Morning Motivator – Empower. Then Get Out of the Way

"The beauty of empowering others is that your own power is not diminished in the process."
- Barbara Colorose

What is the MOST challenging part of being a business owner?  I might suggest that it is EMPOWERING your people and ALLOWING them to call their own shots. 

As a business owner, we always feel like we "KNOW BEST" for the business itself.  We UNDERSTAND it better than anyone else does, we know how to MITIGATE issues, we know best what the clients want and need.  Yet, how good will your business be if you are the ONLY ONE calling the shots?  If you are the only one that takes care of EVERYTHING?  How will you ever grow if you are the ONLY employee?

EMPOWERING your people and allowing them to make their own decisions, manage their own conflicts, to fail and succeed on their own is the most DIFFICULT and NECESSARY part of successful leadership.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
I BELIEVE that the most successful of businesses PLAN to empower from the beginning.

If you are like me, you want to be RIGHT all the time.  You want to please EVERYONE, everyday.  You never want a person to feel like they did not get what they were supposed to.

I serve as a business owner and a community leader in two non-profit organizations in my hometown now.  The ONLY way that these endeavors will grow and be successful is by allowing others to WORK, WIN, FAIL and LEARN on their own under the supervision of my experience. 

The most difficult CHALLENGE of it all:  Understanding I must stay out of the way of my people and let the EMPOWERED persons do their job!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Make It EASY to Pay!

"Sorry this number is not a working number.  Thank you."
- National Auto Finance 800 number tele-operator

In the world of all things that PISS ME OFF – the inability to easily pay a bill sits right behind driving behind someone doing 10 under the speed limit. 

Yesterday, I FINALLY, after 4 months, was able to find out "where the hell" my truck note is processed.  Being a Nissan truck, you would assume that either it was with Nissan Financing or the company reporting to my credit.  Alas, of course not, that would be far too easy!

The NEW financing company is Ally bank, who manages all auto payment processing for - you guessed it - GMAC!  Of course Nissan would be there and OF COURSE my prior company, still reporting to my credit, would NOTIFY me that if I wanted to change the way I pay, that I should call Ally!  Of course, they did not…

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Look, lets' make this very simple.  If you want people to pay you money, MAKE IT EASY!  If you need to change the process, MAKE IT EASY.  If you change the system, MAKE IT EASY!

Moreover, by gosh, if you are going to ask people to SEND YOU MONEY – put a phone number, email address or set up a freaking website to MAKE IT EASY!!

I have not missed a payment on this truck, but, in the future, I will ask WHO will be "holding the note" when I finance a vehicle, because this has just sucked…

CONGRATS to National Auto Finance in conjunction with Ally Bank!  You SUCK!  Love, Zach.

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator- Success Comes From Involvement

"If there is no worker involvement, there is no quality system."
- Lloyd Dobens

Growing an organization sounds like a daunting task, especially if you are the small fry in town.  How do you get people to COMMIT?  How do you get them to PROMOTE?  How do you get them to ENGAGE?

Try getting them INVOLVED. 

What is the best thing about a club?  Doing stuff.  When you are INVOLVED in the activities of a group or organization, you feel as though you share the ownership and responsibility of its success.  When you are involved at a LEADERSHIP level, this feeling is AMPLIFIED.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
What does it take to get people involved?  Not much really. 

Look at the tasks you have at hand.  Which ones could someone take and EXECUTE for you?  Where could you find a LEADERSHIP role for someone to focus on a specific area of a task you are tackling?

There is no greater INVOLVEMENT than EMPOWERMENT.  Engage your members, employees, players, friends, etc in your SUCCESS ACTIVITIES and you will find that the quality, quantity and speed of your success with hyper accelerate!

Get involved in the Morning Motivator – Send me a story, a quote or share this one with a friend!!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator- Recruit or Retain?

"We need to focus on getting more people.  No!  We need to focus on keeping them."
- Very common business discussion

To recruit or retain is a CHIEF CONCERN of many great businesses.  The strife of focusing on getting new clients or keeping your best ones CHALLENGES the most effective marketers worldwide.  What is the CORRECT answer – recruit or retain?

This is a SIMILAR quandary as to that of a sporting team.  Score more points or enforce better defense?  Each is effective in its own right.  You MUST score to win and you must defend so that the other team cannot score MORE than your team.  It would appear that is neither right nor wrong?

The MAIN concern I have is that businesses BELIEVE that it is an ALL OR NOTHING strategy.  That a successful business must DECIDE which is more important to their success.  That somehow you have enough POWER and CONTROL that you can CHOOSE which one is more valuable.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
The idea that one is MORE appropriate to focus on than the other is as silly as saying that it is more important to focus on SALES than OPERATIONS.  They must LIVE in harmony people!!

What the REAL QUESTION should be is WHO will focus on recruitment and WHO will focus on retention?

SEPARATE the authority to the experts that are involved.  If you have someone that is a MONSTER in the sales department, task them with the job of focusing on RECRUITMENT of new business.  Then seek out your CUSTOMER SERVICE SUPERSTAR and task them with the assignment of RETAINING clients.

To believe that one supersede the other is a fallacy of business.  Both are REQUIRED and AFFECTED by all areas of the business, from accounting to delivery.  Which to do - recruit or retain?  Yes!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.