Kathryn Hawkins published How to Choose Which Conferences to Attend on the Intuit Small Business Blog and it seemed fitting as companies are promoting their summer conference. Her 3 bits of advice are:
Glenn Llopis published Leadership Success is No Longer Measured by Money or Power on Forbes. This article asks “What is Leadership Success?” and begins to answer it.
Historically, leadership success has been associated with money and power. The more you have, the more successful you are. This is a false idea of success. How many people do you know that have money and power that are also happy, ethical, and purposeful? Sure, there are a few – but only a few.
Jay Goltz published Doing the Math on Disappointed Customers on the You’re the Boss blog. The article talks about the cost of not taking the time, effort, and money to fix a customer’s problem.
And that was O.K. Of course, the next time someone asks me which company coated my floor, I will be giving a different answer. Here is the simple math. The touch-up kit can’t cost more than $10, including shipping. The cost of coating a garage floor is now, I’m sure, around $4,000. I almost certainly would have had occasion to recommend this company to a couple of other people in the coming years. Which means this will probably cost him $8,000 in lost business. And then there are all of the referrals from the referrals. Maybe $20,000? $50,000? Nice letters and warranties might get a sale, but standing behind your product or service will get the repeat business and referrals that make the business.
Role Power is the power you, as the owner, have over your staff because you have the title of Owner. Have you ever told an employee to do something they didn’t want to do or tell them to do it a certain way with the only explanation being “because I said so” or something along those lines. That is a version of expressing your Role Power. The use and misuse of Role Power can have a long standing impact on a relationship, and if that relationship is a business one, a long standing impact on your business.
The use of Role Power needs to be as limited as possible. Some would say limit using it to when you are in crisis mode only and once the crisis is over you should go back and explain why you had people doing the things you had them do. If you have to resort to using Role Power, something broke down along the way. Employees that believe in their company’s leadership, mission, and direction don’t have to be “forced” to do much. Getting them to believe in the company involves having excellent direction and communication coming from the top, hiring the correct personnel, and getting rid of employees that don’t buy in.
Donald DeSantis published Everything I Need to Know About Startups, I Learned From a Crime Boss on GigaOM, in which he talks about lessons learned via organized crime. Those lessons are:
Jay Goltz published How to Diagnose What’s Wrong With Your Business in You’re the Boss, outlining the things he takes a look at when a business is struggling. The first 3 relate to Marketing, the next 3 to Management, the following 3 to Accounting & Finance, and the last one stands alone:
Forbes published Leadership – Why “Yes” is a Better Answer than “No” by Mike Myatt. The article points out how saying “No” creates a negative culture, how “Yes” leads to a positive environment, and saying “Yes” is a sign of intelligent leadership.
Ask yourself this question – If as a leader you find yourself always saying no, what does that tell you about your leadership ability? It means your vision is not understood, your team is not aligned, and your talent is not performing up to par.
Cheer Biz News published Termination Dos and Don’ts. The “Don’ts” include Treating All Cases Equally and Being Disrespectful while the “Do’s” include Being Specific and Keeping a Paper Trail. The article goes into much more detail and is a good read for employers and employees.
The New York Times You’re the Boss blog published This Year in Small Business: The Best Reads. and The Best of the Boss. As many of our weekly recommendations come from You’re the Boss, we felt it was proper to let you know about these end of the year recaps.
Absolutely! Being involved with the industry gives you a chance to help shape the future of cheerleading and dance. Whether its participating in meetings, such as the NACCC Meeting in Doral or the USASF Regional Meetings, serving on a board or committee, or submitting proposals for the next rules cycle, you should get involved to make sure your voice is heard and your vote is counted.
In addition, sharing your ideas about the industry helps people get to know you. People within the industry feeling like they know you and feeling like you are approachable is good for your business. At a minimum it get’s your name out there so people are already familiar with you when they are searching for someone who offers the services you offer. As a maximum it can lead to new business and job offers, something I can attest to personally.
Two things are coming up you can start with. First is the USASF National Advisory Board elections (NAB Nominees), which should open voting in January. The second is submitting proposals for the next rules cycle. Proposals are due May 1st and the process is outlined on Spirit Post. Either of these is a great way to start making your voice heard and getting involved in shaping the direction of our industry.
Andre
Marcel