• Identify what conditions or feedback’s you are getting that tell you that you’re NOT doing a good job.
• Ask yourself if you know what it takes to do a better job.  Do you need more experience? Do you need more training on how to do the job?  Do you need to increase your skills to complete the job?  If you’re not sure, ask someone that you believe is willing to help you and would be objective.
• If you need more experience, then ask for opportunities to get more experience.  Be willing to volunteer for activities or tasks that will accelerate your experience.
• If you need more training on how to do the job, then try to find a co-worker or senior  person that are willing to spend a little extra time explaining/training what needs to be done.  Try to find someone that you respect that is willing to Mentor you; Mentoring is the best form of training.
• If you need to increase your skills, then research classes, programs, seminars, webinars, associations, practice more, etc. on your own time.

It all comes down to you and how committed you are to increase your effectiveness.

Let us know other tips and thoughts on this topic!

• Get to know your customers really well; what are their likes and dislikes; talk with them, meet with them as much as possible.  Let them know you want to help them be successful.
• Ask their opinions about potential new products or feature enhancements; find out what they want and then deliver it.  The Field of Dreams approach (build it and they will come) is a very risky approach.
• Provide the superior service when something is not right for them.  You don’t have to be a Nordstrom to provide exceptional service; you just need to have everyone in the company understand the importance of keeping the client happy with both the products and the Company.  This attitude does not just happen; it takes leadership and training constantly.
• Provide products and services that exceed the expectation of the customer.  That means functionality, quality, ease of use and price; not just price.
• Keep an eye on the competition to know what they are doing.  Two “don’ts here, first never waste the resources to purposely put the competition out of business, let the market place do that; second, don’t follow the competition unless the clearly are better at knowing what the customers want than you—don’t let that happen.  They may be bigger and have more resources but size has never been the secret to success.

Your suggestions and comments are always appreciated.

1. A Great Boss is a genuinely good person.  They know that they must work with other people and the success of the organization is based on the performance of all the employees, including the boss.  They may be demanding and hold others accountable, but they do it in a way that shows respect for the employee.
2. A Great Boss is a good communicator.   Anyone in leadership has to be able to clearly communicate the why, when, where, what and how something needs to be done, at all levels of the organization.
3. A Great Boss shows humility.  They are willing to give the credit for good things to those that participated in the effort, but take the responsibility for when something is wrong.
4. A Great Boss knows the value of training.  They know that every employee within the organization needs to refresh their skills continually.  They may do this by class room, on-line courses, mentoring, or informal work sessions.
5. A Great Boss deals with negative situations immediately.  They don’t leave problems for others to deal with or hope they will go away.  They address problems or negative situations immediately.
6. A Great Boss holds themselves and others accountable.  Every person in a position of leadership must take accountability seriously.  They must set up processes to insure everyone knows what needs to be done, how well is it being done and the ramifications to the organization if the desired results are not achieved.
7. A Great Boss does what they say they will do.  Integrity is key to a boss and to retain the respect of those within their area of responsibility.  They are not just people of words, they are people of action.

A Great Boss can be anyone at any level of an organization that has responsibilities for directing the work of others.

Where do you find the referral or endorsement?  It comes from those you already know, or others that know them.

How do you get the referral or endorsement?  Ask for it!

Who do you ask?  Here are six key groups of potential referrals and endorsements from people you know or should know:

1. Existing customers; your relationship with your customers should be a wide open door to ask for a referral or endorsement.  They know you and are happy with your product or service, so now is the time to ask who they know that may need your product or service.  You want them to keep you at their top-of-mind with their contacts.
2. Prior customers; your customers may not buy continually, so don’t discount those that may have purchased from you last year or further back.  Some sales cycles are 3, 4, 5 years out (e.g. automobile dealerships).  Stay in contact with them and asking for a referral or endorsement is not unreasonable.
3. Professional support services; do you have an attorney, accountant, bookkeeper, banker, janitorial service, etc?  These are all sources for referrals and they all have a vested interest in seeing you succeed.  Ask them for a referral because I am sure they will be asking you sometime soon.
4. Associations (Local and National); Join Associations that support your “customers”, not just your business.  You may belong to an Association for your business to keep in touch with your competition and stay current on industry factors; but, you want to be in those Associations that support your customers, that is where a solid relationship will pay in sales.
5. Collaboration partners; other companies that support the same customers and markets but offer different products and services.  Develop a relationship with these companies and you can make referrals of each other customers to increase the opportunities.

One of the reasons companies don’t get the number of referrals they want is that they don’t consider where to find them and or they fail to ask.

What is your best technique for getting referrals or endorsements?

Do you ever question your managerial abilities?  Do you look in the mirror from time to time and ask yourself how you are doing?  Here is a quick test:

1. Are you a know-it-all?  Do you always have to be right or have the best ideas?
2. Are you driven by people Or metrics?  Do you spend your time focused on how your people are doing or just tracking the numbers?
3. Do you resist change?  Are you happy with the way things are because they are challenge enough for you?
4. Do you distrust your employees?  Do you check up on your employees continually because you distrust them to get the job done or to represent your interest the way they should?
5. Do you endorse all the new technologies?  You’re sure that all the new technologies will increase the performance of your employees?
6. Do you encourage bickering between your employees?  Do you think that pitting one employee or group against another creates greater productivity?
7. Do you have to do everything yourself?  Do you see it too risky to let your employees take on important tasks or have performance impacting responsibilities?
8. Do you expect people to read your thoughts?  Do you expect your employees to know what you’re thinking and to take the appropriate action to get things done the way you want?
9. Do you see indecision as being thorough?  Is it hard for you to make a decision because you’re not sure you have all the information you need to guarantee your decision will be the right every time?
10. Do you see non-performers as just part of your culture?  Do you accept non-performers as normal part of any organization and try to pass them on to other departments when possible?
11. Do you believe you deserve the credit?  Do you think that you should receive the credit for the group of employees you manage; after all you are the leader of the group?

If you want to be objective about your test, print this list and have your employees review you against these eleven factors; they can write yes or no next to each factor, and then hand it back to you—all confidentially; no names, no contact, no influence.

What factors do you measure yourself against?

Another recent article (MoneyWatch) cites a study that:

• 10% of management took decisive action to increase the effectiveness of the organization.
• 10% were extremely busy but not very effective (Don’t confuse efforts with results ^TM).
• 40% were energetic but not focused on company priorities.
• 30% had low energy, low focus and had a tendency to procrastinate.
• 10% were somewhat focused but had little energy.

This article focused on how to energize and get the 40% more focused.

A collaborative mindset looks at this predicament and characterizes it as a lapse in “leadership”. One of the key attributes of a Leader is to have and maintain an accountability culture.  All employees at all levels of workers, supervisors, and managers are to hold others accountable as well as being held accountable.  Executives that carelessly waggle their finger at their management staff and employees and suggest that they are the problem, are not taking their responsibility seriously and leading the organization.  Undergoing a change in order to increase the effectiveness of any organizations workforce is futile without first installing a culture of accountability at all levels of the enterprise.