Over the last few years, we have had the opportunity to work with a wide range of family businesses. As students of formal business education, we have had to learn to adapt to the family business environment because it differs from that which is associated with Corporate America. From that experience,there are a number of ideas which we would like to share:… Read the rest
When the almighty created each of us he threw away the mold. No two us have the same personalities, think in the same way, or are motivated by the same things. This is one of the great wonders of the world, but it provides us as leaders with some difficult challenges. Why do people react differently to what we say? Who is best suited to handle a role in our group? How do I best motivate an individual? Let’s consider a better way to answer these questions.
Physiologists tell us that there are four general dimensions of behavioral styles; decisiveness, interactive, stabilizing and cautiousness. Part of what makes each person an individual is their unique combination of these four dimensions of behavior.… Read the rest
David Allen is quoted as saying, “You can do anything, but not everything.” In the process of building growth plans for various size businesses, there comes a point where the team begins to put together ideas for the future. Those plans are expressed in terms of goals and action plans to support those goals. Members of the team tend to be optimistic about their future or they would not be invoked in such a planning process. The result is a list of plans and ideas which are far beyond the capacity of the organization to accomplish. At that point, priorities have to be established.… Read the rest
One of our passions at RLS Focused Solutions is to help businesses be successful and 
sustainable. Each business must define for itself what success means. It may be just to make a good living or it might be to grow and prosper. Our definition of sustainability is that it will be prosperous, not just at a point in time, but well into the future. We are one of approximately 600 worldwide members of Resource Associates Corporation who has reported the results of work done to determine the difference between successful and unsuccessful business people. Let us consider their findings.
There comes a day in the growth of a business or organization where the owner or founder must hire people with the expectation that they will help to contribute to its growth and success. This is true whether the hire will be working in the shop, taking orders at the front counter, writing software, or managing a part of the business. So often the entry of this new employee results in negative results. The manager and the new employee are frustrated and disappointed. With this hiring, comes some new skills which the leader must master to produce the desired results. Let us start with the assumption that the interviewing and selection process was done well and the new employee arrives for their first day on the job.… Read the rest
I have often been part of a civic group discussing how to assist the growth of small businesses in the community. The word entrepreneur is commonly used by members of the group, but it seems that the term means different things to different people. Some define an entrepreneur as anyone who goes into business for themselves. That could be anyone who decided to start a business cutting lawns or washing cars. These are all noble businesses and do provide income for their owners, but it seems that this type of entrepreneurship is not the type celebrated widely. There needs to be more to it than providing a service or several jobs.… Read the rest
In two previous articles, we discussed results-based leadership and some of the possible methods of making that happen. I want to share with you some of the thoughts written by the late Peter F. Drucker in an article entitled What Makes an Effective Executive published in the June 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review. In this article, he provides excellent insights into the development of your leadership style. His analysis is broken down into three major categories with steps within each. They include:… Read the rest
What goals do you have for your next conference or business meeting? Why go through the time and expense of bring a group of employees together? Why do association members want to spend their time and money coming to your annual meeting? It just can’t be because we always do it.
Here are some possible goals you should consider:
The video below show the content of a one-hour workshop to be used for business or organizational meetings. The video is 15 minutes in length and indicates some of the subjects covered in the workshop. Our workshop are not lecture but are facilitated sessions where the participants don’t just sit and listen but become actively involved. Consider for comany meetings, amnnual associatioon meetings and lunchand learn sessions. Contact us for more information.
bob@plangoals.com