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I read a book recently by David Cottrell, called Monday Morning Leadership, an informal business guide to developing leadership skills, and effectively managing teams/groups.  In the book, Cottrell introduces the reader to Jeff, a successful middle manager for a lareg corporation, who has hit a major wall in his career. Until recently, Jeff has been leading his team to sucess, and has show increased sales, quarter after quarter, for several years…Until now.  The tricks that Jeff used in the past to motivate his team and produce results no longer seem to be effective, and Jeff is overworked, overstressed, and understands that his professional and persoanl lives are at risk.

To help gain some insight into his situation, Jeff reaches out to Tony, an extremely accomplished executive, and old friend of his father’s, for advice.  Tony agrees to meet with Jeff every Monday morning for ten weeks to help him turn his situation around and get his career back on track.  During the course of these sessions, Tony imparts to Jeff the “real” secrets of leadership, through tough lessons and self-discovery.

Here are a few of the key lessons that Tony taught Jeff.  I will share more in one of my next posts, along with Tony’s “real” secret to leadership.

Lesson 1: “Getting Past Splat”

The primary message behind this lesson is understanding that as a business person, you are going to make mistakes.  Some will be small, some will be career-altering.  The key, is understanding that you can’t go back, once a decision is made (splat), you can only go forward, so take a deep breath, and devlop an action plan to “get past splat.”

Lesson 2: “Escape from Management Land”

This lesson is meant to make managers remember that there is no escape from the everyday problems that comes with being a manager.  Along with sales responsibilities, Jeff was also responsible for managing his team, hiring, firing, performance reviews, etc, and these responsibilities were dragging down the rest of his performance.  What Jeff learned from this lesson, however, was that in order to be successful, a manager must hire good people, coach everyone, and de-hire the people who are not covering their share of the load.  Jeff’s job was not to lower the bottom by adjusting and accomodating what Tony called “falling stars,” as he was doing in the past.  Instead, Jeff needed to be raising the top by recognizing and rewarding his “shining stars,” which in the end would motivate everyone on the team to excel.

Hopefully these learning lessons will help you on your journey to become a better leader.  Stay tuned for next week, when I impart some more key leadership lessons, and tell you what the “real” secret to leadership is!

Many successful people in business share similar traits, such as organizational skills, that help them succeed and grow their business, but what really sets these people apart from everyone else?  I am about to tell you!  Here are my thoughts on what makes successful people successful.

1. Networking capabilities.  Successful people understand the importance of networking, and while not everyone may enjoy it, they understand it is a necessary evil, and have made a significant effort to constantly improve their skills in this arena.
2.  Adaptability. Being able to find creative and innovative ways to grow your business is critical if you want to succeed in today’s world.
3. Acceptance of Change.  Those who are afraid of change, or fight it, never see the other side of the door.  You have to be willing to embrace change, and learn to grow from it to succeed.
4. Hunger for Knowledge.  Innovators are always educating themselves on the latest trends, applications, or strategies out in today’s world.  Stay on top of your game!
5. Lastly, Enjoy Life (outside of work).  In my experience, those who love life away from their jobs, are usually much more driven and productive in their work.  Having something you love at home to return to at the end of the day will help motivate you to improve and grow, and growth is the key to your success!

It has been said that up to 80% of communication is non-verbal. That means that while our mouths are moving, our bodies are talking…and if they aren’t saying the same things, the recipient of the message is going to get crossed signals.

Body language conveys the message behind the message, maybe conveying things you weren’t aware of…didn’t want to share. Many body movements are intertwined with cultural expressions and psychological impressions. Business communications have been successful, and stalled, on the basis of body language alone.

Now more than ever, it is critical to distinguish yourself and your business. Use a discerning eye to evaluate your body language and find ways to improve your effectiveness.  Use the following tips to give your communication style an edge over your competitors.

• Eye contact: How many times have we all heard that it is important to make direct eye contact?
  And while that is a good starting point, be willing to finesse your style in order to keep your customer comfortable. Too much direct eye contact is intimidating to some people and for certain cultures. By reducing your eye contact a bit, you may be seen as more approachable…know your audience!
• Handshake: This has been talked about so often, that I hate to even bring it up. And I wouldn’t if I still didn’t find a significant number of people don’t know how to shake hands. There are really only two key observances here… Don’t shake to softly and don’t shake too hard. If you can’t master the handshake, your customers may have a hard time overcoming that negative initial impression.
• Personal Space: Make sure to tune in to the boundaries of those in conversation with you. Standing too close to someone can be seen as threatening and invasive. Different cultures have different expectations about personal space, again, knowing about the cultural norms of your audience is important.

Everything that you bring with you to a meeting impacts the conversation. That includes your appearance, your body language, your speech patterns, and a whole host of other unconscious signals that are sent to the listener. Remember, your words aren’t the only message you are sending…and it is always better to know what impact your body language has before you inadvertently impact a business deal.

Though the holidays can be a wonderful time, both for consumer and retailer, companies selling services often have a harder time finding customers. This year will certainly be no exception. In fact, all indicators point to a tough sell for everyone.

Nonetheless, there are steps you can take to market your services more effectively and build your customer base. Here are my top four ways service companies can thrive during the holidays.

1. Re-invent yourself: what can you do to change the service you offer? Can you provide it in a more season-appropriate way? If you are a lawn maintenance crew, can you switch to snow removal in the winter?
2. Re-package yourself: How are you currently positioning your brand? What ways can you change the language, symbols and/or graphics that will boost your company’s profile?
3. Research your market:What is there new about your primary target market? New studies, new stories? What do you know about the customers you serve? When is the last time you updated that information?
4. Re-sell your services: Can you contact your current customers and offer them special pricing and services? How about suggesting gift certificates for friends and families? Maybe calling a list of lapsed customers and seeking their feedback and re engagement?

These are only four of the many ways you can be getting your company out in front during the holidays. But the most important thing is for you to be creative and involved. Though the rest of the nation tends to take a break for festivities, you must continue to put your brand forward. Show up at all of those holiday parties with business cards, ready to take down contact information. Make a detailed note after every gathering with follow up call information…some of which you may want to do now and some of which  you will want to do after the holidays.

Your service company can survive and even thrive, during the holidays…it just takes a bit of thought and clever planning.

One of my favorite ways to give back to my community is through mentorship. It can take many forms, and can serve many different kinds of people. But the key is sharing what you know to help others grow and build on your experiences.

There are formal and informal mentoring relationships. I have often found that the relationships is initiated by the person who wants to be mentored, particularly if it is an informal arrangement. And though I understand this choice is often made because leaders certainly don’t want to impose their experience on others, I would say it is really our duty to pass this information along.

I think it is imperative that strong, successful leaders deliberately create a mentoring strategy. One that involves supporting bright up and comers by sharing wisdom and resources, as well as connections. Whether this person is already an employee, intern or just a younger leader, it is incumbent upon the mentor to identify potential mentees.

As with all relationships, there will be times that it isn’t a good fit, or the timing is wrong. And, there certainly isn’t a quota or pre-determined process. It is more of a philosophy that as a good leader, we will invest our experience and knowledge back into the community to help those who are coming into the profession behind us.

Paying it forward by investing time and resources in a mentoring relationship is one way to ensure that we continue to have amazing leaders generation after generation. And it has always been my experience that both parties benefit greatly from the experience.

It may seem like this is the time to throw the lifeboats overboard and shout “Every one for themselves”! But, I would caution that in so doing, we are making a bad situation worse.

Yes, times are tough, and yes, you should stop watching so much CNN. The media have us focused on all the ways things aren’t working…We need radical solutions and counter-intuitive thinking. Because, let’s face it, our best, most logical economic strategies have gotten us where we are today.

So today, I thought I would start the trend of thinking counter to what traditional zero-sum game theory taught us. Instead of distancing yourself from your competitors, why not reach out to them? I know, it feels weird to think of it…”What if they steal my ideas?” OK, don’t tell them your top secret product development plans…but what if the two (or more) of you together can bring about positive change in your community and industry?

Let’s face it, there are almost no single suppliers of anything anymore. When we talk about niche markets, we are talking about carving out a niche of an EXISTING market…not creating something that no one on the face of the earth has ever seen. And if we are selling variations of similar products (ie, coffee is still coffee, no matter where you are selling it) then we are all probably struggling.

Banding together to solve common problems, creating new marketing campaigns, even considering merging, is an absolute must in a time when we are all fighting for our survival. But, it is the kind of collaborative effort that makes good sense anyway…we just needed a push to get there.

Reach out to your competitors, build a bridge of goodwill and explore how you can combine efforts to be successful in challenging times. It’s a great way to set the stage for incredible growth potential when our economy rebounds.

There are many ways to define a good leader, and probably many qualities that could be identified as being essential to leadership. However, we are in what is arguably the most challenging economic times we have seen in decades. Not to mention, we are in two wars, amidst a leadership change and a whole host of other issues…After some reflection, I have created a list of what I think it takes to be a good leader now.

1. Humility. We don’t need people who think they have all of the answers. We need people who know they don’t and know where to go to get them. As a country, we must let go of this poorly founded belief that leaders are all knowing…and that is a desirable trait. I want a leader who surrounds him or herself with highly skilled people with heart and vision.
2. Energy. But not physical energy…again, in the US, we tend to equate good looks and a healthy body with energy and strength. No, we need leaders whose minds and hearts work overtime, regardless of how their bodies feel. We need new ideas, out of the box thinking, the energy to explore all possible options and outcomes.
3. Compassion. Leaders must have the ability to think about other than those in the ruling class. Leaders must be able to put themselves in other people’s shoes, to listen with their heart as well as their mind. The old standard of emotions are a sign of weakness is done. We are thinking and feeling beings and a good leader understands and embraces the wisdom of compassion.
4. Intelligence. Smarts, street sense, common sense…we need leaders who are in touch with reality, not removed from the day to day to such an extent that they are wasting their employees’ pension funds and building products no one else wants. Leaders need to have an intelligence that helps them make hard decisions when times are tough.
5. Courage. Times are hard, and likely to get harder. We are all afraid and looking for guidance. Courage is the ability to act in the face of fear. We need leaders who are willing to stand up and face daunting challenges, who will reach out and support others who are struggling to do the same.

And, maybe these traits are what we have always needed from great leaders…maybe it is just more obvious now than ever.

As an entrepreneur, you are already a leader. But are you a Transformational Leader? Are you a visionary who inspires others? Challenging times create great opportunity for transformational leadership.

I was reading an article today on the Inc blog, it was about leadership in tough times. And as I was leaving a comment, I was reminded of one basic principle. You can’t know great success until you have experienced great failure. And most people do not want to risk failure of any kind. The downside of not risking is a life of never quite reaching your potential. And for me, that is at least as scary as failure…if not more so.

In times like these, leaders rise above the challenge. Notice I said rise above the challenge, not to the challenge. Transformational leaders takes it a step farther than just meeting the challenge, they meet it and exceed it.

Does that mean that in every endeavor they are successful? No. It means that a leader has a two part strategy for responding. First they muster all the skills, abilities and resources to tackle the problem head on. Then, they stop and evaluate the response. Were they successful? What lessons came from the experience? What can be done in the future to be more efficient/effective?

Taking a challenge and using it as a lesson is the hallmark of a true leader. Use this time to push you to do your best work, instead of allowing it to pull you under.