Success Quote

“A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.”

Francis Bacon

October 30, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes | Leave a Comment 

Break The Fright Cycle, Out-Smart The Business Ghouls

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

If I were to make a guess, it would be that you’re hearing an average of 6,294 messages a day about how bad a disaster the economy is, how everyone is going to loose their jobs, the roof over their heads, and even the ability to put clothes on their backs.

Even if I’m overestimating your exposure by a factor of 100… that’s 62 times a day when the despairing ghosts are moaning at you from behind the curtains and the goblins are haunting you from your radio and TV.

Well, all I know is I don’t need to hear whispers sixty-two times to put me off my dinner. Once, twice, three times is enough to give me the creeps. So my survival technique for surviving the ghouls is to remember the walk in the woods when I was growing up.

I remember creeping through the woods by our house after dusk. Every snap of a twig or brush of a leaf made me jump. I had that reaction even when I’d walked the same path easily in daylight a mere few hours before.

And of course it was even creepier when I was walking with other kids, as we all stirred each other with mutterings of fright – building a sense of helplessness and impending doom.

In the same way as that path was just fine during daylight, things are just fine when you shut off the radio and TV, put down the magazines and newspapers and focus on what you DO have control over. Read more

October 30, 2008 | Filed Under Goal Setting, Leadership, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Deadlock And You Can Change It All!

How do YOU solve deadlocks? You know – those situations that become immovable because each party is sure they’re right and the other side is wrong.

‘Deadlock unlocking’ is a critical skill for managers. Without it, work just simply gets stalled.

While I’m happy to help my clients solve what is going on, my goal is to transfer repeatable skills and processes to them so they become more adept at solving the situations themselves.

The starting point of unlocking a deadlock is to get clear about the starting point of the conflict – the exact difference of opinion that is being held by each party.

The second step is to jointly list the criteria each person had in mind when it all started.

Once those two lists have been spelled out – a new list is created by both parties together so that the joint expectations can be met collaboratively.

So, instead of waiting for ‘them’ to see it ‘your way’… ask yourself:

“What is ONE issue I’ve been in a deadlock on with another person?”

Got that name in mind? And the topic as well I expect.

Now pick up the phone and set up an hour to get this unlocked and solved.

October 29, 2008 | Filed Under Catalyst Action Tip | Leave a Comment 

3 Ways To Break Deadlocks on Your TeamThere are times when business leaders I’m working with settle in face to face with their peers, arms crossed and accusations flying. I’ve found it helps to view myself as a referee on the grammar school playground during lunch break. Holding the image in my mind certainly helps me calm the disputes and get everyone refocused on the elements that have broken down and led to the finger pointing. I put on my ref’s cap this week with one of a CEO client and her heads of HR and Finance. For over six months the Finance department has had two critical positions open. In that time, fewer than ten candidates have walked through the door to interview for the positions. The source of the deadlock and finger pointing? Well, the Finance Department head is aggravated at HR taking months to find appropriate candidates. They’re frustrated that each of the candidates they interviewed, liked and had staff interview didn’t pass the background checks. And they know their staff is wondering why the candidates they speak with keep disappearing rather than being hired. HR is offended that the department heads don’t appreciate that the positions are hard to fill. The organization has a unique mission and wants people who share the same values in the management ranks. That mission pre-screens out many candidates who have the skill and experience to do the work. Everyone knows all of this. So why the pent up frustration? The breakdowns are actually a result of very different factors. 1 – There’s no shared sense of urgency 2 – The scope of the issue isn’t understood 3 - There’s no formal process 4 – There’s no systematic communication With the seats still unfilled after 7 months, I expect you could understand that the Finance folks feel insulted. They sure don’t feel like they’re valued clients of the HR staff. HR has hired hundreds (well probably thousands) of staff members. Every year the organization’s technical staff has turn over that need to be replaced. And they post the positions and sort the resumes and in short order the position is filled. The person in charge of searches knows exactly what to do for those typical seats. However, this time the Finance department positions are more complex. The HR staff tried the traditional sites for posting the positions. And found no takers. Weeks stretched into months. Two, then three, then five. The Finance managers kept looking at their calendars, and their empty IN baskets. No resumes arrived. No interviews were set. No word at all from the HR department. So the Finance managers started calling HR once every couple of weeks to ask what was going on. The HR staff then reported that the Finance staff were harassing them. Were the Finance managers actually being rude? Probably not. The underlying element in all of this is that the HR staff were unfamiliar and inexperienced with filling these high level roles. The Finance managers had never had to recruit and fill such high level positions before. Everyone’s embarrassment over ‘not knowing quite what to do’ lead to lots of doing nothing. You can see how it all deteriorated. And for all of those months, the Finance managers have been working double over time because key positions are sitting empty. So clearly a solution needed to be found. One that got everyone working at the same pace, with clear communication, and shared expectations being met. The first step - Put a shared system in place Regular discussions on the open positions between the HR staff and Finance managers now take place weekly; recruitment strategy and actions, interview appointment deadlines. Now HR’s client knows that actual recruiting activity is being observed and tracked. Within two weeks there were resumes available to be sorted. Clearly the urgency was at last being matched by both sides. The second step - Formalize the process so that it can be used again With the second open position, face to face weekly meetings are now being held to report on the recruitment activity. The Finance staff no longer has to debate whether to call and ask – every Tuesday they are told specifically exactly what activity is taking place. The third step - Institute customer satisfaction surveys of the internal customers The information being obtained from the survey is reinforcing the processes, and reminding the HR staff that the entire organization is their customer, even if positions come up infrequently in many departments. Knowing they are being tracked has accelerated the HR staff’s follow through in the recruiting process. It’s a new start and a new relationship between the departments that will get the job done to everyone’s satisfaction.

© 2008 Linda Feinholz.

There are times when business leaders I’m working with settle in face to face with their peers, arms crossed and accusations flying. I’ve found it helps to view myself as a referee on the grammar school playground during lunch break. Holding the image in my mind certainly helps me calm the disputes and get everyone refocused on the elements that have broken down and led to the finger pointing.

I put on my ref’s cap this week with one of a CEO client and her heads of HR and Finance.

For over six months the Finance department has had two critical positions open. In that time, fewer than ten candidates have walked through the door to interview for the positions.

The source of the deadlock and finger pointing?

Well, the Finance Department head is aggravated at HR taking months to find appropriate candidates. They’re frustrated that each of the candidates they interviewed, liked and had staff interview didn’t pass the background checks. And they know their staff is wondering why the candidates they speak with keep disappearing rather than being hired.

HR is offended that the department heads don’t appreciate that the positions are hard to fill. The organization has a unique mission and wants people who share the same values in the management ranks. That mission pre-screens out many candidates who have the skill and experience to do the work.

Everyone knows all of this. So why the pent up frustration? The breakdowns are actually a result of Read more

October 28, 2008 | Filed Under Teams | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote

“Life is to be lived. If you have to support yourself, you had bloody well better find some way that is going to be interesting. And you don’t do that by sitting around.”
Katharine Hepburn

October 28, 2008 | Filed Under Quotes, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Blessing Technology …

Wow! I’m so excited and crunched for time all at the same moments.

My new radio show – The Spark Effect – launched on Monday!

Getting all the web pages designed and up and the links working and the support crew on board AND the guests (see my first one right below!) meant that getting the newsletter out slipped a day.

I’m so glad all my travels had me in the business class lounges between my flights last week (the one on the left is in Madrid’s airport).

Ah well. It gave me a chance to put together an article about helping your teams find common ground when they’re stuck in disputes. The issue has come up three times at three different clients in the past month so it sure seems timely.

And, if you or your colleagues and clients are interested in boosting their overall business productivity, let them know about the call on Monday morning. If they can’t make it live, no worries – it’s replaying 10 pm on Monday and then available for on demand listening or downloading.

Bless internet technology! I’ll have to remember to post the great eCards here to let you know about each upcoming show. “See” you on the radio!

October 28, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Success Quote

“Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work.”
Bette Davis

October 23, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

Change 1 Idea And You Can Change It All!

When I asked a group of professionals what they’ve written recently, there was dead silence in the room. They all knew it would be worth it to have something in writing to send to clients and prospects, but it seemed like an overwhelming project.

Finally one of them said “I haven’t written a thing since I left school, other than letters to friends.”

So I asked her to think about the following:

“What is ONE topic you’ve shared with colleagues

in conversation more than four times this month?”

Once she named it we spent 10 minutes outlining an article on that very same topic. As we did the exercise, the others in the group grabbed their own paper and pens and outlined their own topic.

It took each of them less than an hour total to flush the outline into 750 words, and edit them for each other.

That’s how simple it was to create a first article.

How about getting your first one drafted today?

October 21, 2008 | Filed Under Marketing | Leave a Comment 

3 Ways To Weather The Tough Times In Your Business

© 2008 Linda Feinholz

The economic news has really stripped people’s confidence these past few weeks. I’ve seen it in my clients and colleagues. Everyone is smiling and pretending nothing has changed… or comparing whose portfolio lost the most.

When the posturing is exhausted and people get ‘real’ again, they admit that they’re worried. They feel they don’t have any control over what is going on in the world and how it may influence their business and personal lives.

I know that feeling. I wrapped up my work with a client after eight months. And when I looked at my pipe-line it looked pretty dry. I became a watcher and hoper – watching my phone and hoping it would ring.

Now, I know I chose this business model on purpose for the independence and variety. Even so, I get stressed when all I see is an empty calendar. I sure don’t like staying in that state very long so there are a few techniques I use that help me weather those micro-downturns. Read more

October 19, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

A quick note from Madrid

If you’re anything like me, you’ve learned to ‘never say never.’

I found out the power of that phrase by accident in my 20’s when I used ‘never’ in a conversation. 3 months later I was doing the very thing I was sure I’d not ever… yes, never… have the opportunity to do.

When I caught the pattern, that if I said it to someone, then that very event would happen, I started using it on purpose and it worked like a magic charm.

Two Tuesdays ago I mentioned to a colleague that I’d ‘never’ again have work with a favorite client since she now has the internal consulting group under her command. Friday she called to say “Tell me about your international experience.” That’s 3 days later.

So here I am writing this to you from Madrid, Spain. I just wrapped up 4 days of facilitating a business redesign retreat with 25 people. When the meeting was over I put on my tennis shoes and went to the Prado Museum. The today I took a walking tour of Toledo.

‘Never’ really rocks!

I know the economy has stressed you out. So watch this space for my article for you with some thoughts about how to keep your attention and action focused on your marketing in tough times, and good ones too.

October 18, 2008 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment 

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