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Frozen with Indecision

July 24, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Yesterday, I spoke at the Women Business Owner’s monthly luncheon for a panel focused on driving a growth oriented business in a difficult economy. The Women Business Owner’s group meets at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle on the last Thursday of the month and exists to “propel resolute women entrepreneurs to embrace their fullest vision of success”

The panel primarily focused on the realities of doing business in an economy with sticky credit markets (banks aren’t lending without lots of hoop jumping), scared customers (people aren’t spending money because they’re worried about stability), and jumpy vendors (vendors are requesting pre-payment for orders when typically Net 90 would have sufficed).

Some really great advice came out of the panel discussion:

1. Run the numbers – Assuming you can find a bank to lend to you, don’t take money that you’re not 100% sure you can pay back. Funding losses through a credit line has never been wise and it’s especially unfortunate in our current economy.

2. Keep an eye on the Cost of Goods Sold – Watch your margins. Don’t sell for a loss. You’re not Wal-Mart and can’t afford to have loss leaders.

3. Marketing matters – Ignore social media at your peril. Reach out to customers any and every way that they will have you.

4. Don’t cut across the board – Foolish companies cut across the board. Really foolish companies cut where their customers notice. Be strategic with your cuts thinking 2 to 4 years ahead of time.

5. No one is going to save you – If you’re waiting for your white horse & handsome prince to come in and look at your books, tell you what to do and hold your hand through the whole business process, Dede Henley told us, ‘Don’t hold your breath. He’s not coming.’ Take charge of your destiny. Learn how to run your company. Do the stuff you don’t want to do. Find a mentor to guide you through the rest.

6. Action Matters – My strong belief and the message I tried to convey is that action – any action – is better than no action. Do not look out into the world at large and fret about things that you cannot control (the economy, peak oil, rising sea levels etc…). Focus on the things you can control in your sphere of influence.

You can take charge of your destiny by creating a small business that you build one customer at a time. You can take charge of your quality of life by committing to a fitness routine. You can take charge of the depth of your relationships by committing to authenticity and deep connection with your family and friends. You can take charge of how you react to outwardly disappointing circumstances.

If you want to have a great business in two years, what steps do you need to start taking right now to create a stable and predictable sales cycle? Do you have your Big Hairy Audacious Goal (a la Jim Collins)? Have you broken it down? What are you doing right now, today, to make sure that you’re successful and rising above the rest in the future. Don’t be frozen with indecision. Take small baby steps until you reach your first workable goal. Then, just like a mountain climber going from camp to camp, start putting one foot in front of the other until your next goal is achieved. You can do it. The secret to success isn’t a secret at all – it’s try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try, try again. And then, try some more.

Don’t be a time manager, be a priority manager. Cut your major goals into bite-sized pieces. Each small priority or requirement on the way to ultimate goal become a mini goal in itself.

–Denis Waitley

I’ve posted many blogs on setting and achieving goals. You can review them all here.

Simple is Good. And, it Works.

June 22, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

A very wise friend of mine (Ms. Erin Baker from Baker’s Breakfast Cookies) recently shared one of her secrets to keeping on track and on target with goals.

A notebook and a list.

It’s that simple. Ms. Erin plans out her day every evening before leaving the office. She estimates how much time it will take to get something done fills out her day, via the notebook and the list.

She says that if she can’t get it done, it doesn’t go on the list. And then, she stays focused, going down the list and checking things off, not getting distracted. If it wasn’t important enough to get on the list to start with, it doesn’t need to be

done – not that day at least.

I’ve tried various productivity methods (‘4 Hour WorkWeek‘ and ‘Getting Things Done‘) and they haven’t quite worked for me. They don’t have quite enough flexability for my zany, madcap work flow.

But, I do need something to keep me in line or else the ‘zany’ takes over and nothing productive really gets done.

The list is working for me. I’m on my 2nd Chronicle Books Hammerpress Notebook (love it!), try to use special pens (pink, bright green, fun colors!) and derive immense satisfaction when I cross something off the list. The concept doesn’t have a book to explain it and there’s no daily blog to explore it. But, simple is good. And, it works.

Lynda Applegate on Thriving

June 15, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

I recently attended the Women Presidents’ Organization annual conference where Lynda Applegate (professor at Harvard, author of numerous books) spoke on how to not only survive but THRIVE in this economy. Her main premise was that small companies can really take advantage of this economy because of how nimble we are. I took the following notes during her presentation. They’re a bit choppy but all still excellent points for coming out of this recession strong.

In order to thrive in this economy, we need to execute on three things:

Stabilize – shore up cash flow, make sure processes are solid, reaffirm pricing models. One way that we’re doing this at Bramble Berry is to look over all of our sourcing to make sure that we’re getting the best pricing we can on everything. And, of course, we renewed our line of credit to make sure we have ready access to capital.

Strategize – focus on the essentials but don’t let opportunity pass you by, ruthlessly execute strategy. One way that we’re working on executing our strategy is by developing new lines within our existing company. Look for an announcement about a creative flanker line debuting mid July from the Bramble Berry family.

Innovate – try new things, be an industry leader (within reason. Don’t neglect your core business while innovating). We took this to heart by purchasing the Heavy Duty Mold line and are now manufacturing soap molds from a warehouse in Bellingham.

The key question for any small business right now is “How do I take control of my business and how do I stabilize?” This is no time at all to be reckless. There is tremendous uncertainty out there and none of it is really known. Cutting without strategy is not the answer. If all you do is cut fat, then muscle, then bone, you will not be prepared to come out of the crisis healthy. You don’t know what to cut unless you’ve thought ahead to say “Where are these opportunities going to be?” What if you lay off your staff only to realize that the economy is bright again but you can’t take advantage of those opportunities? As you think about the opportunities, as you stabilize, be sure you are strategizing at the same time and continue to build your business with precision and focus.

Innovation during this time is going to be critical. “You cannot fix the economy by throwing money at it. It is not a money mess. It is the failure of sustained innovation.”

New leaders often emerge during crisis: 18 of the 30 companies in the Down Jones Industrials were founded during an economic downturn.There are opportunities for those with cash still in this market. However, this can bring another issue up: buying on a whim.

Don’t buy anything just because it’s cheap! Do not ever buy businesses just because they are cheap. It’s like shopping at a discount store and there are discounted stuff on the table and you pick something out and go “I don’t know what I’m going to do with this but it’s SO cheap!” And then you never use it. Don’t buy things you don’t have a clear plan for.

Crisis helps focus business and drive efficiency. It is much easier to teach values of frugality, sacrifice and patience to employees, partners (and your children) during this time of turmoil.

By running your business better, you will start to build more recognition by the fact that you’re a survivor. People will start to flock to you.

If you sit here waiting on the sidelines, you’re going to miss the biggest opportunity of your time. Whether that opportunity is to really lead your company and make it stronger and build your brand around the fact that you’re a survivor, whether you’re seeing those adjacent opportunities, whether you’re cutting back so you can get strong At all times though, keep your eye on why you’re doing what you’re doing, on your strategy. What’s the medium term positioning that’s going to help me think through where I’m going and how do I play defense to make sure I’m strong in the back?

Getting Your First Line of Credit

June 1, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Bramble Berry’s line of credit came due last week and I’ve been diligently working to get the paperwork together to renew our line of credit. This morning, the line of credit was renewed at terms I was pleased with.

Why a line of credit? You can use personal credit cards to finance your business but it gets expensive. Credit cards charge around 9% (for those with extraordinary credit!) to 22% interest rate. That’s an expensive way to finance your business. A line of credit from the bank will be anywhere between prime +.5% to prime + 2.5% (depending on your creditworthiness). Right now, you can get a line of credit for around 4.5% interest. No matter how you look at it, that’s less than your credit card.

Also, lines of credit come due once a year. Ideally, you should be utilizing your lines of credit actively and paying your line of credit down to $0 many times per year. However, it does not come ‘due’ monthly like a credit card, leaving your cash for when its convenient for you to pay the line. One caveat: a line of credit is not meant to finance large capital expenses (like a new vacuum forming machine or forklift, for example). Credit lines are meant to augment your normal cash flow situation.

For example, if you get a big order from a national chain and the national chain offers you ‘Net 90’ terms (meaning, they will pay you for your order 90 days after receiving it), you will need to find a way to order all the raw materials, make the product, ship the product and then wait the 90 days to get paid. Most small businesses do not have that kind of cash on hand.

A line of credit will help you through this cash flow crunch more cheaply than a traditional credit card.

What do you need to receive a line of credit? To get a line of credit, the bank wants to know that you have a business plan, assets to back up the line of credit and strong financials. You’ll want to go to the bank that you have your business (and/or personal) accounts with. Make an appointment with the Business Center or Business Banker to discuss a line of credit. Hopefully, this is not the first time they have seen you. Ideally, you have been dropping off care packages to them every quarter or at least every year to make sure the bankers know who you are.

To establish your first line of credit, you will need:

1. Three years of personal and business tax returns. If you don’t have three years of business returns, it’s okay. Bring three years of personal tax returns.

2. A personal asset sheet. This is a document that lists all of your assets (bank accounts, stock holdings, cars, properties) and all of your liabilities (mortgages, credit card debt, notes payable to friends or family). Even though Bramble Berry is established and has a strong financial history, the bank still asks for my personal asset list every year because ultimately, they want you to personally guarantee the money they’re lending your business.

3. Your business plan. It’s okay if you don’t have a business plan right now. You will need one to show to the bank. Don’t be surprised if your banker also wants to come see your studio in action. Our banker visits our warehouse routinely to confirm that the inventory we claim we have is here, to make sure that things are operating like I say they are and to keep our relationship up-to-date. If you don’t have a business plan, here’s the link to a simple series I designed on writing a business plan for you to get started right away.

4. A well rehearsed, confident answer on why you need a line of credit. Banks do not give lines of credit to be nice, because you think you deserve one or because you suspect you have a great plan. Just as luck favors the prepared, so do bankers.

I was turned down a few times from large, national banks before a local bank finally took a chance on me. So, if at first you don’t succeed, try again and keep going to smaller, more local banks until you find a bank that is excited about your business, your plans for the future and wants to work with you.

It’s up to you to have a business plan that makes sense and is bankable. No bank, no matter how local, will just give you money because they like you. You have to maintain a compelling reason for them to keep lending to you. That’s why lines of credit need to be renewed yearly – to ensure that the business rationale for lending to you remains the same. I make sure to keep that relationship working well by meeting with our bank quarterly to update them on our profit and loss, any new business plans and drop off bars of soap as a ‘thank you’ for their trust in me and the Bramble Berry family of companies.

As you grow, a line of credit is essential to your repertoire of tools for success. Start working on establishing one today.

Putting Fear in its Place

May 22, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

As you move forward on your journey from where you are to where you want to be, you are going to have to confront some of your fears. Fear is a just a natural part of living.

Whenever you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there, there’s usually some fear involved. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams.

Confronting your fears is a very necessary step in achieving success.

There is simply no other way.

Fear can be a helpful emotion, as it tells you when you need to be extra careful, keenly aware, and cautious. Fear is not an emotion that is telling you to stop. In fact, it’s telling you just the opposite!

Acknowledging your feelings of fear helps you know when you are stepping out of your comfort zone. It points your awareness to areas where you could improve and grow.

Successful people also feel fear. Yet they don’t let it get in the way of anything they want to do–or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. They have learned, as author Susan Jeffers suggests in her must-read book, to “Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway®.”

Fear is more of a signal that we should stay alert and cautious. We can feel fear, but we can still move forward anyway.

Think of fear as a 2-year-old child who doesn’t want to go grocery shopping with you. Because you must buy groceries, you’ll just have to take the two year old with you. Fear is no different. In other words, acknowledge that fear exists but don’t let it keep you from doing important tasks.

Also realize that so many of our fears are self-created. We might frighten ourselves by fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might peruse or experience. Luckily, because we are the ones doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones who can stop the fear and bring ourselves into a state of clarity and peace by facing the actual facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.

If a fear is too great for you to overcome, try breaking it down into smaller challenges.

Try starting out by doing the parts of the project that don’t scare you so much. You need to give a speech in front of a large group? Try giving your speech in front of a small group of people who care for you. Work your way up until you are able to feel the fear but still move forward. As you do you will build your confidence and eventually you won’t feel fear surrounding those issues because you’ll have done them enough to count it as a skill.

As you move toward your goal, don’t attach yourself so much to the outcomes.

Keep moving toward your dream doing everything you can to create what you want, then let it go and see what shows up. Sometimes the universe will have a better idea in mind for you and present a better opportunity when you were expecting something completely different. Don’t let fear keep you from moving forward. Even if the horrible outcome that you imagined happens, the universe will always provide for you another way to succeed. So be on the look out!

Trust that no matter what occurs, you are smart enough and strong enough to keep looking for, and attracting, opportunities.

If you are willing to try new experiences in spite of your fears, then more new experiences will present themselves for you to try. And the more you try, the more you are likely to succeed!

Jack Canfield, America’s #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you’re ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Bite-Sized Chunks

May 18, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Don’t be a time manager, be a priority manager. Cut your major goals into bite-sized pieces. Each small priority or requirement on the way to ultimate goal become a mini goal in itself.

–Denis Waitley

If you missed my post last year about breaking down your goals, click here to review it.

"Not Martha" Shout Out

May 16, 2009 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Not Martha is a blog run out of Seattle Washington that I just love! Since 2001, Megan has shared her “Martha Stewart caliber” ideas and tutorials including baking and cooking, stuff to wear, temporary home improvements and of course, everything for holidays and parties.

Not Martha has been mentioned by Fred Flare and Daily Candy and was called one of the Coolest Websites of 2006 by Time.

Check out her FABULOUS blog (really, you must)!

Megan recently gave Soap Queen TV a shout out on her blog.
Thanks for the kudos!

Read the post here and check out SoapQueenTV here.

Jazzercise & Finding Your Beat

April 27, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

“You should never edit one dream. Never edit. Just go for it!”
Judi Sheppard Missett

Judi Sheppard Missett, the founder of Jazzercise, spoke to the Women Presidents’ Organization on its last day. In fact, she was the last speaker of the entire conference and she brought the event to a fitting, high-note, close. Wearing an adorable silver skirty leggings outfit thing (the photo doesn’t do it justice), she dominated the stage, at times leading us in group exercise to bring points to life.

This is Judi’s musical trilogy for success:Bass is passion
Cadence is change
Melody is mind, body, spirit connection

Her premise is that life and success is analogous to music. First, there is the building block of the bass line. For Judi, this is passion. She exhorts that you must have a passion for what you’re doing. You should get up every morning with that kind of fluttery exciting feeling that happens when you’re anticipating something great. She says that’s this is what passion does for you – it gives you that opportunity to feel the butterflies of excitement every day. I was lucky enough to take a Jazzercise class from her at the conference and can attest first hand that she loves what she does.

During her talk, she went on to explain that when you are passionate about what you are doing, you can dream great big fabulous dreams – and orchestrate them because passion helps you to work really hard and helps you crank up the proverbial volume. When you need to be able to put in an extraordinary effort, if you’re passionate about what you do, it doesn’t seem like work. Passion helps you listen to your gut, your voice of truth. Just like the base beat keeps the music on target and tuned in, that’s what passion does for you. It helps to keep you excited, motivated and on target.

The next building block in music is its cadence and tempo. Cadence gives you cues, messages, signs and signals. You need to be aware of life’s cues and opportunities and be aware for changing messaging and signals. When you get results that don’t match what you were expecting, the clues (the cadence) help you to modify. You have to do things differently if you want different results. You have to want to change.

Finally, the melody helps to bring everything along in a smooth and predictable pattern. You get the melody in your life by maintaining your mind-body-spirit connection.

According to Judy, the keys to maintaining this melody in your life are: surround yourself with people that lift you up. Kick out the negative and don’t allow anyone to bring you down. Create a family culture in your work so that you enjoy and care for those that work with and around you. Improve your mind by challenging yourself. And of course, the rockin’ healthy, 60ish year old grandmother strongly advocated fitness as part of a healthy life. She said, “Strengthen the body – practice well being through exercise and nutrition. Get enough sleep. Eat things in their natural state. ”

Finally, to keep your melody going, make room in your life for spontaneity. Leave room in your life for serendipitous happenings. (Random aside: I totally took her advice yesterday and spur of the moment, went to go see the Mt. Vernon Tulip Fields by bike. Expect pictures later this week) Don’t become so rigid that you have no fun doing what you do. You won’t even be aware when things pass you buy if you are too rigid. In addition, practice gratitude. Every day Judi makes a gratitude list from A to Z. This outpouring of gratitude makes Judi want to share and give back. She strongly believes in the power of ‘giving back’ and suggests that you try to make a difference in someone’s life every single day. Proving that she walks the walk, she has raised $26million for charity (WOW!)

She closed with the exhortation: “Be brilliant and absolutely humble.”

Success is a combination of three things:

Idealism
Realism
Plain old hard work

Learn more about Jazzercise at their site here or read more about the background of Jazzercise and Judi’s rise in building a $93million/year business here.

T. Boone Pickens on Energy Indepdence

April 25, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

“Start being informed about energy. Read everything. You need to assume responsibility for energy. We all do.” T Boone Pickens

Greetings from Day Three of the Women Presidents’ Organization. T. Boone Pickens is here talking about energy Independence and his rise in business. His manner is chatty and personable. It’s clear he feels very comfortable with a microphone and is good at playing to crowds.

My take-aways:

Never discount luck for your success

A strong support system is imperative for success

America uses 25% of all the oil produced in the world with 4% of the population. Much of this oil comes from unstable regions or unfriendly governments. This is not wise.

Begin with the end in mind. For example, he planned to elevate energy independence into the Presidential debates after getting little interest from George W. Bush.

A new energy plan will be passed by August.

Pickens spoke passionately about luck – a factor that he credits to his very existence after he was delivered via emergency c-section by a surgeon that had only seen photos of it in a book. He also mentioned how imperative having a strong father was in his life.

Pickens quickly moved into what he is truly passionate about – reducing America’s reliance on foreign oil. He told many anecdotal stories (including one that was “off the record”). One that was on the record was his story about meeting with both presidential candidates to talk to them about our energy situation. Both candidates met with him and both listened thoughtfully. One thing that stood out about both meetings was that after meeting with Obama, Obama asked T.Boone “Do I say things about energy that make you feel uncomfortable?” T. Boone told him that his reliance on the idea of car battery cars wasn’t enough. New energy plans coming out of Washington DC have more wind, solar and natural gas in them and do not just rely on plug in cars as a fix-all. HR1835 is now in the House which includes Natural Gas in the bill and there is another plan working its way through the Senate.

You can find out more about the Pickens Plan, energy issues and educate yourself on his site here. Or just watch his videos at YouTube here.

Opportunity, Possibility, & Living Your Best Life

April 23, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Guest Blog by Melissa McCreery

Recently, someone told me about an opportunity she almost missed because it had never occurred to her that the thing she wanted to do was possible. Her story was a good reminder that sometimes, if we are not looking carefully for the opportunity, we miss it entirely.

When we are busy and trying to get a lot done, it’s easy to fall into a mindset that limits our outcome and our opportunities before we even begin. Far too many times we set our expectations by thinking about what we’d be “okay with” instead of by thinking about what we really truly want. We got locked into a mindset we call “practicality” and eliminate possibilities because we assume that we don’t have the keys to doors that we aren’t even sure are locked. In this “practical” mindset we eliminate possibilities without even considering them because they don’t seem like the most likely outcome or because we don’t have a clear idea of how we would make them happen.

If we approach a situation focused on what isn’t possible, what we can’t afford, or what probably won’t occur, if we narrow our expectations because of our weight or the economy or our age or anything else, we are almost guaranteed to have a very different outcome than if we approach a situation with our dream outcome–our ultimate vision in mind.

If we don’t allow ourselves to think about what we really desire, it’s easy to live in a world that is limited by our preexisting baseline or by the expectations others may have previously helped us set. That prevents growth.

If we don’t allow ourselves to explore what we really want, sometimes we miss incredible possibilities. In contrast, when we start a project with a vision of our dream outcome in our mind, it’s not unusual to find that the path is NOT totally blocked and even that the door opens more easily than we thought. Sometimes we actually find that door wide open.

Going after a dream instead of pursuing the most practical version of your goal will likely also increase your energy, motivation, and willingness to persevere as you work through any difficult challenges along the way.

Here are two questions that can help you tap into more possibilities and can help you shift from “practical” to “open to possibility.”

Tuck these questions inside your brain and practice asking them to yourself:

What do I really want?

And what would I do if anything was possible?

Melissa McCreery, PhD is the founder of Enduring Change Coaching (http://www.enduringchange.com) and creator of the online Weight Loss Winner’s Circle (http://www.weightlosswinnerscircle.com) where she helps members stay on track with their eating and weight loss goals, stay out of overwhelm, and thrive.

Steps to Character

April 20, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

From the book, “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey

I’m reading this book for my Mastermind Business Book Club (affectionately dubbed the “Personal Development Book Club”) and one of the points that struck me in my reading last night was a longer, more expanded versions of one of my favorite phrases:

“How you do anything is how you do everything”.

The quote from the book is:

“Sow a thought, reap an action;
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.”

Happiness – Day Nine – The Challenge

March 31, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

This post is part of a multi-day series on fostering happiness in your life. Day Eight is here.

I’ve neglected this series with all the traveling I’ve been doing lately. This is the final day in the Happiness Posts. I hope you’ve enjoyed this longish book review.

Happiness as a Gift

“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars,
or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”
– Helen Keller

Happiness, it seems, is a living thing. The particular way in which we think and act can determine a lot about how happy we are. What we focus on, in the past, present and future, makes a big difference to our happiness.

Happy people focus on the good things in their past rather than the bad things. They tend to be grateful and forgiving and they don’t believe that the past determines the future. In the present, happy people take pleasure in life, in their relationships, in their surroundings, in their day-to-day activities and in their work. Looking at the future, happy people are basically optimistic. If things don’t turn out, they readjust and keep going. They recover from bad things quickly and expect good things. They move forward.

“I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.”
— Winston Churchill

Happy people are generally positive, cheerful, pleasant, optimistic, upbeat. They see possibilities. They neutralize or sidestep strong negative energy forces. They are healthier not only mentally but also physically. And, you can have this too! You need to be systematic about building your happiness framework by:

Day 1- Decide to be happy. Happiness is a choice.
Day 2- Foster close relationships.
Day 3- Focus on a larger purpose.
Day 4- Move purposefully towards your goals.
Day 5- Find quiet, targeted time to reflect. Make “slow” time.
Day 6- Challenge and excite your mind.
Day 7- Work out five days per week & eat a clean diet.
Day 8- Feel grateful & focus on the positive.

When we are happy, our happiness is contagious. Our families and friends and community benefit from our good spirits, our optimism, our humor, our laughter, our ability to look on the sunny side of life. Don’t you want this for yourself? Add any two of the ideas above to your routine for 30 days. In 30 days of mindful practice (for whatever your choices are), take an honest look and see where you are on your happiness scale. Did you move up? If you did, consider adding another framework and another happiness “best practice” until you work your way completely up the list. Won’t it feel good to look back at the end of 2009 and realize how many positive changes you made in your life?

Mark Twain: “Whoever is happy will make others happy.”

Sarah Ban Breathnach: “Now be reassured. Optimism…can be learned. Start today with a little experiment. Smile at everyone you meet.”

Key Things an A-Team Needs

March 27, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Yesterday, I was privileged to hear Jim Collins speak on how companies go from Great to Irrelevance. One of the key factors for building a world class organization and keeping it great is the people.

Jim shared his key insights into what an A-Team needs. This is from his upcoming book (coming out in May), “How the Mighty Fall” and he gave me permission to share it with you.

1. You know the person is a great fit for your team when they fit with your core values walking in the door. You can train for skills. You can’t train for values.

2. They don’t need to be tightly managed. The moment you feel the need to micromanage an employee, you know you’ve made a hiring mistake.

3. The right people understand that they don’t have a job – they have responsibilities.

4. The right people do what they say they will do. They are accountable in every action.

5. The right people have window and mirror maturity. This means that when something goes wrong, they look in the mirror and say “I’m responsible. Here’s what I will do to grow and change.” When things are good, they point out the window and share the success and accolades with their team. They look outside of themselves to share the praise and recognition.

6. They think that what you do is really cool and believe it is a privilege to work for you.

Everything kept coming back to the people and the team you surround yourself with. Another nugget I really appreciated from his talk was this one. He ended his talk with something the great Peter Drucker told him: “Stop worrying about your survival, your success and start worrying about how to be useful.”

Your Profession Is Not What Brings Home Your Paycheck

March 22, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Your profession is not what brings home your paycheck. Your profession is what you were put on earth to do. With such passion and such intensity that it becomes spiritual in calling. –Virgil