New Galt Blog

There is a new GALT BLOG located on my website at www.galtconsulting.com. I will continue to post new articles on the new blog site.

New "Passion is Productive" Series in Springfield

by Don Harkey

Whether you have always dreamed about what it would be like to own a business or manage an organization or whether you already have a business that you are ready to sell, the most productive actions taken by leaders are done with PASSION!

This is the theme of a series of seminars I am setting up for next year. These seminars will be designed to provide you with the information, skills, and maybe even a little inspiration as you make decisions in your life. The seminars will be held in a variety of formats from 1 hour presentations to 3-4 hour repeated small group sessions for a more intense experience. I already have some of the best local speakers and subject matter experts on board with me. The skill sets we will present will be staggering and unprecedented. What makes this series so different?

First of all, the sessions will be designed to be "ACTIONABLE". While some theory will be presented to give background information, the focus will be on finding ways for you to make good decisions and really improve your business / organization. Attendees can expect to get involved and truly be challenged to utilize the information presented.

Next, the sessions will be "ENTERTAINING". Expertise in a field and public speaking are two different skills. Our sessions will be designed to utilize people with talents in both present the information in an effective way. We might even have some fun along the way...

Finally, the sessions will be "INSPIRING". All of the speakers / presenters involved are passionate about what they do. It shows and it is contagious! Don't expect to find people who wait for things to happen to them... expect to find high quality, high value leaders with excellent character and the passion for sharing their knowledge and experiences.

If you are simply looking for a course to "check the box" in your personal development plan, there are lots of resources you can use. But if you are looking for a real experience that gives you ACTIONABLE information in an ENTERTAINING and INSPIRATIONAL way, the Passion is Productive Series is for you!

Send an email to info@galtconsulting.com if you would like to be included in our email list of courses. It's going to be a New Year with New Possibilities! Enter this year with a plan and with PASSION!

The Debate

by Don Harkey

A portion of our population believes that the American Health Care system is fundamentally flawed to the point that it requires major reconstruction. A portion of our population believes that government-option Health Care Reform will be a major step toward the socialization of America and will lead to a reduction in the basic Liberties we enjoy as Americans.

It is a debate that is not unlike one person arguing that the Colts are the best NFL team and another person arguing that football is stupid. They can debate well into the night, but they won't reach a resolution because they aren't arguing over the same thing.

I was lamenting the Health Care reform passed by the House yesterday with a good friend of mine. I brought up the impact of such a reform on businesses and used WalMart as an example. According to one website, WalMart employees 1.4MM employees in the US, about half of which get health insurance. The legislation passed by the house will require WalMart to provide insurance for those 700,000 employees. If they can get a plan for $400 per month (average) per employee (which would be a great deal), they will end up paying over $3 Billion per year extra. WalMart profits are around $13 Billion per year.

Suffice it to say that WalMart will have some thinking to do... let's see... how do we compensate for this huge new load on our business... Raise prices? Open fewer stores? Close down existing stores? Layoff employees?

Now here is one of the many "debates" we can have as country. Is WalMart "evil"? My friend would probably say "yes", although he might soften the language. They regularly hire people below the poverty line, fail to provide health insurance for 1/2 of their workers and they push the envelope in getting people to work as much as possible without qualifying for benefits.

On the other hand, WalMart has improved the efficiency of the distribution system throughout the country to the point that it's prices are very low. WalMart provides great value to its customers, which is reflected in the fact that 80% of the U.S. population will enter a WalMart at least once this year. WalMart is largest corporate employer in the world (McDonald's is 2nd in the US with about 1/4 as many employees). Roughly 1% of the U.S. workforce works for WalMart.

Conclusion #1: First and foremost, WalMart is not a person, it is an organization. Just like any large organization, it operates within its system and pays little attention to individual people or their needs. This is the nature of large organizations. It is successful because it provides great value and lots of people work their because they are willing to hire people. Personifying a company is naive. It does what it does, and if Health Care Reform passes, we should wonder what it will do...

Conclusion #2: The U.S. Government is finally standing up to big business and the big insurance companies, right? Remember that WalMart employs about 1.4MM people. The U.S. government (local, state, and federal) employs 20MM people

...and it is about to employ even more.

The point here is simple... the WalMart's of the world must operate under the principle of economics. If they stop providing good value then they will shrink in size as has happened countless times in the past (1950 - 2 largest companies were General Motors and A&P). If employees can find better opportunities, they will go elsewhere which will lead to an overall decline in their quality, which will lead to their decline. It happens.

The U.S. Government (or any government) does not follow the rules of the market. As people vote themselves more and more programs and benefits, they are increasingly unlikely to release these benefits as they become more and more dependent. The problem is that the government must perform within the economy and they find that they must consume more and more resources until they can no longer provide the benefits they have promised. This has also happened countless times in the past (Soviet Union, England).

Don't forget who the "big guys" really are!

Fumble!

by Don Harkey

I love college football, so when I get to use college football in an example, I get excited... even when it is a painful example.

This weekend, my alma mater, the University of Nebraska played the Iowa State Cyclones in Lincoln. Iowa State had lost their previous 15 Big 12 away games and hadn't beaten Nebraska in Lincoln since 1977. Their starting QB and starting RB were both out with injuries sustained during the week. Nebraska came in after a painful home loss to Texas Tech the week before, but still feeling optimistic about the season.

Only 16 seconds into the game, Nebraska fumbled the ball and Iowa State recovered. The Blackshirts held, but Iowa State kicked a field goal (after gaining 4 yards on the drive... yes, that's 4 yards and 3 points). The day only got worse as Nebraska managed to move the ball for the most part, but kept turning the ball over. Iowa State played gutsy football scoring their only touchdown after a fake punt and a bomb to the endzone.

The final stats were some of the most unusual I have ever seen in football (at any level). At the end of the game, Nebraska had 8 turnovers and Iowa State had none. The final score was Iowa State 9, Nebraska 7 (remarkable in itself that it was that close). Perhaps even more remarkable was that Nebraska had 4 turnovers inside the "red zone" (less than 20 yards from the endzone) and 3 turnovers less than 5 yards from the endzone! Nebraska has a great field goal kicker, so if they had the opportunity to kick those field goals, they would have won 19 to 9.

What causes this "outlier"? The NCAA record for turnovers is 13 by Georgia in 1951. 8 is a new school record for Nebraska and the -8 turnover margin is unbelievable. Only 23 teams (out of 119) in 2008 had a worse turnover margin for the entire season!

If I could explain this outlier, I would fly to Lincoln and help Coach Pelini make the proper adjustments (or comfort him with the information that the planets were just aligned wrong on Saturday). The point I want to make here is that we can often learn a lot from these types of strange situations as they often point to something significant. It is tempting to chalk this one up to bad luck, but the number is so staggeringly "off" that it is probably not a wise decision.

When something really strange happens, your process might be trying to tell you something...

Game on

by Don Harkey

This week, I attended my weekly Rotary meeting (I am a proud new member of the Rotary Club of Springfield - Southeast) and watched Dr. David Mitchell (Assistant Professor of Economics at Missouri State University) give a presentation on the economy. The news was bleak to say the least.

I won't give you all of the details, but the message was that the current recession is bad, and Missouri's economic growth has been slower than than the nation's growth since well before the recession started. He talked about how the U.S. is losing manufacturing jobs and how he doesn't expect them to return. If the unemployment is currently at its peak, he predicts that it will be May of 2014 before we return to pre-recession unemployment numbers. The percentage of people who have been unemployed for more than 6 months is at a historic high. We've been hurt as a country and it will take us a long time to recover. Worse even is that there appears to be something fundamentally wrong with the economy in Missouri (the 3rd slowest growing economy in the U.S. behind Michigan and Indiana).

Dr. Mitchell was concise and clear in his presentation. He presented the data and backed up his conclusions. He wasn't presenting a "doomsday" scenario... it was more like a scientific evaluation of where we are. When he was done, he asked if there were any questions. The room, full of business leaders, responded with nervous laughter.

If you are a business leader, you must think optimistically while also confronting the brutal facts. The year is 2009 and unemployment is high (yet businesses still complain about not being able to find "good, qualified people"). The reality is that businesses that do not provide good value will not survive. The good news is that the demand for value is as high as ever. There are still plenty of people out there who are finding ways to provide that value, and they are the ones who will emerge from these difficult times stronger than ever.

It hasn't been easy, but that only makes us better. The indicators show that the problem is real, but history shows us that American's find a way to make things better. These times purge waste and redefine our economy. Its painful, but healthy. Know what you are good at, find the value you can provide, and find better ways to provide that value.

Game on.

Stealth Servant

This morning in Springfield, a person sleepily pulls through the drive-thru at a local fast food restaurant to purchase a cup of coffee. As she goes to pay, the person at the window informs her that her coffee has already been paid for by an anonymous person.

So begins the "Stealth Servant" movement in Springfield (note: I did not start this...). Check out the Stealth Servant blog at http://www.stealthservant.blogspot.com/ and find ways to make someone's day!

We ALL Cheat

by Don Harkey

We ALL cheat!

This is not an excuse or even an endorsement, but it might be the first step to recovery. Have you even been able to admit this to yourself?

I believe that everyone has cheated at some point. I can remember a take home test that a teacher gave. The test was VERY difficult and would take a single person a VERY long time to work on. The teacher clearly knew that students would work on it together and therefore compensated by making the test more difficult. The effect is that it made it difficult NOT to cheat on the test... and cheat we did. Cheat I did.

That's hard to say, isn't it? "I cheated". We tend to follow up that rare statement with the word "but" pointing to a justification that might be very legitimate. Often times we cheat because it is the easier of 2 paths. Either the way we are supposed to do it is so hard that we find another way, or the shortcut is very short. We have ALL been through this.

The point I want to make is that it is still wrong. I am not passing judgment on those who take the short cut, but I am encouraging you to allow yourself to realize what you have done. I would also point out the "short-cut" is easier to take every time you choose to take it.

I don't always make the right decisions, but I try to be aware of those moments and ask myself "what type of person do I want to be?". If I am driving home from the store and realize that they forgot to ring up the bottle of soda, I try to catch myself in the moment. It is very easy to bypass it quickly saying, "well, they screwed up". After all, the football game is already in the 3rd quarter and if I turn around, I will likely miss the whole game. The store was crazy busy and the employees won't care if you pay for that stupid soda. They probably would give it to you anyway.

When I find myself in the midst of that type of logic, I try to ask myself the question, "what type of person do I want to be?". Do I want to know myself as the type of person who turns around, returns to the store, waits in line, deals with an unhappy employee who clearly thinks I should have just taken the soda, misses the game, and gets home late for dinner all because the checkout person made a mistake?

When I am truly self-aware in those moments, the answer is "yes". Remember to take advantage of the times in your life that make you extraordinary.

Strategic plans are useless!

by Don Harkey

Strategic plans are useless… if they are not utilized. Too many times, strategic plans are carefully developed, cataloged, and filed, only to become obsolete at the first unexpected event that was not discussed in the creation of the plan. The reason this occurs is due to a common misunderstanding about the purpose of a strategic plan. Organizations start by developing a “desired future” and then try to plan a path to get from where they are to where they want to be. This works only as long as barriers don’t appear on the path. Great strategic plans don’t focus on providing the path, they focus on providing the criteria for making good decisions on the journey.

A military strategist typically has no idea what an enemy army is going to do. So in order to be successful, they must establish “rules of engagement” based on a master “vision” of what they are trying to accomplish. The most successful leaders successfully communicate that “vision” to all of their commanders and soldiers in the field. This way when (not if) they encounter an obstacle or a decision that needs to be made, they have a foundation from which to make the decision. If that foundation is based on something that the soldiers can rally around (be passionate about), then they will make more good decisions. The entire army is aligned, moving in the same direction rallied around a common goal.

Organizational leaders have come to rely too much on metrics and scorecards derived from strategic plans developed in the boardroom. These metrics are hard to rally around and seldom provide a truly clear path to success. Instead leaders need to spend time taking a hard and realistic look at their organization to determine its strengths and weaknesses and most importantly, its passion. This provides the foundation for making decisions with great clarity at all levels of the organization. It frees up the leaders and supervisors to innovate and create value toward that common purpose. It gives the “soldiers” a flag they can rally around.

The Journey

by Don Harkey

A company has a long time performance appraisal system that is considered to be a benchmark for the industry. The appraisal system allows the employee to chart their own course and puts gives the employee the responsibility to design their own development plan. Employees are then measured on the success against their own plan and given raises accordingly.

One employee in particular truly struggled with this approach. While it is certainly appealing to set your own expectations and spend company time on self-discovery, there was something about this system that went against the core of this employee. As the employee developed his own development plan, he became more and more frustrated until finally he sent a note to his HR director asking for help.

The HR director and the employee met and the HR director carefully laid out the benefits of the appraisal system. The HR director encouraged the employee to develop a 1-year, 10-year, and 30-year career plan. "Where is it you want to go? What do you want to accomplish with your career?", asked the HR director.

A light went on inside the head of the employee. The clouds lifted and suddenly he understood why he had been struggling. "I have just 2 questions for you. Here is the first one. What if I don't meet my career objective?"

The HR director apparently took pity on the question and offered encouragement. "Oh, come now. That is the beauty of this system. If you lay out a clear path for yourself and work hard, you are almost assured of reaching your objective. You are a smart guy! You'll get there!".

"Well, thank you", replied the employee, "but I have one more question and this one is harder to answer."

"Go ahead. That's why I'm here.", answered the HR director confidently.

"What is I do meet my career objective?", asked the employee softly.

The HR director paused for a moment. "Then you have reached your objective. You have succeeded. I'm not sure what you mean."

"My point is this", replied the employee. "If I set an objective for myself and I never reach it, I will be disappointed that I have essentially failed in my career. If I set an objective for myself and I reach it, I will wonder if I should have aimed higher and will wonder what to do next. Neither alternative is very attractive."

The HR director was silent, so the employee continued. "This is what truly bothered me because this philosophy indicates that I will not have a rewarding career regardless of what I do. I knew this couldn't be true because I have already derived enjoyment from my work. It wasn't until we started talking that I realized the inherent flaw in the performance appraisal process. It focuses on results when life is really about the journey."

The HR director was stunned. After a few seconds of silence, the HR director spoke for 30 minutes admitting that her career objective had been met and that she had made so many sacrifices along the way to meet the objective and now found herself in a job she didn't particularly enjoy working within a system that her education told her should be great, but simply wasn't. She wasn't happy.

My point here is simple. Setting goals and objectives is not a bad practice, but the real joys in life happen on the road. It's not about getting the promotion, it's about making decisions, working toward a common vision, and using your strengths to succeed and to fail brilliantly. The true measure of the output of our lives is in the ways we utilize all of the moments we are given. This is true at work as well as at home or at play.

Day of Caring 2009

by Don Harkey

Last week, employees from ESC, 3M, Missouri State, and Galt Consulting came together to work on a 2009 United Way Day of Caring project at Messiah Lutheran Church. The project involved the construction of several elements of a new playground that will be used by the church, the neighborhood, and most importantly by the new preschool/daycare ministry starting at Messiah called the Messiah Lighthouse Child and Family Development Center. For more information on this innovative program, visit www.lighthousecfdc.org.

The team worked hard building 2 playhouses, a swing set and a bridge as well as assembling furniture for the classrooms. The rain during the week presented some challenges in the form of mud and a large lake in the middle of the playground (the water drainage for the site hadn't been completed yet). The team worked through the challenges and built with great speed. We even managed to have some fun along the way!

I want to give a special thanks to Papa Murphy's, Quizno's (on Independence), and Amigo's (on Campbell) for donating food for the volunteers. I also want to thank all of the volunteers, many of whom were not paid for the day, for their time and efforts on this project!

Key Ingredient to Business Success

by Don Harkey

I had lunch with the owner of a business brokerage firm yesterday. For those of you who don't know, a business broker helps people buy and sell businesses. This puts them in a unique front-row position to watch businesses undergo leadership change. Good brokers spend a lot of time analyzing the business they are helping to sell, so they have a lot of information on the current state of the business as well as information on the old and new leadership.

This particular brokerage recognized their unique perspective and conducted a study of businesses they had sold going back 5 years. They were looking at the ones that were successful and the ones that had failed and tried to find the factors that lead to success. They expected to learn that cash flow or maybe location had a strong influence on the future success of a business. They simply failed to find any significant correlation.

Refusing to believe that business success was random, they decided to go through their list of companies and gather the general impressions of the brokers that worked with the new owners. This was a much less scientific approach, but the results were interesting. The general impression was that the successful business owners were more passionate about what they do.

Consider the implications of this... a business located in the right place with strong cash flow with an owner who is less than engaged is more likely to fail than a business in the wrong place with poor cash flow and an owner who is on fire about making the business succeed.

Passion truly is productive!!

Strategic Planning: It's the Journey

by Don Harkey

I have heard a lot about Strategic Planning lately. Organizations who have struggled in the recent economy are realizing that they could have been better prepared. Unfortunately, many companies who thought they had a plan, found out that the plan didn't apply to rapidly changing conditions. I recently reviewed a plan from a professional firm that had been filed away shortly after it was created. The owner of the plan simply said that the situation had changed from when they created the plan. When would this not be true? Does this mean strategic plans are worthless? No...

When you want to develop a strategic plan, the steps are pretty universal. You look where you are, where you want to be, and then decide how you will get there. If you stop here, this is where your plan will become out of date before it is even completed. The most important step of strategic planning is to develop an understanding of who you are.

Last week, I took a Guerrilla Marketing seminar from Brett Curry (Curry Marketing). Brett talked about marketing strategy and the first thing he said was to develop a marketing message. You need to know who you are before you can go forward.

Imagine that you are standing in the forest with a trail in front of you. You are trying to get back to your camp. You develop a plan to get there. As you go on your journey, you find that your original path is overgrown with thickets. Are you going to cut through the thickets, find another path, or go back to the beginning and start over. Your decision might be based on the distance to be traveled, how much food and water you have, the temperature outside, how much energy you have... You need to have a clear understanding of the situation in order to make a good decision. If it is getting close to dark and you don't have a flashlight, it might be a good idea to punch through the thickets and accept the scratches that come with it. If you have lots of time, you might backtrack a little and find a new path.

The point here is that strategic planning is not about planning the path from where you are to where you want to be. It is about establishing the knowledge you need to make decisions while on your journey. There is no way that you can know what the future will hold, but you certainly can gain some clarity into who you are and what your values hold so that you can make decisions based on your strengths and abilities rather than on the heat of the moment.

Good strategic planning should apply to any situation, because it is a statement of your values rather than a concrete plan. It takes the foreseeable future and tests your values against it. It honestly evaluates your position and gives you insight into what you need to do to prepare for an uncertain future. It gives you clarity!

Clarity over Dollars?

by Don Harkey

A business owner is given a choice: Do you want to save 10% of your costs per year or do you want clarity on your organization's purpose and direction?

Most owners would probably pick the cost savings.

However, my experience is that most owners are much more satisfied with having clarity. I have done projects where I have saved companies thousands of dollars per month (or more!) and the owners tend to be satisified, but not as much as you would think. The response tends to be, "that's all it took?". It's almost strange... many of them actually seem to feel uncomfortable.

When I work with a client in assessing their organization and they begin to understand the core purpose of what they are doing, they undergo a transformation. They become energized and excited. They "get it".

My clients prefer clarity over dollars! This seems crazy at first, but it only highlights the fact that we really aren't supposed to be in it for the money. Besides, it's not like we are abandoning the money. Clarity is profitable. Companies whose employees know the core purpose of the company are 29% more profitable than other companies according to one study. They start to make improvements without management (NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!). Owners feel like they are no longer alone in what they do. Plus they can apply their new found clarity to new problems.

What is clarity worth to you?

Where is Galt?

by Don Harkey

I know I haven't posted in awhile and I am very sorry for that! My schedule has changed and I no longer spend my time in the mornings getting new articles online. Don't fret! I plan to continue this blog and have some plans to make it better than ever by adding some services to supplement the articles online. I'll soon by announcing a "Leadership Book of the Month Club" complete with a new book each month and a newsletter summarizing and discussing the book by me and my good friend Randy Mayes of the Success Coach Network.

Also, I am setting up a speaking platform and will be announcing some dates where you can come and see me talk on various topics (similar to the blog, only louder!). The first date is August 7th at noon at Deer Lake Golf Course at the 19th Hole Networking Event. Watch for more information on how to register. The event is FREE and includes networking, golf instruction, lunch and yes, me (WOW! Free Golf Instruction!!!).

Hang in there my friends! I thank you for following me and for your comments!!!

Marketing for Dummies

by Don Harkey

I recently asked a business owner for their marketing plan. The reply was, "well, we thought about hanging fliers on campus". The business was not close to the college and probably wouldn't have a strong student base if they were. I can't really criticize as I knew less than nothing about marketing entering into my business. This is compounded by the fact that my father taught marketing in high school for many years! Not a lot of marketing taught in engineering school!

I've learned a couple of things that have helped me grow my business that I wanted to share with you.

Networking
is the most effective and important activity that I have engaged in. Business simply doesn't walk in the door while you are sitting in your office, on the shop floor, or in your place of business... at least not enough business. Even successful restaurant owners I know spend some time getting their message out. How do you get started? How you get started doesn't matter as much as getting started.

There are LOTS of networking opportunities out there. If you are just getting your feet wet, I would recommend joining your local chamber of commerce. The Springfield Area Chamber holds 3 major networking events per month (Good Morning Springfield, Business-2-Business, Business After Hours). Each is a different format. Try all of them. If you prefer a different approach, try joining a local BNI chapter (www.bni.com). BNI chapters have representatives from multiple industries who do not compete against each other. The members get to know each other in order to pass referrals for each other. This is another great tool for businesses. There are also multiple community groups and activities that present networking opportunities.

While networking, there are 2 key points that will help you. First of all, look for quality, not quantity. Don't be "that guy" who pushes their business card in front of everyone in the room. "Working the Room" is more for parties where you are already known, not for networking events. Your goal is should be to meet one or more high quality individuals whom you would like to meet with again. Find that person or persons and schedule a meeting to get to know them.

The second key point is what BNI calls the "Giver's Gain" philosophy. Do not approach the networking event as a source of business. Approach it looking to meet and connect other people with valuable resources. Ask a lot of questions and offer to connect people who might find each other valuable. Don't look for customers. This sounds counterintuitive, but believe me that this is the best approach. It will help you enjoy the event more, and it will get your more business. As you become the "go-to" person for multiple people, your credibility skyrockets and it becomes much easier for you to get work. People will go out of there way to find work for you.

One last thing... make sure you bring lots of business cards with current information on them. I can't tell how many times I have met new business owners without business cards or with cards with their old phone numbers on them. This is not a fatal mistake, but you only have a couple of minutes to make an impression.

Web Presence
A companies web presence is a hot topic in marketing and it is tempting to follow the story of the business that boomed from a viral internet marketing campaign. This does happen from time to time, but remember that corporations spend millions trying to make this happen and are not successful more often than they are. Viral is hard.

A better approach is to think of the internet as another networking opportunity. You need to have a professional looking website that properly conveys the image of your company. This is a basic need. Unless your business is on the internet, you don't need an extensive website. Also, don't use a Flash website (like mine!). It looks cool, but it is harder for search engines to find and they don't work on many smart phones.

There are other web options that might be worth spending a little time on (and I mean "a little" time). More and more people are reading blogs for information on a variety of topics. Establishing a blog with a regular readership can provide you with an excellent opportunity to target your market and get your message out. If you don't know anything about blogging and don't particularly like to write, you can check out other options like www.blarkets.com. Are blogs worth it? My blog (this one) gets 4 to 5 times more traffic than my website.

Another web option is the use of social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube... there are LOTS of them. Creative use of these tools can help you build awareness of you and your company. As a general rule, don't direct sell on social media. No one likes to deliberately follow a commercial. You should post useful and interesting content and use these tools in collaboration with each other.

Media
More and more businesses are looking for alternatives to marketing outside of traditional radio and television. However, this means that you have an opportunity to have a louder voice than before. My friends in the industry tell me that the most effective campaigns deliver a clear and consistent message repetitively. Running a single radio ad or TV commercial one time is not effective. Finding a good marketing consultant to help guide you is very valuable (http://www.brickad.com/).

Print media is also considered to be a declining industry, but again, it only makes your voice louder than before. Consider the publications that your clients will be reading and try to get into those publications. You can purchase advertising (again, you need repetition), or you can contribute to the publication as an expert. Contributing can establish you as an industry expert (again, you can't sell directly). In Springfield, I recommend the Springfield Business Journal as a great publication with extensive readership and great quality (www.sbj.net).

You
I think one of the temptations of marketing is that you can do x, y, and z, and get business. The truth is that the most important marketing tool you have is you. You need to take care of your clients. You need to present yourself as quality and high value, which means you actually have to be quality and have high value. You have to have a great product. One of the best advertising campaigns in history was Saturn in the 1980's. It was a "different kind of car company" and the brand struck American's very effectively. It worked until GM's quality (or lack thereof) leaked into the Saturn brand and the car's reputation outpaced their advertising. It turns out they really weren't that different.

When your business matures, you may be able to work entirely off client referrals. This is a nice place to be, but be cautious even when you get to this point. Market downturns can cause these revenue streams to dry up (as many of you are finding out!). Always be on the look for new markets and always maintain a marketing presence. Think of it this way... imagine being able to select only the best clients to work with. Nice!

Enough of this... get out from behind the counter or from behind your desk and make some noise! Meet some people, add some value, and get your message out there. Want a good resource? Read "Guerrilla Marketing" by Jay Conrad Levinson. Contact me at donharkey@galtconsulting.com if you are interesting in attending a seminar on August 12th in Springfield on marketing given by my friend Brett Curry. I can get you a special price!

People Mirror their Leadership

by Don Harkey

I was involved in an interesting discussion with a client recently. We were talking about important traits of a leader and the trait of character was brought up. While everyone in the room believed that character was an important trait, the question arose as to whether it was important in terms of leadership of an organization. Is high ethics and character really important to a business or is it just a trait that we like people to have? In other words, all other things being equal, does a person of high character make a better leader than a person of lesser character?

Have you ever heard that pets often reflect their owners? If you see a burly looking gruff guy walking down the street with a pit bull, I don't think I would pet the dog. While this isn't always true, the truth is that it is sometimes true. A dog owner who is rough and doesn't treat their dog nicely will often get a dog who is rough and doesn't treat anyone else nicely.

The same is true for management. Workers often reflect their managers. A McDonald's or other fast food place has very tight controls on how the restaurant is to be run. They hire the same people with the same food and the same procedures. However, you might hear someone say, "oh... that's a good McDonald's" or "that McDonald's isn't very good". What is the difference? Simple. It's management.

Have you ever complained about poor service at a business only to discover that the person you are complaining to is even worse? I got incredibly bad serve at a fast food place (there was nearly a riot in the place) and called the manager out who said, "what do you expect me to do?". That's funny... that is exactly the attitude the upset customers were seeing!

One of the largest myths in business is that hiring is search for "good people". The fact is that while people have widely varying strengths and weaknesses, they typically want to do a good job. A "bad person" is probably just someone who lived under bad management. A "good person" is probably just someone who lived under good management. Yes, it takes awhile to get someone to assimilate to a culture, but it is possible and very worth it. The thing is that the "culture" doesn't come from a procedures manual, slogan, or mission statement, it comes from the day to day reality of the organization. It comes from the walk, not from the talk.

This is why character is important in business and why people of high character are so much more valuable. A manager might really like their employees and truly care about what they do. If the manager lies to a client in order to protect the company, this might be considered a "tough decision", but justified. The problem is that employees see this and absorb the culture. They protect each other by not sharing information on mistakes. They hide negative feedback from clients. Pretty soon, leadership is not getting real information from the client that is needed to make good decisions.

Good guys really do win in the end. Hitler was a very strong leader with a clear (and horrifying) vision. In the end, his constant deceptions caught up with him as his people held back information. As the Allies landed on D-Day, Hitler was asleep. None of his people would wake him and none of them would give an order. This was critical in the course of the war.

If your organization has a lot of corruption, look at your leadership. If you have trouble finding the right type of person, first look for the right type of leader.

Choosing to Be Happy

by Don Harkey

I was talking with Chris Watkins last week, a Springfield Wellness Coach, and she was presenting her "unified theory" of organizations, which is a work in progress. One of the factors she had was "Awareness". This is a great point that many people don't realize (aren't "aware" of!).

I used to have a problem with road rage. I didn't yell at anyone, but I would just get angry when someone cut me off or drove badly near me. My blood pressure would rise and I would tense up. Then one day, someone said something that hit home. "You realize that most of the time the other person has no idea that you are mad at them." From that day forward, I was cured. I don't get mad anymore. I simply decided to stop. It was really THAT simple.

I think the concept of "Awareness" is that we all have the ability to control our reactions to things. As another saying goes, "you can't be offended without first giving your permission". If someone calls you a name, you can get upset or you can decide not to get upset. Seriously.

Andy Andrews, author of "Traveler's Gift" talks about choosing to be happy. We all have problems and we all have challenges in our lives. It is NOT fair. Yet, how we deal with these challenges is our choice. Our society sometimes teaches us that this is not true. We teach ourselves to act PC and be cautious not to offend, and to some extent, being considerate of others is a good thing.

Within an organization, this can go too far.

When a friend of mine recently made a mistake, I approached the friend and told them how I felt. It was painful, but she appreciated it. I recently had a client tell me how he felt I could have improved on one aspect of my service. Ouch! Ego is what makes it hurt, but when we are "aware", we can overcome this and process the information. The suggestion will only make me a better consultant and will only make him a more trusted source of information.

So, be aware that you have control. If it seems hard, it is only because you are making it that way. Simply choose to react differently. Simply choose not to get upset. Simply choose to have control. Get a grip! Keep your wits about you! It will make a big difference in your life!

Power of the Paradigm

by Don Harkey

I was driving home the other night when I witnessed an accident. The van 2 cars in front of me turned left on a green arrow. Suddenly, the front of the van exploded and another car sped through the intersection narrowly missing the lightpost and costing about 100 yards on the median of the road. Amazingly, everyone walked away from the accident. In the van was a mother and her young son (maybe 8 years old). In the car was 3 people. The first person got out of the car and ran away. The other two stood by the car because one of them was cut up with abrasions all over his body.

As witnesses came together, the story began to become clear. The van was simply heading home. The car had been chasing another car and had been driving on the shoulder of the road passing vehicles at speeds well above the 50 MPH speed limit. It was amazing that no one was killed. Now the man stood by his car, bloody and in pain, watching people gather around trying to comfort the young boy and his mother. A woman who apparently knew the man stopped her car and asked what happened. "That woman pulled in front of me.", he said.

It is one of those moments that from my perspective seemed absurd. I don't know who the guy was chasing, but here he was surrounded by witnesses watching a family stand by their totaled minivan and all he could think about was why the lady had the gaul to turn her car on a green arrow and not watch for vehicles running red lights from the shoulder. She was obviously out of line!

This really shows the power of the paradigm. In my world, I feel bad when I don't see someone in time to let them pull onto a busy road from a parking lot. I'm not a saint (at least the road thing doesn't qualify me), but that is my paradigm. This guy was so far away from that paradigm, we would have difficulty understanding each other.

Within an organization, a paradigm quickly forms and it is extremely hard to break. It is hard not only because change is difficult, but because it is hard to see outside of the paradigm.

Paradigms are not always bad. In a company that breeds character and service, employees do not even dream of cheating. However, in a company that needs to change, they often do not even dream of changing. Changing requires learning which means stepping outside of your comfort zone. It is important to keep on learning so that you can take opportunities to step outside of your paradigm and identify when change is needed and when it is not.

Socialism 101

by Don Harkey

OK... the word has been buzzing around for many many years and it has lost its sting. The word is "socialism". For my parent's generation, the word "socialism" implies evil. If they call someone a socialist, they are not being nice.

Interestingly enough, in the days of our founding fathers, the word "democrat" was considered an insult (not linked to the Democratic party) by most Americans, especially those who studied and understood government.

There is a cycle that can occur when words take on an overture of being "bad" without concentrating on the reason we think it is bad. The idea is brought up. It is widely proven to be bad. For a generation, the teaching is "socialism is very bad... enough discussion". The next generation then asks more boldly, "why is it bad?". Maybe it is good after all.

The question is very healthy and when a question is not answered for a generation, past knowledge and experience is lost. For many Americans, naming a policy as "socialistic" means that the policy is bad. For a growing number of Americans, however, they no longer see it that way. They want "change" and that may include embracing the concept once again that history has shown to be fatally flawed. I have several good, smart, ethical friends who are now openly in favor of socialism.

Let's walk through my evolution in understanding of government because as Winston Churchill said (I paraphrase) "If you are young and conservative, you lack heart. If you are old and liberal, you lack brains.". Like many people, I started off with liberal views.

Let me quote Karl Marx:

"From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs."

In my younger days, I saw this type of thinking as progressive. It is idealistic to think that all people are equal and deserve equal "stuff", but socialism is an attempt at making that a reality. It is an attempt at Utopia or a perfect government. We all will do what we can so that we can all get what we need. It really sounds great. "What's wrong with that?" I hear people say both in person and in the media.

As I grew older and studied more history and government and began to understand more about how people are hardwired, I understood more about why these attempts at a perfect government ALWAYS fail miserably and lead to oppression. It is well proven that people are MUCH more motivated internally than externally. If I am paid to do something, I will do it only until the pay is stopped. If I feel that what I am doing is important and aligns with everything that I am, I will do it even if I am not paid (and sometimes I will pay to do it).

Motivation is a funny thing. You can take a given task and make someone feel less motivated by trying to give them an external reason to do it. I might volunteer for the Kitchen willingly and be excited to do it. If I am suddenly paid to do it, or forced to do it by an employer, then I feel controlled and considerably less motivated. Think about this in terms of children. When children feel controlled, they resist. When they feel like they have choices, they act freely. At a young age, I could get my son to drink his milk using this principle. "Jeffrey, drink your milk." was met with resistance. "Jeffrey, what color cup do you want for your milk." was met with enthusiasm. Autonomy is critical to motivation.

That's a major problem with socialism. When we all work for "the state" (which is a socialistic term for "the government" meant to distract the fact that "the state" has no unified voice, our autonomy is taken away. If I am a doctor and my fees are set by the state, I lose my autonomy and my motivation is greatly decreased. The impact of this is HUGE, and it isn't a theory. How many great inventions or innovations have come out of the Soviet Union, Cuba, China, or any other communist or socialistic country. Even Great Britain and many other European nations struggle with socialistic policies with the result being high unemployment, weak economies, and rampant corruption.

Even the smallest experiments in socialism with small towns of people all who believe strongly in the principles have failed and failed badly (including in America). Countries with socialized medicine allow "the state" (the government) to make health care decisions for its citizens including who will live and who will die. The best advancements in medicine come from countries with health care systems closer to the free market model (note: the United States does NOT currently have a free market health care system, but it is not fully socialized either). The best innovations and highest standard of living come from countries that utilize a free market model.

The other side of my argument for socialism as a youth was the problem of greed in a free market system. Why should one person be "worth" more than another person? This question has a fatal flaw. We often quote the Declaration of Independence saying that "All Men were Created Equal". This single statement is classically misunderstood. We are not all created equal in terms of our abilities or opportunities. A healthy child born to a middle class highly educated family has a much better chance to succeed than a special needs child born to a single parent low income family. This is a truth of life and it was the way our Creator chose to make it. Yet we as a society tend to look at God's act of creating us different as an act of injustice. This leads to the common parental response... "life is not fair".

No matter what system of government we put into place, we will be unable to cancel out God's "mistake" in making us different and putting us in different climates with varying opportunity. I worded that last sentence to make my point... God doesn't make mistakes.

Our mistake is how we measure "success". All men are created equal in that each has an opportunity to find great fulfillment and joy in life, even if it is not in the form of treasure and opportunity. A parent of a special needs child recently told me how much of a blessing the child was to them. This child will grow up with the same chance of being happy and fulfilled as any other child.

So where does the government come in to all of this? The answer is that it really shouldn't. George Washington often said that "government is a necessary evil" meaning that if we could find a way to exist peacefully without it, we would. However, we do the best we can. Our Founding Fathers devised a system of government that allowed people to have autonomy in how they live their lives. They can choose to learn, create, and give and be fulfilled. They can also choose to sloth, stagnate, and take and be miserable. This is the choice that our Creator bestowed upon us. This is what government should never take away.

Socialism, Facism, and other systems of government that aim for a "perfect society" do not work and lead to corruption and oppression of people. Our government is not perfect and was not designed to be perfect. It was only designed to be "more perfect" than other system devised in the past. Our Founding Fathers were pretty sharp and they conducted the worlds most aggressive strategic plan when they drafted our government.

President Obama does not hate America. He just doesn't understand it. To his credit, once he has been in office, he has appeared to be willing to listen and learn. He is getting a crash course in history and the way government works. He is backing off of policies he trumpeted on the campaign trail. I only hope that his continuing "on the job" education outpaces Congress and their ability to change our system in a way that history has shown to lead to certain failure.

Quit your Whining!

by Don Harkey

As our President once again predicts the doom of America pending a another new action by the government (this time health care), hundreds of thousands of people risk their lives to be heard in Iran. The contrast is deafening.

At some point, we have all forgotten our history, both from our past and the history in the making. The average person in America leads a very comfortable life. If you get hurt, you can walk into a hospital and get world class health care regardless of your ability to pay for it. American's lap the rest of the world in charitable giving. While Walmart is not the ideal place to work, it employs hundreds of thousands of Americans and provides us with the most efficient food distribution system ever created on the planet (without government intervention).

We have developed into a culture of whiners that evolved from "give us a chance to survive" to "we have a right to health insurance and chicken nuggets". We have suddenly taken a joke from a talk show host as being intolerable and we stand in flood waters waiting for the government to help us. We whine about the lack of leadership in America and ask for "change", although we don't know what "change" means. We blame others for mistakes and take credit for successes.

I don't know about you, but I am going to focus on the next steps. I am going to start by thanking God for what I have. Then I am going to find a way to continue to create and sell real value to others so that I can lead a fulfilling and, yes, fruitful life. I am going to continue to work with people who are humble enough to blame failure on themselves while giving credit to others for success.

It's time for a dose of reality. The country we live in is the best system of government ever devised. If you aren't sure about that, start studying. Learn about the theories bounced around by our Founding Fathers. Learn about why our government was not designed as a true democracy. Learn about how every attempt at socialism fails miserably and why. Get some perspective.

If you are an Iranian protesting the "election" of a ruthless and evil man, you are not worried about the cost of health care. You are worried about whether your picture is being taken at the rally. You are worried about whether you or your family will get shot. You are worried that your religious views might not match those of the "supreme leader" and the consequences of this. This is quite a hole to dig out of... they probably wish they worried about who got voted off the island.

Get a grip America and let's get back to work!