I’m coaching a client who is transitioning from senior technical expert to CEO of his small business. We’ve discussed his leadership style before. The catch here for him is that his understanding is evolving and he was at a loss for words to describe his current style. He has always been clear that he is a visionary but what about using high touch, collaboration, inviting truth telling and clear communication? So, we started to talk about the CEO’s and business people that he admires and wishes to emulate.

And that’s when I got to wondering…are roles models really useful on a daily basis?

Don’t get  me wrong. Role models serve an important purpose. They provide us with both inspiration and a roadmap. Basically everyone has a biography of some sort. You can read a published account of someone’s life, Google the person and/or ask questions directly. But how do they really do that thing you are aspiring to?

People aren’t perfect

It’s so easy to put someone on a pedestal. Think about the people you admire. We don’t really know that person. Take someone like Donald Trump. Sure, he’s on television and is well known for his real estate acumen. You might read about him, listen to what he says and take a class from Trump University. People tell me that they admire how he acts so confidently even when he is so close to bankruptcy. But what do you really know about him? Would it matter if he were rude or cruel?

What happens when you learn something unpleasant or ugly about your role model? There is that moment when one is faced with the idea of the person and the real life person. Can you overlook the fact he or she is human and not perfect? It may be possible to extract what is meaningful to you and suggest that your role model works very hard to behave in a certain way. Then again, the transgression may be too abhorrent to you.

Looking for a role model

So what makes us identify certain people as inspiring to us? Certainly, their story can be one possible starting point. We’ve heard so many rags to riches stories and each person who has accomplished this has qualities worth of emulation. Could it be that we see role models to get us through certain stages of development? If you founded a business and emphasized innovation, you might want to learn about Bill Gore, Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Maybe you are a woman in business and aspire to rise to the top of the business world or politics so you might read lists like Forbes Power Women. Perhaps there is a boss who is so adept at his/her profession that you felt as if you are apprenticing to him/her.

Throughout our lives, we find people who are extraordinary and study them so we can be like them. This is part of how we form our identities. Over the years, we have different experiences and different choices and seek to navigate them successfully. It makes sense to add and subtract to our list of role models. They may be fictional characters, celebrities, known industry experts or people within our sphere who embody greatness.

But I’m back to my original question…how are they relevant to our everyday performance?

We know the big stuff they have accomplished. What did they do on Tuesday morning at 9:08am? When we are working on an audacious goal, there are moments when we are discouraged. We may lose faith (even for a moment). We may even encounter obstacles we didn’t anticipate and this throws us off track. And it could be that we just don’t know how to act or execute a particular skill and this slows us down. Do our role models give us the big picture or a how-to manual?

So, I’m opening up these questions to you. We’ll be discussing this topic on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on Friday, September 16th at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT so I hope you can join us. If not, please add your thoughts below.

1. How do you identify someone as a role model? What qualities do you look for?

2. What is the difference between idolizing someone and using them as a model?

3. What role does gender play in your choices of role models?

4. Are we more likely to seek role models in good times or bad? Why?

5. How do you use a role model when for everyday performance?

Have you ever really stopped to think about capitalism? How do you define it? Some definitions are more loaded than others if you look at the various links in this Google search However, if you own or lead a business, you are definitely participating in this system.

Describing the system to ourselves

There are so many words to describe the way we think about capitalism. There are variations on how capitalism is expressed if you start looking at how some corporate entities are state-owned to the mixed economy type.There are advocates for free markets, laissez-faire or free enterprise as if they are infallible. Other people raise questions about how money is distributed, how workers are treated by their employers or the potential for creating instability. No matter where you fall philosophically, the flaws in the system brought a great deal of havoc in 2008 and we’re still dealing with the consequences.

The flaws are the issue.

There are fierce debates in many countries about how to regulate this system. Certainly one of the most famous critique of capitalism is Das Kapital by Karl Marx. When we are faced with troubled companies that are “too big to fail” and they can harm a national or even global economy, something is amiss. It’s easy to blame the elite rich or labor unions or whomever is your target but at the end of the day, we’re still participating in this system.  There are ethical questions about what happens to the widening gap between each economic class, unemployment and consumerism. How do we talk about the flaws of capitalism?

The process of redefining capitalism

Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say it’s a process of redesigning capitalism. One movement has been sustainability. While it is often associated with green technology and environmentalism, sustainability also includes developing business models that can respond well to stressors and successes. Even in Nouriel Roubini’s post, “Is Capitalism Doomed?” the question lies in how we think about people and what makes them productive more than exploiting markets. There is also more expressed desires for a flexible work-life balance and work that has meaning and purpose. Where does this fit in?

Join the conversation.

It behooves us to not ask ourselves what we believe about capitalism and how we want to create businesses that are sustainable. This is the business climate we’re in and the turbulence isn’t going away in a hurry. We can choose to continue supporting current practices, foster a revitalized system or eliminate capitalism as we know it altogether. It may not be a clear answer but your answer is part of conversation.

In the next #kaizenblog (Twitter chat) on Friday, September 9th at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT we’re discussing this topic. Please join us and add your thoughts and expertise. If you can’t join in on Twitter, please add your comments below.

Which aspects of capitalism are still relevant to the current economic climate?

What trends are you noticing in discussions about capitalism?

What is changing on a micro-level (within your business community) that is sustainable?

This is our topic for this week’s #kaizenblog, a weekly Twitter chat that uses the concept of kaizen to critically think about various aspects of business, enhance our skills and deepen our self-understanding. You can join this conversation every Friday at 12pm Eastern.

Do you think you know right from wrong? Are you consistent every time? We’d all like to think so. However, recent research on self-discipline and decision fatigue makes one wonder if there may be a slippery slope we didn’t take into account. It’s easy to identify corporate scandals that involve blatant greed and social pressure. But are there smaller moments when ethics are placed aside?

Everyday temptations

• Conflicts of interest are probably the most common situations any of us encounter. Competing loyalties and desires can make us squirm. Sometimes we want to please someone. Sometimes we are in an uneven power dynamic and feel we must comply. Maybe we’re in a culture that is foreign or opposed to what we believe.
• The weight of our values change. Over time, how we value things changes. It isn’t so much that you throw out your “old” values as change the level of importance. Our values can clash with one another as well causing cognitive dissonance. If you haven’t reviewed your values recently, here is a ValuesInventory that I often give to my clients.
• Who or what in our environment entices us? Many times we are confronted with situations where we want to be in with the “cool kids”. The desire to compete, show off or be part of the glamour tempts us to put our integrity aside. Other situations include using an excessive amount of company time for personal calls, shopping, social media (unrelated to your job) or chatting with co-workers.
• Expediency can undermine our integrity. How many projects have you been a part of that included giving a customer a product with defects. Maybe it really doesn’t affect the  product is a major way and maybe the customer won’t notice? It’s also fairly common to tell someone what they want to hear so they stop bothering you. The old “the check is in the mail” is a great example of this.

But what makes us put blinders on?

It would be nice to say only “bad” people make unethical choices. It’s not that simple though. Fatigue and stress undermine our ability to make good judgements. Since self-discipline is a finite resource, we might compromise ourselves (on a small scale, I hope) because we just don’t have the juice to see through the more challenging choices.

Maybe it’s the system of capitalism? It’s so easy to say “let the market sort things out”. Although sustainability and social responsibility has become a bigger piece of the business landscape, old habits die hard. The idea that it must be “winner takes all” creates an environment where cutting corners or simply avoiding certain choices makes money. It’s hard to beat that kind of reinforcement. Not that it can’t be done. It merely is a challenge. And as long as there are bubbles in the market (think the dot.com, housing and maybe gold right now?), people will ride those waves and build businesses to answer perceived needs or wants for these markets.

So, how do we encourage ourselves and others to act with integrity?

We could leave all this ethics stuff to academics, ethicists or philosophers. However, the most effective way to get this stuff out in the open is to talk about it. Frankly, a code of ethics written in the employee handbook is not worth much if it is never actually tested with conversations and critical thinking. There are some great suggestions on how to create these conversations on the HBR Blog Network by Francesca Gino. It’s been noted by Dan Ariely and other researchers that we are adept at rationalizing our choices. By stopping to examine our behavior, even if the conversation isn’t about us directly, we are given the chance to build up our ability to act with integrity and courage.

What other everyday temptations occur in business settings?

What do we  risk by making ethical choices?

How would a common code of business ethics work in real life?

What would help each of us to act with more consistent integrity?

Join us for the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog, this Friday, August 26th as we take a look at this topic, “Ethics, Blinders and Business.”  We meet every Friday at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT .

A while ago I participated in the Twitter chat, #leadershipchat. When I left the chat, this question stuck with me. Who do great leaders follow?

It’s so easy to talk about how leaders should get us to follow them. Or if you are a leader, you’ve got some ideas about how to get people to follow you. There are great questions about how much authenticity, vulnerability, and charisma are expressed by great leaders. We know great leadership when we see it. You can feel yourself rise up like boats rising when the tide comes in. You want to be with that person and even do what is asked or told to you. They have a way of bringing the best out of you.

So what about the personal experience of being a leader?

Recently someone asked  me what it would be like for me to be just a member of a team and not call the shots. It made me pause as I thought about what it means to me to be a leader and wonder if I could become a better leader.

Sure, being able to have final say is good. And creating a vision that excites other people to want to work with and for you is fulfilling. There is a certain cache to being able to say, “I’m Joe/Jane Schmo, CEO (president, owner) of XYZ Company.” People look at you differently. They have expectations of you. They depend on you. This feels pretty good.

Yet, some days don’t feel quite so gratifying. There are the days when you’re studying the financials and seeing how far you can realistically implement the strategic plan. Lately, this hasn’t been a satisfying experience for many business leaders. There are also days when you realize you are very alone with your thoughts, fears and imaginings of how your business can continue to function.

There is so much advice for leaders.

• I did a quick search on Amazon.com to see how many books were listed on business leadership. Result=22, 795 books
• So then I did a quick search on Google.com about business leadership. Result=44,500,000 hits

With all of these possibilities, it amounts to cacophony. Sifting through can be a consuming task. Most business leaders I’ve met and gotten to know have little time and patience for trying to figure out what would help them perform best. But that doesn’t mean they are not looking for inspiration and direction themselves. You may be indomitable nearly every day but it is a fallacy to think that great leaders don’t occasionally have doubts.  Being a leader means you’re willing to take on responsibility and be accountable. When things are tough economically or just within your organization, it feels like you’re slogging through the mud of the day. It might give you pause and then you get going again. This is natural. What is it about the great leaders that re-charges their inner fire? What can we learn from them?

So, who do great leaders follow?

I’m inviting you to add your observations here and in the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog, tomorrow at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT. What can we learn from people we identify as great leaders? How are they different from good leaders?

I do hope you can join us on Twitter. Some questions to consider for thought and discussion:

Does having a mentor act as an apprenticeship to great leadership?

How do great leaders get support from their community? (Who is their community?)

What relationship does engaging with art, literature or film have with great leadership?

How do they sustain their belief system so it feeds their vision and keeps them connected to their followers?

Innovation never seems to become a dead topic. However, lately it seemed to be less favored by business leaders. And yet, it is becoming clearer that our understanding of innovation is changing. Just yesterday, a client was emphatically telling me that he’ll know his product will be innovative when people buy it. So, maybe innovation is defined by our customers?

Is it who defines it or the process that creates innovation?

In a post from the Ivey Business Journal, Henry Chesbrough posits that how innovation will be managed is evolving as new technologies allow us to connect with one another. Think about where you work. How many innovation sites have been opened over the last few years? In the Greater Boston area, it seems like one is opening all the time.

Chesbrough’s point is that it’s the process that creates innovation but there will be several changes coming in the future.

1. Innovation will be more collaborative. Collaboration will come in many forms. Between technology advances that make it easier to collaborate virtually to including customers in the iterative process of a new product, there will be ideas and opinions exchanged making fora richer experience.

2. Business models have to be adapted. Chesbrough predicts that simply having great ideas is not going to be a sustainable model for a company. He writes, “[t]hrough devices like the business-model canvas of Alex Osterwalder, organizations are learning techniques to visualize both their current business model as well as possible alternative models.”  The effects of the global recession include a re-balancing of where economic growth will come from which will also influence how business models are designed.

3. Service economies and innovation. In his last prediction, Chesbrough notes that the majority of established economies are more geared to services than products. This means that how services are created and provided to the customer must be innovated. Some companies (e.g. Lego) are already moving in this direction. Another thing that Chesbrough notes is that service companies need people but also other options to serve their customers in the best way. He suggests that creating a platform that others can use is a viable way forward in managing innovation.

What do you think?

The way we produce actually may come from how we innovate the process of innovation. This could change the business landscape quite a lot! In the next Twitter chat, #kaizenblog, the focus will be on Chesbrough’s predictions. Some of the discussion questions will include:

• How do you define innovation?
• Assuming innovation is always about new things (e.g. the iPad), are we emphasizing innovation to the detriment of satisfying customer needs?
• How will partnering with customers make innovation more possible? What is the possible downside to this collaboration?
• What could one of these future business models look like?
• What could it mean for a business to service/support their competitors’ products?
• What changes will emerging economies introduce?

There are many more questions to pursue with this topic. I hope you’ll enjoy the lively and thought-provoking conversation on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on Friday, July 22nd at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT.

From emerging markets to established markets, there are a lot of challenges impacting our businesses. If you read The Economist, their outlook is definitely not rosy. Natural disasters, scarce jobs and rising costs are in the news.  In the recent March Discover Small Business Watch, it was reported that 14% of small businesses “may not recover”. If that isn’t enough, there could be internal challenges that could also impact your business. 

How do you know when it’s time to go?

In our next #kaizenblog chat, we are talking about when to close the doors on your business. To start the conversation, Fox Business Small Business Center had an interesting list of reasons that it may be time to close your business.

1. Loss of passion

2. Call it quits when the potential reward is no longer worth the risk

3. You’re taking the skeptical view of everything

4. No repeat customers=no new customers

5. Read the signs

6. Is your pride or optimism steering you wrong?

7. Are you all in?

8. Feedback is everything

9. Believing that quitting is an option

10. Be careful of demand

Could you throw the towel in too soon?

Turnarounds are hard work. Each of the reasons listed in the Fox Business Small Business Center aren’t necessarily death knells on their own. It is our choices that make thing permanent. We have to take stock and tell ourselves the truth of what is happening to us on a personal level. We may be experiencing personal crises involving our health or members of our families. Sometimes we reach a milestone that makes us take a look at where we are in our lives. Maybe we need to hire someone who has certain skills that will complement our own. Maybe we need to fire someone who is not performing according to our expectations. The interesting thing about this list is how many of the items actually lead back to the leader’s thinking.

So how do you know if it’s time to quit and move on or get cracking on a turnaround?

What does quitting really mean?

*Join us to discuss when quitting makes the most sense on the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on Friday, May 6th at 12pm ET/5 pm BST/9am PT.

It has been awhile since I’ve posted a recap or transcript for the Twitter chat #kaizenblog. Since then, our transcript service has shut down so I’m looking for a new service, system or volunteer who wants to create the transcript. The transcript for this chat was retrieved from Twitter Search so it took some time to clean it up so it is more accessible.

Please note that there are no time stamps and the posts are backwards, In other words, the last tweets are first and you’ll find the discussion goes backwards. If it is easier, go to the end of the transcript and scroll up as you read. The questions and the discussion will make more sense. As always, I didn’t edit anyone’s grammar or spelling.

This was  a great conversation and spawned some ideas for future topics such as how global events affect local businesses and how we handle unmet expectations.

Here’s the transcript: kaizenblog Transcript Quarter 1 of 2011 vs Quarter 1 of 2010: Similiarities and Expectations

Please feel free to add your questions, comments or suggestions.

*There is NO kaizenblog chat this week due to many people being on holiday or observing religious holy days. We will resume on Friday, April 29th at 12pm ET/5pm BST/9am PT with Neal Schaffer for Part 2 of his topic: “Experimentation and Social Media”.

The beauty of #kaizenblog is how people engage with ideas. Sometimes an idea bubbles up during the conversation and a topic becomes identified. This past week, the topic of “creating demand” was suggested. It came out of a side conversation about the perception of being “sales-y” or pushy. Interestingly, there was a post by Mairead Kelly on Bloggertone along this same theme.

Creating Demand=Smarmy, pushy sales style?

I hear this dilemma from the micro-small businesses. They worry that they are lacking integrity if they ask someone for their business. One of the questions that really muddies the sales message is the offer to “help.” Okay, maybe it’s me and I’m supposed to assume that the help being offered has a price tag. However, it just feels like a mixed message. Are you offering your help or are you selling to me?

Creating demand is about creating want?

Apple has a way of making people want their gadgets. How many iPhones, iPads and iPods do you see in a given day? Do we need these things? Nope but we want them. Without the resources and mythology of Apple, sole proprietors and other small business owners have to discover other ways to get people curious and wanting what they offer. Some people will tell you that you have to develop a freemium (a product that has no cost like a white  paper, podcast or video that you give away). Other advice will tell you that you have to engage in social media or use public speaking to communicate with your customer. Other people will recommend that you research a market and develop a product or service that acts as an aspirin. Then there is always ploys like “limited time offer” or “only X allowed per customer”. Do you follow this person’s advice?

Swirling emotions, whirling thoughts

Between the distaste and worry that you might sound like a cheesy, stereotypical salesperson and which tools to choose from, it is easy to wonder about the process of creating demand. Clearly, you need customers or you don’t have a business. You’ve put a lot of thought into what you offer and it does provide a valuable solution.

But is creating demand really a cynical exercise that business owners must do? Or is it something else entirely?

*Join us for the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog, as we discuss “Creating Demand: Selling To People or Cynical Exercise?” this Friday at 12pm ET/5pm GMT/9am PT

We’re all looking for the magic bullet of business success. If I do X, then my business will hit the big time. Or if I do Y, my business will never have a worry again. It was my pleasure to invite my friend, Les to be our guest host on #kaizenblog when we took on the idea that there is one must-have for business success. Les McKeown is the President & CEO of Predictable Success, the leading advisor on accelerated business growth. He has has started over 40 companies in his own right, and was the founding partner of an incubation consulting company that advised on the creation and growth of hundreds more organizations worldwide.He is also is the author of the WSJ and USA Today Best-seller, “Predictable Success: Getting Your Organization On the Growth Track – and Keeping It There”

So we jumped into this conversation with a framing post by Les, “The First Lego Piece” . The actual conversation started with How do you describe a great business? Les described “a great business is one that it truly sustainable – by which I  mean specifically it has 3 things: 1. consistently profitable; 2. mostly fun to work in, and…most importantly, 3. Not dependent soley on the founder/owners for its existence.”

• Parissa Behnia: “a1 beyond profitable, ‘m not sure it can be described..but sometimes it can be felt…profitable but awful environment is not sustainable long term. there are human needs that are abstract”
• Amber Cleveland: “A1 Great biz knows their Mission, Values,  -everything they do is in line w/ -they live their brand.”
• Richard Winter : “A1 A great business to me is where vision leads to efficient execution resulting in profits”
• Caroline Di Diego: “Profitable +++ with great group of people ~ the people make you profitable”

Since sustainability seemed to resonate with many of the chat participants, we wondered, What are the fundamentals of growing a sustainable business? Les identified, “focus, discipline, consistency, and perseverance. The underlying product or service & even the funding don’t  matter in the end.”

• Richard Winter “A2 Scalable infrastructure, desirable product or service and a commitment to customer service”
• Rayna Fagen: “might be 3 perspectives to this–what company mgmt views, what the customer views, & the employees”
• Stephen Denny: A2 I think fundamental element of sustainable biz is “grow slow” – counterintuitive, but seems to be predictor”
• Judy Gombita: “A2. Knowing the market before the (potential) customers/clients know it! (Boom, Bust, and Echo)”
• Frederique Murphy: ”A2 Passion, Loving your niche and knowing your why; your why is powerful driver, the fuel for a sustainable journey”
• Linda Naiman : “A2 A great biz is also well designed: products, services, processes, biz mode, policies”
• Cathy Larkin: “Q2 sustainable biz pillars? Great product,  a biz that knows its market/customers & adapts when needed”

During this question, there was an active conversation about passion and if it can be hindrance or help. Well worth checking out the transcript (Transcript for #kaizenblog – Whats1MustHaveForSuccessfulBiz) around the 5:30 mark to see the details.

Given the back and forth about passion and financials, What is the most essential building block of a great business? Les explained, “For me, it is incredibly mundane, It’s what I call…your ‘personal processing ecosystem’. In other words, the ability to handle 3 things: 1. Time management 2. Priority management and 3. Crisis management. Without those, you can’t grow a sustainable business, because you’ll be constantly derailed by the mundane.”

• Stephen Denny: “Greatest building block is having the right people. The 20x developers, the core team”
• Parissa Behnia “Q3 knowing you don’t know something and need help, seek answers”
• Amber Cleveland: “A3 Most essential building block – MVV (Mission, Vision, Values) build your foundation from this”
• Cathy Larkin: “A3 I think one over looked piece of yr 3 points is Attitude. not polyanna but positive I can SOLVE this…”
• Richard Winter: “A3 A truly scalable infrastructure that doesn’t require significant hires in non-customer facing disciplines”
• Elaine Rogers: “A3 trust in self as a builder of business is so important before all else (I believe)”

It was great seeing everyone really engage with the ideas being shared and exploring Les’ advice on developing a successful business. We moved a little deeper into the conversation by asking, How does the fundamental building block become the foundation of a sustainable business? Les described, “Time, priority and crisis mgt produce the right environment for growing your sustainable business. In business, challenges should be challengs. Without a personal processing ecosystem, *everything* is a challenge.” This response seem to resonate with everyone in the chat. The focus on implementation (or execution) really brought home how the ingredients of vision, passion, planning and the other business tools combine to create a sustainable business.

How would you answer the discussion questions?

What do you have in place that will lead to a sustainable business?

When you’ve been in business for a while, you look back at the early days and remember what you did. Have you ever wondered what you were thinking? Maybe even had a rueful chuckle at your own expense about what you didn’t know? I think a lot of us have done that.

All kinds of people start businesses. Some are excited about their idea and figure they’ll learn as they go. Others do a lot of research before they even start. While these are extremes on both ends, where did you fall? I can’t tell you how many people have told me about wanting to have their fantasy lives made real. This is not to say that this can’t happen. Frankly, it’s embedded in my work with small business owners that everyone finds a way to have their dreams and aspirations become everyday reality.

But sometimes getting there has a few potholes:

• You need money to start a business. The amount needed can depend on what industry you’re in. Some businesses are virtual so you might need enough to pay for the initial founding costs and emergency funds. Franchises, affiliates and even stand-alone businesses have startup costs that can be overlooked when it seems like your chosen business is your golden ticket.
• It is hard work to build up your first client base. One of my early clients experienced this one. She wanted to be a personal chef but discovered that she would have to do a lot of networking to get her name out there. This became disheartening for her and closed down her business even before she really did anything.
• To get VC funding, you have to bootstrap, bring your idea to market and put in a great deal of work before they invest. It can be a long slog for some. The magic idea that you just have to pitch and people throw money at you is just that, magic. I know this one entrepreneur in bio-energy started off with one idea and discovered he had to revamp his technology to make it easier to sell and prove that it is viable. The great part of this story is that he won a business plan contest and A round funding. When we last spoke, he was just about to receive his next round of funding.
• You’re going to work more hours than you expected. It’s not that you won’t have flexible hours. It’s just that the hours may amount to more than you imagined.
• There are behaviors and expectations that you’re supposed to know already. Little things like how to arrange a mutually satisfying alliance with someone, how to combine business and a recreational activity (golf, tennis, boating, etc.) or asking someone to hire you.

There are definitely more potholes that we encounter as we work for ourselves. If you haven’t experienced some of the potholes I mentioned above, think of what tripped you up along the way.

If we knew then what we know now, what would we do differently?

Are there any “dirty little secrets” that you wish you knew from the beginning about owning your own business?

*Join us for the Twitter chat, #kaizenblog on this Friday at 12pm ET/5pm GMT/9am PT for our topic.”The Dirty Little Biz Secrets You Wish You Knew From the Start”. We’d love to hear what you’ve observed, experienced and learned since you started in business.