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The “R” Word

The “R” Word

by | Jan 25, 2023 | Leadership

For the past several weeks, I have had a really cranky client. When he snapped at an employee in front of me, I followed him into his office to gently confront him. 

“What is going on with you?” I asked him. 

After a while, he finally confessed to me the issue… “I am afraid of the recession.” 

Who can blame him? Every news outlet for months has been hitting us over the head with the looming recession, and it is freaking people out. No wonder people are panicking! 

So, let’s shift the conversation by changing the “r” word to something more proactive… like “re-set” or “re-fresh”. What a slow-down in business does is give us a minute to “re-organize” and “re-direct.” Let’s be proactive, not reactive! Here are 3 tips: 

1. Perform an audit of your current staff. Who is great? Who needs more training? Who needs to go? 

2. Look at your processes for sales, inventory, and production. Where are the holes? Where are the issues? What are your clients reporting? 

3. Finally, look at your leadership style. Are you negative? Are you snapping at employees? If so, you may also need a re-set. 

Whatever you are going through, you can do this. I’ve got your back. 

POWER THOUGHT: The “r” word doesn’t have to be repulsive. It can be rejuvenating!

Mow Your Lawn

Mow Your Lawn

As most of you know, I am a DIE HARD University of Texas Longhorn fan. I am such a fan that my Oklahoma-loving neighbor and I have agreed that we just won’t speak to each other from September 1st to December 1st. We have a very amicable relationship the other 9 months of the year.

When the Longhorns played Kansas, several of the Texas players were interviewed along with the coach Steve Sarkisian, and the mantra was to “Mow Your Lawn.” Each player had a different description to what that phrase meant, because they all have a different job to do on the field. Each player is responsible for their part of the field, and without every individual doing their part, the team won’t perform well.

I have so much respect for this type of leadership! Each person on the team knows what their job is and most importantly, how their job connects to the overall team success. AND, they know all of this with a 3 word phrase: Mow your lawn.

I am happy to say that Texas beat Kansas. After year two, Steve Sarkisian will end this season with an 8-5 record. Better than last year, and with this type of leadership, I have lots of hope for our future seasons.

POWER THOUGHT: Mow your lawn. And Hook’em Horns!

Why you need an “Atta Boy” Girl

Why you need an “Atta Boy” Girl

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with a retired consultant who had been a big wig at Sears in the 1980’s. Back then, Sears was in its hey-day and was worth about 6 billion as a company. I asked this gentleman what he thought made them so successful back then. His response really surprised me. “The CEO had a full time ‘Atta-Boy’ Girl.’

Ummm… what?

The CEO at the time instructed his personal assistant to start looking for people in the company who had done good work, because he wanted to promote great customer service in Sears. She began soliciting the stores to communicate with her stories of people who had gone above and beyond the standard to provide great customer service. Then, the CEO would write a personalized, hand-written thank you note. Eventually her job as the ‘Atta-Boy Girl’ became a full-time job. She would hear about these stories, type up the note, and every day at 4:30, she would take these letters to the CEO, he would read them, sign his name to them, and she would send them out.

Can you imagine what commitment it took for him to do that? Can you imagine what impact that made? Sears ultimately replaced that CEO with another who was not committed to the thank you letter writing campaign and look at their current status. Coincidence?

During the holiday season, during the time of gratitude and gratefulness, If you want to improve your company culture, start with a simple thank you, and grow it to needing a full-time ‘Atta Boy Girl’/ ‘Atta Girl Boy’/whatever.

There is quite simply no better use of your time.

A-list Founder Beth Smith Featured on Future of Leadership Podcast Today

A-list Founder Beth Smith Featured on Future of Leadership Podcast Today

I am excited to be featured on a very important podcast today on the Future of Leadership.  Please check it out by clicking the links below:

I Have A Killer Tan – 2018

I Have A Killer Tan – 2018

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Last week, I sat on the beach with sand in my toes, wind in my hair, the ocean roaring in my ears, and a peacefulness that I rarely have.  I spent a 2-week vacation with my family, exploring colleges for my daughter, walking on the beach and generally relaxing. For those of you that know me, relaxing is not my area of expertise. In fact, I rarely take vacations. After I flew back to town, I realized that my synapses were firing on all cylinders. I have a renewed interest in interviewing and was completely excited to be interviewing all week for multiple clients!

The fact remains that people need time away from work, even when you own the company, like me. Some of my clients get really excited when a candidate will tell us in an interview that they NEVER take vacations. I actually think that this is a negative. Inspiration rarely comes to someone sitting in their office answering emails. Inspiration comes from experiences and usually those come after office hours.

As a nation, we are not good at taking vacation anyway. We feel that we can’t get away, we can’t unplug or we might miss something. I think we miss things when we DON’T take time off.

So, when your employees want to take vacation time, praise them for it. Say thank you. Then ask them what you can do to help facilitate their vacation time so they are not performing work while away. Not only will they think that you are the greatest boss ever, but they will come back recharged, renewed and inspired. Your business will benefit, and therefore, so will you. Maybe then you can take some time off too.

I am back in the saddle doing the work that I love because I had a fabulous vacation. I am inspired and working on new ways to teach you how to interview better. And in addition to that, I have a killer tan!