One minute wisdom

From one of my favorite spiritual teachers/ writers, Father Anthony de Mello:

"Plunge into the heat of battle, and keep your heart at the Lotus feet of the Lord"

BatchBook: Blue Paper: Social Media for Small Business

BatchBook: Blue Paper: Social Media for Small Business

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Tom peters... 48 pieces of advice for small business

I came across this from Tom Peters..... wonderful advice and thoughts.... love them... I trust and hope that Tom Peters is pleased with having them republished on my blog....

Tom Peters
22 February 2009
Queenstown New Zealand

The Heart of Business Strategy: 48 Things That Matter

We usually think of business strategy as some sort of aspirational market positioning statement. Doubtless that’s part of it. But I believe that the number one “strategic strength” is excellence in execution and systemic relationships (i.e., with everyone we come in contact with). Hence I offer the following 48 pieces of advice in creating a winning strategic that is inherently sustainable*:

• “Thank you.” Minimum several times a day. Measure it.
• “Thank you” to everyone even peripherally involved in some activity—especially those “deep in the hierarchy.”
• Smile. Work on it.
• Apologize. Even if “they” are “mostly” to blame.
• Jump all over those who play the “blame game.”
• Hire enthusiasm…Low enthusiasm. No hire. Any job.
• Hire optimists. Everywhere. (“Positive outlook on life,” not mindless optimism.)
• Hiring: Would you like to go to lunch with him-her. 100% of jobs.
• Hire for good manners.
• Do not reject “trouble makers”—that is those who are uncomfortable with the status quo.
• Expose all would-be hires to something unexpected-weird. Observe their reaction.
• Overwhelm response to even the smallest screw-ups.
• Become a student of all you will meet with. Big time.
• Hang out with interesting new people. Measure it.
• Lunch with folks in other functions. Measure it.
• Listen. Hear. Become a serious student of listening-hearing.
• Work on everyone’s listening skills. Practice.
• Become a student of information extraction-interviewing.
• Become a student of presentation giving. Formal. Short and spontaneous.
• Incredible care in 1st line supervisor selection.
• World’s best training for 1st line supervisors.
• Construct small leadership opportunities for junior people within days of starting on the job.
• Insane care in all promotion decisions.
• Promote “people people” for all managerial jobs. Finance-logistics-R&D as much as, say, sales.
• Hire-promote for demonstrated curiosity. Check their past commitment to continuous learning.
• Small “d” diversity. Rich mixes for any and all teams.
• Hire women. Roughly 50% women on exec team.
• Exec team “looks like” customer population, actual and desired.
• Focus on creating products for and selling to women.
• Focus on creating products for and selling to boomers-geezers.
• Work on first and last impressions.
• Walls: display tomorrow’s aspirations, not yesterday’s accomplishments.
• Simplify systems. Constantly.
• Insist that almost all material be covered by a 1-page summary. Absolutely no longer.
• Practice decency.
• Add “We are thoughtful in all we do” to corporate values list.
• Number 1 force for customer loyalty, employee satisfaction.
• Make some form of employee growth (for all) a formal part of values set.
• Flowers.
• Celebrate “small wins.” Often. Perhaps a “small win of the day.”
• Manage your calendar religiously: Does it accurately reflect your espoused priorities?
• Use a “calendar friend” who’s not very friendly to help you with this.
• Review your calendar: Work assiduously and mercilessly on your “To don’ts.”—stuff that distracts.
• Bosses, especially near the top: Formally cultivate one advisor whose role is to tell you the truth.
• Commit to Excellence.
• Talk up Excellence.
• Put “Excellence in all we do” in the values set.
• Measure everyone on demonstrated commitment to Excellence

New Business Health Check Survey now online

As some of you may know I have been working for the past year and a half with the other founding members of the Institute of Small Business Coaching to create and formalise the Peak Performance Business Coaching Program.

All of us are really excited about the outcome and the program and all of our clients have noticed the impact of it during the last 1.5 year.

One of the components of the Peak Performance Business Coaching Program is the new and improved business health check survey tool, and I have just managed to get it online on my website here

Feel free to go and have a look at it and take the survey why don't you.... when you do I will send you back a nicely presented 1 page report and graph that will show you quite clearly where the strengths and challenges in your business are. You never know, it might give you some pause for thought...

Any feedback is gratefully accepted as well of course.

Drop me a line or call me if you want to have a chat about it.

Have a great month.

And by the way, I am getting really serious about all the social networking options that are available now.... come and follow me on twitter for example at http://twitter.com/coachbusiness or lets get connected on linkedin...click here for my profile and I am also experimenting with weird things like Plaxo and Squidoo and Twine and more... Soon I am going to put up some videos on Youtube as well...

"Putting Small Business Owners back in Control of their Life and their Business"

See you in the brave new world soon.

Warmest,

Roland Hanekroot