Monday Mornings with Madison

Category Archives:
Planning & Strategy

May 23, 2016

Core Values: The Heart of any Business – Part 1

Issue #427

Change is a fact of life and an inherent part of business. With technology, the relentless pace of change has accelerated forcing businesses to either catch up or keep up. Companies are compelled to evolve with the times. Phone companies evolved from switchboards and rotary phones to smart phones with data plans. Record producers evolved from phonographs and vinyl records to digital downloads and playlists. Car manufacturers evolved from hand-cranked motor cars in one-color models to keyless ignition vehicles with self-driving engines in most every shape, size and color. Change is indeed unrelenting, affecting almost every aspect of business. Almost.

There is one aspect of a business that should never change: a company’s core values. Despite the battering winds of change, the one intractable, immutable, and unwavering element of a business should be its core values. But if you asked the leadership of most any typical small or mid-sized businesses, many would be hard pressed to rattle of their company’s core values. So what are “core values” anyway? And does every company really need to spell out its core values and should employees know what those values are? Continue reading →

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April 18, 2016

Meeting Infinite Sales Demands with Finite Marketing Resources

Issue #423

There is a silent (or sometimes not-so-silent) battle waged between what the sales department wants and what the marketing department can and should deliver. Business leaders may only be vaguely aware of this tug-of-war but it exists in most organizations. There are two reasons for this. First, salespeople are always under great pressure (internal and external) to make sales. Not only does the company want them to sell more, but they themselves want to earn more. But selling requires a lot of time and effort. To ease the burden, they look to marketing for help. Second, salespeople are bombarded by other companies’ impressive marketing efforts. Newsletters. Email drip campaigns. Remarketing Campaigns. Seminars. Blogs. Billboards. Ads. Videos. Tradeshow exhibits. Competitor marketing is particularly irksome. Logically, salespeople believe that if they do the same marketing, they too will succeed. This is the business equivalent of “keeping up with the Joneses.”

In most companies, this ‘sales-marketing tug-of-war’ plays out with sales making infinite demands for marketing support with little understanding of the budget or resources required for implementing those ideas, or if those strategies fit in with or duplicate existing efforts. Sales teams claim that they either cannot meet their sales goals or they can be exponentially more successful if their specific marketing ideas are implemented. Unlimited sales demands are thus made on marketing departments that have limited resources. What is the company’s leadership to do? To handle infinite sales demands with finite marketing resources, leaders should implement this three-step process. Continue reading →

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April 11, 2016

The “Many-Sizes-Many-Approaches” Business Model

Issue #422

One of the hardest things for businesses to understand is how their clients truly think and feel. One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs and managers make is to assume that customers want the same things that they want. Typical thinking goes something like this: “If I like X, then my customers must like X too. If I really dislike Y, then I’ll bet my customers must really dislike Y too.” This “Just Like Me” mentality seeps into sales techniques, marketing campaigns, operational procedures, customer service policies and more. But, in truth, management is often totally out of touch and confused about what their clients want or need in order to be satisfied and remain loyal. This “Just Like Me” thinking is like a poison that seeps into the water… it blends in and contaminates everything. It makes a manager mistakenly believe that he knows what’s best for clients because everyone thinks and feels just like he does.

Why are business decision-makers so sure that – when it comes to their business model, operational practices and service delivery methods — they know definitively what all their customers like and want? The truth is that what people like, want and value is as varied as there are scents in the olfactory spectrum (1 trillion). And that is part of the problem since business people want / need to find the “one right answer” for how to service clients. They are looking for a “One-Size-Fits-All” approach, and often the easiest solution is to say “I know best.” But is a “One-Size-Fits-All” approach for servicing customers best? Is there an alternative? Continue reading →

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March 28, 2016

The Inconsistency of Being Consistent

Issue #420

A 2014 survey by specialist journal IRS Employment Review found that while the attitudes of employees can make or break a company, bad management was a far bigger drag on a company’s productivity and performance. Bosses must provide sound leadership in order for their direct reports to perform and achieve peak productivity. Of course, no one is perfect and – like all employees — bosses have weaknesses as well as strengths. What is interesting is that managers tend to share the same flaws. The most commonly reported characteristics that employees dislike about superiors include favoritism, lack of communication, micromanagement, incompetence and ruthlessness.

Notwithstanding the myriad of frustrating and off-putting traits workers dislike in their supervisors, there is one characteristic that is consistently disliked most. That is inconsistency. Apparently, even the most odious managers and overbearing bosses are preferred over a supervisor who is inconsistent. Why is inconsistency so reviled? And why is consistency such a valuable element of management? Continue reading →

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March 21, 2016

The Evolution of Business Role Models – Part 2

Issue #419

Certain people rise above regular folks to become so successful, well-known and admired in their field of expertise that they become a household name. They become icons. This is true in every area from aeronautics to haute cuisine. There are few who don’t now the names of the great aviators Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earheart. And most everyone knows the names of chefs Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, Gordon Ramsey and Emeril Lagassi. These individuals possess certain qualities, talents and skills that catapulted them into a stardom of sorts. They are the doers, movers and shakers and innovators of the times. We draw inspiration from these icons.

However, even icons change. Today’s leaders have evolved from the strong, authoritarian traditionalists and business tycoons of the 20th century – think Henry Ford, John P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, and Walt Disney — into the innovative mavericks and mavens of the 21st century. We are mesmerized by edgy leaders such as Elon Musk, Founder of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, Tony Hseih, Founder of Zappos, Fred Smith, Founder of Federal Express, and Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways. So what sets these icons apart from past business role models and what can we learn from them? Continue reading →

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March 14, 2016

The Evolution of Business Role Models – Part 1

Issue #418

Practically every industry these days has icons. It is no longer just about actors and musicians. From inventors to scientists and from business leaders to politicians, every field has its share of celebrities, living and gone. In the world of science, they include Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Jane Goodall, Alfred Nobel, Edwin Hubble and Stephen Hawking. Technology has heroes of its own including Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web), Sergei Brinn, Larry Page, Dave Packard, Bill Hewett, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Even the world of real estate has icons including Donald Bren, Stephen Ross, Jerry Speyer, Sam Zell, Steve Schwartzman, and, of course, Presidential candidate Donald Trump. And in the category of “captains of industry” are some of the most respected names in business including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Rupert Murdoch, Jack Welch, Michael Eisner, Lloyd Blankfein, and Mark Zuckerberg, to name just a few.

To some extent, these idols share many traits and talents that propelled them into prominence. But, in recent years, there has been a fundamental shift in the makeup of these renowned individuals, particularly in the world of business. Qualities and skills once considered exemplary have become passé. Corporate tycoons like Rupert Murdoch and Lloyd Blankfein are giving way to new titans of industry such as Brad Smith, Chairman of the Board of Intuit.  Why?
Continue reading →

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March 7, 2016

A Business Bucket List

Issue #417

According to a report investigating 41 countries published by the Bank of Korea in 2008, there were 5,586 companies in existence that were older than 200 years. Of those, 3,146 were located in Japan, 837 in Germany, 222 in the Netherlands and 196 in France. And in the U.S., there are currently only 72 companies operating for more than 200 years. That makes sense given that the U.S. is a much younger nation that those in Asia or Europe. Still, it is a tough pill to swallow that most businesses eventually perish. While no one wishes for their business to go belly-up any time soon, the facts are indisputable. The average life expectancy of a Fortune 500 company today is between 40 and 50 years. And the average life span of a family-owned business in the U.S. is only 24 years.

When people get around to thinking about their own mortality, they often create a “Bucket List” , which helps one pinpoint what matters most and focus on making those things happen. It is a useful, personal exercise. But what about a business? Should a company have a “Bucket List” of things to achieve? If so, what should that Bucket List include? Continue reading →

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February 29, 2016

Spring Cleaning As Springboard for Creativity and Ingenuity

Issue #416

Oprah Winfrey recently announced that she will be doing Spring Cleaning at her old Harpo Studios in Chicago. On March 1st, she will be selling over 200 clothing items and 20 pairs of shoes on eBay! This exercise is not designed to enrich Ms. Winfrey’s bank account as clearly she does not need the money and all proceeds will be donated to the school for girls she established in South Africa. She said her reason for the spring cleaning auction was “to create a space that gives me access to the stuff that helps me.” She wanted to de-clutter to make room for what matters and create space to be productive and creative.

While it’s hard to think about Spring Cleaning while Jack Frost is still nipping on most toes across the country, Spring is just a few weeks away. To some, Spring Cleaning is nothing more than tedious drudgery to be avoided or delegated to cleaning staff. However, a different way to look at Spring Cleaning is as a therapeutic, energizing exercise. Indeed, a thorough scrubbing, scouring, polishing and organizing of home or office can be more beneficial than just making a space fresh and germ-free. It also helps to make room for things that matter, serve as a catalyst for creativity, and stimulate the imagination. A meticulous cleansing and tidying can not only serve to organize the physical world but the mental one as well. Continue reading →

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February 22, 2016

It’s About Time

Issue #415

Even though time gives the impression of being endless, it is actually the most finite of all resources. Unlike money, which can be saved or lost, time cannot be saved; only lost. It cannot be stretched, stopped, hidden or paused. There is no back-up for lost time. Wasted time is lost forever. Even though the clock’s hands start its daily trek around the dial anew each day, making it seem like we have unlimited time, in truth time that has passed will never return. This is news to no one, and certainly not to any business owner. Most companies are hyper vigilant of employee time to ensure it is not squandered. Rules for the proper use of time take the form of warnings against the various ways in which staff are tempted to waste time. Office socializing. Texting friends. Posting or surfing social media. Tardiness.

However, that’s not how time is lost or wasted the most in business. The biggest source of time waste at companies is when employees are assigned to do work that is not the “best use of their time.” The concept of “best use of your time” is hardly given any consideration by most companies. Employees are often hired and managed with only a murky outline of what they are to do. Certainly no job description can capture every single aspect of what an employee does or how every minute of his time will be spent. A job description only gives a cursory understanding of the major tasks that an employee will handle, not the minutiae, and typically does not determine what percentage of time (throughout a day, week or month) should be spent on each task. And the higher the position, the truer it is. Instead of ensuring staff time is spent on the most beneficial activities to the company, employees – from entry level to top management – dribble time away on tasks that are either best handled by someone else or should be eliminated altogether. That is the ultimate waste of time. So how does a company ensure that all employees are spending the majority of their time doing the things that are “the best use of their time”? Continue reading →

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February 15, 2016

EQ, IQ and SQ: The Leadership Trifecta

Issue #414

John Quincy Adams once said that “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” But the question of what makes a good leader has been dissected for centuries if not millennia. So much has been written about what it takes to be a great leader and how to spot leadership potential in others. Business owners and managers all want to possess and provide the kind of visionary leadership that makes an organization grow and thrive. Much has been said about the intelligence, skills and the emotional traits needed for great leadership.

Initially, leadership qualities were basically divided into two areas: IQ (intelligence quotient) which describes the person’s level of intellect or mental ability; and EQ (emotional quotient) which describes the individual’s degree of emotional maturity and strength. More recently, another silo of qualities has also come to be seen as essential to leadership. This is called SQ or Spiritual Quotient. A person’s spiritual quotient is not related at all to the person’s religion or religious beliefs. The Spiritual Quotient looks at a person’s ability to be creative, insightful, courageous, wise, authentic, compassionate, and peaceful, among a host of other traits.

It is believed that the most successful leaders are those who possess a high degree of IQ, EQ and SQ combined. In the search for visionary leaders, businesses should look for the IQ-EQ-SQ trifecta. So exactly what are the elements of IQ, EQ and SQ and can a person improve their IQ, EQ and SQ? Continue reading →

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