The Heart Of Business

By Craig S. Galati

One of a leader’s most important roles is to help others keep things in perspective. A leader must help his colleagues and employees see the big picture. It’s hard for people that work all day on specific tasks to connect those tasks to the larger objectives and goals of their organizations.

Most businesses have strategic plans, objectives, and goals that they strive to complete in any given time period. How does Joe in Accounting know that his work is helping to meet those goals? In many organizations, he doesn’t know and that is not because he doesn’t want to. I’ve found that in general people want to be part of something and know that they contribute to a larger whole.

When people are working on any given task and they get caught up in the details of that task, sometimes they get too close to it and have difficulty seeing beyond what they are focused on. When they encounter a problem or issue during this state of mind, it can seem insurmountable. A leader can help them change the perspective of how they are viewing the situation and help them put the problem into context so the person can move forward.

Following are some techniques to help you and others keep things in perspective.

Give clear direction: When engaging someone to work on a task or project, clearly explain how the task connects to the larger objective. This will help the person you are working with see beyond his task to work toward the higher order goal or objective.

Many leaders are true visionaries and they can only see the big picture; they do not know the path or steps to get there. By clearly explaining to others this big picture view, the people you work with can help more effectively by asking questions which will lead to the appropriate path.

Don’t direct how, tell them why: People work in different ways, styles, and paces. Tell them how to do something and you may get good results. Explain them why they are doing a particular task and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Every time that I dictated the “how,” that is exactly what I got–a watered down version of what might have been. By letting people develop the path to get to the objective, they most often will get to a higher-order solution than by just being told “what to do.”

Help people step away from their work: When I am confronted by a daunting task, it is always helpful for me to step back and view the the whole project. It helps me to be reminded of the larger objective and how my task fits in and supports that objective. I find it difficult to assess whether I am making progress when I am focused on the small details. There is an old saying: “he can’t see the forest for the trees.” A leader can help teach people how to step away and look at the entire picture.

I’d like to hear from you:

Until next week…

Craig

With the Thanksgiving Holiday upon us, I thought I’d deviate a bit from the column and share an essay from my soon-to-be released book, “The Incoherent Rambling of a Man in Transition.” I hope you enjoy it.

As Americans hustle and bustle about—traveling, cooking and gathering family and friends, I ponder the origin of Thanksgiving.

As we learned in school, the Pilgrims were grateful for what the new world provided them.  And they were astounded with the help they received adapting to a new way from a different people.  The Pilgrims, being smart and concerned for their survival, opted to invite their neighbors over to thank them and ensure peace.

But what has happened since those days?  As Americans, why didn’t we take the Pilgrims’ cue to heart?  Why have we let Thanksgiving deteriorate to “just another

I submit that Thanksgiving should not be just about connecting family and friends, but could be a great opportunity to fuel the bonds of people of all ages, races, genders and social status.  The opportunity to share a feast with people you don’t know could start something special—something that

While this simple gesture could be good for

What if we really could develop true appreciation for the things we have instead of just wishing for more?  Let’s try to appreciate the simple acts of our friends and co-workers as a start.  Let’s start cherishing the time we have together, the fun we have together, and the opportunity to really give thanks.

The Pilgrims came to this country to escape persecution.  They came to start a new life.  That should inspire us to think differently this Thanksgiving.

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for!

Until next week…

Craig

Is it just my perception or is life getting faster?  I long for the days when tasks didn’t overlap each other, when there was a weekend, and when the work day didn’t begin at dawn and end in darkness.  But, I can’t slow down.  Too much to do.  Too busy, again.

I don’t think I’m the only one who’s too busy.  Every place I go, when I ask people how they are doing, the response is “busy.”  And then they follow up with some quip, “better to busy than slow, better than the alternative, ha ha.”

Why are we so busy?  Is it possible that we’ve forgotten how to prioritize and focus on the important things in our lives, instead of focusing solely on urgent tasks?  It is a vicious cycle and a hard one to break, but if we don’t begin focusing on the important things in our lives, there’s a good chance that we’ll always be too busy.  To begin focusing on the important issues, we need to clearly understand what we spend our precious time doing each day.

Years ago, when I attended a time management seminar, the instructor asked those of us in the class to keep track in great detail how we spent each hour of each day for two weeks.  I thought that this assignment was quite absurd at the time, but since we needed to report back to the class in two weeks, I complied.  It was astounding how much time I spent doing useless tasks and responding to other people’s crises.  These tasks kept me from doing the things I held as important, but because my tasks weren’t urgent, I put them on the back burner.

I suggest that you try this exercise, even if you don’t think you need to do it.  My guess is that you’ll be astounded, too.  You will probably find yourself turning on your computer, checking your e-mail, and before you know it, two hours will have passed.  You’ll probably find many other things you do on a daily basis that keep you from focusing on what you want to do with your life.  After the exercise is complete and you know the activities on which you have been spending your time, the real work begins: changing your behavior.  As you may suspect, this is easier said than done.

Here area a few ideas that I have tried:

Focus on the important tasks first:  Each day you will be confronted with things to do and people to see and talk to, including people who rely on you for various reasons that don’t fit into your description of important.  Set aside a time of day for these things that are important to others but not necessarily to you.  But make sure you have first been able to spend significant time on the issues you deem important.

Organize your task list:  Stephen Covey gave us an excellent tool in his book “ The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”  He suggests organizing  tasks by the following four categories:

1.  Not Important, Not Urgent
2.  Not Important, Urgent
3.  Important, Urgent
4.  Important, Not Urgent

Obviously, the key is to work on the important tasks.  We will always have important tasks that are urgent, but as we focus on the important tasks that are not urgent instead of the not important tasks, the theory is the important tasks will not grow into urgent status.

Let your colleagues know what you are doing:  Enlist help from your colleagues.  Let them know that you are trying to organize your time to be more effective.  Ask for their support and negotiate the amount of time and when you will be able to spend time together to help each other.

These simple behaviors might be difficult to initiate, but if you stick with them, they will yield results.  The more you develop these new habits, the less “busy” you will be.

I’d like to hear from you:

• Do you have an example of someone who is exemplary in his or her time management? • Does that person use any special techniques that you have observed? • Have you seen these techniques manifest into any specific behaviors? 

Until next week…

Craig

The Heart of Business

By: Craig S. Galati

I’m not sure why, but it seems to me that we like to talk more than we like to listen. In our society today, it appears that talking is even valued more than listening; but over my 25-year career in business, I’ve gotten myself in trouble more from opening my mouth than from opening my ears.

Why do we feel a need to voice our opinion so readily and constantly, even when we are not asked?

In order to better understand why we feel this need to voice rather than listen, perhaps we need to go back and look at our educational system. Remember when we were in elementary school and class participation was part of our grade? Remember how class participation was determined? I don’t have empirical data to support this conclusion, but my sense is that class participation was determined more by how much we spoke up rather than on how much we listened. The child who sat, listened, and learned probably didn’t get high marks in class participation, yet he’s probably the one who learned the material. Others, however, received praise for class participation, even though they didn’t pay as much attention to the subject because they were too busy formulating their questions, judging the material, and mentally constructing and defending their positions.

Fast forward to business today. The ability to truly understand a situation is paramount to your business’s success. This understanding does not come from talking, but from listening. It’s not too difficult to surmise that business success is dependent upon how well one listens.

If so many of us are poor listeners, and we developed these flawed skills so early in our lives, how do we now become good listeners? I believe the answer lies more in our mindset than in our skills. We need to want to be good listeners before any training will help us. Besides, if we don’t change our mindset, we probably won’t listen to a trainer either.

Each one of us has different reasons why we don’t listen well. To find them, we need to look deeply into ourselves. Some common reasons and how they are embodied include:

• Insecurity (the louder the person talks, the less he knows about a subject)
• Arrogance (the person who thinks he already knows what is going to be said)
• Ignorance (the person who doesn’t know he isn’t a good listener)
• Disinterest (the person who doesn’t care what you have to say)

There are a whole host of reasons. The key is to be honest and find your situation.

Another phenomenon of today’s society that keeps us from paying attention and listening is multi-tasking. We are doing too much at any given moment to listen effectively. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal entitled Yes, Sell My Stocks. No, the 3:15 From JFK. And Get Me Mr. Sister, by Jared Sandberg illustrates this point.

Sandberg tells the story of a gentleman who, while on the phone booking a reservation, is also e-mailing his colleagues regarding an important matter. Neither thing he is trying to accomplish turns out very well. This story illustrates how we all make mistakes when we are not paying attention to the task at hand. And yet we continue trying to juggle too many things at once. All this multi-tasking keeps us from listening effectively.

To be effective at anything we do–especially listening–we need to focus and concentrate on what it is we are doing. Because if we continue to live life without listening well, just think of all the things we’ll likely miss.

Some suggestions:

• When you catch yourself multi-tasking, think about how you are short-changing each task.

• When you are having a conversation with someone, suspend your urge to talk, and instead concentrate on what the other person is saying.

• Focus on what the other person is trying to tell you instead of on your experiences with the issue.

I’d like to hear from you:

• Do you have any tips on how to listen more effectively?

• What do you do and how do you feel when you know the another person is not listening to you during a conversation?

• Do you catch yourself not listening or being pre-occupied with something else? How do you overcome it?

Until next week…

Craig

The Heart of Business

By Craig S. Galati

I recently attended a Las Vegas Chamber luncheon entitled, “The Fiscal Wake Up Tour.”  Wow, the speakers sure got my attention!  The people who spoke–David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United States; Robert L. Bixby, Executive Director of The Concord Coalition; Alison Acosta Fraser, The Heritage Foundation; and Isabel Sawhill, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution–were all from different backgrounds and political parties, yet their message was the same: the economic stability of our country is in serious jeopardy.

We already know that the population of the United States is aging.  Baby Boomers are reaching retirement age, while at the same time, less people are entering the workforce than in previous generations.  Couple this with rising healthcare costs and unfunded mandates such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and you see the problem.  Throw in the public sentiment against raising taxes, flattening revenue, aging infrastructure, and unfunded state and local retirement and healthcare plans and our debts continue to escalate well beyond our revenues to unseen proportions.

One of the most interesting parts of the presentation dispelled myths that I held as true about our country’s financial situation.  I believed that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and legislative pork projects were the major contributors to our growing national deficit.  I learned that removing all pork spending and eliminating the entire Defense Department barely makes a dent in the deficit over the long term.  Today, more than 40% of our federal budget is made up of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.  And that is with Baby Boomers just beginning to retire!  These programs have grown faster than revenue and will continue to outstrip our economy’s ability to fund them.  By comparison, the entire Defense Department makes up 20% of the federal budget today.

Another important point of the talk was the assertion by David Walker that there is a deficit in this country larger than the federal budget deficit–a deficit in leadership.  This notion of a leadership deficit made me think of the following:

The government will not be able to solve the problem:  Our current system of government is not set up to solve the tough issues.  To get elected, one must pledge not to raise taxes and to continue to provide services.  Those who suggest raising taxes or cutting programs are quickly ostracized and either not elected or returned to office.

The private sector must get involved in the discussion:  The private sector is great at solving problems, but to date has been reluctant to get involved in discussing and helping to solve this financial problem.  It is time that the private sector step up to the plate and get involved.  There are great local and national business leaders in the United States, and our country needs them now.  We need to return to the example set by way our Founding Fathers, where they were able to see a vision for our country that was greater than the needs of their own individual businesses.

This problem won’t be easy to solve:  I don’t believe that there is a “silver bullet” solution.  Solving this problem will take serious dialogue and commitment from all sectors of our country.  We won’t solve it by cutting spending or by raising revenue alone.

So what can a business leader do to help with this situation?

Become informed:  Business leaders need to take notice of what is going on around them.  Educating yourself and the people with whom you work is a great first step.  It will help you see the problem for what it is and may help formulate strategies and ideas that can address the issues.

Get involved:  Many Chambers of Commerce have government affairs committees or other committees that can be great sources of information as well as excellent vehicles to bring business leaders together regarding the national debt and deficit spending.  Share what you have learned with others who you know and with whom you conduct business. 

Help your employees plan their savings:  Many people are counting on Social Security, Medicare, and pension plans to take care of them in the future.  Help your employees learn that these plans may not be enough and suggest that they should start some type of savings plan.  If you don’t have a 401K or a Simplified Retirement Plan in your company, look into starting one.  These plans, if set up correctly, can give you and others an easy way to save for the future.

Lead responsibly:  It is imperative that in business we lead responsibly.  Teach those around you about living within their means and not becoming leveraged beyond what they can afford.  Do you best in your business to minimize your long-term debt and only borrow for the short term.  Plan your business with sufficient reserves.

I’d like to hear from you:

• What do you think about the financial situation that presently exists in our country?

• Do you believe this financial crisis will affect your business or your quality of life?

• Do you have any ideas as to how we can bring the national budget into control? 

Until next week…

Craig

By Craig S. Galati

A few weeks ago, D Mac asked me to elaborate on my column, “It’s Only Your Brand.” He asked if I could write about how to change an existing brand. I said yes, but at the time didn’t realize how difficult a task this would be. So, even though it’s later than I wanted, here it is!”

The most important attribute of a brand is not your logo, your written material, or your website. The most important attribute is your behavior. Change the way you think and act and you will change your brand. Sounds easy…but not so fast!

Often a company begins a process to change their perception in the marketplace (their brand) but fails in one of the most critical components of branding — they don’t build their brand upon something that lies within their heart–the essence of who they are and what’s important to them and their company (their purpose).

To build a solid brand or change your existing brand, my suggestions are:

Focus on your collective promise: To build a brand that you can deliver, first focus on who you are and what differentiates your company in the marketplace. The sooner you can get all of the members of your whole firm to open their minds and their hearts and talk openly about what’s important to them, the sooner you’ll be able to build an authentic brand.

Make sure people understand the language you use: Too often in business, we use the same language but the meanings we hold for these words are very different from those of our colleagues. Take the word “collaboration.” I’ve known people who believe collaboration means “group consensus on every decision.” I’ve known others who believe that if they keep you informed of their decisions, then they are collaborating with you. It is my belief that collaboration is the art of working together and knowing when it needs to be interactive and when people can work on differnt areas that will result in solving the task at hand. There is a real synergy to my “collaboration.” Each of these meanings are plausible, but you can see the disconnect between them and the difficulty that will arise in the expectations of each party. I suggest finding common meaning or as one of my wise friends says, “seek precision in language.”

Avoid the traps: Avoid falling into the fads of today unless you truly believe in them. We live in a world where you can’t pass an hour in which global warming, the environment, or green living aren’t discussed. But, do you believe in these concepts? I’ve observed firms try to build their brands on being the greenest firms, while members of the firm drive their SUV’s, don’t recycle, don’t reduce, and don’t look for ways to be more sustainable in their lives. These things in themselves are not bad or good, but in the context of building a “green” brand, they send a major disconnect to the marketplace. Firms like these are trying to catch on to a trend to gain market share, not because they believe in that particular trend — and people who do believe in that being “green” (the client’s these firms are seeking) will see right through them.

Don’t be someone else’s brand: I know firms that will copy anything they see in the marketplace to try gain more work. The trouble with this is two-fold: your behavior most likely will not match what you say; and by copying each other, firms appear very similar and lose the opportunity to differentiate themselves.

Changing your brand in the marketplace takes time, patience, and the courage to persevere through some difficult changes. Our firm recently dropped the word “architects” from our name because it didn’t accurately reflect the breadth of our services. It took us seven years to actually do it! It took this long to get everyone on the same page and change our behavior. When we felt enough synergy internally, we were able to move forward externally. I was pleasantly surprised to find that own internal changes had already found their way to the marketplace earlier because of our behavior. People were already seeing our firm as an evolved firm where architecture services were only one of our core offerings.

I’d like to hear from you:

• Do you have an example of someone or a firm that lives its brand?

• Have you been successful at getting people engaged in talking about who your firm is and why you do what you do?

• Do you have the energy to persevere?

Craig

By:  Craig S. Galati

I remember when I used to be  an employee at another firm.  I did some wonderful work  for which my boss  received the credit.  It didn’t really bother me at the time.  My boss owned the firm and if he hadn’t brought the project into the office, I would not have been able to work on it.  But, it would’ve been nice to get some recognition, or credit, at least from him.

When I became  the owner of a firm, I found myself in a strange position.  I was now being recognized for other’s work.  I found it very ironic—I didn’t get the credit when I actually did the work, and now I was getting credit for the ideas, talent, and hard work of others.

I remembered how it felt when I was working for someone else, and vowed that I would make sure our clients knew who the author of the work really was.  I also remembered how a little bit of recognition would have gone a long way with me and thought perhaps others would feel the same.  Upon reflection, in addition to it being “the right thing to do,” there are a number of positive benefits to ensuring that people are recognized for their accomplishments:

Recognition is motivating—I’ve found that one of the most motivating things a leader can do is to recognize others for their accomplishments.  This recognition, done with sincerity and meaning, will motivate many people.  While it won’t work for everyone, it’s a great start for your company.

Recognition gives people ownership and responsibility—When people are recognized and given credit for their work to a client, it increases their sense  of responsibility.  They will take ownership of the work,  have a stronger connection to the client, and feel more responsible  for making sure the work meets or exceeds the client’s needs.  No longer are they faceless  people back at the office working on a client’s project—they become faces of the project to the client, and people take that seriously.

Recognition gives you an opportunity to demonstrate action—I’m sure that all of us say we care about the people we work with.  Recognizing others gives you an opportunity to “walk your talk.”  In most organizations, walking the talk is certainly harder than talking it.  Giving recognition is a good and easy start toward living your values and demonstrating them to those around you.  It can also start the ball rolling so others will feel comfortable as well.  An office which recognizes the talents of others is a strong office and exudes a positive culture. 

Recognition frees you up to work on other things—If clients know who’s really working on their assignments, they’re more likely to call those employees rather than you for the simple things.  Just think about how much time that will free up for you to work on strategic initiatives that will benefit your clients even more.  I’ve found that most clients want answers as soon as possible,  so calling the people who are working daily on their project is the best way for them to get the  answers they need in a timely and effective way.

Recognizing teams and individuals within your organization can have many benefits.  All it takes is the time and care to get started.

I’d like to hear from you:

• Can you remember a time when you didn’t get recognized or receive credit for your work?  How did you feel? 
• Have there been times when you didn’t recognize or give credit to someone for their work?  How did you feel?  
• Does your organization have a culture of recognition? 

Until next week…

Craig

The Heart of Business

When all else fails … try again!

Business is full of success stories, yet it’s also full of heartbreaking stories of failures, setbacks, mistakes, and miscalculations.  We will all have our days of glory, but to get there, we  must overcome obstacles along the way.

I remember attending a baseball camp a long time ago.  The first day of camp, the coach told us that baseball was a game of perseverance; that even the best hitters only get a hit three out of ten times at bat.  That means that 70% of the time, the best  players fail to get a hit.  The coach stressed that learning to deal with that failure was the most important part of becoming a good hitter.

It’s the same in business:  The more we learn to deal with our failures, the more we will succeed.  We can’t afford to wallow in  defeat, as focusing on the failure itself will inevitably breed more failure.  We need to develop an ability to use setbacks for the learning opportunities  they present.  Just like a hitter uses his first “at bat” to learn how the other team will pitch to him, our setbacks in business give us the irreplaceable experience of being able to try something new. We can learn tremendously from those setbacks if we allow ourselves to experience them as opportunities.

So, shake it off and move to the next opportunity because brooding won’t change it.

Early in my career, I used to let these setbacks get to me—so much so that I’m convinced they kept me from seeing the next opportunity.  While I can’t tell you I’ve learned something from every failure, I can tell you that in my 25 years of business, I have learned more from my mistakes than from my successes.

Recently I attended a national conference for a professional society to which I belong.  One of my friends, whom I respect and look to for advice, told me he recently failed the certification exam that is important to our industry.  I was surprised by the news, but even more surprised with his reaction to his failure.  He told me he was going to quit the organization and focus only on his work.  My advice to him was, “You’ve got to see the pitcher; you’ll get a hit next time at bat.”  I’m not sure what he’ll do, but I hope he reads this column and uses it as motivation to take and pass the exam the next time around.  He’s an extremely intelligent, articulate individual and I’m convinced he was just having a bad day the  first time he attempted it.

When I was in college, I failed Creative Writing, yet here I am now; I’ve written a book and I get to write this column.  I used that initial failure as motivation to study harder, practice harder, and become a better writer.  I imagine that if I’d given up and accepted failure, my career would be quite different.

Every time  my firm competes for a project or assignment, but is not selected, we use the failure as a learning opportunity.  We  request a debrief on the selection process, ask what we can do better next time, and ask what separated the winning submittal from ours.  The things we’ve learned from these experiences have made us a much better firm.

I once read about a company that celebrated courageous failures on a grander scale than it did simple successes.  The company’s culture instilled its  staff with a “try it” attitude, and helped them not to be fearful of failure.  The organizational belief is that if you put yourself out there, try for something yet come up short, you are better off than just succeeding at something that you have done over and over previously.  That attitude is fantastic, and I’m certain if more of us adopted it, we’d surely become more successful.

I’d like to hear from you:

• Can you think of a time when you failed at something that made you better and more prepared for the next challenge? 

• Are you experiencing a difficult challenge right now that is testing your resolve? 

Until next week…

The Heart of Business

Keep It Fun