ratings and rankings, a cleaner more attractive city and more convention business.

All of these places that organizations want to go can readily be viewed as goals and objectives. They can also be viewed as critical components of the organization’s mission and vision.

Your organization’s ability to successfully reach these future destinations is entirely dependent on your leadership preparedness to embrace change and maintain proper organizational alignment.

The Leadership Academy… Changing the way organizations and people work, perform and live.

Copyright © 2013 Developing Forward | Thomas H. Swank, CBC | All Rights Reserved.