See if this scenario is familiar — you find that you can’t see as many clients as you would like, because you have to spend at least one day each week catching up on paperwork. You spend nearly 6 hours that day on administrative work — filing, writing letters, sending out mailings to clients, and staying on top of your bookkeeping. You feel efficient, because at least you get it done. But is it really work that YOU need to do? Most of the time-consuming, labor-intensive administrative duties that accompany business ownership don’t have to be done by the head of the company. Filing? Anyone could do that, provided they understand how your system is set up. Bookkeeping? Mailings? Same thing. We just don’t think to hand these duties over to someone else because we feel we have to do it all — it’s our business, so it’s our responsibility.

WHAT’S THE OPTION?

There is almost no reason to hire permanent staff members anymore. You may not realize that you can hire freelance contract employees to handle many of these administrative tasks. “Virtual office assistants” can tackle any task — from mass mailings to database management to document preparation — without ever setting foot in your office. Other administrative outsourcing professionals will take care of standard office duties onsite — such as filing and bill-paying.

And you can find freelancers to take on just about any other non-administrative project you can think of — designing your website, writing a business plan, sending out press releases, you name it. Finally, many professionals you work with already may be able to help you with some of your concerns. Your CPA may offer bookkeeping services at a reduced rate. Your printer might be able to handle your graphic design needs. And you could talk your attorney about looking over your business plan. It never hurts to ask.

WHY HIRE SOMEONE ELSE?

So you say, “What’s the point in hiring someone? If I’m going to have to pay them to do the work, I might as well do it myself!” Not always true. The problem occurs when you begin spending your time on issues that could be done by someone else for less money. What is your hourly rate? Let’s pretend that you earn $50 an hour. Now ask yourself how much your “administrative days” are costing you. If you normally work a 6-hour day, you could be making an additional $300 each week if you spent that time seeing clients.

If you were to hire an administrative assistant to come in for 6 hours a week, at $25 an hour (a very reasonable rate for such services), it would only cost you $150 a week. You still net an additional $150 a week — that’s an extra $7200 a year, if you work a standard 48-week year like most people do. And it is quite likely that — being the skilled professional that her or she is — an administrative assistant could complete the work in less time than you can. Best of all, you only hire them when you need them — so if you have a slow week, you cut back on their hours. Looks like a win-win situation to me!

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

As you are working your way through all those action items this week, create a “not-to-do list”. For every item you come across, ask yourself if it has to be done by you. Your list might include making follow-up phone calls, updating your contact database, entering all of your expenses into Quickbooks, and sending out a mass mailing to all of your clients — those jobs could very easily be taken on by someone else.

Once you’ve decided that you aren’t integral to the process, ask yourself who could do it for you. Could be an administrative assistant, web developer, accountant, or the teenager next door — and if you don’t already have connections with professionals who can take over these responsibilities for you, start asking around. Talk to clients, colleagues, and other professionals that you know — someone is bound to have a few suggestions for you. Try to come up with at least one name for each job on your list. The last step is to contact those folks and start negotiating a deal. By the end of this next month, you should be able to clear at least a few tasks from your plate.

GET YOUR PROCESSES DOWN

The key to letting someone else take over a portion of your work is not just handing them a job, but giving them the tools to do the job right. I’ll give you an example of how I managed to free up four full days a month with the help of a virtual office assistant. I looked around my office and realized that I was spending an awful lot of time publishing my online newsletter — a service which I consider incredibly valuable to my clients, but which doesn’t directly earn me any money. So I spoke with a friend of mine — who has worked on websites before — about giving her these tasks to do. I decided that I still wanted to be in charge of selecting the content for my newsletters, but that Jackie should take over formatting the pages on the web. The most important preparation was setting down the exact procedures she would follow to complete the newsletter each month — step by detailed step.

This was a bit time-consuming on the front end, but it has saved us both countless hours over the past 6 months that Jackie has been doing my website. Now that she knows what to do and how to do it (without asking me!), she almost works on automatic pilot. And all I have to do is e-mail her my content and wait for the message that my newsletter is complete. And because we hammered out all of the details up front, I know I can count on a consistent, quality, professional job each month. Best of all, Jackie’s rate is less than half of mine, so I can spend those days working with clients and still come out ahead! So what projects are you ready to outsource?

Ramona Creel is a Professional Organizer and the founder of OnlineOrganizing.com — a web-based one-stop shop offering everything that you need to get organized at home or at work. At OnlineOrganizing.com, you may get a referral to an organizer near you, shop for the latest organizing products, get tons of free tips, and even learn how to become a professional organizer or build your existing organizing business. And if you would like to read more articles about organizing your life or building your business, get a free subscription to the “Get Organized” and “Organized For A Living” newsletters. Please visit http://www.OnlineOrganizing.com or contact Ramona directly at ramona@onlineorganizing.com for more information.

Despite massive investment there is no discernable performance improvement, the retention figures still look as if we are running a call centre and our safety record is second to everyone.

Why is it that what seemed a logical and progressive implementation model failed to have any lasting impact on our business?

Could it have anything to do with Middle Manager Bounce Off?

Middle Manager Bounce Off is a little understood phenomenon that appears most frequently in the wake of a management initiative or a consultant driven implementation.

Middle Manager Bounce Off is the name that has been given to the unwillingness of middle management to pursue or implement change.

The impetus for change is generally driven by the corporate decision makers in response to stakeholder pressure. The decision to change is made at this level and is then transmitted down the chain of command to the shop floor.

At every level the need for change is retransmitted to the next level down, who in their turn retransmit.

In each case this has the same effect.

Each individual experiences an aversion to implementing the change. This aversion is not driven because the change is wrong or because it will not have the desired effect. It is simply because the person being directed to implement the change does not like being told what to do.This resistance is not necessarily even conscious and may not even involve a negative reaction, just a failure to act positively.

In a social situation we understand this aversion and will seldom deliberately create a situation whose outcome is to tell someone else what to do.

There will always be the exception but it is generally understood that it is more effective to ask for something than it is to order someone to give it.

In a domestic situation, if a husband decided that he never wanted his wife to iron his shirts, all he has to do is catch her when she is doing the ironing, and order her to iron his shirt.

Instinctively we cringe at this scenario because we know how the wife will react.Not only has the husband made it almost physically impossible for his wife to iron his shirts, we know that even if she did iron them there is a very good chance that he will end up with an iron shaped burn on his shirt, which did not necessarily occur by accident.

This scenario is not a comment on the husband and wife relationship.It is a comment on the fact that the wife is a human being and that human beings always react the same way to being told what to do.

At work we are not allowed the same extreme reaction that the wife produces but we still feel the same resistance to being told what to do. The resistance manifests itself in ways that may not be directly attributed to the order. Late orders, broken machines, poor timekeeping, poor safety performance, bad treatment of the customers. After all, when we are at work we have to appear to be doing what we are told.

The alternative to telling people what to do is thought to be Asking for something. This is a valid alternative in a social situation where there is a real choice.

If the husband asked for his shirt to be ironed we would all defend the right of the wife to tell him to go and iron it himself.

At work there is seldom a choice other than Do what I want or get your coat. We are often asked to do things that sound like a question but the reality is that in the work situation we seldom have a choice.

This dynamic means that at work, even if a question is asked, the effect is just the same as if an order has been issued, because of the lack of choice that asking the question provides.

The manager faces this resistance when he retransmits the initiative or change to the workforce and, without necessarily realising it, he is also building up his own resistance to the change. He may pay lip service to it but will have a great deal of difficulty giving any enthusiasm to something that he has been told to do.

Is it any wonder that as soon as the corporate foot is taken off the gas pedal the initiative or change disappears without a murmur?

We do appear to be having trouble with Middle Manager Bounce Off.

There is however a third solution to the problem of the ironed shirt. We have seen the perfectly natural reaction when the wife is ordered to iron the shirt and we have seen the possibility of being told to go and do it yourself when the wife is asked.

What however would happen if she were allowed to care about the result?

If she cared about the way her husband looked then there would always be an ironed shirt. She would take pride in the way he looked. She would make sure that there was always a shirt ready,

What if she found that a button had come off?

The shirt would go straight into the mending basket and a new button would be sewn on before it was returned to the wardrobe, because she cared.

In the same way if the husband cared about his car it would always be clean, it would be maintained and he would look after it, because he cared

This idea of allowing people to care for what they do sounds like the right thing to do but at first glance it does not seem to have a place in a business conversation. We want to be talking about percentages and changes to the bottom line, big numbers with real values. That is the sort of conversation that businessmen have, not talking about caring.

But wait a minute, caring does have a value, we can place an almost exact value on the caring that we give our cars.

After two years our new car still has a finite value, depending on the vehicle it could be 10,000 or 12,000. This is the residual value of our car that we can realise by selling it, or we can hold on to the car and use it reliably for another 10 years, it is our choice.

After those same two years a hire car has zero residual value. Nobody will buy a car that they know has been driven for the last 2 years by people who dont care for it. With no market for ex hire cars they are scrapped after two years.

This makes the financial value of the care we give to our own car equal to the residual value of the car.

Now we have a number that makes caring start to look very cost effective. If 10,000 or 12,000 is the value of us taking care of a car, what then is the potential that can be realised at work by allowing people to start caring about what they do at work?

If our middle manager were allowed to care about what he did, if he were allowed to care instead of being told, how much more effective could he be?

If the workforce were allowed to care about what they do, how much more effective would they be?

If they were allowed to care there would be no resistance to the change just an understanding of what was required to achieve corporate goals and an innate desire to get there.

Middle Manager Bounce Off ceases to be an issue because the defensive shield that goes up to cause Bounce off is only deployed when he is told what to do.

Changing the way that people feel about their work, to allow them to care, is a complicated business but can be summed up with a few general rules.

First we have to stop doing the things that prevent people from caring.

The biggest stopper is telling people what to do.

Second we have to start to do the things that will help people to start caring.

Give them support, give them recognition for their efforts and start to value them for their experience and individuality.

These sound like small things but their cumulative effect is enormous.

The change in performance that occurs when people are allowed to start caring is huge but that is not the whole story. If we care about what we do we become proud of what we do. And if we are proud we are unlikely to want to change our job. This has a huge effect on retention and recruitment.

If we take care of what we do then there are no boundaries to that care. We take care of the whole workplace proactively, maintaining and attending to safety standards at the same time, for no other reason except that we care.

Care also has no time limits. If nothing happens to make us cease caring then that care will continue unabated making any change sustainable in the long term.

For all of these reasons we deserve to understand how we can create the conditions to allow people to care for their work. How to allow them to become proud of what they do so that they can start to enjoy themselves at work while they become even more effective producers of profit.

It is almost a heresy to suggest that such a thing is possible but we know that it has been done before and we will almost all be able to recall instances in which a workforce has excelled because it cared about the product.

Caring about our work is not a new concept. In the past it has been called ownership and we have been under the mistaken impression that ownership is a commodity that we can give to people and then profit from the results of their ownership.

Ownership is the way we feel about something that allows us to care. It is the way we feel about what we do and our attitudes and behaviour towards what we do.

Ownership is most certainly not a commodity and cannot therefore be given to anyone. I can give someone a car but I cannot give them ownership. That is something that only the recipient can do for himself. If the car is the wrong colour, has too few doors or the wrong size of engine, then the recipient will not take ownership of it.

If however we are allowed to make all of our own choices about the colour of the car and the model and the engine then those choices will be our choices and will therefore be the correct ones for us. Having been allowed to make them we will then also be able to take ownership.

It is still the same car but because we have been allowed to make our own choices we are able to take ownership.

We have come a long way from Henry Ford who told us that we could have any colour as long as it was black. The car companies now realise that the customer has to be allowed to make choices. If the customers cannot make choices then they cannot take ownership and therefore will not buy the car.

What we can do in the workplace is to create the conditions to allow others to care, to be proud of what they do, to allow them to take ownership.

We have to start to allow the workforce to make choices about their environment and the way they deliver goods or services.

To do this the managers role changes from one of managing, to one of support.

Perhaps the real problem is that Managers were ever called Managers.

If they had been called Supporters in the first place we might never have heard of Middle Manager Bounce Off.

Peter Hunters career started on a nautical theme. After leaving school he spent six years as a navigating officer in the Merchant Navy working within a strict hierarchy.It was not until he joined the Royal Navy in 1988 that he began to realize how valuable people really were when they were allowed to be. Peter studied for his masters degree at Cranfield Institute of Technology before going to Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth as an Instructor Office in the Royal Navy. He rose to become Head of Department at the RN Strategic Systems School, Faslane where he further developed the concept that management is a two way thing. After 8 years with other consultancies Peter formed his own company on the West Coast of Scotland.Hunter Business Consultancy associates are now based all over the United Kingdom and are expanding into Europe.Peter is the Author of the book Breaking the Mould.

http://www.breakingthemould.co.uk

and at

http://www.hunter-consultants.co.uk.

Let’s look at a familiar scene in classical American – if I may use the word – mythology.

Panic and terror have brought all normal activity to a standstill in some pioneering settlement in the Wild West. A bunch of bad guys have been scaring the pants off the innocent, helpless and disorganized townsfolk.

Then an imposing masked figure rides up on a white horse. He arrives just in the nick of time.

With the right blend of courage and cunning, he vanquishes the bad guys by being just a little quicker, smarter and tougher than they are. Then, satisfied that everything is under control, he stoically rides off into the sunset.

The Lone Ranger has saved the day again.

But as the adrenaline levels of the grateful townsfolk gradually return to normal and they prepare to resume their mundane tasks, they may or may not realize that they are now no wiser or better prepared to deal with the next big problem.

When faced again with a major crisis, they’ll just haveto hope for a return of the thundering hoofbeats, signaling another last-minute rescue by the daring hero.

In their book Managing for Excellence, David Bradford and Allan Cohen write that they often begin their workshops for managers with an illuminating exercise that simulates a top-management team.

Bob Young, CEO of a manufacturing company, is faced with a problem. More and more customers have been complaining about defective gaskets, a crucial component in the company’s key product. A worried Bob has called a special meeting of the operations committee.

The four other members of the committee are apparently aware of the source of the problem – a change in suppliers and inspection procedures. But the strong feelings – positive and negative – they have about each other and about Bob Young, prevent them from talking openly about the subject.

The workshop leaders ask the participants to plan how they, as Bob Young, could run the meeting so that “the problem gets solved while building a stronger team”. Participants then take turns to assume the role of the CEO.

As each simulated meeting gets under way, Bob Young’s subordinates – the personnel on the operations committee – go on the defensive and start sniping at each other. When he sees this happening, says Bradford and Young, the “Bob Young” in command almost invariably begins a heroic attempt to solve the problem single-handedly.

In the most frequent maneuver, Bob Young takes over the meeting and starts playing a detective-like version of the Lone Ranger. He cross-examines each person in turn about what he knew, what she had done, and what he saw as the problem. By his tone, posture and questions, the aspiring CEO conveys the message: “I am going to get to the bottom of this!.”

But as Bob Young proceeds with his solo-rescue mission, those playing the four subordinates instinctively get even cagier and more snide with one another. They either try to push the blame off on each other or cover up, so they will not be exposed in front of each other.

Even the odd “Bob Young” who is so good at playing Lone Ranger that he manages to extract all the facts, is hard pressed to build any team cooperation to solve the problem. Once he finally grasps the sequence of events that led to defective parts slipping through, he is stuck with trying to find a solution that can be implemented by estranged and embarrassed subordinates.

Bradford and Cohen surmise that the classic showdown of the old-fashioned Western movie – in which everything depends on the hero’s nerves of steel, complete command of the situation, agility, and guts – still dominates the fantasies of present-day managers. After all, they grew up on cowboys and Indians, war movies and tough, individualistic male heroes – and even many women who have made it into middle management tend to think in these heroic terms.

It hardly occurs to these people that their image of the Western frontier of old may not be historically accurate.

Presumably, the taming of the West demanded a highly developed collaborative spirit. Mutual assistance and team work, rather than flamboyant individualism, must have been the hallmarks of the pioneering communities. The picture is hardly one of a helpless society.

But when a leader views others as helpless (like the townspeople), or evil (like the bad guys), his prophecies may indeed be self-fulfilling.

If a manager sees himself as solely responsible for the overall success of his enterprise, subordinates will retreat to their narrow piece of turf. When people a little lower down in the hierarchy are treated as weak and as unable to cope, they shrug their shoulders, gradually lose motivation and act in accordance with the predictions.

This, in turn, only “proves” to the boss that more “help”is necessary. Those treated as untrustworthy or incompetentalso begin to behave accordingly, since they are excludedfrom everything, anyway.

In all these cases, upward communication grinds slowly and inexorably to a halt.

So what can we do about it?

Well, let’s go back to the case of the defective gaskets, and see how another Bob Young, with a rather differentmanagement orientation,handles the meeting with hissubordinates of the operations committee. After outliningthe problem, he tells his people:

“You are the guys who best know the situation; you know what caused it, and you know what the best solution looks like. Therefore, I want us in this meeting to come up with the best answer.”

Now, no matter what objections his people might have had to Bob’s previous style, at least they had learned to live with (and around) it. Before jumping in and accepting his new statement, they test the waters very carefully:

“I don’t know, Bob. You know the operations inside and out. What do you think the best solution is?”

Bob replies:

“This is the kind of issue we need to tackle together, because then we’ll be sure not only of getting this problem solved, but we’ll be able to prevent similar dilemmas in the future.”

A long silence follows. The subordinates hope they can outlast the CEO and force him to take over. When this strategy doesn’t seem to be working, the head of production glances over to the quality control manager and turns back to Bob:

“Bob you are busy getting us major contracts. We don’t have to take up valuable meeting time going around and around on this issue. Roy and I will meet and come up with the solution, and I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

Bob is not quite satisfied with this. He knows that, despite its appearance of a willingness to assume responsibility, it is actually an attempt to hide dirty linen from him.

He knows that the problem is far more than a technical one; after all, the complaints about the defective product isn’t news to any of them. It is also a managerial problem, for the matter should have been resolved by now. He therefore responds:

“Don, I’m sure you and Roy could come up with something, but I also want all of us to improve our collective ability to solve problems. To do that, we need to work on it together, since everyone’s involved.”

Eventually, the group manages to uncondition itself from the defensive approach and settles down in problem-solving mode. One member proposes a good solution, another points out logistic difficulties in implementing it, and they work out ways to get round these difficulties. Problem solved.

But today, the little group has achieved far more than a specific solution to a specific problem.And the manager remains a manager; he has merely adapted to the needs of the times.

Azriel Winnett is creator of Hodu.com – Your Communication Skills Portal. This popular website helps you improve your communication and relationship skills in your business or professional life, in the family unit and on the social scene. New free articles and tutorials added almost daily.

Let’s take this concept and move it to the realm of managing a business. Does it make sense to expect your employees to reach a goal or strategic objective without providing them a road map of where they are headed? This is the reason clear and detailed employee performance objectives play a crucial role in helping companies perform to their business plan and achieve their strategic goals.

Performance objectives establish how your business plan will be achieved. Performance objectives also play a major role in defining the end results expected through your staff’s hard work and dedication. Performance objectives are a necessity in setting clear goals for employees. They also challenge staff members to achieve maximum results to promote business growth and make continuous improvements to meet the challenges and changing demands of the marketplace. Performance objectives must be clear and guide action.

Now that we understand the importance of clear performance objectives, lets investigate the criteria of a well documented performance objective.

Criteria of a Successful Performance Objective:

Specific
What specifically is to be achieved? Not just what actions are to be performed, but what results are to be achieved through these actions? Keeping objectives simple ensures they are clear and specific. This also reduces the chance for disputes or confusion come performance appraisal time. Complex objectives should be broken into sub-objectives. This allows individuals to focus their efforts and guides them in marshaling the resources necessary to achieve results.

Measurable
How will you know how well an objective has been achieved? Although it may not be readily apparent, every object can be measured. Some objectives can be measured quantitatively; others must be measured qualitatively. What data will be used to measure/track what is achieved and is that data available to provide ongoing feedback on how the employee is doing? Measurements are subject to change and should be reviewed periodically.

Accountable
Accountability for performance objectives must be crystal clear and must specifically state who is accountable. The more detail the better. A clear definition of what he or she is specifically accountable for will help reduce confusion come performance appraisal time. Defining accountability will ensure a sense of urgency and purpose on the part of the employee.

Realistic
For an objective to be meaningful, it must be realistic and reasonable. A well written performance objective focuses on the goals and objectives required to meet the objective. In highly efficient organizations, performance objectives ultimately link back to the company’s overall strategy and business plan. Objectives should challenge employees towards continuous improvement, but should not be unrealistic or unattainable.

Time based
An achievable time frame must be set for reaching the objective’s goals. Consider assigning specific target dates not only for the performance objective itself, but also each lesser milestone linking the entire goal. Remember to be specific towards achieving results and guide action in a results oriented ways towards the objective.

Strategically Linked
Every performance objective must always be linked to the overall business plan and over-arching strategy of the organization. Well thought out performance objectives create a link between the direction of each individual employee which also align upstream through departments and divisions to unify the goals of the entire organization.

———————————————————
This article may be reprinted provided it is published in its entirety, includes the author bio information, and all links remain active.

2004 AlphaMeasure, Inc. – All Rights Reserved

Josh Greenberg is President of AlphaMeasure, Inc. located in Boulder, Colorado. AlphaMeasure provides organizations of all sizes a powerful web based method for measuring employee satisfaction, determining employee engagement, and increasing employee retention.

The AlphaMeasure Employee Survey System is fully-customizable and allows you to target the organizational topics and challenges facing your staff today. Designed by HR professionals from the ground up, the AlphaMeasure Employee Satisfaction Survey System provides an affordable, feature rich solution for deploying fully-customized employee satisfaction or employee engagement surveys.

Click here to learn more about the AlphaMeasure Employee Survey System.

Is this meeting essential?
Can we do without it?
Can we accomplish the task without a meeting?
Can it wait another week?
Can we get things done with few meetings?

Then, if you have decided a meeting is the best way to accomplish your objective, the following tips can help you conduct more effective meetings:

1. Start and end meetings on time. Make sure everyone knows what time you are to start and to end. If you have an ending time, you will find your time is more productive in the time allotted.

2. Have an open agenda on the chalkboard or flipchart. Participants can add an item before the meeting. However, they must be prepared to lead the discussion if they put an item on the agenda.

3. If an item isnt on the open agenda, reschedule it for discussion at a later time.

4. Give each item on the agenda a time limit. If action or discussion cannot be completed during the allotted time, it must be delayed until the end of the meeting.

5. After all agenda items have been discussed, address the delayed items and estimate how long it will take to discuss them. Decide if the item can be discussed today or needs further action before a decision can be made.

6. Any delayed item should be the first item on the next open agenda.

7. Summarize and record action items before adjourning the meeting. Identify who is responsible for which action.

Susan Cullen is President of Quantum Learning Solutions, Inc., based in New Jersey. She has over 15 years experience in Organizational Development and is considered an expert in the use of blended learning methodologies for lasting organizational change. For more information go to http://www.quantumlearn.com or you can reach us at (800) 683-0681.

The survey results below first came out in 1946 in Foreman Fact, from the Labor Relations Institute of NY and was produced again by Lawrence Lindahl in Personnel magazine in 1949. This study has since been replicated with similar results by Ken Kovach (1980); Valerie Wilson, Achievers International (1988); Bob Nelson, Blanchard Training & Development (1991); and Sheryl & Don Grimme, GHR Training Solutions (1997-2001).

Pay particular interest to the top three things managers thought employees want from their jobs, and then look at what employees said they REALLY want:

WHAT MANAGERS THINK EMPLOYEES WANT, starting with the most important:

1. Good wages
2. Job Security
3. Promotion and growth opportunities
4. Good working conditions
5. Interesting work
6. Personal loyalty to workers
7. Tactful discipline
8. Full appreciation for work done
9. Sympathetic understanding of personal problems
10. Feeling in on things

WHAT EMPLOYEES SAY THEY WANT, starting with the most important:

1. Full appreciation for work done
2. Feeling in on things
3. Sympathetic understanding of personal problems
4. Job security
5. Good wages
6. Interesting work
7. Promotion and growth opportunities
8. Personal loyalty to workers
9. Good working conditions
10. Tactful discipline

You can see there is quite a discrepancy. This indicates the value of the intangible rewards of appreciation, involvement and understanding. An important benefit is that the top 3 things employees want are all influenced by the relationship with their direct manager or supervisor.

Show your employees you truly value them, and never underestimate how important you are in maintaining a strong workforce and retaining your best talent!

Susan Cullen is President of Quantum Learning Solutions, Inc., based in New Jersey. She has over 15 years experience in Organizational Development and is considered an expert in the use of blended learning methodologies for lasting organizational change. For more information go to http://www.quantumlearn.com or you can reach us at (800) 683-0681.

Has it certainly been cooler for you over the years as you climbed higher? The higher the cooler may work in geography or in atmospheric conditions, but certainly not in conditions of work, the professions, vocations, family and relationships. It is so because of mounting responsibilities, challenges, economic and social problems.

Maybe it has certainly not been cooler for you. If it has been, then you are a superstar. While there may be some consistency in geographical conditions, it is not necessarily so in economic and social conditions. In geography, it may just be true that the higher you go, the cooler. In the professions, you may be up today, and down tomorrow. Either way it gets hotter.

And so to remain cool, should you stagnate? No. You need to be upwardly mobile to improve your fortunes and the quality of life for you and your family. But you need to consistently do a number of things to make it cooler as you go higher. You just have to do so because the challenges of leadership and the hassles of remaining competitive in the marketplace are becoming overwhelming in Nigeria now. The higher you go..

Everything has an atmosphere. For your personality, it is called aura or charisma. This personal atmosphere can pull or repel using interplay of forces with other persons or objects. Metallic objects that do so are called magnets.

Atmospheric conditions such as hot, cold, harsh, winter or summer are real for tangibles and intangibles. Growing up and making progress in life, business and work also have atmosphere. And so the challenge for you as a manager is to emulate nature and make your atmosphere and others, cooler as you go higher in life and your profession.

You need to chill your atmosphere of going higher so that you can live long and be more productive. For professionals, businessmen and women, it is certainly getting hotter. And many are dying or getting terminally ill in their 30s, 40s, and 50s largely because of high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, kidney failure, automobile accidents, assassinations and others. Check out the obituary pages of newspapers, you will see a familiar caption: Gone too soon. Then a tribute, followed by names of Committee of Friends. Then the pay off- barrangements as announced by the family. Who wants to die young? Certainly not me. The higher you go…

You dont want to be a victim, then chill your atmosphere. The critical question for you now is: How cool or hot is your present state of working and living? Cool. Congratulations. Please maintain the status quo so that you may live long and it shall be well with you. Hot. You must act fast and begin to chill your atmosphere as nature does…

So how can you chill your working condition? Adopt what I call the Compressor Strategy. If possible, be a compressor. Doing so enables you to increase and multiply using considerable less space, time and energy to achieve more.

To understand this better, take a look at all the electrical appliances in your home that chill, your refrigerator, air conditioners and others. They all have one thing in common, a gadget called a compressor. What does it do? Powered by electricity, it compresses a special gas that circulates, causing condensation which transforms the gas to liquid droplets. When that happens, temperature drops, heat is reduced, and the atmosphere becomes cooler. That is essentially what the air conditioner does. It circulates and chills the air simultaneously.

So why dont you begin to compress all your circulating thoughts, ways, methods, and actions. The way you work and live, why dont you simplify and compress them, chill your atmosphere and make life easier for yourself, your business and your family?

See how technology makes working and living easier with new developments. Any improvement in that field shortens, space, volume, improves speed and productivity, and simplifies work. The coming of the computer has achieved this. Tons of data that were once stored in huge volumes of files, shelves and cabinets are now conveniently stored and retrieved in diskettes, CD ROMs, and flash discs.

What started as mainframe computers have been reduced to laptops? That is compression and simplicity. So how simple is your lifestyle, your work, and the way you run your business. How simple are your products and services, work process, even production process? Are they cumbersome, or has everything been compressed, reduced in time, length, and volume?How simple are your brands for consumers to understand and use? For instance, insurance companies operating with complex wordings of their policies written in very tiny prints, are you listening? Do your policies make buying of insurance policies simpler or more difficult? What about your communication lines, chain of authority and command in your organization, are they compressed or simplified or they are circuitous, of many layers?

If you are a CEO, General Manager or Senior Manager, have you compressed your work processes and the way you communicate with junior staff? Are you one of those bosses that believe so much in line management: You must relate to me through your boss?

Every Monday morning, you hold endless management meetings to stem the dwindling fortunes of your organization in the market place. The business temperature is rising, heating up the atmosphere for your company.The higher you go, the cooler it becomes- that is if you are a leader and not a boss. There is a difference. Leaders command respect and have disciples whom they groom, care for, and give a future. When they do so, the corporate atmosphere is cool. Not so for bosses. They shout and heat up the system with rigidity and arm twisting tactics. They demand loyalty, and are grudgingly followed by unrepentant and complaining workers.

Nothing heats up a system like complaining workers. They poison the atmosphere. Even almighty God does not tolerate complaining followers. That was why he chose Moses, a man with a large heart, tested by age and experience, to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt through the desert to their promised land. And it is also why, when God wants to use you for any great work, he first of all crushes and compresses you in the school of wilderness experience, because He knows that without humility, you will make things hotter for your followers as you go higher.

And so dear professional, how large is your heart? How humble are you? Do you serve to lead (servant hood), or do you lead to rob (robbing hood)? Call any leader today, a server, oh, he will quarrel with you Yet watch every IT installation, without the server, nothing works. What managers need now is not leader-ship training, but servant-ship training?

As a professional, leader, CEO, manager, supervisor, stop heating up the system. You have a responsibility to make it cooler, not just for you, but for others as well. My charge to you is this: be a compressor, humble yourself, have a large heart that has no room for pettiness, serve, motivate, simplify, and put your trust in God.

Do these and you can confidently harmonize your ways and means with geography which tell us that, The Higher You Go, The Cooler It Becomes.

Eric Okeke, corporate storyteller, motivational speaker, business writer and copy writer. He is one of Nigeria’s most experienced financial journalist. I recommend that you read this valuable book, “How To Tell A Great Story” that is dedicated to teaching people just like you about the famed R.P.I Principle. Go now to http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com

Take this from the book of Proverbs. Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore get wisdom. And in your getting, get understanding. Riches and honor are with me. Enduring riches and righteousness. Translate this into your business, you get what I call Business Sense. As we progress into year 2005, it is necessary we refresh our minds on what this sense is all about. That is the mission of this article.

So what is Business Sense? How you do your business. Not really. Strategies for doing business. Well you may be correct, but not quite. Doing business with the sixth sense. No you are off the mark for though Business Sense has something to do with feelings, it has more to do with wisdom.

But what exactly is Business Sense? It is the application of wisdom for today’s business, or simply put, common sense in business. It is more than knowledge, facts, and figures. It is copious use of ideas especially those that are so simple, ordinary, or basic that they are disregarded. It is insight, the ability to interpret developments and the business environment differently, and to see, discern, and use differently and profitably, what others see but ignore because they look so ordinary or appear foolish. If you put your attention on those simple issues and things about they way you work and live, and use them for business, you are operating with business sense.

Business sense. Two words, So profound, readily available, so simple to learn and apply, yet largely ignored. You can call it common sense. Though it readily abounds, it is not so common in acquisition and application among the professional and managerial class who rule the corporate world.

They have studied in the best schools locally and abroad, acquired the latest technology and skills, and apply the best management methods, but are still struggling with the challenges in the marketplace. It is as if the more degrees, diplomas, and certificates our professionals acquire, the less they make use of common sense in business.

Not so for traders at the Alaba International market in Lagos. What they lack in formal education they make up with a copious supply of business sense. Little wonder, virtually all the banks flock to wherever these traders cluster to set up branches.

No economic sector or concentration of businessmen/women or professionals who exchange value have been able to attract such corporate attention from the financial services sector in Nigeria. These traders thrive while many other sectors are complaining. Do not blame the banks for chasing the traders. They badly need the cash which these traders generate daily. That is why they gravitate towards the traders. No other group maintains such a gravitational pull on a sector as formidable as the banks.

A teenage boy who moves into this market to learn the trade begins from the fundamentals- book keeping, retailing, pricing, and delivery of goods. Within four years, he has polished his negotiation skills and with the dexterity he has acquired, he can sell coal to a tourist form Newcastle in the UK. He is well equipped to deal confidently with consumers who are becoming very articulate and demanding. The hard times has made them to be very price sensitive and value conscious in their purchases. Patriotic messages may not move them anymore to vote for your brands with the dwindling value of their money. Neither will promotional hypes do that anymore.

What business sense tells you is that consumers want more promotional information to guide them in their purchases. Two decades ago, a nursing mother in Nigeria would hardly glance at the nutrition facts on a tin of baby milk. Today, before she buys, she picks up tins of SMA and other brands of baby foods to determine the one that offers the best value for her money. Now you can understand why Nestle Nigeria Plc mounted a promotional campaign to teach consumers Nutrition Facts. That beverage and baby foods maker has caught the vision of business sense.

What about Guinness Nigeria Plc. Its premium brand Guinness stout says: Guinness brings out the action in you. But what the brewery has failed to do is to explain how the consumption of Guinness will galvanize consumers into action.

Take this from Oceanic International Bank. Its lighted billboards in Lagos metropolis sends the corporate message in two words: Experience peace. Good promo. But in these days of consolidation, banking distress and all, Oceanic Bank will definitely make more impact if it sends out detailed promotional messages on how a relationship with the bank guarantees peace. That is the latest trend in corporate communications, a shift from promotional hypes to information loaded promotions which communication experts call infomercials.

Business sense means that corporate bodies, the professional and managerial class must bend down from their ivory towers; go back to the fundamentals of doing business which we so often ignore, and get connected to the consumer. These fundamentals or common sense are readily available but hardly appreciated or used. Business sense teaches vision, mission, ethics, corporate care, charity, courage, humility and defining your business properly.

Business sense is not taught in the real sense in academic institutions and managerial courses. The approach in these places is more academic that real.. This sense is acquired more through real life experiences, insightful observation, and learning the hard way in the School of Wilderness Experience. That is the essence of this article series, to complement the teachings of these unique business schools, and prompt professionals to use common sense and what almighty God has deposited in them.

Dan Thomas, founder and president of Focus, a management consulting firm in Polo Alto, California, USA, wrote a book titled Business Sense. In the book, he shows how managers can use core management processes he calls Five Freedoms, to achieve success. As Dan s book moves through the offices of corporate America, see how Ken Blanchard, co-author of One Minute Manager, described the book: The biggest problem in business today is that common sense is seldom common practice. This book is all about using common sense in business. If you have any sense, you will read it and share it with others. No need commenting on the common sense remark of Ken. The message is clear.

For you to acquire and apply business sense in your business, you need to humble yourself, have a large heart, be of lowly spirit, keep an eye on business fundamentals, and above all be close to your creator. That put’s you in the right frame of mind to recognize and apply common sense. If you are fixated on your academic achievements, total quality management, best practices and all, you will not apply common sense. No one is jettisoning these management methods. They are very necessary. But you need to lubricate their application with common sense. That is what brings lasting results.

You may be agonizing how to deal with that management, production, or marketing problem not knowing that the solution is one common sense application which you have not considered.

As I sign off today, take this classic example of a common sense solution to a big problem from the scriptures which most of you know more than me. The story of David vs Goliath. This giant had instilled morbid fear into the entire army of Israel. The solution for Goliath was readily available, yet no Israeli soldier or General saw it. Even if they did, they must have written it off as some managers in the corporate world are doing now as they confront the many Goliaths in the marketplace today.

The Israeli soldiers who lacked faith in God put all their trust in their spears and other armoury which paled into significance against Goliath’s. It took the courage and common sense of a teenage boy, David who trusted almighty God. He dipped his hands into the brook there, picked five smooth stones for his sling and ran towards Goliath. You know the rest of the rest of the story. That was a simple solution for a big problem.

The common sense approach is even more real for today’s marketplace. Dear professional, this is my call to you today: begin to apply wisdom in your business today. In subsequent articles, I will share my thoughts and the insights of other professionals like you on common sense in business. Apply them and it shall be well with you.

Eric Okeke, corporate storyreller, motivational speaker, business writer and copy writer. He is one of Nigeria’s most experienced financial journalist. I recommend that you read this valuable book, “How To Tell A Great Story” that is dedicated to teaching people just like you about the famed R.P.I Principle. Go now to http://www.howtotellagreatstory.com

Be all that you can be. Why do you suppose the army selected this slogan? They selected it because there was a certain kind of volunteer that they wanted to attract, and that message would appeal to that group of people. They wanted to attract risk takers and adventurers. The purpose was to try and tap into the need that many people feel for adventure and growth.

In more recent times the slogan has been changed to, An army of one. A slightly different slant in order to appeal to a generation with slightly different values, but still an appeal to the same basic group of people – the adventurer and risk taker.

Just why do they want to attract this kind of person? Simple! In a military organization, that is the kind of person they need in order to be successful in carrying out the mission. They cant recruit a bunch of lazy folks who are not self-starters and expect to get the job done. Every organization has a type of person it needs to attract in order to become more successful. If they can recruit those people, they will accomplish what they intend to do. If not, they will fail.

Is That All There Is?

Wouldnt it be great if that was all there was to it? But the reality is different. Sure we have to start with people who have the right qualifications and personality characteristics. But beyond that, every single person who comes into the organization has a whole set of other needs that must be fulfilled. They have personal growth needs, physical needs, emotional needs, relationship needs and on and on. And so what? Organizations dont function for the purpose of providing those kinds of things to its associates or employees, do they?

Well, no and yes. Certainly the primary purpose of any company or organization is to provide for the needs of the customer or client first. And even though it is not the primary purpose of an organization to provide for the human needs of its workers, the people in the organization still have the needs. And if you ignore those needs beyond a certain point, productivity will begin to suffer, regardless of the overall competence of the workforce. The trick is to, somehow, accomplish the primary mission while creating an environment which allows the organizations human individuals to experience fulfillment. It may be possible get away with being totally task focused for a while, but soon you will begin to see declines in morale and productivity.

Four Keys to High Organizational Morale

So, what are some things that can be done to insure the good of the organization and its personnel?

Number one is to be absolutely clear about task expectations. People respond more enthusiastically when they know exactly what is expected of them. This is a principle of human nature that can be clearly seen at every age of development. What happens when you dont give children clear parameters within which to live? They, literally, go wild. They need the boundaries, and so do your workers. People are able to focus more fully on the task, and will have a strong feeling of accomplishment when a job is completed, when they dont have to worry about issues that are beyond the scope of the job.

Secondly, give people an opportunity to grow. This is not a contradiction of point number one, above. At every level of responsibility people need to know the boundaries. But everyone also has an inner desire to grow beyond where they currently are. It is possible to provide higher level possibilities which also have their own parameters. Give people something to work toward and they will produce more than they would without that possibility.

A third thing that can be done is to loosen up. This, too, can be taken too far, but the tendency is all too often in the other direction. People want to be treated with respect. If you treat people as professionals, they will respond as professionals and get their assigned tasks done, even in the absence of outside pressure. Tension in the atmosphere creates tension in the body which leads to fatigue and a loss of productivity and morale. Handled correctly, people will work from an inner motivation, which is always superior to outside pressure.

Finally, create an atmosphere of respect and friendship. Even if it means leaving a huge salary, many people will quit a job or organization that puts too much negative pressure on them. I know a number of people who have done just that. They left jobs with good pay and high prestige because the atmospheric pressure was just too high. On the other hand, people will be loyal to an organization when they feel respect and friendship, even if the pay is low.

Render Unto Caesar

Of course, the primary focus of every group must be on fulling the purpose of the organization. Most organizations dont exist for the purpose of making their members feel good. It is there to provide a product or service to its clients and customers.

That being said, there is no reason it cannot be a platform for the personal fulfillment of its employees while it is fulfilling its primary mission. If both of those things can be incorporated into the equation, you will have happy workers and a very productive organization. Everyone has a part to play in this process, but it begins at the top. Every leader sets the tone for their followers. Begin, now, to create an atmosphere in your organization that allows both the organization and the individuals to be all that they can be.

About The Author

Dr. Freddy Davis is the owner of TSM Enterprises and conducts conferences, seminars and organizational training for executives, managers and sales professionals to help develop greater effectiveness and productivity. He is the author of the book Supercharged! as well as the Nutshell Series of books for strengthening business. You can visit the TSM website at www.tsmenterprises.com, or you can contact Freddy directly at 888-883-0656 or davis@iname.com.

But there was another group of people who reacted differently. These, too, lost everything and there is no doubt that they were just as devastated at their loss as were the others. It is just that they seemed to have better coping mechanisms. These folks were, somehow, able to take it in stride. Many of those went on to create another fortune.

What was the difference? Both lost everything. Why did they react so differently? The answer is that they placed their values in different places. As a result, the path they chose was also entirely different. The ones who committed suicide saw money as an end in itself. When it was gone there was nothing left to live for so they ended their lives. Those who started over placed their values more in the process of living life. They valued relationships and personal growth over money. They realized that money comes and goes, but life goes on. They chose to value things that give life meaning whether there is money or not.

This is but one example of the many ways this plays out in our lives. We all constantly deal with trials and disappointments. Whether it is with finances, business opportunities, relationships, sports competition, academics or whatever, we all face those times when we dont have the outcome we want.

The choices we make at those moments do not just happen. While we may, sometimes, feel limited in our possibilities, the fact is quite different. At any moment we have way more possibilities than we imagine. One of the major choices we make is our value system, and the decisions we make in life are based on those values.

While all too many people simply fall into their value system without due consideration, it should not, and need not, be that way. In the “era of Enron” and MCI with it’s focus on the bottom line above all else, it is time to refocus on where true value lies in the enterprise of business.

Let’s face it, money is everywhere. It is in good places and in bad places. It is used for good things and for bad things. The question is not, “Will we have money at our disposal?” It is, “What will we do with what we earn?” We have to assume that our business will be making money – no profit no business. Money, in and of itself, is a neutral commodity. Rather, it is the values we establish about the business and its resources that define the outcome.

We are not born with values – either as individuals or as a business entity. We absorb them from our environment (family, teachers, colleagues, etc.) and we craft them from our life experiences (what we read, who we listen to, desires and dreams).

But values have to be based on something. American culture emerged out of a way of thinking that was based on an objective value system which emphasized personal responsibility. The thinking was, If something was bad or wrong with my business, it was my responsibility to make it right. It included a very strong objective sense of what was right and wrong. The result of that value system is the powerful economic engine that the United States has become in the world today.

In recent years, though, there has been a significant shift in thinking. Rather than a system which emphasizes personal responsibility, it is now very much one which places responsibility on everything else but self, with right and wrong being a matter of personal preference. This system cannot help but develop an Enron mentality.

There are a lot of different ways that we can get at right and wrong in business dealings. Every business has to structure its efforts according to its own line of business, the personalities of its people and the corporate culture. But there are three basic principals that must be the underlying foundation for all of them if that business wishes to progress to higher and higher levels of value.

The Three Foundational Principles of Business Values

1. There is an objective right and wrong

There are two possible ways of looking at ethics. One is that there is a set of values which are right and the right values must be followed no matter the short term consequences. The second possibility is that particular values shift according to the situation.

The reason an objective set of values is so important is that it creates stability for the organization. Sure there must be flexibility to change with the times, but the flexibility needs to be in procedures, not in underlying values. If a company does not have a solid set of principles it is founded on and guided by, then every time a new leader comes along, the whole focus of the company might change. In the long run, this will end up creating a disaster in company morale, stability and in the integrity of the organization.

2. The business maintains personal responsibility for its actions.

Responsibility for ultimate outcomes has to reside somewhere. Ultimately it resides with the person who is in charge. But for there to be a smooth and efficient operation of the organization, pieces of it have to reside with the individuals who carry out the various actions. To the degree everyone involved accepts responsibility for their piece of the operation, the company will move forward with great strength. The moment anyone begins trying to shift responsibility away from themselves, productivity and efficiency begin to go down.

3. Personal integrity is the rule. There is a commitment to do what is right.

We live in an era where many people look at integrity as an option, rather than a bedrock foundation stone. This means that you treat your customers and make business deals according to what seems useful at the moment.

This, though, creates two huge problems. The first is that you wont have any consistency across the various parts of your business and over time. The second problem is that your customers and clients will not be sure how to deal with your organization. Both of these together will ultimately wreak havoc on your organization.

You Will Sink or Swim by Your Foundation

You do have a set of values that your organization operates by. The question is not, do they exist. Rather, it relates to what kind of control do you have over them? If you do not consciously know what your organizations guiding principles are, you can not use them to build a strong identity, and your business relationships will flounder.

If you do not consciously know what they are, everyone will be creating their own and there will be massive inconsistencies and confusion. It is worth whatever time and effort it takes to get a grip on the underlying principles that guide your organizations operation, and to begin to create a conscious one that you can communicate to everyone. At that point, you will gain control of your operation in ways that allow your to move forward with power.

About The Author

Dr. Freddy Davis is the owner of TSM Enterprises and conducts conferences, seminars and organizational training for executives, managers and sales professionals to help develop greater effectiveness and productivity. He is the author of the book Supercharged! as well as the Nutshell Series of books for strengthening business. You can visit the TSM website at www.tsmenterprises.com, or you can contact Freddy directly at 888-883-0656 or davis@iname.com.