Finding and Keeping The Right People

According to a recent survey by Right Management, the most common mistake organizations make when hiring or promoting managers and executives is failing to define and assess those roles most crucial to successful performance.

• 43% of companies cited inadequate definition and evaluation of roles critical to successful performance as the number one mistake businesses make in hiring and promoting managers and executives.
• 41% cited insufficient grooming of high-potential employees through coaching, mentoring and training programs.
• 29% cited using overly subjective criteria and unreliable assessment tools.
• 27% cited too much focus on the basic requirements of the jobs to which people are being hired or promoted - such as managerial and interpersonal skills - and not enough emphasis on less apparent talents, such as morale or team building.
• 10% cited giving inadequate consideration to people from outside the organization.

More reasons why it's critical to find - and keep the right people:

• It costs an average of 2½ times an individual's salary to replace an employee who doesn't work out, including recruitment, training, and severance costs, and lost productivity, according to a survey of 444 organizations throughout North America released by Right Management earlier this year.
• More than four out of 10 organizations (43 percent) said it costs at least three times the employee's salary.

Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Northwest Ohio Announces New Ownership

Six Disciplines Corporation today announced that it has named Eric Kurjan to assume the leadership role of president and owner of the flagship franchise of Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Northwest Ohio, located in Findlay.

Kurjan and his team will be responsible for ensuring the long-term success of Six Disciplines clients in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. Eric’s team will coach and offer strategic advisory services to top-performing organizations that adopt the Six Disciplines™ Methodology, in pursuit of continual business process improvement.

Six Disciplines Leadership Centers offer a new class of professional business improvement service that helps the best performing organizations to achieve lasting business excellence. By using a systematic business-building methodology, practical Internet technologies, and an organizational coaching and strategic advisory service, passionate business leaders learn how to become more aligned with their strategy, focus on execution, and improve their organization’s performance to achieve lasting, sustainable excellence.

Read the entire release here.

Making Change Stick - Part II

This article from Workforce Performance Solutions offers questions can predict the success of your change initiative.

Prudent leaders will ask them before undertaking systemic change.

• Where are we going and why?
• Who is involved?
• Will our culture work for or against this change?
• How will people feel about having to change?
• How can we mitigate the fears associated with change?
• Must we get everything right the first time?
• How can we set people up to succeed?
• What behaviors and attitudes should be reinforced?
• How will we know if it’s working?
• How can we create a more change-capable organization?

Integrity - The Foundation of All Leadership

Here's a fundamental truth from Gary Bourgeault's ManagersRealm: "Integrity - The Foundation of All Leadership"

The essence:

What is integrity? It means that basically what you say and what you do are one and the same and unified within you. What you show when your bosses or others in leadership are around is the same when they aren't. It involves the values you speak are what really determine your behavior and if you give your word it's as good as done.

Read the entire article here.

Be Excellent™ Celebrates 17,000th Visitor!

Since starting our blog in late July of 2005, we're excited to announce another milestone - our 17,000th visitor to the site!

It would seem that "Helping the best small businesses to achieve lasting excellence" - is a message that resonates - with thousands of you, all over the world.

Thanks to every one of you --the best is yet to come!

Seven Principles of Admirable Business Ethics

"If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters." -- Alan K. Simpson

One of the most important attributes for small business success, is the distinguishing quality of practicing admirable business ethics. Business ethics, practiced throughout the deepest layers of a company, become the heart and soul of the company's culture and can mean the difference between success and failure.

Read the Seven Principles of Admirable Business Ethics here.


(Tip of the hat to Steve Rucinski - at Small Business CEO)

Six Disciplines Leadership Centers Expand Into Indiana

Six Disciplines Corporation today announced that it has signed a franchise agreement to launch a Six Disciplines Leadership Center to service the Central Indiana area.

Six Disciplines Leadership Centers offer a new class of professional business improvement service that works with the best performing organizations to help them achieve lasting business excellence. By using a systematic business-building methodology, practical Internet technologies, and an organizational coaching and strategic advisory service, passionate business leaders and their employees learn how to become more aligned with their strategy, focus on execution, and improve their organization’s performance to achieve lasting, sustainable excellence.

Chip McLean will be the General Manager and owner of the Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central Indiana, which will be located in Indianapolis. The Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central Indiana will service clients in the greater Indianapolis area, extending to the East and West state borders, North to Marion and South to Seymour, Indiana.

The Leadership Center is scheduled to be operational in June of 2006. For more information, contact Chip McLean at 317.691.3169 or email CMcLean@SixDisciplines.com . Visit the Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central Indiana on the web at www.SixDisciplines.com/Indy .

The addition of the Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central Indiana is the result of an expansion effort by Six Disciplines Corporation to add to its growing nationwide network of independently owned and operated professional business process improvement franchises. Other Six Disciplines Leadership Centers are operational in Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida. To inquire about Six Disciplines Leadership Center franchise opportunities in other U.S. locations, contact Scott May at 419-581-2821 or email SMay@SixDisciplines.com.

Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central West Florida Builds Client Momentum in Tampa

Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central West Florida today announced that it continues to build customer momentum in Tampa by signing a new client agreement with Sharn Veterinary, Inc. Sharn, which was formed in 2001, focuses on veterinary monitoring and has gained an industry-wide reputation for best-in-class monitors.

Sharn Veterinary will be adopting the Six Disciplines business-improvement Methodology and Six Disciplines Business System within their organization. They chose Six Disciplines as a systematic and practical way to address business performance improvement and increase accountability throughout the organization. “By working with Six Disciplines, we’ll be better able to focus on building and executing our strategy,” said Andrew Schultz, President and Founder of Sharn Veterinary. “By adopting the Six Disciplines methodology, we intend to be increasingly effective on executing on our mission to improve patient care and to offer exceptional customer service.”

“Six Disciplines continues to attract local, top-performing organizations that have a passion for continual business improvement,” said Sean Burke, President of the Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central West Florida. “By incorporating our methodology within their organization, Sharn Veterinary is taking a proactive approach toward building organizational accountability, leading to tangible improvements in their business processes using a systematic and repeatable process that has lasting impact,” said Burke.

The Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central West Florida offers a new class of professional business improvement service, by working with top-performing organizations to help them achieve lasting business excellence. By using the Six Disciplines systematic business-building methodology, practical Internet technologies, and an organizational coaching and strategic advisory service, passionate business leaders and their employees learn how to become more aligned with their strategy, focus on execution, and improve their organization’s performance. Visit the Six Disciplines Leadership Center of Central West Florida on the web at www.SixDisciplines.com/Tampa or call 813.975.7222.

Ensuring Team Member Performance

Talk about scary statistics!

• About 25% of all new hires won't make it through their first year, according to research from the Employment Policy Foundation.
• Almost half - 46% - of rookies wash out in the first 18 months, found Leadership IQ, a training firm that studied 20,000 newly hired employees over three years.
• 53% of managers and executives brought on board from outside are gone within a year, according HR consultants Development Dimensions International.

Why?

• A huge percentage of new employees, including new managers, are not clearly told what they were hired to do or what their goals should be for the first six months and the first year.
• If you don't know your goals or what success looks like, you can't succeed.

What to do about it:

• You need to listen at least five times as much as you talk.
• Ask questions to understand what's really going on.
• Focus on the goals of the group, team, or company.

BOTTOMLINE: On day one, ensure the success of team members by making sure they are aware of your organization's mission, vision, values, strategic position and goals. Work with them to develop an Individual Plan (IP) that helps them understand how their activities align with the organization's goals. See Discipline IV. Work The Plan.

Managing Performance Effectively

Ventana Research, the leading performance management research and advisory services firm, has unveiled a series of research studies that quantify companies' lack of the information and technology they need to manage performance effectively.

The research results to be released at the Connections 2006 event (Ventana Research's upcoming Analyst and Research Summit on Performance Management) include findings that have implications for the ability of corporate executive management to deliver maximum productivity and value:

• Almost 50% of those individuals in businesses using scorecards and dashboards to be able to manage to established metrics cannot drill down to find out supporting details and more than a third cannot change the perspective or views of the information.
• Only 30% of organizations are using their expensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in ways that support performance management.
• Almost 67% of all scorecards, dashboards and alerts are internally developed and lack key functions
• More than 70% of companies have scorecards measures that are subject to manipulation or “gaming”
• 61% of dashboard users cannot drill down to important details
• 62% of users said their performance alerts were out-of-date and not helpful in guiding a response

Ethics and Values

Enron and other corporate scandals have led to a sea-change in how employees view their own company's ethics, a U.S study has suggested.

The study of more than 200,000 U.S. employees, examined issues of integrity, social responsibility and company values.

• Between 2001 to 2005, it found that employee opinions on company integrity had increased by a significant 11 per cent.
• Nationally, employee perceptions of internal corporate values increased from 78 per cent in 2001 to 82 per cent in 2005.
• Likewise, perception of management's consistency with stated internal values increased from a 60 per cent positive response in 2001 to 65 per cent in 2005.

BOTTOMLINE: "Knowing where to focus your efforts is half the battle, and companies are clearly paying more attention to ethics and values." (See Discipline I-B, Renew Values (pages 68-71, Six Disciplines for Excellence.)

Excellence - Sports Quotes of the Day

"I am not seeking perfection. It's unattainable. What I am striving for is professional excellence." (Tiger Woods)

"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor." (Vincent Lombardi)

"Whatever you do, don't do it halfway." (Bob Beamon)

"Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better." (Pat Riley)

"I've always felt it was not up to anyone else to make me give my best." (Akeem Olajuwon)

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal--a commitment to excellence--that will enable you to attain the success you seek." (Mario Andretti)

"The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential... these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence." (Eddie Robinson)

“Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.” (George Will)

"Excellence is the unlimited ability to improve the quality of what you have to offer." (Rick Pitino)

"The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to his commitment to excellence, regardless of his chosen field of endeavor." (Vince Lombardi)

"Excellence is not a singular act but a habit. You are what you do repeatedly." (Shaquille O’Neal)

Small Business Trends: How To Build A Small Business That Lasts

Small Business Trends is clearly one of the top small business blogs.

Anita Campbell, the editor at Small Business Trends, interviewed Gary Harpst about Six Disciplines on her Small Business Trends Radio program.

According the Anita:

"Six Disciplines is unlike anything I've seen for small businesses.

It's a book.

It's a methodology.

It's technology.

It's a coaching system.

It's something you'll be hearing a lot more about."


Check out Anita's complete interview with Gary here.

Small Business CEO: “Building Small Businesses That Learn, Lead and Last”

Steve Rucinski, editor of Small Business CEO, co-interviewed Gary Harpst about Six Disciplines.

"The result is Six Disciplines. After investing over $10 million and nearly five years of development, Six Disciplines is like nothing else you’ve seen for small businesses. It’s part methodology (business processes), part technology (Internet-based software to manage a small business), and part coaching (someone who helps the business owner learn and stay on track).

If you have a chance to listen to only one small business podcast, you definitely want to listen to Gary Harpst. There is nothing like Six Disciplines and I guarantee you will get a tremendous amount out of his talk."

The link to this podcast is here.

Adopting Best Practices and Six Disciplines

Today's small business owner is confronted with new business problems and opportunities on a regular basis. Running a company requires the ability to look outside the business for solutions, ideas, and best practices.

A best practice is the process of finding and using ideas and strategies from outside your company and your industry to improve performance in a specific area.

The benefits of adopting best practices? Reduced costs, avoiding mistakes, innovating purposefully, and improved performance.

Steps for Adopting Best Practices

1. Identify one business process or service to improve. (e.g., product delivery)
2. Look for one metric to measure. (e.g., late shipment %)
3. Find competitors and companies within your industry and outside your industry. (e.g., FedEx)
4. Collect information on the successful, best practices of other companies. (e.g., FedEx spoke and hub system)
5. Modify the best practice for your organization. (e.g., Have one retail store per city act as central hub for shipments.)
6. Implement the process then measure the results.

BOTTOMLINE: Developing best practices in your organization is a discipline of continual process improvement.

What makes Six Disciplines unique is that it integrates the best practices of strategic planning, quality control, integrated learning, business process automation, people performance management and measure-driven improvement into a single, holistic business process improvement system - optimized for smaller businesses.

SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

Good summary article here: SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

When you are planning strategically with any company--online or offline--it is useful to complete an analysis that takes into account not only your own business, but your competitor's businesses and the current business environment as well. A SWOT is one such analysis.

BOTTOMLINE: The Six Disciplines Business System enables you to create and maintain strategy statements like SWOT (as well Mission Statements, Vision, Shared Values, Strategic Position, and Stop List) - all available on your desktop - so all Team Members can view them at any time - from anywhere - and use them to align to your company's strategy.

Culture is the Legacy of Leaders

An interesting Fast Company article poses a quick test on how to foster a culture of success at your organization.

(I've noted specific page references* from Six Disciplines for Excellence that are related to this exercise.)

Consider the team/group/organization you're leading:

1. Look at your vision/mission statement and jot down the behaviors that everyone supposedly follows. (*Discipline I-A Renew Mission, page 64; Disciplines I-D Renew Vision, page 77)
2. On a second list jot down the behaviors that everyone actually follows.
3. Pick the one discrepancy that annoys you the most.
4. Make it a top priority to change it. (Discipline III-A Identify Misalignments, page 120)
5. Have a conversation with colleagues on why each of you think the discrepancy exists. (Discipline III-F Align People - page 147)
6. Agree on some structures to put in place to ensure that change happens (communication, processes, rewards etc). (Discipline III - Align Systems, page 120)

Traits of Leaders

In this month’s Harvard Business Review, a revealing interview with General Electric’s Jeffrey Immelt shows that GE has defined five growth traits for all of GE’s leaders.

In their quest to become growth oriented (the target is to sustain an 8% rate of organic growth), Immelt tells us they had to change some of their DNA.

Here are the 5 traits of GE’s growth leaders:

1. External focus
2. Imagination and creativity
3. Clear thinking and decisiveness
4. Inclusiveness
5. Deep domain expertise

BOTTOMLINE: "Which brings us back to what leadership development is all about - a scalable and repeatable process of individual improvement tailored to the future needs of the business."

How To Build A Great Team

The article “How to Build a Great Team” by Charlie Feld, provides a great overview of what it takes to build a great team. Charlie found that the “secret sauce” of great leaders are:

1. Character: Doing the Right Thing
2. Leadership Development: The Most Important Task
3. Passion: The Organizational Energy Level
4. Influence and Persuasion: Better than Power

BOTTOMLINE: Leaders have the responsibility of developing people and building teams. How are you doing? What percentage of your time do you spend developing the people around you?

(Tip of the hat to George Ambler at The Practice of Leadership for this one!)

Leaders Are Really Only One Thing

Gary Bourgeault, over at ManagersRealm, posts this one on "Leaders are really only one thing..."

True leaders and great managers, when it comes down to the bottom line, are one thing: servants.

Gary's assertion:

"Everything else in management and leadership springs from this. You're not to think of yourself as over people but rather their servants. It's shocking for those who get this, to see how they draw more from the wells of water deep within their people, than those who have to battle, fight, threaten and bully to get what is needed to be done accomplished. Learn to be a servant. You can never lose if you do."