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"Progress!"
(Progress-U Leadership & Coaching) - Issue No8 / December 03
0. Opinion
Get your Xmas present from Progress-U
1. Leadership
Serial: Successful
Habits of Outstanding Organisms (Part II)
2. Career Development
Do you like or hate your boss?
3. Coaching
Serial: Focus
of Progress-U (3): Sales Management Coaching
4. News
Seminars, New Articles, ...
5. Management Tip
Time Management:
Do you have time?
0. Opinion
Dear Reader in "Progress!",
Welcome to the latest and last Newsletter
of Progress-U Ltd. in 2003. The year is almost over and there are
reviews everywhere of this certainly exciting and somewhat special
year in Hong Kong.
I want to spare you from another review
repeating things you may already know and would rather inspire you
to look forward to not only the next year but also the years to come.
Take the holidays as an opportunity
to ask yourself where your life is going, whether you are on the right
track to the place you wish to be. Do you know where your place is?
Ask yourself, what is missing in order to get there?
From my own experience I know that it
is difficult to figure that out all by yourself. Therefore I offer
a special Xmas present to you:
Get four sessions (40 min. each) of free tele-coaching (coaching by
phone) from Progress-U Ltd. All you need to do is send an email with
your name and phone no. to Xmas-present@progressu.com.hk
and I will call you back to arrange your tele-coaching schedule in
January/February 2004 and to provide other details you may want to
know. Do something good for yourself in 2004 and don't miss the deadline
for claiming this present; send your email by December 24, 2003.
Wishing you a great holiday season and all the best for now and your
future!
Yours sincerely,
Charlie Lang
Executive Coach and Founder of Progress-U Ltd.
1. Leadership
Serial:
Successful Habits of Outstanding Organisms
(Part II)
CONTENTS
0)
Introduction
1) Definition of Organisms - Individuals vs. Organizations
2) Common habits and traits of outstanding individuals and organizations
2.1) Establish a Vision which is simple, clear
and straightforward - keep communicating it
2.2) Develop a Mission aligned to your Values - take it seriously
2.3) Create a Culture of Progress and Growth… relentlessly
2.4) Leave the beaten track - those who copy, lose
2.5) Be prepared to fail - learn from it rapidly
2.6) Keep reviewing and aligning - stay flexible
3) Reflection on yourself and your organization - how to find and
define your successful habits
4) From Reflection to Action -> Progress-Urself and your organization
5) Evaluation of Support Systems for organisms
6) Outlook for Success
2.1) Establish
a Vision which is simple, clear and straightforward - keep communicating
it
A global medium sized company X has
a vision that they aim to become a leading supplier of product A in
the Asian market. Their market share worldwide is approx. 5%, in Asia
below 2%. The no. 1 in the market accounts for 35% worldwide and 25%
in Asia. No. 2 and 3 are both in the range of 20% worldwide and 15%
in Asia. X is no. 7 worldwide and no. 8 in Asia.
Three years after stating that vision,
the position of X has hardly improved. What went wrong?
I talked to several second line executives
of X and made the following findings:
· the vision was not clear enough;
the definition of "leading supplier" was unclear
· the vision was communicated in one big shot during the introduction,
then three years later almost none of the executives could clearly
recall the vision
· the executives had problems adopting that vision as they
felt that it was not supported by an adequate action plan
· the executives felt that top management defined a vision
without consulting the second line managers about the feasibility
and sensibility of the vision (a remark of one executive: "Why
would we want to become a leading supplier in Asia? Don't they know
that the market prices for our products there are totally destroyed
and that we never will be able to run a profitable business there?")
· the executives were soon losing faith in ever making the
vision a reality as the mountain in front of them seemed to be too
huge and their "horse power" too little to reach even near
the top
How can we make it better?
- It is OK that top management develops
the vision, however, before you implement it, don't forget to give
it a reality check with those expected to make it happen
- Make your vision as clear and definite as possible: instead of saying
that you want to become "a leading supplier", rather say
that you want to become No. 1 or No. 2 in Asia. Don't try to put in
too many components and details. These should be part of the detailed
strategy to make your vision a reality.
- Drop limiting beliefs when determining your vision, e.g. even if
you have only 3% market share in Asia today, why would it be impossible
to become No. 1? Yes, there are lots of reasons, but leaders are not
there to look for excuses but to find ways to overcome obstacles and
reach outstanding results
- No vision without strategy! Work out your action plan and make it
clear how you can turn your vision in reality
- Communicate, communicate, communicate! People tend to get stuck
in their daily work and lose focus easily. Keep the organism (yourself
and the organization) on track with continuous reminders about where
you are supposed to go
You are the leader (of yourself and
your organization). Defining the target (vision) and keeping it alive
is the leader's job. Determining how to get there (strategy) and how
to implement it (tactics) is the manager's job.
2.2) Develop
a Mission aligned to your Values - take it seriously
What is a mission? I like the definition
of a mission being the constitution of an organism. The characteristics
of a constitution:
· basic set of values and rules
· changes are only incremental over the years
· basis of other laws and regulations - these cannot be contradictory
to the constitution
· time is required to establish it
It's easy to conclude that before making
a mission statement, it is crucial to get a clear understanding of
the organism's core values and most basic rules. This is a process
that usually takes several weeks to several months. However, it is
possible to speed this up by using effective assessment methods such
as the PIA&V3) or the Harrison method 4).
Creating a mission statement is one
thing, living it is another. Living up to your own mission statement
is a matter of integrity. It is always interesting to compare the
mission of an organism with the way it is carried out.
One could say that it should be easier
for an individual to follow his own personal mission statement than
for an organization where there are different people with different
individual sets of values. This is of course true and yet I have seen
successful companies who reached an extremely high level of compliance
to their mission statement. What made these companies so outstanding?
I discovered some very basic key elements common to these companies:
· the top management COMPLETELY
embraced the values expressed in the mission statement and acted as
a nearly-perfect role model (remember the saying: "The fish starts
stinking from the head")
· when hiring new staff, HR ensured that candidates would also
share the core values of the company
· in order to create awareness among the existing staff, the
top management relentlessly reminded them of the core values of the
organization by using all kinds of media, from screen savers on all
computers to dedicated charity events related to the mission statement
The most crucial element however, is
the behavior of the CEO and his top management team. For example,
if the leadership preaches fairness as one of the core values but
then fires employees in economically difficult times and increases
their own salaries, how do they ever expect the lower ranks to ever
develop a strong sense of fairness??
For Part
I click above, Parts III and IV will follow in the next Progress!
issues.
Back
2. Career Development
Do you like or hate your boss?
Are you sometimes mad at your boss?
If that is the case, don't worry about it too much. It happens almost
to everyone. If you are a boss yourself, it is part of your job to
sometimes direct, control, criticize and occasionally deny promotions
and/or salary increases. Additionally, you may not have the expertise
in certain details your staff is dealing with which in return may
result in decisions made by you which your staff can't understand.
That additionally won't help your staff to like or at least respect
you.
Hence, if you are interested in a successful
career, it is perfectly OK to sometimes be upset with the decisions
of your boss. However, to have trouble with your boss - for whatever
reason - is certainly not recommendable. No matter how justified your
"reasons" might be, it is important to understand that boss
and staff are not equal. It is equally unlikely for an employee to
"win" a conflict with the boss, as it is unlikely for anyone
to win a conflict with a customer or client.
Therefore, it is important to become
aware of the potential consequences BEFORE you choose to enter a conflict
with your boss or customer/client. You had better be prepared to accept
the worst imaginable consequences of such a conflict before you enter
it.
Also, it may help to first analyze whether you have problems with
this specific person or with the "institution" boss (or
customer/client) as such. The latter is more probable if you have
repeated conflicts with different persons. Then it is time to reflect
on your way of thinking about this "kind" of persons.
Remember, you can't change other people
but you can change your own way of thinking. A trusted and neutral
person may be able to help you to make this mental shift.
Conclusion:
Repeated conflicts with your bosses, clients, customers, etc. may
be the result of your way of thinking. The only person you can change
is yourself and your point of view. Making necessary mental shifts
is more likely to succeed with neutral professional support.
Back
3. Coaching
Serial:
Coaching Focus of Progress-U (3): Sales
Management Coaching
This serial is about the areas
of Executive Coaching which are the focus of Progress-U.
What do you think of corporate training?
Do you think it is important? Do you think it is a waste of money?
Well, I think both are the case, though it sounds like a paradox.
For more than 12 years I have been involved
in sales and sales management (besides general management) and had
the chance to experience a lot of training. I would say some were
lousy, some were good and some were excellent. Let me share with you
some of the experiences I made with trainings.
Some years ago I attended an excellent
training of 2 3-day sessions. The trainer was very qualified and inspiring,
the content was innovative and comprehensive, and everything else
like the environment, the training method and the documentation was
to my full satisfaction.
At that time I was in the position of
VP Sales and Marketing, overlooking several subsidiaries in Asia.
All the Country Managers and Sales Managers participated in this training.
The idea was to get all management involved in sales and marketing
in order to learn a new concept of selling (the title was "Selling
Like The Best"). The next step was for them to teach this method
to the sales staff.
What was the outcome? Everybody was
excited to apply the new methods and to train the sales staff to do
the same. And so the trainings were organized for them. However, due
to time constrictions, the trainings were reduced to 1- and 2-day
sessions with a 1-day refresher 4-5 months later.
One year later, it turned out that only
10-20% of what was taught remained. The sales people and most managers
fell back into their previous pattern of selling that they had acquired
over the years. They only slightly modified their behavior.
When I started my coaching practice,
I talked to several HR professionals and learned that this experience
is typical with all kinds of trainings. I remembered this problem
when I met Sharon Drew Morgen, an internationally renowned sales trainer
who developed the new Sales Paradigm "Buying Facilitation®"
(www.newsalesparadigm.com).
The idea of combining high-class sales training with follow-up professional
sales management coaching was born. Follow-up coaching ensures that
the trainees retain the skills learned during the training, long after
the training is completed.
Sharon Drew Morgen and Progress-U Ltd.
are offering tailor-made packages consisting of an initial training
course by Sharon Drew and follow-up sales management coaching by Charlie
Lang of Progress-U. Please contact us for more details.
Summary:
Even excellent training can have the disadvantage of lacking a long-term
effect on the trainees. Training combined with follow-up coaching,
as offered by Progress-U Ltd., helps to achieve real shifts in behavior.
Back
4. News
Last
chance to register for the upcoming workshop
"Acceleration Of The Sales Cycle" facilitated by Sharon
Drew Morgen on Dec. 17, 2003:
For details and registration click
on http://www.progressu.com.hk/SharonDrewMorgen.htm
New
Web Design of Progress-U Ltd.
The web design of Progress-U has
been improved further. Please click on http://www.progressu.com.hk
Any comments are very welcome (send an email to progressu@progressu.com.hk)
For
upcoming seminars & events please visit:
http://www.progressu.com/Seminars.htm
For
recent articles on Coaching please visit:
http://www.progressu.com/ArticlesonCoaching.htm
Back
5. Management Tip
Time
Management: Do you have time?
Ten Guidelines for Effective Time
Management
Every schedule reflects its maker's
unique set of priorities and responsibilities. No two people have
precisely the same idea of what constitutes perfect time management.
The final determinant is simply whether your relationship with time
is a happy one that enables you to meet your professional obligations,
enjoy the company of those you love, and take good care of your most
important asset --your health.
But while there is no one-size-fits-all
plan for managing time, there are basic principles that apply to a
wide variety of circumstances.
1. Plan ahead.
Planning is the fundamental building block of time management; it's
worth all the time you can put into it. But it isn't enough simply
to create a great plan or schedule. You must be able to implement
it. This means being accurate about the day-to-day realities of your
work and other responsibilities; allowing for the usual interruptions,
crises, and delays. Like a new item of clothing, it should fit comfortably,
with a little room to spare in case of shrinkage.
2. Schedule leisure activities.
The best time management plans are holistic; they encompass the whole
of your life, rather than just your working hours. Try actually scheduling
in blocks of time for family, friends, exercise, special interests,
or special projects instead of just assigning them "whatever
time is left" after the usual daily grind. Doing so will give
you a chance to look closely at your present ratio of work to home
and leisure time and help you restore the balance if it has been lost.
3. Under-promise and over-deliver.
One of the smartest scheduling rules you can apply is to set due dates
that are not just meetable but bearable. In other words, it's a good
idea to somewhat overestimate the time you think a job will take in
order to (1) ensure on-time delivery even in the face of unforeseen
delays and (2) surprise and delight your boss, clients, fellow committee
members, and family by delivering sooner than anticipated.
4. Break big jobs into manageable
chunks.
It's all too easy to put off jobs of huge proportions. "Painting
the house" is a more daunting prospect than the steps that will
move you toward that goal: selecting the colour, buying the paint,
and starting work on the back wall. By breaking a big task into manageable
steps, setting a timetable for doing each step, and chipping away
at the project, you can accomplish almost anything-and with a lot
less stress than by trying to do it all at once.
5. Keep track of your progress.
Every major project requires its own schedule, timeline, or timetable
identifying major steps or milestones on the way to completion. If
you've set realistic target dates (and allowed for possible "slippage"
time), your progress should match your plan. If unforeseen developments
place you behind your projected dates, you can either alert your boss
or client and set a revised completion date or take steps to hasten
your progress and make up the lost time. Note: If you can, leave room
on your schedule for work-in-progress notes.
6. Delegate whatever you can.
When it comes to delegation, it seems there are two kinds of people:
those who can and those who can't. If you are one of the latter and
you have all kinds of reasons for doing things yourself ("It
takes too long to explain it to someone else," or "I end
up having to do it all over again anyway"), you may be so firmly
wedded to the idea of not delegating that it's useless to try. However,
if it sometimes crosses your mind that you're not quite as indispensable
as you think, it's time to start delegating. Start with the routine,
time-consuming jobs you know someone else can do. Recognise that teaching
someone else the ropes will take a bit of time, and allow for a reasonable
learning curve. The benefits to you, in terms of increased time and
decreased stress, will more than repay your efforts.
7. Establish parameters for saying
"No."
We all know people who make their time limits very clear: "Not
my job," they say. "It's five o'clock and I'm outta here."
And some of us have reason to envy them. Almost everyone ends up working
late or bringing work home once in a while, but if you find yourself
doing it more and more often, it may be time to start saying no-and
not only to others but also to yourself. Working longer and longer
hours (whether for extra pay or not) upsets the balance between work
and leisure that is essential to your health and well-being. Just
as serious is the negative effect it can have on your reputation.
8. Make and follow a list of priorities.
You don't have to be a master list-maker to profit from using priority
lists. Some people maintain several lists at once: a high-priority
one of urgent or very important tasks; a medium-priority one of less
urgent or moderately important tasks; and a low-priority one of tasks
it would be nice to do if and when there's time. Other people simplify
the process by making just one list at the end of each day of things
to do tomorrow.
One chief executive we know says he
has a promise to himself to attend to the top three items on his list
every day, come what may. "It's better to get just those three
most important things done each day," he says, "than to
carry around a long list and only do a few of the less important things."
9. Group tasks according to the skills
required.
To get the most out of your time, try to do your hardest jobs-those
requiring maximum concentration and peak efficiency-at those times
of the day when your attention and energy levels are highest. If you
can coordinate those times with periods in which you have fewer interruptions
than usual, so much the better. Likewise, try to schedule your routine,
low-level tasks for times of the day when you find it hard to concentrate.
The trick is to pinpoint your hours of peak performance and schedule
your work accordingly.
10. Keep your eyes open for shortcuts.
We're never too old to learn and incorporate new and better ways of
doing things. In fact, the longer you've been doing a job, the more
it is to your credit to devise and explore improved techniques and
streamlined procedures. It's always tempting to go on doing things
the old way, just because it's the way you're familiar with. Finding,
adapting, and applying efficient new techniques to the responsibilities
you carry not only saves you time but cuts down on your overall workload-and
makes you look good in the process.
From the book titled, "Beat Stress with Strength,"
by Stefanie Spera, Ph.D. and Sandra Lanto, Ph.D. Copyright 1997, published
by Park Avenue Productions, an imprint of JIST Works, Inc., Indianapolis,
IN. Used with permission of the publisher. Additional photocopies
strictly prohibited.
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