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The Leadership Challenge: Troubleshooting – 4 Tips

August 3, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Unavoidably, problems do sprout up in your life as a leader no matter how well you plan your day/week/month/year. Is it a moment of preplanning that is lacking? Perhaps there is an opportunity to develop better contingency plans? Should you belabor the troubled moment? Or, exactly how should you rebound effectively from such problem times? In this post, we’ll take a look at how you as a leader can better troubleshoot to maximize your leadership potential… Enjoy!

Time, Time, Time… See What’s Become of Me

Simon & Garfunkel (and the Bangles) sang the verse of oh so many leaders in the classic tune “Hazy Shade of Winter” bringing up the point that there is never quite enough time to solve each/every problem faced without running into some form of adversity along the way. Think about it, is there really ever enough time to solve everything (and if you’re trying to solve all of them by yourself, this in and of itself is a recipe for disaster!) The problems will stack up faster than you can process them. Sooner or later, you’ll consider taking shortcuts (never a good leadership moment, right?)

What if in leadership development you could troubleshoot your problems away? Think of it this way… If you fail to solve the “core” of each problem faced, inevitably the problem will resurface again in the future (Think of this as blowing away the smoke, but never extinguishing the fire). You typically will find yourself facing the same problems in a never-ending continuous loop of predictable insanity.

Troubleshooting as a Leader

Solving problems is one of the essence of leadership. More importantly than always being able to solve problems, is that ability to problem solve. Getting out in front of problems and proactively problem solve is crucial, but this will take tremendous leadership strength especially when stepping out in front of problems that you may not know how big they are, can be, or are traveling towards you/your organization. Resiliency in solving such problems, along with a healthy dose of persistence, will reflect to the organization your abilities to troubleshoot and resolve issues.

Whether you are leading yourself, a team, or an organization here then are the four (4) most effective ways in which I see leaders troubleshoot:

Tip #4: Effective Communication

In what might seem like the most obvious of the four tips provided as leadership development opportunities, herein lies perhaps one of the most difficult. Communicating effectively has a dose of transparency mixed with both future vision as well as the plan for how that destination will be achieved. I often see/hear leaders that have a great “talk” with their organizational stakeholders. However, in discussing the message delivered with those same stakeholders find them to be confused, paranoid, upset, angry, etc. about the message delivered. It’s not that they don’t understand, they just couldn’t comprehend what was being said!

Tip #3: Forget the Org Chart

While organization charts were important 10-20 years ago, they still seem to play a role in the ego-driven leader of today (Think of it as how many employees can report up to a central figure and you’ll identify the power within an organization – either real or imaginary). Instead of fueling the leadership development ego flames of an out of control leader, look to communicate the message across the organization as a whole. There is no need to have one department hear the message and develop a solution while in the same organization but different part of the org chart a totally different solution is being developed to the same solution. Instead, troubleshoot together for a single best solution (or a series of solutions that could be appropriate for there to be a review of, and ultimate selection for the best).

Tip #2: It’s a People-Business

I can’t tell you how many leaders seem to forget that no matter how much technology is present, how big their organization has become, or how much revenue the organization drives that it’s the people that work in the business that make the difference. As such, having the best people working in your operation can, will, and does make the difference. Cautionary Note: A few years ago I worked with a client that was “force-ranking” all of their employees and looking to “Topgrade” all of their personnel. Everyone was ranked on a scale from 1-5 on a series of key competencies deemed important to the organization, with 5’s being the best. Those that did not measure up to a 4-5 were terminated. Unfortunately, in that group of 1-3 were some of the original people that helped start the company (and previously thought of as some of the “best” until HR started the ranking procedures). Also, the 4-5’s took note and most of the talented ones departed prior to the next go-round of force-rankings. Sometimes it’s important to note: You get what you deserved when it comes to treating your people like people.

Tip #1: Strategic Thinking

Who thinks strategic in your organization? If it’s only you as the leader, you’ve got problems! Troubleshooting, contingency planning, and looking for alignment with new methodologies that go above/beyond where you are today as an organization is crucial to future success. However, above how the troubleshooting message is delivered/received in the organization, it is important to insure that the proper metrics are measured/reviewed/acted upon.

SUMMARY

In this post discussing the leadership challenge – troubleshooting we took a look at leaders and their problems, as well as four tips for overcoming troubleshooting moments. It’s important to have open communication, a plan that encompasses the entire organization regardless of org chart structure, top-notch people in your organization, and strategic thinking to troubleshoot effectively.

Sam Palazzolo

Business Valuation Services: Can You Receive More Money For Your Business?

July 31, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: This “new” economy continues to ripple through the economy even after the “great” depression of a few years ago. What used to be a somewhat simple-straightforward process of selling a business is now complicated. These complications can be calmed when engaging a business valuation service. A business valuation service is responsible for conducting analysis and presenting to leadership real terms regarding the value of a business. In this post, we’ll look at business valuation services and whether or not they can assist sellers in receiving more money for their businesses… Enjoy!

It’s a Business Buyers Market

The recent downturn in the economy has left several business owners and leadership looking to exit. While this could be a painful time, one that most thought they’d be able to overcome, it doesn’t need to be an outright disaster. There are still businesses that are looking to purchase other businesses. However, what if the price at which a business is listed for sale is too low (or on the other hand listed too high)?

Hiring a business evaluation services firm can work to get the most money possible out of your entity. This money should not only represent the organization’s current value, but a value that also equitably represents the amount commensurate with the number of years it took you/your organizational family to build the business.

Business Valuation Services “True” Services

There are several reasons why leadership should look for help in determining this all too important listing/selling price point. For starters, and the answer most typically received when asked what a business valuation service does is to identify the actual value of the company. The number can be difficult to come up with, let alone the emotional value that typically gets applied by business owners. Separating emotional value from actual is a service that an independent business valuation service can produce.

Business valuation services also can act akin to a business broker in helping connect buyers and sellers. While not at the algorithmic efficiency as a dot com dating service (perceived or real), having more prospective buyers review the company can/often does present bidding wars where more than one prospective buyer looks to purchase. These connections can also help foster relationships with those that typically are not looking, as opposed to those only interested in looking for a good deal.

SUMMARY

If you’ve decided to sell your business, a business valuation service is a logical step towards the exit. Providing yourself with accurate data, removing the emotional price points you’d like to receive, and opening the sale to a wider audience can lead to sellers receiving more money for their business.

Sam Palazzolo

Business Valuation Services: Why Independent Business Valuation Services are Crucial!

July 29, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: If leadership doesn’t know what a business is worth through a proper business valuation service, the value of the business at time of exit can suffer. Regardless of whether leadership is looking to sell business or acquire a business, you’ll want to insure that a proper valuation analysis is conducted. In this post, we’ll look at business valuation services and why they are crucial… Enjoy!

I’m Looking to Sell My Business… Do I Need a Business Valuation Service?

If you’re looking to sell your business, congratulations! This is a point that many a business owner would like to get to (Hopefully you’re not selling as a result of stress, capital undertow, etc.) Your goal in selling the business is to get as much for the entity as possible. Many sellers look to establish an estimated value prior to listing their business for sale. This allows the seller to list their business for sale at a price that coincides with the predominate value established in the ensuing valuation. Furthermore this business valuation can be provided to prospective buyers as a justification basis for their offer price to purchase.

Different Types of Business Valuation Services

Business Valuation Services derive their valuation from differing methods. Not only are there different valuation methodology employed, but different costs taken into consideration. Selling a business puts the seller, and buyer to a degree, in the position to explain these differences. For example, a basic calculation analysis type might omit details that could increase the value of the business, or conversely decrease the price.

The cost of a thorough business valuation service can be minimal, especially when considering selling a business. However, in comparison to the proceeds that could be either secured, or lost in the sale a business valuation service is crucial.

SUMMARY

You can, and should look to sell your business for as much as possible. Securing a business valuation service as the seller helps establish your selling price as well as acceptable bid levels regarding purchase. Requesting all potential buyer’s bids be considered serious if they in like kind provide their own is a great strategy to sell your business for the maximum amount. Simply put… Business Valuation Services are crucial!

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: The 5-Minute Meeting for Better Results!

July 27, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: After sitting through yet again another painfully boring series of meetings, a leader I work with had achieved his tipping point of frustration. The meeting lacked focus, quality content, important dialog, and action plans for moving forward. If as a leader you are faced with the same dilemmas in meeting mediocrity, this post will share with you are successful game plan for conducting a meeting in five minutes or less for better results… Enjoy!

Meeting Mediocrity… You’re Either Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution!

If you’ve ever sat through a meeting, or worse yet a series of meetings and afterwards you asked yourself “What was that all about?” this post is for you. It’s estimated that in any given month you’ll waste 31 hours in meetings and roughly 70% of your overall time at work. As a leader, meetings that waste time (the one resource that you have which you can never get returned to you) act as a tremendous suck and a severe leadership challenge. However, as the leader, guess what? You can, should, and must do something about meetings that waste everyone’s time.

The 5-Minute Meeting

Could you gain enough information so as to be updated and identify exploration paths to be taken on a topic? That was the goal our leader set out to resolve, and here’s how they did it:

Meetings should be considered “Updates”
These updates should provide a sixty second (1-minute) update on the topic at hand
Attendees will have 4-minutes to ask questions, and the subject matter experts in the room (not always those presenting) will answer
The final sixty seconds (1-minute) will be spent architecting next steps and accountability pieces

Better Results from a 5-Minute Meeting

So you’re probably asking yourself a multitude of questions regarding conducting a 5-minute meeting for better results (as did I!) Here’s a starter list that I had:

Who calls the meetings?
How is the invitation list generated?
Can a topic be thoroughly reviewed in sixty seconds (1-minute)?
Who gets to ask questions… Senior Leadership, Stakeholders, Who?
Who answers the questions, and what repercussions are there for those that “speak up” when perhaps organizational traditions don’t typically allow for such transparency/openness?
How grandiose are these next step tasks?
What if next steps tasks need to be conducted by those not present in the meeting?
Who holds parties accountable (Meeting Caller or Leader)?
And a host of others…

SUMMARY

The bottom line is that our leader was able to significantly shrink the time spent in meetings for himself, as well as organizational stakeholders. This decreased time spent in meetings allowed for greater focus in the meetings, greater attention to details when completing tasks, and ultimately greater teamwork from the organization at large. So you think you can or think you can’t pull off a 5-minute meeting for better results where you work? Either way, you’re right (But if you never try you certainly limit yourself in achieving better results!

Sam Palazzolo

You’re Going to Waste 31 Hours in Meetings – http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/time-wasted-meetings-data

70% of Your Time at Work is Wasted, How to Change That – http://www.fastcompany.com/3033093/work-smart/70-of-your-time-at-work-is-wasted-how-to-change-that

Business Valuation Services: How Can You Get More Money for Your Business?

July 27, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: If you don’t know where you’re going, any road can get you there. Likewise, if you don’t know what your business is worth through a proper business valuation service, establishing business objectives/goals can be a guessing game. Establish objectives/goals too low, and potential is barely reached. Set them too high, and you may never achieve them even in the best of circumstances. A business valuation service establishes the worth of your organization, and as a leader you’d better know what that value is in the event your exit strategy is to sell. In this post, we’ll look at business valuation services as a roadmap to identifying ways in which you can get more money for your business… Enjoy!

We Have Financial Statements… That Should Be Good Enough

At Tip of the Spear, we recommend to clients who are approaching the conclusion of their business career a solid succession plan or exit strategy. As part of your exit strategy, you’ve decided that you’re going to weigh several options. You may sell the business through a business broker. You could consider providing it for sale to your employees as part of an Employee Stop Option Purchase (ESOP). You might consider handing it down to your heirs as part of a larger success planning moment.

Regardless of the exit strategy you choose, knowing the value of your business can help you get more money. However a fatal flaw that I see many owners falsely create is that their financial statements will suffice. In and of themselves, financial statements do provide a degree of perspective regarding the business and its inherent value. However the same financial statements often omit key organizational pieces that could raise the value. Items such as furnishings, building ownership, geographic location, customer records, intellectual property, etc. account for more business value than a profit/loss statement can reflect. As such, we see business valuation services as a best practice when it comes to selling a business.

Business Valuation Services

Business Valuation Services help you quantify all parts contributing to a company’s value. Identifying the value therein can greatly assist you in establishing both proper asking price for the company as well as accepting the right offer. Typically, we see buyers (External or Internal to the organization) requesting their own business valuation service to collect all pertinent information in an effort to protect them from paying too much for a company.

Purchasing an independent business valuation service can also be used to justify the buyer’s offer to the seller (i.e., Why the offer is coming in at $X instead of $Y as listed). We’ve seen episodes where a bid to purchase is accepted because the business valuation service provided such a thorough report to the seller.

SUMMARY

At Tip of the Spear, we believe that you can and should look to sell your business for as much as possible. Securing a business valuation service as the seller helps establish your selling price as well as acceptable bid to purchase levels. Requesting all potential buyer’s bids be considered serious if they in like kind provide their own is a great move in order to sell and get more money for your business.

Sam Palazzolo

The Leadership Challenge: Vacation

July 15, 2015 By Sam Palazzolo, Managing Director

The Point: Each year you’re afforded the opportunity to take a vacation. Some do it to unwind, others to see a far off distant land, but the vast majority don’t even bother (See my previous post on Fear of Missing Out or FOMO by CLICKING HERE). In this post we’ll take a look from a leader’s perspective on this whole vacation hubbub and identify if you are better or worse off as a result of taking vacation… Enjoy!

Decrease Vacations = Increase Damage to Relationships

How much time do you take off every year? 1 day? 1 week? 1 month? A new study shows that Americans are taking less vacations than ever before. The study shows that on average Americans take 16 days per year. Furthermore, the study reflects that taking just a few more days per year could lead to making you happier. The study was commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association (CLICK HERE to see a press kit for Travel Facts and Statistics).

The results could be disastrous. Spending more time at work and less time with your family for the majority of us leads to damaging those relationships at home (There also could be parallels drawn to relationships at the office, productivity therein, etc.). So what’s the poor leader to do in such situations? In other words, to vacation or not to vacation?… That is the question!

Meet Leader Mike… He “Vacations”

One of the leaders I worked with on an executive coaching and leadership development program years ago exclaimed proudly on the vacation topic “I vacation. I will bring my laptop and cell to the beach with me and work, while the family frolics in the ocean.” In other words, Mike planned on spending his family vacation working. Mike’s logic (if that’s a good word) for working on vacation stemmed from two primary points:

In order to get/stay ahead he needed to get/stay connected to what was going on back at the office.
It was his tremendous appetite for work that allowed his family to go on vacation in the first place, so they should appreciate it!

I remember trying to imagine what his kids thought of the scenario? I’m certain that they blew it off as “That’s just our Dad and they way he’s wired” or “Quite frankly, we’d rather have him tied up with work rather than engage with us!”

The Benefits of Vacation

I’ll admit, I’m a terrible vacationer. Have lead several ventures the pressure I feel is incredible and I at times can very much relate with Mike. If as a leader you don’t do something, and there is always something to do, you will fall behind. While I’m not saying that you can’t delegate work off to stakeholders in the organization, but we all know that there are certain business moments where no delegation can do.

But a few years ago my wife reminded me that vacations can actually be beneficial for you. Vacations are supposed to provide you with the “down time” needed to refresh your leadership batteries. Vacations are a time that can allow you the opportunity to reunite face-to-face with family that typically you don’t see outside of the Holiday Season. Vacations are also a time or you to be a kid again (Remember those stress free times?)

SUMMARY

So I’m going on vacation! I’m going to take two (2) days off and recharge my batteries. I don’t plan on having this be “down” time for me though. Instead, my refresh/recharge moment is going to come by attending a professional association’s conference. My plan is to come away from this vacation with new strategies, new network relationships, and new methods to take the business higher. I also plan on coming away with great memories created from spending some high quality time with my wife. I’ll report out on my findings… Wish me luck!

Sam Palazzolo

PS – You may enjoy several of the other posts I’ve recently written:

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