entrepreneur

The Leader’s T-Shirt

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“The

An entrepreneur friend emailed me this week and asked to remind him of a story I once told about the leader's t-shirt.  I had told him that I liked to imagine everyone on my team wearing a t-shirt that said, "I approve of how you treat people and they should follow you" and then my name would be signed below that quote.

If the idea of having a particular person on your leadership team wearing that shirt makes you sick at your stomach, it's time for them to go.  I think the idea should really apply to everyone in the company, but let's stick with the question I was asked.  If you have someone in a management position that isn't treating people right and setting a good example for everyone else, then they need to go.

Now my friend remembered the t-shirt story differently, but I like his version too.  He thought the story went like this  "if I could put a sign on everyone’s back and some signs read – I’m really not happy here—then it’s my job to find them out so I can fix it and they can end up at the place they’re supposed to."

I think he's combining my t-shirt story with Jim Collin's stories about having the right people on the bus and the idea of "First Who."  (Here's an audio recording of Jim talking about this – take a minute to listen to it and think about it.

One of my first entrepreneur lessons learned was that not everyone is going to be happy all the time, least of all me.  Sometimes it just isn't fun, and sometimes the hard times seem to go on forever.  That's life. 

What Jim Collin's is talking about I think is when you have someone who either doesn't fit the core values you are trying to maintain or they just can't do the job, and they aren't looking like they have the potential to ever be great in their job. People don't have fun when they are in a job that they aren't really good at.  If it is a skills issue, they are either in the wrong seat on the bus and you need to help them if you can, or they are on the wrong bus entirely.  And if they don't get that, you as a manager and leader need to help them get off the bus and not let them just ride around in circles on the wrong bus.  They won't ever reach their potential if they are in the wrong position and they are probably making other people miserable without even knowing it.  It sucks to tell someone they are on the wrong bus, but as a wise man once told him, "if you don't do it, YOU are stealing their life."

 

Thanks for the free t-shirt design template from Dennis Douven at Bytedust Visual Art & Design and Bytees.nl t-shirt shop.

Entrepreneur Ship Quotes

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Boat tile copy
 
I had dinner with a friend a few weeks ago, and he emailed me today and asked for the "Ship Navigation Quotes" that I have on my desk.

I've always loved the water and I enjoy being on it, in it and under it.  My first memory in life, I think, is of my first swimming lesson.  Mr. Epling said he would give a penny to the person who could duck their head under the water the longest.  My memory is of him lifting me out of the water by my bathing suit because I wasn't ready to come up.  I won the penny.

So – the quotes are really about life and entrepreneurship and they relate so well to what I've experienced since Jim and I started Gold Systems.

The picture that I started this post off with is of a ceramic tile that my wife brought home from the Netherlands for me years ago.  It says "De beste Stuurlui staan aan wal" which translates to english as "The best steersmen are ashore."  It's really easy to stand on the dock and tell the sailor what they are doing wrong, but it gives you a whole different perspective to sail into the storm and to be responsible for the ship.  If people are shouting advice from the dock, they might have good advice, but remember their perspective and that ultimately you and the other people on the boat are responsible for bringing it home safe.

The next one reminds me that good times are easy.

Anyone can hold the helm

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."  According to the fortune cookie, Publilius Syrus said this in the first century B.C.  The next quote gets to that idea from another angle.  "A ship is safe in harbor – but that is not what ships are for."  by John Shedd.  The dates don't quite match the John Shedd from Chicago, but I'll bet it's him.

A ship is safe in the harbor

Too many boats (and people) spend their life in harbor because it is safe.

I am not afraid of storms

I've looked to that last quote a lot, especially in 2001 and again this past year.  "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning to sail my ship." by Louisa May Alcott. I'm not suggesting we should sail into storms just to become better sailors, but if you find yourself in a storm, try to learn from the experience and you'll be better prepared for the next storm.  You may still not like storms but after enough of them, you at least gain some confidence that you'll get through them. 

Before quiting my nice safe job (HA!) I thought that if I was in charge, things would be different.  Some are, some aren't. When things get tough I remind myself that THIS is what I wished for and I'm right where I wanted to be all those years ago.  If I ever cross an ocean in my own boat, and I find myself in a storm, I'll try to remember then that "I'm living the dream!"

(When typing in the tags for this post, I noticed the word EntrepreneurShip.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.)

Speaking at High Road Connections entrepreneur event

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HighroadsJPG 

A good friend of mine recently introduced me to Chris Lucerne, co-founder of High Road Connections.  Chris and her co-founder Nancy Stubbs have created a business forum for entrepreneurs, business owners and people who are thinking about starting businesses.  The interesting thing about the forum though is that it is focused on doing business in an ethical way – in other words people who are trying to take the high road.

Chris asked me to speak at the next event, which will be December 17th at 7:45 AM at the Boulder Center for Conscious Living.  For more information, and to sign up for the event, go to their website at http://www.highroadconnections.com/events.html Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.  Check out their website for more on the event.

600 to zero emails in five hours – how to empty your inbox after vacation

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I'm back on-line today after taking an eight day vacation and a nearly complete break from technology.  I didn't get around to scheduling a vacation last year, and with the economic downturn I didn't want to walk away even for a week during the worst of it.  I'm seeing a nice improvement in business though, so the time was right to slip away.  The truth is, getting away for some rest and perspective is a good thing even in bad times and I should have done it sooner.  If as an entrepreneur you are "too busy" to take a vacation, you probably need to take a vacation.

 

Since I didn't even look at email while I was gone, I thought I would share how I went from a very full inbox this morning to an empty inbox in time for lunch.  I believe that inboxes with hundreds or thousands of read and unread emails are terrible stress inducers, and I've been much happier since I worked out how to manage my inbox.

 

Having an empty inbox starts with choking off some of the flow of email before it even gets to your inbox.  We use Microsoft Forefront as our spam filter at my company and it does a great job.  (With a fair amount of help from our IT folks I will quickly add!)  If you are getting more than a few spam emails a day, or you are getting any emails that you wouldn't want your kids to read, you need to reevaluate your anti-spam strategy, because it doesn't have to be like that.

 

Next, think about all the emails that you receive that aren't quite spam, but maybe are newsletter lists you either subscribed to or got on accidentally and now you just delete them when they arrive.  I started unsubscribing to email lists I don't care about as part of my 2008 resolution, and it's worked.  Don't keep deleting emails that you don't read, make them stop.

 

Even so, I had around 600 emails waiting for me when I first looked at email.  I first sorted them by the From column, which grouped all of the remaining email newsletters that I subscribe to so that I could quickly scan the subject lines and then delete each group.  I'm pretty brutal about it too – I don't get sucked into reading each one.  If something important happened, I'll hear about it without reading each and every IT News or whatever email that arrived while I was gone.  I delete them and move on.

 

That left a lot of individual emails, and again I quickly scanned for emails that I could read and delete, or read and file.

 

Next I sorted by "Subject" and that allowed me to delete quite a few more emails, keeping only the last email in the thread of conversations.  By the way, Outlook 2010 will group conversations for you, but I haven't installed it yet.  I guess I could have used OWA, which has that feature now, but I didn't have that many to deal with.

 

By mid-morning I had it down to about 75 or so emails that needed more attention.  If I could do a 30 second response, I responded and moved on, but if it was going to take more than that, I just drug the email onto my task list.  The point here is to get everything on the task list so that I can sort it and prioritize it, rather than just working on things in order of receipt.

 

Be careful though about being so focused on an empty inbox.  It's easy to fall into a "quick response" mode and not give people a truly thoughtful response.  While "Great!" maybe a perfect answer, sometimes people need more than that.  If you need to think about it, put it on the task list.

 

If you are an entrepreneur and you get back from vacation only to find a bunch of problem emails waiting for you, then you might consider whether you have the right team around you, or that maybe you've managed to convince them that only YOU can handle problems.  I work with a great group of people – when I'm out of town (and even when I'm not) people handle problems and they don't just sit on things until I return.  I love getting emails that say, "This happened, and I handled it like so . . ."

 

If you are in a position where you don't have people covering for you, and you really do have work piling up while you are gone, then I can only suggest that you keep it in perspective.  You can only do what you can do.  I'll save that thought for another post . . .

 

Now I have an empty inbox and a task list that I can move items around on according to how urgent and important they are, remembering at all times that the MOST IMPORTANT things are almost NEVER URGENT.  Now I have all afternoon to start knocking things off my task list . . .

Planning in the Face of Uncertainty

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I think I met Jana Matthews about ten years ago when she invited me to speak on a panel about entrepreneurship.  Not only did she become a great friend, but because of that day, I met another great friend.  I can count on one hand the number of days where I met two life-long friends in one day, and I'm very grateful for it.

Jana consults with CEOs and management teams on how to grow their companies.  Actually I think that the companies are often already growing, but they are either out of control or not a nice place to work.  Jana knows how to combine good business management with culture and values, and I know many entrepreneurs and their employees have benefited from Jana and her team's good work.

I subscribe to an email newsletter that Jana sends out occasionally, and I also get to watch her webcasts sometimes.  You can sign up too right here, and you can see a nice library of ideas and support for entrepreneurs at her websiteby clicking on the Library tab.

Here's a sample from the latest JanaMail – it's a good reminder of what we need to be doing as entrepreneurs and leaders:

As we continue to fight through challenging times, I'm sharing some of my ideas for succeeding in the current economic environment. One of the best ways to stay strong is by making your strategic plan flexible and responsive to changing market conditions.

Planning is essential in any situation for a growing company, but it's especially true during these times of uncertainty. When the future is hard to forecast, you should continue to set growth-minded long-term goals and strategies, but you should develop your detailed, tactical plans to support those goals two quarters at a time.

Focus Hard On Today, and Stay Flexible For Tomorrow
For example, if you were starting today, think through where you'd like to be at the end of the next 12 months, then plan Q3 2009 in great detail and Q4 with somewhat less detail. The important thing is to commit to a ongoing monitoring, tracking, and adjusting of the plan. This commitment is true even in good times, but it helps you stay responsive in bad times.

A Plan… and a Process
You aren't simply creating a plan, you are building a planning process. Conduct weekly tactical meetings to monitor results and identify exceptions early. Hold monthly strategy sessions to ensure your goals are on track with the marketplace. And once a quarter, insist on a rigorous progress review on the current plan. At this meeting, you would also adjust and firm up the Q4 plan – and begin planning Q1 2010.

Communicate and Motivate
Remember, as a leader, one of your greatest charges is to communicate with your employees – and the plan is a big part of your message. Employees will stay motivated when they hear that "This week we closed the highest number of leads in the history of the company," but they will also respond and rally when you say "We are falling short of our target for the quarter, but if everyone can bring in two more leads per week, we'll get back on track."

As Dick Schultz, founder of Best Buy once told me, "The big difference between the pros and the amateurs is that the pros keep score."

Check out Jana's website here. 

Jim Collins and Steve Martin arrive today

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Describe the image

What an interesting day!  The new book from Jim Collins arrived today and in the same box was Steve Martin's new Banjo CD.  I got in a chapter or two at lunch and I expect I'll finish it tonight. "How the Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In" is available now and looks really interesting.  It seems to be trying to answer the question, "What happened to the companies mentioned in Built to Last and Good to Great that have fallen from greatness?  Where did they go wrong, and what lessons might we learn from them?"

I think I might cut out the quote from the back cover and stick it on my wall.

 


Describe the image

"Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you." — Jim Collins

And what about the Steve Martin reference?  Everyone knows that Steve Martin is a funny guy, and some people know that he plays banjo, but not many people know that he's a REALLY GOOD banjo player.  He's also a friend and student of Boulder's own Dr. Banjo aka Pete Wernick, and he's just released his first serious music CD.  Pete played on some of the cuts as did Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Earl Scruggs, Bela Fleck, Tim O'Brien and Mary Black.  You might remember that Pete is the Banjo Player for Hot Rize and Tim O'Brien is the mandolin player, so there are a couple of Boulder connections.

The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo is available at DrBanjo.com and other fine music retailers.  It comes with a nice set of liner notes (is that what they are called now?) and I'm looking forward to getting home and listening to it while reading Steve's comments about how he wrote the tunes and who was playing on each one.

The Crow cover 

Here's a Youtube video of the title cut. 

Saturday is the last day for TechStars applications

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Now is a great time to start a company.  One source for some funding and a lot of great connections and mentoring is TechStars, and Saturday is the last day to get your application in for this year.  You still have time!  If you do start a business, you'll get much less realistic time frames from customers and partners, so as Jim used to say in a slightly different context, "Get used to it."

You can find everything you need at Techstars.org.  And don't forget, they've expanded to Boston too so if you can't stand the idea of spending part of your summer here in Boulder, Colorado then I'm sure the Boston entrepreneur community will welcome you too.  If you do apply and get accepted, give me a call when you get to town.