The news may seem to be filled with stories of business people with no morals.  This, however, is a different kind of story (and I suggest that the world is just as full of this kind of story as the other, they just don't get the same kind of press partly because people seem to seek justice more than they wish to recognize honor).  This is the story of my brush with Mr. Harold "Hal" R. Wing.

Just over nine months ago, I had the privilege of meeting Hal Wing.  We had arranged for his presentation to a group of about 90 people eager to learn about entrepreneurship.  Mr. Wing did not disappoint.  He arrived early - probably because there's a lot of open road here and, yes, he was in one of his famously fast sports car (a Porsche to be exact)!  He set up for the "show."  I had only asked him to come talk about entrepreneurship, bit it was indeed a show.  Both inspirational and impressive. 

Mid-way through his presentation he climbed to the top of a Little Giant ladder and demonstrated how he had yodeled his way to success (he really did yodel from a ladder in the early days in retail demo areas to garner the attention of the crowd - but that's a story for another time).  Latter, he declined to have lunch because he didn't eat lunch - hadn't done so for years.  Said that in the early days he became accustomed to living in his car, working hard, pinching pennies and simply ate one meal per day and spent the rest of the day selling his ladders.  That one-meal-a-day thing stuck (and that one meal is apparently not lunch).

I found myself wondering, exactly what kind of guy is this?  Doesn't eat lunch.  And, here he is, in his seventies and yodeling atop a ladder in an entrepreneurship presentation.  As I thought about it, I realized this is a man of great integrity.  He adheres to what he believes.  He teaches by being, not just by saying (thus he was atop a ladder).  He didn't say, be energetic, he was energetic.

To me, integrity is truly making one's actions consistent with one's beliefs.  It takes real discipline.  It is a virtue.

I believe integrity had been his way from the very beginning and point to this evidence as published in CNN Money.  After starting and growing a company that was grossing well over $1 million per year, Mr. Wing, experienced a reversal of fortune.  The article states:

Of course, the company Mr. Wing started (and then restarted) has grown to be worth much more than that today.

So, I pay tribute to Mr. Wing.  He passed away earlier this month, August 6, 2012.  May he rest in peace.

Auggggh!  I saw it again.  I hate to see something as important as a family be torn by strong disagreements in the operation of the family business.  Here's a good little 30-second list that from www.RuralUtahBusiness.com that may be useful in avoiding this sad situation.

I have a friend whose company has done better and better in spite of the downturn in the economy.  I have several friends like that in fact.  But, the friend I’m thinking of gave me the opportunity the other day to revisit a simple business principle.  He called and told me how they were growing and hiring new employees and people were taking on new responsibilities.  He then lamented over the difficulty of getting people to do what they are supposed to do and do it right.  I reviewed with him five simple pieces of the puzzle that must always be present if you wish to have people manage themselves effectively.

1.       Clearly communicate the DESIRED RESULTS

2.       Provide and discuss GUIDELINES

3.       Put in place all RESOURCES needed to get the job done

4.       Establish a means of ACCOUNTABILITY.  How and how often will you hold them accountable?

5.       Discuss and commit to stand by CONSEQUENCES - positive outcomes for successful execution and negative consequences if not.

The FranklinCovey course, 7 Habits for Small Business Managers, refers to these five components as the essential pieces of win-win performance agreements.  When we do this well, we lay claim on the mantra for Habit 4 – Think Win-Win.  The mantra for Habit 4 is “Let them manage themselves.”  Unfortunately, if we neglect any one of these five keys to a win-win performance agreement, “letting them manage themselves” can be an absolute disaster.  All five are critical.

So, in which of the five key factors was my friend derelict?  Accountability.  He hadn’t really held his people accountable, and he knew it.  He understood the principle well.  But, there is a big difference between understanding and applying.  He thanked me for the conversation and advice.  I thanked him for letting me provide some guidance and offered further help.   That’s the joy of being a business counselor.  We get to do the fun part, and our clients get to do the hard part.  But, when they do it well, their payoff is tremendous.  And ultimately, when the client's business soars – that is the true payoff for me!

 I recently worked with a client company that had gone through significant ownership changes.  As a result of new management which instituted tighter controls and not-so-well-received changes, employee morale was a challenge.  Such are the growing-pains of companies that reach that point of being a good acquisition target for other firms.  This also occurs in family business transition situations.  Of course, there are a myriad of other things which can also drive morale down. 

I worked with about a dozen of the company’s top management team members over several days.  We discussed principles that may help them with a solution.  Ultimately, they wanted people to “love to come to work” again – like they used to!  So, the team determined that they had to make the changes that would help their employees value coming to work.  About halfway through one of our discussions, the team uncovered an important discovery I hoped they would find – that it is impossible to know how to help another's morale, unless you first consider what they value.  What makes them tick?  At that juncture, the whole conversation turned.  Managers stopped projecting what they wanted and started to really try to see what the employees wanted.  The management team began to think of their employees as “people” not just employees.  What could they do to treat them as “people” to really consider their interests and needs.   Then they began the process of finding natural solutions that the employment environment of their company could offer which may help those “people” get what they wanted – and no, it is not just a good paycheck.  People want work to not conflict with their personal goals.  Some people want autonomy.  Some need recognition.  Some need to find deeper meaning in their work.  Some need to be challenged.  Some seek personal development.  Eventually the team had lists of several ideas posted around the room.

Too often we view things as only choice “A” or “B.”  We get caught in the trap of feeling it is either your way, or my way.  We forget that there may be other alternatives, better ideas that none of us have yet discovered.  This experience was energizing.  They had paved the way to several possible solutions – none of which were superficial or short-term.

It reminded me of the classic management article by Ralph Stayer, titled ‘How I Learned to Let My Workers Lead.’  Mr. Stayer was the CEO of Johnsonville Foods, Inc.  The article was published in the Harvard Business Review in 2001, and remains an excelling case study for small businesses today.  If you are challenged by this type of problem, stop in to your nearest library or take a minute to find it on the internet.  Then, get a few Johnsonville bratwursts cooking and enjoy an interesting read!  Cheers.

I have long admired Stephen R. Covey.  This summer, on the day he passed away, I took time to reflect on how his teachings have impacted my life.  I then began again to read (actually listen to) his bestseller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.  When classified as a business book, this collection of well-crafted, life-changing principles holds the distinction of being one of the bestselling business books of all time (at over 20 million copies sold).   Why would it be classified as a business book?  Because it is based on principles of effectiveness, which principles permeate nearly every truly successful business enterprise.

To Covey, the essence of effectiveness is centered around what he calls the P/PC balance.  “P” is production and “PC” is production capability.   It’s a simple principle that business owners often neglect.  Covey explains how this principle is captured in Aesop’s fable of the goose and the golden egg.  In the fable, greed and impatience drive the farmers attention from the goose, to the golden eggs and, alas, the farmer kills the goose hoping to get all the golden eggs out at once.  In other words, he focused on production (the golden eggs), at the expense of production capacity (the goose). When business owners focus so intently on results (production) that they fail to take care of their assets that produce the results (production capacity), soon, capacity dwindles to the point that results suffer.  For example, employees are burned out, equipment is poorly maintained, the financials and books neglected, marketing is shoddy and the result is lost customers and lost revenue.

One of the best ways I have ever found to maintain this P/PC balance is to schedule time for working ON one’s business – otherwise all our time is spent working IN the business.  You know, head down, run, run, run ... pant, pant ... run some more.  

For most business owners, time is not found, it is made.  We have to carve time out.  That’s sometimes one of the greatest benefits of having a scheduled class to attend or a set appointment with a coach or an adviser.  So, here are three tips to help you with this most difficult hurdle of carving out the time you'll need:

First, you'll probably have to off-load something else.  Identify something you can delegate or stop doing and replace it with a specific "work ON your business" activity - something to bolster PC. 

Next, communicate your goals to those around you - whether in your business or not.  Find a mentor or one of your peers who would be willing and able to advise you, or at least receive a report from you on your progress with working ON the business.  Then schedule a regular time to visit with them, like lunch on the first Thursday of each month, or a set time for a phone call, etc.  Then calendar it.  Put it on your schedule and treat it as a high priority - for it truly is.

Tip number three: When you are sitting in your office reading an industry trade journal - let your people know that's what you are doing and how you expect it to better enable you to lead the organization in the right direction.  Soon, they will begin to expect you to lead them by tending to those things that are working ON the business - not just IN the business.  They will value it and that will help you continue.