Select Page

Regaining my Chicken Mojo

by | May 4, 2021 | EOS

I write this with a heavy heart.  Late last week, we lost six of our eight chickens.  
 
Things were going so well.  The chickens had picked up on the remodeling vibe and asked that we provide them with some additional outdoor living space.  So, we expanded beyond their 10-by-10-foot chicken run into a 20-by-30-foot outdoor space with a play structure and a covering to protect them from flying predators.  We also invested in an automatic chicken door that protected them at night.  The hens were laying, the roosters were crowing (though our youngest rooster, Sven, seemed to sound more like a choking frog) and I was really getting into the groove of being a chicken mama.
 
But last Friday morning, that all changed.  I will spare you the details, partly because they are so depressing, but also because I was out of town and missed it all.  When I arrived home on Friday evening, we were down to two chickens. And Oden, our aggressive rooster, had lost all his tail feathers and was resting in the nesting box.  He was so traumatized that he even let Mike pet him.  
 
It is so hard for me to go up to the coop now.  There are feathers all over the run, and it is so quiet with just two (traumatized) chickens.  I know I need to keep moving toward achieving my goal but right now, I have lost my energy and focus for being a chicken mama.  
 
I wonder how many business owners have dealt with those same emotions over this past year.  Sales are down, employees are sick, uncertainty is all around. Please don’t think that I’m equating the loss of chickens to what many people have experienced in the past year.  I can’t even imagine those losses.  But loss is something we will all face at some point, and we’ll have to make the decision to move past it.
 
Still, moving forward takes energy and focus, and at times, that can be hard to muster up.  For me, as I looked at my path forward, I fell back on what I know: process, or more specifically, the EOS tool on Compartmentalizing.
 
This tool helped me set my one-year goal (not buying eggs from the store) followed by my priorities for the next 90 days, then set my activities for the next seven days.  As I did this, I realized I had issues that needed to be addressed in the short term (getting more chickens so I won’t have an oversexed hen) and the long term (building a coop to separate newly hatched chicks from the full-grown chickens).  By using this tool, I created a plan to move forward that feels achievable.
 
This is a powerful tool that can help anyone stay focused on reaching their goals.  In fact, I used it last month with a CEO who is in the process of expanding his business into a higher-margin, more technical industry.  Once we completed this EOS document, he started to get clarity on what he needed to work on for the next 90 days.  He was able to prioritize his issues by relative urgency.  As he faced problems throughout the day, he was able to filter them with this tool.  He would ask himself, “Does this need to be addressed in the next 90 days?” If the answer was yes, he would add it to the Short-Term Issue List.  If not, he would add it to the Long-Term Issue list and then go back to working on his top priorities.  Even after a week, he shared that he had regained focus and energy that had been missing from his business for quite a while.  
 
That is what I appreciate about EOS and what it does for my clients.  Simple tools properly applied will get you amazing results.  If you feel like you have lost your mojo, let’s talk.  Together, we can regain it and bring you increased focus, accelerated growth and boosted profitability.  

Right Seat, Wrong Chicken?

Right Seat, Wrong Chicken?

by | Mar 30, 2021 | EOS, Leadership

As my husband and I started talking about getting chickens, we created our vision: free range chickens that laid lots of eggs.  

As you know, the first round of chickens were free range but they stopped laying eggs in our coop.  Our second round has been confined to our run and the quantity of eggs has slowly been increasing.  But, the free range part isn’t going so well.  We have two issues, first our dog JacX who believes her job is to catch the chickens and bring them to my husband (Mike is working on addressing this issue with the dog trainer).  

But, our other issue is Oden, the rooster. The reason we have a rooster is twofold: first, roosters will protect the hens, and second, having a rooster allows me to continue the bloodline without purchasing additional chicks.

Oden is very good at protecting his hens. But about a month ago, my husband went to put them in for the night, and Oden wasn’t quite ready to turn in. My husband gave him a gentle nudge toward the coop, which Oden didn’t appreciate. His response was to flog my husband. While my husband didn’t dwell on the incident, Oden apparently isn’t over it yet. He now likes to strut up to me or my husband to challenge us. Fortunately, Oden has learned the word “No.” But it has definitely reduced the fun in caring for the chickens. In fact, I can’t be in the coop when he is walking around, as he will come up and try to challenge me (he hasn’t tried to flog me yet). 

Based on our Chicken Values, I’ve been wondering if we have a Right Seat, Wrong Chicken problem.

The phrase “Right Person, Right Seat” comes from Jim Collins’ 2001 bestseller Good to Great. The “Right Person” is someone who shares your organization’s core values. The “Right Seat” means that person is using the skills and talents they were born with. When implementing EOS, I teach my clients that in order to achieve their vision, they need 100% of the individuals in their organization to be “Right People, Right Seat.” If you don’t have that, the organization’s performance will suffer. Allow me to explain. 

Let’s say your situation is Right Person, Wrong Seat. You have someone who shares your company’s core values. They fit your culture like a glove, but they aren’t doing a job that is in line with their skills and abilities. Typically, management makes excuses for the person by saying things like, ”He has been here since the beginning,” or “I really want her to finish her career with us.” So, you either tolerate underperformance or begin to create workarounds to ensure the organization still meets its goals while keeping that person in his/her seat. That results in inefficiency, chaos and reduced performance. 

The other challenge you may face is Wrong Person, Right Seat. This is someone who is really good at the job but doesn’t demonstrate the organization’s core values. I’ve witnessed this with a really strong salesperson who will win at all costs, even if it means sacrificing the company’s core values. It might also happen when you have a very knowledgeable technical person in a key role, or possessing a unique understanding of the product or service being provided. Organizations often feel they can’t possibly let that person go, because they will lose their competitive edge, and if that employee were then hired by a competitor, the company’s secrets could be shared. But I have seen first-hand that letting a Wrong Person go actually liberates other individuals in the organization to step up and fill the void. And oftentimes, after the person is gone, the leadership team will start to hear stories about how this person was eroding the culture and the company’s reputation.

If you sense that someone in your organization is either the wrong person in the right seat, or the right person in the wrong seat, I challenge you to do something about it. Achieving your vision requires that you address those issues within the organization. If you aren’t sure what to do or how to approach this issue, I can help you get clarity on how best to address it for the greater good of your organization.

Oh, and did I mention that one of my 18 week old chickens is a rooster…

Chicken Pranks

Chicken Pranks

by | Mar 11, 2021 | Leadership

So, all is quiet in the chicken coop. Oden, the rooster, has assumed control of the chickens. The baby chicks are about 16 weeks old and gaining confidence (and hopefully will be laying eggs soon), and the other hens are laying eggs and running away from Oden. We seem to have settled into a good routine – meal worms and scraps in the morning, lots of free time in the run and laying an occasional egg. Oh, so this is the life of a chicken mama.  
 
Or so I thought. Then I opened the lid over the nesting boxes and discovered all the straw had been removed from the boxes and spread all over the coop. Do you have any idea how long it takes a chicken to pull straw out of a nesting box? Did they take one piece at a time or fill their beaks with straw? Was it one chicken or multiple chickens partaking in this prank? These are questions that I could not answer. So I filled up the nesting boxes with more straw and closed the lid. The next day – the same thing happened again. While I don’t know the reason for their behavior, I do know that hens are typically most comfortable laying eggs in a nesting box that is full of straw.
 
If I hadn’t opened the nesting box, I wouldn’t have known there was a problem with their bedding. And guess what: the same can be said about people. We may think everything is OK when looking at the surface, but what happens when you look deeper?
 
So many people are struggling to navigate the challenges of COVID. Everything has changed, from social interactions to tensions at home to remote learning to financial stresses. And if we just look at someone on the surface, it might seem that all is OK. But, I assure you, that isn’t always the case. 
 
I’m going to assume that you truly care about the people around you, whether they are family, friends, employees, customers or suppliers. And you want to help them successfully navigate through these difficult times. That means you’ll need to create the space and opportunity to find out how people are really doing. I believe this can only be done by allowing yourself to be open and honest with the people you encounter. 
 
While we know that a hen needs a soft place to lay her egg, a human also needs a soft place to unburden their stress.  And during this pandemic, sometimes we are the hen and sometimes we are the straw.  If you need some help navigating the challenges of life, regaining traction as the economy restarts or refocusing your leadership team on your new vision, reach out to me.  I can provide a perspective and the tools to get you out of the coop and back into the run! 

Survival Tips from the Pandemic

Survival Tips from the Pandemic

by | Mar 2, 2021 | Leadership, Management, Sales

A Business Owner’s Perspective

Running a business in 2020 presented challenges that many business owners and executives had never experienced. The pandemic impacted different industries differently. Some, like outdoor recreation, had record years that may never be repeated, while others, including commercial aerospace, have been devastated. As 2021 began, I interviewed the leaders of numerous businesses, some of which benefited from the pandemic and some of which were negatively impacted, about what steps they took in 2020 and what they plan for 2021 in order to survive this pandemic. Three common themes emerged from these interviews: diversification, internal efficiencies and leveraging the customer base.

Diversification
Nearly every business leader I spoke to recognized that serving a wider range of industries or a wider customer base is key to surviving any economic downturn. Companies in oil and gas, automotive or aerospace have experienced significant economic downturns throughout this century. The difference is that this pandemic affected nearly every industry. The challenge this time was to either pivot to an area that wasn’t impacted, or expand their offerings within their primary industry in order to keep their employees working. Here are some approaches that have worked for successful companies:

  • Expand reach among existing customers. One concept that proved true during the pandemic is that customers aren’t thinking about suppliers. They are focused on their business and the best way to survive or thrive during the pandemic. However, the pandemic also created an opportunity to connect at a deeper level with customers, suppliers and others. Taking the time to reach out to those people in our professional network allowed businesses to develop a deeper relationship with those individuals. 
  • Calls like this also provide an opportunity to educate your customers on other products and services that you or your company might offer. Alex Goldfayn, author of Selling Boldly, urges his clients to pick up the phone and call their customers. Customers aren’t thinking about what products and services you provide. By calling and talking with them, you can offer to help them during this time. If that approach feels uncomfortable, think about the last time someone called you and offered to help. And how did you feel? Was that relationship weakened or strengthened? I personally know that this approach increased business for one of my clients by 15% in less than six months.
  • Expand offerings within the same industry. Regardless of what industry your business currently serves, there are always opportunities to provide additional products or services. During the shutdown, many of my clients spent their precious R&D efforts developing new products. In some cases, it was an idea that had been percolating in someone’s head, or an adjustment to meet a perceived need due to the new economic reality. The challenge with this approach is that once these new offerings are developed, you must take action to educate your customers about them. By reaching out to them as discussed above, you are proactively educating your customers on new ways you can help them.
  • Pivot to another industry. The pandemic required businesses in some industries to completely pivot to another industry. Nate Lindquist, owner of Pinnacle Metal Works, said he realized that as the aerospace industry was grounded (pun intended), he needed to do something to keep his employees employed. He made the decision to pivot to the home gym industry, which was booming during the lockdown. While he plans to maintain his foothold in aerospace, establishing a business in a new industry has allowed him to gain new experience and knowledge, including how to grow his online presence and how to adjust his manufacturing plant to meet the differing needs of his new customer base.

Internal Efficiencies
Over the past four years, the US economy has remained strong, which has resulted in growth across nearly every industry. As the saying goes, profit covers sin. So as the economy ground to a halt, most companies began to look at ways to cut costs. Beyond reducing headcount or across-the-board pay cuts, other strategies included cross-training employees, streamlining flow through the plant and bringing outsourced services in-house. Outsourcing included pre-fabrication in the shop versus in the field, while outside processing could include machining or nondestructive testing. In some companies, that meant acquisition of companies providing complementary or down-stream services. 

As companies began to rearrange their processes to allow for social distancing, equipment and processes could be redesigned to redeploy employees while reducing waste. For some manufacturing processes, that included having one employee operate multiple pieces of equipment or perform multiple operations in series. A number of companies also reduced WIP (work in process) and moved toward “Just In Time” manufacturing. 

Understanding that most businesses will go through these cycles, many companies took this time to strengthen their processes. Russ Gallagher, president of Bescast, an aerospace company, tasked his managers to begin strengthening processes and ensuring that when demand picked back up, they were able to handle increased throughput, smaller batches and more complex parts. These downturns are an opportunity to try new technology, develop creative approaches to resolve nagging issues and explore new products in order to reduce costs or find a competitive edge. 

Construction companies found that utilizing their resources and equipment in the shop reduced waste and costs in the field. To do that, they needed additional engineering to ensure the design accurately fit the footprint and met the needs of the customer. Most firms found they could redeploy existing resources in order to achieve this initiative. This meant faster completion of projects, resulting in higher profits and greater capacity.

Focus on the Customer
The pandemic allowed the opportunity to deepen relationships with customers and suppliers. During periods of stress, it is often difficult to look beyond our immediate situation and focus on others, but this outward focus allowed many companies to grow and thrive during the pandemic. Eric Doering, founder of Vulcan DC, had to find other ways to generate sales when home shows, the company’s primary method for reaching new customers, were cancelled. He began calling former customers and asking for referrals, which turned out to be a great way to find new projects while strengthening relationship with his customer base.
Hank Jamerson, VP of Sales and Marketing at Kyanite Mining Company, tasked his team with reaching out to all his customers and checking in on how they were doing. He realized that during the past several years, he hadn’t been proactively calling his customers, but instead was only responding to incoming inquiries. As he and his team started calling his customers, he realized how much he’d missed talking with them and how much they had missed hearing from him.

Even more importantly, he realized that taking the time to truly connect with others was one of the bright spots in an otherwise difficult time.

As we move into 2021 and start the long journey towards a life that mirrors pre-pandemic times, I challenge you to take time to reflect on how you can enhance your relationships with those around you. While business may be the reason these relationships began, I do believe this pandemic provides an opportunity for us to deepen those relationships and carry them forward into a prosperous future. 

If you would need some assistance on the best approach to enhance your customer relations, send me an email. I’d be happy to share best practices and get you on your way.

P.S. I promise my chicken articles will be back next week.  I just needed a little time to grieve the loss of Caramel Corn.  

 

Be Your Best During Difficult Conversations

Be Your Best During Difficult Conversations

by | Feb 18, 2021 | Leadership

Over the past week, most of the country experienced cold, winter weather. In the Pacific Northwest, we had a storm that impacted the entire region. At our home, it snowed for nearly two days straight, with a snow total of more than 12 inches. The dogs really enjoyed the snow, but most of the wildlife struggled to find food. We had hummingbird wars, and lots of wildlife visiting our bird feeders, including numerous varieties of bird, a pregnant deer with two youngsters and a few raccoons. I can say that the chickens unequivocally did not enjoy the weather. Even though these chickens are Icelandic, I’d venture to say that it has been a few generations since their ancestors visited their motherland. One of the chickens started down the ramp, slid a little and backed right back up into the coop. None of the chickens left the coop from Friday morning through Tuesday morning. 
 
As you can imagine, we were also concerned about Caramel Corn, our long-lost chicken who left us for our neighbor’s horse pasture. Caramel Corn spends her days with the horses and goats, and in the evening she usually sleeps in the trees and brush along the driveway. During the snowstorm, the horses were in the barn, the goats were in their pen, and there were no chicken tracks on our driveway or the pasture. On Monday, we went down the driveway to find that Caramel Corn had been killed by a predator (thankfully that predator was not named JacX). 
 
Caramel Corn had managed to survive on her own since July. But, unfortunately, the snow kept her from being able to fly or run to safety. The storm changed her environment and removed her natural defenses. I think there are a lot of people who have also been struggling through their own storm, otherwise known as the pandemic. They were strong and resilient, but the pandemic changed everything. 
 
As we start to see a faint light signaling the end of the pandemic, we can’t lose sight of the fact that people are struggling, and businesses are fighting to survive. The key to emerging from this pandemic as healthy individuals is for all of us to be willing to support each other, even as tensions are high. As I share with my clients, I believe all issues, outside of politics, can be resolved with direct, honest communication.
 
Engaging in these difficult conversations can be uncomfortable and, at times, scary. But the benefits of engaging far outweigh the risks. Ignoring the tension will only lead to additional stress, anger and reduced performance. 
 
Every situation is different, but here are some tips that can help you be your best during these difficult conversations:

  • Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. I’m sure this tip isn’t something you haven’t heard before, but this pandemic has made me realize that we are all dealing with different stresses in different areas of our lives. Viewing the situation from a different perspective provides insight into the motivation behind someone’s behavior, which hopefully results in compassion.
  • Listen to understand. It is so hard when tensions are rising to really listen to what the other person is saying. So, take a deep breath, close your mouth and listen. 
  • Ask questions. As I coach my clients, during difficult conversations, or when a conversation takes a turn that you aren’t expecting, the best way to recover is to ask questions. This gives the emotional side of your brain a chance to calm down and the intellectual side of the brain time to respond appropriately. 
  • Don’t ignore it. Most of us would like to avoid these conversations altogether. However, to paraphrase Mark Twain, the best time to eat a frog is in the morning because it isn’t going to taste any better if you wait. Eat the Frog. Have the conversation. 

If you still aren’t sure how to address an issue, please reach out to me, and together we can help you emerge from those necessary but difficult conversations with a deeper relationship and increased confidence for the future. 
 
I think that is what Caramel Corn would have wanted.