November 2018

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Wise parents begin to instill into their elementary school kids how to behave and react to influences they may have yet to encounter. We want our kids to be prepared for dealing with things like drugs, alcohol and sex. And it’s not just a fear-driven agenda we’re fulfilling. It’s practical.

As parents, we know the value of facing something ahead of time. Driven by our love of our kids, and our desire to protect them, and arm them with as much wisdom as we can — we engage in conversations where we discuss the various scenarios they’re likely to encounter. We rehearse how they should react when these situations happen. Our hope and goal are that they’ll remember these conversations and respond with wisdom. In short, we don’t want them to be caught off guard.

Why don’t we do that more with our own lives…and our businesses?

Pre-think? Pre-determine? And then prepare accordingly?

Complacency. That’s the biggest reason. We get into the routine of life going the way it goes. So we don’t think about something disrupting it.

Avoidance. Another big reason. We don’t enjoy thinking about the negative things that could happen. Think about all the financially successful people who die without having their affairs in order. Even people who may have been suffering from ill health. Largely we want to avoid considering bad outcomes.

Let’s end the week by getting real. You’ll thank me. I promise.

I Learned The Hard Way

As a young leader I had to figure some things out after being smacked in the face with a really bad situation. I’d love to tell you it only happened once or twice, but life is happy to hit you in the face as often as possible. I endured my fair share of punches. Thankfully, none were fatal.

I once had a manager working for me who I really liked. I had recruited him from a vendor I once dealt with. He was likable and seemed to have the right demeanor for the job. It was the early 80’s. That’s important for the context.

One day somebody discovered a stash of marijuana in his office. I was stunned. Stunned that he’d have it at work. Sort of stunned that he was smoking pot. (Years later we’d all call it “weed”) 😉

I’m not naive. I’ve never smoked pot, or even had a drink of alcohol, but I’ve been around it more than I care to admit, especially in high school. But we were grown guys, admittedly still young – me in my mid-20’s and him in his 30’s. And like I said, it was the early 80’s…quite unlike today where the cannabis industry is on the verge of booming.

I remember thinking how I hadn’t come to work that day expecting to part ways with him and now make finding his replacement my number 1 activity. But here I was having to do both. I wished I had seen it coming. I wished I had known. I wished he hadn’t brought it to work. I even wished somebody hadn’t found it. He apologized profusely for having it, but the damage was done.

Mostly, I wished I had prepared so I would have had a contingency plan. I was completely unprepared. It was my fault.

It wasn’t my last punch to the gut, or mouth. Over the years I learned to play as many “what if” scenarios as possible…because most anything IS possible. Without being a Negative Nellie you can prepare for the biggest disasters possible. Playing them out in your head isn’t quite the same as dealing with the real thing, but it sure makes decision making easier when you’ve at least considered the possibility beforehand.

Pre-Think

My preference may not be yours, but I’ll share it in hopes you find value.

I prefer to pre-think by myself first. I used to do this by trying to intentionally think of the worst thing that could happen to me as a leader. I stopped doing that because it seemed to bog me down. Instead, I just start thinking of all the bad things that could happen. I still do what I’ve always done – I begin with PEOPLE. That’s probably because as a young leader those were where most of my gut punches came. And also because replacing key people is such a daunting task (and time-consuming).

I brainstorm all the various things that could erupt in a moment. What if a text or phone call came delivering me this news? What if somebody walked into my office and quit? I barrage myself with questions like that and write them down. I don’t worry about ranking them. What’s the point? They’re all bad. They all will demand elevated time and attention. Most of them will obliterate my schedule.

I don’t fret about ones that won’t do that. There are bad things that can happen that are more easily deflected. Not every punch is solid. Or to the gut or face. Some hit you on the arm. Others are glancing blows. I don’t sweat any of those. Things happen and we deal with them rather quickly because they’re inconvenient, but they’re not completely disruptive.

I focus on the disruptive ones.

I’ll ask the leadership team to do the same thing. Each of them pursues their answers in whatever way best suits them.

As CEO or owner you aren’t going to likely share your entire list with your team – after all, part of your list may include one or more of them walking in and resigning. But you can come together with your team to discuss the lists each of you has compiled to pre-think where you feel vulnerable.

Pre-Determine

Next, I focus on answering one question: “What can we do to better protect ourselves from this possibility?”

If this negative thing were to happen, is there something we could do in advance to soften the blow? If we want our kids to turn down offers by their friends to steal and drink liquor from a friend’s parents’ liquor cabinet, then we openly talk about it. We may suggest they just leave. If they’re unable to leave, we may suggest they say no to their friends and call us so we can come get them. Whatever your answer is for facing such an inevitability, that’s what you’re pre-determining. It’s a pre-determination because it hasn’t happened yet, but you suspect it may. Or you know it could. That’s exactly what we’re doing with regard to our company.

Make up your mind in advance. Some things will be easier than others. As you figure these things out, some things will be far more cut and dried than other things.

I had to deal with fist fights in the workplace before. Well, I had pre-determined that I wouldn’t tolerate any violence. Period. Generally, I felt good about that pre-determination. Until one employee was attacked by another employee and he defended himself. By all accounts, the verbal abuse began by the attacker. The other worker, attempting to ignore the escalation, began to walk away. The verbal abuser attacked him from behind, at which point the victim beat the ever-living snot out of the attacker.

After talking with employees, getting written statements and interviewing each employee I was happy that I had pre-determined what I might do if a fight ever broke out at work between 2 or more employees. What I had NOT pre-determined was what I’d do if one person was justified and one wasn’t. But that wasn’t any kind of a stretch for me. I terminated the attacker and retained the defender.

The details may not always be exactly as you pre-thought them, but that pre-thinking and the pre-determining will still help you figure it out more quickly in the moment.

Prepare

Here’s where the action plan gets crafted. This is where you figure out if Bob suddenly quits, who will replace him. You begin to look at the org chart to see if you’ve got people on your roster who can step up and fill in. You can begin to look at potential candidates outside the company. You won’t know how available they may be without talking with them, which isn’t likely something you’d want to do. But you can at least create a short list of possible candidates. Apply that same approach to whatever “what if” scenarios are on your list. Some will be more difficult than others. Don’t avoid dealing with them.

Don’t allow complacency and avoidance to rule. They will unless you lead an intervention. Your team and your company deserve every protection you can provide. Just like our children do. We love our companies. We love our employees. We love our customers. We want what’s best for all of them so we have to put in the work.

I’ll end by telling you that decades ago it was this kind of exercise that influenced me to craft what I called my business philosophy.

At the time companies were riding the trend of creating a corporate mission statement. I mostly found them hokey and useless. And I wanted something more personal and in line with how I most wanted to behave. It morphed into what I most wanted my people to embrace, too.

I intentionally wanted it to be concise and actionable. I also wanted it to be as absolute as I could make it because I realize there are so few absolutes. Kind of like my general rule of not allowing any workplace violence…there are often shades of grey to manage. But I was able to distill four areas where I felt comfortable and confident establishing absolutes.

You may also find value in working through the exercises of pre-thinking, pre-determining and preparing then crafting your own statement. It brings clarity and helps convey the things that matter most.

Before I go and end the week I want to make an overt offer to every business owner in the United States. I’m currently enrolling (recruiting may be a more blunt term) business owners into The Peer Advantage by Bula Network. It’s a 7-member professional peer advisory group comprised of business owners from around America. We’ll meet twice a month using a video conferencing platform, making it super convenient. It’s reasonably priced and I can promise you it’ll be among the highest ROI things you can do for yourself and your company. You can find all the details at ThePeerAdvantage.com, but let’s jump start things by having a conversation. Go to BulaNetwork.com/apply and complete that short form. You’ll plug in some vital information to help me better understand you and your company, then we’ll schedule a time to have a phone conversation. I want you to take advantage of this because the value of business owners sharing experiences and helping each other is profoundly life-changing. So please go apply today.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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Simply put, core competencies are what you do best. A more detailed view might be the things you need to do best in order to thrive. It’s the practical side of business building that relies on focusing more on your strengths, and less on your weaknesses. Soar with your strengths.

What would your answer be if I asked you, “What’s your core competency?” Shockingly, some owners and CEO’s struggle to answer succinctly and clearly. A common response is more of a rambling searching than a clear declaration. I don’t think it’s because owners and CEO’s don’t know. They’ve just not really given it enough thought. It’s like I’ve caught them off guard (which isn’t really the point). I honestly want to know their answer.

Think about it. Self-awareness is hard. Whether it’s your personal self-awareness or your self-awareness about your company. And that’s exactly what we’re talking about when we talk about core competencies. “What do you do best?” “What does your company do best?”

It’s at the heart of who you are and your competitive advantage. You’d think more of us would think about it. Sometimes we don’t because we’re just too busy doing business. We’re installing HVAC systems, repairing cars and trucks for customers, selling boats, building custom homes, selling cars, or whatever else defines our business. So it’s understandable that quite often business owners or CEO’s answer the question – “What do you do best?” – by simply stating what they do for their customers. But it’s deeper than that. More foundational.

A home builder builds houses, but his core competencies may include being able to find and acquire land. Building the homes on the land is just a way to enhance the investment and turn an even higher profit.

A retailer sells stuff, but her core competencies may include being able to find and acquire solid bargains. Selling the products at retail is just how she leverages her buying skills into higher profits.

In other words, it’s not always as it appears. Nor is it always what you might think it is.

“What do you do best?”

Let’s start with your company. What are the core competencies of your business? It’s worth wrestling down so you’re sure about them.

Suggestions

Step 1: Assemble multiple groups of people to see what others think.

Sit down with your leadership team and ask them to answer the question: “What are we best at?” But don’t stop there.

Create a group comprised of front-line employees with leadership (front line leadership and others). Mix and mingle is a good strategy. Hierarchy doesn’t exist in the group. The representative roles does matter.

Create a group of customers. How about a group of suppliers? Have top leadership facilitate these groups (for obvious reasons).

Have the groups wrestle just one question: What are we best at? As a company, what do we do well – perhaps better than anybody else?

You may learn that others, inside and outside the company, think your company is best at something very different than what you think. It’s easy for you to see what you want or hope to see. By getting a perspective from a variety of viewpoints you’ll more likely find out how things really are.

Step 2: Assemble the information and review it with your leadership team.

With fresh eyes – as much as that’s possible – open the envelopes to reveal the answers of what people think your company is best at. Don’t debate the validity of the opinions. What’s the point? People think what they think. If what they think is incorrect, it’s your fault. No point blaming them for their opinion.

Start with the congruencies. You’re likely going to discover some opinions that fit your own, and the opinions of your leadership team. You’ll have the thoughts of your leadership team, your front-line employees (and others inside your organization) and hopefully you’ll also have the thoughts of people outside your company because it’s their feedback that’s most valuable, especially customers.

Are the congruencies top-ranked, meaning do they occupy the top thoughts of the groups? It may be that you and top leadership feel a core competency is one thing and the groups agree…except it’s the number 1 thing according to your leadership team and it’s about number 3 on the list of others. Sometimes disconnected. Wrestle with that.

Examine the incongruencies, those things others list, but you may have not considered. Don’t be angry about it. Instead, be thankful because there may be big opportunities in those areas where others see strengths you’ve not considered.

This is the time to debate and argue amongst yourselves – not on the validity of the feedback, but on the viability of these things. Some questions to help you and your team may include:

“Do we want to leverage this core competency?”

“Do we want to rearrange our core competencies in order of importance to our company?”

“Are we working to leverage the right core competencies?”

“Are we in the right business (based on our core competencies)?”

Step 3: Keep the debate alive. Work toward clarity.

Don’t conduct one meeting. Keep the conversation going. Keep your leadership team thinking about it. Sit down periodically to see what new insights have bubbled to the surface. The team will likely know when they’ve wrestled it long enough to have gained clarity.

Step 4: Develop a plan.

Now what? Well, that depends on what you’ve discovered. And on what you want to do. There are no rules. You can do whatever you want. That includes ignoring what you’ve learned (which I’d advise against). 😉

Figure out how you want to proceed. I’ll just give you that phrase I’m so fond of, created by the father of StrengthsFinder, Donald. O. Clifton.

“Soar with your strengths.”

You’re wise to influence your team to lean into what you’re already great at. The goal should be to leverage it for all its worth and stop trying to be something you’re not. By the way, that goes for you and your leadership, too. Don’t mistake that for neglecting to improve. It’s just the opposite. It’s all about improving. It’s about not being satisfied with who or what you are, but it’s also having a strong enough self-awareness to stop fooling yourself.

I’m far better with words than math. My strength isn’t math. Try as I might, I’m not wired to be some high-level mathematician. It’s never going to happen. What about you? What are you far better at? Go in on that. It’s about being the best version of yourself possible. As the CEO or business owner, it’s about the same thing for your company. Make your company the best it can be at whatever it’s good at. Build on that to make your company great at it. Even world-class.

Do it for yourself, too.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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I’m not talking about block-chain technology, or AI or VR. I’m talking about what we can do – what we need to do – as business people to future-proof our careers and our companies. Should you be learning about those technologies? Of course, but unless those are at the heart of your business then you likely need to focusing on some other things.

The Past Won’t Predict The Future (Necessarily)

History is a great teacher because it’s over and the facts are more easily seen. We can be backseat drivers to history. From our vantage point, it looks easier than it did in real-time.

Wisdom is being able to get it right in real-time. It’s hard but doable. It’s impossible without varied perspectives so we can avoid our blind spots. History proves it. The biggest mistakes were often made by people arrogant enough to think they knew more than they did. Only to find out too late that maybe they would have been served by listening to some other points of view.

Your past success or failure doesn’t dictate your future. It may impact it, but that’s mostly up to you. I’m not going to discount tradition or legacy. I think they really matter. But they had to start somewhere.

If you haven’t yet established the tradition or culture you feel would most benefit your current and future growth, then get busy with it. Make it a priority. We know our employees have to learn how to win. High performing teams don’t just magically happen. They’re created, trained, fostered and rewarded. It demands a lot of work, but it’s among the most profitable work you’ll ever do as a leader. And it’s a bedrock of future-proofing your company.

High performing teams and cultures don’t continue without bigtime priority effort. You have to keep putting in the work. The fast way to lose them is to take them for granted. Assume you’ve already done that work and you no longer need to do it, and you’ll lose it. So the past accomplishments are important. Don’t surrender ground you’ve already conquered. Keep it conquered by paying attention to it every day.

Get Your Present Right

The first step to future-proofing your life, career and business is to get the present the way it needs to be. Call me Captain Obvious, but this gets by so many people who put all their hope into tomorrow.

See where you’re at right now. See it accurately.

Truth. Evidence. Perspective. Accuracy.

These things matter. Pursue them vigorously. Don’t stop. Your best tool is asking questions. Ask tough questions of yourself. Ask tough questions of others. The only reason asking questions is your best tool is because the most valuable information comes from the answers. So listen! Very carefully.

See. Hear. Understand.

I’m encouraging you to ask questions for the purpose of learning and understanding. Not to show off. Not to make people tense or uncomfortable. Not to make sure everybody knows you’re the boss.

Growing great happens when we more deeply develop our learning and understanding AND then we leverage those into our lives. It’s one thing to know something you didn’t know earlier. But it doesn’t do you much good unless you put it into action.

Start asking better questions. Not fancier ones, but ones that will get to the heart of what you need to know. Be fearless. Don’t be embarrassed to ask any question. It’s likely the one that most needs to be answered.

Next, get busy with things to grow today. I’m all for patience, but you can’t delay growth. Don’t be fooled into thinking that procrastination is a good strategy. This isn’t about expecting miraculous fast growth. Be reasonable, but don’t settle for shoving things off until the future. You’ve got to get today right. That means you have to get today going the way you want – growing.

How will you know? Figure out how to measure what matters. Sales and profits are easy measurements, but depending on your business those may be tough to use for short-term growth measurement. Some companies have a sales cycle measured in months. Many months. Sales and profits today aren’t going to be a great measurement for today’s growth. Are there activities tied to growth that you can measure? Of course. Then start doing it. It can be something as basic as the number of prospecting calls or something else that fits your business. Figure it out and get after it.*

*Let me quantify “figuring it out” because somebody criticized that phrase thinking I’m talking about it in an absolute sense. I seriously doubt you think that, but I’ll explain it more fully. Every time I say “figure it out” I’m talking about what we must do for ourselves so we can move forward. I’m not talking about us knowing all the answers or possible outcomes. And I’m not talking about us having everything 100% nailed down. Your context matters because I can share my experiences with you, but you have to realize my context is different than yours. That doesn’t mean you can’t learn from me and that I can’t learn from you. It does mean each of us has to do some thinking for ourselves to apply what we learn to our circumstance and situation. Do I know enough to begin? Do I know enough to feel confident in what my next step should be? That’s figuring it out.

Get today as right as you can. Along the way, when you realize it may not be going right, then make adjustments to get it more right. It’s called living. But I call it GROWTH. It’s how we improve. And it doesn’t mean all of life is trial and error. It means we compile the learning from others, couple it with our own, decide what we think is best, then step forward. Based on the feedback of that forward step we realize sooner or later that we were right, or not. So we adjust.

Today matters because that’s where we get our feedback.

CEO’s and business owners who plan for a better future without working on today are failing to future-proof their careers and their companies. Mostly because they’re not taking the advantage of the ongoing learning – the feedback – they could be getting by starting right now.

Put Today In Perspective With Tomorrow

Right now I need to lose about 20 pounds. I’d love to be 20 pounds lighter by the first of next year. Maybe that’s not the healthiest approach though. So let’s say I set about to be 20 pounds lighter by February 1, 2019. That’s about 8 weeks away. That means I’d need to lose about 2.5 pounds a week. But I’d be challenged to do it during one of the worst times of the year – the holidays! Could I do it? Of course. Is it reasonable? That depends on how badly I want to do it, and if it’s important enough to be right now — and on February 1, 2019. It’s a now thing, but it’s also a journey of 8 weeks culminating on February 1st.

That timeline is the perspective and it’s not all the same. Let’s suppose I start today. Today might be easy. I may be highly motivated. By Friday I may be struggling with cravings that would foil my progress. Let’s say I fight through that, but then the family goes out to eat on Sunday after church and they want to go somewhere that’s a favorite of mine. A place where I enjoy a plateful of something that would wreck my eating plan. And put my weight loss goal in the ditch! That day would feel and look differently than Saturday.

Every day is a journey. 

Keeping the goal in front of you while enduring (at best, enjoying) the journey is key. So future-proofing your life, career and company isn’t about right now, or tomorrow, or a year from tomorrow. It’s about all of those. At the same time. Just like my weight loss journey (should I decide to take it). 😉

Your job is to serve the company and everybody in it. It’s been said that great leaders see the future first. I think that’s right. You have to see the future first in the sense that you determine the course. Can I see myself 20 pounds lighter in the future? If not, then I’m not going to lead my life to go there. The same goes for you running your company.

Always Looking Ahead

Great CEO’s and business owners are always looking ahead. There’s an ongoing discontentment required of great leaders. Not a dissatisfaction necessarily, but a realization that we can be better. We can do better. I feel pretty good, but I know I’d feel better if I were 20 pounds lighter. That would be an improvement for me. What would be an improvement for your company? What would be an improvement for your life and career? You have to set the aim toward the future.

Big Goals. Small Goals. Long-Term. Short-Term.

It all matters. My 20 pound, 8-week goal could be considered long-term or short-term. Depends on how I want to approach it. That’s up to me. Frankly, I’d see it more longer-term and I’d see my daily activities required as the short-term goals. As the leader you have to break it down in ways that best serve your company. That means, you have to consider the people in your company. That’s largely what future-proofing is all about. Yes, there’s infrastructure stuff. There’s digital transformation stuff. It’s important and may involve technology. But another part of future-proofing may have little to do with technology. It may mean you need to make sure you’ve got the right people where you most need them for whatever goals you’ve set. It may mean you need people with a new skill set that you don’t currently have. Again, that’s for you to figure out. It’s a good news, bad news deal…but I rather think it’s a good news, and more good news deal.

You Can Start Today. You Can Never Stop.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about “Zero Sum Game” –

In game theory and economic theory, a zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which each participant’s gain or loss of utility is exactly balanced by the losses or gains of the utility of the other participants. If the total gains of the participants are added up and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero. Thus, cutting a cake, where taking a larger piece reduces the amount of cake available for others, is a zero-sum game if all participants value each unit of cake equally.

Many business owners believe in the zero-sum game. They think the path to growing their business is to take business away from their direct competitors. I admit it can be a fun approach if you’re winning, but ridiculously frustrating if you’re not.

Like so many things in life, it’s a point of view that becomes reality for those who hold to it. Like Henry Ford famously said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” Believe it’s true and it seems to become true. At least for you.

You’re competitive. That’s largely what drives you, the urge to win. To compete. To play the game of business. I certainly feel that way. But whenever our business isn’t hitting the targets of success, we have two fundamental choices in how to view it. One, it’s the competition. They’re the reason for it. Two, it’s us. It’s my fault. Today I want to make a strong case for why that second point of view is the smarter view.

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” —Benjamin Franklin

Excuses don’t make us better. Nobody ever grew great by embracing the practice of excuse-making. The evidence is all around us. It doesn’t work. But if it did, boy would we be surrounded by outlandishly successful people, right?

“Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.” ?George Washington Carver

Can I tell you one big advantage I had in starting my sales career as a 16-year-old? It’s really fortunate and the only role I played was my brashness to walk into a stereo store and ask for a job, then sitting across from the owner and earning a spot on his company’s roster. Working retail at such a young age – working on a straight commission basis (meaning if I sold something I made money, but if I sold nothing…I made nothing) – gave me a perspective that has served me since.

Focus on the customer.

Maybe it was my youthful naivete, but I just didn’t much care what the folks across town at the other stereo shops were doing. I knew them well. I knew what products they carried. I knew how they did business because I had spent hours visiting them. Before I ever began my own career selling hi-fi gear I had established in my mind how I thought a better experience could be given.

Namely, I knew how I was treated each time I went into these stores. And I understood why.

I was just a kid. I was never viewed as a serious prospect. But I loved this stuff. And you have to realize that back then stores weren’t big, warehouse type affairs with hoards of people clogging the aisles. These were small stereo stores where the biggest ones were a few thousand square feet with multiple rooms. Most had 2 to 4 salespeople at most, working at any one time. You could commonly visit a store and be the only shopper there.

I always wondered why many salespeople – people much older than me, but people who I assumed had more experience and know-how – wouldn’t take any time to teach me about some piece of equipment. I’m here. You’re here. Nobody else is here. Why not? (I thought)

Most didn’t behave like that though. So guess what I ALWAYS did?

I was always present with the shopper in front of me. Nobody else mattered. That phone ringing? Somebody else can get that. Anybody else walking into the store? Somebody else can help them. I was completely present with the shopper I was with. Later I would begin to hear sales training experts talk about that. It seemed odd to me because it was intuitive to me. What kind of retail salesperson wouldn’t be present with the shopper they were helping? Idiotic! But common.

That stupidly simple lesson served me for decades. I didn’t know at the time that I was avoiding the trap of excuse-making. It just seemed like the way to go. The smart way to conduct business. Now, years later it seems even smarter.

Business owners can be notoriously territorial. You know it’s true. We can get amped up at the guys across town who drive down our profits. We can get angry with a supplier for selling a profitable line to some hack company that can write a purchase order, but not much else. It’s tempting and easy to get focused on the things we can’t fully control.

You’re not a victim unless you make yourself one.

Today’s show title is a common refrain offered to business owners who lament a downturn in sales or missing their numbers…owners who love to think their lack of success (or growth) isn’t their fault. And that word is inflammatory I know. FAULT.

I understand that sometimes things happen beyond our control. I’ve had suppliers go across town to an arch rival and sign them up after I felt like my company worked hard to build up the brand, build value for the brand in the market, etc. It happens. And when the sales on that brand take a hit, I’ll admit sometimes people would buy it at the competition. But it was my responsibility (do you like that term better than fault?). The supplier wasn’t in control of my fate. The competition sure wasn’t in control of my fate. I was.

Firefighting success hinges on accepting the blame.

I don’t care what anybody tells you. Running a successful enterprise is firefighting. Idealists who have never done it can tell you that you shouldn’t spend your time fighting fires. They’re morons who have never done it. You’d better be an accomplished firefighter because if you’re not, you’re in big trouble!

You never know where the fire is going to erupt. You can prepare, plan and strategize all you want to avert fires, but they’re going to flare up in spite of your best efforts because there are so many variables beyond your control. Like the competition.

Accomplished firefighters are equipped, prepared and ready to jump into action. When the alarm sounds, we spring into action. Period. Our job is to put out the fire. Our job is to propel our company forward. Period.

Somewhere along my career path I read a phrase that stuck with me.

“If it is to be, it’s up to me.” 

I believed it. I still believe it.

Your ability or opportunity to grow great – which includes your ability to grow your business – doesn’t hinge on the competition. You’re not playing a zero-sum game. The market is expansive.

The competition may be kicking your butt, but who’s fault is that? Yep, it’s your fault.

You won’t win by focusing on them. You’ll win by focusing on the customer. If Amazon hasn’t proven the value of that to you, then nothing will. Since day 1 Amazon has focused on the shopper.

I’m challenging you to lean hard into accepting a point of view that may be new to you. Or not. The pie or cake can be enlarged. Competition isn’t keeping you from getting your share. You’re keeping yourself from getting it. You’re failing the customer so the customer is voting with their money to go elsewhere. Don’t get mad with the competition. Or your customers. Instead, make up your mind that this is your company and you’re going to accept the blame. Then, you can jump into your fire suit and start fighting the fire like you know you should. You’re not a victim of this fire. You’re the person armed with the authority to extinguish it. So get busy!

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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The CEO makes an admission. Maybe a declaration. Maybe a regret. I’m not sure.

“We know what to do, but it’s virtually impossible for us to do it.”

When asked about the constraint, or hurdle for getting it done he begins to lament all the difficulties. He mentions all the senseless meetings where debates rage over inane things, agendas that don’t matter and a million other things people deem important, if not urgent. But in his mind, the waste in the system is stifling activities better spent doing what needs to be done.

To be fair he’s talking about revolutionary things. And that’s what amazes me. That these things are indeed revolutionary. That so many businesses are operating knowing they can do things differently. Better.

But they simply can’t tell the truth or act on it.

They’re stuck. Industry assumptions. Corporate assumptions. Embracing past successes. Fear of present or future threats. On and on it goes. Thinking and feelings based on many things other than the present truth.

Back in Daily Brief number 95 I talked about candor and the need for it. It’s honest sincerity. Simply put, it’s TRUTH.

Leaders, especially political leaders, may lament that they’re unable to tell the absolute truth because nobody would vote for them if they did. They might claim nobody wants to hear the truth.

Truth is difficult, but it’s not impossible. It’s not impossible to tell it. It’s not impossible to act on it. Why else tell it if you can’t or won’t act on it?

Delusion Isn’t A Better Option

Business owners, like any other group of people, including CEO’s, can find solace in embracing unreasonable assumptions. The biggest assumption may be that they must do what others do, the way others do it. Safety in numbers and all that!

But there is no safety in numbers. We’re fooled into thinking so.

We’re also fooled into thinking we must follow “best practices.” This is the one that chaps my hide because it’s so despicable to our innovation and creativity. It sticks us, mires us in the mud of false assumptions, conclusions and perspectives.

During my years of retailing, there was a dominant question asked every Monday morning among retailing cohorts. “How was foot traffic this weekend?” Or, “How were sales this weekend?”

What would follow would be a litany of excuses if sales weren’t great. Retailers worldwide are notorious for blaming everything from the weather to other local events that stole the interest that weekend, to flu outbreaks and anything else that MIGHT explain our poor outcome. Truth? Not really. More likely excuses because it absolves us of the responsibility. It couldn’t be us. It must be some other external influence beyond our control. That’s what makes the failure of truth so damaging.

Truth Telling Doesn’t Require Harshness

Somewhere along the line, I’m unsure where or how it started, we began to think that truth-telling required some bluntness that is offensive. Like a friend wearing an ugly sweater who asks, “How do you like my sweater?” — we feel there’s often just no way we can tell the truth. I don’t think we’re thinking that through though. I mean, what answers could we give to our ugly-sweater-wearing friend? We just get taken off guard so most people probably choose to lie. “Sure, it’s nice.” But we could easily tell the truth and not be hurtful.

“Does it matter how much I like it? It’s your sweater and you’re wearing it. I’d ask you, how well do you like it?”

“It’s not my style, but I don’t often wear sweaters anyway.”

“Do I look like a fashion critic? Don’t ask me.”

I could personally offer any of those responses and they’d each be truthful. It’s a stupid illustration, but that’s the point. We frequently find it difficult to tell the truth even in stupid, simple occasions like a friend wearing an ugly sweater. Imagine the difficulty when our business is on the line. Or when we’re battling through some particularly challenging business problem.

Telling the truth is not the same as telling everything you know. Truth-telling doesn’t mean you abandon discretion or even secrecy when it’s necessary. It just means you behave (and speak) honestly.

Truth-telling has another perspective. It’s the truth you desperately need to hear from others. Most notably your team members.

Make it safe for others to tell you the truth.

You don’t demand the truth. You foster it. You show deep appreciation and gratitude for it. It shows. Everybody can sense it, feel it and see it.

So watch yourself. Be sure you’re not saying one thing, but behaving differently. Don’t say you want the truth, then get snappy when you hear it. Or show other signs of disapproval. People will quickly clam up to protect themselves.

Before we wrap up today’s brief let me interject another word for truth that sometimes applies. Evidence. I’m a proponent of evidence-based leadership. And it’s funky coming from a guy like me who is super intuitive. And a guy who leans into intuition. But I don’t see my being intuitive and a proponent of evidence-based leadership is incongruent. Rather, I think they fit rather well together.

Truth and evidence can be synonymous for this discussion. It’s summed up in “how things really are.” Not how we wish things were.

Put it to the test. Whatever it is. Your assumption. Your question. Your answer. Your solution. Your opportunity. Your worry. Your happiness. It doesn’t matter. Dig and search for evidence. The truth.

Then act on it. Make your decisions – better decisions – based on the truth you uncover, discover or learn. Lead the way for others to do the same thing.

Make the sacred cow in your company the TRUTH. Kill the others. All of them. Go all in and behave accordingly. You’ll grow, improve and transform when you do it long enough that it becomes habit (and your culture).

Be well. Do good. Grow great!

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How serious have you been about them? Have you ever done it so well you remember doing it? Or…

Do you give it just a quick drive-by?

Be honest.

Mostly, we’re too busy living to do much of either one – counting blessings or giving thanks.

Let’s get to the real crux of it. How serious have you been about what you lack? How often do you complain about the government, or government-related stuff like paying taxes, or regulations? How often do you get privately angry at vendors or other business partners?

Mostly, we’re too busy focusing on what we don’t have or what we wish would go away. Where’s the time for counting blessings or giving thanks?

Answer: We don’t take the time to do the right things to help ourselves grow great because quite often we’re too busy doing the wrong things to help ourselves feel better in the short term. Complaining and getting angry fuel our short-term satisfaction. So much so, we find it very difficult to hit the eject button the hampster wheel.

Optimism or pessimism isn’t hard-wired. Pessimists enjoy fooling themselves into thinking it is. It plays into our notion that some folks are just luckier than others. It gives us an easy excuse, allowing us to avoid accountability.

Optimists know life – all of life – is a choice. We decide. We act. We behave. But even optimists can have moments of pessimism during times when we’d rather avoid responsibility and blame others.

All this plays into our sense of gratitude, our ability and willingness to count our blessings while simultaneously giving thanks for them.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in America. It’s a day when family and friends get together, eat way too much, watch a little bit of football and kick off the holiday season.

The path to a brighter future hinges on our personal responsibility. I believe a major part of our personal responsibility is our obligation to ourselves, to others and to God is to embrace optimism through gratitude. And in reverse order: God first, others second, and ourselves third.

Start By Taking Just 15 Minutes A Day

I believe in small bite-sized approaches. At least at the beginning. To get started.

Quieten your mind. However best you’re able.

Then, roll through the blessings to discover THE blessing for which you’re most thankful. Admittedly, it’s going to be challenging, but it’ll force you to quickly catalog the blessings as you search for the one you’re most thankful for.

It won’t matter if you get that top spot filled accurately at first. After you get the first one, then go searching through the list for the next most important one.

This is your list so you get to decide for yourself. You may find that as you’re looking for number two you displace number one with something else. That’s fine. Keep the exercise going for as long as you’re able…up to 10 minutes. Two-thirds of the 15 minutes.

Devote the final third of the time to giving thanks for however far you got with your list of blessings. Do that in whatever way suits you best. Me? I pray and give God the thanks.

Reflection After The Fact

Counting blessings and giving thanks won’t likely sit idly by satisfied with their 15 minutes of daily fame. They’ll wrestle your mind to the ground for greater attention. Give it to them. Your surrender to them will fuel growth. Your growth!

It’s not important that you dedicate more time to the 15-minute exercise because you’re going to reflect on them throughout the day. What is important is that you not ignore the urge. Don’t suppress thinking about them again. And again. And again. Instead, embrace thinking about them whenever they emerge. That’ll help you own them. It’ll also improve your gratitude.

Your Smallness.

Counting your blessings isn’t a contest. The blessings or lack of in other lives is of no consequence to your life. Finding or examining somebody who has a blessing you feel is lacking in your life has no bearing on your life. None. Well, actually it has a tremendous bearing on you if you view life through that lens because it will foster jealousy, envy, and bitterness. Stop that nonsense. It won’t just stunt your growth, it’ll kill you from the inside out.

Arrogance. Selfishness. Pride.

They feed our desire to be larger. Larger than we really are. Giving us a wrong-headed sense of self-importance.

By contrast, our devotion to being a blessing counter and giver of thanks shows us our smallness. Not our insignificance because we’ve all got that. We all matter. But these honorable actions persuade us to learn and understand that we’re uniquely who we are, but we’re not inherently better than anybody else.

There are currently 7.7 billion people on the planet. I’m religious. I believe in God and the Bible. That means, I believe we have a soul that will live forever after this life. Somewhere. And it’s up to us to decide where based on how we live here. In light of that view, there is no ranking of all these people. Meaning, nobody is number 1 and nobody is number 7.7 billion. Or anywhere in between. Our inherent worth is equally high. Each of us.

That makes me small enough to give grace to others. In my personal scheme, the number two on my list. God first. Others second. I’m third. My smallness serves me, preventing me from thinking too much of myself. From thinking I’m better than somebody else. From wrongly, too harshly judging others.

Your Bigness.

Counting your blessings. Giving thanks. They generate in us the realization that we can make a difference. Not some philosophical “change the world” kind of a difference, but a very practical positive difference.

One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.

Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir”.

The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”

The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, “I made a difference to that one!”

I love that parable. For its brevity. For its powerful truth. That we’re all big enough. As big as we need to be to make a positive difference in the world. Our little part of the world. Our slightly larger part of the world perhaps. Who knows? Our service to others is like a ripple of the ocean. Who knows how large a wave it *may* create?

Thank You!

Here, on the eve of a day we’ve set aside in America to give thanks…I want to thank you. For letting me enter your earbuds however often you listen. For allowing me to share whatever insights I’ve been fortunate to learn (part of my list of blessings includes the array of people who have graced my life with a positive presence and helped make me who I am).

Thank you for letting me pass along almost 4 decades of leadership living so you can build on it as you wish. I hope this podcast is serving you well as a catalyst for figuring it out for yourself. Whatever it may be.

Tomorrow will be a special day for many people in our country. For others, it may be no different than any other. My hope and wish for you – for all of us – is that it will become a daily ritual in our lives to give us perspective and insight that will serve to make us better. An impetus for our own growth, improvement, and transformation. That by counting our blessings and being thankful for them…that individually and collectively we’ll take our lives more seriously. Consider more soberly the choices we’re making. Determine it may be time to fix what ails us, and get on with strengthening ourselves by straightening out the kinks, shoring up the weaknesses, building even stronger the strengths and living lives worthy of influencing others in all the best ways.

Be well. Do good. Grow great!