Business & Professional
CAREER COACH
E TIPS
This, TO"N
H
ave you ever heard the
ancient folktale about King
Solomon, who attempted to
humble one of his most trusted min-
isters by sending him on a search for
a magic ring that did not exist?
As legend tells it, Solomon told
his minister the ring had
powers. If a happy man
looks at it, he becomes
sad; if a sad man looks at
it, he becomes happy. The
minister searched and
searched and searched
and, in the end, he came
up empty handed.
Along the way, how-
ever, a jeweler — know-
ing no such ring existed
— inscribed a gold ring
for the minister to give to
King Solomon with the
Hebrew expression, "Gam
zeh ya'avor," or "This too shall pass."
A surprised Solomon read the
inscription, immediately realizing all
his wisdom, wealth and tremendous
power were fleeting things because
one day he would be nothing but
dust.
The message of this tale is quite
poignant today and we should keep
in the back of our minds every day
that "this too shall pass." These are
new times that present new chal-
lenges and no one knows what to
expect. We don't know how long it
will take or how bad things may get,
but the economy will turn around
and things will get better.
I've written it before, but I must
repeat it now. It is time to get into
survival mode.
There is no time to sit around
and watch things get worse. Just do
something now to get the business
back later. You can staff up when
things turn around. Don't waste
your energy feeling sorry for your-
self. Instead, take positive steps to
prepare for an increasingly volatile
business climate.
Times of great loss present unusu-
al opportunity. Go out and seek these
opportunities, whatever they may
be. Keep a laser focus on what your
customers really need and make
sure you continue to run a tight core
business. Revise pricing to reflect the
state of the economy and stay close
to your customers. You must always
C8
March 19 • 2009
ass
be in sales mode.
Stay focused and lead from a posi-
tion of reality. Look for growth pros-
pects and new business. Kick up that
positive attitude because it can, and
it will, go a long way. Please don't
complain and certainly don't whine.
No one wants to hear it.
Find something good in
the face of adversity.
Step up the network-
ing a notch. Get in touch
with old friends through
letters, e-mails or phone
calls. Meet for coffee. The
Internet makes it easier
than ever to network. Try
to reach out to others
through the latest online
social networking tools
like Facebook, Twitter
and Linkedln. Start a blog
focusing on your business
expertise and send it out to your
online network.
When one door closes, another
one always opens — if you are there
to walk in. Stay and make it happen.
Seize the moment. While we can-
not predict this economic downturn's
impact, we can take positive steps to
prepare for an increasingly volatile
business climate.
Focus on short-term goals, reward
yourself for hard work and find the
entrance to your next big break.
Often people look for excuses as
to why things are the way they are.
They procrastinate.
If you think you cannot do some-
thing and take on that mindset, it
could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Remember, action is a better out-
look on life. Do something every day
and don't wallow in self-pity. If you
want to be someone, only you can
make it happen. Yes, "this too shall
pass. 3, —
Robert Sher, CPA, is a certified execu-
tive coach and former CFO and partner
for Schostak Brothers & Company,
Southfield. He has been a delegate from
the Michigan Association of Certified
Public Accountants to the National
Future Forum working on the CPA
"Vision" Project. He serves on the boards
of numerous charitable and professional
organizations. His e-mail address is:
info@bobshercom.
T
oo many companies, large
and small, struggle with a
major gap between goals
and results. They come up with great
ideas and bold plans, but then noth-
ing turns out the way their leaders
predict. Why does that
happen? How can execu-
tives learn to make realistic
strategies and then turn
them into reality?
The problem starts
because business people
aren't taught to think about
execution as a discipline,
one that includes much
more than simple tactics.
Over the 25-plus years
of my own career, I have
found that execution is the
most important job of any
leader, from a CEO to a
department head.
Any leader who views his or her job
as setting a vision that others must
implement is sure to face an execu-
tion gap.
The difficult part of all this is to •
develop a culture in which everyone
gets used to vigorous
questioning, tough-
minded analysis and
relentless follow-up.
Leaders at such
companies are deeply
and passionately
engaged and don't
duck the hard ques-
tions when things go
wrong.
They put a pre-
mium on intellectual honesty, realism
and accountability. They know the
difference between being hands-on
and micromanaging. And they know
that if the people who work for them
can't embrace an execution culture,
they might be better off working
somewhere else.
So what are the key elements in this
process? No surprise: People are the
big key.
We all have people, but the right
people who understand and do the
right things is key.
I was taught very early in my
career to have a thick skin, to be hon-
est, to tell it like it is and to focus on
the customer — and to be ready to go
toe to toe with people to be sure what-
ever you look at or do keeps the right
focus on the customer and executing
to perfection.
• People. The job of selecting and
appraising people is one that no
leader should ever delegate. When all
is said and done, it will be
people that either under-
stand and buy in or refuse
to make changes or imple-
ment the changes needed. It
is key, then, to get the right
people and make sure you
maintain the right people.
Tools that allow for first-
round testing, normally to
get a sense of personality,
may be useful, but strong
leaders also need to get that
"feel" first hand to deter-
mine if a person fits the
team. Never delegate that.
• Strategy. A great strategy comes
together block by block, following
vigorous debate among key leaders
who should never defer to the boss
when they have reasonable objections.
What seems to have become a norm
in many companies is the idea that
you are a team player
if you show up at the
meeting, listen and
then just go back to
your office cube or
whatever. No way!
If you really want to
execute, there has to
be strong, healthy
debate on why are we
doing this. Are there
alternatives? The
key is debate. A respectful discussion
makes the plan better and makes it
work.
• Operations. Once you have the
right people and an overall strategy,
the next step is creating a realistic
operating plan with specific pro-
grams, actions and clear accountabil-
ity. Such a plan breaks down the long-
term goals into short-term targets
that will force hard decisions to be
made across the organization. ID
A great strategy
comes together
block by block,
after vigorous
debate.
F Kevin Browett is chief operating officer
of Jewish Renaissance Media, parent com-
pany of the Detroit Jewish News. He is a
former vice president of Kmart Corp. and
a past small-business founder and officer.