Executive Warfare

Executive Warfare
Winning Your War for Success
by David F. D’Alessandro with Michele Owens

It's not enough anymore to be smart, hard-working, and able to show results – because nowadays everybody is smart, hard-working, and able to show results.

What really sets you apart are the relationships you build with people of influence. These people can include your peers, your employees, your organization's directors, reporters, vendors, and regulators – as well as the people directly above you in the organizational hierarchy.

In senior management, you no longer answer to just one boss. “Executive Warfare” offers concrete advice for handling all of them, including:

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: They won't judge you fairly if all they see of you are your PowerPoint presentations.

YOUR DIRECT REPORTS: These people are your vital organs, so treat them accordingly.

YOUR RIVALS: It's not always wise to shoot at them, but if you do, do not shoot to wound.


Why You Need This Book
In his bestsellers “Brand Warfare” and “Career Warfare”, author David D'Alessandro offered sharp advice for building a brand and building a career. Now “Executive Warfare” is the advanced class for the truly ambitious.


Attitude, Risk, and Luck: They Are the Most Influential Bosses

ATTITUDE: The Boss Within
It’s incredibly important to get your own head in the game if you intend to rise. If you are bossed around by your own greed, arrogance, or childish lack of discipline, you will give people reason to doubt you, and you will undermine yourself.

RISK: Slice It, Dice It, and If It Looks Good, Eat It for Breakfast
Higher management is all about handling risks intelligently and in a calculated fashion.

LUCK: Smarter Than Reaching for the Brass Ring Is Letting It Slap You in the Nose
Nobody gets to the top without being lucky. Luck happens to the most deserving of people and some of the most undeserving.


Bosses: You Need a License to Cut Hair, but Not to Manage and Control Thousands of People
The first rule of your relationship with your boss is to understand that it’s a business transaction. If you are willing to give the boss the truth, you’re probably going to engage in some spirited debate with your boss as part of the decision-making process. No matter how incompetent or unpleasant he may be, never tell stories about your boss. Never make the boss feel betrayed – unless, of course, you are ready to grab the boss’ job.


Peers: Understand That They Are Your Most Valuable Allies… or Your Most Dangerous Enemies
You can identify the consiglieri by their unfettered access to the boss. These are the people able to walk into the office of the executive director or president or CEO on a moment’s notice and just glide past the assistant, with or without an appointment.

Cultivating the consiglieri is not just a smart defensive move. The key thing to understand is that such a relationship only works if you are willing to be generous with the credit for your great idea.


CAREFULLY REMOVE ALL TATTOOS
Be smart. Place some of your trust in people who will tell you when your face is dirty, as well as when it’s clean.

Be discreet.

Anticipate cross-cut attacks that will make you seem sanctimonious or false.

If the rumor is a lie, calmly make the facts known. If there is a crumb of truth in it, though, be humble enough to admit it and see if you can’t improve yourself.


Rivals: Defeat Them with a Siege, Not a Coup
ALLOW YOUR RIVALS TO BE SHORT-SIGHTED. A lot of short-term rivals wind up being short-term by doing dumb things. So time is on your side. Relax and behave like a leader.

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE POINTED QUESTION. You are subtly demonstrating how terrific you would be as their boss – and hopefully, planting this idea in the minds of the decision makers.

IF YOU CAN’T RESIST A SHOW OF AGGRESSION, MAKE SURE IT’S LETHAL. If you must shoot, do not shoot to wound. Finish the person off as a rival.

IF YOU ARE THE SNAKE IN THE NEST, STRIKE QUICKLY. Act quickly, before your boss’s paranoia has a chance to flower, because dawdling is dangerous. Your boss has more access than you do to the CEO and the board.

IF YOU LOSE TO YOUR RIVAL, EITHER LEARN TO LIKE EATING CROW, OR GO. If you do stay on as a loser, you generally either have to find another place to go within the organization that offers you another chance to rise, or wait out your rival’s tenure – five years, seven years, ten years – for a second shot at the job you wanted.

WITH FORMER RIVALS, IT’S KISS OR KILL. If you win the race, you either embrace your rivals or kill them. There’s nothing in between, because nothing is more dangerous than allowing the defeated to remain rivals.


The Team You Assemble: You Risk Your Reputation with Every Hire and Fire
The truth is that when you are the boss, it’s really hard to hire people unlike yourself, either in personality or in expertise. Why? Do it anyway if you think they are right for the job. Hire for candor. Look instead for seasoned, confident people, courageous people who will take the personal hit of telling you the truth rather than feeding you pleasant lies.

Develop a reputation as somebody who not only can build a strong team but also can bring in people who can build strong teams.


The People You Have to Motivate: You Are a Fool if You Think They Love You
You can get people to work very, very hard because they are proud of your organization or because they want your organization’s prestigious name on their resume. Sometimes what people need most is respect for the fact that they have personal lives. They are far more effective if they feel respected that way. You are winning people’s loyalty in action. Treat the people who work for you with respect and start building that loyalty today.


Outsiders with Influence: Be Wary, Be Right, and Be Prepared to Prove It
Make sure your people understand that if there is any hint of a problem, you’re to know about it. And if there is a serious problem, be prepared to get on a plane in order to soothe the savage beast.

If the client really counts, make sure that she has your home phone number, not just your cell phone. Say to that client, “If there’s a problem, call me any time.”

Help them solve problems, not just in their businesses and careers, but also in their lives. Treat them as human beings, and use your influence to help them.

Never lie to them. If your company has screwed something up, tell them you screwed it up.

Everywhere you go, there is a chance that you will run into somebody who has some influence with the powers that be in your organization. Random strangers to you are not always strangers to the people who hold your career in their hands. So it is smart to conduct yourself, in public at least, as if there is always somebody in the audience who matters.

Put yourself into position. Make it known that you want a revenue-gathering job. Don’t just raise your hand when a job comes up, when people are already thinking of other candidates. Raise your hand in advance.

Then dive right in. if it turns out that you have no appetite for the hunt, you can always come back to the staff job later.

Work out a plan in case you lose your job.


Culture: Before You Sign on, Make Sure it’s a Culture, Not a Cult
You must know the unwritten rules of your organization’s culture so that you don’t break them unwittingly.

Be sure also that the culture of your organization allows for forward motion – that it will give you the opportunities you deserve. If not, make a deft exit as soon as you can.


The New Bosses: It’s Not the Same Old Twentieth-Century Game
If you want to rise, you have to demonstrate leadership to many different audiences. These include the people above and below you in the organizational hierarchy, the people who are competing with you for the next job and those resentful because they cannot compete for it, the outsiders and insiders and shareholders and donors and disinterested observers only looking for a juicy story to alleviate the tedium.

In today’s world, you have to be alert to win.


BusinessSummaries.com is a business book summaries service. Every week, it sends out to subscribers a 9- to 12-page summary of a best-selling business book chosen from among the hundreds of books printed out in the United States. For more information, please go to http://www.bizsum.com

Executive Warfare

Executive Warfare Winning Your War for Success By David F. D’Alessandro with Michele Owens It's not enough anymore to be smart, hard-working, and able to show results – because nowadays everybody is smart, hard-working, and able to show results. What really sets you apart are the relationships you build with people of influence. These people can include your peers, your employees, your organization's directors, reporters, vendors, and regulators – as well as the people directly above you in the organizational hierarchy. In senior management, you no longer answer to just one boss. “Executive Warfare” offers concrete advice for handling all of them, including: THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS: They won't judge you fairly if all they see of you are your PowerPoint presentations. YOUR DIRECT REPORTS: These people are your vital organs, so treat them accordingly. YOUR RIVALS: It's not always wise to shoot at them, but if you do, do not shoot to wound. Why You Need This Book In his bestsellers “Brand Warfare” and “Career Warfare”, author David D'Alessandro offered sharp advice for building a brand and building a career. Now “Executive Warfare” is the advanced class for the truly ambitious. Attitude, Risk, and Luck: They Are the Most Influential Bosses ATTITUDE: The Boss Within It’s incredibly important to get your own head in the game if you intend to rise. If you are bossed around by your own greed, arrogance, or childish lack of discipline, you will give people reason to doubt you, and you will undermine yourself. RISK: Slice It, Dice It, and If It Looks Good, Eat It for Breakfast Higher management is all about handling risks intelligently and in a calculated fashion. LUCK: Smarter Than Reaching for the Brass Ring Is Letting It Slap You in the Nose Nobody gets to the top without being lucky. Luck happens to the most deserving of people and some of the most undeserving. Bosses: You Need a License to Cut Hair, but Not to Manage and Control Thousands of People The first rule of your relationship with your boss is to understand that it’s a business transaction. If you are willing to give the boss the truth, you’re probably going to engage in some spirited debate with your boss as part of the decision-making process. No matter how incompetent or unpleasant he may be, never tell stories about your boss. Never make the boss feel betrayed – unless, of course, you are ready to grab the boss’ job. Peers: Understand That They Are Your Most Valuable Allies… or Your Most Dangerous Enemies You can identify the consiglieri by their unfettered access to the boss. These are the people able to walk into the office of the executive director or president or CEO on a moment’s notice and just glide past the assistant, with or without an appointment. Cultivating the consiglieri is not just a smart defensive move. The key thing to understand is that such a relationship only works if you are willing to be generous with the credit for your great idea. CAREFULLY REMOVE ALL TATTOOS Be smart. Place some of your trust in people who will tell you when your face is dirty, as well as when it’s clean. Be discreet. Anticipate cross-cut attacks that will make you seem sanctimonious or false. If the rumor is a lie, calmly make the facts known. If there is a crumb of truth in it, though, be humble enough to admit it and see if you can’t improve yourself. Rivals: Defeat Them with a Siege, Not a Coup ALLOW YOUR RIVALS TO BE SHORT-SIGHTED. A lot of short-term rivals wind up being short-term by doing dumb things. So time is on your side. Relax and behave like a leader. NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE POINTED QUESTION. You are subtly demonstrating how terrific you would be as their boss – and hopefully, planting this idea in the minds of the decision makers. IF YOU CAN’T RESIST A SHOW OF AGGRESSION, MAKE SURE IT’S LETHAL. If you must shoot, do not shoot to wound. Finish the person off as a rival. IF YOU ARE THE SNAKE IN THE NEST, STRIKE QUICKLY. Act quickly, before your boss’s paranoia has a chance to flower, because dawdling is dangerous. Your boss has more access than you do to the CEO and the board. IF YOU LOSE TO YOUR RIVAL, EITHER LEARN TO LIKE EATING CROW, OR GO. If you do stay on as a loser, you generally either have to find another place to go within the organization that offers you another chance to rise, or wait out your rival’s tenure – five years, seven years, ten years – for a second shot at the job you wanted. WITH FORMER RIVALS, IT’S KISS OR KILL. If you win the race, you either embrace your rivals or kill them. There’s nothing in between, because nothing is more dangerous than allowing the defeated to remain rivals. The Team You Assemble: You Risk Your Reputation with Every Hire and Fire The truth is that when you are the boss, it’s really hard to hire people unlike yourself, either in personality or in expertise. Why? Do it anyway if you think they are right for the job. Hire for candor. Look instead for seasoned, confident people, courageous people who will take the personal hit of telling you the truth rather than feeding you pleasant lies. Develop a reputation as somebody who not only can build a strong team but also can bring in people who can build strong teams. The People You Have to Motivate: You Are a Fool if You Think They Love You You can get people to work very, very hard because they are proud of your organization or because they want your organization’s prestigious name on their resume. Sometimes what people need most is respect for the fact that they have personal lives. They are far more effective if they feel respected that way. You are winning people’s loyalty in action. Treat the people who work for you with respect and start building that loyalty today. Outsiders with Influence: Be Wary, Be Right, and Be Prepared to Prove It Make sure your people understand that if there is any hint of a problem, you’re to know about it. And if there is a serious problem, be prepared to get on a plane in order to soothe the savage beast. If the client really counts, make sure that she has your home phone number, not just your cell phone. Say to that client, “If there’s a problem, call me any time.” Help them solve problems, not just in their businesses and careers, but also in their lives. Treat them as human beings, and use your influence to help them. Never lie to them. If your company has screwed something up, tell them you screwed it up. Everywhere you go, there is a chance that you will run into somebody who has some influence with the powers that be in your organization. Random strangers to you are not always strangers to the people who hold your career in their hands. So it is smart to conduct yourself, in public at least, as if there is always somebody in the audience who matters. Put yourself into position. Make it known that you want a revenue-gathering job. Don’t just raise your hand when a job comes up, when people are already thinking of other candidates. Raise your hand in advance. Then dive right in. if it turns out that you have no appetite for the hunt, you can always come back to the staff job later. Work out a plan in case you lose your job. Culture: Before You Sign on, Make Sure it’s a Culture, Not a Cult First, you must know the unwritten rules of your organization’s culture so that you don’t break them unwittingly. Be sure also that the culture of your organization allows for forward motion – that it will give you the opportunities you deserve. If not, make a deft exit as soon as you can. The New Bosses: It’s Not the Same Old Twentieth-Century Game If you want to rise, you have to demonstrate leadership to many different audiences. These include the people above and below you in the organizational hierarchy, the people who are competing with you for the next job and those resentful because they cannot compete for it, the outsiders and insiders and shareholders and donors and disinterested observers only looking for a juicy story to alleviate the tedium. In today’s world, you have to be alert to win. BusinessSummaries.com is a business book summaries service. Every week, it sends out to subscribers a 9- to 12-page summary of a best-selling business book chosen from among the hundreds of books printed out in the United States. For more information, please go to http://www.bizsum.com

Lessons from the book "When Fish Fly"

These are notes based on the book:

When Fish Fly: Lessons for Creating a Vital and Energized Workplace from the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market by John Yokoyama and Joseph Michelli, Ph.D.

The Big Idea
People come from far and wide to the World Famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, not only to witness the hilarious spectacle of fishmongers throwing slippery salmon to one another, but also to share in the joyous atmosphere generated by the company’s uniquely vital culture.

Pike Place Fish was not always World Famous, however. In this remarkable business-advice book, owner John Yokoyama tells the story of how he transformed a small company on the verge of bankruptcy into an extraordinary model of success. It all began with a vision: By declaring themselves “World Famous” (before it became a reality), Yokoyama and his employees made a conscious decision not just to seek fame but to make a positive difference every day in the lives of each of their customers, suppliers, and colleagues.


Why You Need This Book
This book offers stakeholders – owners, managers, and front-line workers alike – strategies for achieving world-famous results in any kind of business by developing a culture that leads to excellent customer service, legendary employee morale, and a fun and energized work environment.

After all, if Pike Place Fish can make a world famous difference from a small storefront, with zero advertising, in a smelly, physically challenging profession, then the same is possible for any company.


Creating a Vision of Power and Possibility
With the declaration of “World Famous Pike Place Fish”, the company evolved from one that existed totally to sell fish to one that was interested in extraordinary service to its customers and its world. Merely selling fish was no longer the main reason it was open for business.

It generates a more meaningful reality for all of the employees, who are not simply fish salespeople; they are agents of change. Anyone can sell fish – few can make a world-famous difference while doing it.

A purposeful vision has power like nothing else – breakthroughs happen as a result. Looking past the everyday demands of the bottom line, every employee continually seeks to love the company’s vision, World Famous Pike Place Fish. For them, the vision is the bottom line. If World Famous Pike Place Fish is present through them, all else falls into place.


THREE PLEDGES OF AN OWNER
It is very clear to John Yokoyama what World Famous Pike Place Fish means. From his perspective as the company’s owner, he aims to:

Make a world famous difference in the lives of everyone who comes into his business;

Empower the creative people he works with so that they can make a world famous difference for each other, the customers, the community, and beyond; and

Demonstrate what is possible when one empowers one’s employees. (Originally, John’s desire was to demonstrate this only to small-business owners. These days, he also finds himself sharing these possibilities with executives in large corporations, as well as with organizations and community leaders.)


Achieving Individual Commitment and Team Alignment
At Pike Place Fish, people are viewed in a very different way. People are not objects to be motivated or persuaded into action. Fundamentally, people are creative beings and they should be treated as such.

Once the powerful creativity of employees is accepted, you simply need to present the opportunity for them to grow. In a general sense, this is the new reality John offers at Pike Place Fish.

You can come to work and affect the world for the better. You can matter in the lives of others. You can share a powerful vision with our team and create breakthrough success, and yes, you can do all that while throwing and selling fish.

I also affirm that I am devoted to having my business and the people in it make a profound difference.

We are committed to this, and everybody who works here has personally taken responsibility for participation and for being on this boat.

Committing to working here means you are not just accepting a job. If you take a stand to be on this team, you are declaring that you will make a difference for every customer and have a positive, world famous impact on the world at large.

If you say “yes” to working here, you become an owner and creator of this vision. What that means personally for you is that you are World Famous Pike Place Fish.


Focusing on the Process for Achieving Success
Through management’s intention to use World Famous Pike Place Fish as a way to serve other people, and the subsequent process that that declaration called forth, the company’s crew has made a difference in people’s lives and in the success of the market. Being is strategy in action. We create intentions and commit to them. Change really happens naturally, just out of who you’re being. You will create your own way, and you’ll create doing what you do. Our secret to success lies in our commitment to being who we say we are.


Choosing Powerful Conversations
When you shift conversations and explore the greatness of your team members, you’re likely to be a person who creates opportunities for their strengths to show up on the job.

What conversations are automatic for you? How do you and those with whom you work yield to power-limiting conversations? By stopping automatic, passive, and power-reducing conversations, dynamic and generative forces are unleashed, and these forces drive their success and fuel their ability to make a difference.

Creating deep and powerful conversations works at Pike Place Fish, and powerful conversations have positively transformed the lives of the employees’ families as well.


Making a Difference by Listening Intently
When staff members feel that their manager listens to them, they are more likely to listen to their co-workers as well. Listening gives people access to their creativity and assists them in relating to one another.

When you live your life with a genuine interest and concern for others, it’s clear to you when members of your team aren’t listening to make a difference. It’s easy to coach them and receive coaching from them to make sure that they are listening to one another and to those who come into contact with your business.

If you are going to listen powerfully to your customers, you can’t do it in order to make more money. If you do listen for that reason, it is just a form of manipulation. When you truly listen to someone, you hold that person in high regard. Has someone has truly listened to you lately? Do you typically listen to make a difference, or do you usually listen to defend yourself?


Coaching for Greatness
Let’s look at some conversations that interfere with coaching:

“Why should I coach them? “I don’t want to change. “I don’t like the way you are coaching me, so I am not listening.”

When it comes to coaching, Pike Place Fish is a strange place. Defensiveness and resistance to change have melted away, and people see coaching as an opportunity for growth.

As a result, things get done better than ever before, and the Pike Place people are at their creative best. The success of the company’s coaching starts with the staff’s intention to make a world-famous difference and their commitment to care enough to consistently share supportive, compassionate comments and ideas with one another.

While unusual, their culture is available to any workplace. It’s just a conversation away.

While it is difficult to separate out the key components behind any company’s success, the following elements are behind Pike Place Fish’s success:

Creating a vision of power and possibility as a team

Enrolling and formalizing individual commitment and team alignment to the vision

Helping team members distinguish between the state of being and the state of doing

Having the leadership redefine themselves as effective agents of change

Assisting team members in letting go of internal and external conversations that rob them of their personal power

Guiding team members to listen to make a difference instead of listening to defend or blame

Helping the crew live their commitment to one another through effective coaching

Assisting crew members as they turn snags into breakthroughs

How empowered, energized, and alive can you make your workplace? If Pike Place Fish can make a world famous difference from a small storefront with zero advertising in a smelly, physically challenging profession, then what’s possible for you, your business, your family, and your community?

BusinessSummaries.com is a business book summaries service. Every week, it sends out to subscribers a 9- to 12-page summary of a best-selling business book chosen from among the hundreds of books printed out in the United States. For more information, please go to http://www.bizsum.com

5 Steps to Successful Business Leadership

VIRTUALLY ALL PEOPLE HAVE THE SKILL.

WHAT AFFECTS PERFORMANCE MOST IS THEIR ATTITUDE.

Having the will to succeed is as important as having the skill, for with will, skill is often acquired. But even then, circumstances can conspire against one’s best efforts. External circumstances can and do impact on business results. So, despite the focus in the last section on managing our minds and lifting our own game, circumstances can and do make things tough from time to time.

When judging others who are expected to achieve a result and do not, the reaction is to look to them and their performance. When judging ourselves, the tendency is to look for the reasons that stopped us, and it is the exception to examine first our own attitude. But it is common for the attitude to be a major cause of results that do not come up to what is expected. If the targets are ridiculously high, then shortfall could be expected. But most businesses today understand the process of involvement and ownership to ensure that the targets are achievable – but at a stretch. It is the last bit that can and does cause the problem.

What attitude is a problem? Any that undermines our giving of our best. A perennial problem encountered is in commission sales teams and with some mature people. Assume someone is 45 years old – male or female, it makes little difference. They are very skilled and capable. They own their home, their partner works, a modest income is all they need, so £40,000 is easily achievable for them, when with some stretch, they could make £100,000. But they do not do it. The management of the company can become frustrated, tensions set in and it falls apart. The person is on commission and sees him or herself as self-employed. Who is right? There is no simple answer. Both sides need to make concessions to the needs and pressures of the other. Perhaps a target income figure of £60,000 could be set, and the problem then put from people’s minds.

It should be your consistent experience that you know in your heart when your attitude lacks the vigor it otherwise could have. Where we choose to cease striving just before you are really sure that the result is impossible. It is at those moments that only a thorough-going intellectual honesty, a brutal honesty with yourself can save your efforts.

Management leadership is not conceptually difficult to understand. What must happen is that the concepts should be kept simple and focus on the truly difficult aspect, which is living out the concepts. If there is ever any conflict between the complexity of the concept and ease of living out the concept, then the concept will be simplified to encourage and support action.

Set yourself sensible goals, plan how you will remind yourself of the goals and the actions to achieve the, review progress regularly, reward yourself for gains, forgive yourself for slipping back into old ways (just start again), be persistent and be patient with yourself, very patient. Also, be sure to apply your learning to the people in your team as they also strive to change.

Would you like to see the full summary of the book written by Graham Little? Please visit http://www.bizsum.com.

GLOBALIZATION: THE CHALLENGE FOR THE CORPORATE BRAND

While the march of global brands, whether by organic growth or by acquisition, has continued unabated, we have begun to see vigorous signs of some questioning of its desirability. Whether it be protesters in Seattle attacking global capitalism, French farmers objecting to MacDonald’s or Scandinavians cutting logos from their chic sports shirts, there are unmistakable indications that the corporate brand owner must not ignore the social implications of is actions. It is clear that a significant and growing proportion of the population will be making their decisions about corporate brands on the basis of new criteria, on ethical standards as well as respect and admiration for the product or brand, and the corporate brand warrior must address these issues.

Of course there is a much bigger debate on the extent to which multi-national branding and manufacture exploits the developing world and destroys cultural distinctiveness. Global companies will continue to want to invest in the developing world, primarily as an opportunity to offer their products to the populations of these markets and secondarily in certain sectors (for example, clothing) as an opportunity to secure low-cost manufacturing. These ventures will offer opportunities of employment to local people, with advancement and career progression for some, and contribute to the development of local infrastructure in retailing, transport and communication.

However, the key lesson from that debate is that global brand management involves having clear policies which can mitigate the negative impact. Most large multinational companies do have excellent policies and practices, in particular in being good citizens wherever they operate, in spending on housing, healthcare and education for their employees, but they have not been good at communicating these to an audience beyond their employees and sometime their investors.

In the future, corporate brand management will have to develop specific communication programmes to ensure that their corporate brand stands high in the consumers’ minds for their ethical behavior and their cultural sensitivity.

In case we get carried away, branding is about enduring values, not about spin to manipulate tomorrow’s headlines. Brands must retain their integrity – brand warriors never lie, are never economical with the truth and always prefer long-term gain to short-term pain. Pharmaceuticals companies who choose to give medicines to people in undeveloped countries who otherwise cannot afford them may deserve recognition, even if they used this as a PR opportunity. But brands who attach themselves (parasitically) to social issues should be challenged.

Cut down on reading time and still stay on top of the latest business trends and ideas from the business gurus. Visit us at http://www.bizsum.com

Check Your Company’s Human Resource Strategy

People are definitely an organization’s most precious asset. This diversity sits side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, cubicle-to-cubicle and warehouseman to warehouseman. This generational diversity can create tension, mistrust and conflict and negate loyalty to the company in general.

Study your staff, understand them, and try to learn what they value most. Try to understand the historical events that shaped their lives. Since we are experiencing the most value-diverse workforce this country has every known, traditional thoughts in the area of Human Resources must be challenged. We must temper our expectations of long term loyalty. As one Generation Xer put it, “If you want loyalty, buy a dog.”

A human resources strategy must be included in your corporate strategic plan. Becoming an employer people would die to work for begins and ends with your Human Resource staff. As an example, consider your company’s current performance in the areas of human relations leadership skills, commitment to treating employees as your most valuable asset, training, credibility of your management team and company vision, communication skills, decision-making skills, benefits, and other employee related support systems.

Once you’ve determined the current state of your human resource function you should create a vision of what your human resource competency should be. You must be committed to becoming an Employer of Choice. The Human Resource professional must move from the “back room” to the “boardroom” if you expect to become Employer of Choice. Emphasis and focus must be placed on the importance of continuous progress and managing change through goal setting.

Once you have established your vision, the next step is to develop your human resource strategy. Your strategy must evolve around that commitment, intelligence, judgment and one more time, it must focus on your most precious asset – your employees.

Managers need to challenge old ways. You must create an environment that makes it fun to go to work. The key to employee retention is not necessarily compensation based. It has been proven time and time again that money is not high on the motivational factor list. However, money can rise to the top of the list of complaints if an employee does not enjoy coming to work every day.

If you develop a definitive Human Resource strategy geared to make your company the Employer of Choice in your markets, Human Resource will become a profit center. Recruitment & Retention alone will create a tremendous return on investment to your company.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of your employees!

Cut down on reading time and still stay on top of the latest business trends and ideas from the business gurus. Visit us at http://www.bizsum.com

Managing High Job Expectations

Do you have a boss who expects nothing less than perfection? Managing high job expectations can be challenging, but it isn't impossible. You simply need to develop coping skills so your stress never gets the best of you. In fact, you can learn how to deal with the stress of high job expectations in a way that allows you to become more effective at your job!

How to Manage Your High Job Expectations
There are many different tools that can help you deal with high job expectations. The goal is to handle your job expectations more effectively so you can feel better and accomplish more in less time. For those with a boss who always expects the best, this is a must!

* Prepare for the stress. When you know you're going to be stressed out or that expectations will be high, you can proactively prepare for it to take the debilitating properties out of the equation. For example, if you're worried about the uncertainties that can't control, involve others to find out the answers. If it's literally impossible to predict, then all you can do is accept the fact that you can't control everything and make some contingency plans that will help you feel more confident and comfortable.

* Rehearse for stressful situations. For instance, if you know that you will be making a presentation in front of an audience or that you have to present information to your boss, rehearse your presentation using the same materials you will use for the real deal. This will allow you to see your areas of opportunity so you can work on gaining the confidence you need. When you rehearse, you take the unknown out of the equation so you can simply focus on doing your best without adding any additional anxiety.

* Be aware of your thought processes. Many times, when there are high expectations placed upon us, we start thinking negatively. For instance, when your boss is being demanding, you may think to yourself, "There is no way I can ever get that done! I'm incapable!" This kind of self-defeating talk gets you nowhere. You need to replace the negative thought processes with thoughts like, "Stress challenges me to do more and be more." You will be able to excel when you disallow any negative attitudes and replace them with empowering thoughts.

* Organize your work. When you create an action plan, you'll find that it's easier to deal with high expectations. Create a list of the things you need to get done, and prioritize them so if you start to feel distracted or stressed out, you can always defer to the plan. When you have a plan, your performance will live up to your expectations and you will find that you are less likely to give in to stress and frustration.

As you can see, there are some simple, yet effective, ways to deal with high expectations. Remember: when people expect a lot from you, it really means that they believe you're capable of great things. It's actually a compliment!

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The Difficulties of Implementing Business Process Management

If you are trying to implement a business process management strategy, then you might have found that there can be difficulties involved. Getting the balance right between effective business management of people and using business process management software can be hard. If you don’t get the balance right, then your daily business activities will remain inefficient and prevent your business from prospering. However, there are ways to get round these business process management difficulties. If you are looking to improve the efficiency and productivity of your business and its daily processes, then here is some advice about the difficulties of implementing business process management.

Hard to identify processes
Identifying business processes and separating the exact processes in your daily business operations can be really tough. Some processes will not be ideal for business process management implementation, while others will certainly need some form of business process management to run smoothly. In general, processes that need the involvement of many people in a sequential order are the best candidates. If these processes involve approvals or paperwork movement, then business process management should help improve their efficiency. In particular, using automated software can be a real help, and will dramatically improve daily efficiency.

Getting top-down approval
Although your department might know ways of improving business management, without top-down approval and overall cooperation, the plans are likely to fall through. Any good business management implementation requires a great deal of cooperation at all levels of the business. The higher executives need to have faith in the proposed implementations, and pass on this passion and faith to the lower staff that will make the increased efficiency possible each day. If you want your management plans to work, then make sure the whole company is on the same page and understands exactly what is needed.

Making implementations worthwhile
Although business process management can dramatically improve business efficiency, it can also cost a lot of money to implement. It might seem sensible to pick the latest technology and most expensive items for implementation, but approach is likely to cost you more money than the improvements are worth. Make sure that any business management techniques you use cost less than the benefits in efficiency and cost saving that you get in return. This will help you to maximize efficiency whilst keeping costs down.

Choosing the right technology
Choosing the right software can be difficult, especially with the range of items available. From simple multifunction hard copy devices to fully-fledged business management software suites, there is something for every business. However, picking the right software for your needs will take time. You need to examine your business structure and size, and then identify the processes that you really need to improve. As long as you do this and only pay for what you really need, then your implementation will help to make your daily business run more efficiently. Not only will this save you costs and time, but will allow you to get work done more quickly and so make more money.

Implementing business process management can be difficult, but if you get it right then you will keep your competitive edge.

About the Author: Julie-Ann Amos is a freelance writer with http://www.exquisitewriting.com on business and property investment. She recommends http://www.singingpig.co.uk as one of the most effective sources of information for small businesses and property investment. Their property investment forum is a place to find information hard to locate elsewhere.

The Real Value of 101 Survival Tips for Your Business

101 Survival Tips for Your Business is a book based entirely upon experience. Many people take a lifetime in business to become aware of these survival tips.

This book provides you with the opportunity to learn from the experiences of many successful business operators and entrepreneurs, and to dramatically increase your own chances of business survival and success.

The advice and suggestions included in this book have been given freely by friends and business associates who, while successful now, had to learn their lessons the hard way.

A truly successful person is one who is willing to share the secrets of their success with others, giving freely of their time and advice and expecting nothing in return.

This has been written in such a way that it can be opened at any page and the advice used immediately.

Don’t put it away at the top of your bookcase; keep it in your briefcase, or in a drawer in your desk, or leave it by the telephone or on your bedside table.

Consider it as a constant source of inspiration and advice that is available to you 24 hours a day.

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How To Survive The Information Age At Work

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Keeping Customers Happy

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Focus on Your Customers – Or Die

Customer satisfaction has often been described as any company’s best asset. This is anything but a surprise, given that customers’ satisfaction with the products and services a company sells is vital.

Consumers today demand no less than the personal attention of businesses before they spend money on the products and services they sell – and even after they do buy what the companies offer, companies would be wise to do their utmost in order to sustain the relationship. The more they can keep customers coming back, the better. And of course customer satisfaction has a great deal to do with a company’s bottom line (an understatement, some would say).

As a result, customer service is moving up the priority lists of dynamic companies. They are devoting more of their time, budgets and other resources to make sure that their customers are satisfied and happy with what they have to offer.

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