Whether you call them your administrative assistants, your secretaries, your executive assistants or your right hand person, do you realize how much they really contribute to your business?

As a busy professional, your time is valuable. The more time that you spend focusing on what you do best, the more money you make.

Enter your assistant. It’s easy to overlook what a vital role these professionals play in your daily life. Yet, when forced to actually consider life without such support, most people can’t imagine it!

So, for one week every year, it’s customary to show appreciation to these professional support providers. This year that week is April 24-28.

I challenge you to really let them know how much they mean to your success and to that of your business overall. Yes, people certainly appreciate receiving bonuses, flowers, balloons, gifts, etc. However, sometimes it really is the thought that counts and all of those nice gifts can seem rather cold and thoughtless.

I suggest that this year you take a few minutes and really think of all the ways that your assistant has contributed to and, at times, even facilitated your success. Really rack your brain for specific instances.

Once you’ve come up with your list, which I guarantee you will be longer than you originally thought, set up a time to discuss these things with them. I would suggest taking your assistant out to lunch. Just make sure that you’re not interrupting their schedule or unintentionally making more work for them!

This might sound like a very simple gesture, but you’d be amazed how much a few words of acknowledgement can really mean. You may think that your assistant knows what a vital role they fill in your organization but that may not be the case.

Many assistants get frustrated because they feel unappreciated. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not asking for constant attention or coddling. Usually, it’s very much the opposite. However, wouldn’t you rather go to work everyday feeling as if you’re a part of something bigger? Now imagine that you know you’re a part of that something, but you feel as if no one else realizes it!

It’s not a pretty picture is it?

So, this week as administrative professionals or assistants or whatever title they may have are honored all across the country, make sure you’re on board. Find some way to acknowledge your assistant’s value. It take’s so little time and effort on your part, but it can make your workplace so much more pleasant for everyone!

Dana Wallert is the owner of an online virtual assistance company. She has many years experience in sales and marketing, as well as office management. Find more about Dana and sign up to receive her free monthly newsletter at DW Office Solutions - Virtual Assistant Services

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Conflict in organizations is not a problem. Poorly managed conflict is. Conflict managed well is a proactive investment in the future of the organization and in the employees involved. Conflict managed ineffectively is a reactive drain of human and financial capital.

7 Ways Your Company Is Wasting Money on Conflict

Unresolved, avoided, ineffectively managed, or destructive workplace conflict is expensive, both in financial and human terms:

   1. Lost Work Time. Several studies over the last decade suggest that a typical manager spends between 25% and 40% of her time dealing with employee conflict. In a study I conducted in 2000, college and university managers’ time on conflict ranged from 40% to 50% of work hours. Lost work time accrues for the employees involved in the dispute, their supervisors, sometimes their peers, and human resource staff.
   2. Attrition and Related Costs. Research reported in the late 1990s showed that workplace conflict left unresolved for too long leads to employee attrition or the use of valuable work time searching for alternative employment. Employee turnover that had its genesis in unresolved conflict is leads to expenditures for severance, recruitment, training and development for replacement staff, and the loss of productivity during that period.

   3. Absenteeism and Increased Health Care Costs. The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine has reported that health care costs are nearly 50% greater for workers who report high levels of stress. Stress as a reason for absenteeism increased 316% between 1995 and 1999. Stress is a known byproduct of unhealthy workplace conflict.
   4. More Grievances and Complaints. Between 1992 and 1998, annual monetary benefits for EEOC sexual harassment cases increased from $12.7 to $34.5 million. Annual monetary benefits for EEOC-handled ADA cases increased from $200,000 to $49.1 million during the same period.
   5. Increased Legal Fees. A 2005 Fulbright & Jaworski survey on litigation trends in the U.S. concluded that almost 9 out of 10 American companies are involved in some type of litigation and that one of the most prevalent messages to corporate counsel is "control costs."
   6. Theft and Sabotage. Unhappy employees can and do damage company equipment and steal from inventory. More insidiously, covert sabotage results from the daily little acts of omission from an employee that doesn't feel heard or valued.
   7. Damage to Company Reputation. When conflict goes public, the loss can be measurable in terms of lower earnings, diminished market share, or decreased traffic.

5 Ways Your Company Can Transform Conflict into Opportunity

Well-managed conflict contributes to creativity, strategic initiative, more effective systems and communication, stronger workplace relationships and a greater commitment to the organization. Good employees stay on board and better decisions lead to greater corporate health. What can you do to create such transformation? Address the root causes of unhealthy workplace conflict:

   1. Help Employees Learn How to Access Good Interpersonal Skill. All the skill training in the world won't help your employees during conflict if they don't know how to access those skills when they're in the heat of the moment. The new trend in conflict resolution training is a blend of interactive, classroom-style training with follow-up coaching to help employees really use what they learned.
   2. Prepare Managers to Offer More Effective Help. Many managers address conflict by imposing a solution, chastising, lecturing, re-organizing the department in question, or trying to help parties work it out without really having good insider mediation skills. Make an investment in your managers' education as in-house mediators with substantive skills to address the kinds of complex conflicts that create long-term problems.
   3. Clean Up Problematic Organizational Systems. System problems can masquerade as interpersonal conflicts. As I work with parties to peel back the layers of a conflict, it’s not uncommon to uncover ways the organization’s systems are pressing upon one or more of the individuals involved and directly influencing their behavior negatively. Such system problems may be invisible until the overt conflict begins, so wise workplaces consider conflict a possible symptom of something bigger; conflict consultants can help.
   4. Create Effective Conflict Management Systems. The informal system of organizational culture and formal intervention systems can have a profound influence on whether or not conflict unfolds in a healthy or destructive way. While the increasing commitment to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the workplace is a positive step, it’s often used too late in a conflict, confuses mediation and arbitration, or imposes a process on an unwitting or ill-informed employee. Effective conflict resolution systems, even in very small organizations, create opportunities for conflict to be identified and addressed early and constructively. Such effective processes emphasize joint problem-solving early in the dispute and the use of mediation before grievances or litigation harden the conflict.
   5. Make an Organizational Commitment to Taking the Time. A downside of the fast pace of today's workplace is that such ways of working get in the way of effective conflict management. Engaging conflict constructively requires focused time and attention. It's time well-spent---an investment on the front end saves time and emotional energy on unresolved conflict later.

Imagine what your organization could do with extra employee time and extra funds found through better-managed conflict, the ability to transform conflict from a vexxing problem to creative opportunity, and a workplace environment that retains great employees.

Dr. Tammy Lenski guides strategic dialogue, trains and coaches individuals and organizations to create terrific work environments by transforming conflict into opportunity. Her New Hampshire-based firm, Lenski Strategic LLC has a track record of successful service to business executives, entrepreneurs, organizations, colleges and universities, court programs, families and community groups nationwide. Women around the world subscribe to Tammy's blog, Strategic Conversations, to learn how to do conflict better at work and home.

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With the expansion of the internet and financial stability within the economy, many people are now taking the big step of starting up their own business. This article will look at a single personal attribute that is needed if you want to make that business a success.

Being organised is the most important attribute a person needs if they want to be successful in the world of business. Nowadays, many business managers are disorganised however these people generally rely on the services of organised assistants and secretaries. Many disorganised managers run financially successful companies; however is money the only gauge to measure the success of a business? My own thoughts are; having a successful business is NOT purely about money, there are other factors to consider. The happiness of your workforce, health issues (stress), customer relations and the long term future of your business/company.

The Happiness of the Workforce. People like routine especially when working; it gives them a feeling of comfort and security. Having a structured routine generally only comes about when a business is fully organised from top to bottom. Systems of work are put in place, these systems need to be understood and constantly monitored. Without a proper structure and understandable systems of work, your employees will not be happy perhaps resulting in them working in a stressful environment. The days when working practices are all in the Gaffer’s head, are well gone.

Stress. I am personally an organised person; in my working career I have managed large numbers of people, in difficult and trying circumstances. None of the businesses I have managed performed poorly. My wife however is disorganised, although also successful in her work, her personal disorganisation causes her and her workforce undue stress. Many business managers consider their companies a success, without even taking into consideration stress related illnesses or issues.

Customer Relations. Most businesses have dealings with customers, these customers will know very quickly if your business is organised or not, there will be no way to hide or cover this up. If your customers are unhappy because of your service it is generally because someone is struggling to cope with the customers demands. In today’s business world people do not want to wait for anything. They want quality work/products/service as fast as possible, only an organised business can provide these deliverables on a regular basis.

Long Term Future of a Business. Long term planning now seems a thing of the past for small businesses. Generally, business owners are looking to build up their business over the short term, and then sell it on. This has become common practise especially for online businesses. However if you are looking to set up a business for a longer period of time, you need to plan – known colloquially as a Business Plan or Through Life Management Plan. A person who manages an organised company, with set routines and practices will not only be able plan for the future, they will also be able to implement these plans with minimal fuss.

This article has just brushed the surface of this complex and complicated subject. The aim of the article is to make people aware; being organised in business will help you become successful.

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Many businesses are comfortable. Ahhhh… it is so nice being in the comfort zone – the metaphorical easy chair in front of a warm fireplace, feet up, and relaxed. The company is doing fine, business is good; management, customers and staff are happy… and complacent.

Complacency breeds a slowdown in the production of adrenaline and then the company starts down a slippery slope, becoming easy prey to competitors as it starts falling behind. It might be that your company’s products and services don’t get worse, but your competitors become better while you are still sitting there warm and cozy. When competitors become better, they offer updated style, or speed of delivery, or a more durable product, or lower prices, or more convenience, or nicer ambiance, or more personal, friendly service, or any combination of these benefits and values. Your customers defect because they can get more of what they want elsewhere.

What to do? In one word – energize! Get out of that comfort zone. Measure yourself against the competition. Create meaningful, yet attainable goals that stretch your organization. Create action steps to enable the organization to attain those goals. Create realistic timelines to implement those action steps. Roll out your new, improved, greater value-added widget. Sure, the theory is easy and execution is difficult. But the alternative is much worse.

While writing the three paragraphs above I was thinking of the former icons of the automobile industry that are in so much trouble today. Their products never really got bad when they comfortably had the lion’s share of the market, but their competitor’s products became better from any number of comparatives and now they are going through massive upheaval in order to survive. Now they are out of their comfort zone in a huge way because of massive layoffs, plant closings, and product changes. Had they, years ago, seriously looked at their changing marketplace, they would have energized and changed the way they looked at the future instead of leaning back and putting another log on that fire.

Please don’t wait to find yourself in survivor mode. Become uncomfortable and succeed.

Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com Questions??? Send an email to [email protected]

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As most of us know, the oil industry recently enjoyed fiscal quarters of record revenue and profits thanks to strong global demand, short supplies and high prices for oil and natural gas. Predictably, however, politicians like Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, and others were fast on the case, seeking but thankfully not getting new windfall tax legislation to tax "only excess profits," leaving "reasonable profits" unaffected and arguing that anything more than "reasonable profits" should be returned to society. They contend that the oil companies' recent quarter of higher profits is mostly an unearned "windfall" ostensibly due more to luck than anything else and they (the oil companies) really didn't do anything to earn it. It reminds me a bit of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank's comments on the estate ("death") tax some time ago to the effect: "...why should the kids get it it; they didn't earn it."

The politicians, concerned about their low approval ratings, go on to stress that the oil companies' profits this quarter are partially due to uncontrollable factors that they did not anticipate such as the tremendous increase in demand for oil from China and India. But that coin has two sides since just about every business venture involves factors that cannot be anticipated or controlled, and these factors can affect it both positively or negatively. That's part of the risk businesses must take on. Heck, just ask any restaurant owner — just ask any businessperson. .

Now then, to earn a profit requires the capability to create a product or service. It requires the capability to create value. Oil companies, like any other business, must invest time, money, and sweat equity, and—most particularly—must assume the risk that others will value its product or service, and that they will not be driven out of business by superior competitors, or better service, or a better dining establishment, or better hardware stores, et cetera. It only follows that since they assume the risk, they also deserve any rewards or losses that result from taking the risk. In the last decade, oil companies had no right to be bailed out by the government when oil prices unexpectedly fell below $10 a barrel (only seven years ago). As a result, what became known as the Texas oil depression of the 1990s ensued. But likewise, the government has no right to seize their profits when oil unexpectedly rose to almost $70 a barrel (it has since settled around $ 60 a barrel). Manifestly, it cannot and should not work one way and not the other.

After all, did the many computer geniuses who made millions at Lotus, Microsoft, Digital, IBM, Intel, Wang and elsewhere not deserve their money? Should they have been forced to "return it to society" because they did not anticipate their computer and programming skills would be so profitable? I think not! They developed and bet their livelihoods on those skills and assumed the related risks . They are entitled to their high compensation. It belongs to them, not the government. As author and philosopher Ayn Rand once stated, "If you ask me to name the proudest distinction of Americans, I would choose—because it contains all the others—the fact that they were the people who created the phrase 'to make money.' No other language or nation had ever used these words before; men had always thought of wealth as a static quantity- to be seized, begged, inherited, shared, looted or obtained as a favor. Americans were the first to understand that wealth has to be created."

Perhaps lost in all the opportunistic maneuvering and socio-political criticism is the simple fact that the oil industry should be commended for succeeding. America's oil companies have achieved their profits these past few quarters the old-fashioned American way—they earned them by creating value through great effort (working both hard and smart), and taking tremendous risks.

These companies plow back billions on new exploration and production (e.g., ConocoPhillips and Exxon) even though domestic investment is difficult due to restrictions on drilling on public lands and on the continental shelf. They construct giant rigs to extract oil from the ocean floor (e.g.,Transocean Inc). They develop new technologies like 3-D seismic surveys which plays a vital role in extending the limits of a field or finding new pockets of reserves in and around producing properties (e.g., ConocoPhillips.) They develop new extraction methods to get hundreds of billions of barrels of oil from the potentially rich sand deposits in Western Canada (e.g., Suncore Energy, Canadian Sands Trust). They increase production and reduce overall drilling and completion costs through horizontal, multilateral and other innovative drilling techniques (e.g., Baker Hughes and Dawson Geophysical). They achieve mergers, consolidations and acquisitions to combat depletion and increase their reserves and efficiencies (e.g., Cimarex Energy and Encore Acquisition, Inc.). And in so doing, they assume those risks inherent in oil exploration and development. Moreover, they must deal with unstable foreign governments like Venezuela, Iran, Nigeria, etc.; they must contend with new and ever-shifting government regulations; and, of course, they must deal with the complex, manipulative and risky issues associated with OPEC. Pure luck? A windfall? Didn't earn it? I don't think so.

So why bash success? Where does such oxymoronic behavior end? While the oil market is certainly not a model of pure capitalism, a windfall tax as a socialist-style intervention is hardly appropriate. Such punitive measures imposed on the industry in the 1970s hindered reinvestment in the industry's infrastructure. The answer may lie in the fact that the politicians' top priority is often survival, and far less frequently the protection of capitalism. If so, oil companies—and capitalism—may be in for some hard times.

"What kind of society isn't structured on greed? The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm; capitalism is that kind of system." —Milton Friedman

Ted Sares, PhD, is a private investor who lives and writes in the White Mountain area of Northern New Hampshire with his wife Holly and Min Pin Jackdog. He writes a weekly column for a local newspaper and many of his other pieces are widely published.

His works focus on issues and themes dealing with socio-political topics, business and economics in which he advocates a free market approach to capitalism, patriotism, and matters dealing with individual freedom.They are frequently inspirational in nature and sometimes reflect the Objectivist philosophy of novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand. He also writes short stories that feature ironic and surprise twists.

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With all of the marvelous and mind boggling technology out there it is easy to let our imaginations run wild and say, “wow” if they can make a phone that I can watch a full length movie on surly they can come up with a way that would allow me to use the vast amounts of information stored in my company’s client management system.

The fact of the matter is that many systems that are just a few years old were not built with change and flexibility in mind. When they were produced they were probably built to the specifications given to the design team, and if you are one of the companies struggling with a rigged platform you probably paid a lot for this system. The problem comes when your business, your customer base, or your world changes. Anyone would agree in order to stay at or near the top of the heap you need to be ready and capable to adjust your direction sometimes drastically.

When these important changes come and you call in your well paid IT department and tell them that you now need an online store capable of everything that the in-store system is. There are a couple of things that the IT people will come up with to solve the dilemma. First of all they will probably tell you that with the current system it is not possible, but when you tell them that you spent $700,000 on this system and it had better be possible. Then most like you will get what is known as a patch.

Patches are common and you can see them in operating systems everywhere. A patch is always a financial drain on the company and the larger the company becomes the larger the financial drain. Then more patches will undoubtedly be added in to compensate for other software shortcomings. So how can you tell if your company is falling victim to the patch. It is simple just ask yourself this question do I employ anyone that does any of the following. Collects customer trends, imputes information into the system other than at the point of sale, compiles customer lists, types or prints envelopes, has to add up credit card receipts to balance the till, has to input a code to track certain information, has to generate shipping invoices or billing invoices. And of course the list goes on.

I spoke with a CEO of a company who told me that in order to make a certain type of transaction occur someone needed to manually impute a code into the system so that particular items could be tracked and reported. He told me that at first they did very few of these types of transactions and so the patch did not seem like that bad of an idea, however now they employ 30 full time employees with benefits to manage that particular patch.

Patched systems become less and less intuitive for the user and many instances, the customer. Your company’s sales may be off the chart but calculate for a moment how much that sale cost you from marketing through point of sale, invoicing, shipping follow-up and deposit of your income. Remember you are paying for every task that your employees are doing. What in the beginning is just an employee picking up the slack for the sake of the patch, can turn into a less than profitable situation.

This is precisely why web based systems are becoming more and more popular. They are usually much cheaper to build and infinity easier to upgrade and modify. Web based systems will also keep your hardware costs down. However your IT department will generally not endorse this truth because this will take away their job security and serve to shrink IT needs instead of increase them. Before you throw a lot of money at the problem and still do not have what you need to function at peak performance, look at your options and you would do well to get a software evaluation from a qualified outside source. You might be amazed at what you can do with all of that customer information that is just sitting in your data base.

http://www.oinksolutions.com/cms/

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Manager means to manage any work or an organization. To manage is not that easy. Imagine the size of some of the large organizations. Their turnover exceeds GDP of many countries. But the companies have to be managed effectively and efficiently and good managers are needed to do that. It applies to self-run businesses. If you don't know how to manage your business, it will suffer. How to test yourself and know if you are a good manager or whether you have the qualities to become a good manager? Let us find out.

What are the qualities of a good manager? Let us summarize. To know the goal of the organization and to achieve those goals with minimum resources and maximum effectiveness is the first goal of any manager. If the primary goal of your company right now is to increase sales, irrespective of profits, you have to do that with given resources. If the goal is to increase profits, you have to do that by cutting costs, improving sales, raising prices, and improving employee effectiveness and raise profits.

The quality that is most important for a good manager is skill and knowledge. Unless a manger has skill to perform a job, nothing will work. The second important quality is focus. A manager should be focused to the goal of the company and his/her every action should go in that direction. All such sub skills as Time management, Human resources management, Marketing, Production and purchases are part of the larger goal. Each of these has to be made more effective and efficient.

One important factor that at times overrides all others is vision. What is the vision of the manager about the organization? How does the manager look at the future and what is larger game plan? These are very important to formulate policies, which will satisfy the goals of the organization. No organization is static. It is a dynamic mix of many forces that has to be managed to move in a single direction. The test of a manger lies in doing this. Test yourself against all these requirements and find out the strengths and weaknesses. Once you know your weaknesses, you can work upon them and improve your performance. Try some quizzes from the Internet on Business & Career and try answering them. The tests will help you greatly in finding out more about yourself.

CD Mohatta writes for ecards and online greetings, screensavers and desktop wallpapers. The topics of his writings include love, inspiration, holidays, birthdays, nature, religion and spirituality, success etc. You can have his writings on your desktop with free screensavers. These are video screensavers with beautiful background music. Read the messages and get inspired all day. Also try out some of the free ecards at ecarduniverse.com. You will find lovely video animated ecards in all topics like expressions, celebrations, family, friends and many more.He writes content for Quiz and Tests on Personality, Dating, Marriage and Career

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’ve been a dancer my entire life. I started out at the tender age of 4 with my first pair of shinny black tap shoes with little pink bows. I later graduated to jazz, swing, ballroom, a little country line dancing and in my mid 20s returned to my love of tap where I studied with a professional dancer who taught the likes of Paula Abdul and other celebrities how to shake a leg.

So when I decided I wanted to drop a couple of pounds before the holidays hit I went back to my roots and signed up for a series of dance classes.

Going in I knew that dance requires creativity, focus, control and power. But driving home one day I thought about how much learning to dance is like running a business. Here are 5 business lessons I've learned from hanging out in a hip-hop class.

I can do a whole lot more than I thought.

Each lesson is broken down into sections. It doesn’t matter what class I’m in the instructor belts out 8 counts of new steps and I watch thinking, “my body doesn’t do that”.

You know what, after it’s broken down and we practice a bit, “my body can do that”. It’s the same with your business. What business tasks, systems, phone calls, and risks are you not taking because you think you can’t? All it takes is breaking it down and a little practice and you’ll be amazed at what you can do.

It gets easier with time.

My first day in hip-hop class I looked around at the room full of 20somethings and through, "what on earth is a tap dancer doing in a hip-hop class"? I tripped over myself, got frustrated with the steps and pretty much looked like an idiot. But the more I do it the easier it gets and the more fun it is. To top it off I’m surprised at how fast I’m picking it up.

In business you don’t start at the top. You have to try things that make you feel uncomfortable, self- conscious and maybe even (gulp), out of control. But keep at it because soon things that gave you the heebie jeebies become second nature.

It takes more than good feet to be a good dancer.

So there I was feeling a little cocky because I had all the steps down. I was moving all over the floor and then I looked in the mirror and I looked like CRAP.

My feet were perfect. But the rest of me was stiff as a board. I wasn’t moving my arms, hips, head, or shoulders. Nothing. I was only doing 10% of the work, but expecting 100% of the results.

It’s the same in business. If you have the perfect marketing plan, but no systems to back it up, it’s like you’re working at 10%. You need a balance of marketing, sales, accounting, products, staff, etc. Make sure you aren’t dancing with just your feet, use your whole body.

Why do I have to force myself to do something I love?

Sunday morning I’m curled up on the couch with my dog, a nice cup of tea and the TV. I love the dance class, you’d think I’d be ready to jump up and head off to class. But no I literally had to force myself off the couch.

Even though you love what you do, sometimes you’ll have to force yourself to work. Figure out what motivates you to get going even when you don’t feel like it.

A group of peers is really supportive.

When there is a really big class we split into two groups so at the end of the class each group has a chance to really let go without worrying about running into their neighbor. It’s great having more advanced dancers to follow in case I forget the steps. Then at the end the group watching claps and cheers – no matter we look like.

Find yourself a group of cheerleaders. Personally, I have a mastermind group, an accountability buddy, and a coach. All help me when I need help with the steps and cheer for me when I have even a small success.

© 2005 Beth Schneider. Want to reprint this article, feel free as long as you include the following: Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur of Process Prodigy, is a business process consultant who helps solo-entrepreneurs, small business owners and network marketers who want to systemize their business to increase profits, increase productivity and grow their business without having to give up the family oriented, flexible, balanced lifestyle they desire. Beth works one-on-one with her clients, offers home study courses, and teleclass boot camps. For more information visit http://www.processprodigy.com and sign up for your FR*EE 5- Step Process Starter Kit and FR*EE Process Tips.

Beth Schneider, Chief Infopreneur, uses her natural ability to create systems and motivate people, providing streamlined, effective and consistent processes and procedures.

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I've been thinking a lot lately about something Marianne Williamson said in one of her lectures (I recently bought a 4 CD set of some of her live speeches called "Letting Go and Becoming"). She talks in one of her speeches about how it is becoming necessary for us to seek an equal balance of mind and heart.

Of course, I relate everything I read, hear, watch, etc. to business, so I'm theorizing about this in terms of Jim Collins' Level 5 leaders (from Good to Great).

Collins, despite his best efforts in doing strict numbers-based research for the book, couldn't deny that there was some thread of something that ran through the leaders of the 11 companies that made the cut. Collins didn't want this "soft stuff" to impact his hard numbers, but his researchers (he calls them "chimps") convinced him that there was something to this area of leadership that they were discovering. Collins eventually came to call these leaders Level 5 Leaders. I'll come back to the Level 5 dialogue in a minute.

According to Marianne Williamson, we are all composed of both masculine and feminine energy - there is something about your human experience that will identify more with one or the other in your lifetime, but the balance of the universe has to do with an equal honoring of both. Our civilization has traditionally overemphasized the masculine worldview. The masculine mind is focused on externals. In Western civilization we focus a lot on the REAL - whether or not I can put my hands on it - whether or not I can register it with my physical senses. When the masculine energy thinks of changing, it works to change something that already exists. It thinks in terms of taking something you don't like and substituting something you do like. On the other hand, it is a feminine function to create what you do want. Creating is when you bring something out of no-thing.

Masculine energy is dynamic. It DOES. Feminine consciousness is not dynamic, but magnetic. It is more about BEING.

We've been taught that in order to be "successful" we need to DO something - we need to CHANGE something - we need to show results. It's what we can see and touch that matters. We really believe that touchy feely stuff won't bring about any changes because we can't see or measure the results.

But we need to go within in order to create the world anew. If we really want things to be different in our worklives and really in our whole lives, we need to think about creating, not making. How is it working in our lives to MAKE somebody DO something? What if we stopped trying to change everyone else and went inside and thought about TRANSFORMING ourselves?

I wonder if that's what Collins meant when he described the distinction between Level 4 and Level 5 leadership. He describes a Level 4 leader as one who "catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards" (in other words, dynamic). His definition of a Level 5 leader is one who "builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will" (page 20) (in other words, magnetic).

Maybe the Good to Great Level 5 leaders - all 11 of them (and all male, by the way) - were leaders who were more in touch with their feminine or magnetic energy. Maybe they were the ones who encouraged creativity within their workplaces. Think of the most successful leaders you've encountered in your life, whether at work or at home or at school or in some other activity. Would you say that they exhibited more Level 5 or Level 4 behaviors? Were they more dynamic or more magnetic? Were they Do-ers or Be-ers?

Certainly there is always some combination of the masculine and the feminine, of the dynamic and magnetic - and in fact, isn't that the goal: to achieve a balance? But I'm beginning to discover, at least for myself, that I'm much more effective as a speaker, a trainer, a facilitator, and even as a friend, sister, daughter, aunt, when I identify and listen to my feminine or magnetic side, which I thought I needed to deny to be successful as an athlete and later in Corporate America (both areas which traditionally reward the dynamic over the magnetic).

Whether you're male or female, it seems that the magnetism of feminine energy might provide at least some great conversation.

Jodee Bock is a life purpose and career coach, speaker, facilitator, and trainer. She works together with people - individuals and teams - who want to practice "riskful" thinking as opposed to merely "wishful" thinking. Together Jodee and her clients co-create a roadmap that works backwards from what they would like to become and set up a plan to transform their knowledge into action.

In addition to her coaching and facilitation, Jodee is available for keynote addresses, and develops and delivers customized workshops and seminars. She is a certified Job Relations trainer for manufacturing environments, and also a certified Accelerated Innovation trainer and coach with SolutionPeople (http://www.solutionpeople.com).

Jodee is a co-author of the book "Don't Miss Your Boat," and her own book "The 100% Factor: Living Your Capacity" will be released this fall.

For more information, check out her website at http://www.bocksoffice.com or her blog at http://youalreadyknowthisstuff.blogspot.com.

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BUDGET SETTING

This is the single most neglected feature in any organisation.

Yet without setting budgets we have no goal posts through which to kick the ball!

As in sport, we should always strive to stretch our limits. Thus Sales Budgets provide the impetus that drives the whole venture.

We all need some yard stick by which to determine what pricing to put on to a product or service that we sell.

It is often easy to determine the price that we pay for an item that we purchase – just look at the invoice!

However, not even this is always so easy. Do we buy it from Supplier “A” or Supplier “B”. Which gives the best price, then do either offer better pricing for bulk buys? Again, once we have set a realistic Sales Budget, then we can determine our quantity requirements in order to meet those sales. Possibly, on that basis we can negotiate better buying prices.

If we are buying multiple components to manufacture something then the number of questions begin to increase.

The next questions that then arise are quality of components, and suitability of combining one with another. What about wastage – can we afford to either scrap or re-work components?

What effect does re-work have on labour costs?

In a previous Practical Accounting Article we touched on Costing Theory. This also discussed the need to allocate indirect costs against the provision of a manufacturing process, or the provision of a service.

Probably, by now you begin to see the need for budgets as they can be used to assist in the costing exercise.

Where the volume of sales is somewhat consistent between one year and another then the historical figures can be adjusted to allow for the anticipated sales next period. These then become the budget for the that period.

Most of the SME accounting packages have some provision for comparing actual performance against budget. One program in the market place has a button you press that takes the actual figures into a popular spreadsheet so that changes can be made on the basis of “what if”. Unfortunately, it is not so easy to take the figures back into the program – they have to all be manually keyed!

The accounting program that I promote allows selection of figures by copy and paste either way. This does require discipline. The order of the figures being pasted back into the budget column must not be changed in order to achieve synchronisation with the “Actual” figures. Fortunately, the “Actual” figures can not be corrupted.

Now when a budget has been set-up in an accounting program, it is easy to compare Actual against Budget in the reports that can be generated.

Sometimes you will note that there are seasonal fluctuations in both Actual and in Budget figures. When they diverge there can sometimes be explanations such as unseasonal weather patterns. This was very obvious with one grocery chain I was involved with, and at Board meetings the financial reports were often supplemented with weather bureau reports explaining the deviations from anticipated results. Similarly, changed Public Holiday dates could also affect sales and were reported on when applicable.

Changes in operations can also affect the performance. That is, if a business is expanding then economies of scale can assist in reducing purchase prices.

Conversely, if additional capital outlays are required in order to provide capacity for the increased throughput, then there would be borrowing costs (either actual or implied). In addition, neglecting tax scheduled depreciation we should provide for the ultimate replacement of assets at “tomorrows dollars” rather than historical purchase prices.

Obviously, lending authorities need to see projected figures (sometimes years ahead) as well as reports on past performance before they will risk lending for any proposed expansion.

Government funded bodies such as the nine South Australian Business Enterprise Centres (bec), and fourteen South Australian Regional Centres conduct courses in which one of the final products is a Business Plan for each participant.

Even the operators of established businesses should re-visit their Business Plan from time to time, and make changes in response to perceived public demand for product or service.

Peter Robertson ACIS, CPA, PNA is not a Registered Tax Agent, however, he has had forty years of practical experience covering both industrial and government accounting, and including efficiency and effectiveness audits. He has decided to pass on some proven costing and general accounting theories in the hopes that it may assist prospective entrepreneurs.

Peter can be contacted through http://www.money-works.com.au

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Exceptions to the rule...(these) are in fact emphasising the same rule. But what about the exceptions themselves?

Exceptions and incidents require more than a common response. When business is "as usual," it is normally not difficult to manage. But now the exception. That is when you can make a difference. That is where you can show who you are, and what the value is of your approach.

The anecdote published recently in USATODAY serves as a fine example.

“Office Depot CEO Steve Odland remembers like it was yesterday working in an upscale French restaurant in Denver,” reads USATODAY (http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2006-04-14-ceos-waiter-rule_x.htm). It is a story about the CEO in his earlier days working in a restaurant and the incident where he tumbled a sorbet “onto the expensive white gown of an obviously rich and important woman.”

Thirty years later “Odland can't get the stain out of his mind, nor the woman's kind reaction. She was startled, regained composure and, in a reassuring voice, told the teenage Odland, "It's OK. It wasn't your fault." When she left the restaurant, she also left the future Fortune 500 CEO with a life lesson: You can tell a lot about a person by the way he or she treats the waiter.

The newsstory in USATODAY explains that this [waiter] rule landed in “a booklet of 33 short leadership observations called Swanson's Unwritten Rules of Management. Among those 33 rules is only one that Swanson says never fails: "A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter, or to others, is not a nice person."

Later in the story Steve warns for "...people who have a situational value system, who can turn the charm on and off depending on the status of the person they are interacting with," Swanson writes. "Be especially wary of those who are rude to people perceived to be in subordinate roles."

A manager may do nothing in eighty percent of his time. Yet when there is an incident, a real exception, than he can make a difference. Search of those exceptions and evaluate afterwards what your action has been. Did you really make a difference or was it business as usual?

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

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Discipline is very important in organizations as it is for organizing you personal life. If you want to achieve something in sports or any other area you cannot without. But what is it exactly?

According to the free dictionary, the verb discipline may be used to express four actions: to train (a specific pattern of behaviour) ; to teach (a branch of knowledge or teaching) ; to punish (in order to correct) or to impose order (by a set of rules or methods). http://www.thefreedictionary.com/discipline

In fact all four are centered around order; order in the frequency of activities (training), order in subjects (knowledge), order in the class (with or without punishment).

I remember a quote from Evelyn Waugh, which I cannot retrieve, but what say’s about the following – A teacher with a wig will not be able to keep order in the classroom (“Mr Prendergast, an elderly teacher who made the mistake of wearing a wig on his first day and could not take it off without incurring more laughter from the boys,” which is an online review from Decline and Fall on Amazon I looked it up – Internet is a great source of information, now I understand Why Google wants to scan and archive literature).

This classroom incident speaks for itself. And it is not about the laughter of the boys in the class. It is about being credible. “Why would you wear a wig,’ the boys must have asked. “Do you pretend to be different than what you are?” Unfortunately we see organizations pretending to be different than what they really are. They focus on business transaction that are way out of their profile.

No wonder that you have a hard time getting disciplined.

If discipline is taken seriously, credibility should have been dealt with first. Make sure that activities are credible and the discipline will follow.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

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Have you ever been sailing on a beautiful summer’s day, the wind perfect, the water ideal? But when you look around, you notice there were a number of other sailboats, with their sails as full as yours, but some are much faster, and you feel like you are standing still!

You look around and find your anchor is running along the bottom of the marina. You were still moving forward, but no where near the speed as the other sailboats out that day.

Is this happening to your business? Are your sails full of great opportunities? Is your competition passing you by? Does your business lack the momentum to get you out to the open water?

Many businesses are dragging their anchor. What do I mean by “dragging their anchor”? This anchor can refer to employees who just don’t have what is takes to be successful in your business line or are the type of employee who brings down the rest of the team. The anchor stops or slows down your momentum in your company.

Having employees on your team who consistently challenge the corporation in a positive manner is a good thing! They keep your company competitive in the marketplace. However having an employee or group of employees who weigh down your company in a negative manner, is something you need to act upon.

Negative employees can knock the wind out of your company’s sails! The team members who fill your company’s sails daily, with great ideas and forward momentum will soon become tired and lack the energy, required to move your sailboat forward. Eventually these same employees will find an easier boat to blow their powerful wind into, while your anchors will continue to slow down your progress.

Many organizations continue to work on developing their anchors instead of harvesting the wind that blows into their sails. Anchors will always be anchors, and they may have moments of promise in transforming into a sail, BUT the trend is, they almost always revert back to being an anchor. A good read on this topic is a book titled “If You Don’t Make Waves, You’ll Drown” by Dave Anderson. One of the book’s lessons is, many of today’s leaders spend the majority of their time on the non-performers, instead of their performers. Again, continuing with this practice will have your performers looking for another stage to perform on.

Can you imagine a sailboat with no sails and all anchors? Business owners need to remove the anchors or at least secure your anchors onto your sailboat and focus on the sails in your organization. Sails do not need a lot of effort, however, they do need attention, regular support, and care.

Harvest the winds in your company so you can have full sails to allow you to compete in the marketplace and keep pace, ahead of your competition.

Stuart R. Crawford is the Director of Business Development, at IT Matters Inc. (http://www.itmatters.ca), a Microsoft Gold Partner, Small Business Specialist and Microsoft IMPACT Award Finalist 2005 - Network Infrastructure Solution of the Year. Stuart is also a certified coaching practioner with execuCoach International (http://www.execuCoach.net). He can be reached at [email protected].

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“Oh yeah, I definitely feel out of my depth at times. But I think that if you don’t occasionally feel out of your depth you’re either not growing anymore, or you’re kidding yourself, or you’re not pushing the organization hard enough.” Comment in Unlimited from Grainne Troute - CEO McDonalds. Grainne has an HR background.

Potential CEO’s come from a much wider range of business disciplines than even five years ago and perhaps CEO applicants can benefit from my real-world, in-the-trenches questions and experiences on both sides of the CEO fence. If you have had a career largely in one discipline to this point then these questions will enable you to think of the CEO role in broader terms.

Questions, many of which are in the considered “soft” areas, have potential answers that will help you make a balanced decision as to whether your potential career move will be a good fit, and if so, increase your chances for success in the role. The alternative?

I describe it as the “eighteen-month club.” You are hired, the board has great expectations on sales and profit growth….. you make the right noises, six months go by, twelve months and the board starts questioning “Where are the results?” and by eighteen months you are in the departure lounge along with 15-20% of the CEO’s from the Fortune 1,000. You have joined the eighteen-month club!

So it is time to start probing:

Q What stage in the business life-cycle is the organization in?

Initial high-growth; maturity; decline or the start of the 2nd growth cycle? Is there widespread recognition and acceptance by individual board members of the life-cycle stage?

Q. Does the company strategy have a long-term sustainable competitive advantage? How do you know?

A. Instead of just relying on information provided, have you completed a S.W.O.T? Talked to customers and ex-customers? Talked to competitors? Searched the internet? Found industry trend information? Looked at benchmarked data?

Q. Has the business model passed its “use-by” date?

Aggregators, e-commerce, new competitors or technology may all have had a major negative impact on the business. Does the board truly recognise it or are they still in denial and in the mode of trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear?

Have they considered a Greenfields approach to the development of a business plan?

“If I were starting the business today would we do business the same way?”

If not, then the board should have directed the development of a business plan recognising: industry trends, new technology, competitors, factors impacting on the business model, geographic factors related to sales and support and traditional and non-traditional competitors. e.g., in the check printing business considering the impact of credit and smart cards.

Q. Has the board gone through the cost-cutting phase, or are they locked into ongoing cost-cutting?

A. No-one ever downsized to greatness. During the process of downsizing trust and morale typically are destroyed. Unless the board is focussed on re-growth strategies and not further cost-cutting, then I would suggest that your tenure will be short-lived as you will not be demonstrating additional profit from new business acquisition.

Q. Is the board focussed on the short or long-term?

While the board may talk about being “in it for the long-haul” look at what shareholders and board members have done in other situations. Are they long-term players or typically just looking for a quick return?

Q. Will there be a business reinvestment strategy or is there a single-minded focus on shareholder returns right now?

A. To this point there may not have been calls to reinvest in the business. A leading question to ask then is: “What has been their track record either in this or other business interests?”

Q. Is it a public or private company?

If private, who are the key shareholders? It is important to meet one-on-one with each of them to consider such things as:

-  is there a dominant personality?
 -  will they let the chair do their job?
 -  has the board been “stacked” or are there the right             disciplines to take the company forward?
 -  will directors do what is right for the company, or do

some board members pursue personal agendas? - will primary shareholders continually second-guess the

CEO by calling in regularly at offices or taking staff to

social events etc? - Is the owner or dominant shareholder an entrepreneur?

Typically they are short-term players, not interested so

much in planning and have a “Do it – fix it” mindset.

Q. Does the board truly understand their role?

A. My experience with private corporations in particular is that the board does not stick to strategy design, and then evaluate the CEO on his or her execution of that strategy. Too much time is spent debating operations. This discussion does little to ensure the long-term profitable operation and market superiority of the business. Again, using my experience this is not such a factor in public corporations.

Q. Governance charter…. Is it just a wall-hanging, or a code they live by?

A. Quiz board members on their knowledge of the charter and answers will provide your first clue.

Q. Do board members seem “tenured” or do board members change according to the skill mix needs of the organization’s life-cycle?

A. Very easy to see how long each board member has continuously served and whether board members have to retire by rotation and offer themselves for re-election, and whether after say two terms they have to stand down for one complete term.

Q. Does the Board go through a formal evaluation process? Whole Board? Chairman? Individual Board members?

A. If not, why not? Perhaps it has never occurred to them, perhaps the Board is too new or perhaps it is considered too threatening by individual Board members.

Q. What are the sacred cows?

A. I am pleased to report that in most cases there are none. However, understand whether there are any sacred business processes, unprofitable/low-profit customers you are “requested” to retain, or any untouchable personnel.

Q. Why did they consider making the job offer to you?

A. Job descriptions are broad and so what specifically out of your background is it that they think you will do?

Were they looking for a celebrity CEO, someone who will build a leadership team, a consensus builder or someone who will drive change? Roles are broadly characterised as growth navigators; execution maestros; turnaround surgeons or business model transformers.

Do you think they will want you over the longer term, or will they transition to someone else once their initial goal with you is met?

Q. Have they structured your proposed compensation package for growth or stability? Do they want you for the long term?

A. An easy way to determine the answer to the first question is to look at what percentage of the package is at risk? Twenty to thirty percent probably means that they are looking for high growth. That said; make sure you can control all KPI’s. For example if there is a percentage related to EBITDA growth and you are in a service business will they let you change staffing ratios to improve profitability?

A balanced approach is to weight a portion for sales and customer growth, net profit improvement, plus a percentage for business reinvestment. BP is the best example of this balanced approach to senior executive compensation

Q. Is there a stock option component?

A. How will it be triggered? After KPI’s are achieved, after a set time period, or at the discretion of the board? Are they just holding out a “future promise” or is it a genuine offer? What is their track record in this area?

Q. Finally, what is the board attitude to people? Do they have a view that “people are our most important asset” or do they view staff as a “cost of business” or some point in between. Do they believe in investing in people?

A. Unless you have the ability to hire, motivate and retain the strongest team then the business is likely to remain a “me too” company with higher than average staff turnover usually accompanied by low customer satisfaction.

This implies the right culture, values and at least being in the top one third in compensation bands for your industry.

The first 103-days

This is the most critical time following your appointment and certainly sets the future culture under your regime. Clearly before you start your new role, and with your now good knowledge of the company time should be spent on your Action Plan for the first 90 days at least.

This plan will include further fact-finding, meeting personnel, understanding production and distribution processes or service offerings, meeting both current and former customers or clients and suppliers. Good information on which to base your plan.

However, do not underestimate the need to create a support network and build a coalition around your strategy and implementation plans. No single person can successfully grow a business. Identify and groom your motivated torch-carriers.

Conclusion:

Your success as a CEO is not totally dependant on positive answers to these questions.

In addition to being experienced, well-educated and intelligent and articulate you must have the ability to inspire others.

This involves a highly developed social quotient to move quickly and successfully in a complex, multi-layered and fast-paced environment. So it is now time to hone your skills of empathy, integrity, stamina and flexibility in a variety of business and social situations.

After all, you must become the passionate torch-carrier for your new organization.

Denis Orme Founder http://www.leader-success.com

As Performance Leader of the Leadership Success Institute, http://www.leader-success.com he has been heavily recruited by start-up businesses through to Fortune 500 companies to analyze operations, develop and implement change management and repositioning strategies, and return organizations to sustainable profitable long-term growth.

Cited in Who's Who in Emerging Leaders, Who’s Who in Sales and Marketing and Who's Who in Industry and Commerce. He has received leadership awards from the American Lung Association, Business Volunteers for the Arts and the Greater Houston Partnership.

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