Speakers Facing Tough Times, Fight Back

Each day we read about bailouts for the banking and automotive industry. However, there are other industries that need help. The speaking industry is down and it's affecting thousands of professionals.

We've asked some of the top speakers in the U.S. to share their thoughts.

Example #1: You are the president of an operation and it is late morning. It is beginning to snow. The decision you need to make is whether or not to close the office and factory so your employees can get home at a sensible hour. There are conflicting weather reports. One report pronounces there will be a blizzard with 50% of the expected 12" accumulation coming before 7 p.m., while the other reports the storm will be passing just south of your location and total accumulation will be 1-2". What do you do?

You probably consult with your VP Human Resources (who lives 45 minutes away and, because of the distance, secretly wants to go home early) and the two of you discuss the danger to personnel traveling in a storm. Your Financial VP tells you that the company will loose $500,000 of production value if you close the office. You discuss and consider all the consequences and then you retreat into your office and reflect on the counsel. You emerge ten minutes later and you declare to your administrative assistant that the office will be closing early at 3 p.m.

In this example, the decision maker needs to receive practiced opinion about the options, but doesn't need to get buy-in from all 3,000 employees.

Example #2: Again, you are the president, but this time of a slowly-dying business, and your engineering department has come up with an inventive pitch to launch a very new, yet untested product (to save the company, of course!). Internal discussions regarding this idea are diverse, with the sales and marketing organization signifying that the market isn't ready for this innovation and, of course, the engineering group proffering that this latest and greatest innovation will be the company's savior. You have been general manger for six months and you are the former VP Engineering. In fact, the engineering organization has been working on this initiative, in its skunk works subdivision, for years. In your earlier position, you had observed, from afar, the progress they were making over the previous several quarters and you were developing some enthusiasm for the project's prospects. If the innovation is successful, it could be a nationally recognized, leading product in decades. If it fails, the company will be in the trash heap like many others that have gone before.

Now that you are president, you have overall responsibility for ensuring the profitability and success of the business. It's not just about engineering any longer, but it's about successfully launching products—profitably. What do you do?

The most difficult necessity here is to disengage yourself from the emotional investment that you have in the new product idea. As president, your responsibilities have changed and you need to position yourself to explore or weigh all the pros and cons of this new product introduction. Holding joint meetings with engineering and sales and marketing will make progress in bridging the gap. You will need to work through the issues, ferreting out the known from the unknown (facts vs. fiction), and allowing all players to express their viewpoint. But as president, you need to push the organization towards making a decision, whether it is to go forward, abandon, or delay the product introduction.

The number one job in making a "go" decision is to squeeze as much risk out of the decision as possible, thereby improving the chances of success.

Phil Holberton, Executive Coach

1. Treat EVERY potential customer as though they were one of your PREFERRED customers -because you never know when one of them will become one! I remember agreeing to help a Girl Scout organization with a budget of just $500. I gave them my best stuff. A month later, one of the girl scout leaders booked me for a $10,000 job at Dell.

2. ALWAYS do the right thing, the ethical thing, whether it seems to make business sense or not. It's as simple as The Golden Rule, and you never know when someone will remember how they were treated. There have been many times in my career when I received a phone call, "out of the blue," by someone who remembered me...favorably. But don't do it because it might pay dividends later...do it because it will make you feel good right away.

3. Always exceed their expectations. You might make a little less money today, but you will build a business that has loyal customers and favorable word of mouth...the best publicity you can get. I have discovered that exceeding their expectations now leads to increased business in the future...and makes you feel good in the present.

Kent Cummins

Leaders need to understand that the way they introduce a change can either create allies or invent adversaries. Most resistance comes from bungled leadership. Make sure people understand "why" a change is needed before you discuss "how." If you move to "how" too quickly, you invite confusion, resistance, and (if you´re lucky) begrudging compliance. You won´t get commitment, engagement, or leadership. It´s never too late to turn resistance back into support. All it takes is knowing why people are resisting and the courage to address those issues openly.

Rick Maurer Maurer & Associates

Stop blaming others for anything. Live your own life in the way that works for you. If you choose to compromise your life, to give up your ideals for someone or something else, you will then start blaming the other person or thing and be left with little or no energy to take care of yourself. What happens now or what happened in the past is a result of choice, either conscious or unconscious. Be responsible for the choices you make; no one can choose for you. If you choose to do something or be around certain people, and these situations are not supportive of the life you want to live, then know going in, that this is a choice, if only for a short period of time.

Joanne Victoria

1. Eliminate delays between steps in all processes. Even though the employees seem busy, they are only working on the product or service 3 minutes out of every 60. The other 57 minutes, the product or service is waiting on the next step. (The 3-57 Rule) Eliminate 15 minutes of delay out of every hour to double productivity and increase profits by 20%.

2. Eliminate defects. Defects aren't spread all over the business like butter on bread. 4% of any business causes over 50% of the errors, mistakes, rework and waste. (The 4-50 Rule) This 4% (one step out of 25) costs the average business $25-$40 out of ever $100 they spend. Count and categorize the mistakes in your business operations. Then fix them. Mistake proof the process to prevent the error completely.

3. Eliminate deviation. If a product is too big, too small, too dense, too porous, too heavy, too light, and so on, it costs you and your customer money. While this is the main focus of manufacturing improvement, it also applies to the timeliness of services. How can you reduce the mean time to deliver, repair or service the customer?

Jay Arthur

1. Managers must EARN the respect of their colleagues

2. Exhibiting a sense fo humor fosters teamwork

3. Before dismissing any suggestions or ideas, find 3 good things about it.

Barry Roberts

www.BarryRoberts.com

Motivation is a myth. If you´re living with purpose and passion, you should be motivated on your own. You only need motivation when you´re not interested in something you may be pursuing or it´s taking so long that you need to recharge. Motivation is a myth because: I cannot or should not get you fired up about your dreams if you are not. You don´t need someone to come by and turn your light on. What if they don´t show up? You should have a deep burning passion already within you to make your dreams come true. Motivational words alone will not add meaning to your life. However, if you insist on being motivated by someone else, you should know that it´s no different than bathing or brushing your teeth - you have to do it and listen to it everyday.

Manuel Diotte

The companies who are experiencing growth and success in today's market are the ones who know their employees are the company. Companies are implementing Professional Image Training knowing that image needs to be taught just like any other skill.

One: gives them a competitive edge over the competition. (People want to do business with professional looking people. It says they care about themselves and will do a good job for me the client.)

Two: dressing professional opens more doors for business (once you get in the door of course you must articulate professionally)

Three: employees gain a level of CONFIDENCE they did not have before once they learn specifically how to dress professional to met their career goals and individuality.

Dawn Waldrop