Important Business Reviews

We often think of these as the bottom line, profit-and-loss, growth etc but these are symptoms of underlying causes, and those underlying causes are our relationships, conduct and integrity. 

Let me give an example:

I recently engaged a company to do some Internet advertising for me.  I agreed over the 'phone what was to be done and we agreed that I would receive written confirmation, VAT receipt etc through the post within the next 3 days or so.  A week later nothing had arrived: I rang the company.  We agreed to leave it another couple of days.  Nothing.  Since that time (another week) I have written 3 e-mails and spoken to people twice, receiving promises of a return call from their Accounts Team, but still nothing.

If this typifies their behaviour with other customers, the chances are that their bottom line will not be too healthy before very long: in fact I would anticipate them going out of business. 

But if the problem is considered to be the bottom line, it doesn't tell the story. 

The story (and the remedies to the problem) lie in their relationships, their integrity and customer focus (or in this case the severe lack of it).  They say but do not do!  Perhaps they're so focussed on getting new clients that their existing ones fall off the list.

This is too common today in business, which is why when new companies arise who really appreciate their clients and customers and treat them especially well, they succeed, and why many of our established names who rely on past reputation are disappearing from the market place.

And Academia, which strives ever more to be a business, is not free from this plague ... 

Recently, an external expert whom a University was relying on for input to a new course, visited the UK from Canada and came to a meeting at the University. One academic pretty much opened the conversation with, "Well, no-one asked you to come!"

We can talk about success as much as we like, but true success (personal fulfilment, financial and otherwise) will only come when we manage to get our business focus on relationships in order.

Financial measures of success are merely the symptoms of the true underlying reason for that success (or failure).

Service or Ripped-Off?

So goes that start of a conversation I overheard today whilst out shopping at our local Market.

What a damning inditement on all those free offers we are continually bombarded with in order to grab our business; offers which, in reality, have nothing free in them. They are a hook to get us to buy and clearly in the mind of individual concerned they had been forgotten: it was the financial transactions that had been remembered, not his free gifts (if they had actually ever received any).

This set me thinking … again … about how we sell ourselves daily: in business and in our own lives. We used to have a saying at work;

'There's no such thing as a free lunch!'

i.e., You don't get something for nothing; everything costs.

To some point I agree. But where that cost lies is the divider between something being perceived as an offer of service and being taken for a ride.

If we make our customers pay, they see it as being taken for a ride and their trust is often shattered. If we take the cost, our customers see it as a service, as a favour, and it builds trust … and if we do make a mistake in the future they are far more to help us solve it than make demands.

This is a simple division, but one which businesses and individuals ignore at their peril … every day. We promise but don't deliver. We offer something for free ... but there's a catch!

Perhaps we need to think more carefully before we advertise our next free offer because if we fail to deliver on that offer, we make our customers (and friends) ever more cynical and thick-skinned: we turn them off rather than turning them on to what we really have to offer. In reality, we turn them off to us because we fail to deliver on what we’ve promised. It is ourselves that we are selling short and it is ourselves that get the bad publicity. We gain the label 'Can't be trusted'.

The idea of personal integrity is getting ever more lost amidst spin and short-term fire-fighting. High profile figures expect us to believe their words, even though we see they are contrary to their actions (the cover up). However, for those who are prepared to match words with actions, the opportunities are huge. There is a saying I like to use for personal encouragement:

'Where the darkness is darkest, the faintest light shines brightest'.

I'm not on my own when I say that by being honest and open, yes, even admitting our mistakes, we build an opportunity for growth and success; for competitive advantage. Despite what the macho businessmen (many of whom are scared witless of failing) may say, customers like attention and they like vulnerability because that makes us just like them, complete with faults and failings, and they can relate to that.

Independence or Interdependence?

Independence breeds suspicion; interdependence cultivates trust and success … but dare we take the risk?

Expenses, Integrity & Me

Like me, you’re probably getting tired of all the current revelations surrounding the exploits of our politicians and their ‘accounting errors.’  I feel sorry for those politicians whose names have not been in the headlines because they have actually been honest (but not for those that simply haven’t been caught yet!). 

I have also been amazed at the naivety of those concerned to think that they can use a few weasel-words to cover-up what were quite clearly blatant attempts to defraud …

“I am humiliated by my error of judgement” … But it obviously didn’t feel too humiliating when making the initial fraudulent claims,  before being found out.

“I overlooked this accounting error” … No!  You made a fraudulent claim and failed to declare it.

“I have paid back the expenses I shouldn’t have claimed” … Okay, but how long has it been going on?  What haven’t you told us about?

“I made an error of judgement” … About the expenses or the risk of being caught?

Do the government bodies e.g., HMRC, allow us to say, “Sorry! That non-payment of tax was a small accounting error.  I’ve admitted it now so no need to worry about it further.”   I think not.  Argue with the taxman and court beckons.  In fact they are one of the few groups of people who can expect us to pay them back for their mistakes (sometimes large sums of money if we’ve not noticed an erroneous tax calculation … which is interestingly our fault for not noticing the error in the first place.  Sorry.  Have I missed something?).

In the past  I have commented to friends about the various activities of politicians outside of Parliament, only to be told, “Oh! That’s their private life. You shouldn’t worry about that; they wouldn’t do that in Parliament.”

I would argue that if an individual can knowingly act dishonestly in one area of their life, they can act dishonestly in any area of their life.  

We are what we are.

Trust and integrity are keys for success in any area of our life. Unfortunately, too many people want to be trusted without having to be responsible for their actions … and when we let people down through deliberate deceit, it takes a long time to rebuild the trust we’ve shattered.

Our politicians are human beings who, because of their public visibility (and the thirst of the media for ‘news’) are easy targets for the snipers.  In no way can I condone what has happened.  I am probably as annoyed by the deceit as the next man.

BUT it does challenge me re-examine what I do and ensure that my dealings with others, in business and everyday life, build trust; not destroy it.  

We all make mistakes.

What I am concerned with here is that those are genuine mistakes or misjudgements, rather than a clever manipulation of the English language to cover deceit and polish a turd!

Karate, Kata, Kumite & Kime: A Business Model

The idea of drawing parallels between martial arts and business practice is not new. John Barnes and Richard Richardson, two highly successful businessmen and entrepreneurs (Harry Ramsdens) liken business to Judo in their excellent book Marketing Judo. They show how it is possible for the small players to compete and in many cases succeed over larger corporations.

As a practitioner of Shotokan karate, I understand the importance of training, fitness, discipline and tenacity.

Within karate there are different components which, when practiced make up the whole picture. The main components are Kata and Kumite.

Kata comprise structured sequences of moves which include attacks and blocks (defences) using hands, feet and body. Traditionally, a karateka (practitioner of karate) progresses through different kata as a structured route to the black belt. Once attaining black belt, we continue to improve these kata whilst learning new more advanced kata containing further techniques and their combinations.

Kumite is basically fighting; the application of attacks to specific parts of the body, mainly nerve plexus' and key sensitive spots, and blocks. During kumite we learn control, stealth, tenacity, surprise and control. I mention control twice because when you are facing someone with the tools to inflict serious damage, the understanding of body position and distance is paramount, not inly to survival but to success.

Kata and kumite both depend on learning the basics; how to punch, how to kick, how to move the body by transfer of weight, how to transfer power, how to remain strong whilst being relaxed and how to use different muscle sets in harmony to achieve maximum power.

The basics depend on a potentially 'mystical' and often misunderstood word, Kime. Kime is probably best described as being when both the body and brain are executing sharp, crisp, penetrating, and hard techniques that utilizes the entire person. Kime is when technique is 'grounded', when it 'comes up through the floor', where the body’s entire musculature is used in a sudden explosive moment, and when the mind is linked to the technique. (Mark Groenewold).

It doesn't take a lot to start drawing parallels between business practice and these different components. Here are a few to start with:

Basics - Have we got our basics right; knowledge, process, relationships, targets, aims etc?
Kata - Do we construct our basics into structures that help us progress, using them to shape what we do and how we move, build our skills, check and refine what we're doing?
Kumite - Do we apply our basics and structures in such a way that we are able to out-manoeuvre our competitors, know where to target our efforts, defend our resources, develop and hone what we have so that it is even more effective?
Kime - Have we learnt how to use what we have to its maximum potential? Are there things that we can combine in a new way to produce even greater results, greater service, greater enjoyment and fulflment, greater satisfaction, greater growth ... etc?
Control - Have we assessed our position and that of our competitors? Do we see how they are moving? Can we implement strategies that won't cause undue injury? Are we willing to take the risk to win?

When myself and my children gained our black belts we were told, "Now is the time that you start to learn." I think that is a good reminder to each and every one of us that no matter how long we have been in business, or working in a particular field or doing a particlar job, we can always improve IF we are willing to learn from what we have done and what we are doing and apply it to the future.

Tools for doing this? God gave us brains, common sense and the ability to relate to others (relationships). I would argue that these are the best tools we have to start on the road.

Perhaps when we appreciate our interdependence rather than striving for continual independence we will learn some of these 'mysteries' of life and business.

You may not practice karate, but you can apply the principles.

How Can We Build Self-Esteem & Confidence in Others?

Self-esteem is the foundation on which confidence can build. People who feel valued and know their self-worth are then more able to try new things and be prepared to fail. Unfortunately, failure has become a dirty word in business and we love to make scapegoats of those who have failed. But in so doing we continue to hammer the nails in our own coffin, because unless we are prepared to try something new, to put ideas together that have never been put together before, to experiment with them and see if they work, creativity and innovation die. If we stifle or kill self-esteem, we stifle and kill creativity and our success. The three are intimately associated with one another. The most successful and rapidly expanding businesses today are those where creativity thrives; Innocent Drinks and the Virgin franchise are just two examples.

And where creativity is lost? The businesses die.

As pressures increase to be successful, we often exclude the very things that can save us. One of those things is risk-taking, of which we are sorely afraid. We continue to work harder at what we’ve always done in the hope that ‘this time it will work’. Why should it if it hasn’t worked before? If it has worked before but we’re struggling now, why use the tried and well-trodden path to the cemetery? Risk-taking is the basis of creativity and the foundation for success. But in order to take those risks we need the confidence, and to build confidence we need a foundation of self-esteem.

Simple ways to build self-esteem include basic rewards such as a verbal or written ‘Thank you’, recognition in front of peers, recognition of a team in a company publication, a small gift, anything that says ‘We appreciate your efforts.’

Perhaps we should re-learn the art of celebrating our failures. They don’t have to be big announcements (there are undoubtedly people waiting in the wings to pour on scorn). But by celebrating the failures with those who’ve tried it is possible to learn from the mistakes and to move forward. Punishment achieves nothing apart from a misplaced sense of dispensed justice. We forget that the greatest discoveries affecting our lives today were the end of a line of repeated failures. People like Thomas Edison went through hundreds, even thousands of prototypes before they came up with the end product. Underlying that tenacity and perseverance was undoubtedly high levels of self-esteem and self-confidence which enabled them to face the failures, learn from them and move on. These inventors would undoubtedly have been inspired and encouraged by others and needed to draw on that as onlookers criticised and ‘commented’ on their failures. But it is their self-esteem that is likely to have held them on-course through the storms.

Sometimes we just need to let people have a go and discover for themselves. This is the basis of my workshops. I can show them plenty of what I can do, but in the end it only really works when each person has the opportunity to try for themselves. Having discovered that they can or can’t do something they can move on, either to something new or build on what they’ve started.Sometimes we need to revisit where they’ve been and help them change a wrong perception. For example, they may have tried something once and decided that they can’t do it, when in fact they just need to try it again.

There are many ways we can help, but perhaps the biggest part is through our relationships with others. As we develop and use these we have the opportunity to encourage, correct, draw alongside and help. These things also take time, effort and patience, so it can be useful to weigh-up how much effort and time we can/are prepared to give.

Benefits from the results are potentially huge and long-lasting and the return on investment greater than we can ever perceive.

But we need to take that risk ...

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If you are interested to learn how we may be able to help you, please either visit our websites:

Waywood Creative: http://www.waywoodcreative.com/

Waywood Training: http://www.waywoodtraining.com/

Or contact me directly on

Tel: +44 (0)1509 553362
Mob: +44 (0)7814 628123
E-mail: stuart@waywoodenterprises.com

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Blindicles for the Arts or Articles for the Blind?

'Articles for the Blind' frequently fall through the letterbox of my blind friend.

I use the term blind rather than the PC 'visually impaired' because many of us sighted people hear the term 'visually impaired' ('VI' to those in the know!!) and think instinctively of someone who 'can't see very well'. I use the term blind because this friend does not have any perception of light or dark, let alone image discernment; her vision is 100% impaired … plus some!!

I have learnt a huge amount from this friend, including that two of the most frequent misconceptions are:

• Guide dogs are not so well trained that you say, “Take me to the corner shop” and then just follow them. It is the owner, not the dog who learns the route; the function of the dog is to get their owner to the destination in one piece … most of the time!
• They are 'Guide Dogs' not 'Blind Dogs': it's the owners who are blind, not the dogs!

So, why do I choose to tell you about a blind friend in particular? Well, despite a complete lack of visual function she is incredibly creative!

Surprised?

Isn't creativity a visually inspired thing?

Obviously not.

When I first discovered that my friend had no perception of light and dark, I was intrigued to find out what she 'saw' when she closed her eyes: Was it black? Was it white? Was there colour?

Her response made me take a step back … "No! There is just nothing!"

Yet, as we talked about colour and shade and clothes and house decorations I was staggered that she had the most amazing concept of colour and co-ordination. She could go into her wardrobe and pull out clothes that matched and then go to her jewellery and find an appropriate necklace and earrings. It didn't matter to me whether what I saw as green related to how my friend saw green. I was confronted with was a lady who, when she closed her eyes (or kept them open for that matter) could 'see nothing' yet could perceive in her mind colour matches and co-ordination to fine degrees of detail.

My friend could describe pictures she saw in her mind, musical pictures that were stimulated through conversation, sounds, taking a walk … many things. During discussions new light would be thrown on old problems simply because she was able to see things from a different perspective. And it was amazing how many times those ideas were the key that unlocked the door to new discoveries and new ways of doing things.

I was struck how differently we could see situations; metaphorically and physically (though she had a slight disadvantage!) and yet how synergistic these views often were. They weren't 'right' or 'wrong'; they complimented each other, rubbed against each other, challenged each other and in so doing released something new. One of the great things about creativity is that it can be sparked when we come face-to-face with people who see things very differently from us, in this case, quite literally! Some magic moments occur when my view is challenged or even destroyed by that of my friend. These are the times when connections are made between things that don’t naturally connect for me and true creativity is born.

I know that my perspective on life has been greatly enriched by knowing this friend. I hope that each of us can find something fresh from relationships that we have in business or our personal lives that may have become stale or contentious because of our very different views.

Perhaps if we see the potential rather than the problem we will all benefit.

'Oh! I've known you for ages. I don't think it's my job to tell you when you've done something well ... just when you need to improve'

So ended a conversation with someone I'd known for years ... and it hurt ... and it set me thinking!

I see many people, especially young people/young adults with a desperate need to be affirmed, noticed, respected (in the true sense) and encouraged. They have many 'friends' and colleagues whom they have known for a long time, but somehow the familiarity has also put scales on the eyes of friends, so that they no longer encourage or feed positives into their life ... only a destructive neutrality.

And yet I am often just as guilty as my friend for either prejudging (appearance, comments from other people etc) or just looking for things I can improve in others, whilst missing the core values and reasons why they are my friend in the first place. What should be a relationship becomes a monologue: I forget their needs and aim to fulfil my wants.

I remember friends at school who were devastated when they had tried their hardest and yet weren't quite good enough because the standard of their work didn't compare to the standard of work submitted by other members of the class. Rather than being helped and encouraged, they were targetted by teachers and fellow pupils; they were the butt end of jokes; they were labelled 'thick', 'stupid', 'dunces' (and worse) ... and I was right there with the crowd taunting them!!

What effect did this have on the individuals concerned?

They responded in a number of ways. They became:

Discouraged ... they perceived themselves as not good enough.
Demotivated ... their enthusiasm and interest declined and not surprisingly, their marks got worse
Disillusioned ... long-term, some of my friends gave up in that subject
Some became Disenfranchised from the education system ... they continually got into trouble with teachers, pupils and in some cases the law, and very sadly, some lost hope.

But thankfully, some became very successful people, running their own business and enjoying life.

So what happened to buck the trend?

In most cases there was either an individual who took interest in them, coached and encouraged them, hung in there and made a difference. In other cases the inner drive of these people to prove to themselves that they had value and could succeed was so strong that they drove themselves to achieve what they had been told could never happen.

I hear sad stories about people like Robbie Williams and Mick Hucknall, two high profile, talented personalities in the music world who were told by teachers at school, 'You will never amount to anything.' Ouch! Wouldn't it have been so much better if their talents had been spotted, encouraged and nurtured so that they could reach and enjoy their success without so many hangups and low self image.

As we look to cultivate our relationships with others we should start by 'earning the right' to their friendship by building trust and demonstrating that we are worth having as a friend. And once we have built these friendships and relationships, it is the responsibility of each of us to accentuate the positive rather than highlight the negative or, equally as destructive, make no comment at all.

I believe that by applying these principles to our relationships, in all areas of life, we will benefit, our friends will benefit, those around us will benefit and ultimately our businesses and ventures will benefit.

Success = Creativity + Integrity

I was reading an article in the headlines today which stated that fewer and fewer people trust what they read in adverts, and suspicion is at an all time high online as surfers are afraid to follow advertising links in case their e-mail address is somehow 'captured' and they are bombarded with unwanted communications from the company and third party associates.

Combine this with an all-time low level of trust in business marketing campaigns as a whole and we face a bit of a crisis ... We need to communicate with people about our products and services, but how do we achieve that without being thwarted at the first step?

Can I suggest that one word sums up the answer ... integrity.

Over the past few years there has been a significant change in both the offline and online business arenas, from being company driven to being consumer driven: What do our customers want? rather than What do we want to give our customers? Creative (or not so creative) techniques have been used to 'breech customer defences' and get them to buy. Unfortunately, a lot of these techniques, though very creative, were also one-sided, excluding the customer.

However, the wind of change now means that customers have what, to some, may seem like too much power in dictating markets.

As I looked a little closer at this problem something very basic struck me: this new modus operandi is sales and marketing (offline and online) driven by relationships. Sure, we can dress this up in all sorts of jargon, but the basis is now,

"If you want me to buy from you I want to know you, I want to know what you stand for, I want to know what you are trying to sell me, I want to know how I benefit from having it and then I can make a decision on whether I want to buy it"

Unique Selling Points (USPs), selling the benefits of products and customer focused selling have always been good techniques and known to bring improved customer response. However, now the customers have caught up! They are tired of being given half truths or part information about products; and rightly so.

Unfortunately, presenting only the advantages and successes of a product, whilst omitting to declare some of the disadvantages has been the accepted norm in many companies, particularly if those disadvantages have no associated health risk. However, the more scary fact is that this practice also occurs in the health and pharmaceutical industries where the consequences are nothing short of dangerous or life-threatening. Newspaper headlines with significant impact on the company, publicised when it is discovered that certain unwanted side effects or adverse effects were conveniently 'omitted' from the dossier submitted for approval.

If we take time to consider this, the effects seen in the relatively small, selected population used in clinical trials are certainly going to be seen when the drug is released to the wider community and used by millions of patients, often worldwide. Integrity is compromised in an effort to gain (often short-term) return on investment to please the shareholders. Creativity without the integrity leads to compromise at the least; disaster at worst.

But the impact on the wider business community in these situations. There is a massive loss of trust by the customers; not only against in the 'offending' company but against all companies in the same business sector. We all suffer from the lack of integrity of others.

So, I welcome much of the shift that has taken place because I see it as a return to the basics of human interaction and relationships. As businesses we are now accountable to our customers and we are required to be open and honest if we want their custom, business and loyalty.

Historically and in the future, the most successful businesses are/will be those that display integrity and use their creativity wisely. No longer can we simply sell to our customers ... we need to gain their trust and loyalty first, and we can only really do that by establishing a relationship with them, by including them in our decisions and listening to what they have to say, even if we can't act on every request we receive. However, once we have their trust, it is easier to be open about our mistakes and we are seen to be human and not just some corporate threat. We may also be creative in asking our customers their ideas for solutions to our problems?

2008 is a new start for me as I venture out in my own business. After 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry I have witnessed much that is good and bad. My priority is to take the best that I have learnt, be transparent in what I do and keep an open ear to those I deal with.

I want to ensure that my creativity is tempered, no, driven by integrity.