leadership dot #1688: small batches

You've heard of craft beers and microbrews for alcoholic beverages, but now the concept is happening in the non-alcoholic realm. Craft sodas are growing in popularity, with ever-increasing varieties and flavors. There is even a clearinghouse website to categorize, review and rank all of the niche beverages: Five Star Soda.

When I was in Illinois for the holidays, I got a glimpse of the explosion at Rocket Fizz -- a boutique shop that sells old-time candy and dozens of flavors of specialty pop. You could buy bacon pop, grass soda, key lie pie in liquid form or even a bottle of drinkable peanut butter and jelly. I do not vouch for any of the flavors, but they did make a tempting array of new taste sensations.

Some craft sodas are for the aficionados who want the perfect root beer or cream soda. Others are for the novelty. A few years ago you would have never thought there would be a market for coconut cream soda or pumpkin pie pop or numerous companies crafting their own concoctions. But whatever the cause, the craft soda industry and its accompanying stores, web sites, producers and clients are on an upward trajectory.

How can you take a lesson from craft sodas and create a small batch of a specialized product or service? Can you target the few instead of the many in a way that makes sense for your organization? Is there a way you can craft something new instead of reaching into the well over and over for the masses?  Like with sodas and beer, small could be very big for you.

Source: Your next soda should be a craft soda, American Way magazine, January, 2017, p. 18 and FiveStarSoda.com

Rocket Fizz, St. Charles, IL

leadership dot #1687: the best managers

In addition to running a massive search engine, Google undertakes research projects to better understand human behavior and the performance of their employees. One such study was entitled "Project Oxygen" and sought to identify traits of managers that made some more effective than others.

The study concluded that eight skills that corresponded with the best management. The good manager:

1. a good coach
2. empowers and does not micromanage
3. expresses interest and concern in subordinates' success and well-being
4. is results oriented
5. listens and shares information
6. helps with career development
7. has a clear vision and strategy
8. has key technical skills

This does not seem like rocket science. To be an effective leader of your staff, it seems to go a long way when you treat your people like people and care about them personally. It doesn't mean you have to be buddies, rather genuinely respectful and trusting.

Take a look at the list above and assess where you could improve. Better yet, ask your staff which area you should add to your new year's resolutions. You and your organization will both benefit if you practice the above eight skills until they become part of who you are.

In Smarter, Faster, Better by Charles Duhigg, 2016

leadership dot #1686: ribbit

There are definitely days when I stare at the computer dreading that I need to write a blog -- staring for as much time as ultimately takes me to write the darn thing. I think I need to adopt Brian Tracy's philosophy and start my day by eating a live frog.

Actually, it was Mark Twain that said if you started each day by eating a live frog it would probably be the worst thing that would happen to you all day so good to get it over with! Brian Tracy just brought Twain's logic into the new millennium. 

A frog, as the logic goes, is your most important task of the day. And if you start by accomplishing your one big task, not only do you check that off the list, but you save time by not avoiding it. Tracy suggests that developing a habit of "eating the frog" right away will pay countless dividends over time. He offers these five steps to master the skill:

1. If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first. (in other words, start with the hardest task and stick with it to completion)
2. If you have to eat a live frog at all, it doesn't pay to sit and look at it very long. (so stop staring at the computer and start writing!)
3. Take action immediately. (develop the discipline to begin and work toward results)
4. Develop a positive attitude.  (success will help you become addicted to accomplishing more)
5. No shortcuts. (practice eating frogs every day)

I have eaten 1686 frogs now, and you would think that they would begin to taste better, but that is not always the case. Perhaps I need to review Brian Tracy's ebook on the subject and adjust my palate. I hear frog legs are a delicacy!

What frog should be on your morning menu?

leadership dot #1685: passion planning

To start the new year, many people purchase new calendars or appointment books, ostensibly to track their scheduled events in the coming months. But what if you want a vehicle to organize and plan time for those events that aren't time-specific -- the pieces of the big goals that are what, as Stephen Covey calls "important but not urgent." How can you get a handle on this type of scheduling?

There are many options out there, but I will offer two formats that help the creative or entrepreneurial person add some structure to more fluid projects. One is Natalie MacNeil's Conquer Your Year Planner. She combines space to track top priorities, well being, gratitude and progress toward the big picture all in one spiral notebook. (see below)

Another is the Passion Planner -- a type of pre-formatted Bullet Journal that allows you to track larger goals and weekly appointments plus other information all in the same place. Both planners allow you to express your creativity and to multi-function throughout the book.

There is more to life to plan out and schedule than just dentist appointments and meetings. Find a system that matches with your goals and temperament to maximize your effectiveness in the year ahead.

 

from Natalie MacNeil's Conquer Your Year Planner

Thanks to Michele and Amy

leadership dot #1684: puzzled

I received a puzzle for Christmas that featured a collage of campaign buttons. Given all the words on buttons and distinctive colors and type, I thought it would be a fairly simple venture to complete. I was wrong.

To begin with, I underestimated the time that it takes just to lay 1000 pieces out on the table and sort out the edge pieces. I did not count on the background between the buttons that was the same throughout, making it difficult to know where in the frame it belonged. Nor did I account for the fact the pieces were sadistically cut, splicing letters and faces in awkward splits so that they were indistinguishable even under close examination. In short, it took forever to complete.

It reminded me of change efforts overall, and in most cases we don't even start out with all the pieces. We think we know what the vision is or what the end result will look like, but never allocate as much time as it requires to get there. We have the false impression that parts of the quest will be simple, and don't factor in that the final product looks easy, but assembling it never is. We focus on the whole, and gloss over the intricate details that tend to trip us up. And we neglect to keep the dog from eating the piece that falls on the floor, confounding us time and time again as we become sure that the piece we can't find is the piece that was mauled.

The next time you or your organization is about to embark on a major change effort, have your team put together a thousand-piece puzzle first, then reflect on what lessons you learned from the exercise that can inform your timing and expectations for the real-life puzzle you're about to attempt. It makes sense to start with the vision and assemble the boundaries first, but the middle section is not a linear process. In the end, puzzles and change efforts look easy, but getting there happens a piece at a time.

                           

leadership dot #1683: clear

I recently prepared to present a workshop on supervision and was reminded of one of my favorite quotes about leadership.  Marcus Buckingham writes in The One Thing You Need to Know:

"Effective leaders don't have to be charming or brilliant. What they must be is clear. CLARITY is the essence of great leadership. Show us clearly who we should seek to serve, show us where our core strength lays, show us which score we should focus on and which actions we must take, and we will reward you by working our hearts out to make our better future come true."

I agree with Marcus about clarity, not just with leadership, but with achieving almost anything worthwhile. I have written before about the importance of specificity in accomplishing goals or projects, and clarity achieves the same thing.

For today, try to be as specific and clear as you can -- about what you value, what you seek to achieve and what you need. The more detailed you are about your plans, the more likely the universe will conspire to help you attain them.

leadership dot #1682: red

If I asked you what color Target "owned", I'll bet that most of you could say red. It's the signature color of their bullseye logo, shopping carts, clerks' attire and packaging. 

A few weeks ago, the Target flyer appeared in the paper using blue (as in Walmart blue!) instead. Then there was green, followed by orange and now a gray. It makes no sense to me.

When I was working on a campus, people would often get tired of using -- and reusing -- the school colors. They would want to "mix it up" and interject a new color in the palette. Bad idea. If you have a color that seems to be everywhere, take it as a sign that your branding is working, not in need of a refresh. If they're not seeing red, I think Target is missing its mark by using anything else.