What to do About Non Performing Team Members

Peter Drucker once said:

“Executives owe it to the organization and to their fellow workers not to
tolerate nonperforming individuals in important jobs."

My friend Scott Heintzelman, CPA has written an excellent blog expanding on this concept. I encourage you to read it.

Scott's blog: Help, I Want to Fire a Family Member From the Business

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ronald Reagan once said,

“There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits to human
intelligence, imagination and wonder.”

Earlier this year, I sent business owners the book Finish Strong by Dan Green and inspired them to dedicate 2009 as the year to Finish Strong! As we search for way to Finish Strong this Thanksgiving, in addition to being thankful for friends, family and good health, we can be thankful for our intelligence, imagination and wonder. For these are the things that will bring our businesses growth and prosperity during the next year.

Does a Small Business Need Leadership or Management?

The answer is both. Have you ever heard the expression “Too many generals and not enough soldiers?” Well it works both ways. Too many soldiers without a strong general will surely find themselves fighting the wrong battles.

Businesses with too many leaders fail from their inability to manage and implement day-to-day business issues. Likewise companies with excellent managers fail because they did not innovate, motivate, change nor watch for strategic threats.

It’s important to develop managers who can lead and leaders who can manage. So what is the difference?

For example great managers manage costs, inventory, cash flow, processes, information systems, facilities and operations. When it comes to leadership, great businesses lead their people, drive the company vision, guide their team and customer perceptions, and ultimately generate a positive and productive corporate mindset and culture.

As the business owner, you are responsible for leading your business to success and getting your people excited about your vision for the business.

Too often leadership is seen as defining a step-by-step business strategy and expecting people to follow the steps or suffer the consequences. Coming up with a strategy and relying on your position as business owner is not enough.

That model fails you, your team and your business. People will learn to do just what they have to so that they can meet expectations and not lose their job. True leadership is the art of understanding and rewarding your team so that they are motivated to make your business a success. It’s important to recruit competent people who can manage the day-to-day tasks and operations so that you can lead your organization forward.

The final test of your success as a leader is the financial statements. Financial statements are the final result of the accounting process, and accounting can be simply defined as the quantification of business activities. Perhaps business owners should give consideration to changing the name of their income statement from “Results of Operations” to Results of Leadership”.

Measure What Matters

Do your business's internal measurements give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace? Do they judge the success of your company the same way your customers do? Are they leading indicators that have predictive ability, and correlate with value as defined by your customers? If you get what you measure, what exactly, do your internal metrics get you?

Yesterday I attended a progressive CPA course and walked away with a deeper perspective on the different ways to measure an organization’s success.

If you would like to discuss these matters, please contact me. I am ready to have a meaningful conversation on how to implement Key predictive Indicators that matter.

Back to the Book

“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” - Albert Einstein

For many companies and individuals 2009 has been a difficult year. In anticipation of this I started the years out with the message of “Finish Strong!” from the book with the same title by Dan Green and published by Simple Truths.

The difference in success or failure is not chance, but choice. When adversity strikes, it’s not what happens that will determine your destiny; it’s how you react to what happens. That’s what Finish Strong is all about. With just a few weeks left in the year, please take some time to re-read your Finish Strong book, and once again resolve to “Finish Strong!”

With the resolve to Finish Strong, and to enhance my existing Delta4 advisory services and skill base, I will be making a substantial investment in highly specialized training. The program involves a very intensive program that includes:

A feature presentation by Steve Wilkinghoff renowned author of “Found Money – Simple Strategies to Uncover the Hidden Profit and Cash Flow in Your Business”

• Enhancing outsourced CFO services – going beyond the basics
• 10 Stage Business Improvement Program for economically challenging times
• Creating recession proof strategies
• Business succession planning
• Using social networking tools for business
• Working with an association with a global network of CPAs and CAs dedicated to playing an increasingly important role as an advisor to small and medium size businesses to guide them through the process of making strategic business decisions

I am making this investment because as a Delta4 business advisor, my role is not just a tax preparer. But, my role is primary business advisor to help you achieve your vision of success.

If you are aware of any other business owners who could also benefit from looking at their business information in a whole new way and resolving to Finish Strong, please give consideration to referring them to me.

If you have any question regarding this program, please feel free to call me. I consider it a pleasure and a privilege to serve you. I appreciate your cooperation. I look forward to talking with you and exploring all the possibilities with you when I return.

In the mean time, take the time to consider the strengths your business has to get through these times.

BONUS FOR MY BUSINESS PLUS CUSTOMERS – Watch your mail box! In a couple of weeks you should receive valuable tools to help you “Finish Strong!”

Give Your Best

" Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it!"

George Halas

Does your business give its best everyday? Does your business have a strategy in place to continue to give your best and to make your best even better? Are your team members motivated to give their best?

As a business owner, you have the opportunity to work with CPAs who are a members of the Principa Alliance. These CPAs are specially trained and have tools and resources to help you develop a business strategy that you won't regret. And, the offer solutions such as The Team Advisory Board and Towards Awesome Service to get your team motivated to do their best.

TEAM ADVISORY BOARD

Every day your team members are on the front line of customer service. Do your customers experience positive, motivated people who are empowered to help them get what they need, or are they meeting roadblocks at every turn?
If you're thinking of ways to build your business's success, it makes sense to start where the action is—by asking your team!
The Team Advisory Board workshop is a facilitated interactive session designed to help you tap in to your team's collective experience and get a sense of how they feel they can make a contribution, and where they see opportunities for improving your business.
Getting your team's feedback and buy-in is as important getting the same thing from your customers. After all, it's your team who deliver on your business promise to your customers every day. It’s important for your team to be as committed to your business’s success as you are.
By providing a forum for your team to express their thoughts and ideas, you're creating a work environment that gives them a say—and a stake—in your business's success.
The Team Advisory Board guides your team through key areas of your business, such as:

• How they see the business, and their place in it.
• How your team interacts with your customers, and ideas for how to serve them better.
• The business's current systems and process—do they work? And how can they be improved?
• How your business can and does differentiate itself from your competition.
• Your business’s structure—what level of decision making powers do your team members have?

Used in conjunction with the results from a session like the Customer Advisory Board, your team will be committed—and accountable—like never before to deliver a standard of service that will truly delight your customers.
A team that works well together is a fantastic asset for any business, and your customers will really notice the difference.
The Team Advisory Board will help you create an environment that's positive and productive—for you, your team, and your customers.


TOWARDS AWESOME SERVICE

Just some of the ideas and concepts you'll take away from the Towards Awesome Service workshop:

• Create a business your customers love coming back to!
• Create a business your team love to be a part of every day.
• Dramatically increase your customer retention, your team's performance, AND your profits.
• Learn how to move beyond 'customer satisfaction' and into the realms of 'customer delight'.

So if you're ready to take your business to the next level of customer experience—into the realms of delight—then Towards Awesome Service is quite simply a MUST attend workshop.
There's no doubt that businesses that distinguish themselves through service excellence also distinguish themselves with far higher levels of sales and profits.
Towards Awesome Service aims to help you create this distinction in your business so it's more profitable, and more enjoyable—for you, your team, and most importantly, for your customers!
Towards Awesome Service is a facilitated training session that uses a case study approach to teach a unique combination of customer service and business development strategies. Strategies you can apply immediately to achieve real and measurable results for your business.
You'll learn how to easily deliver service that's thoroughly AWESOME!, enhancing the experience your customers have when they do business with you.
So, not only will they be coming back for more—they'll even be referring people to you!At Towards Awesome Service, you'll learn how to generate countless ideas that will make your business really stand out, so it not only becomes more productive and profitable, it becomes a more valuable asset for you!

Brenda Richter, CPA is a member of the Principa Alliance, and is available to provide these and other business advisory services designed to help you to create a business that gives its best.

Have no regrets when it comes to your business.