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REMOVING DEAD WEIGHT
by Karen Hosey
“Change is hard because people overestimate the value of what they have-and underestimate the value of what they may gain by giving that up.” James Belasco and Ralph Stayer Flight of the Buffalo (1994)
When was the last time you stopped to ask, “Why are we doing it this way?” or better yet, “Why are we doing this at all?” We all know that the definition of insanity is to “continue doing the same thing but expecting different results” yet too often we find ourselves engaged in doing exactly that - operating in insanity. Another way to say that is “if you always do what you’ve always done you’ll get what you’ve always got” - that may not be the best grammar but it says what needs to be said. Those questions need to be asked in both our professional and personal lives.
Let me give a few examples we can relate to personally before addressing the business issues.
Gentlemen, when was the last time you cleaned out the tool box, garage or basement and got rid of all the things that you don’t have a clue what they are? If you are like most men, you save every widget, gidget and gadget that you come across. If you put together a bike and there are a few extra screws or lug nuts, in the box they go because they “might come in handy sometime.” Old adapters to things that broke long ago are tucked away “just in case.” You have no room for new or expedient items because the ‘just in case” pile is too large.
Ladies, how many dresses or suits are hanging in your closet because you are going to lose fifteen pounds... hmm, how long has it been since you wore that size anyway? How many shoes do you have that you 1) have never worn but you might if you can find an outfit to go with them, 2) can’t wear because they hurt your feet, or 3) spent so much on you can’t bear to throw them out? Do you really have nothing to wear? Your husband might buy that argument if the closet wasn’t packed to the hilt. How much room for growth would you have if the sizes you can’t wear weren’t taking up space?
We keep things we no longer need because of an emotional attachment or convenience but there is an opportunity cost or a price to pay for every item we hold. To business owners and managers: how many people have been promoted beyond their level of competence but they remain in that position because you’re comfortable with them? How many processes are you using simply because that’s the way you’ve always done it? How many inefficiencies are you allowing to remain because that is where you are comfortable? To pastors: are you maintaining the same order of service because that’s what people expect or because that is what is most effective? Are you offering the same member care services as your predecessors because that is what your members need or because “that is just what churches do?”
While there are many elements of the strategic planning process that should be on going, one in particular, internal assessment, is of great value even if you are not in the full planning process. Here are a five steps you should take to remain free of bondage to dead weight:
Ask “Why are we doing XYZ?” If you can’t adequately answer that question - scrap it.
Evaluate staff based on “Are they in their position because of their level of effectiveness or seniority?” If the answer is the latter or you just aren’t sure, train them first, if that doesn’t work, move them to a position where they will be successful (that may be another internal position or another company).
Bring a team together (of workers and managers) and ask ”If you could create the process for XYZ from scratch, how would you do it?”
Continually ask your staff, “Why are you doing it this way? Is there a better way to accomplish the objective?” (If they say we are doing it this way because that’s the way you said to do it, apologize and then get out of the way. Greater minds may have better solutions.)
Continually ask yourself “Where is the deadweight? What opportunities am I missing because other things are taking up space?”
Require that your managers and department heads continually ask the same questions and have them explain or justify the answers to you. Challenge the status quo. If it can be justified and the results are what is expected, no change is necessary. However, if the justification is based on tradition or if you aren’t getting the output, productivity or results you should be getting, move to #1 above and make the adjustment.
Taking an internal assessment should not wait until you are in the strategic planning process; it needs to be ongoing and consistent. The only thing constant is change, so keep yourself poised to capitalize on it. Do not change for change sake, but change for success.
“The most successful businessman is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good, and grabs the new just as soon as it is better.” Robert J. Vanderpoel
Copyright 2007 ©Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC.
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting and specializes
in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, visit www.zoeconsulting.net
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MARKETING ESSENTIALS
by Karen Hosey
Marketing is something many think they can do and very few do it well, yet, marketing is the cornerstone of any successful business or organization. You can have the best product or provide the best service but if no one knows about it, your dream will remain unrealized. The reason so many fail at marketing is because they confuse marketing with advertising. Advertising is a component of marketing but is not its sum total.
A critical component to successful marketing is market research, yet it is the aspect of marketing that is least utilized by business, especially small businesses. Market research is the key ingredient in truly knowing who your customer is and why they do what they do. Advertising is only as effective as the market research that supports it.
How well do you really know your customer? Once you get past the demographics (assuming your really know that) how well can you answer the following questions?
- My product/service is purchased based on
- The biggest "pain" or need my customers experience that I am equipped to satisfy is _____.
- The decision maker for the product or service I provide is ____________________.
- The major influencer for the decision to buy my product or service is _____________.
- I have a consistent process to solicit feedback from customers for future product development.
- I know for every person that complains about my product or service, there are ______ who didn't complain vocally but did so by taking their business elsewhere.
- I have validated the following demographic information about my customers:
- Age
- Gender
- Race
- Income
- Educational level
- I have identified the following buying trends of my core target market over the past
- Six months
- 12 months
- 18 months
- 2 years
- Trend _________________________.
- My target audience is best reached by:
- Radio
- Television
- Direct Mail
- Internet
- Flyers (if so, list where they should be posted)
- Billboards
- Other_________________
If you can provide detailed answers to all of the above questions, congratulations, you are now ready to develop a marketing campaign. If you were not able to answer all of the above questions, save your advertising dollars and spend them on market research.
From the market research you will be able to identify the next key element in marketing: what motivates the decision to buy. Most people think that logic is the catalyst for buying decisions and in a select few industries that is correct. Those making decisions on technology, medicine or something in the sciences will likely do so on the basis of logic. However, the average consumer makes very few decisions based on logic. A new car or truck purchase is not based on logic, it is based on emotion. How will driving that vehicle make you "feel". Men may say it's the "hemi" engine, but they are not buying the engine - they are buying the emotion of masculinity, strength, power. A woman does not buy a dress based on the quality of the material but how it makes her "feel". It can be of superior quality and value for the price but if she puts it on and she "feels" fat, it will stay on the shelf. There are very few products purchased solely on logic.
The main impetus for purchase is an emotional one that may then be supported by logic as the buyer compares competitors, but even then the competitive advantage will still lean toward the company that does the best job of hitting the right combination of emotion and logic.
Ok, so you've done your market research and you know what triggers the buying decision, now you are ready to begin making advertising decisions:
- Copy - Advertising copy is a critical element of advertising and is often the most poorly done. Your ad copy must contain some key elements: Headline, Hook, Call to Action
- Advertising Strategy - what is the best advertising medium to use? Newspaper ads? Radio? Internet? Direct Mail? Will you include a promotion (not the same as an advertisement)? The answers to these questions must be an outcome of the market research; without the research you may spend many advertising dollars in an area where your audience can't be found.
- Budget - How much do you have to spend? What is the anticipated ROI? Do you have the resources to create and design the campaign or must that be factored into the budget as well?
- Campaign - Research has proven that a consumer must hear (or see) the same thing a minimum of three times before it even registers. The more expensive, difficult, or competitive the product, the greater the need for repetition.
Your logo, branding, customer communications, product design, promotions and advertising are all part of a marketing strategy that must be born out of your market research. True marketing consists of all of these elements.
Try this: over the next 21 days, analyze the advertising campaigns you see. Make note of what programs (for TV or radio) or pages (for print) specific products are advertised around. See if you can determine the target audience based on its placement. Then identify the "hook" in each advertisement and see if you can identify the emotion it is addressing. Then rate the advertisement, especially if you think you are part of the target audience. Just because an advertisement costs big dollars does not necessarily mean it is effective.
Marketing is something many think they can do and very few do it well...take the test and see.
Copyright 2007 ©Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC.
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting and specializes
in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, visit www.zoeconsulting.net
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What is Faith?
by Karen Hosey
During the time shortly after my brother-in-law suddenly went home to be with the Lord, my sister immersed herself in the Word 24/7 in order to get through it. During one conversation she had with the Holy Spirit she asked Him “what is faith?” What came next has stuck with me during hard times and I thought it might help others:
She saw Jesus seated and bowed over. All she could see was the top of his head but she could tell He was dirty and His surroundings were filthy. It was obvious that He was being tormented so she knew immediately that He was in hell. As she looked on she could hear Him repeat over and over in a barely audible voice “For Thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol” (Psa 16:10). Then she heard in her spirit, “That is faith, when you take one word from God and hang your life on it.” Though He often “found Himself in the scripture” as He taught men during His earthly ministry, it was this one word from the Father that sustained Jesus during His experience in hell.
What one word has God given you?
Bill Winston has been doing an awesome teaching on “Speak the Word Only” and “The Law of Confession” (www.billwinston.org) and he shared this analogy:
If you saw an ad in the paper from Sears that they would sell refrigerators for $99 tomorrow and you needed a refrigerator you would probably be outside their door at 4 a.m. to be sure you got one. Now, you don’t know the president of Sears. You don’t know the manager of that store - but you believed you could buy a refrigerator for $99 because you read it in the newspaper. In fact, if you got there and they said refrigerators were not $99 you would probably argue and demand to have one because, after all, you read it in the paper.
He went on to ask why don’t we believe what we read in God’s Word? Why would we believe and act on an article or ad in the newspaper and not do the same for what we read in the Word? Surely the Word of God is more trustworthy than a newspaper! Think about it...
Now, I repeat my question; “What one word has God given you?” If you’ve ever believed and acted on an ad in the newspaper, the least you can do is the same for the Word He has given you! That is faith!
Copyright 2007 ©Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC.
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting and specializes
in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, visit www.zoeconsulting.net
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Hiring the Best
by Karen Hosey
To go beyond where you are now requires several things: A Plan (your strategic plan), your commitment, and having the right staff in the right position. According to the article “How Much Does Employee Turnover Really Cost” one company found it costs $58,000 to replace a customer service representative earning $18,000. While ministries do not typically spend the same amount in recruitment and training, whatever is spent is wasted if the best person for the job is not hired.
Therefore it behooves leaders to hire the best the first time! Follow these simple steps and you’ll be on your way:
Write a job description based on what you need and not the skill sets of your existing staff. Include the skills that are required, preferred or desired. If this is a strategic level position, a minimum of eight-ten years of experience should be required. If this is a position that is new to the ministry and no one there has experience, call other ministries and ask for copies of their job descriptions for that position. Go on line and get copies of generic job descriptions (Google the words “job descriptions” and many sights will come up that will allow you to enter a job title and will provide a truncated description; www.salary.com will give you a partial job description and salary range for your local area for free. There is a fee if you want detailed information; however, couple this data with the primary research conducted with other ministries and you should have a very good idea of what this position typically does and what skills are generally required.) Identify the skills and experiences that are nonnegotiable. Don’t compromise skills on this list. Write interview questions that ask “tell me about a time when…” or “have you ever experienced _____? If so, tell me how you handled it” and not “what would you do…” You want to find out how they have already handled a situation, not get a theoretical response they read in a book. Establish a two-tiered interview process. The hiring manager (the one to whom the position reports) should conduct first level interviews, the final three candidates should be interviewed by the hiring manager’s superior. If this is a new position and no one has experience with that function, you may want to hire a consultant to team with the hiring manager to conduct the first level interviews as the consultant will be able to ask function specific questions while the manager will handle the organizational fit.
Don’t hesitate to require the candidate take a test that relates to the function they will be performing (if testing is appropriate) or ask for a portfolio of past work. For example, if the position needs to know spreadsheets, give them a test using one. If using project management software is required, don’t take their word that they know how to use it. Test them on it. If they have spoken of past campaigns or media programming that they’ve done, ask them to show you samples.
Do not “settle” for the best of the lot if none of them are what you are looking for; it is better to wait than to settle. Out source the function temporarily until you find the right fit. The delay will save you time and money in the long run.
Copyright 2007 ©Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC.
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting and specializes
in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, visit www.zoeconsulting.net
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Hiring for Key Positions
by Karen Hosey
There are key positions in your ministry: the executive assistant to the pastor and directors of departments. After applying the six steps above, below are some critical elements to consider when hiring for key positions:
Executive Assistant: The assistant to the pastor should be a tactician as that role is primarily responsible for execution. Therefore, the job description should be heavily weighted on the ability to analyze data, pay attention to detail, and oversee the implementation of directives to keep the pastor informed of status. (Project management experience and or certification are strongly suggested.) If this person will oversee any departments or volunteer leaders, then prior management experience is a must. Given that the nature of this role is more tactical than strategic, be wary of having this individual interpret or present strategies to you. The information you receive through them will not provide the complete picture needed for you to make a quality decision.
Loyalty is a critical element of this position because of the necessity of being privy to confidential information. If a person has proven himself loyal but does not possess the experience and qualifications needed to be perform successfully in this position, place them in an apprentice mode and send them to school or some training program before releasing them fully in this position. Don’t use their previous positions are justification for promotion to this position. Past performance is NOT a good indicator of future performance - it is simply a reflection of what they have done, not a projection of what they are capable of doing.
Remember, a tactician is not a strategist. If this person becomes a go-between between the pastor and the directors, information given in either direction will be incomplete and even erroneous.
Director: The position of director is a strategic one, therefore those in this position must be strategists. They should be held accountable for helping create the strategies for the overall strategic plan as well as identifying strategies for their department that are aligned with the plan. A minimum of eight - ten years of practical experience in the area they will oversee should be required; this is not a good position for “on the job training” nor is it an entry level position for someone just out of college. In addition to experience in the specific area such as media, marketing, human resources, accounting, etc., management and budget (P&L) experience should be mandatory prerequisites.
Strategists need direct access to you - or, if a conduit is needed, it should be to another strategic position such as Chief of Staff, CEO or CMO (Chief Executive Officer or Chief Ministry Officer). Anyone serving in this position should have ten - fifteen years of management experience (five of which must be on the senior level in a business or organization). As a strategist herself, she will be able to accurately interpret, challenge and analyze strategies presented to her and will also accurately convey the strategy to you.
Copyright 2007 ©Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC.
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting and specializes
in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, visit www.zoeconsulting.net
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Nine Team Building Strategies
by Karen Hosey
Whether you are an entrepreneur or pastor with a small staff or a leader in a major corporation, one of the most critical things you can do as a leader is to develop a “team” and not just a staff. In this era of high-tech/low-touch, team becomes even more important. The presence of a team spirit (or lack of it) is reflected in the loyalty and commitment of your staff. Below are a few ideas that you can do even on a small budget. One important key: at any team building event - NO discussion of work should be allowed. Why? Teams are built around who people are, not their status in an organization. I used to charge $5.00 every time someone mentioned work when we were at an outing or team building event. The first outing I collected over $60 (which was then used to pay for dinner), after a few more times I collected zero which meant everyone was finally talking to each other as people, not as coworkers.
Try some of these very simple strategies and watch teamwork flourish.
- Invite your direct reports to your home for a meal of fun and games. Play Monopoly, cards, dominoes or any type of group game. You will be amazed at the camaraderie and esprit de core that results.
- Take $20 and the team to a garden or craft store and see what creative project you can develop. (Remember the Easter bonnets you made in grade school? Same concept but hopefully something a tad more creative will result).
- Hold your own dog (pet) show, video tape it and play it back on a day when the team is under tight deadline pressure.
- Go bowling or to a sporting event (avoid things like movies where everyone sits in silence).
- Depending on the size of your staff, take a day and go to the park. Host Olympic games such as: three-legged races, egg toss, potato sack races, balloon toss, etc., (if you aren’t old enough to know what those are, call me, I’ll organize it for you). When you create teams, do not do so by department, mix people up. Award points for each event, then award gold, silver and bronze medals to the teams with the highest scores at the end of the day. You may even want to award portions of a day off to the winners (full day, half-day, one-hour, for gold, silver and bronze respectively).
- Spend a day with your team on some community service project(feeding the hungry, Habitat for Humanity, etc.).
- Contract with a team building company and take your leadership team (and spouses) to a three-day retreat.
- Have a baseball or basketball game of employees vs. managers. However, be sure to incorporate non-athletic activities as well for those not physically gifted.
Team building is not a one time event. It should be practiced throughout the year; sometimes for a special occasion like Christmas, other times for no obvious reason at all. And remember, it is most meaningful when done on company time!
The point is, it doesn’t take much to show appreciation but the rewards can be priceless.
Copyright 2007 ©Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC.
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting and specializes
in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, visit www.zoeconsulting.net
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Strategic Planning:
The Best Future is the One You Create
by Karen Hosey
If you don’t know where you’re going…Anywhere is OK
“Would you tell me, please which way I ought to go from here?” she asked.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” was the reply.
“I don’t much care where --” she said.
“Then, it doesn’t matter which way you go.”
That excerpt comes from Alice in Wonderland. The scene is when Alice comes to a crossroads and discovers the Cheshire cat perched in a tree. It’s a poignant reminder that the path we take will determine our destination. Whether it’s the path that we are taking for ourselves, or the one we want to lead our organization on, it really does matter where we want to go.
Planning or goal setting is an integral component to reaching our destination. Some people often spend weeks planning a two week vacation yet no time at all planning the other 50 weeks in the year. Others plan every moment of their day, yet they are no closer to their destination at the end of 52 weeks than the other group. What is the common denominator that is the root cause of “ending up somewhere else”?
There is a saying that goes, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got” – the grammar is not the best but it’s another way of describing insanity, “doing the same thing but expecting different results”. If you’ve ever looked back and said, “how did we let this happen,” keep reading.
There are five basic elements of the Strategic Planning Process:
- As the leader, commit to the process. If you are committed then great results are possible. If you are not committed, great harm can be done and momentum lost.
- Select a team. Everyone need not be part of the team. Be sure you are balanced with strategists and tacticians (you should be the only visionary). Team participation must not be based on title but on mindset and skills.
- Every team member must also be committed to planning, execution and making the time commitment necessary to see it through.
- Establish monthly meetings. The team must meet regularly and consistently to assess the current status and make appropriate adjustments in a timely manner.
- Communicate the plan. Everyone in the company must understand the plan and their role in bringing it to fruition. The Board, top executives, managers, maintenance, warehouse and everything in-between must understand the plan. Create a regular communication process to keep everyone informed of successes, failures and adjustments.
- Hold people accountable. Every person should be held accountable for fulfilling their role in achieving the plan. No exceptions! Responsibility without accountability often results in mediocrity.
- Maintain the PROCESS. Strategic Planning is not an event, it is a process. It must be on going and continual to be successful.
Studies have shown that companies that implement strategic planning can expect at minimum a 12% increase in profits. The greater the commitment to the process, the greater the increase. How high do you want to go? Your future results depend on what you create today.
Copyright 2006-2007 ©Z.O.E. Consulting, LLC.
Permission is granted to copy this article as long as the following information is included:
Karen Hosey is the President and CEO of Z.O.E. Consulting and specializes
in leadership development, strategic planning and marketing.
To find out more about her services, visit www.zoeconsulting.net
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Your Decisions Reveal Your Character
by Karen Hosey
You tell your employee Fran to move forward with a project even though she has expressed concerns and reservations, cautioning that the process slow down until all concerns are addressed. As a result of following your directive and rushing the project, it fails miserably. The Board President suggests that Fran should be fired, or at the least demoted. What do you do?
Your Pastor’s “right hand man” gave you instructions to take a course of action with a vendor that was controversial but you did as you were directed and thought no more of it. You later found out that your Pastor was livid because relationships were damaged. The one who gave you the directive told the Pastor that he didn’t know why you had taken that course of action and that you were operating on your own initiative. What do you do?
Your boss continually “throws people under the bus” in public. As a result, other leaders have begun to adopt the same unprincipled leadership style. You’ve found yourself “under the bus” on several occasions, usually at the hands of one particular colleague. There is now a situation where he is clearly at fault and you have the keys to the bus. What do you do?
Every day as a leader you face choices, alternatives and options. In each situation you choose how to respond; leadership is about choosing behavior and then accepting the consequences. How you handle that responsibility says a lot about your character.
The choices you make must be consistent with your personal value system as well as that of the organization. Quality decision making also means owning and taking full responsibility and accountability for the choice that was made. When you allow another person to take the blame for a decision you made, you have just diminished your leadership and created an atmosphere of doubt and distrust. A true leader is willing to taking the credit for the decision and its results, whether it yields accolades or criticism.
If you are struggling with a decision, ask yourself these questions:
Am I looking at the situation correctly? Are my emotions causing me to read the situation inaccurately?
Are organizational values conflicting with my own? If so, how do I resolve that? If my true motive for making this choice came to light, could it cost me major embarrassment or even my job? Could this choice cause my boss, my family, the organization or my colleagues embarrassment? Is what I am about to do or say straightforward? Am I misrepresenting anything, attempting to deceive or giving misinformation? Did I answer these questions truthfully?
What’s Your Legacy?
What legacy are you leaving behind? When people leave organizations their former colleagues generally remember them by a singe sentence: Sarah was really a hard worker. Joe was a good guy. I never trusted Michael.
How do you want to be remembered? What do you want people to say about your character, pattern of behavior, impact and overall influence? Write your own one-sentence character legacy. Then work your way back to the present and establish a plan that will get you there.
This article is adapted from Building Character: Strengthening the Heart of Good Leadership by Gene Klann (Jossey-Bass, 2006). Used with permission from the Center for Creative Leadership
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