The Power of Asking

You would be amazed at how many people do not ask for what they want. There is a simple method that needs to be followed so that you effectively use the power of asking to get what you want out of life. First, you must setup a specific set of strategic questions to determine the five W’s – what, when, why, who, where, and how. Second, ask someone with experience, knowledge, and expertise to guide you appropriately. You must determine the value that you create to the situation. Make it interesting for the party you are asking and you will dramatically increase your changes of getting a positive response. You must have 100% confidence in what you are asking for – you must have an absolute conviction of the value that you provide. You must continue to ask until you get what you want. You must be relentless and not give up until you get the answer that you are looking for. However, you must show flexibility where you might ask different people in a different manner with different values. You have to change and adjust until you achieve what you want. Never give up asking because the answer you are looking for is out there for you, every rejection brings you one step closer to the right answer.

How do you measure your success?

Recently through Education Day with Leadership Palm Beach County, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Tammy Ferguson, principal of Village Academy. Dr. Ferguson shared with us what criteria that she uses to measure her success. As excerpted from First, Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, we can measure the strength of a workplace or organization from the following:

• Do I know what is expected of me?

• Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do a good job?

• Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?

• In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?

• Does someone at your organization seem to care about me as a person?

• Is there someone at your organization who encourages my development?

• Do my opinions seem to count?

• Does the mission/purpose of my organization make me feel my job is important?

• Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?

• Do I have a best friend at my organization?

• In the last six months, at my organization has someone talked to me about my progress?

• This last year, have I had the opportunity at my organization to learn and grow?

Four activities that I must do very well at my organization:

1. Select the right person
2. Set expectations
3. Motivate the person
4. Develop the person

Originally founded in 2000, Village Academy is the only Palm Beach County District K-10 School. Village Academy will graduate its first senior class in 2011. Dr. Ferguson knows the names of every student and provides the students with the necessary tools for them to go to college. Student enrollment is set at a maximum of 75 students per grade level so that they can preserve a small, nurturing learning environment for the students. Students at Village Academy do not think about whether they are going to college, it is about which one they will attend. Village Academy’s goal is that 100 percent of its students attend college and obtain Bright Futures Scholarships.

Understanding the needs of your customers

Companies can use the turn down in the economy to make their sales opperations not only less expensive but more effective. It is crucial to determine where cuts will hurt customer perception and adversely affect their buying behavior. It is important to understand the needs of your customers. Tthe economic value those needs represent require an analysis of more than gross margins. Now is the time to complete research on your customer buying behavior.

Understanding the value of business research:

The prime managerial value of business research is that it reduces uncertainty by providing information that improved the decision-making process. The decision-making process associated with the development and implementation of strategy involves four interrelated storages:

1. Identify problems or opportunities.
2. Diagnosing and assessing problems or opportunities.
3. Selecting and implementing a course of action.
4. Evaluating the course of action.


Business research supplies mangers with pertinent information that plays an important role by reducing the uncertainty in each of these stages. After an organization recognizes a problem or identifies a potential opportunity, an important aspect of research is the provision of diagnostic information that clarifies the situation. Determination for the need for research enters on time constraints, availability of data, nature of decision, and the value of the research information in relation to the cost.

Major topics for business reach centers around the following key areas:

* General Business Conditions

* Financial and Accounting

* Management and Organizational Behavior

* Sales and Marketing

* Information Systems

* Corporate Responsibility


Basically, research improves the quality of business decision. As business becomes increasingly global, it is important to understand the nature of foreign markets and determine whether you will require customized business strategies for global markets. Good research provides your organization with solid data that allows you to seize the opportunity.

How to ensure growth in a tough economy?

It is important that CEOs realize that a down economy is an opportunity. While I agree that all companies should manage their expense prudently, you cannot cut your way to prosperity. While focusing on costs, many companies inadvertently destroy their top-line, requiring them to put more pressure on the bottom-line which creates a spiral effect.

1. Planning – Have and work with a written business plan.
2. Core Customer – Identify who are your most profitable and loyal customer, and focus on those customers that will most likely buy your product or services in the quantity required for optimal profit.
3. Differentiate – make sure that your company has an uncommon offering that is targeted toward your core customer that your business will “own” and leverage.
4. Invest in your sales force – get rid of your “Turkeys” immediately. Invest whatever it takes to train and develop your “Eagles” to peak performance.
5. Improve the hiring process of the sales force – in our experience most companies do a very poor job in hiring salespeople. The assessment tools and interviewing processes they use produce poor success rates. This costs companies a lot of money on the top line.
6. Find top talent – evaluate every employee at least once a year. Get rid of your “C” players, and figure out which of your “B” players can be developed into “A” players.
7. Marketing – great public relations is what attracts potential business to your sales force.

If you grow the top-line while managing costs well then you will never have to worry about layoffs. Sign up for your free e-zine at www.globalstrategicmgmt.com that provides executives with essential strategic and organizational knowledge to help them make decisions.

The Power of Relationships

The building and maintaining of strong relationship has a tremendous impact on the long-term success in our lives. Employers have noted that the key ingredients to success in careers are the following:

•Ability to develop relationships with individuals
•Ability to motivate and engage with others
•Ability to communicate clearly

Building relationships requires a good understanding of ourselves. The flexibility of an individual to adapt their approach to fit the complexity of the situation is critical for your success. Understanding real world insights into the connection between your behaviors will allow you to diagnose situations and act in appropriate ways.

Proper training will allow you to discover self-awareness, values and beliefs, and behaviors. Training assists in developing decision-making and social action skills so that you learn to view events and situations from a variety of perspectives. Proper assessments will enhance both your personal and professional relationships. By learning about archetypes we can identify our important core values, and fears which enable us to grow and succeed.

Leadership: Would you rather be a boss or a leader?

Leadership styles are extremely important in changing and transforming individuals and organizations with a commitment to high performance. The role of leadership is to promote change. Leadership today is not only important at the top but it applies to all levels of the organization. Emerging leadership styles include charismatic, transformational, visionary, and self-directing work teams. Successful leaders display traits that will create a positive environment, those include:

• High level of energy

• Achievement oriented

• Emotional maturity

• Self-confidence

• Integrity

• Perseverance

• Cognitive ability

• Flexibility

Bosses v. Leaders

A boss drives. A leader leads.

A boss relies on authority . A leader relies on cooperation.

A boss says, “I”. A leader says, “We”.

A boss creates fear. A leader creates confidence.

A boss knows how. A leader shows how.

A boss creates resentment. A leader creates enthusiasm.

A boss fixes blame. A leader fixes mistakes.

A boss makes work drudgery. A leader makes work interesting.

Source: McCuddy, Michael (2005) Organizational Behavior

Leadership in high performance work teams change the leadership role by making it more of a facilitative one which encourages team members to lead themselves. With the constant changes in the fast paced environment, the new leadership styles facilitate change throughout the organization which increases the bottom-line. Today, leadership training can assist individuals throughout the organization so that they can prepare for their new roles in a high performance organization.

Leadership Training: Creating High Achievers

Matching the motivational needs of the individual with the situation is important for not only the employer but also for the individual. Motivation is the individual forces that account for the direction, level, and persistence of a person’s effort expended at work.

Which occupation would be best sited for individuals with a high need for achievement?

· The desire to do something better or more efficiently, to solve problems, or to master complex tasks

· The work preferences would be for individual responsibilities, challenging goals, and performance feedback

Which occupation would be best suited for individuals with a high need for affiliation?

· The desire to establish and maintain friendly and warm relations with others

· The work preference would be drawn to interpersonal relationships and opportunities for communication

Which occupation would be best suited for individuals with a high need for power?

· The desire to control others, to influence their behavior, or to be responsible for others

· The work preference would be to have an influence over others, likes attention, and recognition

The profile for success as a senior executive can be linked to a moderate to high need for power and a lower need for affiliation. Lower affiliation allows an individual to make decisions without the concern of being disliked. Proper leadership training can create high achievers and the ability to set challenging goals.

Suggested reading: Now, Discover your strengths by Marcus Buckingham & Donald Clifton, Ph.D. gives you access to the StrengthFinder profile which assist you in determining your strengths.

Additional Assessment: Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator Instrument (PMAI) is a diagnostic tool that provides a better understanding and actively shapes motivation and emotion. By recognizing the link between motivation and performance can assist in creating a framework that will lead to more productive outcomes. Dr. Doreen McGunagle is approved to administer the PMAI assessment tool.