The Agile Scaleup

3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family

"...keeping your family great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy

HEADLINES:
The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family -- this is the title of Pat Lencioni's latest, and maybe, most important fable. Famous author of Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Pat has done it again with a powerful message and process for Restoring Sanity to the Most Important Organization in Your Life, borrowing a line from the book's subtitle. And Pat has provided some powerful tools including a worksheet summary of the "three questions" at this link.   Here's also a quick link to pre-ordering Pat's book from Amazon.

Well Planned Businesses; Well Planned Families? -- I receive Pat's monthly e-newsletter which arrived yesterday. In his newsletter he makes the case for applying the same thoughtful time and energy to the family organization as we do to our business organizations. Below is Pat's concise and impassioned message from yesterday's newsletter under DETAILS below. And I encourage you sign-up for Pat's newsletter.

Weekly Family Meeting -- since hearing family experts Linda and Richard Eyre at a YPO event a couple years ago, my wife and I launched a weekly family meeting Sunday evenings with our four young children where we review our family's core values and set weekly goals, posted on the refrigerator, that align with our family's themes (getting ready for our India trip being the latest). And the children actually enjoy the meetings and love admonishing me when I don't meet my own weekly family goal! I encourage you to go to the Eyre's website (they've raised nine children)  and explore their 25 plus books.  Three Steps to a Strong Family is one of my favorites where they outline how to teach values; suggest an effective process for handling disputes; and provide a clever allowance system to teach financial responsibility -- a system we've adopted in our own family.

Rite of Passage Program -- this week we wrapped up the first year of a Rite of Passage program for our 12-year old son. Along with five other fathers and sons, we focused on 5Fs -- the importance of making decisions in the context of Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Finance. And the fathers worked hard to make sure it was also Fun! Quick overview -- we organized a series of events to emphasize each "F" including an overnight trip to the mountains with a local pastor to discuss faith; a visit to the Sasha Bruce House in DC, a home for children without families (we purchased the home a television, games, and treated several of the home's children to box seats at an NHL game); organized a scavenger hunt (thanks Ben Hoffman with CityHunt) that emphasized the importance of working together with friends; travelled north to a local Marine base to learn about the importance of fitness (one of the fathers is a former Marine and commander of the base); and finished with a visit to Wachovia's DC headquarters where our sons played Robert Kiyosaki's Cash Flow Game (Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame) in their board room and then visited the vault. Another year of activities are planned, using Richard Rohr's framework for Rite of Passage initiations; and then we prepare each of our sons individually for a formal Rite of Passage weekend based on the King, Warrior, Magician, and Lover framework for manhood.
       
3 Weeks to Perfect Parenting -- and I've enjoyed immensely Rabbi Stephen Baars email-based parenting tutorial. Each day, for three weeks, you receive a short email emphasizing one key aspect of effective parenting delivered in a humorous and insightful manner. I've signed-up for my third time through the course -- here's a link.

DETAILS
Here is Pat Lencioni's impassioned message for focusing on the family from his August 27 newsletter -- please take two minutes:
      
Pat's POV (Point of View)

Most leaders I know have multiple jobs, even if they are only paid to do one of them. For instance, I am a leader of a small company, but I have leadership roles in my church, on my sons' soccer, baseball and basketball teams, and of course, in my family. However, when I think about all of those roles, and the constituencies who are impacted by them, I cannot help but conclude that my wife and kids have received short shrift when it comes to my leadership time and energy.

After all, I've spent hours and days and weeks thinking, reading and meeting about how to better run my company. I've worked with my team to identify our core values and to clarify our strategy. And I've worked to ensure that those values and strategies have been implemented consistently over time so that our firm can maximize its potential.

Within my church, I've spent many hours in long meetings developing plans to ensure that we're utilizing our resources in the best possible way. And I regularly spend time preparing for each soccer or basketball practice I lead, and on multiple occasions I've attended two-day classes to make me a better soccer coach. I've even read a stack of books on soccer to give me an added edge.

And then there is my family, the most important organization in my life. How many books have I read about running an effective family? Zero. How many family management classes have I attended? None. And how many off-sites have my wife and I had to improve the way we organize and lead our children? You know the answer.

As common as this is for many family leaders who also work in the 'real' world, it just doesn't make any sense. When we fail to be purposeful and proactive about the way we plan and run our home lives, our families become reactive, unfulfilled and frantic. And though we might not see a direct, short-term connection between this and downstream difficulties like divorce and childhood stress, it is hard to deny such a connection. Ongoing frustration and disillusionment among parents, even when it is minor, cannot help but have an impact on family members.

So what is a family to do? Something. Anything is better than sitting back and reacting to the next request or opportunity that comes along without any context. And that word 'context' is key. It is what is missing from most frantic organizations, especially families.

Context provides leaders with a framework and a perspective that they need so that every opportunity that arises doesn't create a stressful dilemma. In the business world, a leader deciding to acquire a company or pursue a client or hire a candidate for a job, can often fall back on a clear set of values, strategic priorities or goals that will allow him to make consistently good decisions and retain a measure of sanity in the process.

The same is true at home. Without clear context, our lives become reactionary and stressful and often a guilt-driven act of daily survival rather than the joyful, intentional experience that it is meant to be. Should we sign Johnny up for lacrosse? Go on vacation with the Martins? Remodel our home like the Jones' or buy a summer cabin like the Johnsons? If there is nothing clear to fall back on, each decision will create unnecessary anxiety, not to mention months or years of potential regret.

So what exactly can families do to get some relief? They need to create a sense of context by answering a few simple questions, and then use those answers to guide their decisions. The questions have to do with a family's core values, strategic priorities and near-term goals. And once those answers are set, the family needs to keep them alive and use them on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Of course, it's key to keep all of this simple and practical, and avoid overly structured or bureaucratic approaches, because families have even less time and tolerance for bureaucracy and protocol than companies do.

More detailed information about the questions a family must answer and the methods for using those answers on a regular basis are included in my new book, The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family. But for those of you who receive this newsletter and would like to get more information including a free downloadable tool, click here 

I hope this short article, and possibly the book and simple tool that go with it, help your family to become a little less frantic and a lot more purposeful and peaceful.
Yours,

Irreverent Gary Busey Video

"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy   

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October 9 "Strategy" Webinar Moved to October 10 -- our apologies for scheduling the Strategy webinar with Bob Bloom on Yom Kippur. We've moved the webinar to the following day 12:28pm -- 1:28pm October 10 to sign-up click here.   

Infamous Actor Gary Busey Brings GotVMail's Core Values Alive -- having discovered their Core Values, GotVMail engaged Gary Busey, the actor, to do a series of irreverent videos about their Core Values -- which are conveniently represented by the acronym G-A-R-Y! Here's a link to founder David Hauser's blog which describes their positioning statement and hosts their YouTube Gary Busey video -- enjoy!! GotVMail -- Gary Busey video and intro
Thanks to their coach Les Rubenovitch for bringing this to our attention.

Dramatically Increase Income-Producing Activities -- Alex Lopez with Sydney-based Quantify Corporation uses a simple technique to double his income-producing activities. He divides his to-do list into two columns. Column one is labeled "Non-income Producing Activities" (Red) and Column two is labeled "Income Producing Activities" (Green). He then forces himself to place a to-do item in one of the two columns. When he first started, his non-income producing activities outnumbered his income-producing activities by a two to one ratio. Over time, he's been able to flip that ratio. This is an excellent exercise for ALL of us to follow. As Quantify Corporation's tagline says "If you can't measure it, you can't control it."

Banks Still Loaning Money -- Rich Russakoff and Mary Goodman, who are leading the "Cash" webinar in December, recently responded to a July 28th NY Times article entitled "Worried Banks Sharply Reduce Business Loans." Rich and Mary counter (from firsthand experience) that banks need to lend money to credit-worthy small businesses to offset their losses on mortgages. And as Dr. Neil Churchill's research uncovered years ago, small business loans are more profitable to banks than large company loans, mainly due to the loan to checking account ratio (small businesses aren't the best at putting their cash to work and watching their banking fees). Rich and Mary's detailed response is reprinted under DETAILS below.   

Watch Banking Fees -- as I was writing this I decided to call my bank and review the monthly fixed fees I pay for various banking services Gazelles uses. In essence, I was able to eliminate just over $350/month -- fees that had crept in over time -- that was worth 20 minutes of my time! Normally my personal business banker calls me to review the account and make sure I'm maximizing the use of my funds, however, I found out that my business account was taken over by someone else three months ago and they hadn't bothered to let me know that there had been changes to fees, etc. Seems the bank is trying to make their money in other ways!   

One Powerful Index

"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy

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One Powerful Index -- compare your company's revenue growth performance with the Private Company Index (PCI), Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P Small Cap. Go to www.privatecompanyindex.com and click on the "PCI Challenge" link and see how you compare with other mid-market firms and the public market space. And it's completely confidential. YTD, the PCI index is up 6% vs. a dramatic decrease in the public markets. "Gazelles" continue to be a powerful economic force -- keep up the great work.

Two Powerful Words - there are two key words, when used in conjunction with each other, which can dramatically improve your conversation skills and make you more likable -- and they come from improv training. It's the "Yes...and" technique. CNN.com featured an interesting story on the technique on Tuesday (also effective in getting a job or date!) so I thought I would give it a try. My son was having some issues with our move to India yesterday and I responded "Yes, I can see the move is bothering you...and it reminds me of when our family moved from Colorado to Kansas...." I proceeded to share some of my own experiences with him and sure enough, it seemed to help (at least in the short run). He felt I had heard him (the "Yes" part) and then opened the door for a healthy dialogue (the "and" part). Take five minutes and read this powerful article -- then apply it at home and work.   

Three Powerful Questions - you and your team/associates have been working through a difficult issue/decision/process or you've just taken the team through a training session or vision-sharing session and you want to make sure your message is getting through. Ask these three questions at the end of the session:   

1. What did you hear?
2. What questions of clarification do you have or what do you want to know more about?
3. What are your reactions (thoughts AND feelings)?   

If it's a small group, just go around the room, taking one question at a time. If it's a larger group, break people up into teams of 6-8. For the clarification questions, you might have to get back to them later with answers -- the key is making sure you do get your people answers.

Notes Cheryl Beth Kuchler, founder of CEO Think Tank "we've used these with dozens of client organizations (even in my "pro bono" work with the Union League of Philadelphia when they were going through a massive master planning process) and they are very effective at helping leaders to hear how their message is being received as well as what's catching people's attention and what isn't. The process also gets people involved - thus creating buy-in and commitment. And people actually ask questions! It's much better than when you ask at the end of a team meeting Do you have any questions?'"

Four Powerful Webinars - four complimentary webinars will be co-hosted by Verne Harnish and top thought leaders focused around the four major decisions that drive your business: People, Strategy, Execution, and Cash. One hour in length, the first 30 minutes will highlight the respective One-Page tool and the second 30 minutes will highlight the expertise of a recognized thought leader -- to sign-up click here.  Here's the schedule:

People Webinar -- 12:28pm - 1:28pm EST September 4, 2008 -- "People: Getting the Right Butts in the Right Seats" -- featuring the updated Gazelles' One-Page People Plan, the webinar will be co-taught by Geoff Smart and Randy Street, co-authors of the about to be released best-seller Who: The A Method for Hiring (Random House Sept 30, 2008). These co-creators of Topgrading® conducted the largest set of interviews with billionaire entrepreneurs, over 20, and discovered their best advice and stories about how to build a talented team. New research, new insights, new practical best practices you can use to grow your business."

Strategy Webinar -- 12:28pm - 1:28pm EST October 9, 2008 -- "Strategy: The New One-Page Strategic Plan" -- featuring the updated Gazelles' One-Page Strategic Plan, the webinar will be co-taught by Bob Bloom, best-selling author of The Inside Advantage. Bloom is the 74 year old "grand master" behind the brand strategies of Southwest Airlines, Perrier, TGI Fridays, and BMW. He'll share his simple, yet powerful, four-step process for determining your Brand Promise and how to bring it alive in the minds of your core customers.
       
Execution Webinar -- 12:28pm - 1:28pm EST November 4, 2008 -- "Execution: Driving Profit and Reducing Time" -- featuring the updated Gazelles' One-Page Execution Plan, the webinar will be taught by Patrick Thean, best-selling author of Execute Without Drama: The Red, Yellow, Green Series. Patrick has built and sold several growth firms and has led a team to build an electronic dashboarding system called Rhythm. See the latest demonstration and review the 10 Habits that drive flawless execution.
         
Cash Webinar -- 12:18pm - 1:28pm EST December 4, 2009 -- "Cash: Dramatically Improving Your Cash Position" -- featuring the updated Gazelles' One-Page Cash Plan, the webinar will be taught by Rich Russakoff, co-author of Getting Bank Financing, chapter 10 in Mastering the Rockefeller Habits. Rich has helped hundreds of firms dramatically improve their cash conversion cycle (CCC) and raise significant amounts of money to fuel their growing businesses.            

August Priority

"...keeping you great" Ten Minutes with the Growth Guy      

HEADLINES: (Quick Summer Tips) Print-Friendly Version

7 Tips to Boost Sales in August -- this from Caryn Kopp -- "Why waste the month of August cleaning your office? Make the most of your summer by seizing new business opportunities while your competition plays miniature golf! Most business owners and salespeople assume making calls in August is pointless because decision makers are on vacation. While it's true that most people do vacation in August, I don't know anyone who goes away for 4 weeks straight! What does this mean for you? It means people are at their desks, often in good moods and are more likely to pick up their phones to speak with you. Seize this valuable opportunity and boost your business by following these 7 Key Strategies in August." I particularly like her first tip of adding 20 new A-List prospects to your call list and call them in August. Don't be surprised if you hear from me!

#1 Problem Facing Most Companies -- Hiring Mistakes! CNNMoney produced an excellent and informative 3-minute interview of hiring guru Geoff Smart. Geoff shares the number one way growth companies can generate a flow of A Player candidates and the four initial questions you should ask. He also discusses how to avoid the most common interview pitfalls. Take three minutes and show the clip at your next weekly meeting or Friday brown bag lunch training session.   

Free Training Keynote or 4-part Teleseminar -- and if you would like to learn more from Geoff and his co-author Randy Street, take advantage of special preorder offers of their soon to be released book Who (e.g. free training keynote for a 40+book preorder; free 4-part author teleseminar with 10+book preorder). Please place your 10+book preorders at http://www.whothebook.com.  And for your 40+book preorders, Geoff's assistant Linda Naden ([email protected]) will take great care of your order and will schedule your keynote training session. The books make great business gifts or reading for your managers and it's a chance to access their training very inexpensively.

Acquisitions Are on the Increase -- not only is Warren Buffett funding several major acquisitions, I'm hearing from many of you that you're being approached to be acquired -- acquisition activity is picking up. We have just 23 copies left in the U.S. of Tom McKaskill's "Selling Your Business for a Premium" -- $24.95 (they were $49.95) and free shipping. After these copies are gone, you'll have to get them from Tom directly in Australia. Tom's techniques really work. Here's the link.       

Better than Bug Spray -- and for those of you on vacation in August start relying on vitamin B1. People who have diets high in thiamine (vitamin B1) report fewer insect bites than others. "That's because the vitamin gives off an odor when you perspire that is unattractive to insects but undetectable to humans," says John Yunginger, M.D., professor and pediatrics consultant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Good sources of thiamine include whole grains, organ meats and brewer's yeast. I take a mega-B supplement and was recently in a bug infested tropical environment and didn't receive a single bite while those with me (covered with Deet) still received bug bites. It really does work!