Category: Planning & Management

Article Contributed by Lynda-Ross Vega

Previously, we examined the five qualities of effective leaders, regardless of Perceptual Style. Here, we’ll begin to look at the unique leadership qualities of each specific Perceptual Style, along with real world examples of each.*

The Activity Leadership Style

Those with the Activity Perceptual Style don’t tend to be continuous leaders. (In general, they prefer to let people pursue their own directions.) If, however, a crisis or situational problem arises, they will step up to a leadership role.

In these situations, those with the Activity styles are not overt or commanding. Others follow them simply because their sensitivity to the subtleties and complexities of relational politics commands respect.

People with the Activity style tend to influence the actions and decisions of key people with whom they have built influential relationships, drawing upon a wide variety of resources. Because they only sporadically use the influence they have, their influence can be powerful when they do. In addition to using the clout they have with people in key positions, they lead by creating alliances with those they recognize as supporting their goals.

In the real world, the Activity leadership style can be readily seen in the entertainment industry, in celebrities who use their popularity and social standing to organize and support social causes—such as Robin Williams and Ellen DeGeneres—and those who have behind-the-scenes influence, such as Ben Stiller and Danny DeVito.

The Methods Leadership Style

Those with the Methods Perceptual Style lead logically and matter-of-factly. They believe that analysis of the facts will point to the correct and most effective course of action, so they do not take unnecessary risks. These qualities make people with the Methods style quiet leaders who move followers forward incrementally, securing gains as they go, and solidifying their positions before moving forward again.

Those with the Methods style tend to be calm in the face of crisis and steer a steady course through chaotic times, but they intervene reluctantly and change direction only after a complete empirical examination of a situation. When things are moving forward smoothly, they are content to let things be, refusing to unsettle a plan that is working just for the sake of change. Methods leaders attract followers with the common sense aspect of their clear, rational approach.

The Methods leadership style can be readily seen in the professional sports world, in coaches such as Tom Landry (Dallas Cowboys), Phil Jackson (Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers), and Joe Torre (New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers), as well as in the political arena, in people such as Gerald Ford and Dwight Eisenhower.

*It is impossible to determine another’s PS by observation alone. This is especially true for public figures. The examples provided ‘appear’, based on their public behavior, to be the PS for which they are used as examples. However, without a complete Perceptual Style Assessment, their particular PS is simply an educated guess.

About the Author:

Lynda-Ross Vega: A partner at Vega Behavioral Consulting, Ltd., Lynda-Ross specializes in helping entrepreneurs and coaches build dynamite teams and systems that WORK. She is co-creator of Perceptual Style Theory, a revolutionary psychological assessment system that teaches people how to unleash their deepest potentials for success. For free information on how to succeed as an entrepreneur or coach, create a thriving business and build your bottom line doing more of what you love, visit www.ACIforCoaches.com and www.ACIforEntrepreneurs.com.

Article Contributed by Tim Eyre

Writing an extensive business plan is hard. Distilling it down to one page is even harder.

Just as writing a novel may feel easier than writing the one-page synopsis, sitting down to discuss your project at a meeting full of people may be less intimidating than delivering the proverbial elevator pitch to one person. Being concise is a challenge when 1) you’ve been thinking about every aspect of your idea for years and you’ve got plenty to say, 2) you’re so enthusiastic about your idea you find it hard to encapsulate its awesomeness in words or limit it in any way, and 3) you feel extreme pressure because so much is riding on this one piece of paper.

I’ve been told visualizing a nonthreatening scene or activity helps relieve stress, and I’ve been trying it lately. I still have a ways to go in my technique, but when a friend approached me the other day with a long and rambling business pitch to critique I found myself searching for tools to help him focus. He was on the right track – while an in-depth business plan is necessary, it’s smart to create a shorter pitch to give to potential investors, clients, friends, and the press. These busy people are much more likely to have a positive response if they can grasp your business idea in only a moment rather than having to add another book to their to-be-read pile.

So my admittedly hokey nonthreatening transference technique for writing a one-page pitch was well…pitched. I told my buddy to think of it like a baseball team.

1. Cover the Bases.This is the who, what, when, where, and why – the basics that you must have or there’s no game. Right off the bat (I couldn’t resist) at the beginning of your one-pager, the following elements must be directly addressed.Who: the name of your new company, business, or product.

   What: the service or function your business or product provides.

   When: the proposed timeline for the business or production to begin.

   Where: the location of your business and whether it’s brick and mortar or online.

   Why: the purpose of your new business or product, your mission statement.

2. Consider the Fans.Think about your potential customers. Supply and demand is a factor you can’t ignore. So make sure you answer the following.What is your market?

   Who are your customers?

   How will you reach customers and communicate to them what you have to offer?

   What issues face your customers that you can solve?

   What is going on in the lives of your potential customers right now that would make your idea appealing to them?

3. Build up the Franchise.The Yankees, the Florida Marlins. Not the same. Yankee Stadium, Pro Player Stadium, I mean Sun Life Stadium. Not the same.What is your unique brand?

   What makes your team special?

   What about your team will make people want to buy your jerseys?

   What is your business or product’s competitive advantage?

   What do you have that will help you beat the competition?

   What kind of personnel are you assembling?

   What are the stats of your top players?

4. Manage the Front Office.There’s a reason why all the guys in the office have gray hair and wrinkles. The bottom-line must be addressed. Like it or not, you’ve got to face these tough questions, make some difficult decisions, and have a realistic grip on the following:What kind of capital is it going to take to get your business off the ground?

   What are your financial goals and milestones for the company?

   What are your plans for the future of the business?

   How is your business going to grow?

These questions are simple, and yet answering them is not easy. Figure out the answers. That will be the hard work. Then present them as clearly and succinctly as possible. Not only will the effort of making a game plan give you something compelling and clear to distribute and communicate quickly the aim and essence of your business, but having that one-pager on hand will also provide you with a reference for yourself. When you are at a loss to explain or rein in your explanation of your idea, you will have the plan to keep you focused and to help you keep your eye on the ball and your head in the game.

About the Author:

Tim Eyre works in the self storage industry, regularly traveling to see locations like County Club Hills self storage.
In locations like Chicago self storage, Tim helps midwesterners store seasonal equipment when its not being used for outdoor activities or construction projects.

Article Contributed by Lisa Cherney

Being in my 12^th year of business now (wow, 12 years!  I feel so blessed!), I can actually reflect and see how far I’ve come.  I’m seeing the patterns now, the cycles that have defined and shaped my business – and it has changed so much in the past year!  It is so different now than when I first started.  Back then, I had a vision of what my dream business looked like.  I was driving home with my career in a box on the passenger seat of my car, after having just been “kicked out” of the corporate world, and I could see what I wanted for my future.  But I didn’t know – yet – how to get there.

So I started my business with the same corporate mentality that I came from, and found myself trapped – again.  Only difference was, the boss was me this time!  Ask yourself this: Does my business feel the way I want it to feel?  This may sound illogical, but you don’t need to work 80 hours a week to make the kind of money you want.  I want you to claim the peace and prosperity that I have for your own business, but first you have to let go of this mindset that so many of us have- that we have to work those kinds of hours to achieve the success we long for.  So here’s the first reason it took me so long to start making big money, and doesn’t it sound familiar??

Reason #1:  “You are used to being unhappy or compromising.”

It’s true!  Old habits die hard.  The people that I’ve coached might have had success in a job, a corporate career or someone’s business, maybe even their own, but it wasn’t really their passion.  They just kind of fell into it, but deep down they knew it wasn’t what they were meant to do.  Now, I know you truly want your dream business, but you’re used to being unhappy… you don’t allow yourself to enjoy it fully!  You trade one awful situation for another.

Are you living the lifestyle you want?  Don’t settle for anything less than you deserve!  Life is short, so you need to develop a low tolerance for being unhappy.  And you can start right now by taking pen to paper and ask yourself this question:

What are you tolerating in your business or in your life that you are no longer willing to tolerate?

This question will lead you straight to Divine Juice Principle #1 – Make sure you are doing what you love every minute.

Crazy, huh?  What areas in your business – and consequently your life – need to change for you to enjoy and LOVE what you’re doing?  Make a list of what you’re no longer willing to tolerate.  For myself, I needed a really good reason to change – my daughter.  I made some tough decisions, and actually eliminated a whole division of my business.  Working 80 hours a week just wasn’t an option anymore, so I worked toward a part-time business model. I want you to take some time today and go through this 3-step exercise, either on paper, or at the very least, in your mind

1. How are you marketing, and who are you marketing to? Are you working with your Ideal Clients?  Or are you spreading a net so wide that you’re taking filler jobs?

2. Re-think your business model – how many hours you’re putting in, how much you’re earning, etc… Is it working for you?  What works and what doesn’t?  Maybe you’re not charging enough. Do you even have a business model??  Figure out what items you can begin to tackle, and start making those changes today.  It might be a complete overhaul, or it could mean just tweaking those areas to make them fit.  After all, this is your dream business!  Make it work for you.

3. Really analyze the services you’re providing.  What exactly is it you are doing that’s making you happy, and making you money?  Are you taking on work that you don’t really want or love because you need the money?

How you’re marketing, your business model, and the services you’re providing – this is where you start re-defining your future.  This isn’t easy.  But it can make the difference between doing what you love – and just doing it because you have to.  Members of my Divine Juice Inner Circle have learned this, and it feels like such a luxury when you move from “I have to do this because I need the money” to “I want to do this”.  Use the 1 to10 scale as a filter.  Do the 10’s!  Start saying no to the 6’s and 7’s that have a paycheck attached to it.  Saying no to the 7’s allows you to pursue your dreams.  It’s not overnight, but you can work toward the 10’s every day.  Starting today!

About the Author

Lisa Cherney, a.k.a. the Juicy Marketing Expert, founded Conscious Marketing 12 years ago to help small business owners find their authentic marketing voice, attract their ideal clients and increase their sales. Following her own Stand Out & Be Juicy program, which centers on owning your unique self and laser-focus marketing, Lisa has tripled her income while working part-time.

Prior to Conscious Marketing, Lisa worked with many Fortune 500 companies, including AT&T, Lipton, Nissan, Blue Cross and Equal. She is a highly sought after speaker and often shares the stage with experts such as Jack Assaraf (The Secret), Jack Canfield and Jill Lublin. Learn more about Lisa at www.consciousmarketing.com or call 887-771-0156.

Article Contributed by Jeff Beals

On a cloudless summer day in suburban Chicago, a woman put her two children in the car and drove to the shopping mall. There she met one of her best girlfriends, who also came to the mall with her kids.

The group of two moms and four kids spent the whole day at the mall, having lunch in the cafeteria and then leisurely strolling, shopping and people watching. An afternoon movie in the attached theatre and malted milkshakes at the ice cream parlor finished off the mall excursion before the women drove back to their respective homes to prepare dinner.

These two women absolutely loved the mall. In their minds, it was one of the greatest places on Earth. After all, the mall was exciting, full of the latest and greatest retailers, a state-of-the-art movie theatre and plenty of free parking. Even better, the climate controlled indoor environment made it possible for a whole day of shopping and entertainment without being subjected to Chicago’s often extreme weather. No doubt about it; the mall was THE place to see and be seen.

That was 1968. It was the heyday of the enclosed regional shopping mall in America.

Here’s how this story might read in 2011:

A well-educated, working mom is able to duck out of her office for a couple hours at lunch to catch up on some long-deferred errands. With the kids in school, it’s her chance to actually get things done. That’s critical, because evenings and weekends are filled with dance lessons, soccer practice and select-league baseball games that often require the family to spend weekends at out-of-town tournaments.

Her challenge is to fit a whole day’s slate of errands into two hours. She drives her minivan to the power center located along the freeway. There she takes advantage of a 30%-off discount card she received in the mail from Kohl’s department store before stopping by the Wal-Mart Super Center to stock up on non-perishable consumables mostly manufactured in China. She takes care of mailing packages and dropping off dry cleaning at her friendly mega grocery store’s customer service counter.

Next, she speeds over to the lifestyle center, an outdoor mall with heavy landscaping, upscale national-chain retailers and a nice-but-fake-looking façade. There she purchases high-end cosmetics (the all-natural kind that are never tested on animals) and a dress for the coming weekend’s formal dinner. Before jumping in the minivan, she grabs a double latte, a little reward for getting so much done so quickly. She must head back to the office and cram in her work before picking up the kids from their after-school program.

Indeed, times have changed.

As the lives of retail customers have evolved, the retailers and the shopping mall owners have had to change in order to keep up. Today’s harried shopper simply doesn’t have the time to spend the whole day at the mall. Speed and convenience are critically important. Shoppers still want luxury and entertainment, but they have to be easily accessible and located close to homes or offices.

Consequently, we now see many of those old malls, the ones that were gleaming and glorious in 1968, being torn down and replaced with big-box retailers, open-air lifestyle centers and mixed-use “walkable” villages.

A perfect example is Randhurst Mall built in 1962 in the Chicago suburb of Mt. Prospect, Ill. According to Midwest Real Estate News, the once-popular Randhurst is now desolate, so crews are demolishing most of it to make way for a mixed-use center that will be home to offices, a hotel and a bunch of entertainment businesses in addition to an updated mix of retailers.

Retailers and retail landlords either keep up with the trends or they die.

Well, retailers certainly aren’t alone, are they? Your business needs to adapt too.

Keep in mind that, as a person, you are essentially a business. You are a business of one, a business unto yourself. In a lot of ways, you (as a business of one) have much in common with retailers. Like a retailer, you are selling a product (yourself). Like a retailer, you want to portray your product in the most desirable way while making it extremely convenient to your customers. Like a retailer, you must adapt to the changing needs and preferences of the public.

Regardless of what you do for a living, you must place your clients on a pedestal. Their needs and wants are not only paramount, they’re moving targets.

Are you doing whatever it takes to keep up? Are you willing to tear down a 1960’s-era mall and replace it with one of today’s hot new shopping developments?  Stay ahead of the trend or risk being squashed by it!

About the Author:

Jeff Beals is an award-winning author, who helps professionals do more business and have a greater impact on the world through effective sales, marketing and personal branding techniques. As a professional speaker, he delivers energetic and humorous keynote speeches and workshops to audiences worldwide. You can learn more and follow his “Business Motivation Blog” at JeffBeals.com.

Article Contributed By Bill Bachrach

The management team cannot believe that their company’s profitability continues to decline at a consistent rate, quarter after quarter. “How can this be?” says the Chief Marketing Officer. “Five of our customers have named the company supplier of the year! The crystal bowls and the plaques with our name on it are displayed in the front lobby.”

Most C-Suite executives are very proud of their awards, yet they have difficulty understanding why profitability continues to decrease. As a consequence, the executive team focuses its efforts on minimizing their internal cost structure. But these efforts do not seem to be enough to turn the company’s profitability around.

Instead, executives need to know how to break a spiraling downward financial situation and forge a new path that will accelerate growth and profitability. To do this you need to understand:

• The forces affecting the profitability of the product line
• Your true profitability drivers
• How to create a pathway to accelerating growth

What Forces Affect Your Product Line Profitability?

The ability to make money comes down to what the customer is willing to pay for your product relative to their needs and competing products. One method to determine the value of the product is to use a Product Line Profitability model, which looks at the difference between the product sales and the production and operating costs. In this model, the product sales are dependent on the markets and regions where the products are sold including their past and future sales projections. The product production costs and operating expenses are comprised of a number of costs including material costs, labor costs, support costs, and capital equipment costs.

The Product Line Profitability model provides the building blocks for identifying the business’s strengths and weaknesses as it relates to the profitability drivers. A product line check-up is good practice to understand how the internal and external forces are changing your business.

Now, the Product Line Profitability model provides the executives with the tools to analyze the organization’s cost structure today and to begin developing a landscape for profitability. But the model itself is not enough to truly get at what are the underlying drivers to accelerate profitability and to understand what needs to be leverages for growth

What Are Your True Profitability Drivers?

Identifying and understanding the influence of the internal and external forces that drive the acceleration of growth must include the analysis of these five areas:

1) Sales channel profitability
2) Product line price fluctuation
3) Product line material and labor cost
4) Organizational efficiency
5) Product line development time and traction.

A typical development during a product’s life cycle is the entry of a competitor’s product line in the market with similar form, fit, and function that now competes against your product. What happens now? Everything is decreased – your product line price and profitability, your sales channel profitability and your organizational efficiency. The product line material costs may need to be decreased and the product line may need to be re-designed.

Your profitability drivers vary depending on the product, market, and industry. But once you uncover these driver, you will be able to pinpoint the business and organizational issues that need to be dealt with first as you develop a business growth acceleration game plan for your product lines.

How to Create a Pathway to Accelerating Growth

As your executives reviews the profitability drivers as well as the internal and external forces for each product line, a picture will emerge on the strengths and weaknesses of the business and organization. Analysis should also include changes that concentrate on making money for the business as opposed to whether or not a product or customer will be eliminated. This picture, then, becomes the basis for unifying the company’s business strategy and the day-to-day game plan for execution to make money.

A map then needs to be drawn step-by-step to ensure the company’s growth is on an accelerated path to growth. However, this pathway to accelerating growth does not happen instantaneously. It evolves over a period of time with direction, leadership, focus, dedication, and discipline. Most importantly, everyone (from the CEO on down) must embrace the chosen pathway, as they will need to execute it.

Follow these tips and you will accelerate the growth of your company’s wealth and value. This is the same approach that I took as a C-level executive to guide companies in electronics, manufacturing and high-technology industries to higher profits and significant returns for owners and investors.

About the Author:

Revenue and Profit Growth Expert, Bill Bachrach, has led numerous companies in various C-Level positions and works with Boards of Directors and Investors who want to accelerate their company’s wealth and market value. His firm has developed a 5 Step Model for Profitability that quickly creates a pathway for improved revenues and rapid market expansion. To learn more about this model and uncover the #1 secret to building momentum for growth and profitability, check out Bill’s free articles at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/billbachrach01