Actual for You - Business

5 Clues You're in The Wrong Job or Career
I worked at the Safeway from Midnight to 9 stocking shelves, so I could race to catch a bus to my college classes and afford the rent on my glorious 1 room bachelor apartment.The job was fairly easy, but the two guys I worked with were something else. One fellow couldn’t wait for retirement, and he let everyone know it, and the other was, well, finicky about everything.“Face the can labels FORWARD, Gary! People want to know what they’re buying.”I was lucky my eyes were even open, but this odd couple had a remedy for that, too. Though I had to take a Music Appreciation class for my general education degree requirement, nightly we listened to Beethoven’s 9th at least once, blasted at top volume over the worst speakers you can imagine.Let’s just say the job got me from A to B, and I got into sales soon after that, and it was my ticket to sleeping normal hours.Here are five clues that you’re in the wrong job or business:(1) There’s zero turnover among your supervisors. They’re all “lifers,” as these Safeway vets were. You know the expression that it’s only the lead dog on a sled team that enjoys a change of scenery, right? If you’re going to be stuck looking at the same mugs year after year, I pity you. I ditched a tenure-track professorial post for this very reason. Gee, here was the deal. I got to work really hard for about seven years and then these Einsteins would vote on my tenure, permitting me to keep working with them for the following 23 years. Does it get any better?(2) Someone else, or a team, or tradition designed your job and you didn’t. There’s no room for creativity. Like an actor that has been hired to play a single role, you’re stuck doing a non-changing script. My grandfather drove a streetcar in Chicago, and bored with the fact he had no passengers on 73

secondary set of decisions to determine an appropriate solution.

In the first stage of decisioning – the choice to make a new decision by managing all internal variables - there are three distinct, sequential phases that all people and teams go through and which must be resolved (consciously or unconsciously) before a final decision can be made. In fact, each of these phases are carried out (consciously or not) in every decision made, whether it's a simple or a complex decision, or a decision made by an individual, a group, a family, or a company.

1. What’s missing and how did it get missing;

2. How can we fix that with familiar resources;

3. What are the full range of internal variables that need to be recognized and addressed before a new solution can actually be embraced.

1. Where are we? What’s missing? - Recognizing, understanding, and managing the complex issues.

Our Partners must be able to examine the full extent of the elements of the problem and acutely recognize (I mean deeply understand) what’s missing that is creating the problem at hand. Does this sound simple?

How many of us, given all the time in the world to sit down and think, can actually recognize all the elements in play that have gotten us where we are, not to mention what might be missing from our potentially comfortable status quo?

Think of something about yourself that you don’t particularly like: your penchant for procrastinating? Your push to work harder rather than take time with your family? The way you speak to people sometimes or your inability to really listen if you’re distracted? Your forgetfulness?

We all have annoying habits or behaviors that we either try to hide, or wish we could fix. And even when we’ve tried to fix them, they don’t stay fixed. Why? It’s actually difficult from an up-close-and-personal standpoint to fully recognize, understand, or pinpoint all of the elements that have generated and maintained this quirk. It all just ‘is’, and has grown into comfort.

If seeing ourselves clearly is that difficult for us, how can we expect ot

Growing Others Into What They Could Be
"A true Master is not the one with the most students, but one who creates the most Masters. A true leader is not the one with the most followers, but one who creates the most leaders." — Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations With God: An Uncommon DialogueI was doing fairly well in grades one to three - especially in reading. Then I hit a terrible teacher in grade four. She made school so unhappy and unappealing, she almost caused me to drop out — of course I would have waited another few years to make it official. However, in grades five and six I came under the nurturing of Mrs. Westman. I vividly remember her saying after I'd read a composition to the class; "someday I won't be surprised to see your name on a book." Her encouraging words simmered in my subconscious for years and helped me to see new possibilities for myself. Twenty years later my first book, The VIP Strategy: Leadership Skills for Exceptional Performance, was published. It was a real pleasure to present her with one of the very first copies — inscribed with a warm thank you message. Her family and the local paper ensured that she got the recognition she so richly deserved.Most people see others as they are, a leader sees them as they could be. Leaders like Mrs. Westman see beyond the current problems and limitations to help others see their own possibilities. It's a key part of our own growth and development. We continue to grow when we help others grow and develop. That's the second half of the two part growing and developing circle. The first part is our own growth and development. We can't develop others if our own growth is stunted. The two parts of the growing and developing circle depend upon and support each other. We develop ourselves while we're developing others. By developing others, we develop ourselves further. This allows u

When people or groups make a decision to purchase something, they go through the same decision cycle that an individual goes through to decide upon a personal change, or an employee goes through to change behaviors at a boss’s insistence.

Until now, our communication rules have assumed that when we kindly or persuasively offer others good information that could solve problems and achieve successful results, or coach them toward making a much-needed change, or even just pitch a product they sorely need, we can expect a positive reception. Obviously, if our communication partner (called Partner in this article) has a problem and we’ve got the true solution – and we do! We do! – they should take our advice. But they don’t.

We watch our Partners nod their heads in agreement with our clever suggestions, and promise to do something different, but then quickly return to their old less-successful behaviors.

DISCOVERING THE PROBLEM VS. SUPPLYING THE SOLUTION

When we offer our Partners seemingly obvious solutions and expect them to change, we are failing to take into account their need to make comprehensive systems decisions first. Indeed, our Partners need to recognize and manage all aspects of their presenting problem before they can make sense of our suggestions. But it's not so easy as we think.

Let me make up a silly analogy using an iceberg: we all see the tip; but if an iceberg engineer (I’m obviously making this up) needs to move the iceberg, he can’t until/unless he understands its size, shape, weight, as well as weather conditions, sea conditions, and its course of travel. Until the whole iceberg is measured and a new location is found, the tip ain’t movin’.

There is so much more to influencing choices than we initially recognize.

Of course, our Partner's presenting problem seems obvious to us, especially when we’ve been in business a while and have seen it all so often. But the full ramifications of the problem – all of the elements that it contains, all of the legs it has to-and-from the rest of the Partner’s environment, all of the beliefs and constructs that maintain the problem – are quite hidden.

And until or unless the client understands and resolves all of the elements that created and maintains the problem, she won’t know how to make a change. She might act differently for a bit when she intellectually understands the reasons to adopt new behaviors. But if the complete set of issues aren’t understood, managed, and accounted for, permanent change will not occur.

INFORMATION DOESN’T HELP PEOPLE CHANGE

Too often, sellers of change focus their drive toward change around rational, proven facts, generally accepted knowledge, or unique data – all of which I am labeling ‘information’. While information is necessary, and will be useful at some point later in the decision cycle, there is no way early on for people to know what to do with it. It’s akin to explaining to the iceberg engineer all of the dynamics of the moving crane before he’s sized up the components of the iceberg, the weather, or the sea.

It’s difficult to understand that accurate information is not enough to warrant change: people just end up resisting.

This problem shows up when buyers take too long to purchase. Or when people don’t heed our advice and continue on doing the same-old, same-old, complaining fervently of an unresolved problem. It seems curious for us to see their problem so clearly, and have a viable solution, and then be ignored, while the Partners continue to muddle along with the same problems.

But a note of caution: it’s not our job to understand or fix our Partner’s problems although we’d sure like to. It’s not our job to know what our Partner needs. The Partner must effectively manage all of the elements within their existent system before change can occur. Once they do this, as part of a facilitation process of painstaking discovery you can lead them through, they can develop all the necessary criteria for designing a unique solution; as support folk, we then just supply it. So much easier than us trying to create a solution based on a small segment of data.

I recently got a call from a young woman in a large recruitment company. She wanted to know how I would train 3000 people.

“What criteria are you using to know if they've been successfully trained?”

“We just want a training program. We're talking with several different groups, and want to know what you can do for us.”

“But all programs don't offer the same things, and your sales staff would learn different skills from each program.”

“Well, we want you to tell us what's different about yours so we know and we can compare.”

“But what are you comparing if you don't know your criteria?”

I then used Facilitative Questions to help her determine her success criteria. Here’s what she came up with:

1. differentiation from the competition;

2. loyalty and trust created from each interaction;

3. a ‘true’ consultative approach in which the seller helps the buyer understand and solve her own business problems;

4. consistent skills among all sales staff;

5. creation of value through each interaction.

Once we discovered the criteria, it became clear that Buying Facilitation would work for her. But until then, she wouldn’t have known how to discern one program from another since 'sales training' meant something unique to her that I had no way of understanding without making guesses.

SYSTEMS

Let’s digress here to underscore the importance of ‘systems’, which are the elements of the Partner’s company that must be managed before change can take place.

People and groups of people possess unique, internal elements, or ‘systems': they operate through certain beliefs; hold religious or personal or company values; collaborate with others (family, partners, vendors, colleagues) with whom they have another set of beliefs and values; work/live with rules, politics, and norms; have hopes and dreams, fears and regrets. In business there are often vendor or multinational relationships that alter the fact pattern. Indeed, all of us have very unique mind-sets, compounded when there are several people within the system, such as families or business colleagues. And these elements - which I'm labeling 'systems' - cause and create the Partner's landscape.

People/teams are generally unaware that their problems are a direct result of the mix of these very idiosyncratic systems issues. It's the system itself, in the precise way it exists, that has created the problem situation. Indeed, whatever is going on actually looks and feels ‘normal' cuz that's the way it's always been. It's only when a significant problem crops up that people look beyond the conscious-comfortable status quo.

As outsiders, there is no way we can address, manage, or alter those unique internal issues. We just see the results of the decisions made: there is no appropriate training program in place; the person is overweight and facing serious illness; the employee comes in late every day; 20 people are working from a server that handles 5 people.

A solution looks obvious to us; even when a needs-analysis is done it often looks like our solution would solve the problem (see newsletter #51 – Needs Analysis: who is it for?). But no matter how smart we are as outsiders, no matter how much we can see, no matter how right we are, we are still only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

THE TWO STAGES OF DECISION MAKING

Let’s start with one of my basic premises:

Information does not teach people how to make a new decision.

Since most of us use information transfer as a way to instigate change, let me offer you my rationale for the above statement: unless our Partners address their internal systems issues before seeking a solution, they face the prospect of upsetting any elements that hold the status quo together. In fact, there might be chaos if change is not managed appropriately.

In our iceberg analogy, that means until the engineer understands what he’s got to move where, understands the depth and mass of the ice, and understands the water factors, he faces possible destruction of the iceberg if he tries to move it with only knowledge of the tip.

So there is an up-front set of decisions that need to get made in order to consider doing something new, and a secondary set of decisions to determine an appropriate solution.

1. What’s missing and how did it get missing;

2. How can we fix that with familiar resources;

3. What are the full range of internal variables that need to be recognized and addressed before a new solution can actually be embraced.

1. Where are we? What’s missing? - Recognizing, understanding, and managing the complex issues.

If seeing ourselves clearly is that difficult for us, how can we expect oth

Want to Change Payroll Services? Here's What to Expect
Thinking about changing payroll services? Smaller payroll companies often charge substantially less than their larger, nationally recognized counterparts. The main reason for this discrepency is that the smaller companies do not have the overhead of the larger companies, so they can pass the savings along to clients.If decide you want to change from a big-name provider to a smaller payroll firm, or if you are starting a business and need payroll services, remember that smaller payroll providers often offer the same services as the larger companies:One time set-up fee, payroll service handles set-up Payroll customer or payroll service enters hours worked and prints paystubs each pay period Payroll service handles all tax payments and tax returns Payroll service offers electronic services for all transactions--direct deposit, tax forms, tax payments, W-2s Payroll service offers ability to pay sub-contractors with direct deposit, then issue and electronically file 1099s at year-end 3-4 week lead time before processing first payroll with new payroll service Lower monthly rates than the big name payroll servicesNote that some smaller payroll services have the capacity to pay 1099 contractors with direct deposit, a service not offered by nationally recognized payroll firms.If you determine that the smaller payroll service will meet your needs, be sure to have the following information available as soon as possible:1. All previous payroll tax returns for the current year.2. For each and every employee that has worked for your firm during the payroll year, whether still employed or not: Complete name Last known mailing address Social Security number W-4 (for filing status) Hire date Quarte

constructs that maintain the problem – are quite hidden.