Governor Elect Dr. Bentley, BBA, and the North Jefferson Area

Governor-Elect Robert Bentley is already working for the North Jefferson area.  If you lodged your vote for a pro-business agenda, you would have been encouraged if you attended the Birmingham Business Alliance Annual luncheon this week at the Sheraton to hear Dr. Bentley, I mean Governor-Elect Dr. Robert Bentley, discuss his commitment to our area.  An intricately woven quote by Lynard Skynard that “Birmingham Loves the Governor,” was an bright attempt to win hearts and minds.  Bentley’s follow up that “You may not always love me, but we will have a good four years full of opportunity,” set the stage for anticipation of good ideas to come.  Even this conservative skeptic is willing to give him a chance. 

 “I commit to you to make Birmingham a better place,” said Bentley.  Well, so goes the North, so goes Birmingham.  Bentley expressed support for the Northern Beltline and promised to make its construction a priority.    In allegiance with our Senators Shelby and Sessions, he remains committed to work quickly and diligently to make our road access a reality.  A quick turn down I65 South and you can see the fruits of all of our labors, that of our Legislators and that of our hard earned tax dollars.  Sharing the luncheon table with me were Mayors McCondichie and Phillips from Brookside and Gardendale respectively, and we were all ears.

Not fading from the issues, Bentley stated that “the role of government is to create a fertile field for jobs to grow, not to create the actual jobs.”  I like the sound of that.  Bentley was humble to recognize that the strength of a leader will be measured by history by the minds that he surrounds himself with in the leadership challenge.  To that end, University of Alabama at Birmingham President, Dr. Carol Garrison, was selected to introduce Bentley.  Per Dr. Garrison, UAB has a lot to gain by a pro business minded leader at the helm.  UAB alone has a half million dollar economic impact on Alabama, and lest you be stymied by that number, please realize that this occurred just in the time that the one hour luncheon was served at this event.  That is a half million dollar impact EVERY HOUR.  Garrison shared that for every $1 invested in UAB, a full $16 impact is realized for the Alabama.  UAB is the Economic Engine for Alabama.  Yes, we need efforts in Huntsville, Mobile and beyond, but UAB is alive and well and doing the job needed to keep Alabama competitive.

Bentley stands out front as one of the first to ask the question, “Did you create a job?”  This is simple, poignant, and clearly significant thinking here.  In an environment with 20% underemployed, and 9% real unemployment, we look to strong leadership on several fronts to include right to work legislation, improvements in our 2 year and 4 year colleges, decisions on tax requirements for business, and please oh please let us not overlook infrastructure improvements to attract business and industry to our area.  Bentley will be well supported if he is a leader that makes strategic decisions, and does not “study the problem to death.” 

Well, how do you do that, and can he?  Echoing his training as a physician, his message was true in its simplicity.  Dr. Tinsley Harrison was his professor in medical school, and a storied and respected physician indeed was Dr. Harrison.  Dr. Harrison, ever the servant leader, would encourage his student to “listen to the patient.”  The patient will tell you what is wrong if you are keen to listening.  Your job then will be to not just examine, but to diagnose and MAKE A DECISION.  When you make your decision, then your treatment will lead the way to strength and improvement. 

It has been my experience that everyone has an opinion after someone makes a decision.  I assess that we are mercifully entering into a time of great decisions and change here in our fair state.  Now is the time to educate yourself, leverage your opinions and become involved in the diagnosis and ultimate treatment choice for healthy growth.

Washington, Your Vote and the Business Next Door

This week in Business has been particularly focused. The Business Council of Alabama hosted noted political contributor, author and speaker, Fred Barnes, for their 2010 Annual Meeting and Luncheon held at the Harbert Center. As a Beltway Boy who also is the Executive Director of the Weekly Standard, Barnes was the usual great choice by BCA to bring cutting edge, real time information to the business community. I look forward to enjoying the signed copy of his book The Rebel and Chief about his behind-the-scenes look at the George Bush Presidency.


Barnes positioned his discussion of the election outcomes by recalling Reagan’s Washington assessment, as an “island surrounded on all sides by reality.” As Barnes noted, you don’t always get what you expect during an election, and this year was no different for many and exhilarating for others. He noted that interestingly our very conservative state of Alabama had similar election outcomes to the very liberal state of Wisconsin. My goodness, New York even picked a lot of Republicans. According to the Hoover Institute, we are indeed a much more conservative country than we were a few years ago and our concerns over healthcare, spending and debt are more important now than ever. This may not be a welcomed message to remind our Washington front office about at this time, but certainly someone has to break them the news. According to Barnes, it is of striking interest that the Republican Party has emerged as the party of “Hope and Change,” and it is incumbent on the party not to blow it.

Barnes posed the question, “Can the Republican Party maintain the coalition?” Time will certainly tell, but a good beginning will be stick to the drivers that business is recommending which are: putting the break on spending and loosen up on the healthcare demands on small business for a good start. Citing Germany as an example, he revealed that not surprisingly, our current economic policies are to the left of many European countries. Germany has unemployment on the decline at 7.8%, and they did it by decreasing spending, decreasing the length and generosity of unemployment, and decreasing the size of government. The big message here that Washington just seems to have a tough time getting the old brain around is that the New Deal did not work. It did not work for FDR and it will not work for the current administration. All it achieves is creating a stronger government power base.

We know the answer, and it sounds easy at least. Tax cuts and incentives work. Just ask any business owner who is trying to keep the doors open. Looking at business founders from across the globe with at least $1 million in annual revenue, Sally Ernst working for Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) tracks their attitude. These are the business leaders whose hiring and layoff decisions are most likely to drive the economy. Her findings are interesting. U. S. businesses were doing more hiring and making more money in the period from May to October 2010 than they were prior to the last Global Indicator Survey, released in May by EO. It seems that business isn’t bad for U. S. entrepreneurs with over half in the survey reporting a higher profit. However, Ernst said, “Things are improving in terms of their businesses although they see things around them as quite dire.” Continued difficult credit conditions and huge uncertainty over whether the U.S. economic recovery can sustain itself have left entrepreneurs worried. Compare this to half of global entrepreneurs who expect that it will be easier to obtain credit in the coming months. A full 57 percent of American entrepreneurs think it will become more difficult to obtain bank loans.

So where are the most excited entrepreneurs in the world today then, if not the U.S.? According to Ernst, we should look to the East. In the Asia-Pacific region, 78 percent of entrepreneurs are optimistic about the economy, 50 percent plan to increase their borrowing, 70 percent have seen profits rise since the spring, 60 percent have been creating jobs for the past year, and 79 percent expect to create still more jobs in the next quarter. And as we have discussed here  before, their Millennial Generation kids don’t mind doing the tough work, are ready to work and less concerned with work/life balance (NJNews 11/13/10).

So what’s a gloomy U.S. entrepreneur to do? Certainly you can look abroad, but let’s not forget to do a little house cleaning here at home. Work to prevent those Bush tax cuts from expiring by contacting your representative or congressman. That would be a nice start. Get informed, stay involved, and remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.

Congratulations, You Get to Keep Your Job.....

The definition of work is changing. Not just the effort of work, but how we feel about the work that we do. Who among us has not gone through, or held the hand of someone who is going through a job correction? Call it what you will be it downsizing, right sizing, realignment, transformation, it still reads the same, “You, Sir or Madam, need to go be successful……somewhere else.” Not pleasant to hear, and certainly even more unpleasant to watch. Just ask the person who is left standing at the water cooler as they watch their colleagues of many years pack up their boxes and move on. I assure you that standing by is no picnic. Only time will tell who the real winner is going to be: The Last Man Standing or the One Who Moved On.


With all of the change in our economy and the recession that just seems to drag on, it could be expressly dim as we move into the holiday season that is if you let it. In my 22 years of industry experience, I have come to learn that there are always pitfalls and challenges in the work that we do, especially when you work for someone else. I also hold empathy for the business owner who has to make the tough decision to let people go, and I am certain the smaller the organization, the tougher that decision will be.

Perhaps you own your own business and work for yourself, but many of you are like me, working for another person or company. While you do not own your own business, you still work for yourself. Think about it for a minute.

I chose several years ago to change my mindset about this arrangement. I reflected on the increasing vagueness of the employer/employee relationship, and chose to instead think of the work that I do as for myself. My current employer just happens to be my best customer. This change in thinking caused something radical to happen, and I call it unleashing your inner entrepreneur.

When you start to own your own work, you become very much the business owner of your work, and your investiture in the outcomes skyrockets. You take calculated risks. You partner strategically. You educate yourself. You begin to work not just in the business, but on the business. The end result is liberation from some of the stress and drama of day to day work life. After all, you are the boss, you own your own work, and therefore you are responsible. Work no longer becomes a place that you go, but a thing that you do. I have written about this idea here before discussing ideas on the creation of your own personal brand, and I truly believe it is important to help others see the value of putting their good name on their work.

The future of work will be radically different from what we call work today, or can really even imagine. In the emerging economy people will get their work done where and when they need to-or want to. Technology all but guarantees availability and access to information for customers at the click of a button. The world of work is being turned upside down by globalization, demographics and environmental concerns. Our challenge as business owners and owners of our own work is to stay responsive to this demand. It is a dynamic, mobile economy and most definitely incredibly challenging. Good thing the rewards are high.

Giving Thanks for Just In Time

“Full enough is a Feast.” How far we have truly managed to come it seems from that autumn day in 1621 where the 53 survivors of the Mayflower had their first harvest celebration meal which was the English custom in that time. We now call this event our Thanksgiving Holiday, and while we will remember it with some type of wonderful feast perhaps and time with family, it has taken on a different spin.


Thanksgiving now is followed most notably by Black Friday to careen us into the Christmas Holiday shopping season. Don’t get me wrong. I love the holidays and I love shopping, but I also LOVE the market economy. There is nothing like the Black Friday battle over endless sales to bring out the real Bulls and Bears so lets visit for a minute on this thing we call the Free Market.

The market economy is one of the basic economic systems in the modern world. When Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations in 1776, traditional agriculture formed the heart of nearly all world economies. As industry began to dominate in the 1800’s particularly in Europe and the United States, Industrialists wanted to control their own businesses. Turning to Smith’s laissez-faire ideas, they pushed for free markets and an end to government interference. Laissez-faire put simply is the doctrine opposing governmental interference in economic affairs beyond the minimum necessary for the maintenance of peace and property rights. The free market, free enterprise, or as we affectionately call it “capitalism”, has at its heart a special trinity of elements. First is the battle of supply and demand, second is the desire for self-interest where producers and consumers only consider their own personal gain when making decisions and third is my personal favorite: competition. Dampen or temper any one of these three elements and you move down the slippery slope to mixed economies. Mixed economies can be seen quite frequently both in foreign and domestic trade where there is a blend of both government and private industry competing to make key economic decisions. Further down that slope is the more centrally planned economy, also known as a command economy or a socialist economy. At this end of the spectrum you will find a decline in not just the quality of goods, but also the availability of goods that you search out. We participate in this everyday from banking to health care to grocery shopping to songs that we download to our iPod.

Pause for a minute to think just how your opinion about the market place has changed since the economy sank two years ago. Call forward what you know about your grandparents and their view of money having lived perhaps through the Great Depression. They most likely represent a spendthrift culture with a high appreciation for being a frugal saver. While our recent down turn thank goodness has not been as bad as that, it has caused a measurable change in our shopping behavior or as Ellen Byron writing for the Wall Street Journal observes, we now have a new name: The Just-In-Time Consumer.

If I asked you to open your wallet, most of you could present some type of bulk shopping club card. For over two decades, Americans bought big, bought more, and stocked up with the confidence that bulk shopping, often on credit, would provide the best value for their money. It seems that this long recession with its high unemployment, plummeting home values, and depleted savings has altered the way that many people think about their future. Consumers are more likely to buy with the thoughts of do I “need it now” and will I “use it up” hence earning the moniker of the Just-In-Time Consumer. There will be a pause before a purchase with consumers asking themselves, “Do I really need this, can I really afford this?” says Thom Bischok, president of global innovation and strategy for Symphony IRI Group.

The lower sales volumes seen of late are attributed to “pantry de-loading.” People are just cutting back on inventory. Ladies, think about how many products you use from shower to hair to make up in the morning and ask yourself if you are now going without a few. Look at your pantry at home to observe that you have fewer product duplications and you stretch out store visits.

Just-In-Time consumption is disrupting long established purchase cycles as consumers buy when they need it, not way in advance. Put simply, we are getting by with what we have and doing just fine thank you very much. Or as the saying goes, “The rich man has enough.” Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

Pick your Ally to Change the Change: BCA, US Chamber, NAM

            Change.  Not just a buzzword during the Presidential elections, but a word that rose to a frenzied mantra.  Now that the smoke is clearing from our  recent mid-term elections, we are beginning to get the clear picture that something really has changed in the collective conscience of the country, and it may not be what some in Washington had hoped for or envisioned.  It would seem that previous to the 2008 elections, it was enough to ask the civic minded person to engage and vote.  Now that is just not enough.  Gone are the days of passive involvement, and trust in leadership whether it would be corporate leadership (with a now 20% approval rating) or political leadership (with a now 11% approval.)  Enter the Watchdog.  Welcome the Self-Advocate.  All Hail the civic minded, highly engaged voter who not only shows up on Election Day, but is highly informed and ready to get involved.  

I want to share this thought with you on the heels of my participation in the recent Committee Days for the Business Council of Alabama (BCA).  Committee days are key to driving the Pro-Business Agenda that BCA supports for our state.  In their commitment to our legislative process, BCA looks to the business volunteer leadership who has led BCA for over a quarter of a century with vision, courage, integrity and commitment.  This weeks Committee days were filled with heavy hitter leadership participation from all business sectors for Alabama.  If your company supports BCA, your organization has taken a serious step toward not only civic engagement, but having personal ownership in driving the drivers of legislation and leadership. 

            Two key speakers supported the Committee days this week, and their messages were on target with the mission of BCA.  In attendance to support this event were Jay Timmons, Executive Vice President of the National Manufacturers Association (NAM) and Katie Hays, Executive Director of Congressional and Public Affairs for the US Chamber of Commerce. 

Timmons spoke to the need for “clearing the bureaucratic brush”.  According to Timmons, American companies want to compete and win in the aggressive war of competition, and do not need to be encumbered by taxes and legislation that is a functional anvil on the backs of manufacturing.  The United States is second now to Japan, but soon to be the highest in corporate tax rate with a cost to do business in the US at 17% higher than other countries.  NAM supports better policies to create jobs and bring us out of the recession, and it advocates for the Free Market System.  Timmons expressed concern that voters are less and less educated on benefits of a free market.  “We will not survive as a service economy alone, and a manufacturing economy born in innovation, advancement and competition is crucial to building tangible wealth and strength for us,” said Timmons.

Hayes gave an election recap with recognition that there is certainly a lot of new blood in office with 13 new senators and 30 new governors.  “The role of the new governors is clearly significant as they work to interpret for the state what is happening at the national level and as well they should,” said Hayes.  As we exit this week from our Lame Duck Session with only one more session this year, there is a lot to accomplish in a very short period of time.  According to Hayes and the US Chamber of Commerce, President Obama must signal openness to compromise.  If the 2001/2003 Bush tax cuts expire, we will experience one of the largest tax hikes in America’s history.  $3.8 Trillion will be placed in the government’s hands only 45 days from now unless action is taken.   There is a lot of legislation in limbo in addition to the expiring tax cuts.  Other business tax provisions that are a priority for businesses are card check legislation, climate change legislation, transportation funding (SAFETEA-LU) reauthorization, discussion of the Debt Commission's budget report suggestions, immigration legislation (the DREAM Act), cyber security bill, trade legislation, and Medicare insurance legislation. 

The list is daunting, but chins up; Washington is listening now and now is our time to change the change.  We are the small-business bloc which is code for the “hardworking voter” or the “everyman.”  It is rare to find a small business person that does not complain about competition against the Big Box Company so here is your word of caution.  Politics is now truly big business.  More money from outside groups has been spent on the 2010 midterms than was spent in 2004, which was a presidential election year.  Don’t think about this as money spent buying votes, but think instead of the broadcasters, publications, campaign ads, event companies, restaurants, and the political consultants that help to bring it all together.  It may continue to be a tough fight for the small business bloc to compete with big politics in this type of financial arena, so square up with some good allies.  BCA may be that great lineman to your business big or small when it comes to the pro-business grid iron.

Millennial Generation: We raised these kids, why can't we manage them?

“We raised these kids, why can’t we manage them,” was the salient quote from the recent lecture by Ron Alsop at the quarterly breakfast meeting provided by the Samford Brock School of Business. Alsop is certainly a noted and long time writer, and you may recognize his name as the business editor for the Wall Street Journal. He speaks frequently on the topics of corporate reputation, business education, and career development, but on this day, we learned about the “Millennial Generation.”


In his book entitled, “The Trophy Kids Grow Up,” Alsop writes at length on his research concerning the dynamic known as the millennial generation. Millennials are young adults born between 1980 and 2001. They are heralded to comprise a full 35% of our workforce in the next three years. Now is the time to appreciate how this huge driver of our workforce has been formed and what they have to offer. But first, take a pause and appreciate how they are different, and it doesn’t take long to see that the differences are marked.

Looking back since the early 1920’s we have seen several transitions in workforce trends. The Traditionalists (born 1925-1945) are clearly some of the most patriotic of our work force. The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are those workaholics like me who take on way too much and wonder why there is so little free time. We love the effort and enjoy the output of our labors. Following the Boomers is the Generation X’ers (born 1965-1979) and they have a trend to tech savvy and latch key independence. Enter now to the workforce and the playground, the Millennial. This group has high self esteem born in the “they all get a trophy” competitive environment. Tech savvy? Please. They are tech savvy, multi-tasking super geeks with limited work place loyalty, but a parallel high civic mindedness. Dutifully watching over their millennial off spring is the seemingly ever present Helicopter parent. The Helicopter parent has been known to not only arbitrage for grades on behalf of their child in high school, but to attend a college interview when the child had a sporting event, and even ask to sit in on a job interview or two. Alsop reported parents that had requested that their travel to their child’s job interview also be covered, and how about an occasional “Parent Day” at work for good measure. This is truly an amazing shift as Alsop reminisced about us Baby Boomers being dropped off for college with a kiss, a wave, and a “see you at Thanksgiving.”

The young millennial in your office or home that are now nine years of age to thirty years of age are a force to be reckoned with as they are driven to succeed, prone to job hopping, and yet have very close parental ties. They seem to be less cynical at work than their predecessors, and because they like their parents, they also seem to like and get along with their managers. They are highly concerned with work life balance, and will take less money in the trade off for more fun. In a world where global competition is the name of the game, we would be advised to keep this in perspective as their Asian Millennial friends report that they are in fact less concerned with work/life balance and are ready to work. Time will tell, but this dynamic may change with work choice scarcity in the current recession for our job hopping, fun seeking employees.

A typical Millennial will state that they look at the work place as a social organization, not just a job, and they need to have fun. They report to be very credentials driven which is not surprising given their high self esteem. This group does not seem to have patience “paying their dues” and are not likely to desire the true entry level job. (It is this writers opinion that this is a great opportunity for the displaced Boomer who just love to work.) This seems to have been born in the environment where the driver is to get into a “good” college and all of the competition that goes along with this. Alsop reported that one parent interviewed had kept a spreadsheet of all their child’s accomplishments since kindergarten for inclusion in the interview process for college. Thus this group views the world as a “meritocracy” where you merit the advancement, and as such they are constantly asking for feedback. The challenge for employers is going to be a big one to retain the talent once you invest in the training of this group. Millennials want to be casual and enjoy work, and they make it clear that their lives come first, and jobs come second. Where did they get this idea? Probably from us workaholic Baby Boomers that give everything to work because “it matters”, only to find out in this current economy, you can in fact not just be replaced, but displaced and the company can do more with less.

There is a saying, “God gave you kids, because he isn’t finished with YOU yet.” This may be worth thinking about as we spend time raising and managing our Millennials.

Skunk works Smells Like Money

Now that we are through our elections,  it would be wise to take a pause and think for a moment about what trying times and the birth of true innovation can look like.  After all, our circumstances are not new.  We need to take a creative pause as well as deep breath and prepare to take a little risk and make some hard decisions about how we view innovation and creative change.  I learned of a term that is new to me, but for many of you reading today, perhaps it is not new to you.  Recall from the early 1940’s a strategy called Skunk works or skunkworks.  

            A skunkworks project is one typically developed by a small and loosely organized group of people who research and develop a project primarily for the sake of radical innovation.  Skunk works was born within the minds of the leadership of the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in 1943 as they were tasked by the United States Government to build a jet fighter to counter a rapidly growing German jet threat.  In one month, based on the request, Clarence L. “Kelly” Johnson and his team of engineers at Lockheed are reputed to have developed a proposal, received a go-ahead with funding, and began development.  A formal contract for approval from the “powers that be” did not arrive until four months of project work had already been completed.  This type of Skunk Work strategy came to be known as the way to move forward with innovation quickly with only a handshake and rolling up your sleeves.  No contracts.  No official submittal process.  No slow meandering “take your time while we analyze this” complacency.  Skunkworks operates with a high degree of autonomy and unhampered by bureaucracy. 

Kelly is credited with operating the Skunk works effectively and efficiently albeit in an unconventional manner certainly.  He broke the rules, challenged the bureaucratic system and unleashed innovation.  End result:  Progress.  Skunk Works then is a small group of people who work on a project in an unconventional way.  The group's purpose is to develop something quickly with minimal management constraints.  Skunk Works are often used to initially roll out a product or service that thereafter will be developed according to usual business processes.

Although people have speculated that the name Skunkworks was inspired by the poor hygiene habits of overworked employees; it was really taken from the moonshine factory in the cartoon series "L'il Abner.”  Lockheed Martin has trademarked the name Skunk Works but they also refer to this type of project by the more formal name "Advanced Development Program" (ADP).  Kelly’s rule for innovation at Lockheed helped turn the face of a corporation answering the call of their country.  Perhaps it can help you innovate as you face the demands of your own business and customers.  Lockheed developed 14 basic rules for running an effective skunkwork.  I have modified them here to fit my general business needs.  Perhaps they will help you too as you innovate and create your own skunkwork for your organization.

1. The Skunk Works manager must be delegated practically complete control
2. Develop strong but small offices
3. The number of people having any connection with the project must be restricted in an almost vicious manner.  Use a small number of good people (10% to 25% compared to the so-called normal systems
4. Keep it simple for greater flexibility
5. Keep the paperwork way down, but do document the important things
6. Check your costs monthly to stay on top of expenses, commitments and what is needed to finish the project
7. Delegate to your project leader and give them greater than normal responsibility.   
8. Inspection and follow up are key, but do not duplicate effort
9. The leader must be delegated the authority to test his final product.  He can and must test it in the initial stages as well.
10. The specifications for the project must be decided immediately.
11. Funding a program must be timely so that the leader doesn't have to keep running to the bank to get support
12. There must be mutual trust between the project organization and the project leader with very close cooperation and liaison on a day-to-day basis.  This cuts down misunderstanding and correspondence to an absolute minimum.
13. Access by outsiders to the project and its personnel must be strictly controlled by appropriate security measures.
14. Reward based on performance and nothing else

The Ultimate Power Hobby and 16.8

The Ultimate Power Hobby and 16.8

Business AdVISE: The Ultimate Power Hobby and 16.8

Business AdVISE: The Ultimate Power Hobby and 16.8: "Writing for the Wall Street Journal this week, Katherine Rosman’s article The Ultimate Power Hobby shared the experience of bankers, lawyers..."

The Ultimate Power Hobby and 16.8

Writing for the Wall Street Journal this week, Katherine Rosman’s article The Ultimate Power Hobby shared the experience of bankers, lawyers and executives that jockey to teach a university class or two. The article nudged me to think a bit differently about something that we have written about here before: volunteerism and work. Rosman’s article discussed the dynamic at colleges and universities whereby high performing, fully employed, and highly engaged professionals are seeking adjunct teaching positions at local colleges and universities. Sometimes this means significant work for very little pay, and many come away donating to the institution much more than they actually get paid to teach. Generally, adjuncts fall into one of two classes of either the professional/practitioner adjunct or the academic adjunct. The professional/practitioner adjunct brings the experience of a successful career and usually is not in it for the money, while the academic adjunct , many of whom have doctorates, are looking for a tenured position.

According to the WSJ, reliance on adjuncts is increasing with part-time teachers making up 50% of faculty at degree granting institutions. (Think about that next time you write your university tuition check!) My father had a plaque given to him for his leadership and teaching responsibilities for Ranger School with the US Army and it reads “Let him teach who himself excels.” In business, as in the military, who better to teach and lead than those that are actually making the real world happen? According to the article by Rosman, professional adjuncts offer students a window on the industry unfolding far from the academic world.

Hmmmm. Maybe there is a bigger lesson here. Maybe, just maybe, the way to get work is to start and stay working, even if it means you don’t make that much in the realm of income, but the experience is the real gain. We know what it means to work, but what about the volunteerism part. And in the spirit of the blended life, is it possible to blend our work with our volunteerism?

We here in the Bible belt are quick on the draw to toss out the idea of donating 10% to our church or charities. What what about your time and talent? I submit that when you try to give 10% of your time that it is really giving until it hurts. How you think about this may depend on if you are a tithe “after tax” or “before tax” thinker. If you are an “after tax” thinker, then you would donate 4 hours of your 40 hour work week, but if you are a “before tax” thinker than you may reach for the 16.8 hours of donated time and talent from the full 168 hours in a week. I don’t know about you, but the thought of carving out two full eight hour days to give away of my personal time seems daunting. But, maybe it isn’t as hard as you think. Take a look at how you spend your time, and you may have some opportunities to go deeper in your volunteerism. And your volunteerism may richly enhance your work. Volunteering with your chamber, helping out with little league, assisting with your church youth group, carving out time for your local Women’s Center, participating in Relay for Life are just a few examples of volunteerism that can tie directly in to your professional day.

I recall from my early classes in physics a very simple law that an object in motion will stay in motion until outside forces slow it down. Are you in motion? With unemployment up, and underemployment up, what are you doing with your time? What are you doing with your “free” time? Make the hours and minutes count.

Alabama Sentator Jeff Sessions and North Jefferson Area

null

North Jefferson Area Growth: Let's Get it Right

null

Business AdVISE: Does Your Reputation Create A Competitive Advantage?

Business AdVISE: Does Your Reputation Create A Competitive Advantage?

Blue Print Birmingham and the North Jefferson Area

I looked for you, but the turn out, “tell us about it” crowd was so huge that I could have easily missed you on Thursday evening at the Birmingham Business Alliance launch of Blue Print Birmingham held at the new Pavilion at Railroad Park downtown. I did see several from our area with previous Gardendale Mayor Clemons in attendance as well as DeWayne Taylor from Alabama Power, and Kara Kennedy of Brock School of Business and our Fultondale Arts Council. Sharing the podium was Birmingham Business Alliance Interim Director, Barry Copeland, Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos and Birmingham Mayor William Bell.

Very cool, very beautiful, and certainly very exciting. I could say all of these words and it would be true, but what I really want you to understand is the role that business, and pro-business agendas play in bringing this type of vision to a crisp reality. The vision, put simply, is that the goal of the Birmingham Region will be to provide abundant economic opportunities, excellence in education, and an unparalleled quality of life for all of its citizens. Sounds like a nice place to live, work and raise a family if you ask me.

Blue Print Birmingham reminds us that we succeed or fail by the success or failure of our neighbors, and of course we all want to be surrounded by good neighbors that are not just successful, but active and engaged partners in our community. Blue Print Birmingham is a road map for Regional Cooperation of seven counties, of which Jefferson is but one, with a collective recognition of our strengths and opportunities. Our strengths have been recognized as health care services, natural beauty, cost of living, southeast location and of course our people. Our consistent top challenges and opportunities include quality public education, government cooperation, and leadership, creation of quality jobs, public safety and the attraction and retention of young professionals.

This road map is a 5 year plan for strategic growth of the greater Birmingham area. Birmingham has awakened to the understanding that it can not work in isolation, but needs the surrounding strength of growing communities in our region to move forward. Perhaps your city is the same. If you call yourself the Greater “Name your favorite city” Anything, perhaps now is the time to look up and around at the strategic partners that are found in the cities right next door. Partnered smartly, they can be your strongest ally. This 5 year plan is very specific with respect to goals for the first year. In the first year, effort will focus on new business, collaboration, and development of capacity for competitiveness, marketing, business retention, and the development of leadership councils. I serve on the Region IV Workforce Development Council, and it has been my exciting privilege to participate first hand in the opportunities that continue to develop daily from this work. Workforce development focuses on the improvement of pre-K to 12th grade education, with the ultimate purposes of growing our own talent. Efforts to accomplish this pull from our region’s two and four year colleges and universities with a heavy focus on making education relevant and pertinent to the learner and marketable and productive to the employer.

Work Force development is but one of the key four pillars of the Blue Print Birmingham. The pillars are 1) Workforce Development 2) Public and Private Leadership 3) Economic Prosperity and 4) Community and Regional Support. Every business person, civic leader, community leader, municipal leader or elected official has a way to plug in to one of these pillars. And you know what, it is just like voting. If you don’t participate, then for goodness sake do not complain. Want to learn more about Blue Print Birmingham? You will find more at http://blueprintbirmingham.com A cousin to this effort is the Greenway Master Plan that is working to connect neighbors, businesses, schools and create a strong sense of community here in the North Jefferson area. More on this to come but you can find information at the http://fivemilecreekgreenwaydistrict.org

Take a look and learn more. If you live in the Fultondale area, or work and live in the North Jefferson area in general, you are a stake holder is this endeavor.

The More Things Stay The Same.......

Our recent remembrance of 9/11 brought back many stories of courage. It is an event in our collective memory that will not soon fade as we recall tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Something struck me as very compelling as I watched the news coverage off and on last week on 9/11. Looking at the economic indicators for 9/11/2010 they were remarkably similar to the benchmarks recorded on 9/10/2001, the day before our attack. The Dow closed on 9/10/01 at 9605.41, and closed on 9/11 of this year a bit above 10,000. Not that far off. People were coming and going to work and school much in the same way that we are doing today.

But there are some differences that are striking though. In 2001, home ownership was common and existed as the primary savings investment of the average American. Financial crisis was triggered then by some business excess inventory or the more typical corporate malfunction or malfeasance. Now it is different. Now the instability is of a different nature. Now 1 in 7 homeowners are at risk of loosing their home. Now we have pervasive mistrust of government and its ability to put us back on track. There is pervasive mistrust of the ability of our fiscal policy to right any looming financial wrongs. According to Mort Zuckerman, CEO of Boston Properties and interviewed on Fox News (9/11/10), “The country has not forgotten. But we have lost our sense of unity. Now is not the time for everyman for himself.”
Listen to Bill Johnson, CEO of HJ Heinz, with his direct, no nonsense perspective on the effects this has on business. According to Johnson, put simply, there remains a lack of consumer confidence. Business is not buying. Business is waiting on concrete, structural change from leadership that will encourage spending. Short term policy fixes just do not work. Look at the 2003 Bush Taxcut effects for example. As businesses knew these cuts would be around 7-8 years, we saw the economy rise. It is not surprise that the economy stalls when there is discussion of removing those cuts. Consumers have basically gone underground and are looking for long term, predictable, sustainable policies. We would be wise and advised to remember this if short term economic stimulus is put into place to put a nice blush on the rose just in time for election only to see it whither and fall as soon as the ballot box closes.

According to previous Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, we are indeed safer because of the Patriot Act and cooperation around the world, but mainly because of the work of individual men and women like you and me. Men and women, who work hard, take care of their families and each other remaining constantly vigilant and engaged. The alert individual, paying attention to the daily details as we have learned, is more valuable than any government agency or watchdog. The big message here: if you find yourself in the next big storm, don’t wait for someone to pluck you from your roof. Prepare for the storm in advance. Now is the time to take inventory of your financial house and work to educate yourself. It is okay to demand more of yourself, and I would submit that it is okay to demand more of our politicians. And perhaps now is a good time for our politicians to demand more from themselves.

And remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.

Your Chamber, BCA, CCAA and The Partnership

We have written here about the strong work of the Business Council of Alabama as their members work to forward a pro-business agenda. BCA is Alabama’s leading business and industry advocate representing nearly three quarters of a million working Alabamians. BCA is able to accomplish this by its partnership with the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama. CCAA and her 124 Chambers of Commerce statewide represent over 60,000 local business owners. I think that you will agree that it makes sense to link up the premier state business advocacy group, BCA, with the richest source of motivated business leaders, the members of the state and local Chambers of Commerce or CCAA. This has been done, and it is known as The Partnership. You may be surprised to know that Alabama is the first in the nation to cultivate this unique partnership between the Chambers of Commerce and business advocacy leadership. What has been created through The Partnership is a highly visible, forcefully active team that works to drive legislation and encourage lively debate while ultimately working to light the candle of accountability on our representatives. And by the way it represents more than 1 Million working Alabamians.

I had the opportunity to attend a leadership event with BCA this week where President and CEO, Billy Canary, announced their publication What If No One Was Watching? This has grown from a summary booklet to a now published book available at your bookstore. The writers document the legislative process, and progress, for Alabama as it affects business. Bookmark the site www.bcatoday.org for timely updates on key legislative drivers that will affect your business. You will find today, right now, a clear explanation of the pro-business impact of decreasing the tax burden on business, the need for secret ballot voting in union elections, the need for education dollars to be spent in the classroom and to support charter schools, the need for tax credits to allow employers to provide health coverage for employees, and the need to implement climate change policy that will advantage Alabama and the Southeast at large for work force development. Pro-Business and high accountability, I sure am glad someone is watching. The bottom line, as stated by Mr. Canary is that “We believe the need to act comes as much because of our economic situation as despite it.” “Our mission is to stand tall for those who create jobs and opportunities for the people of our State,” said Canary.

There is a saying that “all politics is local,” and with organizations such as The Partnership this is made a reality. In the not to distant past most would view our government leaders as distant and removed from our daily concerns, and I believe this has led to the apathy and low participation in voter effort in the past. Now due in part to the speed of information via the internet and the significant human effort by organizations like BCA and CCAA through The Partnership, we now can feel that we are not just able to participate in the process, but eagerly sought out as contributors.

Why should you follow BCA and CCAA efforts? If you are a member of your local Chamber of Commerce then you are very likely already a member by extension of these two organizations. Ask your Chamber leadership to keep you up to date on the BCA legislative bulletins, meetings and events and plug in to this key support for Alabama business. Through this relationship with your Chamber you can sit at the table and have active participation in legislative business development that drives (or may hinder) your business.

Body Language and the Handshake

Attending a recent early morning meeting, I was taken with the abundance of unspoken words. Just looking around the group was a vast array of stance, shifting, hand shaking, eye movements and a volume of language before the first word was ever spoken. The early work in body language is typically credited to Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud, but I think we learn the most from cavemen and poker players. It is interesting science to be sure, but the reality is that we humans have relied instinctively on body language for thousands of years. Cavemen certainly needed body language if for no other reason than other communication did not fully exist. If you have ever played a good game of cards, you can learn a lot by just looking at the movement around the table to see who is bluffing.

Body language has evolved in spite of human tendencies. We humans do have a tendency for lies, deceit, manipulation and pretending. Masking our true feelings just seems to be in our nature. It would seem that body language has evolved as a type of guardian angel to work to keep us at least a little honest. Body language works to help us communicate and resolve issues when the words just fail us.

Darwin’s book The Origin of the Species was far outsold by his other book called The Expressions of the Emotions of Man and Animals published in 1872. In this work, Darwin discusses the six universal emotions of happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise and anger. The general idea is that man’s expression and the ability to recognize them are inborn and universal among people. You could smile in the most lost, remote part of the word, and it will mean the same thing as if you were saying thank you to the waitress at Cracker Barrel. It is a part of human evolved nature, genetically inherited, not driven by social learning and conditioning.

But……As study in this area has grown, we understand that there is a nature and nurture component. Cultural and ethnic differences as well as age and gender, all play into how we understand each other. Think for a moment on the most simple of greeting: The Handshake.

Body language involves consideration of the hands to a very high level, and it is no wonder. The hands have more nervous system connections to the brain than any other part of the body. Tactile sensitivity and manual dexterity are clearly human traits, and we should not take it for granted when we are speaking. How many of you can quite literally say very little should you be forced to put your hands behind your back? We use our hands for emphasis, illustration, conscious signaling and greetings as well as the unconscious signals. Body language research supports the idea that we just say more with our hands than practically anything else. It has been suggested that the handshake evolved to show that no weapon was in the hand, as did the open palm gesture. But a handshake isn’t everything that we may think. While a good, firm handshake is looked for and expected in business, too firm, and you may come across as domineering. A good handshake from a woman today goes over a lot better than the curtsy that we were relegated to a century or so ago.

So what does your handshake say about you? Palm down and you may be a bit domineering. Palm up is too submissive. A two handed shake suggests honesty, but shake my hand while clasping my forearm and you just stepped over to controlling and arrogance.
Who knew that we could say so much while saying so little?

The Eyes Have: Body Language and Business

Let’s visit a bit this week some more on the useful understanding of body language in the terms of our professional conversations. I had several comments of interest to learn more on the topic, so let’s spend some time learning about the eyes.

Our ability to ‘read’ people’s eyes without knowing how or why seems to be inborn. We are able to make eye contact from about 100 to 130 feet away well past the distance where we can really see the detail of someone’s eyes. We can see whether someone is really focused on us or not, and we can detect the difference between the glazed blank stare, the drop dead look, the embarrassed awkward glance or the moist eyes of fighting back tears. When we additionally consider the eyelids, and the flexibility of the eyes to widen and close, and for the pupils to enlarge or contract, it becomes easier to understand how the eyes have developed such potency in human communications. One subtle measure is the widening of the pupils when someone of emotional interest walks into a room.
Eyes tend to look right when the brain is imagining or creating, and left when the brain is recalling or remembering. This relates to the right and left sides of the brain and broadly stated the parts of the brain handling creativity and feelings dwells in the right while and facts and memory hang out in the left. The research behind this is called Neuro-linguistics Programming theory, or NLP Theory, was developed in the 1960s and has its range of skeptics and supporters. In general, NLP delves into the idea that there are patterns of behavior and patterns of thought that underlie them. The research and theory is used today in organizational development strategy and organizational change management. In this example it centers on the idea that under certain circumstances 'creating' can really mean lying. So if a person looks right when asked a question requiring a recall of facts, they may be making those facts up. Or it could mean that the person isn’t really lying, but is uncertain of the answer, and is creatively speculating. Either way it may be good to know that a look right in search for an answer to a direct question means that the person is probably lying or guessing according to this theory. What you really want to see is a direct straight on look with the direct straight on answer.
NLP theory and the Mehrabian's model that we discussed here in a previous article are both seminal pieces of work in understanding behavior, and it's amazingly helpful in explaining the importance of careful and appropriate communications. And like any model, care must be exercised when transferring it to different situations. The idea may not work as cleanly when you consider communication via email, telephone or video conferencing when so much of the communication “package” is eliminated. Imagine how you feel when you receive a text message with a request that is followed by multiple question marks and exclamation points as opposed to a : - ) or the message that you send when you pause a long time before speaking on the telephone. The reader or listener in each example gets the message loud and clear that the sender or speaker is irritated, anxious or impatient. One suggestion here for you is to put a mirror by the phone if you do a considerable amount of phone work to check your facial expression while speaking….you may surprise yourself to see what you are REALLY saying. Here is a suggestion on texting for you too. Don’t do it while driving. Enough Said.Remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will

BCA: Looking Forward to the Business of Business

I was able to attend the 2010 Governmental Affairs Conference hosted by the Business Council of Alabama. With the title of “Looking Forward to the Business of Business,” I knew that it would be time well spent. I was not disappointed, and the opportunity to meet many of our Alabama Legislatures up close and personal was a rare opportunity. Many of our representatives were present, and please know that they are hard at work for all of us here in the North Jefferson area.

BCA remains committed to a pro-business legislative agenda, and the content of this event maintained that position. While key information filtered through multiple conversations, one point was loud and clear, the business community must take a lead in the political arena. The members of the business community create the jobs, not the government anyway, so why would you not step up to the plate. The bottom-line challenge here is to remind business leaders that it is our responsibility to drive the synergy of post-election leadership and stridently remind them of their need to support business now.

The event moved quickly forward with Governor Riley presenting at the breakfast event on Saturday morning. The Honorable Bob Riley reminded the audience of his consistent platforms to seek funding and support for economic development, to reform education needed to prepare the work force, and to seek ethics reform laws which foster healthy, sustainable partnership and growth. The Governor also reminded the group that economic development is grounded in the creation of a product, adding value to that product and then selling it. Making his point that economic development is not gambling, he received strong applause.

I have always been told to begin with the end in mind, and sharing insight into that effort were key note speakers Peter Hart and Frank Luntz. As a leading pollster and public policy expert, Mr. Hart has a legacy of shaping trends and is noted for representing 40 United States Senators and 30 governors. Frank Luntz has been named the “Nostradamus of Polls” and is one of the most honored communications professionals in the country. The end that we should have in mind here is having our chosen candidate win the election. To insure that outcome, we must first step back and understand the mood of the country. As I have written here before, you can not lead where you will not go, and you need to know where you want to end up. According to Hart and Luntz, there are some important feelings a float out here, and now is the time to take note.

Turning on the news you are certain to hear about the oil spill, health reform and the occasional story about Lindsey Lohan, but polls show that the issues of importance are really jobs at 55%, energy and oil at 38%, and a big desire to cut government spending at 29%. Healthcare only hits the radar with 19% stating that it is a key issue, and 44% of those are not happy that Healthcare Legislation has passed. There are a multitude of concerns floating out there that have the attention of the voter base. Think about the 36% that feel the recession will persist another 2 years, or the 33% that are concerned that they may loose their job. If you factor in immigration issues, it begins to get tough to see the end at all.

The mood is very anti-incumbent with 57% favoring someone, anyone, new. About 50% just want a third party and to start up fresh. So many issues, so little time, but one thing is certain, the needle on the magnet is starting to polarize in a big way toward the independents. Just who are these 23% of party neutral new voters? The Holy Grail of voter this year is the highly coveted disenchanted independent voter. Is that you? Even more key, are you the coveted disenchanted independent who is pro-business? Not sure what good pro-business policy looks like? You can find some strong pro-business direction by going to www.bcatoday.org where they weigh in on tax policy, right-to-work, public education, environmental and energy legislation, and common sense health reform that will take care of current problems and not create new ones.

Where is Paul Revere when you need him for a call to action? What we need now is a call to become an informed voter for once and for all. Don’t mark that box or pull that lever or hang that chad until you do a little open minded research on your candidates. And if you don’t vote, for goodness sake, don’t complain.

Remember, stay informed to better take care of your customers, or someone else will.

The next meeting of the Fultondale Chamber will be held for lunch on August 24th with Logan Hinkle, Attorney with Burr and Forman presenting on Health Reform Legislation and how to prepare your business for the impact. Location and sponsorship by the Comfort Suites in Fultondale. Logan is an Adjunct Professor at Cumberland School of Law and teaches a course on ERISA and Employee Benefits. Good Stuff. Please join us. Email to visemedical@bellsouth.net

Does Your Reputation Create A Competitive Advantage?

If I ask you to list elements of your organization that make it competitive you would probably list your product, your sales team, your education, your leadership strategy, maybe your pipeline of products, or your longevity in the marketplace. What about your reputation though? The idea of reputation as a competitive advantage is a fairly new market consideration that has been born in the times of market frustration with governmental and corporate mistrust. We have discussed here previously that marketers are waking up to the awareness that trust is a perishable asset. Distrust of corporations is at an all time high, and that is not good news. “Trust is what drives profit margin and share price,” says Larry Light, consultant veteran with McDonald’s. It is what consumers are looking for, and share with each other.

Typically companies would be categorized into one of several types such as banking, pharmaceuticals, retail, fast food or medical. The goal is to carve yourself out from the category in which you find yourself. It is important to not be one of the masses as a large, faceless entity, but rather to be a distinct company with your own creative presence, personality and REPUTATION. The primary way to keep your organization from moving toward being perceived as a commodity where your market is based only on price is to succeed in building a positive reputation. A positive reputation will allow you to sustain premium pricing. A strong value proposition that includes a good reputation for quality and innovation will allow a company to charge and price goods accordingly.

How do you do this? Transparency in executive pay as well as company performance and responsibility is a good beginning. A strategic effort toward creating a more socially responsible face is key as well. Customers are watching and they are looking for a more altruistic and ethical corporate face. In fact, there is an evolving reputation-monitoring science. Companies appraise a reputation not only on specific values such as trust, esteem, admiration and good feeling but also how the company engages its stakeholders. Yes the products and services are key, but they are evaluated not just in quality but also on innovation, workplace governance, sense of citizenship, and leadership.

. According to BusinessWeek (July 2007), “Sure it looks great to tell the world about your innovative culture or that you are the greenest company, but does this really move the needle with your target customers and investors?” How does reputation effect the bottom-line? While this is early science, a few general connections have been found. The Reputation Institute (Singapore, December 2004) has found that a 5% positive change in reputation translates into a 3-5% change in market capitalization. Indeed, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer in 2006 quality, customer service and strong financial performance drove trust. After the financial meltdown that we have been through it is little surprise that financial performance dropped to number ten on the trust list. The top drivers for corporate trust in 2010 are transparency, honest practices, and high quality products.

Whether you are an AIG or a Ford, a local grocery store, or a neighborhood salon, take a look at the loyalty factor of your employees. Employee loyalty is the only way to insure the health of your reputation. We can not assume that employees are grateful for dodging the last downsizing bullet. With corporate loyalty down, it is not surprising that customer trust is down too. Sylvia Ann Hewlett writes in the Harvard Business Online to “Go Pro Bono to Rescue Morale.” Corporate involvement in philanthropy can help polish your brand and hold on to top talent. As we have written here previously in the Top Ten Ways to have Great Customer Service, you need to partner with your customer in something bigger than just your sales model. Pick a project with your employees and customers in a philanthropic endeavor as a tool to recreate that positive energy that may be dwindling. There are many advocacy groups with direct impact on your bottom-line. Now is the time to roll up your shirt sleeves, jump in with your team and customers and help out.

Public Speaking for the Rest of US

Most people would rather do most anything than give a speech in front of a group. According to The Book of Lists, public speaking is the foremost fear in the world ranking higher than bugs, heights, deep water and even death. For some it just seems to come naturally, but for others there is drama, fear and ultimately brain shut down once in front of a group. Here are some ideas on preparing for the ultimate presentation, whether it is for your work, your church or that big conversation over the dinner table where all big decisions are really made. And remember, fear is a great motivator. To overcome your fear, you should take the time to know more on the topic than you need, practice, practice, practice, and find a way to connect wit your listener.

According to writer and speaker Dorothy Leeds in her book PowerSpeak, here are a few keys to breaking through the first gauntlet for great public speaking: FEAR

1. Admit your fear
2. Tap the energy that the fear produces
3. Recognize that fear is normal
4. Realize that your fear does not have to show
5. See yourself as a powerful speaker
6. See your audience as an ally
7. Speak about something that you care about
8. Combine preparation with practice
9. Devise tricks to psych out your fear (pretend everyone is in their underwear as Winston Churchill would do)
10. Don’t beat yourself up and keep it positive

We all have personal and professional goals, but one of the best recommendations from Leeds book is to make controlling your fear of public speaking a professional project. If you are good at anything from riding a bike to flying a plane, you had to practice and overcome a fear and public speaking is no different. So get out there and find ways to create opportunities to practice.

Poor speakers appear unclear of purpose, unorganized, and may be just too wordy. The audience comes away with that painful, bored to tears look on their face, or worse uninspired to act. Getting better is a lot easier when you realize what good really looks like, so find a mentor or someone to listen to you practice. Here is a note of caution to anyone who wants to listen, and that is DON’T GET YOUR MOM OR SPOUSE to watch you practice for the purpose of critique. What you don’t need is someone to tell you “You did great Honey!” The exception here is my husband who I require to tell me at least one thing to do better or differently. You want someone to really challenge you, to ask you what you think you can do better or differently and really make your speech or talk believable and interesting.

Lastly, take the time to really think and brood over what you want to say. Again, according to Leeds book, Abraham Lincoln was a notorious brooder, but as history shows, it truly paid off. Lincoln would think on his speech for days and keep little notes tucked into his hat. Up until the last moment he would ponder and polish, and now we know “Four score and seven years ago…….”

Women in Leadership: Working with the Good Ol’ Boys

A quick trip down the road to Auburn took me to the Women’s Leadership Institute. The Institute, established by Auburn University, has the distinct purpose of taking a proactive step to close the gender gap found for women in politics, corporate boardrooms, the administration of business and our educational institutions. Keynote speaker, The Honorable Sue Bell Cobb, spoke to the challenges and opportunities for women in leadership, and her significant litany of accomplishments shows that it can be done. Chief Justice Cobb is the only Democrat on the nine member court, and is the first woman chief justice. How did she get there? Not by fighting against the system, but by working within it. Her best reminder of the day, “Qualifications are the only thing that matters.” This is not to say that networking and swimming the channel of the Good Ol’ Boy Club isn’t very important, but that your qualifications will get you in the door. According to Cobb, don’t approach the club by trying to bust through it. You have to navigate it.

Well, how do you do that? First, according to Judge Cobb, “Do more than is expected.” For Chief Justice Cobb that meant working 14 circuits in 40 out of 67 counties. In her words, “Stand for something. Make a decision. Choose your purpose and be unapologetic and outspoken.” As a judge, you must make a decision, which is why you wear the robe. As a leader, you too must make a decision or the effort may founder on the rocks. Her challenge to leaders is to take a stand and be a person of conviction.

Second, seek out support, and seek it out from men who have daughters. What great advice this is! I see this in my own home and family where the relationship between the father and the daughter is a critical gift that helps her define faith, leadership and accomplishment.

Judge Cobb also points out that successful women leaders can cross gender lines. This means that they are able to work with, have fun with, and accomplish much with men and women. Great leaders are people that are not just respected, but liked too. They are uplifting and encouraging. Strong leaders know that anger is useless, and humor is key to building a strong team. This also plays into another important ingredient for a strong female leader. She needs to know how to widen her comfort zone. Don’t get offended so easily and for goodness sake lighten up. The Good Ol’ boys can teach us a thing or two about this, and they certainly know how to have fun AND accomplish much.

But, it is also important to know the difference between friends and allies. No one agrees all the time, even friends. But true friends stay with you thick and thin, and you don’t have as many friends as you think. Most of your “friends” are really allies, and that is okay to know, and more important to understand. Remember, loyalty works both ways, so “dance with the one who brung ya.” No one is successful in isolation. You must remember all of those who helped you to achieve that success.

Leaders must be risk takers too. Whether in politics, running a company, or leading a team, it takes a brave soul. This is a place where women leaders can really shine. We are by nature consensus builders, and this ability can earn buy in to a plan and ownership of an outcome in a solid way. In Judge Cobb’s words, “the rooster crows but the hen delivers.” What does that mean? It means that men tend to vote for the right now. Women tend to vote for the future. They see the vision, the purpose behind the design, and the legacy sought after. Women leaders are therefore vital to sustainability in an organization.

Here is another good tip: Finish what you start. I preach this at my house all the time. No one cares how smart, cute, wealthy or you name the great trait, which you are. If you don’t do something with it, and finish what you start who cares? Judge Cobb asked, “How do you finish a whitewater raft race?” Stay in the boat.

In all, time was well spent on this trip to the Women’s Leadership Institute. The big lesson for women leaders is really quite similar to the words for our male colleagues: find your mentors, set your goal, and seek out partners. Remain full of purpose and conviction, but don’t let that keep you from having some fun. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “I have never wanted to be a man, but I have wanted to be more effective.”

Has it been a while since you attended a Chamber of Commerce meeting? How about the Wednesday morning meeting of the North Jefferson Business League? I had the opportunity to participate with two of these groups this week and in addition to catching up with several of the area business owners and leaders in the area, I learned a thing or two about topics relevant to staying competitive in business today.

The North Jefferson Business League presenter was Dr. Rudy Guess of the Mt. Vernon United Methodist Church. Dr. Guess shared with us some of his research and ideas on the scriptural directives for leadership. Pulling from the Book of Genesis, he relayed the story of the selection of Rebecca as the wife of Isaac. The story of Rebecca if you have not read it lately concerns the visit of a young woman to a watering well in the village. Off in the distance is the servant of Abraham, tasked with the job of choosing a wife to bring back to marry young Isaac, son of Abraham. Unsure of how to discern which young woman to choose, he is feverishly praying for God to help with the endeavor. “Please, God of Abraham,” prays the servant, “If she be the one, let her ask to bring me a drink of water.” As the story, unfolds, Rebecca is the only young lady among the several at the well who asks to bring the stranger some water. The leadership message comes in the next thing that Rebecca does. She offers to not only bring the stranger water (which for those times is customary), but she also offers to water his camels. This is the “goes the extra mile” message that centered on the leadership focus for Dr. Guess. Always a gifted speaker, Dr. Guess made the visit to North Jefferson Business League this week time well spent. We all need a good dose of “going the extra mile” with our customers and staff, and it is refreshing to know that the directive has changed little in 6,000 years.

The second learning event for me this week was at our Fultondale Chamber meeting. This week we enjoyed a visit by two leaders from the US Chamber of Commerce, Moore Hallmark and Patrick Gartland. I have met both Moore and Patrick at previous events sponsored by the Business Council of Alabama and the Chamber of Commerce Association of Alabama, and they agreed to visit with us in Fultondale as we work to grow our Chamber. Whether growing a business team, or a chamber team, Moore and Patrick shared some examples of other Chambers and how they worked to remain strong resources in their communities. High on the list of suggestions was the need to work in partnership with both the State Chamber of Commerce and National Chamber. We are seeking to do just that in Fultondale, Gardendale, and the entire North Jefferson area. The best way to accomplish this is to develop a Government Affairs Team within the Chamber. This team will work on developing policy statements that will position the growth and sustainability of local business, and ultimately can work in partnership with the teams of sister cities in the North Jefferson area. This type of grass roots partnership will help drive outcomes for our legislative and local leadership, help us stay on top of timely and relevant issues to our community, and formulate a supportive infrastructure for government in our community.

The big message from Moore and Patrick was that while it is nice for a Chamber to support events in a town, the real work is to create true value in the area of leadership. Interestingly, 97% of State Chamber members have 10 or less employees
88% of US Chamber members have 10 or less employees. Most small businesses join Chambers to insure that they have a voice, and you can really cement that happening when you join and take an active role.

According to the US Chamber, small Chambers are key to holding people accountable and the focus of a Chamber should be less on the benefits and service, and more on creating value by increasing public policy involvement and working in economic development. Focus on these efforts will work to keep the Chamber of Commerce viable and relevant.

Corporate Survival 101

We may be pulling out of the recession, but the army of workers that you are doing it with in your organization may have decreased dramatically. The “Less is More” strategy or “Do More with Less” mantra may have you feeling like you are on a treadmill of activity that is hard if not impossible to complete. I like to call my business strategy during these turbulent times “Selective Neglect”. It is okay to give in to the chaos, and learn to prioritize very well so that you are doing the right things right, not just succumbing to endless activity. But what happens when the months of endless piling on doesn’t seem to have an end in sight? Many workers have been tackling large workloads for months. How do you keep from loosing your swagger? How do you keep from loosing your get up and go? If routine assignments begin to take on mammoth proportions, long work hours, and relentless deadlines, take some defensive measures to prevent burn out. How do you keep on the strong track to prevent low morale and eventual reduced productivity? First pay attention to the warning signs and be honest with yourself and your coworkers. Do you:

Have trouble getting out of bed and getting out the door
Arrive late frequently
Feel withdrawn and bad about your performance
Watch the clock
Allow work stress to spill over into other areas of your life
Get into frequent disagreements with your manager or co-workers
Feel that you are making little progress in spite of great effort·
If these symptoms sound familiar, it may be time to make some changes. Here are some strategies to help you renew your enthusiasm and get your career back on track:

1. Own the Outcome, not all the workMeet with your supervisor and get a workable strategy with in a reasonable time frame. Try not to be a hero or a martyr here. Delegate and share work with others that own the outcome. Work is always easier and more fun when you share it with your team. Set some timelines and celebrate your victories together too!
.
2. Assess your time management Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day so be smart with your work hours to stay on target. The way you manage your time also can affect your ability to rebound from job exhaustion. Not sure how to do this? Try keeping a diary of where you spend your time at work for a few days and break it into categories. You will probably uncover some real time wasters that you can dismiss and allow refocus for better investment.

3. Don’t Bring me DownThe OZ principles talk about keeping things positive. Do you have an issue or challenge? Certainly bring it up, but make certain that you do it with a solution in mind. The psychology of this is powerful, and it will help insure that you feel in charge and not a victim.

4. Find Your Tonto A common symptom of burnout are feelings of isolation so don’t be the Lone Ranger. I know how much we all like to think that we are indispensable, but if there is one thing that this economy and downsizing has shown us it is that everyone can do more and everyone can be replaced. This is a harsh reality, but good to know. In fact, now may be the perfect time to train someone on the skills needed to work at a higher level and then set some expectations of group performance. Asking for help does not make you a complainer when it is done in the right way.

5. Check out mentally when you need to for some down timeI guarantee the work will still be there when you get back, and yes you will be missed. Use your vacation to recharge. Take a lunch away from your work or desk, get out of the office and walk around. Time away will give a fresh perspective and separate you from some of the distracting minutia that may be causing your stress.

6. Find the FunThis is really the most vital part. Life is too short to work all the time, so put some fun into it for sure! My Team recently submitted their favorite songs that get them motivated and we had everything from AeroSmith to Big and Rich to the Beastie Boys. A Team member downloaded the music, copied it to a Team CD, and now we have music to inspire us when the chips are down. A great team theme may just give you the “Skills to pay the Bills!”

Change is the Only Certainty in Business

“May you live in interesting times,” reads the quote. How true it is to know that we are living in both interesting and changing times that have us emerging from another tumultuous year with the future for many still uncertain. Previously we have written here on the need to not just change, but to seek it out and embrace it to remain competitive. Change is both necessary and possible, and now is the time to go after it in a strategic manner. It is not just the concept of change, but a metamorphosis on such a large scale that your predecessors may not believe their eyes. In my primary industry which is the pharmaceutical sector, there is a fundamental rethinking of market research, the entire industry, and what it now means to be in healthcare. Perhaps the same may be said of your sector be it banking, retail, information or any number of business types and descriptions. In the pharmaceutical world, there is discussion of the role of evidence based medicine and the creation of niche busters, not block busters. For a highly regulated industry such as banking or pharmaceuticals, the need for clear product positioning in the marketplace has never been more important.

According to Jim Kirk of Quintiles, companies need to apply VIGOR to their marketing strategy. VIGOR is valuable, innovative, global, outstanding and responsive. Value means being the keeper of product history and data, as well as bringing value and insight to the market. Innovation means breaking with the status and running after new ways of thinking. Global doesn’t mean just emerging markets and geography, but considers the different potential audiences that may play into your market such as regulators, governments and restrictions to business. Outstanding does mean standing out. What makes you truly unique? Lastly, make the strategy responsive to include faster, smarter, resilient, cheaper, or just plain better.

The challenge remains the quest for understanding your customer at a very high level without emotion and in a service mindset. Looking at the pharmaceutical industry for example, the days of the customer just being the physician are long gone. Now industry marketers must address a plethora of customers in the mix to include insurance coverage, step edits, unemployment coverage, patient access in general to medicine, price and ability to pay, and of course clinical outcomes to name a few. If you work in a regulated industry, the list is most likely the same with just the names changed a bit.

The name of the game has always been and continues to be about efficiencies, and a fine balance between what we want and what we can afford. Are you still running the same studies in your industry that yield the same old results with little insight? Here comes that word CHANGE again. Change the way you ask the question, collect the data, or assess the outcomes. The bottom line goal is the same: Bring the voice of the customer to life. The ability to understand what the customer is doing, thinking and feeling are the only way to drive him or her to a decision and action.

You can't Lead Where you won't Go

Congratulations! You have just been promoted to manager in your organization, and even better, you are now the leader of everyone that you use to work with in your company. Wow! What a challenge!

But, how do you go from being peer-partner to partner-leader? Much of how this transition will play out will be driven by the kind of leader that you were BEFORE you were promoted. No matter where you are in an organization, you are in fact a leader. You may be the Consensus Builder, or you may be the Keeper of the Trust of the team. You may be the Quiet Leader that everyone feels comfortable around. You may be the Status Quo Breaker or the Question all the Logic kind of leader. You may be the “Why do we it that way?” kind of leader. At the end of the day, all are important to a team, but only one person can be the true out front, buck stops here leader when a promotion opportunity comes around. Company management does have a choice to go outside and avoid all of the political infighting that may come from promoting from within, but often you will see a true promotion up from the ranks as a highly motivating experience. In military terms, this “Field Grade Promotion” comes with recognition of leadership and character in adverse situations. Or it may mean that someone got a great offer, and just moved on, leaving a vacuum of leadership. Either way, what a great opportunity for the right person, so let’s take a moment to reflect on what it takes to navigate this challenging transition.

Keeping your team productive and hopeful during a new boss transition can be complex. Forging a workplace partnership is key to developing a loyal and engaged group. No pressure here, but trust in leadership is critical. According to a Gallup survey, people don’t just quit companies or leave because of compensation, they quit people. Getting on the employees bad side may be as simple as not asking for their opinions, not offering good feedback, or putting someone in a role that they are just not prepared to do and for which they are ill suited. People want fact-based praise and recognition for their work. And by the way, NOT scolding is not the same as offering lots of praise.

How do you keep employees from slowly disengaging and turning off? How do you keep them from becoming disillusioned and resigning inwardly? This does not happen immediately, but over the course of time during the routine work week. It is clearly important to keep motivation high.
The motivation level of employees has tangible economic ramifications for the company. In the group of engaged employees, there are lower rates of theft, fewer defective products, fewer work accidents, less employee turnover and lower levels of absenteeism. And those are only the direct costs. Motivated employees also work more productively, are more innovative and more responsive to customers. All these factors serve to increase the company's profitability. Highly engaged and motivated employees are also the ones with an elevated sense of emotional connection to their jobs. They feel valued and empowered.
Make no mistake, people like to work. According to a Gallup survey in Germany began in 2001, people were asked the following question, “If you were to inherit enough money to no longer need to work, would you continue with your job or would you quit?" As many as seven out of ten employees in Germany would not resign despite an inheritance that would provide them a financially carefree life. This indicates the fundamentally positive relationship between people and their work. Even two-thirds of those about to retire would continue working despite a large inheritance.
As you assume greater management responsibility, realize that these skills may not be that teachable. Just like social skills, and how we present our self as leaders, much is learned at the feet of our parents. Like it or not, we are taught how to treat others, and those early lessons may be a wonderful source to pull experience and insight. For others, they may be not so great to pull from in the work place. This is a primary driver behind the “Peter Principle” where a person is likely to be promoted to their highest level of inefficiency. In this respect, the best sales person can also be the worst manager. Selling skills and management skills are two distinct skills indeed.
Bottom-line, congratulations on your new responsibility. Keep your head up and your ethics higher. Seek out a mentor, and train yourself on the skills of leading others. Surround your self with a diverse and experienced team, praise them often, and get out of their way. Some of best leaders, both past and present, were only as good as the team that they were surrounded by in their office.

Leadership for the Rest of Us

I again had the opportunity to hear US Senator Jeff Sessions discuss current affairs and take questions at an event held at Samford University this past week. As before, his insight and clarity of thought have made me seek out additional information as to the drivers behind our economy and what it can mean for small business. As Senator Sessions opined, “We need and welcome healthy, lively debate. What we do not need now is apathy.” He is so right, and as this writer has offered the challenge here on more than one occasion to please take ownership of where you collect your information. Please seek your information out in multiple sources, and preferably in person.

Gathering information in person is invaluable to understanding what someone truly means as you observe their body language with your own eyes, and listen with your own ears. Seeking out your own information to draw your own conclusions can be just the apple to keep the spin doctor away. For example, when it was suggested to Senator Sessions that we are in the middle of a healthcare debate with extreme opinions getting all the attention, and that perhaps the answer to our fiscal crisis and concerns on health care costs will be found in the middle, this is what happened. Senator Sessions stated, “Well we are at a 900 Billion deficit, now. Would you be pleased if we were at 450 Billion?” The clear point made that even the middle was not something that we can afford. More importantly, the statement was made with a small, but confident smile, sharpened with a small lean forward and to the left. No crossed legs. No pause. No looking up into the air. His message was clear. When is comes to United States debt, there is no middle ground at that level.

This message resonates as very important as the impact of the health care legislation sinks into the collective consciousness of small business owners. A level of dissatisfaction is bubbling to the surface as business owners recheck their balance sheet to see what line item needs to be juggled to pay for any potential financial obligations that the health care legislation will impart. The several companies that are now being called on the carpet to justify their dissatisfaction with a personal meeting in Washington will be watched with great expectation by this writer.

Dissatisfaction is a motivator for change, and this is true for not only changing someone’s behavior, but also changing the targets of change. People are more responsive to learning when they are moderately dissatisfied; too little, and they don’t want to bother; too much is paralyzing. Therefore, if you want to increase a group’s readiness to change, you need to manage their dissatisfaction. In Managing People: the R Factor, Allan Cohen writes that often this requires finding ways to increase dissatisfaction and can be accomplished in several ways which are often very intentional. The R factor examines roles, relationships, rewards, and rites and is the strategic and tactical method of cultivating dissatisfaction as a motivator to organizations. The status quo is a killer, and the art of managing dissatisfaction is key to driving our markets today on both the political and domestic front. Open the papers, read your online news, or listen to the TV or radio, and you can see examples of dissatisfaction everywhere. I see it as the primary driver behind the Tea Party movement and the rising expectation of transparency in business and in government. Organizational stress bubbles up when people no longer feel that they have control over their life at work. Pushing through this and leading through the change needed is critical for not just management and but all leadership. This ongoing challenge for management in business and government should be driven by educating to the growth and change needed, not testing the amount of power held or proving the level of correctness.

The answer may be found quite simply in asking yourself, “What are you measuring?” In Total Quality Management (TQM) lingo, don’t just look at your internal yardstick; look at your external yardstick too. For example, if your sales team only measures itself by improving over its own best performance, you may get passed up really quickly. Take a look at how others in your industry are performing too. This goes for government as well. How do we measure up to other states and even countries? This type of self reflection and line of thoughtful questioning may just help keep you ahead of the pack, and out in front of the herd too.

So remember, take care of your customers, or someone else will.