Friday, December 30, 2011

Success = Attitude + Habits

SUCCESS requires CHANGE
in ATTITUDE and HABITS
Welcome to 2012!  It's a bright new year, full of opportunities and enjoyment for those willing to embrace new ways of doing things.

The greatest bar to success is the inability to change.  The old saying "If you only do what you have always done, you will only get what you have always gotten -- only less" is absolutely true.

Just as Dickens' Christmas Carol discusses the past, the present and the future, business leaders need to consider the entire continuum of time -- and decide how much they want success.

THE PAST



Your organization's past may not have been as positive as you wanted it.  Many times, organizations fail to understand that they are "over-investing" their energies (as well as their cash) in only HALF of the "KASH BOX".

THE PRESENT
Every day, you have the opportunity to "turn the page" and make SURE that you spend EQUAL time with ATTITUDE and HABITS as well as KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS.


So, how much should YOU INVEST in YOUR ATTITUDE and HABITS? Consider the "TEBOW EFFECT":

"He just wins."  "God doesn't win games for him, his attitude and his hard work are what wins."

A positive attitude -- backed up by total diligence and hard work are what have allowed "a guy who shouldn't be in the NFL, let alone be starting quarterback" to have success. Tim Tebow isn't a "miracle," He just believes he can win and works hard at it.

What's the business lesson here?
Tebow has invested EQUALLY in both halves of his KASH BOX.  He studies the playbook and he practices his quarterbacking skills, BUT he also developed the habit of focusing on a POSITIVE ATTITUDE and being faithful to his HABITS to win.
____________________________________________________________

THE FUTURE
What About the Future?
Is your business running at it's highest "value"?  Not just efficiently or effectively but "valuable"?

HOW CAN YOU TELL if your business is performing at optimal "value"?

It's Simple  -- Always focus on the "sale" of your business.
Whether you think at the end of your run you want to sell your business or transfer it to family or employees or simply sell off the assets, you need to PLAN to build your business so you can SELL it when you want -- for the amount you want.

If you want to reap the rewards that come from balancing the KASH BOX investments YOU'RE making AND develop a business you sell -- you need to contact LMI Columbus.

We have the tools and the processes to help you not only BALANCE the investments you make in YOUR KASH BOX, we can help you get the FUTURE YOU WANT by enhancing the total ROI from them.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Poor Leadership Skills =
Business Cost, Waste and Even Failure!
Here are three of the most vital areas of business leadership.  Displaying adroit and well-planned efforts in all three will virtually guarantee success.
  ·  Lack of leadership in one will cause issues of cost and  
      continuity
  ·  Mistakes in two will have serious negative consequences
      and jeopardize the organization’s long-term viability
  ·  Mismanagement in all three will cause total failure – sooner
      rather than later

Unhappiness is EXPENSIVE

Years of studies have shown that the number one reason -- 85% of the total -- BOTH customers and employees leave a company is – “They just didn’t care about me” – because of LEADERS who DON’T appear to care!

Unhappy Employees
  Leadership Objective:
   Cut Down Turnover

Skilled and experienced employees are vital assets. Not doing a good job of hiring, training and nurturing human assets can be VERY costly, and possibly terminal.

The expense caused by unhappy employees leaving is a CONTROLLABLE COST.

Employee turnover drains your organization of time, money, and talent. It costs employers 30-100% of base salary (depending on skill level and market conditions) to replace experienced employees.

Costs of turnover include:
   ·  Covering the position while it is vacant
   ·  Recruiting, interviewing and training a replacement
A study by the Saratoga Institute -- a leading turnover and retention research organization -- shows enhanced leadership skills can cut the costs of voluntary turnover by up to 1/3.

Unhappy Customers
Leadership Objective:
  Retain Customers

According to research published in the Harvard Business Review every 1.3% increase (or decrease) in Customer Satisfaction scores = .5% increase or decrease in revenue.

Better leadership can generate a 3% to 4% improvement in customer satisfaction scores and a corresponding 1.5% increase in revenue growth.

UNPRODUCTIVE WORK HABITS
Leadership Objective –
Increase Productivity

Psychologists have estimated that most employees are using LESS THAN 30% of their true potential. That means they are WASTING around 70% of it on non-productivity activities.

Multiple research studies show that employees who have a POSITIVE attitude can increase productivity by at least 30%.

Happy, WELL-LED and WELL-SUPPORTED employees -- who have the right direction, the right tools and resources and who feel supported in their desire to do good work -- will, in fact, work more efficiently and produce MUCH more.

Want to know what YOUR costs may be?
Based on the research cited above, take a few minutes to discover the impact of turnover, customer satisfaction and employee productivity in your business.

** Calculate your potential turnover loss - multiply your average salary by 50%.  Are you ready to pay?

** Calculate your potential customer satisfaction gain – multiply your sales by 1.5%.  Do you know how to increase your Customer Satisfaction score by 1%?

** Calculate your productivity improvement – multiply your total employee salary by 10%. Do you know how to find that wasted productivity?