The Internet Marketing Driver: What's an RSS Feed? By Popular Request...

Two weeks ago, I couldn't spell "RSS Feed." Now I'm telling people to set up one from the WhiteWater Consulting Group blog so they don't miss any posts.

So, why the big shift and why should anyone be interested? In simple terms -- i.e., those that I can understand -- RSS feeds are a great way to get content from all over the Internet customized to your specific needs and interests. It's like being the publisher of your very own version of the New York Times. Many Internet sites now have easy links to set up RSS feeds that send the information you want directly to you.

For more information about RSS feeds and how to take advantage of them, check out this link written by my good friend and absolute web marketing guru, Glenn Gabe: The Internet Marketing Driver: What's an RSS Feed? By Popular Request...

Then, after you've checked out Glenn's post, come back to "Leadership in the Midst of Chaos," and subscribe to our feed.

New Year’s Resolutions for Leaders

By now, almost everyone is back at work after an extended holiday period. Many people set some New Year’s Resolutions. Lose weight. Get in shape. Live within your budget. Get organized. Learn to sail, or dive, or paint.

Maybe, some of you set resolutions for themselves as leaders. With that in mind, here are some that we hope might be on the list:

1. Energize People
In the spirit of John Wayne, the role of leadership is to “get the herd moving roughly west.” The real question, though, is do you get the herd moving by dragging them kicking and screaming or, to paraphrase Lao Tze, do you have to run to catch up with them? Resolve to:

create an environment in which “roughly west” is clearly defined and so compelling that you must run to catch up with the herd.
educate people and build visible scorecards so they know what direction to go and they know whether they’re making progress fast enough.
give people the latitude to make decisions and take action so they willingly drive themselves West.

Then if someone really can’t keep up or chooses to head in the wrong direction, resolve to cut them from the herd!

2. Deal with Reality
The essence of leadership is to define the gap between where the group or organization is right now and where it needs to be at some point in the future (tomorrow, next month or next year) and then engage the organization in closing that gap. The process starts with defining today’s reality with real data – What do customer’s perceive of the value they receive? What processes are working or not working? Where does financial performance need to improve? What’s it really like to be an employee in your organization?

Too often leaders assume they know those answers without any real data or evidence. So, get real data, as blunt and as harsh and as uncomfortable as it might be. And, make sure everyone else has the same data – so they can play a role in moving forward.

3. Look at the world from the customer’s point of view.
That organizations only achieve and sustain success because customers perceive value in their products and services is not a major revelation. Everyone knows that. Nonetheless, we continue to be amazed at the number of leaders who have no feedback loops in place to understand what customers value, what they don’t value, changes they would like to see made to remain loyal customers, what drives their repeat purchases, what drives them away or what new competitors they are either considering or actually doing business with.

We recently helped two clients evaluate existing businesses for purchase. In both cases, revenues in the businesses had hit revenue peaks months ago and had been declining ever since. Neither of the current business owners could identify why revenues were decreasing, why customers were defecting or how their current customers felt about doing business with them.

Regardless of whether you own the business, are a leader at any level in the business or only provide service internally, resolve to never let this happen to you.

4. Differentiate Between Performance
Nothing is more discouraging or disrespectful to high performers than leaders who don’t correctly identify who’s performing, who’s not performing and then to differentiate rewards, recognition and responsibility based upon that performance.

Nothing saps the energy out of an organization or a work-group faster than treating everyone the same. And, leaders are absolutely fooling themselves if they think people don’t know. In most cases, the co-workers know better than the leaders who’s contributing and who is not.

So, resolve to get the right goals and measures in place, identify who’s hitting and exceeding targets and who’s not and then…

5. Hold the Tough Conversations
Ok, most of us avoid them like the plague… we have millions of years of genetic programming that cause us to avoid tough conversations – when performance doesn’t meet expectations, when behavior falls outside acceptable boundaries, when co-workers or peers aren’t pulling their weight, when our boss is being a jerk.

And, as a result, people don’t get the feedback they need to perform like champions. People who deserve a low rating on the performance appraisal get rated a 3 because either a) we don’t have real data or b) we want to avoid the conflict. And it sucks the life right out of the organization. As leaders, we might feel better in the short-run for avoiding the conflict, but the long-term consequences can be disastrous.

So resolve to hold the tough conversations…now!

6. Challenge my Thinking
Every year hundreds management books are published outlining techniques leaders can employ to motivate their employees, energize their organizations, better manage their time or, even, listen more effectively. And, most of them contain great stuff…but they also mostly miss the mark.

The real key to improving leadership effectiveness is for leaders to challenge their own underlying thinking – their mental models, assumptions, beliefs and perceptions about the world and the people around them. Rather than read the next book on “firing up your team” the real issue should be setting aside the assumptions about what motivates (or de-motivates them) and just ask them. Rather than assume that your customers are satisfied because they aren’t complaining, find out what they really think (see Resolution #3). Then, take action, not because you read it in the latest best-seller, but because you now understand what people need or what your customers want.

Think about what you think about people – if you see people who just aren’t capable of doing what you expect, they’ll probably perform that way. If you see people who have a ton of untapped potential, resolve to tap into…and then, they’ll probably perform that way!

And, paradoxically, read more! Let what you read challenge your current thoughts about leadership, management and creating value for your customers. Find new role models that think differently from you, or who have had different experiences. Tap into their experience to expand your own. Get curious about how things work in other organizations. Don’t blindly copy, but try to understand how others succeed and what might apply to you and your organization.



We invite your thoughts and comments. What New Year’s Resolutions have you adopted as a leader?