Back to Success Basics

This year has forced so many important conversations that many of us have avoided. There have been conversations about how to handle international events like this pandemic, how we got to where we are (in a negative context), what “essential” really means, how economics work and how we can avoid having such a significant portion of people around the US negatively impacted without viable options or good plans, and how to better protect our futures and supply chains.

But one of the biggest things we’ve experienced this year is going back to basics. This is something I talk about often, and in one of the newsletters I read the woman was talking about college educations and education in general and what’s really important and what we really use. All of these are things that I debate on a regular basis personally, because I don’t know that I really get a whole lot of benefit from my college education (other than a piece of paper that says I graduated). Maybe it would be different if I wasn’t someone who liked to read and learn on my own time, and didn’t regularly visit the library, read lots of educational blogs and emails and watch educational content on TV.

But time and again I’m learning that what is really required when it comes to success is communication, effort, teamwork and a willingness to learn. Things like reading, basic math skills, and general health and nutrition knowledge are also important, but most of us don’t need the advanced or detailed knowledge that doctors, lawyers or scientists do.

So if you’ve been challenged by success this year, I encourage you to go back to basics. Do research, read books and listen to audios on topics that interest you and you think or know you can make a living through. Make an effort to improve your relationships and build your network so that you not only feel more confident when you are approaching someone for a potential sale, but you’re also better connected and can both support others and have them support your success. Work on your communication skills so that you’re more confident, more eloquent, as well as able to get to the point as quick or with as much detail as possible. Limit your number of projects so that you can give solid effort and focus to what you’re working on. And make a more consistent effort to support both the physical community and virtual communities that you find yourself in. What success basics have helped you this year?

A Responsive Organization is a Successful One

We’re in the middle of an important set of days for the business world: Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and Giving Tuesday. Yes, I include Giving Tuesday as part of these important days because just like a traditional business, if a charity/non-profit wants to stay in business they have to have income. If you’re running something without any kind of income or insufficient income, it’s a hobby and not a real business. I think any business can benefit from these four days, and the days surrounding, but I do want to focus on something that can make all the difference in the world for both small businesses and charities/non-profits: and that’s responsiveness and heart.

Each and every day organizations large and small are contacted in one way or another by people who have a potential to be customers, donors, supporters, or promoters and the sad reality is that too many of them don’t respond at all. I do believe that a delayed (more than 24 hours later) response is better than no response, but to not have any response at all to questions, complaints or offers, especially in public forums like social media, is such a waste of opportunity.

I know exactly how hard it is to compete for the dollars and eyes this year, many people are struggling financially more than they ever have. We’re still very busy people, maybe not as busy as we were a year ago, but we’re still very busy and there is lots of competition for our attentions. There are also tons of businesses in each and every industry who are selling very similar things at comparative rates.

So it hurts my heart when I see organizations lose out on easy opportunities to gain a lifetime customer, gain a little more community goodwill, run a better business or help out in their community (whether a physical community or a virtual one). It also hurts the greater community who wanted to support you but comes across those messages and sees your lack of response, or the outdated social accounts and website, and chooses to take their business elsewhere as a result.

There’s so much technology available to us these days that it isn’t a huge time or resource commitment to check in with all your accounts each day where people might reach out to you. If you’re a small organization, I would consider going with a website you can edit/update yourself or paying the extra cost to have access to the support when you need it. The best thing you can do for your organization may not be to change your pricing or your offerings, but rather to be more responsive to your community.

What Do You Choose?

Today is the celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States. I think being thankful is important in all areas of our lives, it helps keep things in perspective and shows that we know other people are helping us and appreciate that help. Yes, we should be expressing our thanks as life happens, but sometimes we need some time to get perspective, don’t always see the impact of someone’s assistance at that time, can’t always thank them at that time and/or don’t always remember to thank them.

Like many holidays, this one is based on history, and the story of celebration of being alive after several difficult years of working to settle into America by the Pilgrims. This holiday, and several other throughout the year, would not be celebrated if not for the decisions of many men and women to leave their homelands and choose to try this new land. It took a ton of bravery, the willingness to take some crazy risks, and hopes and dreams to convince these men, women and families to make the move.

This year we’ve been faced with tons of choices, even some that they had to make back then like who was going to get to eat that night, if we’re going to stay where we are, where the next meal would come from, and how we would keep a roof over our heads for the next days and weeks. The choices and decisions that come up with and follow these questions aren’t easy, no matter what era you’re from.

Of course I do hope that you choose to be thankful today, as difficult as that may be after the year we’ve had. But I also encourage you to consider that part of life is hard choices, that sometimes really rewarding things can be the fruit of hard decisions and stressful times. Are you making choices that are going to support your future, and the dreams you have?

Experiencing Life and Success

I always struggled with history as a class in school because it was hard to connect on a personal level with dates, people who we only really had names of and no pictures, primarily facts and not real life stories that we might connect with, and how they lived were so very different from anything we’ve ever experienced. But this year I feel like we’ve been given an opportunity to almost journey back to that first Thanksgiving and some of the situations and challenges that they experienced. From disease to harsh winters and a completely new growing environment that they had no experience working, I can’t imagine the courage and commitment it took to move to the “new world.” These days you may have to learn some cultural aspects and get to know the rhythm of your area, but unless you’re a refugee or coming from a very different part of the world, it’s likely that you’ll be able to adjust easier than back in the 1600’s.

I imagine those who lived through the Great Depression were on some level able to identify with those of the first Thanksgiving as well, since they lost so very much and the struggle was so great. So it’s experiences like this year and the Great DEpression that help us better understand on a personal level what life was like hundreds of years ago, at least on one level or another. These experiences make things like the first Thanksgiving a lot more real than any text or pictures on a page could make it. Yes, the men and women who worked so hard to establish homes and communities here in America did have the help of the native people who were living here, they also had some of the strongest can-do attitudes, and they also probably had a little luck on their side as well that they made it at all.

Success is often a combination of things, but rarely is it able to be achieved without some hands on experience and effort. You may be able to learn a lot from looking back at history through the archaeological digs, the stories and tall tales, the strategies leaders and armies used, and the struggles people faced and how they overcame them. But until you test out your theories, what you learned and your own strategy, and until you experience it (or something like it) for yourself, you’ll never be able to truly understand what someone else went through or if their lessons can be applied to your life. What experiences in your life have helped you better understand history or helped make a difference in your success journey?

Holiday Season Blessings

It’s been a November unlike any November I can remember in memory. Just yesterday I was out taking a walk in my sandals and no jacket in the late afternoon with friends, something that’s unheard of for the Northeast USA. Normally we’ve had cold weather since Halloween and often even some snow, so I absolutely took advantage of that little blessing that this crazy year gave us. Other unusual blessings this month have included early Christmas music on several radio stations, lots of Christmas movies already playing on TV, and some stores going above and beyond to help us stay safe and stretch our dollars in this difficult year as we head into the gifting season.

As I was thinking about what to write today, a movie line came to my head. It’s a line that’s included in every single variation of this classic tale: “God bless us, every one.” That line from Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol speaks to the care, compassion and consideration that, like imagination, sometimes gets lost between childhood and adulthood. As adults we often think practically about making sure that everyone has at least one gift or has a seat at the table or gets a Christmas card. And that’s sometimes how we have to do it to make sure we attend to all the details that typically swarm around us during the holiday season. But as you know, this holiday season will be a bit different, so maybe we have to approach it a bit differently too.

This year has in many ways stripped us down and forced us to be thankful for the very basics like life, health, food on the table, a roof over our heads, and toilet paper. So as we’re seeing crazy numbers of people testing positive for the virus, maybe we have to accept that in a year that has been so very different, this holiday season will as well. Maybe this year we should spend more time making goodies at home with our families and by ourselves. Maybe this year we’re going to spend more time sending out cards letting people know that they mean something to us and how much we appreciate them. Maybe this year instead of buying lots of stuff for your family, you’ll each pick a charity or non profit to support. Maybe this year we’ll spend more time at home reading holiday books, watching holiday movies and singing holiday songs. Maybe this is the year that we truly focus on our blessings all season long instead of being upset or mad about all we’re missing out on. Maybe this is the year we dig a little deeper into ourselves and our loved ones instead of doing parties all season.

I don’t know about you, but I’m certainly ready for more of those blessings and fewer bits of bad news. As we officially enter the holiday season this coming week, it’s my hope that you’ll have as many blessings as Tiny Tim wished for those he loved.

Success from Hospitality

This month I re-read Danny Meyer’s “Setting the Table.” I read it many years ago and had shared it with my partner who is in the restaurant industry recently and decided to re-read it and share about it this month for our business book of the month. It’s a book that shares Meyer’s early years in the restaurant business and gives us a look into the foundation and decisions that helped make him and his restaurants so successful. As I was deciding which bits of insight to share, I thought about the transitions and uncertainty that we’re going through right now and how helpful some of these insights could be to the plans we make going forward, even with as little as we really are able to anticipate of the future.

One of the big discussions that always comes up when you talk about the restaurant industry is the topic of service. I think Danny Meyer was one of the early people who led by turning things around a bit and leading in ways that some companies are only coming to think about now (unfortunately). Early in his journey Danny learned the difference between service and hospitality, and how he wanted to build on hospitality and not service. Why? Because service is technical, but hospitality according to Danny is “how the delivery of a product makes a recipient feel.” Choosing to work from a hospitality perspective means that you choose to open a dialogue with people, working to always create positive outcomes (even when mistakes happen), create personal relationships and be attentive to little details that matter to your customers, and not taking any customers for granted.

One of the things that sets Danny’s group of businesses aside is the people who work there. There are two reasons for that, first that Danny (and his team) hire people who are committed to hospitality and truly love and have a passion for what they do. The other is that Danny and his team prioritize their employees over their customers and all other stakeholders. Why? Because they’re the most visible and connected to the customers and essential to the success of the business. Throughout the book Danny talks about the back-and-forth discussions that have to happen between the potential employees and everyone else who works at the restaurant and making sure that they’re a good fit for the culture that exists at the business, and that they’re in agreement with the vision of the business and interested in being a team player (which means the business and leadership has to lay that information out and live it too).

Danny is also known for his “constant gentle pressure” and commitment to bringing something different or special to the market. You don’t have to completely redo an industry or make something completely new (which is very difficult to do based on all the businesses already in the world), but you do have to have something to add to the classics, authentic experiences, and existing available products and services. Danny has shown through his wide variety of businesses that sometimes that means little tweaks, sometimes it means bringing something to a new area where there aren’t many/any businesses offering that near you, or sometimes it means re-envisioning something that doesn’t really work in the current market so that it does work for you and your customers.

Finally, one of the things that helped me connect with Danny, and is something that I think is important to the next part of our business journey is his commitment to note taking, curiosity and learning. Quite a few years into his business journey he learned that leaders have to learn new skills and knowledge to keep pace with their company and their staff. You can’t operate a business successfully based on what you knew and what worked back in 1990 (or even 2010 either). You have to be learning, growing and using databases, notebooks and other tools to not only track your journey but help you build relationships with others too.

Danny Meyer has come a long way from the beginnings shared in this book, but he’s done something that not every business owner and community leader has done, and that’s continue to consistently provide great and unique services, great quality and the same commitment to everyone who connects with the businesses. Who have you learned from lately?

A Plan For Success

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how different people deal with, react to, respond to and work through challenges (especially really big and dramatic ones like the virus or divorce or serious illnesses etc.). Some people completely shut down and aren’t able to think or do anything. Some people hit the panic button in a way that uses alcohol or other self destructive behaviors. Some people put all their effort into pointing fingers in every direction. And some people are able to minimize their own panic to care for the others who need help.

I’ve realized after a lot of thinking about some of the situations in my past and how I reacted, and I decided that I’m definitely the type to push and work through the problem rather than totally burying my head in the sand. Yes, I’ll face a week, day or couple of hours of panic and not necessarily all at once, sometimes it comes and goes. But I’m definitely the type to find out as much information as possible, make a plan, keep working and do my best to support others through it. My plans aren’t always right or fit for the long term, panic type situations usually start with a short-term plan and hopefully evolve to something more than working day-by-day by the seat of your pants. My plans always include some steps and action and direction and plan for how to proceed, and always involve reading and research to become as educated about the situation as I can.

Which brings me to being frustrated about how some countries and states have responded to the virus. While most of us haven’t experienced something like this before, many countries did OK with their initial response. My bigger issue comes in with being 10 plus months into this thing and states/countries still not having a good plan of action that they’re communicating to their residents about and putting into action the efforts to stop the spread and not just to save lives once they’re in the hospital. I’m frustrated with some of the school districts for their lack of work over the summer months to really come up with a good plan that would give the kids a solid effort at the education they need even if it has to be virtual, especially for them not tapping into existing resources and programs that offer exactly that for advice, support and even options. Having been at one of the “ground zeros” at the beginning in the US I’m frustrated that people aren’t taking this seriously as numbers dramatically rise each day again.

Every success comes with some setbacks and frustrations, especially if it’s something that takes time, resources or involves a lot of people. I do have hope that we as a world can come together and beat this in a much more permanent way than we’ve been able to do so far. But we can’t win by putting heads in the sand, by going about our business like life is normal or without considering the impact our lives have on others. Long-term success doesn’t happen by avoidance or without a plan. It’s OK if the plan has to change based on the knowledge you gain as you move through the success journey, you don’t have to pretend to know everything from the onset. And long term successes only happen when everyone on the team in on the same page and committed to making the success happen.

As we head into the holiday season, often known for compassion, consideration and community, I encourage you to choose to be part of your community team working for success. Maybe that’s donating a couple of canned goods. Maybe that’s donating a toy or new pairs of socks. Maybe that’s contributing even a little to a couple of organizations on Giving Tuesday. Maybe that’s committing to be even more conscious about washing your hands and wearing a mask when out in public (maybe it’s donating masks to homeless shelters near you). Maybe it’s helping seniors in your area be able to video chat with their distant family. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that we have to start taking stronger actions together if we want to make it through the next month and a half with any of the usual holiday cheer and warm feelings of a season well done. What’s your plan for success for the last few weeks of the year?

Personal Holiday Celebrations

Today is the start of the celebration of Diwali. It’s not a holiday I personally choose to celebrate, but as you may know, I find value in learning about the cultures and celebrations of other people who live in this world that we all share. As I was reading a bit about how the virus is affecting people’s celebrations this year, which, like many other celebrations typically involve food and gathering with friends and family, time spent on faith and religious aspects, and fireworks, the one article I read reminded me that while some of us are ready to go over the top with our celebrations (at least as far as how long we’re going to be celebrating this year and that it’s not too early this year to set up your tree and other decorations today), others of us are not feeling the celebrations at all.

I kind of shared about this the other week in another blog post, but I was thankful to be reminded again that the absolute magic that helped create our holidays is still alive and well. That back when they were first established they were created in such a way that we could absolutely do over the top awesome parties, or we could spend the season in quiet reflection. Each and every holiday should be personal to each of us, and we should (for the most part) choose to celebrate it however we want.

It does take some courage to step out there and say that this year you’re not going to have the party house and be the one that does all the work, that you’re going to take a step back and be a little more quiet for the next holiday, and that you’d be happy to come and celebrate with the others if they were to have parties (or do the celebrating virtually as this year may require). This year has really reminded us that it’s important to know our priorities, to be thankful for life and all that we have, and to be conscious about the decisions and plans we’re making and not just do the same thing every holiday and every year as though nothing ever changes.

This year has provided lots of lessons for us both as individuals and part of our families (whether you call them family because of blood or choice). It’s given our kids a serious reality check into how difficult life can be, some more so than others. But it’s also been a year that’s taught us about strength, bravery, courage and community in completely new and different ways. I don’t know exactly how this holiday season will unfold, but I encourage you to make it a holiday season that you’ll all always remember, and in a good way. Let it be the holiday season in whatever way you need it to be, whether that’s holiday music all the time, holiday cookies for breakfast every day until the end of the year, a cup of special coffee or tea every day, or maybe extra book time in front of the tree or a fire. Whatever this holiday season is for you and your family, don’t be grumpy that you can’t celebrate it the way it used to be, enjoy being able to celebrate it in the way that you all need to this year.

Leading to Unify

As I’ve been watching the US election news over the past 3 weeks or so (and thinking about the vote for longer), I came to an important realization that I want to talk about today that I think is really important for us business owners to consider. The thought? If you really and truly want to lead your business and have your business succeed, you have to create unity.

Now, there is an important qualification to that statement: not everyone has to be unified about how great your business is. I don’t think any one business should be the only business in an industry or niche, I don’t think any one business should be everything to everyone, and not everyone should all love the same businesses. Diversity, variety and “competition” are healthy and good for each of us and our world. It doesn’t have to be competition in the I-want-to-put-you-out-of-business-so-I-get-more-business sense of the word, but rather the way that lots of smaller businesses can offer essentially the same thing (taxi service for example) and thousands of businesses can be successful because there’s so much overlap and varied needs within an industry.

It’s not your job to get everyone everywhere in the world in support of your company. But your job as the leader of your business is to do your best to keep everyone connected and glad to be part of your hopefully ever-widening circle. Yes, you can encourage some fun competition within your teams as long as it doesn’t harm the culture or connectivity, and with the goal to help build up the company through the overall teamwork rather than to prove someone or a team better than another or one department more valuable than another.

Good leaders should see differences between departments, team members and customers as opportunities for each to compliment and support each other, rather than boxers who need to be kept in separate corners. As the old saying goes, a house divided among itself will fall. No, everyone doesn’t need to be buddy-buddy, but we can respect our differences and celebrate the work we each do as what we bring to the table.

What lessons in unity have you learned as you run your business?

Success and Time

Is there a time limit on success? Yes, to an extent there is a limited amount of time you have to bring an idea to fruition. For example trying to start a business selling 8 tracks right now probably wouldn’t work because 99% of people don’t use them anymore. You’re also probably not going to try out for a pro sports team when you turn 50 either. In other cases you may have an idea that is less culturally sensitive or age restrictive and you are able to fulfill it successfully several years or even decades down the road. But the time limit I’m thinking about today is how long we can work at a career successfully and thrive.

Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk about the election, so of course I’ve been thinking about who might be elected, because we’ve decided that every 2 or 4 years we do these elections. There’s been a cap on the president since 1947, essentially no more than 2 terms (though there are some not-often-used exceptions), but not on most of the other positions in government. When Pope Francis became the pope he said that he didn’t want to lead until he died, as had been the tradition for hundreds of years, he said he only wanted to do it for a limited period of time and then let someone younger do it. As you know last month I read a book about Bob Iger’s career including his Disney leadership experience. He’s still with Disney, but not in the same leadership position as before because the time came that he had done the good he could in that position and it was time to move over for someone else.

I think there are really good reasons for why we put caps on how long people are in top leadership positions at a company or organization. One of the biggest is that it’s super difficult to be in control of that much power and responsibility for a long time without becoming completely burned out or married to the company. Even if you’re doing something that you love, there probably will come a time that a new dream inspires you.

One of the other really big reasons why changes of leadership is a good idea is because not doing so can limit the company’s growth potential. As much as we’re each able to come up with new ideas and grow with the times, the only way a company can thrive for decades is if you’ve got people in place who can move the company forward, and that’s rarely able to be done by just one person and their (singular) ideas and efforts.

I don’t think time limits should be in place to scare people or motivate them through fear over how much/little time they have to make an impact, and I don’t necessarily think that the time limits should be the same across the board. But I do think we need to be more considerate over how much power people are trying to wield for how long and if there are other talented people who could help the company/organization/community grow even healthier and stronger.

So yes, I think in many situations we should have a time limit on our success. I think we should have limits on how long people can be in top political positions as well as company leadership. But I also think that we need to do a better job of incorporating access to the advice of the more experienced and the elders of our communities and companies/organizations. So I’m not suggesting people like Pope Francis and Bob Iger should be kicked to the curb when their top leadership positions are/were done, but rather that if they wish they should be in an advisory position and be available for support as the company/community/organization needs.

What have you learned about success and time throughout this year?