2012 June

Unexpected Leadership Lessons From A Dairy Farm

This week I am teaching EntreLeadership Performance Series here in Tennessee, and will be finishing the week off with a couple of Formula races in Savannah. I’ve asked some of the incredibly talented commenters of this blog to share their wisdom. Here’s a great post by Aaron Nelson. Aaron is the owner of Epicenter Languages. You can guest post as well! Read how to here.

I grew up on a rural dairy farm in Nova Scotia, Canada. And when I say rural, I mean we were so far out in the middle of nowhere, my best friends were my brother and our 30 cows.

I didn’t realize it then, but all the hard work that living on a farm entails actually taught us a couple of valuable lessons on leadership, which I would like to share with you.

Leadership Is Never About the Leader. 

A dairy cow needs to be milked at least twice every day. If you don’t do it, she will quickly become sick and could even die. A great dairy farmer knows that life literally revolves around meeting the needs of his four-legged, black-and-white-spotted animals. Forget about them, and you’re out of a job. The same is true for your team.

Leaders Lead.

Cows are pretty dumb. If left to themselves, they tend to wander and get into trouble. I remember several occasions spending hours alongside my father rescuing a cow that had somehow managed to get tangled in one of our barbed-wire fences.

People aren’t dumb. But if you stop giving them clear directions, if you quit being there for them or if you start distancing yourself from them, you’ll quickly find yourself having to untangle your team or your business from that “barbed-wire fence.”

It’s been a number of years since my farm days, but the lessons I learned remain viable. Like the farmer and his herd, leaders need their people just as much as their people need them.

Question: What past experiences have taught you about leadership?

A Simple But Powerful Way To Get More Referrals

This week I am teaching EntreLeadership Performance Series here in Tennessee, and will be finishing the week off with a couple of Formula races in Savannah. I’ve asked some of the incredibly talented commenters of this blog to share their wisdom. Here’s a great post on getting business referrals by Joel Fortner. Joel’s company, BlueBridge Communication, specializes in helping entrepreneurs effectively market their business.

It’s a fact. Unless you stink, your business gets referrals. But do you know why?

Sure, great service, price, experience, products matter, but that’s not why people refer your business. They don’t do it to help you out or even as a favor, either. Rather, they do it to make themselves feel good.

Think about it. You have a fantastic experience at a local Italian restaurant. The following day, you get into a conversation about good places to eat. And what do you do? You recommend the Italian restaurant.

Days later, you run into the same person. They tell you they went to the restaurant you recommended and loved it!

What happens then? You feel great about yourself. You don’t, however, feel great about the business owner and how you helped grow their business and provided income to a server there.

No, it’s all about you.

Now why does this matter to you as a small business entrepreneur? If you’re like so many of your peers, you don’t ask for referrals from your customers because it feels awkward. You feel uncertain about their perception of you, like you’re asking for a favor; or you’re afraid they’ll think you can’t drum up business on your own.

This kind of thinking is wrong. People love to refer businesses they love, so don’t be afraid to ask your customers who clearly love you to refer you.

Question: How do you orchestrate business referrals?

This post is an excerpt from Joel’s new eBook, Small Business Guide to Marketing: Ideas You Must Know & Mistakes You Must Avoid. You can get the 30-page eBook for free simply by subscribing to his marketing blog. Click here.

Lead By Living It

This week I am teaching EntreLeadership Performance Series here in Tennessee, and will be finishing the week off with a couple of Formula races in Savannah. I’ve asked some of the incredibly talented commenters of this blog to share their wisdom. Here’s a great post by Laura Johnson. Check out her blog here. You can guest post as well! Read how to here.I’ve been a background person most of my life. And then, I learned to lead. And it is all because of running.

For two years, I was taught how to run from three people who had been excelling at the sport for 30 years. Getting tips from 90 years of experience ain’t bad!

I learned that stretching after is more important; to not lie down immediately after running because it can cause a heart attack; and being able to talk while running is a way to tell you’re not pushing yourself too hard.

I ran so often, the pointers became ingrained. I didn’t even have to think about them anymore. They became automatic.

Then, I started running with a few new runners. They noticed what I automatically did. It wasn’t long before they were asking my advice. How do I pick out a good shoe? What do I do when my body does this? How can I be sure to run the entire distance when I feel like walking?

And, it was easy for us to talk. Why?  I had immersed myself in the running world. I knew what I was talking about. I didn’t have to convince them, they could tell by my actions.

What if we submerged ourselves in the leadership world? What if we read leadership books or blogs (plug here for Chris!), listened to leadership tapes or podcasts, and spend time with leaders stronger than ourselves? Wouldn’t that cause us to grow as leaders?

If we focus more on becoming great leaders, we don’t have to worry as much about how we approach others. It will come naturally. It will affect our professionalism, confidence, integrity, attitude and those around us, too. Everyone will be better for it.

What have you done to become a better leader?

The Seven Best Business Tips I Ever Received

This week I am teaching EntreLeadership Performance Series here in Tennessee, and will be finishing the week off with a couple of Formula races in Savannah. I’ve asked some of the incredibly talented commenters of this blog to share their wisdom. Here’s a great post by Jana Botkin. Jana is an extraordinary artist. You can see her work here. You can guest post as well! Read how to here.

When I first decided to become an artist, all I knew was how to draw. I had more jobs than anyone else. Unfortunately, most were great examples of how not to do business.

And then, along came Shirley Goodness.  In 1990, she opened a gift shop on the main street of our small rural town, population 8,500.

For some reason, Shirley liked me and my artwork. First, she wanted my note cards to sell in her shop, then my prints and finally my originals. Next, she asked me to work for her part-time. Eventually, she made space for my studio within her store.

Most of what I know about business, I learned from Shirley. She understood retail, resale, merchandising, marketing and human nature.

Here are her most powerful lessons on retail that can be applied to almost any business:

1. Make things easy on the customer. Offer to let her take it home and try it out, put things on hold, have a layaway plan, hand him a pen, give her a box to dump her purse into when she can’t find her keys, make sure every picture is ready to hang. Do whatever the customer needs to make a decision to buy.
2. Be discreet. You don’t know if that gift is for a surprise party or that the customer just broke the family budget. Just keep quiet.
3. Presentation is everything. Rework your displays often, take things out of the plastic, gift wrap in a signature style, pay attention to color and scale, use calligraphy if you know it. Make things look as appealing as possible.
4. Even in a down economy, the rich still have money. When a big freeze hit the local citrus industry, Shirley still bought some high-end items for her store. Those with money bought nice things to soothe their worries.
5. Don’t sight-qualify. Some of the wealthiest people drive the worst looking cars. (I may be in danger of getting mistaken for a rich person.)
6. Whatever is next to the beating heart will sell. This is why space by the cash register is so valuable. Whenever Shirley was reworking a display, items would sell before she finished.
7. Be nice to everyone. A total stranger would ask her for a donation, and she’d just smile and say, “I think I’ll pass this time.” You never know when someone will remember your kindness (and your great looking store) and return as a customer.

Question: What are the best business tips you’ve learned from your Shirley Goodnes

Are You A Leader Or A Boss?

This week I am teaching EntreLeadership Performance Series here in Tennessee, and will be finishing the week off with a couple of Formula races in Savannah. I’ve asked some of the incredibly talented commenters of this blog to share their wisdom. Here’s a great post by Lily Kreitinger. Lily’s specializes in helping companies effectively train their team members. Follow Lily on LinkedIn. You can guest post as well! Read how to here.

If you want to find out if you are a leader or just a boss, here’s a check-list that can help based on some of the best examples of great leaders I’ve known.

• A leader has passion, a boss has a title. My dad held a leadership position in a Fortune 500 corporation for more than 20 years. He was a high performer and had an impeccable reputation. He changed the lives of many of his team members, teaching them never to conform or compromise their integrity and always to be on fire because they were serving many people through their work. Passion he had.

• A leader is open to growth, a boss knows it all. Juan was close to 70-years old when I started working for him. He led a nonprofit dedicated to providing consulting and training services to public and private schools and other organizations. He read three to four books a week, and learned how to use a laptop in his 70s. He never stopped learning.

• A leader builds relationships, a boss pulls out the org chart. Iliana was head of Faith Formation at a school. She connected with her team on a personal level. She also disliked having a title. She rolled up her sleeves and got the job done alongside her team. Everyone who worked with her was treated as family. During our time together, she was a trusted mentor and friend.

• A leader praises effort, a boss points out mistakes. Tracy made it a point to check in with her team every day. She never micromanaged, delegating efficiently, and always looked for positive actions to recognize immediately. She knew how to say, “You rock!” and her team knew she meant it.

I love this anonymous quote I recently found online: “If you think you are a leading and no one is following, you’re just taking a walk.” By keeping this check-list handy, you’ll never be “just walking” again.

Question: What are you doing today to be a successful leader?