The Smart…the wise and the foolish

Who wants to be the fool? Well my definition of a fool would be someone who repetitively makes the same mistakes, or at least someone who falls into a pattern that does not generate constructive results. With that in mind, at home, I act quite foolishly…at least to my wife.

Well in business, it is easy to make those same mistakes, making decisions that never move us forward. These patterns are easier seen by an outsider with an unbiased perspective. Hence the need for a coach or a business advisor.

There is a saying that fools do not learn from their mistakes while the smart ones learn from their’s. The wise ones, however learn from the mistakes of the fool, the smart as well as from themselves. Sometimes that is from pure observation with insightful analysis. Most times, wisdom comes from experiences. Experiences comes from making mistakes. Mistakes comes from the act of doing. That is why a commander in chief would take advise from a general that has been in battle over someone that merely studied the military arts. Sun Tzu obviously does not fit that mold. That is why he is controversial. But generally, we are more eager to learn from those that have done it or have seen it done over someone who has read about it. (more about why this is so on a later blog)

So do wisdom come with age? Not necessarily. I believe that wisdom comes from observation, analysis, and making good decisions. In many cases, these “good” decisions has come at a cost. While the fool chases his tail around, the smart one eventually will learn from his mistakes and become wise. Sooner or later, that smart guy/gal would realize it is much less costly to learn from the mistakes of others. So he wises up.

In other words, mistakes are good, just learn from them. And sooner or later, others will learn from you. There is an artist I love watching many years ago which I have started watching recently with my daughter. His name is Bob Ross. His famous saying is…”There are no mistakes, just happy accidents!” Got to love that…and his hair!

So what does an Executive Coach do?…cont.

What can I expect as results?

There are no guaranteed results in coaching. It is not unlike hiring a coach for an athletic team. One possible outcome is that the executive may realize that in order to move up, they need to move on. That is a risk an organization takes when they invest in the coaching process. However, any leadership training or career development provided by an organization can facilitate the same decision. It is important to remember that although this may be the case, the occasional “separation” of an executive after the investment is offset by the increased value to those that remain and continue to add value back to the company. That is why companies continue to invest in their most expensive asset…their leaders.

The best coaches are successful because they recognize that the coach-client relationship is a “customized” relationship that is tailor fit for each client.  I noticed this when I taught martial arts.  My students were most successful when I recognized that each needed to develop differently, work at an individual pace, and learn the individualized skills that would serve them best.  I taught each based on what they wanted to achieve.  Unlike many established martial arts systems, we had no belt ranking system.  Instead we viewed martial arts as an on-going process of learning, and developing our individual strengths to their fullest potential. This should be the case in a good executive coaching relationship as well.  In fact, the more you learn, the more you should realize that you need to continue focusing on the basics: sharpening specific core skills; developing new problem solving approaches to address old problems when current efforts are not working. One of the many emphasis would be reducing frustration, eliminating burn out, identifying root problem and helping/developing other “leaders” within the organization.

So then, who should you hire?

There are three criteria that are essential to working with a coach.
1. Broad life experience (successes and failures, good and bad)
2. Character (Trustworthy and dependable)
3. Honesty (Speaks the truth and is willing to hold you accountable)

So what does an Executive Coach do?

I have had the question posed to me many times, “What does an executive coach do?” and “How can they help me?” With the increased pressure in the workplace to generate fast results, executives have had to turn to those who can help them develop professionally…executive coaches that can help advance their careers and develop their leadership skills. One reason is that coaches provide honest, constructive and unbiased advice. They can help develop leaders while they are maintaining their day-to-day responsibilities so that they can act much like a guided missile…adjusting in real time based on the feedback and guidance of a coach. Given the right situation (I will address this in future post), this one-on-one interaction with an objective and unbiased third party can provided executives with a focus and perspective that cannot be found anywhere else.

The question is, then, “When should I consider an executive coach?” Leaders are in the position to lead, empower, and help those they lead grow. They do so by providing feedback and guidance. But once they get to a certain level, who then provides them with those things? Many of those leaders become increasingly isolated, and many will plateau in critical interpersonal and leadership skills. To avoid such stagnation, coaching, in my opinion, should be considered at any time for every executive. It is particularly effective in times of change, such as a promotion, or developing potential for promotions, or when the company is facing a challenge such as a turnaround situation or rapid growth. It is also important to note that using a coach has no bearing on whether you feel confident in facing a challenge.

There are over 330 professional consultants, business advisors and executive coaches on 88owls with10 or more years of work experience to help companies and their executive. However if you have any questions, you can ask here.

To outsource or not to outsource…

Well, I am writing this blog because it has been bugging me for weeks now. I recently had a very brief conversation with a consultant.  He felt his mission was to help the companies he advice only do business locally.

Really?

Is that a good strategy? This sentiment is not without its followers.  But as consultants, he should realize that the reason he has a job is because it is being outsourced to him.

The second an entrepreneur hires an employee or gets a partner, they are outsourcing. When they hire their accountant or attorney, they are outsourcing.  That is because someone can do it “faster”, that’s right, faster than they can.  Not better, just faster.  I personally do not think my attorney can do a better job than me.  I could get a contract together.  BUT it would take a whole lot more time!  I could spend the next few years learning about accounting or book keeping or law before I start me business…then I would not have to outsource, I would keep everything internal/local.

Surely that is not what he meant. I understand where he is coming from. We buy our beef, chicken and vegetables whenever we can from local farmers. The down side is you have to buy like 1/4 or 1/2 a cow at a time and store chicken in freezers like a small restaurant (thank goodness for good neighbors). The reason for that decision is health and knowing what is in those animals.  Now regarding that consultant’s mission, I believe it is flawed and if I am his client, I would not be for long.  There are three main things to consider when outsourcing/delegating/off-shoring. They are Time, Quality and Price.

Companies should be defined by one of them. That is whether they are known for their quality (customer service, quality of their products, their precision, exceptional taste etc), or their ability to do things really fast (convenience stores,  1 hour photo shops, vending machines),  or their low prices (dollar stores, mega discount retailers, box stores). You know a company is doing real well and will dominate their sector if they can excel in two areas such as having low price and good quality. This company will have it’s turnaround time suffer and will find it hard to compete there if their customer wants fast delivery.

What about a company that can do all three you say…well, that would mean they can do it really fast, really cheap and maintain a high quality. When I come across that, I see an entrepreneur in his garage making a custom product for his friend, selling it at a loss and staying up all night tinkering on his invention…excited that a friend actually paid for his creation.

The key to knowing where in the diagram you should be is to know where your customers are and to make the necessary financial analysis to determine when, where, how, how much, to whom etc.

It is admirable to want to keep jobs locally. I think if that is the wiset decision, then you should, otherwise, find the right person (perhaps an employee, perhaps it is a consultant), the right company (IT, SAAS, Telecom, design firm), right country to do what it is your company needs done. After the proper analysis, it might very well be his clients need to do all their business locally, but without a thorough analysis, no company would ever know.

For me, everything is outsourcing. I am off to outsource my grocery shopping to my wife…be right back!

A growing demand for consultants in our Region. How about yours?

I had the privilege of being among other regional consultants interviewed for this article. In today’s economy, it is more important than ever to be able to “see around the corner”.  People who have been there and done that are more in demand because there is no room for mistakes. These mistakes are quantified in terms of time and money.

88owls is all about that.  By helping companies find the best resources to take their company to the next level, it focuses on providing companies with only experienced consultants, those with ten or more years of experience. Recently, it launched a question and answer forum where businesses can ask questions and initiate discussions.  The unique aspect of this QandA is that only members are invited to answer to eliminate spamming and meaningless discussions that are nothing more than blatant self promotions or looking for people to connect with them.

If a company knows what kind of consultant they are looking for, they can try the real time, interactive search function and find the perfect match within seconds.  That is whether they are looking for a strategist or a subject matter expert. They can narrow by industry, function or skillset.  Even by location or company size.

I am happy not only because 88owls is getting so much press lately but because we are able to get our name out and ultimately helping companies and consultants.  88owls will be launching a bunch of other resources that is tailored to helping companies make wiser business decisions in the coming weeks. Bookmark this site and recommend it to other businesses.

You can read the cover article from page 8-15.

A growing demand for consultants in our Region. How about yours?

I had the privilege of being among other regional consultants interviewed for this article. In today’s economy, it is more important than ever to be able to “see around the corner”.  People who have been there and done that are more in demand because there is no room for mistakes. These mistakes are quantified in terms of time and money.

88owls is all about that.  By helping companies find the best resources to take their company to the next level, it focuses on providing companies with only experienced consultants, those with ten or more years of experience. Recently, it launched a question and answer forum where businesses can ask questions and initiate discussions.  The unique aspect of this QandA is that only members are invited to answer to eliminate spamming and meaningless discussions that are nothing more than blatant self promotions or looking for people to connect with them.

If a company knows what kind of consultant they are looking for, they can try the real time, interactive search function and find the perfect match within seconds.  That is whether they are looking for a strategist or a subject matter expert. They can narrow by industry, function or skillset.  Even by location or company size.

I am happy not only because 88owls is getting so much press lately but because we are able to get our name out and ultimately helping companies and consultants.  88owls will be launching a bunch of other resources that is tailored to helping companies make wiser business decisions in the coming weeks. Bookmark this site and recommend it to other businesses.

You can read the cover article from page 8-15.

Walmart Sustainability Index Means Big Business.

Walmart’s sustainability assessment offers both a huge business opportunity and a potentially huge environmental business. Walmart suppliers will likely find opportunities to wring inefficiencies from their operations through the process of assessing their environmental footprints, while a bumper crop of consulting and accounting firms is springing up to help suppliers navigate the journey.

by: By Tilde Herrera – Greener World Media

If you are a consultant you might want to check this out.  It is going to be the next gold rush.  If you are a business, you need to be careful as well…  Tilde states…

He compared choosing a consultant to picking a doctor: Do your homework.

“I would caution companies that there are a lot of people coming out of the woodwork who may not know what they’re talking about, but are well intentioned,” he said. “Any time you have a gold rush … “

Well said, I think if you have been positioned well, now is the time to cash in.  Consultants! It’s time to help companies succeed! If businesses and consultants need to discuss this, we have a new forum where you can network with each other.

To your success!

"I cannot look at you without picturing you in a pig costume"

I have been watching the show called “Shark Tank”.  It is aired on ABC about entrepreneurs pitching their ideas before 5 VCs. I believe there is a BBC version called the  Dragons Den. Every episode features an entrepreneur that gets the “truth” from Kevin O’Leary.  If you want to hear from someone that is ready to dish out the absolute truth within minutes, he’s your guy.  If I would to pick a VC to work with in that group, it would be Robert Herjavec.  If these VC like the ideas, they have to put in all the money the entrepreneur is asking for.  The exciting part is hearing them negotiating for the equity.

These guys/gal are all very intelligent, experienced and successful. Robert would still give you the truth like Kevin if you listen carefully but he is much more gentler.  He would be the ideal guy for me to pitch ideas to. He would let you know what he thinks without making you feel like you are the most retarded person in the universe.  I beleive they have him and Kevin in there to balance each other off.  Tonight they had a little showdown. Kevin’s view is always, money has no soul and it is all about the money/business etc. Robert is more empathetic to the human side of these entrepreneurs and to their sacrifices.

Tonight, Barbara Corcoran told one of the guys, Fred “I cannot look at you without picturing you in a pig costume”. Oh my, I cringed…When Fred left, she said on national TV that the guy actually dosn’t need the costume, “he just need the ears”! I had to spit out my coffee. I could not believe my ears.

Anyways, I see so many of these guys go up without proper preparations. Proper planning prevents particularly poor performance. 88owls just launched a free Question and Answer forum that only allows experienced consultants to offer advice and suggestions to business owners.

BTW, I loved the guy selling “element bars”. He stood up to the VC and survived! You can catch some of the previous episodes here.

"I cannot look at you without picturing you in a pig costume"

I have been watching the show called “Shark Tank”.  It is aired on ABC about entrepreneurs pitching their ideas before 5 VCs. I believe there is a BBC version called the  Dragons Den. Every episode features an entrepreneur that gets the “truth” from Kevin O’Leary.  If you want to hear from someone that is ready to dish out the absolute truth within minutes, he’s your guy.  If I would to pick a VC to work with in that group, it would be Robert Herjavec.  If these VC like the ideas, they have to put in all the money the entrepreneur is asking for.  The exciting part is hearing them negotiating for the equity.

These guys/gal are all very intelligent, experienced and successful. Robert would still give you the truth like Kevin if you listen carefully but he is much more gentler.  He would be the ideal guy for me to pitch ideas to. He would let you know what he thinks without making you feel like you are the most retarded person in the universe.  I beleive they have him and Kevin in there to balance each other off.  Tonight they had a little showdown. Kevin’s view is always, money has no soul and it is all about the money/business etc. Robert is more empathetic to the human side of these entrepreneurs and to their sacrifices.

Tonight, Barbara Corcoran told one of the guys, Fred “I cannot look at you without picturing you in a pig costume”. Oh my, I cringed…When Fred left, she said on national TV that the guy actually dosn’t need the costume, “he just need the ears”! I had to spit out my coffee. I could not believe my ears.

Anyways, I see so many of these guys go up without proper preparations. Proper planning prevents particularly poor performance. 88owls just launched a free Question and Answer forum that only allows experienced consultants to offer advice and suggestions to business owners.

BTW, I loved the guy selling “element bars”. He stood up to the VC and survived! You can catch some of the previous episodes here.

Too busy being lazy?

We all know what laziness is. Or do we?

This is from Dictionary.com

1.  averse or disinclined to work, activity, or exertion; indolent.

2. causing idleness or indolence: a hot, lazy afternoon.

3. slow-moving; sluggish: a lazy stream.

4. (of a livestock brand) placed on its side instead of upright.

But this evening I heard another one. No doubt many of you may have heard this before. “Laziness is not doing what needs to be done when it needs to be done”.

You see, in the workplace, it is quite easy to be lazy – all you have to do is to be busy or at least look busy.  I recently met with a consultant, David W. Denny. He has a tagline I really like.  It is “Never Confuse Motion with Progress … “. We have one at 88owls that is part of our work values.  It is “Be effective before being efficient”.

It is all about doing the right thing with the emphasis on “doing”.  As the owner of your business (company or consultancy), are you busy being busy or are you doing the right thing, doing what needs to be done without ANY excuses whatsoever?  We at 88owls also have another value we hold dearly.  It is “Executing without excuses”. These and a few more are what holds us accountable and enables the 88owls team to work remotely and to focus on a result only work environment.

If you are a business advisor, are you able to spot laziness? How do you set goals and milestones to prevent this “laziness”? How does the environment foster mutual accountability in order to stem this problem? How are you able to encourage your clients to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done? Are you able to recognize the red herring technique and the phantom urgency excuse? And as a business owner, are you able to recognize when your employees and consultant is busy being busy?

As a parent of 6, I see that kids can master laziness without any formal training.

Allan: Why haven’t you done the dishes?

Child: I was in the bathroom…(my mom use to say that lazy people make frequent bathroom trips)

…you get the point.