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Creating a Culture of Integrity By Marcia Zidle

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Creating a Culture of Integrity By Marcia Zidle

marciazidle

Recently I asked a leader on The Business Edge what are some of the lessons learned from your years of experience. He answered this:

The Lesson:
You need a high level of personal integrity. As you move higher up in the organization, your actions gain more meaning and impact, so you need to be true to your core, which is shaped by your values, upbringing and business experiences. You’ve got to stick to that core and when you don’t, you can get negative or undesirable outcomes.

My whole philosophy centers on the impact I have on others. I believe it’s important to be honest and to establish trust between management and employees. People follow leaders and if you violate their trust, people won’t follow you anymore.

 How I Learned It:
I once asked a respected leader what advice he’d give to young executives. He said, “Always do what’s right for the company first, what’s right for the work group second and what’s right for you third.” If you practice this, people will never challenge your motives. It all comes back to staying true to your core and having a high level of personal credibility.

How I Pass It On:
Role models need to walk the talk. Many of our jobs have stressful moments where you have to make decisions and sometimes the right decision is more challenging. People are expecting you to do the right thing; you absolutely have to, even if it’s difficult.

Leaders must be accountable and take responsibility for their actions. There might be cases where I am at fault, and at these times more than ever, I have to be transparent and truthful. This neutralizes the situation so that we can focus on finding solutions to the problem.

Smart Moves Tip:
Actions of the leadership will have more effect on how employees behave than any vision statement or corporate policy which tells them how they are ‘supposed’ to behave. Chances are they already know how they are ‘supposed’ to behave. Create a culture of integrity by way of your own actions will have more effect on your people to behave in the way you want them to.

Marcia Zidle, the smart moves executive coach and speaker, is host of The Business Edge  on the Voice America Business Network. The show features the Smart Growth System providing small to medium sized businesses the proper foundation for expansion: a Growth Agenda that becomes their roadmap, a Growth Engine that attracts and engages the best talent and Growth Leaders that make it happen. Marcia, the CEO of Leaders At All Levels, brings street smarts to help businesses get on the right track and not get sidetracked on their path to higher performance and profitability.


Are You Planning to Leave a Legacy or a Mess? By Marcia Zidle

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Are You Planning to Leave a Legacy or a Mess? By Marcia Zidle

succession planning

As an entrepreneur or business leader you want to create a successful future for the company and the next generation of people who will lead the company.  Unfortunately according to David Franzetta, author of Changing Places: Making a Success of Succession Planning and my recent guest on The Business Edge, most fail to successfully navigate the succession and transition process that’s required to have a profitable future.

Given the importance of succession planning to continue the success of the business, it’s a bit surprising that according to the Society for Human Resource Management(SHRM), the number of U.S. organizations with a formal succession plan in place is less that 25%.

Why Do So Many Avoid It?

Again SHRM says, “the number one reason organizations are not developing formal succession planning is because more immediate projects are talking precedence – not surprising given that organizations are focusing their energies on dealing with an uncertain economic outlook.

However, there’s a lot more behind putting succession and transition planning on the back burner than concerns about the economy. Business leaders avoid planning for all of the reasons people avoid change. They opt for the apparent certainty of continuing day-to-day routine rather than planning for an admittedly unfamiliar and uncertain future – hoping things will work out for the best.

Hoping For the Best Is Not the Answer

The best solution to uncertainty is to take some small action and build on it. In other words, start in small doses. Here’s what one of my clients did: The leadership team spent one staff meeting a quarter to answer a key question about the company’s future. Here are some of the questions they focused on.

  1. How are we navigating the company to a promising future? Do we have a clear destination in sight or is it clouded with uncertainty?
  2.  What changes in the business environment can have impact on us – our industry – our region, etc.? Do we need to do a SWOT?
  3. What skills, knowledge and capabilities exist inside the company today and what will be needed for our future in 1, 3 or even five years?
  4. What is our culture today? As we grow or change, does it have to change? What values and

You can develop additional questions that are most relevant for your company. What you want is deep conversation about each question – not let’s get through this as fast as we can. Remember to record the key points and review them at the next meeting before moving on to the next question. The purpose is twofold. Create an awareness and priority for succession planning and keep it on the front, not the back burner.

 Smart Moves Tip

If you don’t know where you’re going, any path will get you there. But the “there” could be “nowhere.” Don’t wait until you have more time, more money, more customers, more of whatever. Start now to focus on succession planning. Otherwise you’ll be leaving your future to chance and who knows where your company or organization will end up.

Marcia Zidle, the smart moves executive coach and speaker, is host of The Business Edge  on the Voice America Business Network. The show features the Smart Growth System providing small to medium sized businesses the proper foundation for expansion: a Growth Agenda that becomes their roadmap, a Growth Engine that attracts and engages the best talent and Growth Leaders that make it happen.  Marcia, the CEO of Leaders At All Levels, brings street smarts to help businesses get on the right track and not get sidetracked on their path to higher performance and profitability.

Make Better Decisions: Avoid These Three Big Mistakes By Marcia Zidle

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Make Better Decisions: Avoid These Three Big Mistakes By Marcia Zidle

Career-Image

Has This Ever Happened to You?

You made a business or career decision that didn’t turn out the way you wanted or hoped for. Sometimes timing was wrong (too soon or too late); or you based it on information that was faulty (the roll-out of a new product line was mired in delays);  or you hadn’t anticipated the unintended consequences of a program change  (customers didn’t like it and went to social media to vent their frustration.)

You’re not alone. All of us have made decisions that we want to take back and do over. But that’s not always possible. Over the years, as an executive coach working with business leaders and managers, I have found that there are three common pitfalls that lead to decision making mistakes.

Which Have You Made?

1. Procrastination: “I’ll deal with that tomorrow- I’m too busy today.”
Here are some examples. You’ve waited too long and missed an opportunity that someone else took advantage of.  Or, since you dragged your feet, the decision was made for you and you’re not too pleased.

2. Impulsiveness: “Let’s just do it” which is the opposite of procrastination.
In other words you decide with your gut. At times we do have to tap into our intuition. However, to make wise decisions, we also need to have facts to substantiate our “gut.” Also we may not truly understand the ripple effects of our decisions. When something changes in one area there are effects in many other areas as well!

3.  Opinions about others: “I know they’re right; I know they’re wrong.”
People have a tendency to overestimate the importance of some individuals or groups. Because we respect and value them, we believe what they say – sometimes not questioning the facts or assumptions. The opposite is discounting certain groups or individuals and therefore underestimating their information. . This is unfortunate since they can provide a different and valuable perspective of what the issues really are.

Here’s How to Make Better Decisions:
It’s time for a pause button. Find someone, like a wise friend, colleague, mentor or coach, who will help you assess the pros, the cons as well as the possible unintended consequences of what you want to achieve for yourself or your business- where you want to go – where want your business to go. Then you can proceed with greater confidence that you’re on the right track.

Smart Moves Tip:

Most of our setbacks are not due to bad circumstances but to our bad decisions. We forget that a decision, big or small, has consequences. Therefore, make sure you are aware of your decision making habits. Do you overestimate or underestimate certain people’s input? Are you really listening to others opinions? Do you keep putting a major decision on hold afraid to make a wrong one? Do you make decisions based on relevant information and by weighing the potential consequences?

Marcia Zidle, the smart moves executive coach and speaker, is host of The Business Edge  on the Voice America Business Network. The show features the Smart Growth System providing small to medium sized businesses the proper foundation for expansion: a Growth Agenda that becomes their roadmap, a Growth Engine that attracts and engages the best talent and Growth Leaders that make it happen.  Marcia, the CEO of Leaders At All Levels, brings street smarts to help businesses get on the right track and not get sidetracked on their path to higher performance and profitability.

Whose Bright Idea Was This? By Marcia Zidle

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Whose Bright Idea Was This? By Marcia Zidle

linkedin-job-seeker-2[1]

Have you noticed that LinkedIn changed it contacts format recently? Am I the only one frustrated by this change? Not really, here are some of the comments from the “Help Forum”.

“As a professional organizer I am horrified at this new change to the LI Contacts channel. I have notes in most of my 500+ contacts–I can no longer even find the notes field! This is awful. What can we do about this?”

“This improvement is as stupid as NEW COKE was once upon a time. (Dating myself here). It would be difficult to sit down and conceive a way of doing more damage to a database.”

“Everyone who has responded to this, thank you for validating the fact that the new version stinks (I was worried that I’d lost my mind there for a bit). My analogy for this new system is that they took a very neat and tidy and large file cabinet and took the contents and dumped it on the floor and said, there you go, now find what you need.”

“Your analogy, described it very well. This change is terrible. I had everything just Perfect, then this awful Change! Horrible decision by Linkedin.”

So what lessons can be learned from this? Here are five change management tips.

1. Don’t surprise!
Managers frequently make this mistake when introducing change. They wait until all the decisions are made and then spring them on unsuspecting employees or customers. The first response, of most people to something totally new and unexpected is resistance and it may be valid.

 2. Rather, give advanced notice.
If you’re going to make changes, let people know ahead of time so they can prepare for it.. For example, they could have advised users to export their list with all the information just in case part or all the data gets lost.

3. Communicate the reason for the change.
Don’t just say it’s a product feature enhancement. Tell specifically how it will make their “experience” better, easier, more efficient. And make sure it does what you say it should do.

4.  Give people instructions or training.
In trying to navigate the new format, I spent a lot of time with little success.  It would have been easier if they anticipated the problems users would face and therefore had a FAQ page available.

5. Do a pilot first with your customers.
Find out all the glitches, the dis-satisfactions, the problems. Then work to make improvements. As someone wrote, “Does no one at LinkedIn do USER TESTING?”

 Smart Moves Tip:
Change is good….except when it isn’t. Don’t get hooked into change for change sake or change because everyone else is doing it. Before making a major change, think it through. Be aware of the ripple effects of change on your customers. In fact get their input before you make the change. It can prevent this kind of fiasco.

Marcia Zidle, the smart moves executive coach and speaker, is host of The Business Edge  on the Voice America Business Network. The show features the Smart Growth System providing small to medium sized businesses the proper foundation for expansion: a Growth Agenda that becomes their roadmap, a Growth Engine that
attracts and engages the best talent and Growth Leaders that make it happen.
Marcia, the CEO of Leaders At All Levels, brings street smarts to help businesses get on the right track and not get sidetracked on their path to higher performance and profitability.

How Often Do You Find Yourself Running Out of Time Part 2 by Marcia Zidle

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How Often Do You Find Yourself Running Out of Time Part 2 by Marcia Zidle

clock

 

For many, it seems that there’s just never enough time in the day to get everything done. Are you one of them?

Did You Take the Time Management Quiz in Part 1? 
What was your score? What elements of time management do you need to work on? Here are the top five with suggestions on how to master them.

1. Goal Setting (Questions 6, 10, 14, 15)
To start managing time effectively, you need to set goals. When you know where you’re going, you can then figure out what exactly needs to be done, in what order. Without proper goal setting, you’ll fritter your time away on a confusion of conflicting priorities. Yes, it does take time and effort initially. Isn’t it worth it if it gets you on the right track and not get sidetracked?

2. Prioritization (Questions 1, 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15)
Most people have a “to-do” list of some sort. The problem with many of these lists is they are just a collection of things that need to get done. There is no rhyme or reason to the list and you go from one task to another.  Furthermore you may be working on the wrong things – the in the face urgent vs. the strategic important. So how do you work on To Do List tasks – top down, bottom up, easiest to hardest?

 3. Managing Interruptions (Questions 5, 9, 11, 12)
Having a plan and knowing how to prioritize it is one thing. The next issue is knowing what to do to minimize the interruptions you face during your day. As a manager you get phone calls, information requests, questions from employees, and a whole host of events that crop up unexpectedly. Some do need to be dealt with immediately, but others need to be managed to minimize your interrupted time.

 4. Procrastination (Questions 2, 10, 12)
“I’ll get to it later” has led to the downfall of many a good manager. After too many “laters”, the work piles up so high that any task seems insurmountable. Procrastination is as tempting as it is deadly. The best way to beat it is to recognize that you do indeed do it. Then you need to figure out why. Perhaps you are afraid of failing? (And some people are actually afraid of success!) 

 5. Scheduling (Questions 3, 7, 12)
Much of time management comes down to effective scheduling of your time. When you know what your goals and priorities are, you then need to know how to go about creating a schedule that keeps you on track, and protects you from stress. You have to create a schedule that reflects your priorities and well as supports your personal goals plus leave room for the unexpected. Control your time and keep your life in balance by reading.

Smart Moves Tip
Time management is an essential skill that helps you keep your work under control and keeps stress to a minimum. Listen to Dana Phillips on The Business Edge and get great tip, tools and techniques to “Take the Pain Out of Time Management!”

 

Marcia Zidle, the smart moves executive coach and speaker, is host of The Business Edge  on the Voice America Business Network. The show features the Smart Growth System providing small to medium sized businesses the proper foundation for expansion: a Growth Agenda that becomes their roadmap, a Growth Engine that attracts and engages the best talent and Growth Leaders that make it happen. Marcia, the CEO of Leaders At All Levels, brings street smarts to help businesses get on the right track and not get sidetracked on their path to higher performance and profitability.

 

 

How Often Do You Find Yourself Running Out of Time Part 1 by Marcia Zidle

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How Often Do You Find Yourself Running Out of Time Part 1 by Marcia Zidle

Surprised business man consulting his watch

Weekly – daily – hourly? For many, it seems that there’s just never enough time in the day to get everything done.

When you know how to manage your time you gain control. Rather than busily working here, there, and everywhere (and not getting much done anywhere), effective time management helps you to choose what to work on and when. This is essential if you’re to achieve anything of any real worth.

Take this Quick Quiz
It will help you identify the aspects of time management that you need to improve. Decide, on a scale from 1 to 5, how well each of the 15 statements below best describes you. Answer questions as you actually are (rather than how you think you should be), and don’t worry if some questions seem to score in the ‘wrong direction’.

(1) Not at All             (2) Rarely        (3) Sometimes         (4) Often            (5) Very Often

1.  Are the tasks you work on during the day the ones with the highest priority?
2.  Do you find yourself completing tasks at the last minute, or asking for extensions?
3.  Do you set aside time for planning and scheduling?
4.  Do you know how much time you are spending on the various jobs you do?
5.  How often do you find yourself dealing with interruptions?
6.  Do you use goal setting to decide what tasks and activities you should work on?
7.  Do you leave contingency time in your schedule to deal with “the unexpected”?
8.  Do you know whether the tasks you are working on are high, medium, or low value?
9.  When you are given a new assignment, do you analyze it for importance and priority?
10. Are you stressed about deadlines and commitments?
11. Do distractions often keep you from working on critical tasks?
12. Do you find you have to take work home, in order to get it done?
13. Do you prioritize your “To Do” list or Action Program?
14. Do you regularly confirm your priorities with your boss?
15. Before you take on a task, do you check that the results will be worth the time put in?

Scoring:
46-75: You’re managing your time very effectively! Still, check the next post to see if there’s anything you can tweak to make this even better.
31-45: You’re doing OK but there’s room for improvement. Focus on key principle of time management and you’ll most likely find that work becomes much less stressful.
15-30: Ouch. You got work to do. The good news is that by improving your time management skills you can improve your effectiveness at work and your long term success! However, to realize this, you need to start now. Don’t procrastinate!

Smart Moves Tip:

As you answered the questions, you probably had some insight into areas where your time management could use a pick-me-up. The follow-up post, part 2, gives a quick summary of the main areas of time management that were explored in the quiz and resources you can use for each. Time management is an essential skill that helps you keep your work under control, at the same time that it helps you keep stress to a minimum. It’s working smarter!

Marcia Zidle, the smart moves executive coach and speaker, is host of The Business Edge  on the Voice America Business Network. The show features the Smart Growth System providing small to medium sized businesses the proper foundation for expansion: a Growth Agenda that becomes their roadmap, a Growth Engine that attracts and engages the best talent and Growth Leaders that make it happen. Marcia, the CEO of Leaders At All Levels, brings street smarts to help businesses get on the right track and not get sidetracked on their path to higher performance and profitability.

 

How Do You Make Your Big Ideas Really Happen? By Marcia Zidle

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How Do You Make Your Big Ideas Really Happen? By Marcia Zidle

Clear-Sense-Of-Purpose

Like many ambitious, forward thinking leaders, you have an idea and want to make it happen. It could be getting a project, a big contract or even a company off the ground. So I asked a group of business leaders who have a track record of success this question:

 What lessons can you share with us about strategies when trying to turn your ideas into a reality?

It was a lively discussion. What I distilled were these common elements-  The 5 P’s of Success – with quotes that highlight the essence of their wisdom.

 1. PURPOSE

“The more solidified intent one has, the more realistic the idea becomes. I would say this is my biggest lesson. You have to be obsessed about the intent. You have to be enthusiastic about the intent behind your goal and ideas.”

“First you must identify what it is that you really wish to accomplish and it should have meaning for you. Ideas are a dime a dozen but if you are not passionately invested in your big idea nothing will ever happen. Most people are lazy or just give lip service to their ideas.”

 2. PLAN

“Don’t over think it. Do your research, make a simple plan and just go with it. Your plan will change as you work your plan and see how the market reacts to your idea. What I often see is analysis paralysis in which nothing really happens.”

“The beginning of a plan for a film is often just telling a story in your head or to someone else. Write it down as a script. Then, storyboard it. Make a trailer, do a budget, etc. It’s the same for anything else. Have a plan with specific steps and work that plan…without it you will get lost in a maze of setbacks, tangents, and confusion.”

 3. PEOPLE

“You can’t do things alone, and you will never accomplish things alone. Look at the iPhone for example. It wasn’t made my Steve Jobs. It was the creativity of several people. Hire the right people – quality over quantity – they will make your business prosper.”

“Find people who are interested in helping you along the way. They have advice – they have experience – they will help you if you ask.. And give help when you can to others who are also looking for a way to reach their dreams.”

 4. PROCEED  

“Take Action Now!! So many people constantly think about what they want to do and have good ideas but if you don’t set them in motion they never become a reality. Whatever ideas you have, test them out and if they fail, they fail, but you have to take action!”

“Make it happen. Ideas come and go. Execution and follow through will make them a reality. Even small steps will open the way for larger gain and more clarity, direction and how-to. What could you do today, right now, that would lead you closer to what you want to create?”

5. PERSISTENCE

“If you want your idea to happen, you need to stick with it. Doesn’t mean if things don’t go the way you expect at first, you’ll abandon them. Be patient. Usually it will take you more time building a castle than an ordinary building. So persist. Don’t easily give up.”

“Believe in it! Belief is even more important than strategy. Strategy is a set of tools and behaviors, belief is what motivates you to find the right strategy and put it into practice. Belief isn’t the same as enthusiasm though. It’s easy to be enthusiastic about a new idea but will you still feel the same in a year’s time

Smart Moves Tip:

Keep at it. It’s as simple as that. Learn what works and what doesn’t, but more importantly learn to adapt. Recognize that you aren’t going to always get it right, but have enough determination to stay the course in the midst of change, challenge and at times chaos.

Marcia Zidle, the smart moves executive coach and speaker, is host of The Business Edge on the VoiceAmerica Business Network. The show features the Smart Growth System providing small to medium sized businesses the proper foundation for expansion: a Growth Agenda that becomes their roadmap, a Growth Engine that attracts and engages the best talent and Growth Leaders that make it happen. Marcia, the CEO of Leaders At All Levels, brings street smarts to help businesses get on the right track and not get sidetracked on their path to higher performance and profitability.

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