Quad Cities Business News

Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, & Dewey/Humboldt

You are here: Home / Archives for Business Cents

Business Cents

Bringing Your 2020 Vision into Focus

By Leave a Comment

Many of us consider the stroke of midnight into the New Year to be some sort of magical reset button that comes with snow flurries and a kiss. I happen to be one of them. However, turning that magical moment into everyday life usually takes a little more than fairy dust, like a bold decision, courage, perseverance and a pathologically unshakeable belief that what you want to achieve is not only possible, it’s inevitable, and it’s already here.

Clean Up That Lens

It’s hard to have 20/20 vision when your lens is blurry, so now’s the time to get crystal clear about what you want to accomplish. In her book, “What Self-Made Millionaires Do That Most People Don’t,” author Ann Marie Sabath says successful people know they have to believe “It” to see “It.”

If it’s hard for you to believe something you can’t see, create a visual and keep it in front of you. Some people make a vision board. Or how about building yourself a business card with the title you wish you had. Maybe wait to hand it out, but keep it on your desk, look at it every day and let it sink in. I’ve known authors who keep a self-drawn book cover in front of them until they finish the book or even put an outline together. And, there’s a wonderful meeting facilitation instructor in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, who writes her own daily horoscope!

Another powerful action item to consider is identifying those who have already achieved what you want to do. Hang out with them and/or study how they did it. With role models in sight, you know what you want to do is humanly possible. As astronaut Sally Ride said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.”

No matter how outrageous your idea, you have got to see it, want it and feel it deep down in your eye sockets. Don’t hide it like that secret bar my friend, Vicki, sets up in the laundry room when the in-laws are coming over.

Pry Open That Third Eye

Visionaries meditate, and without getting into chakras, energy points or other mystical things I don’t understand, many successful people vow that meditation opens us up to insights and seeing the possibilities that our other two eyes can’t.

I can feel the eye-rolling already from those who know me best. I don’t call myself a meditator for the same reason I don’t call myself a tennis player. I practice both and try really hard. My meditating gurus, audiologists Drs. Karon Lynn and Debbie Kelly, can attest to this, as can my 4.0 tennis friends.

Nonetheless, I believe meditation is important because really smart high achievers, like New York Times bestselling author Jen Sincero, say it is. In her book, “You are a Badass,” she says meditation helps set your intention. Among other benefits, she says it relaxes us, relieves stress and strengthens our ability to focus and hear our inner voice. “Your thoughts and beliefs dictate your reality,” she says. “You have to change your thinking first, and then the evidence appears.”

Meditation can help us change our thinking by calming down the skepticism in our brains long enough for a new reality to move in and take up residency.

Just Say No to Perfectionism, Pink Gingham and Other Bad Patterns

As a 12-year-old learning to sew, I was taken by a pretty pink gingham pattern wrapped around a bolster in a fabric store, which I believed was charming and fitting for my 6-year-old niece, not for a pre-teen, mind you, but for her, it would be great! I lovingly ironed, cut and stitched this oh-so-cute gingham cloth into a ruffled frock. My kind big sister dressed my niece in the garment, took a picture, and I never saw her wear it again.

I tell you this story because not all patterns are flattering. For example, I’ve never met anyone who wears perfectionism well. Perfectionism is a pattern, and if you have it, I suggest you hang it right back up, stuff it in the closet and never take it out again!

Perfectionism can paralyze us from daring to make a move or ever completing a project. In the newsroom, staring too long at a blank page is mind-crippling. Journalists on deadline can’t afford to be perfectionists and neither can you.

Eyes Wide Open in the New Year

Long-time Arizona newsman Bill Close once asked me why I did something. I can’t remember what it was I did that he was questioning, but I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget that this was a trick question. Naively, I started in with my explanation, which he cut off in his thundering anchorman voice. “If I want excuses, I’ll go down to the …,” which was somewhere he thought people weren’t trying very hard.

Gentler bosses might say something like, “How can we learn from this mistake?”

Scientists commit to a career fraught with failure. These are called “experiments.” Acknowledging what doesn’t work is probably a very healthy way for all of us to move forward toward something else that does.

“Do one thing every day that scares you,” is a quote often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt. She probably was not suggesting that we be foolish, but rather that we feel the fear and move ahead anyway. Doing things that scare us pushes the boundaries of our comfort zone and helps us grow and gain confidence.

I’m not a look-before-you-leap kind of person, but perhaps we can all look with eyes wide open to the possibilities and simultaneously leap after something we dearly want in the New Year. And if rose-colored glasses help us see what’s not there yet, by all means, let’s wear them, just not with the pink gingham frock. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens 

Bonnie Stevens is a public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com

Leaders Don’t Waffle When Waffles aren’t the Right Decision

By Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever gone to lunch with someone who couldn’t decide what to order, you know the pain of indecision. While you, everyone else at the table and the server are quietly on standby, that individual is thoughtfully considering whether it’s a quinoa-bowl kind of day or a full-on loaded burger event.

President Theodore Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.”

So, following Roosevelt’s advice, you have to go with the quinoa. But some decisions are more difficult. I once knew a National Forest supervisor who was leading hundreds of employees who were feeling the punch of an emotionally charged public campaign against the organization. Although the insults were directed at national policymakers, local workers were feeling like they were getting beat up every day by the bully in the schoolyard.

The situation was so disruptive that the region assembled a public relations crisis management team to assess the problem and offer a strategic response. The team came back with its best three plans and made a presentation to the forest leadership team. The group was moving toward one particular plan of action; however, the person at the top wanted more time to think. The next day was oddly quiet, as many waited ready to launch onto whatever path this supervisor was willing to take.

Finally, when pressed for a response, he reported back that the best path was to do nothing, not a public education campaign, not a meeting with those individuals outside of the organization firing loud insults, not an internal motivational seminar, not even a chicken nugget of inspiration. Nothing.

What many don’t realize, doing nothing is a decision; just as “no comment” to the news media speaks volumes.

As one would expect, the verbal attacks persisted and the public servants continued to feel pummeled. You can imagine how a constant barrage of abuse and no apparent support from leadership can affect morale, health and productivity.

In business, we are all constantly being served up a vast menu of options. However, research shows successful leaders can quickly sort through choices. They make decisions and move forward promptly. Here’s how they do it.

They identify the problem.

This may sound simple, but the real problem can be buried under a pile of symptoms, just like it’s sometimes hard to find the salmon bites under a plate of linguini. Babbitt Ranches President and General Manager Billy Cordasco says, “With environmental concerns, we do this a lot. For example, a large, destructive wildfire is a symptom of an unhealthy fire-adapted ecosystem. Focusing on the problem until there are no symptoms to be addressed is solution oriented.”

They narrow the field of solutions.

Having too many options can be overwhelming and create analysis paralysis. It’s like having a food truck of entrees when a “small plate” of wontons will do. Having a mentor, a sounding board, an advisory council, an experienced consultant or a wise friend with exquisite culinary taste can sort through the choices and make a case for a few good options. Consider the last time you were asked, “Does this make me look fat?” Wouldn’t you rather have a few reasonable choices from which to select? Successful leaders narrow the field of acceptable solutions. They also know that black is slimming.

They don’t look back.

Leaders exude confidence and motivate those around them. They form a plan and move forward. That’s because they’ve done the mental work of following the path of possible decisions from beginning to end. I once participated in an experiential leadership course in Northern New Mexico. One task demanded teamwork and strategic planning to move everyone in the group through a maze of ropes, without touching a single fiber, in an allotted amount of time. This exercise was extremely effective in teaching the importance of thinking through an entire plan of action before implementing it physically, and then following through. Leaders have confidence in their decisions because they’ve already done it once in their heads, they don’t over-analyze and they aren’t afraid to take action.

If they make a bad decision, they make another decision.

You may know companies, relationships or governments in which individuals spend valuable time trying to find out who made that bad decision. The blame game is not fun, wastes time and creates a culture of fear. Ultimately leadership is always responsible. If action doesn’t lead to the desired result, it’s time for a different action. The quickest way to move forward is for leadership to acknowledge the problem and make another choice. I’ve found it especially effective to just claim the mistake, whether it’s yours or not. This pulls everyone off the dark path of blame and hyper-speeds them onto the glowing road of action.

Decisive leaders quickly assess the problem and possible solutions. They choose and communicate clear direction supported by reliable information, and motivate others to achieve a desired result. If further information reveals the decision was flawed or new circumstances require a change in direction, they make a new decision without looking back at who’s to blame, unless Karen orders raw oysters for the team again in a country without a food and drug administration. QCBN

By Bonnie Stevens

 

Bonnie Stevens is a public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.

Everything Has a Life: Knowing When to  Leave What was Once Good

By Leave a Comment

Waterbeds. These were pretty “far out” in the ‘70s. By the late 1980s, one in every four or five mattresses sold in the United States was a waterbed. But almost as fast you could say “Tempur-Pedic,” waterbeds in the ‘90s floated out of sight, man.

And this is why your dream job may eventually keep you up at night.

Everything has a life. If you think of yourself as a product, let’s say a fax machine, it’s easy to understand why your first week, month, even years on the job were amazing. You were clever, efficient, innovative, helpful and usually uncomplicated. As co-workers discovered your value, you probably felt pretty good about yourself and the office was a great place for you to be.

But then, change snuck in, or so it seemed. The funny thing about change is we often don’t see it coming, even though change might be driving right through the middle of our office in a bright yellow submarine blaring In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.

Change can roll in with a new CEO, a different group dynamic on a board of directors, an economic downturn, a health concern or even a change of heart. I’ve witnessed what looked like a whole community having a change of heart during local elections.

Change can feel like you’re not a starting player anymore. Maybe you’re not involved in strategic team meetings all of a sudden, and may not even be included in the email to wear the jersey on game nights.

Change can be painful, but it doesn’t have to be, especially if you remember that everything has a life. That’s a beginning, a middle and an end.

Industrialist John D. Rockefeller said, “Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go after the great.” The wise business professional understands this concept and recognizes when he or she is receiving strong signals that a job, product or relationship is reaching its expiration date. And, that’s an excellent time for you to be in charge of change.

Now hold on, I can hear you saying, “Things aren’t that painful. Not every day. And anyway, it’s hard to find a good-paying job with benefits, for someone my age, with my responsibilities, in this field, in this town, in this lifetime, on this planet, with allergies to fluorescent lights…”

And while I’m sure all of these statements feel real and true, I’m reminded of a friend in the oil and gas business who left an $800,000 a year job with AMAZING benefits because of a concern about the leadership’s integrity. Some core values just didn’t match up and it made him feel sick to represent the company to clients who trusted him. And, guess what? Shortly after leaving, he landed a million-dollar-a-year job, also with amazing benefits.

Motivational books are full of stories like this. The worse your circumstances, the higher the stakes, the better the story. And then you can write a motivational book!

I know many very successful, balanced, intelligent professionals, just like you, who have made the hard decision to leave a “good” job and take a risk for something better for them, and not necessarily for more money or even the same amount of money. It could be more time with family, less stress, a completely different career, being around positive people, going back to school, surfing, baking bread, rescuing prairie dogs, becoming a Pilates instructor…there must be a million better things to do!

What I don’t remember hearing are regrets. Not one.

We all have that parallel fantasy life we visit sometimes where we’re doing exactly what we really want to do, working with incredibly talented and kind people, can hardly sleep because we are so excited about every minute of the day, being treated like the rock stars we are and getting rewarded handsomely for it.

Make the decision now. Leave good enough in the same place you left your waterbed, and chase down that latest dream.

If change is pushing, the universe is calling, and it’s probably an important line to answer, unless it’s a fax. QCBN

 

By Bonnie Stevens, QCBN

Bonnie Stevens is a public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.

Volunteers are Not Free

By Leave a Comment

It’s been said that time is our most valuable asset. So, it’s an incredibly precious gift when someone volunteers to give it away. It may be providing labor for a project, like building a home in a developing nation; or offering expertise, like when retired business people volunteer for organizations like SCORE to mentor budding entrepreneurs; or serving people in need, like dishing up meals at the Flagstaff Family Foodbank.

Volunteers are found in non-profit organizations and for-profit businesses. But Keith Davenport, a public relations executive who has been in charge of massive events for Disney and the Olympics, reminds us that volunteers are not free. “They need food, t-shirts, praise. Moments before the event should be the most exciting and inspirational,” he said. “I want this to be an amazing experience for everyone involved.”

Fill a Sandbag, Change Your Life

There are many reasons why people volunteer. Here are three:

1

It’s good for your health. Global Vision International (GVI) says studies show that helping others takes our minds off of our own problems. The GVI website states, “Your stress levels start to decrease, your immune system is strengthened and your overall sense of life satisfaction increases.” A friend of mine reports she pulled herself out of depression by exiting her pity party and volunteering for a mental health facility to listen to others who were suffering. She says that’s the moment her healing began. 

2

It’s an opportunity to give to a cause in which you believe or something for which you have a passion. Animal lovers on the island of Kauai volunteer at the local shelter to take a dog on a hike. Surfers in California and New Jersey take kids with cognitive and/or physical disabilities out on their boards through The Best Day Foundation.

3

  It builds skills and can boost your career. Volunteers come with a wide variety of talents or none at all. It’s likely you’ll learn some things that can be listed on your résumé later, and it could be a great networking opportunity. Relationships happen while filling sandbags.  

Costs Associated with Volunteers

The idea of recruiting volunteers always seems to sound great – especially for organizations that are low on funds and have work that needs to get done. But managing volunteers is a job. Plenty of organizations have paid positions, “Volunteer Coordinators,” who do this. When volunteers are out building trails around Flagstaff, Williams or Sedona, you can be sure someone in the Forest Service has set up the trail-building event, has identified tasks and locations, is providing tools and safety gear, has arranged transportation, put together a risk assessment report and will have first aid, water and snacks available. And no doubt, someone in HR has written a job description for both the coordinator and the volunteer. All of this takes time, expertise and money.

If you haven’t thought through the process of organizing volunteers and assigning specific tasks, you’ll learn in a hurry that you’ve asked people to stand around and look at you, waiting for direction. This is a pretty uncomfortable position to be in and a horrific waste of human resources.

Volunteers need and want something in return. it might be free admission to a concert, exercise in the outdoors, a meal, time with a Disney princess, a merit badge or class credit. They most certainly may also need and want a motivational talk and a celebration at the completion of the project. Sometimes a verbal thank you is enough; often, a volunteers’ lunch and awards ceremony is in order.

When Volunteering Doesn’t Work

Volunteering is a wonderful thing, but volunteering does not work in the workplace. For example, when someone says, “I’ll watch the phones for you while you go to a doctor’s appointment, or attend a workshop, or visit your grandmother,” it doesn’t really matter what the reason is, when someone “volunteers” to fill in for you at work, the stage is set for payback or resentment.

 I’ve worked for more than one organization that gives the “teamwork” speech at the annual company picnic about how we’re all in this together and how we help each other out because that’s our culture. That’s a setup for failure. It leads to unrealistic expectations and what I call “assigning responsibility without authority.” 

 Let’s say your job description requires you to accomplish some task, but your position is not equipped with staff to get the work done or funds to pay for hired help. Reminding co-workers about the field day where everybody bonded over rope climbing drills and thus, “you need to stop doing your job and help lead a factory tour for a troupe of traveling mimes from our sister city because the company says ‘we’re a team,’” won’t get the job done. You have no authority to expect others to participate in accomplishing the goal; yet, it’s your responsibility to lead the company in international mime visits and you will be held accountable.

 I can only remember one supervisor in 25 years of public relations jobs who had the foresight to add “public education and outreach” into everyone’s job description. Even if you worked in computers and rarely spoke to humans, you could be held accountable in your annual evaluation for participating in activities that engaged with the public about the company’s mission, products or services. It became everybody’s responsibility because everybody’s job description said so. Some charter schools require students to perform so many hours of public service before they graduate. Sure, they are volunteering, but they are also receiving something in return.

 Volunteers are wonderful, but they aren’t free. It’s important to think through the true costs before posting the recruitment fliers, or asking a co-worker to attend that meeting for you while you’re doing so. QCBN

 By Bonnie Stevens 

Bonnie Stevens is a public relations consultant. She can be reached at bonnie.stevens@gmail.com.