We Elected A Car Salesman

I’m amazed. After forcing Wagoner of GM out of the CEO role, our President is now asking us to buy GM cars and promising that the US Government will stand behind the warranty and repairs. Am I dreaming? Somebody wake me up!

Business with Meaning

I’m speaking this weekend at a Business as Mission conference in Philadelphia. From a faith perspective, the short version is learning to deliberately connect our businesses to what God is doing around the world. Even for those who don’t necessarily share a Christian worldview it is still a great idea to ask what the purpose of your business is and what good it’s doing in the world. Trying to answer these questions is a difficult but healthy struggle.

Is the Splurge Working Yet?

President Bush had the surge—the media asked if it was working. President Obama has the splurge of seemingly unlimited federal spending, borrowing, buying, spending, taxing, did I mention spending?, etc. Is it working yet?

EFCA

The so-called “Employee Freedom of Choice Act” (which eliminates secret ballots for unionization and replaces them with an OPEN ballot where everyone gets to see how an employee votes) is a very real threat to employers. This brazen attempt to intimidate workers into joining unions when they may not actually want to is of real concern to employers everywhere—especially small business. In the spirit of “Find the Pony in the Pile of Manure” we need to get creative and figure out how to help our clients and prospects avoid what should be the Employee Frightened to Cave-in Act. At the very least, contact your senator and tell them that you oppose this job-destroying action.

The Power of Priorities

The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The problem is that the main thing is a moving target and changes. What is the main thing today may be “so last year” by next week. Two things are required to manage this volatility. First, clear core values, i.e.  a solid understanding of what is truly important to you (personal) and the organization (corporate). Second, ruthless re-prioritization, i.e. constantly asking what is the most vital thing that I need to do today.

I Am The Brand

Unless you work for a giant company that spends large amounts of money on PR and brand development, save yourself the heartache. Here’s some really good news. To most people, YOU are the brand. The company name, logo, slogan, brand promise, etc. are nice but relatively meaningless. It’s YOU. Make yourself ubiquitous. Start your own blog. Put your name out there. Build meaningful relationships.

Quit Waiting for “Someone” to Fix It!

15 years ago I was working in the newly independent Republic of Kyrgyzstan. There I saw firsthand what socialism can do to a people. Unemployment was over 50% and despair was the emotional currency.

I remember a brilliant young financial guy named Ivan. He had been the CFO of a tractor plant; the plant closed with the collapse of the USSR. I asked him what he was going to do and would he consider putting a team together to re-open the factory entrepreneurially. His answer was “Someone will come.”

Guys…NO ONE’S COMING! No one is going to fix this. Quit waiting. Quit worrying. Do something. The one thing that has always separated America from the rest of the world is the wild-west, pioneer, get out of my way spirit. If we wait, we lose. If we worry, we are weak. Get up and act! Today!

Don’t Let Surveys Take YOUR Place

We are surveying our clients—new ones (as soon as their first billing) and existing ones (every quarter). And we get good information from those surveys. However, NOTHING TAKES THE PLACE OF PERSONAL INTERACTION WITH YOU!!! Get time with your clients to “dig deep” into their needs, our relevance, and our performance. Ask the hard questions and listen to the hard answers. It takes courage but it’s the very best way to live out the reality that GOOD IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Are We Having Fun…Yet?

I remember being called into my boss’ office and reamed out for “having too much fun in my division” (which happened to be outperforming all the others 2 to 1) and “having people lined up to transfer into my group.” Am I the only one who thinks there’s something wrong with this picture?

Look, I get that times are tough. And being down doesn’t make them better. So why not re-introduce the idea of fun into your business—pranks, jokes, games, laughter, energy. If you have to go through tough time, foxhole humor is a pretty good way to do it.

The Victimization of the American Government

At last, a nation of victims has managed to elect a government of victims. Blaming has replaced solving (if you think the current epidemic of stimuli is a solution then your an idiot). Blame Bush. Blame Wall Street. Blame the rich. Blame the 2%. Blame the Chinese. The poor, powerless victims in society have filled the halls of Congress with victims—except these victims have power, a power they are using for vengeance and personal gain rather than calling America to personal responsibility.

The fact is that we are in this predicament because we have chosen to be. We have overspent, over charged, over bought, over lived. And now that it’s caught up with us we are not man enough to accept the consequences of our actions.

Relevant Solutions

It’s not a solution unless it’s relevant. If it doesn’t impact a current, real, and realized need, you can’t sell it. Do you wonder why your prospects won’t see you? Do you wonder why your clients don’t seem to call you as much? Maybe because they view you as “last year’s answer.” They are dealing with this year’s problems—strike that, today’s problems and they need today’s solutions. Retool. Get out of the box. Change the way they perceive you. Or fade away into irrelevancy!