Look at your Strategy through a new lens

In Part 1 of this Four-Part Series on Sustainable Success, I want to introduce the overarching metaphor outlined in my book The Fourth Moon.

In the book, I use a powerful metaphor around famous Italian Astronomer Galileo Galilee’s discovery of Jupiter’s Moons. His discovery of four moons orbiting Jupiter disproved the long held belief that the planets revolved around the earth when they of course revolved around the moon. This discovery led to huge turmoil as the leaders of the time fought to hold on and protect their existing paradigm with the earth as the centre of the cosmos.

Holding on to an existing paradigm that doesn’t deliver you sustainable success is just as crazy as the Italians wanting the planets to orbit the earth. Like Galileo, I encourage you to pick up a more powerful lens that magnifies your view of your business. Look through a new lens and adopt a new paradigm for success.

The four moons in the metaphor represent the four stages on your journey to sustainable success – Strategy, Implementation, Maintenance & Leverage. These will be introduced in this Four-Part Series.

Each moon represents an important stage in your journey and requires the abandonment of old habits that no longer serve you and the adoption of new forever disciplines that will take you to new levels of success. The key to the metaphor is the understanding that you need to not only visit all four moons, but to re-orbit them consistently over time as you periodically change your business strategy.

Expanding on the metaphor leads us to the First Moon of Io (the moons are referred to as Jupiter’s Moons or the Galilean Moons with each having its own name).

The first of Jupiter’s moons, Io, represents Strategy in the metaphor. The planet Io is the fourth largest moon and most geologically active object in the solar system with over 400 active volcanoes painting the surface in numerous shades of yellow, red, white, black and green. It is quite fitting that Io is so big and geologically active because so is Strategy. Strategy is vast and is the foundation of our vision. Our Strategy pulls us between the other three moons of Implementation, Maintenance & Leverage.

First Moon thinking around Strategy is about thinking really big and being active.

Business owners typically object to being challenged to devise and document their strategy. Claims such as “It’s in my head” or “Everyone here knows what we are trying to do” are classic objections from time-poor and exhausted business owners who feel they don’t have time to stop and define their strategy, let alone document it.

“What a waste of time” and “We’re too busy” they shriek in denial.

But these objections generally are a smokescreen used deftly to distract them from the need to look at their business calmly, objectively and honestly.  Fear and uncertainty often lies beneath the surface, leading to defensiveness around being challenged to assess their strategy. To see the truth.

“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” 

Galileo Galilee

So why do you need to look at your strategy through a new lens?

Because the current one isn’t truly alive and working optimally for you. You must constantly review, develop and document your strategy regardless of how long you’ve been in business. If you don’t, you risk being one of the multitude of business owners that bounce along in a constant blur of chaos and mediocrity. 

Without a clear strategy you will never achieve the rewards you deserve from your entrepreneurial skills, risk-taking and endeavor. 

Stop and think about this question for a moment.

Why would you intentionally spend time, money and resources – effectively your life’s work - on implementing an inferior strategy? 

Take the first step now and allocate some time to reviewing your Strategy and documenting it in a Strategic Plan (or Mission Plan as I refer to it in my book). A great Strategy starts by defining your Top 5 Goals for the year ahead. I call these Mission Goals.

Next is Part 2 of the Four-Part Series in which I introduce the Second Moon of Europa where you will Implement your strategy.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

The Power of Process

The Power of Process

I’m big on the power of process.
Control the controllables to influence the uncontrollables.

A laser focus on process is a critical ingredient of sustainable success.
Winning businesses know this.
The underlying principle of process is to repeat an action, or series of steps, that produces a highly predictable outcome.

Developing Process

Start by listing key processes within your business.
Hit the big ones first.
Define key processes within groups such as:
•    Service/Product operations
•    Personnel
•    Management
•    Sales
•    Marketing
•    Finance
•    Administration

Start A/B testing your processes to see what works best over a 4-6 week period.

When happy with a process, document the process.

Educate the stakeholders (customers, employees, shareholders or suppliers) that are involved in the process.

Nominate an Internal Champion to oversee each process. 

Repeating Process

In educating participating stakeholders, commit to following the process on a non-negotiable basis.

Demand accountability for following the process from all stakeholders.

Refining Process

Seek periodic feedback from stakeholders at every level.

Listen with an open mind and instruct the Internal Champion to compile a summary of feedback.

Request the Internal Champion to make recommendations on changes and enhancements to process.

The simple question is ‘Will a change to process improve the likely predictable outcome for the business’?

Empower Internal Champions to refine the process by updating the process documentation and re-educating stakeholders.

What are some good examples of Process?

Operational procedures on how products/services are supplied to customers from ‘purchase order’ to ‘cash at bank’.

Weekly, monthly and quarterly internal meetings with standing agendas and outcomes.

Sales-based activities scheduled and held each week/month with prospects.

A customer care model that ‘touches’ each customer on a periodic basis.

Scheduled staff reviews and appraisals conducted periodically.

Scoreboard and key metrics reported on a timely and accurate basis.

Shareholder reporting and meeting regime.

Finance procedures documented and followed.

Supplier terms and scheduled periodic reviews.

But what about the uncontrollables?

The prospect doesn’t agree to go with you and chooses a competitor.

A staff member leaves unexpectedly.

There is an economic downturn in your industry.

A key customer leaves you for no apparent reason.

A key person falls ill.

A major item of plant breaks down and interrupts supply.

Many of these external factors are outside your control and you don’t choose the outcome.

But a single-minded focus on process will help control the controllable aspects.

When the unforeseen negative event happens, you have to pivot and move on.

Your dedication to process will create a more rigorous business infrastructure that weathers the storm.

Without the power of focus, you become just another business owner ‘hoping for the best’ when the inevitable uncontrollable event hits you.

The power of process leads to sustainable success that will survive events outside your control.

Commit to the power of process.

If you want to discuss how you can leverage the power of process in your business, email me here.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

Choosing the right channels for your communication model

I often brainstorm with clients on how to develop their communication model.

But even before creating a communication model, you must first have determined the niche you serve, your ideal customer and your product/service offering. There must be absolute clarity around these three tenets to your business.

Communication is futile without a clear message and a target audience.

So let’s explore this.

I’ll assume you have determined your niche (narrower the better), your ideal customer (outlined & documented their profile) and your product/service offering (defined and priced).

Where it gets confusing for business owners is when they are advised to communicate through almost all channels. When I refer to channels, think of Foxtel channels with each channel representing a different communication medium.

Channels for your communication model might include:
•    In-person 1-1 meetings (coffees, meals or office meetings)
•    Group attendance at in-house events (seminars, workshops, roundtables, retreats, training and functions)
•    Hosting people at external events (sport, arts etc)
•    Authorship (books, blogs, white papers, reports, surveys)
•    Recommended external resources
•    Telephone
•    Email
•    Video (TV, YouTube, Online)
•    Website content
•    Webinars (online webinars)
•    Social Media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
•    Advertising (TV, radio, online,  sponsorship, print media etc)
•    Letters & cards (yes old school but memorable)
•    Other (the possibilities are endless)

With all this noise and the suggestion, or perception, that you have to produce great content using many of these channels is overwhelming.

It reminds me again of Foxtel.

With over one hundred channels to choose from, I’m often overwhelmed as a viewer on the couch.

The best channels on Foxtel have a target niche (genre), ideal customer (viewer) and clear offering (programs).

The History Channel doesn’t have to worry about sport or cooking shows. Fox Sports doesn’t have to worry about politics and drama.

My advice in overcoming overwhelm is to choose communication channels for your business that satisfy just two people.

1.    You
2.    Your ideal customer.

The reason for listing you first is because if you are not interested in the channel, you won’t communicate. You will get bored or run out of inspiration. There is nobody to communicate with if you don’t produce any content. 

The reason you only have to produce content for your ideal customer is because that is who you want to listen and attract. There is no point in communicating in channels that attract customers that are not ideal customers.

So keep it simple.

Just choose channels that please you and your ideal customer.

Think about the channels you are comfortable communicating in and whether your niche market accesses those channels (or will access those channels should you communicate via).

Next select specific channels that you are willing and motivated to commit to communicating in.

Less is more here.

Better to choose a smaller number of channels and create strong rich content that is useful to your audience and make a big bang in that space.

The trick is not to be Foxtel.

Don’t try and have 100 channels.

Pick your channels and draft a communication model of content and frequency. Schedule your channels like a TV guide releasing content on a monthly calendar.

Then create your content and broadcast it on your chosen channels.

I have chosen in-person networking, authorship, email, website content and LinkedIn as my primary channels to communicate with my SME audience.

I’d love to hear what channels you choose for your communication model.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

12 Ways to retain your Best People this year

Staff retention remains one of the bigger challenges I see in business.

Business owners complain to me “If only I’d known something before they resigned, I could have kept them”. 

But of course it’s generally too late after they resign.

So what can you do to retain your best people longer? 

1.    Tell them what you want

One of the biggest compliments I hear employees say about their employer is that they were told what the owner wanted.

Periodically explain what you want your business to achieve over the next month, quarter, year and medium-term. In my bookThe Fourth Moon I call these Mission Goals.

Explain to teams what you want them to achieve.

And most importantly, explain to each team member individually what you want them to achieve. In my book The Fourth Moon I call these Crew Goals.

Ensure every team member understands the Top 5 Goals for the business, their team and themselves.

2.    Create a career path

Don’t just focus on the immediate role required.

Look at how that role can evolve over the next two years and 3-5 years.

Then step out what the hire will need to learn and deliver on. What are the performance gaps and learning needs that they can overcome to grow within the business?

Wherever possible, develop a short-term and medium-term career path for each position.

Don’t be scared to discuss this career path as early as the hiring stage. The candidate is thinking about where this role will take them.

If you are able to map this out for them, and the evolution of their role is realistic and attractive, you will have dramatically increased your chance of securing the best candidate.

3.    Make their role more interesting and meaningful

Two questions to challenge yourself on each team member.

How can I make a team member’s role more interesting? Can I introduce some new functions? Can I delegate or outsource some mundane tasks? Can I improve the comfort and functionality in their work environment?

How can I make a team member’s role more meaningful? Can I explain how the successful completion of their tasks leads to the achievement of a business or team goal? 

4.    Check in

Check in regularly and proactively with each team member.

Rolling operational check-ins should be mandatory with the frequency of these check-ins based on seniority and job complexity.

Regular performance reviews should be scheduled in advance and conducted on a non-negotiable basis. 

5.    Let them take risks

Start allowing your team members to take small risks. As they succeed, increase the stakes.

A team member may suggest outsourcing some activities offshore. Consider trialing this for a month to see if the same work quality is achieved at a lower cost.

Be open to ‘changing things up’ on a trial basis. Consider allowing a team member to work remotely a day a month. If it is successful, you might increase this to a day a week.

6.    Celebrate their wins

To criticize is easy. But to praise takes character.

Acknowledge team member wins in many forums. 

Praise them individually. Tell their Manager and mention wins in front of their team. Praise them in front of customers and advisors.

Don’t be scared to say two of the rarest words in business.

Thank You.

7.    Invest in them individually

In the global online village, there are endless ways to invest in professional and personal development of your team. This is only limited by your imagination.

On the job training, internal training, external training, online training, education, coaching and mentoring. 

Be generous.

8.    Fertilize your culture

List how you can make your business amazing in ways that your team members will brag to their friends and family about you?

Then do it.

9.    Remunerate generously

Salaries and standard benefits should be above market if you really want to remove the ‘pay’ issue as a retention risk.

Special benefits such as child care, extra annual leave and gym memberships go even further.

10.    Incentivize

Periodic incentives based on achieving goals or targets are a powerful tool in retaining talent.

These can include bonuses, gifts, prizes, travel, experiences or staff events that contribute to sticky retention.

11.    Random acts of kindness

These are spontaneous or event-driven acts of kindness to acknowledge individuals who have had a milestone event (marriage, baby or personal achievement) or gone the extra mile for the business.

12.    Care

You can’t fake care.

Take a genuine interest in your team members. From the heart.

And if you do make a management mistake, say the other rare word in business.

Sorry.

I’d love to hear your comments on your most innovative retention strategies to keep your best people.

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke

How to attract talent in a competitive market

The eternal challenge of attracting talent often seems elusive.

That talented candidate you just interviewed will receive multiple job offers.

How do you influence their decision to accept your offer? 

Stand Out

Don’t even try and attract the best talent if you don’t stand out in any way in your market.

Are you the oldest business? Or the best? Do you have a compelling story? Or unique products or services? Are you the most innovative? Or maybe have the best customers? Perhaps your culture is best in class. Is your office the coolest in the best location?

If you can’t differentiate yourself in some way to stand out from the crowd, why would you attract the cream?

If you have an ‘ah ha’ moment in realizing you don’t stand out in any way, it’s never too late.

Commit to brainstorming ways in which you can stand out and create a point of difference.

Then tell the next gun candidate at interview.

Fish in several ponds

You wouldn’t fish in the exact spot on the same river day after day if you never caught a prize fish.

Adopt an approach that sees you fishing in several ponds in attracting talent. 

Of course you can fish for candidates through traditional job advertising. But complement it with a battery of other fishing lines including listing on your website, emailing your network requesting candidates of interest, social media shout outs, external agencies on a success fee only arrangement and employee introductions with a finder’s fee paid.

Sell the sausage and the sizzle

The sausage is what you sell. Craft and practice your perfect pitch. Then pitch what you sell passionately and clearly to every candidate. 

The sizzle is what you do so well that makes you great. 

Back up the sausage and the sizzle through providing resources to candidates that demonstrate your great work, reputation and market presence. 

Clarity & transparency

Start by explaining the process and timeline. Explain what you will be doing and what they will need to do in the process. Provide a timeline for the process from start to finish.

It’s amazing how many businesses I meet that are unable to define a role they are hiring for. Think about it from the candidate’s position. Would you accept a role that is unclear? So take the time to document the key priorities and a tight position description for the role. Refer to this in the interview.

Be prepared for questions in advance and answer them comprehensively and honestly. Allow enough time for the candidate to ask questions and don’t rush them.

Involve a star-studded line up during the interview process

Present a dynamic and diverse group of people to the candidate throughout the interview process whenever possible.

Internally, in addition to a direct report, be open to including peers in the latter interviews to connect with the candidate and assess fit.  

Externally, be open to a trusted advisor/mentor conducting an informal phone call late in the process with the candidate, to provide an independent opinion.

Candidates observe this, and in my experience, this only enhances their opinion of you as a potential employer.

Move quickly

First to move often wins.

It is an overlooked advantage. But often the first employer to make an offer wins the day.

Find the right balance between a rigorous recruitment process and timely execution of offer.

If your instincts are screaming at you to make a hiring decision, fast track the process and make an offer now. 

I’d love to hear about your innovative ideas around attracting talent to your business.  

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I really want you to start creating sustainable success in your business and life. Simply check out my FAQs videos HERE on what business owners most commonly ask about sustainable business success. If they help you, simply sign up and get the other 20x videos free.

Claim your Giveaways now, find out what the Fourth Moon is and reach your goals sooner!

Cheers, Darren K Bourke