Category: Uncategorized

Winners Win (#9)

They win, then they go back to practice so they can win more. Winners are hungry. Winners work harder AND smarter. The best ones stay humble and thank those that helped them get there. They also recognize that they’re incredibly lucky, but know harder they work the luckier they seem to be.

People like those types of winners. The ones that walk into a room and say “Hi” to everyone (looking them in the eyes nonetheless). The ones that want the very last thing they do to be a win. They put their all into everything they do because they know that’s how winning is done.

Bad Apples (#8)

In business school I was berated with the idea that bad apples spoil the bunch. That one employee could ruin an entire culture and the productivity that comes with it. (I listened to an episode of This American Life as part of a lecture, and although I enjoyed it thoroughly, the full value of it didn’t sink in for a few more years and I still have a long way to go.)

For most people seeing is believing, which is why I absolutely cannot ignore the bad apple theory – especially at times when I am working to scale a company.

I saw one individual drive down the productivity of a skilled and experienced team, increasing hourly wage costs by an average of 15% over a three month period compared to the previous year.

On top of all this, the morale of the team was absolutely crushed. Nobody was enjoying their work because a single individual was stirring the pot every day at every opportunity. They enjoyed getting other people riled up and undermining decisions.

We had hired this individual because we thought we needed the labour at the time. Looking back, we should have waited for the right individual, or fired them as soon as we realized what was going on (which was almost immediately). Instead, it stewed within an under-performing team for a full quarter.

We had turnover with other employees in that team at the end of the year, even after we gad fired the bad apple.

This was a blessing and a curse.

The curse is we had 2 remaining members (1 lead, 1 first-year employee). The blessing was it let us rebuild for the next year. We didn’t have to worry about the seeds of doubt being planted by the bad apple.

And we spent a lot of time hiring that year. We were more selective with our teams, vetting candidates we would have taken in previous years. It was a process, sometimes it felt like we had to take “somebody” to fill a spot, but this never proved to be entirely true. We could always find ways to get by, waiting to find the right fit.

We started searching earlier, but we also held out longer, waiting for the right people. We found them, trained them, gave them an incentive and because they were the right fit we saw performance levels better than any year prior (~30% wage reduction on through increased productivity).

But you don’t need to flip a team to get rid of a bad apple, you can save the bunch and a lot of time/effort/money if you act quickly.

There are two approaches you can take to this and both of them are effective for entirely different reasons. The first is to hold out in hiring, wait on candidates and sleep on decisions. The second is to hire whomever you want, while being prepared to terminate at the drop of a hat.

Either way, weed out the bad apples.

The Weeds (#7)

It will make you go cross-eyed from the mental strain it takes on you (maybe to the point of physical strain too).

It’s also where the magic happens. The little details in movies people talk about decades later is a perfect example (see Reddit.com/r/moviedetails a website with over 1.4 million followers for just this).

A favourite analogy by a great boss* that I use to this day originates with Disney.

In their park, there are little hidden details just for children. Cracks in walls at a low eye-level that open up into fairy forests when you peep through. Not everybody finds these, but that’s part of what makes it so special and intimate.

You can’t get to this level of connection without being in the weeds a little.

*(Nancy Knyf – YMCA of Western Ontario)

Coaches Win (#5)

All the best athletes in the world have coaches, it’s not a coincidence. Who is coaching you in your life to become a better version of yourself? If you want to become a successful entrepreneur you’re going to need help along the way. You’re also going to need to be a coach in your role to your employees.

Understanding that you can receive coaching while being a coach yourself is important to being a truly effective leader. Taking into consideration what your strengths and weaknesses are and working on developing whichever your coach says is important. Having another trusted perspective helps to keep you level in your business, but also in your life. So often the two become linked together.

Coaches don’t necessarily present themselves to you, but if you put the offer on the table you might be surprised by who says yes…and there’s not really anything to lose.

Prioritize Results (#4)

I’ve found that on some days I just don’t feel like I’ve accomplished anything even after working 8 hours – how can this be?

It’s because I’m focusing on things I think I should be doing versus things I can get results from. I could save myself by asking “what can I get away with NOT doing so I can get some results today?”

What emails are unimportant to what I’m trying to do right now, because during a long day all the time you ever have is right now. Stop answering questions others can deal with. Don’t get caught up in tasks you’ve trained your managers to handle. Focus on something in your control and go after the results you want.

Details Matter (#3)

In fact, details can be all that matter. If you can’t have a step by step process that at least accommodates for some variation then you won’t be able to scale effectively.

Think in terms of the resources you have, be it people, computer processing power or vehicles (just to name three). If nobody on your team knows where these things are or what they have to be doing at any given time then you’re going to have a serious lack of accountability.

This can be hard when you’re trying to scale regionally, nationally and internationally.

But details go beyond pure logistics, it means have complete work that is ready to implement should you get the green light. It means instead of talking about “local social media influencers in your area” going out and building relationships with them. It means instead of suggesting Facebook and Instagram Stories, making them and having the posts show exactly what you mean.

Actions speak louder than words – don’t be afraid to let your creativity shine through when the opportunity presents itself, just always make sure to keep your audience in mind.

And details matter…

Marketers Sell (#2)

And vise versa. That is, salespeople are marketers. Understanding that these two teams have to work together to be the most effective at moving your revenue line is critical*.

It’s the job of marketing to build a cyclical path to and from the sales team, keeping clients year over year. It’s the job of the sales team to close out the deal in the way the customer expects it. If marketing has presented the path to purchase one way and sales has delivered it another then you are going to have clients who are confused and drop off.

This can be said of sales and manufacturing too. A product which was sold with the belief of being waterproof should definitely be waterproof, otherwise you’ll have some very unhappy clients.

So keep sales and marketing close to each other, because ground level data with clients is critical, but so is the perspective of seeing the whole customer lifetime cycle.

*That’s only a piece of the puzzle, though, running a truly great business means having all of your departments working symbiotically – thriving off of and enhancing each other.

Entrepreneurs Do (#1)

This is the first post of 100 consecutive days of content – trying to take a lesson from the title I suppose.

An insightful professor* of mine once told an entrepreneurship class not to be afraid with sharing their ideas openly with others. I’ll admit at the time I doubted what she was saying. Looking back I couldn’t agree more with the point she was trying to make.

Everybody gets ideas…everybody. For an idea to be worth something you have to go out and turn it into something real, something tangible, and the truth is most people won’t – even when they claim their idea could make millions if not billions.

The manifesto of entrepreneurs is “do” because if you aren’t doing anything you aren’t getting anywhere. So talk openly about your ideas and work diligently towards where you want them to take you. You may even find others willing and worthy of joining your cause.

Just make sure to separate the “idea people” from the “doers”.

*(Kelley Packalen – Entrepreneurship 405, Smith School of Business)