Contents
of this "Progress" Issue
0. Opinion
1. Leadership
Serial: Ready
for leading in troubled waters? (1/3)
2. Career Development
Regular Feature:
Recruitment Tips: Money Talk
3. Coaching
Viewpoint: Fit
to become a successful entrepreneur?
4. News
Seminars, New Articles, ...
5. Management Tip
Cutting Cost
0. Opinion
Dear Reader,
Despite its proven effectiveness (cf.
above quote on ROI), Executive Coaching is still a fairly new concept
to the Business Community in Hong Kong and often misunderstood.
Therefore, it is my pleasure to introduce
to you the first issue of "Progress!", the Leadership
& Coaching Newsletter of Progress-U Ltd.
The objective of this info-letter is
to enhance the understanding of Executive Coaching and to keep you
updated on the latest trends in leadership, management, career development
and coaching. We aim at compiling for you interesting and relevant
articles.
In order to further improve the quality
of this newsletter, you are kindly invited to share your views on
"Progress!" or the articles therein which will be
published in the subsequent newsletter.
Thanking you for your kind attention
and wishing you interesting pages ahead.
Charlie Lang
Executive Coach and Founder of Progress-U
Ltd.
P.S.: If any
of your colleagues or friends wish to receive "Progress!",
kindly ask them to send a blank email to subscribe@progressu.com.hk.
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter anymore, please
unsubscribe by sending a blank email to this address. Click here
(unsubscribe@progressu.com.hk)
Back
to topics
1. Leadership
Serial:
Ready for leading in troubled waters (Part 1/3)
"Are you strong enough to lead
your company out of troubled waters?"
Part 1/3 Intro &
Analysis ("Progress!" Issue No. 1)
Part
2/3 Acting & Potential Barriers ("Progress!"
Issue No. 2)
Part 3/3 Enemies & Support ("Progress!" Issue
No. 3)
Introduction
Have you ever asked yourself how you
would react if the company you are leading runs into serious trouble?
Would you be able to keep a clear head and lead the company back to
safer grounds? Would you be considered a hero at the end - or rather
a looser?
During times of economic uncertainties,
many companies find themselves in troubled water the reasons are various
as well as the strategies applied to save the company. However, whether
or not an organization is able to become healthy again, is always
highly dependent on the behavior of the CEO. The CEO has to prove
that she or he is capable of a discipline which no university is teaching
and that is "Leading in the Crisis".
Crisis management is everything but
easy; enormous time pressure, chaotic circumstances, unions trying
to influence, the best people start to leave the sinking boat, eventually
negative media reports and the threat of bankers and stock brokers
which can lead to financial collapse. In such a situation, the leader
is required to continuously take decisions: cutting costs, selling
loss making parts of the company, reducing staff, finding new business
opportunities, …
If you are responsible for such decisions,
you will have to break resistance and eventually hurt people in order
to avoid bigger pain for all stakeholders. It is a matter of personality
to cope with such tremendous challenges.
The good news is that leadership is
- to a large extent - a skill which can be learnt. Those who don't
possess this skill, will lead the company in such a situation deeper
and deeper into the crisis risking not only the future of it and its
employees but also their own professional future. Therefore, it is
vital to fully adopt the rules for navigating in troubled waters.
Analysis
The very first step to maneuver your
organization out of a difficult situation is to admit that it actually
is in trouble. Actually a simple rule and nonetheless there have been
many cases where a company could not be saved anymore for that very
reason. Or the management denies a critical situation for many months,
thus loosing valuable time resulting in the need of very drastic measures
to still achieve a turnaround. Such strong measures would have not
been required if the crisis halted earlier.
Of course, especially when the CEO is
partly responsible for the critical situation, it is understandable
that she or he is reluctant to admit to a crisis. However, what many
CEO's and top managers don't realize is that the close environment
(key customers, middle managers, suppliers, etc.) sense a potential
crisis in its very early stages. So, management's denial of the real
situation will soon lead to a loss of trust which is then difficult
to gain back. In some cases, employees see for several weeks bankers
and consultants roaming around in the company and there is no statement
at all from the management. It is obvious that such behavior leads
to fear among the employees, spreading of rumors and reduction of
motivation and thus productivity in a situation when actually everybody's
full support for a turnaround is required.
First Rule:
Clear communication of the facts -not only to bankers and analysts
but also and especially to your staff. The more truthful you are,
the more carefully your employees will listen to you when presenting
your turnaround plan.
Back
to topics
2. Career Development
Regular
Feature: Recruitment
Tips: Money Talk
Money is not everything but an important
issue in any recruitment process. The reasons for applying in any
new job offer can vary a lot, from career transition to simply earning
more money.
Should one mention the current salary
and/or the package expected in the new position?
Some consultants say that one should
try everything NOT to mention what one is earning until one is called
in for an interview, others say that one should not leave any loose
ends and provide all information already in the application.
Let's first see it from an employer's
perspective. In most cases, there is a certain budget for any offered
position and if the applicant's salary expectation are considerably
above the budget, an employer may not even look at the qualifications
if such information is provided in the covering letter or CV. At the
same time, the employer usually wants to know BEFORE an interview
how much the employee wants to earn in order to avoid wasting valuable
time. Hence, if the information is not provided in the application,
the employer will usually ask the applicant to inform about his expectations
and will most likely NOT consider the applicant if he fails or refuses
such information upon request.
From an employee's perspective there
is an advantage of not providing such information directly in the
application; in some cases one might have excellent qualifications
which might be interesting for the potential employer, however, not
for the advertised position. In case the applicant provides salary
information in the application, the reader might not even read the
qualifications but immediately decline due to the (high) expected
package. This risk is reduced if this information is provided only
upon request.
Conclusion:
Job search is comparable to a sales process where the applicant
"sells" his ability to fulfill the employer's requirements.
Like a good sales person, one should try to talk about the "price"
at the end only, once the "buyer" is convinced that he/she
wants what is offered. However, when requested, it is a must to
comply with such request, otherwise there is a serious risk to be
declined before further evaluation.
Back
to topics
3. Coaching
View
Point: Fit to become
a successful entrepreneur
Everybody who decides to start a new
company faces various challenges out of which one seems to be the
most vital one; a chronic lack of time due to the many issues one
has to deal with, issues the entrepreneurs face more often than not
for the very first time in their life. Therefore, besides the mostly
unavoidable need to talk to tax consultants, lawyers, auditors, etc.,
it does not seem obvious to additionally spend valuable time with
a business coach at a financial cost to a cash-strapped company.
It is a fact that during the start-up
of a new company many unforeseen events and problems can arise which
more often than not over-challenge the capabilities, experience and
skills of the entrepreneur. Working with a professional coach through
this phase can help to focus on the existing skills and to establish
procedures in order to avoid time and cost intensive mistakes. A successful
coaching relationship actually wins precious time and money for the
entrepreneur. Seeing it from this perspective, the statements "no
time" or "no money" for coaching loose their credibility.
Typical issues an entrepreneur might
want to work on with a coach include:
- Management of Fast
Growth (Chaos Management)
- Improvement of Management
and Leadership Competencies (including conflict management, time
management, dealing with stress)
- Dealing with complex
structures
- Learning of new roles,
preparation for new tasks and situations
- Integration of new
employees
- Reduction of performance,
creativity and motivation blockades
- Extension of behavioral
skills, especially learning how to flex behavior to different styles
of customers, shareholders, employees, etc.
- Dealing with personal
crisis, e.g. lack of self-confidence, lack of motivation, etc.
- Re-assessment of
career or life planning
- Support during acute
conflicts with other people
- Improvement of teamwork
and project management
- Development of Corporate
Identity and Corporate Culture
NOTE:
Not every coach is able to deal with all these issues, i.e. it is
highly recommended to first check with the coach whether she or
he has the necessary background and skills to effectively cope with
the issues most prominent to the entrepreneur. Eventually, the entrepreneur
may need to engage different coaches for different issues.
Back
to topics
4. News
For upcoming seminars
& events please click here:
http://www.progressu.com/Seminars.htm
For recent Articles
on Coaching please click here:
http://www.progressu.com/ArticlesonCoaching.htm
Brand New:
Public Meeting
- Learn about Coaching - Workshops -
click here:
http://www.progressu.com/Seminars.htm
Interview
with Master Coach Marshall Goldsmith in BOSS magazine,
issue Jan/Feb. 2003 - click here:
http://www.progressu.com/ArticlesonCoaching.htm
Back
to topics
5. Management Tip
Cost
Saving: Reduce your cost through more efficient
document management
Useful Direct Links with tips
on how to do:
Hewlett Packard
http://www.hp.com/country/us/eng/msg/corp/htmlamazon.html?pagesite=LARGE
Canon
http://www.canon.com/technology/system/document_management/content.html
XEROX
http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/solutions.jsp?view=Solution&solution=Enterprise_Print&Xcntry=USA
Lexmark
http://www.lexmark.com/AP/HK/solutions/docdistributor.html
Kyocera
http://www.kyoceramita.com/solutions/print_man.cfm
