Tip of the Spear Ventures

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The Leadership Challenge: Where to Focus?

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At Tip of the Spear, we’re licensed via the Leadership Challenge as Executive Coaches. If you’re acquainted with the Leadership Challenge by Kouzes/Posner, you understand that there are 5 (5) techniques of management that can be considered as “axioms” when it concerns effective methods as a leader (If you’re not accustomed to the Leadership Challenge, below’s where you can learn even more details: http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/home.aspx).

In various other words, where do leaders concentrate to optimize their outcomes?

Please share your point of view with us. If you do not concentrate on a target, probabilities are you will not strike it.

The Leadership Challenge: Where to Focus?

The Leadership Challenge

The Leadership Challenge.

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Why Leaders Should Communicate with Influence?

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We face a great deal of leaders that are seeking to develop their management abilities, and also absolutely nothing does even more to move their management abilities as high as strong management interaction abilities. In this message, we’ll have a look at why a leader must seek to connect with impact.

Interaction, what’s the offer as a leader? Well, as one of our customers informed us, whatever in management boils down to your capacity to connect efficiently. Without strong interaction abilities, whatever shows up to be a battle (or is hard to complete).

Ever before look at on your own from these viewpoints? If you’re on-target and also truthful, you possibly have. – Effective management interaction is not a choice!

If you would certainly such as to figure out even more concerning why leaders ought to interact with impact, as well as extra significantly the “How to” in order to implement/execute much better interaction abilities as a leader, register for among our upcoming Communicate with Influence sessions with the Javelin Institute.

Interaction, what’s the offer as a leader? Well, as one of our customers informed us, every little thing in management boils down to your capacity to interact properly.!! With strong interaction abilities, every little thing is feasible. Without strong interaction abilities, whatever shows up to be a battle (or is hard to achieve).

Management Development: A New Formula for Developing Committ…

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This management marital relationship supplies a chance for leaders at all degrees in your company to get a constant collection of the most reliable management techniques and also actions offered.

When management is strongly secured with the practices related to the Leadership Challenge approach, and also genuine management dedication is used, management society is driven throughout the company. This management advancement method additionally offers a remarkable and also basic procedure to bring your company’s core proficiencies and also worths to life.

For more details on just how Tip of the Spear can aid your company with establishing leaders, call us today.

COVID-19 Leadership: Are You a Success or Failure? 3 Action Areas!

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The Point: Grade yourself on your COVID-19 Leadership – Are you a success or a failure? You work your entire career to build your leadership brand. Day after day, week after week, and year after year you put forth a valiant effort (or, what we’d like call your “Blood, Sweat, and Spears!”) However, it only takes a moment to wipe out your leadership brand. And with the pandemic gripping the economy, the spotlight shined brightly on your leadership brand. Are you a success or failure so far? In this post, we’ll explore COVID-19 Leadership and determine if you are a success or failure as well as provide three action areas… Enjoy!

COVID-19 Leadership – Are You a Success or Failure?

As we prepare to turn the corner into 2021, I would ask are you a success or failure during these COVID-19 Leadership times? The Greek Philosopher Socrates is quoted as saying “Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart’s desire; the other is to get it.” 2020 was supposed to be a difficult year for leaders at all levels, as forecasters predicted an economic slowdown a year ago in 2019. Well throw on top of that economic financial recession the suffering and death resulting from the pandemic. COVID-19 has been a time where leaders have potentially experienced both of Socrates tragedies… Simultaneously!

If your heart’s desire as a leader is to be the best leader possible, the actions you have taken and are taking in response to this most disruptive leadership challenge will shape your leadership legacy. You may have achieved success in previous years, making what now seems like the “right” call (or decision) after “right” call. When times are good, it’s easy to get it “right” as a leader. However, now that we’re in a medically induced recession, the “wrong” call or decision is all too common.

The Reason It’s Lonely at the Top – Decisions

Leaders who consider themselves as employee-focused and friendly found themselves in the unenviable position earlier this year of making “tough” decisions. But some leaders chose to make these “tough” decisions actually an “easy” decisions or easy way out of bad business decisions. For example, after considerable review of their organization’s financial performance, many gathered their team members on virtual conferences not to announce a way forward but to share their decision to furlough (i.e., fire, layoff, dismiss) otherwise loyal associates with little to no sensitivity. Worse yet, some other leaders elected to adopt the strategy of “no action” and did nothing (Yes, doing nothing is a choice and therefore a decision). It was only a small minority of leaders who elected to pursue the aforementioned way out or forward (Truly the “tough” decision!)

As the pandemic gripped the globe, I was asked to act as an outside leadership and change consultant on several C-suite level COVID-19 taskforces for our clients. In this role, I had a front-row seat on vastly different crisis leadership approaches. Those differences prompted me to ask the C-suite leaders I worked with what they were learning as a leader from the pandemic. Not only were these C-suite leaders eager to discuss their strategies and insights, including their uncertainties and fears, but they also wanted to hear what other leaders were doing (Perspective on not only successes, but failures as well). These discussions seemed positive, productive and progressive, allowing the C-suite leaders to reinforce certain behaviors moving forward as well as discard others. With doubt, uncertainty, and a lack of clarity we both found value in taking the time to reflect and strategize for a better tomorrow today.

The Power of Zoom

These C-suite leader conversations as measured through Zoom-metrics have consisted of 2,000+ Zoom meetings and 200+ Zoom webinars being conducted on a variety of topics (Leadership, Change, Strategy, Accountability, Delegation, Sales + Business Development, Marketing, Human Resources, Operations, and Finance). C-suite leader attendees were from a variety of industries (Automotive, Banking/Finance/Insurance, Biotechnology + Pharmaceutical, Government – Federal and State, Retail, and Technology – Hardware and Software) representing for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and were geographically dispersed across North America, South America, Europe and the Middle East.

It’s important to note a finding that presents itself in these difficult leadership times, that being leaders – especially high performing ones – are extremely harsh critics of their own performance. While most organizational stakeholders (representing company peers and subordinates) would gage the C-suite leader’s performance as Above Average on a five-point Likert scale (Excellent, Above Average, Average, Below Average, and Very Poor), most C-suite leaders ranked themselves as Below Average (with the harshest of critics ranking themselves Very Poor). That’s right, these seemingly superior C-suite leaders who during previous times reflected little/no self-esteem or self-image issues, now during COVID-19 were convinced that they were not leading up to their fullest potential (perhaps the key is developing “self-compassion” skills as Margaret Wehrenberg Psy.D. shares in her Psychology Today article titled, “What to Do When You Are Your Own Worst Critic”).

COVID-19 Leadership: Are You a Success or Failure? 3 Action Areas

So, during this COVID-19 Leadership moment, do you consider yourself a success or failure? The aforementioned conversations focused on leaders, regardless of their success or failure orientation, excelling in three (3) broad action areas. COVID-19 leaders want to be known for leading with:

  1. Courage (Having created environments with effective Strategies, Action Plans, Goals, Communication, Organization Alignment, Operational Excellence, and Organizational Proficiency)
  2. Poise (Having created environments with Contingency Planning, Organizational and Team Member Prioritization Rankings, Science versus Art, and Championing Ethical Leadership), and/or
  3. Dignity (Having created environments present with Calm, Morality, Compassion, and as odd as it sounds Love)

SUMMARY

I would ask you the same questions I asked these C-suite leaders in closing:

  • What do you want people to say about your leadership during the pandemic?
  • How sure are you that you will be perceived that way?
  • Most importantly, what can you do today to ensure your desired legacy is realized now and into the future?

Sam Palazzolo PS – If you liked this article, you’ll love my “Best Leader in 30 Days!” course! In daily 5-minute or less learning lessons, you’ll be on your way to becoming the best leader possible. For a limited time, you can access the course for FREE by CLICKING HERE

Professional Service Firm Leadership + Business Development

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The Point: Business Development is the lifeblood of any organization. If nothing happens in business until you sell something, then no sale is made until you develop some business! But at a professional service firm, what role does leadership play in Business Development? In this post, we’ll explore professional service firm leadership and their role in Business Development… Enjoy!

Why are You in Business?

“We’re in business to make money” a Professional Service Firm Leader exclaimed during our initial acquisition interview. The question that prompted this answer was a nice, slow, softball right down the middle of the plate for him, namely “Tell us about your business?” A simple question… An even simpler answer!

Most businesses, especially professional service firms are in business to make money. While there may be those nonprofits that are in business to assist customers to “Never Stop Exploring” or some other tagline, the vast majority are in the business of business to make money and return/create value for their owners. Along those lines, the topic of Business Development should be considered the “lifeblood” of any professional services firm (or any organization that sells anything for that matter!)

During the acquisition due diligence phase, we’ve seen the effect of poor Business Development during the most recent pandemic. Businesses that we looked at acquiring at my Private Equity firm shared financial information reflecting decreases in revenue of 20% to 50%, and we’ve heard horror stories of those that have fallen significantly worse! A business’ health and sustainability can be directly measured by the revenue they produce. If revenues drop faster than expenses or are off-pace, this poor health indicator could eventually lead to the death of the organization (i.e., a road to bankruptcy or sale – Cutting expenses can only go so far and typically are not a way to grow a business).

So, the simple question that started off our acquisition interview has a complex underpinning to it, especially when you consider the role of the professional service firm’s leadership!

Leadership’s Role in Business Development

Leadership’s role in driving Business Development at a professional services firm (Accounting, Architecture, Law, etc.) can be seen as a fairly simple initiative — Creating a Sales Strategic Plan, implementing a Business Development Model, and proper Prospect Identification are key aspects that we look to identify in those acquisition interviews. These topics will form the basis of this four (4) part series.

It’s important to keep in mind that Business Development starts with leadership at the professional services firm (Firm leaders, practice leaders, and niche leaders). In conducting acquisition interviews, I’ve seen it play out at far too many firms where leadership rejects the premise and therefore communicates the boomerang-expectation that business development is something that only “rainmakers” can be successful doing. In other words, someone other than themselves. These firm leaders accept the idea that most partners are not capable of Business Development and should therefore focus their efforts/energies on their subject matter expertise (SME) – Accounting, architecture, law, etc. However, in following their SME path of getting the work out the door and letting the rainmakers drive new clients and organic growth, there is a dichotomy that presents itself. Viewing the firms’ revenue in this way results in a sort of bilateral view — rainmakers bring in new clients and the rest of the partners’ service clients. Carrying this further, since firm leadership has no expectation of Business Development from most partners, there is no training or coaching and especially no need for accountability. So, Is there any wonder that so many professional service firms struggle with achieving significant growth year over year?

We Have a Plan…

 “Yes, of course we have a Business Development plan… It’s just different from the one you may have been told exists” a Professional Service Firm Leader shared with us during our acquisition interview. Upon further review, I found that the plan that existed on paper was rarely, if ever, followed. This inconsistency led to poor results in Business Development, and overall firm financial figures being reported. I’m often puzzled why leaders believe that we will not “see” something as being off or different when they give us this contrarian perspective. Afterall, it’s not that these firms are large enough to hide these individuals or their erratic performance.

Sales Strategic Planning

If the adage, “Nothing happens until you sell something” holds true (and why shouldn’t it, even at a professional services firm?), then what are the major actions leadership needs to take in order to drive significant growth year over year and build a successful business development structure? From a high-level perspective, the following three (3) actions should be incorporated in a Sales Strategic Planning document annually:

Expectations

Professional Service Firm leaders need to clearly communicate that it is every partner’s responsibility to be successful at Business Development and drive top-line revenue for growth. Business Development goals need to be established for every partner — goals that are stretch goals and that take into account each partner’s strengths and weaknesses. The issue here is not to give every partner the same revenue goal, but to give every partner a revenue goal for them to hit individually. These individual goals should roll-up into the stated goal for the overall firm.

Training and Coaching

Just like any sports team, there is a range of ability from the superstar to the team members who just make-up the team. To carry-on with the sports analogy, the coaches must understand the span of abilities that exist amongst the individual team members and as well as the responsibility to ensure that every member of the team improves their abilities each day (This is what practice is for!) It’s no different with a Professional Service Firm. Firm leadership must ensure that there is a strong training and coaching model in place to provide continuous improvement to the entire partner group as it relates to their Business Development abilities.

Accountability

For the above two steps (Expectations + Training and Coaching) to achieve the overall goal of driving revenue and successful Business Development, there needs to be an effective accountability model in place. Every partner has to be held accountable for their individual performance against the goals established for them. Accountability needs to be focused on helping each partner achieve greater levels of performance, versus laying blame for not achieving their goals. Accountability needs to be established with a carrot and stick methodology… There is motivation and training tools that act as the carrot, not as a Billy club acting as the stick in the event goals are not achieved. Accountability is a key ingredient necessary to drive every partner’s success in Business Development. Lastly, Professional Service Firm leadership should be held accountable for creating and implementing a successful Business Development model throughout the firm.

Leave the Networking to Leadership

“It’s the expectation that every leader in our Professional Services Firm network to increase our client base” I was told during an acquisition interview by our prospective organization’s Managing Director. If it was clear to him, it apparently wasn’t too clear to everyone else at the leadership level or beyond (Sales year over year were down a whopping 50%!)

A Business Development Model

Let’s look at the three major stages of an effective Business Development model:

Building a Network

Business Development starts with each Professional Service Firm Leader building their own network of contacts that are in a position to create an opportunity for the firm. This is the single most challenging piece of the Business Development strategy, and one that generates the most fear and concern for most partners. The bottom line is that most partners are just not comfortable going into an industry conference or local business association meeting and making contacts that matter. Professional Service Firm Leaders need to understand this and build training and coaching programs that will help each partner learn and become comfortable with building their network. There is no one approach to successful networking, and each partner needs to develop a process that works for them.

Creating Opportunities

The value of a personal network is in the potential opportunities for new clients. A major mistake that many partners make is thinking any contact is a good contact. This strategy is based on “hopes” and “wishes,” not on strategic decisions. Unless the contact is a decision maker at a potential client, or the contact is a key influencer with access to target clients, the contact has limited value in terms of the potential for opportunities to be created. Turning a contact into a valuable contact is a critical process that includes training, mentoring and a defined plan of action. Most critical in this process is the contact must be able to build trust in the partner.

Closing the Sale

All the best networking and opportunity creating activities results in little/nothing if the sales closed percentage is low or not where it should be according to the goals established for the partner/firm. So, what percentage will you set? Too low and you can modify higher. These adjustments are important because you have to start with something stated. It’s only based on the autopsy of either business won or lost that you can identify not only the proper percentage to target, but what activities you should train/monitor for successful Business Development.

Of Course We’re Driven to Acquire New Clients

“Of course we’re driven to acquire new clients. At this Professional Services Firm each of the partners take growth very seriously!” a leader at the firm shared with us during our acquisition interview. But where exactly were the firm’s leaders focused on acquiring new clients? After a few additional questions, it became obvious that they were looking at very low-hanging fruit clientele (i.e., those that were extremely easy to acquire!)

Who are Your Prospects?

There are three types of prospective clients to be taken into consideration for your Sales Strategic Plan as part of your Business Development efforts for the Professional Service Firm, Price-driven, Relationship-driven, and Value-driven. Let’s review each in more detail.

Price-driven

This type of prospect is only interested in the price, and from their perspective the lowest price. If that is the type of prospect you want to pursue, your win percent will in all likelihood be low (probably below 30%). Professional Service Firm Leadership caught in identifying Price-driven prospects typically believe that they can secure clients from other Professional Service Firms on price alone (“If we lower the price of our services, we’ll increase our client base). These same leaders tend to believe that once secured, they will be able to sell future services at a significantly higher rate so the overall profit on the client will be acceptable. This rarely happens, as these clients tend to find other low-price firms to do business with.

Relationship-driven

The Relationship-driven prospect is one who has a direct relationship with a part of your network or was referred by someone who has a good and trusted relationship with the prospect (i.e., they have a relationship with someone/somewhere which is why they’re doing business with your Professional Service Firm). Price may still be a driver for them, but the relationship often trumps price as long as the price is within a reasonable range.

Value-driven

The Value-driven prospect is one where the client agrees to do business with your firm due to the value they derive. Typically referred to as the “gold” standard, they never use price as a factor in selecting the Professional Service Firm, as long as they can see the connection between what your price is and the value that you deliver.

The best client-prospect is the one that is both relationship-driven and value-driven. As the firm or practice leader, you have to create a winning Business Development model that will drive growth every year, with each partner improving their Business Development success every year. For your firm to achieve significant annual growth, the best path is to implement a Business Development model that capitalizes on every partner’s strengths (and limits their weaknesses), sets clear expectations, and holds each partner accountable for results — the results being the actual new clients acquired.

SUMMARY

Professional Service Firms struggle to achieve significant growth year over year. Business development in its simplest structure consists of (a) building your network; (b) creating opportunities: and (c) closing the sale. So why is it so difficult for so many professional service firms to consistently drive substantial annual growth? Serving the firm in a role that’s larger than compliance and client service to one where all partners have a responsibility to sell is the purpose of this four (4) part series.

Sam Palazzolo

#Leadership #BloodSweatSpears

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