Protecting the Truth

I was listening to an interesting audio program today and the author made a challenging point about telling the truth, both in business and in your personal life. He claimed that the truth is always better than lies.

Now most people are faced with situations in life where telling a falsehood might protect someone they care about. We rationalize the abandonment of the truth by protecting someone or something. The author makes that case that this is not acceptable. Great point, what do you think?

I think that we need to protect the truth of course. However, it is awefully tempting to lie when it is convenient to us. Now lets take this to the corporate level. Is this what the executives are doing at the companies whose scandals we have heard and read about?

One of the problems with most lies is that they need to be covered up by continued lies. In this case, it is clear, the truth needs to be protected in business in order to protect the integrity of the companies involved.

In your business life, protect the truth, even when it is the difficult road to take, it is the right road. Admit your mistakes, make your reports honest, and take responsibility. That is a much better road to progress in your career than any type of non-truth.

The author also discusses how non-truths and other wrong deeds lead to other events that result from such decisions. Often, the short-term gain coming from a wrong doing are outweighed in the end by the consequences. This is further reason for protecting the truth.

Mentoring

Everyone needs a mentor. Everyone needs to be a mentor. As we gain experience from our career assignments and exposure to all different circumstances, we need to record what works and what does not. And, then share it.

That is mentoring and we all need to be involved. Every good leader needs to encourage mentoring within their ranks. All workers need a go-to coworker who would be considered a mentor.

We all make mistakes in our work lives, we all can learn from our mistakes. We can also share our discoveries with others as we coach others to success. This too, is all part of mentoring.

No matter how good you are or how experienced you may be, you need a trusted confidant who understands you and your ideas. This is priceless. On the contrary, no matter how little experience you may have, you can still be of help to others. You might be able to do it alone, but you can do it better with the help of a mentor.

Endurance, strength, and growth

Napoleon Hill has a long list of legendary quotes. They apply to many aspects of life and many different circumstances. In this difficult economic environment, we can turn to some of them for inspiration.

One in particular that would have application now is "Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle." We need to continue our effort through the recession and we will benefit from our struggle. By enduring though this difficult time, we will gain strength.

Those companies and individuals who continue to give 100% effort to not only endure but to improve and grow during these times will greatly benefit and be very fit to grow during an upturn. I have witnessed first hand the efforts and struggles of my customer companies who are diligently working every day to deal with the downturn. I am so impressed with their work.

We need to keep on moving forward, keep on struggling, and keep on succeeding.

Who is really your boss?

In business, the customer is your boss. In fact, the customer is your boss's boss and the person above that person's boss.

In the book The Game Changer, co-author A.G. Lafley of Proctor & Gamble makes this point very clear as it relates to their many consumer products. Much of their success has been based on listening to their boss.

This is critically important in this economy. As we struggle to hold the line on revenues and profits, as we fight against the recession, we can't lose sight of the fact that our products and services are only as important as our customer tells us that they are.

In fact, our part of this downturn might just be accelerated by the changing needs of our customer. Now it is particularly important to understand the customer's changing needs and adjust our product or service to best serve the customer's needs.

We will recover from this recession. But how our business looks on the other side might be quite different from how it looked in 2006, 2007, or even 2008. The recession will be a game changer for many businesses and if our enterprise is to survive and thrive during and after the recession we must listen to our boss.

Back to Entrepreneurs

I have continued listening to E-Myth Mastery by Michael Gerber and during the second time through, I have learned a lot more.

We can make mistakes in managing a business but we can bounce back with the proper approach. In this book/CD, Michael talks about some mistakes that he made and survived in his business. They he goes on to describe the 7 diciplines of running a world class business.

Whether you own your own small business or manage a segment of a large business, his advice is great and it falls in line with that of many other experts. He talks about leadership, management, marketing, finances and more. He actually has a series of E-Myth books and his company is called E-Myth Worldwide.

It is recommended reading or listening for all business people.

Volunteering ... Who Benefits?

I just participated in a four-hour volunteering session at the Cleveland Foodbank. What is it? Taken from their own website, in a nutshell, the Cleveland Foodbank was founded in 1979 by a group of civic-minded individuals who recognized the urgent need for food for the needy and the large amount of nutricious food going to waste every day.

These individuals from the food industry and from charitable organizations got together and resolved that a single clearinghouse could solicit, collect, sort, and distribute this food in an efficient manner. This has ensured improved operations for local charities in the Cleveland area. They bring in food from donors both private and corporate and redistribute it to centers that feed the hungry.

So what did I do at the Foodbank. Well, today I participated in a process that prepared food in packages for needy families. My work was as simple as this. A group of about 15 of us worked on an assembly line to prepare these packages which consisted of six items, cereal, peanut butter, macaroni, canned fruit, beans, and crackers.

My job was to place a single can of Tio Franco Black Beans into a plastic bag and pass it down the line. It was fun! But, it was work. And, I enjoyed it.

I always meet nice people when I volunteer at the Foodbank and I always feel a sense of accomplishment. The needy individuals who are on the receiving end of the food benefit from the relief that the food brings to them in the form of nutrition. The Foodbank benefits from my help because, no matter how menial my task might be, it is a necessary task that is well planned and well though out. My contribution does matter.

So, I also benefit from the Cleveland Foodbank because they provide me with the opportunity to volunteer. They give me the chance to help others. They allow me to feel important. Thank you Cleveland Foodbank!

The Entrepreneur In You

One of the foremost experts in small business is the well-known author and speaker, Michael Gerber. I have had the opportunity of attending one of Michael's presentations and he is a very impressive speaker. I have also purchased and listened to the audio version of E-Myth Mastery by Mr. Gerber. His work should be must reading or listening to all aspiring entrepreneurs.

The Webster definition of entrepreneur is "one who organizes and assumes the risk of a business or enterprise." I want to extend that definition by adding what it means to me.

Being an entrepreneur means taking responsibility. If you own your business, you will work with a passion in order to survive. Why not approach every aspect of your life as an entrepreneur?

For starters, how about thinking of yourself as the "organizer and risk assumer" of all that you do? Having a balanced life by having the right emphasis and effort given to your family life, work, faith life, recreational life, and all aspects of your life requires the entrepreneurial spririt.

If you approach your job and your career as an entrepreneur, even though you work for someone else, you will be successful. If you take an entrepreneurial approach to your private life, you will find some peace and comfort in all that you do.

Being passionate is not limited to business and money. It applies to all of your responsibilities. Go for it!

Change is Inevitable, Be Prepared

In his excellent book, Game Changer, author, Ram Charan states that "When innovation is at the center of a company's way of doing things, it finds ways to innovate not just products, but also functions, logistics, business models, and processes. This point is well taken given today's economic environment.

While an innovative company will probably continue to research and develop new products even in a downturn, those same companies need to look at all of their processes in order to stay competitive or even just to stay in the game. There is little doubt that times like these, and they may actually be quite unique, demand creativity and innovation by great companies.

Even though the normal business cycles as we have known them lead to downturns as well as booms, this recession really is unique. It is unique for many reasons that have to do with banks and mortgages. This current situation is also a result of the rate of change in business and in our society.

Many years ago, a very popular book titled Future Shock by Alvin Toffler was recommended reading for all people interested in the future. In the book, Toffler speaks of accelerating rates of change that will leave people disconnected and suffering from shattering stress and disorientation.

In my observation, the rate of change has been event greater than that. Our extraordinary means of communication that exist in this decade, have accelerated change beyond that of our imagination from the 1970's. I believe that this change level has directly contributed to our current slump.

Many companies will emerge from this slump in an even better position than prior to it but in order to accomplish this amazing run, they will need to innovate. They need to apply innovation to all aspects of their business. Companies need to take a macro and micro look at their operations now and figure out how they plan to emerge.

It is not business as usual in 2009 but these are times for careful analysis and very strategic planning. Keeping innovation at the forefront of that planning is the key to surviving this recession and emerging as a leader.