PD Strategies Blog

Positive outlooks lead to positive results. Attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and values make up a culture. Every organization has a culture, but the real question is whether it is a culture that produces positive outcomes. If it does not you may need an intervention to help sort out the culture you have versus the culture you want. Attitudes drive culture. Zig Ziglar said it best, “Your attitude determines your altitude.” The fact is that people do not put enough emphasis on how attitude affects performance. As leader you create the inspiration and model the optimum behavior. An organization that has a positive vision and values, and that has leadership that lives and promotes those values is creating a positive culture. But if there is a negative attitude at the top the culture of the organization is doomed. There is a strong link between attitude and performance. Let’s start with defining what attitude...

We are a nation of small businesses. And many of our small businesses are privately held or family owned. Hopefully these business owners for the business to carry on after they have left the business. Sadly, many have not made any plans and by not doing so they are planning for their business to fail one day. Suppose you started your business years ago and you have built a profitable business for you and your family. Your children are now working in the business. What will happen when you exit? Many parents do not have a plan in place for when they exit the business. There are number of steps that should be taken to prepare. These include legal, financial, and preparing the next generation to take over if they want to work in the business. In the first two areas you should work with an attorney and financial planner who...

It has been over a year and a half? Business have found new ways to engage employees and customers. However, among all of these changes we hear, “When can we get back to normal?” The answer is, “Maybe never.” Let’s face it … we have always lived in a changing world. EVERYTHING changes and we can adapt to the changes. Or we can get out in front and be the change. But first we have to realize that change is never easy. One of the key reasons change might come hard has a lot to do with one of the tools your brain uses regularly. This tool helps you get through your days with the speed and accuracy you need without getting bogged down with minutia. This tool is called habit. Think about this for a minute. How many daily activities do you do without thinking about them? Let’s take your...

I mentioned previously that you don’t employees, but you need the right employees. You do need to make sure, of course, that they are the right fit. But what if you make offers to people that fit but they turn the offer down? It is time to look in the mirror and check your Employee Value Proposition.  An Employee Value Proposition explains why a highly qualified employee would want to work for your company and why that highly qualified person would want to stay. This Employee Value Proposition would be tied to your strategic plan and include your vision, your values, and, your mission. The values should include such things as social responsibility, ethical conduct, and reputation. All three together establishes your organization’s culture. Can you describe your culture? Every organization has a culture. Question is this. Is it the culture you want? The Employee Value Proposition EVP matters. Although people...

Has this happened to you as you are growing your business? You are so involved in every little detail that you have missed some emerging opportunities. Every entrepreneur certainly knows that details are important and staying on top of them is very important. The devil is in the details as they say. You would not have gotten your business this far if you had set specific goals and took every action step. There comes a time when you hit a growth wall. You can’t do everything yourself. Time to hire someone. Are you ready to delegate to the person you hired? I know, you are worried about all the details. Is this person going to do it as well as I can? I have to say that if the person can’t do it as well you then you will not grow, and you may lose business. It is your job to...

Some people thinks that organization will solve their time management problems. Maybe. But organization and time management systems or software is not the cause. It is goals, priorities, and motivation. When my clients in Westchester County New York tell me that they have problems with time management I ask them why. They talk about issues they are having, and I ask them why they are having those issues. Think about something for a minute. Have you ever found a time when you got so much done and had time left over? On the other hand, have there been times when you think I am never going to finish this? In either case you will find it had more to do with your goals and priorities than systems and procedures. Systems and procedures cannot create more time. There are many books that tell you how to organize your time. You can buy...

In this current environment it is an employee’s market. Help wanted signs are everywhere. There are shortages of supplies and services because employers can’t get help. Or can they? The important objective is finding the right people for the right jobs. Finding the right employee begins with a process to define what deliverables or actions lead to success. How do you do that? You need to start at the beginning. What is your vision, values, and mission? You much only select people with these shared values. This is where many organizations fail. They look for specific things that they believe are important, but they fail to see the big picture. For example, an employee leaves and the knee jerk reaction is to fill the open spot. The hiring manager searches for candidates that have the same skill sets as the person who left or was fired. The manager limits the search...

Have ever been in an organizational environment where you heard someone make an observation, “who appointed him to be in charge?” You may have also heard the statement, “Leadership is not given, it is assumed.” This statement illustrates important elements of leadership. You gain recognition as a leader by showing the way for others and by leading by example. Follow me, not do as I say. You may have the management role with the authority but there is a difference between power and authority. As the owner or manager, you have the authority by virtue of your role. However, your power is granted by those on your team or those you supervise. Have you noticed there are always certain people who are sought out or considered “go to” people? They may have no title at all, and people seem to value their opinions and respect them. These are individuals who have...

A collaborative team is more than likely lead by a leader who is a consensus builder. Rather than win lose they empower others and work to seek consensus. Strong leaders have courage to challenge the status quo and point out failures in the organization. They develop and coach others and build positive collaborative relationships. Teams that are high performing are collaborative. To illustrate the importance of team collaboration let’s consider a flock of geese. A flock of geese has a common goal – fly south for the winter. They can get where they’re going much easier by using the strength of the group – they fly in a V formation to add 70% greater flying range. They stay in formation – if a goose falls out of formation, it immediately feels the drag and quickly returns to the formation. They take turns doing the hard work and sharing the leadership role...

Are you having trouble restarting but can’t find the cause of your problem? If you are having this issue, you are not alone. I receive calls like this from business owners often and much more often now. It is my job as the business doctor to learn the symptoms and then diagnose the problem. During my consultation I ask questions, listen for answers, and then ask some more questions. As an example of symptoms, here are some statements that I hear from the owners. Our sales have begun to level off.We can’t get our employees motivated.We are getting more customer complaints.We have new competition. While these sound like normal business problems there is no simple answer for them. It is important to look and the whole picture rather than make a reactive fix. It is better to take a proactive look. It would be a mistake to treat the symptoms rather...

Retention of employees is a major concern of Westchester employers. The changes in the last year have necessitated taking a new look at accountability. Accountability is a two-way street, and it is important for team members to understand WIIFM (What’s in it for me.) Today’s team members want opportunities to grow and develop and have real accountability for results. Creating accountability by developing an employee value proposition takes planning, effort, and management commitment. Here are a few things you can do to start. Establish expectations from the start. Help orient your new employee by helping him or her to understand the big picture for your organization. Share the organization’s vision, values, and mission along with the organizational goals. You will have more success if you are as transparent as possible. To have employee “buy in” the employee needs to first know what he or she is buying. Make sure that your...

Business has changed dramatically since the pandemic and subsequent shutdown. Prior to the shutdown business was brisk. You have had some strong business growth, but reopening does not guarantee of future results will be the same. The best way to predict the future is to create it. Go for a strong restart with a jumpstart. Begin with the basics. Make sure your vision, values, and mission. Redefine your business objectives, goal categories, and your SMART goals. The execute and monitor. You may have heard the expression, “If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it” What you measure is just as important as having and plan and executing it. For example, many business owners are familiar with the acronym EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), or more simply said profit. But that, again, is a measure of what happened in the past. It may not predict what will happen...

If there is great success the credit is given to the leader. Likewise, if there is a problem, or worse, a disaster the leader is blamed. Harry Truman had a sign on his desk that said, “The Buck Stops Here.” Leaders set the tone, and direction, and mode the behaviors. They lead by example. Positive results are the result of positive leaders. Show me an organization that functions very well, and I can show you a positive engaged leader. I recently asked a group of employees what was wrong with their company. They replied, “We need positive leadership. We need leadership with people skills.” It is important to have the management skills for a job but there are many smart managers who fail. In most cases it is the lack of interpersonal skills, empathy, emotional intelligence, and leadership worth following. Let’s start with you and your personal leadership. Ask yourself these...

You have defined your vision, values, and mission. You know what your business objectives are and you have defined your goal categories. Now it time for goal planning and goal achievement. So let’s get to it! A goal must be worthwhile to you and must motivate you. What are your biggest dreams? Do an inventory of your dreams and put them on paper. Visualize them and verbalize them. This will build the motivation to achieve your goal. If you have made goals in the past and have not achieved them one reason may be that you did not have a burning desire and, therefore, you were not driven to achieve them. New Year’s resolutions fall into this category many times. When you think about your life, your daily journey, how well do you plan and organize it? Your life’s journey is the MOST important trip you will ever take. So why...

Employees who are accountable are already invested in their jobs and the organization. How does that happen. First of all, as Jim Collins says, you need to get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats. It is very important in the first few months to establish rapport and engage them in an onboarding process and to establish standards and expectations. Establish expectations from the start. Help orient your new employee by helping him or her to understand the big picture for your organization. Share the organization’s vision, values, and mission along with the organizational goals. You will have more success if you are as transparent as possible. In order to have employee “buy in” the employee needs to first know what he or she is buying. Make sure that your expectations are clear and concise. If you don’t...

Another way of asking about your driving forces is asking you what motivates you. Motivation comes from within and that means that you cannot motivate another person, but it certainly would be good to know what motivates that person. Knowing that you can create a spark to ignite their inner fire. That inner fire will drive motivation. That inner fire or passion is your WHY and this comes from the driving forces that motivate you. If you do not have the WHY then the HOW will not matter. Knowing what motivates you is a key to achievement and knowing how to find motivation in others is a key to leadership. Dwight Eisenhower said that leadership is getting others to do what you want because THEY want to do it. Reach down and find that motivation and bring it to the surface. What is your passion? Do you know. You could take...

There is plenty of fear out there right now but don’t let fear deter you from your goals. Playing it safe and taking the path of least resistance is a choice many people take. But taking the safe course of action may be more risky than stepping out there. You may lose an opportunity, your competitive edge or your business when you play it safe. Someone else may replace you while you are in your comfort zone. This is the takeaway. There is risk of acting but there is also risk of inaction. Being fearful of acting may be much riskier that taking that action. How many times have you said, I should have, I could have, I would have? I recently coached a Westchester County NY business executive. She wanted to advance in her career, but she was playing it safe and waiting for the right time. What could she...

What do you think the stress level is at your workplace? Every workplace has stress. Management should be concerned about the level of stress in the workplace. Some people have personal stress the carries into the work life. This could be any number of things such as home problems, health, financial worries, and the like. It is wise for management to have outside help available rather then getting involved with employees’ private issues. A good EAP (Employee Assistance Program) can be obtained through an outside provider. However, this conversation is about workplace stress brought on in the workplace. Being challenged at work can escalate into having a highly demanding job. Often a result of poorly designed jobs, stress resulting from excessive demand happens when workloads become overwhelming, or skills or talents don't match the position. That being said, here are 7 workplace factors that might be causing stress with your team....

If you are promoting team members based on current experience and success you could be setting them up for failure. A first line supervisor who performs very well is not destined to be a great middle manager. Unfortunately, many times we think that there is one set of skills that pertain to leadership. The most common mistake is taking an individual performer and promoting that person to supervisor without any training at all. The newly promoted supervisor still sees the jobs of the people he or she is supervising through his or her own individual performer lens. What is needed is an understanding of motivation, leadership and interpersonal skills in addition to knowledge of the job. But it does not stop there. All leadership roles are not the same at all levels. Managing other managers is different from managing individual performers. According to Lawrence Peter, author of the Peter Principle, companies...

Dwight Eisenhower said, “Leadership is getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” It is difficult to have sustainable success by forcing people to be accountable. It is better to create the motivation and culture so that staff and team members want to be accountable. If properly done you can discuss results, build pride, and change behaviors. Noticing failures and offering help to someone struggling can build a sense of pride in the team member. However, by avoiding we only have continued failure. Doing nothing and avoiding accountability is not an option if we want to create growth through improved results. How does a manager hold members of the staff responsible for performance? What about an employee who needs help but fears asking for help? The results can be devastating when we fail to have accountability discussions. The book, “Crucial Confrontations”, by Kerry...