The WILL to improve.....

There is a broad agreement about the fact that competent teams improve productivity, are able to reduce dramatically project implementation time, and boost the generation of innovative solutions. Yet, many managers complain on how ineffective their teams work , wasting time and resources on projects that do not achieve the desired results, or are not linked to the business or to its customers. As a result, it is critical that these teams have the right knowledge and develop skills and competencies in order to be able to make meaningful contributions to the company's business goals and to their customers' needs. But, how can we effectively access those competencies, measure and monitor its improvement and define realistic achievable and measurable targets?
Let us together approach this topic as one of the big challenges for 2007 in this blog.
Wish You All a Happy New Year.

A great project......

Dear Community:

Welcome to We Are Smarter Than Me, an ambitious community addressing a crucial shift in how businesses operate as they learn to leverage the power of "community."
The central premise of We Are Smarter Than Me is that large groups of people ("We") can, and should, take responsibility for traditional business functions that are currently performed by companies, industries and experts ("Me").
What do we mean? Let's look at some recent examples:
Procter & Gamble is recruiting 600,000 housewives to help market its products through word of mouth. In return for much greater reach and impact, the company is giving up control of the marketing message, relying on its community of customers/marketers to craft their own message in the most appropriate fashion.
Microlending websites provide the ability for individuals to lend to small businesses directly. The underwriting decisions (assessing the risk of each loan) are made by individuals, and the price of loan is established through lender bidding. We expect these lending decisions to be superior to the same decisions currently made by experts at banks.
Patients faced with rare diseases are increasingly turning to internet discussion groups to learn more about risks and treatment options, and as a result are participating with doctors more actively (in some cases much more actively) in decisions regarding their care.
A few books have recently been written on this topic, but they all fail to confront one central paradox. While they extol the power of communities, they were each written by only one person.
We're putting this paradox to the test by inviting hundreds of thousands of authors to contribute to this "network book" using today's technologies.
The book will be published by Pearson, and each contributor will be listed as an author of the book. All authors will receive an equal vote on the distribution of book royalties to charity.
We're seeking from our authors real examples of companies who are trying — successfully, or unsuccessfully — to harness the power of "community." And we're looking to develop and share insights about why these approaches work or don't work; and what companies have to do to make them work better.
Finally, we have invited you — members of the Wharton and Sloan School communities — to become authors in your own right. You are the students, faculty and alumni of two illustrious institutions, leaders in management and technology. We look forward to your participation and to the insights you can contribute to the project.
Sincerely,

Timothy MooreEditor in Chief, Pearson Education
Jon SpectorVice Dean, The Wharton SchoolDirector, Aresty Institute of Executive Education
Barry LibertChief Executive OfficerShared Insights US, LLC
Thomas Malone,Patrick J. McGovern Professor of ManagementMIT Sloan School of Management

Entrepreneurship ( Part 1)

The understanding of entrepreneurship owes a lot to the work of economist Joseph Schumpeter and the Austrian School of economics. In Schumpeter (1950), an entrepreneur is a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation. Entrepreneurship forces "creative destruction" across markets and industries, simultaneously creating new products and business models. In this way, creative destruction is largely responsible for the dynamism of industries and long-run economic growth. Despite Schumpeter's early 20th-century contributions, the traditional microeconomic theory of economics has had little room for entrepreneurs in their theoretical frameworks (instead assuming that resources would find each other through a price system). (source Wikipedia with ref. The Economist Magazine, March 11, 2006, pp 67).

Coaching ( Part 1)

It's the time of the Year for many employee performance reviews, and what are we doing about it?
This process should be linked to the vision and mission statement of every organization and embedded in its corporate culture, meaning that rather than being a evaluation based on analyzing last Years sales or general figures results, which often is mainly about managing numbers and expectations, those reviews should focus on the qualitative aspect of performance, by analyzing which actions contributed the most for helping the company achieve its main goals.
A review serves also to identify individual gaps to be developed in every managers pool of skills and competencies, therefore this process should be performed at a regular basis, at least 4 times a year, and with a very strong coaching component.
The main asset for any company is the wealth of experience that every senior employee brings with him. If those MVP are not able to pass their testimony by teaching, coaching and mentoring Young managers, than they failed as leaders.
Looking backward is important, in order to learn from mistakes as well as analyzing successes, but, a stronger focus should be placed on , together ( appraiser and employee) build a measurable and accountable action plan for both performance and personal development targets.
As every leader should see his role in motivating and inspiring his followers to achieve common objectives, ideally we could call these reviews, a personal leadership development plan.

Networking ( Part 2 )

“Life truly is a boomerang. What you give, you get. ”
- Dale Carnegie

Networking ( Part 1 )

Can we generate sales Leads only by running an expensive marketing campaign? It should not necessarily be that way.
We have being told that the most effective form of sales lead generation is to build long-term business and private relationships through word-of-mouth marketing.
We all do attend on a regular basis social, private and business Networking group events, which are all, “trade fairs” for building new relationships and reinforcing existing ones. Still, many of us find that the attendance at these meetings fail to result in lead generation. But why is that?
Maybe we did not develop the RIGHT attitude for building up a solid Business/private Network;
The time spent on these events is also an important time and money investment. And, in order to get the right ROI, we need to develop a systematic approach.
.Here are some ideas I came up with in my networking experience that I would like to share with You :
To take the initiative not only in building our personal network but also in maintaining and caring with that same network, that means that we need to make the first move.
To learn how to feel confident in “other people shoes”, it is about trading places.
To be “catchy” and “interesting” on our introduction. We have to be aware that the first impression is the one that “counts” in our “prospects” minds.
Focus on Our Unique selling proposition.
Highlight what people will gain by listening to us.
Learn how to be A effective listener.
Time is the scarcest of all “GOODS” we need to be very careful on how to use ours and others people time.
Follow up our contacts after the event
We should always play “win-win”
To Be patient.
Not to be too persistent.

What do You Think ?

Are We Ready for Self-Management ?

The question is closely linked to the level of skills and competencies that entry level employees bring with them.
Generally speaking I prefer to think about managing/coaching with a long leash rather than micromanaging, meaning empowering people to take actions and to be accountable for them.
Creating a self management culture within a business organization has to do more with leadership than management, because leaders have a vision of where, when, and how the organization is heading. They are able to share this dream and the direction that other people want to follow. True leadership vision goes beyond a written organizational mission statement or vision statement. The vision of a leader is found throughout the workplace and is manifested in the actions, beliefs, values, and goals of the organization's staff.
A leader inspires his followers by appealing to their common sense rather than resting on his formal authority.
A leader fosters hope rather than fear.
A leader says "we" rather than "I".
A leader do not need to ask for respect; followers willingly respect him.
A particularly helpful way to support new-entry employees in their quest to become future leaders is through mentoring. A close relationship with a senior executive of proven leadership skills is likely to keep a young manager open and willing for growth. Mentoring should be paired with a portion of warm, friendly, positive, and proactive support, which means that the mentor should free up important time on his agenda to perform this task.

Comment published in Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5507.html

Attitude......

Is the glass half empty or half full? The purpose of the question is to demonstrate that a business project may be seen in different ways depending on one's point of view and that there may be opportunity in the situation as well as trouble. A successful entrepreneur maybe aware of the risks he is taking, but he always focus on the postive aspects and strenghts of the project, for him failure is not an option.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) once quoted: "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
Having the right attitude is believing that the mountains You wish to conquer will not grow taller as the climb gets closer and closer to the Top.

See You in September.....

Has Globalization Reached Its Peak? *

Summing Up
The global corporation and globalization in general are poised to achieve new and different heights, if responses to this month's column are to be believed. As Greg Bownik put it, "for globalization to peak businesses would have to stop communicating, marketing, and selling on a global basis . . . nothing short of dismantling the global economy could reverse the trend." Nari Kannan commented, "Clamping down on globalization by any country or company will ensure its own demise that much quicker."
How will we know when globalization has truly peaked? Mark Opperman suggests that "Globalization will have reached its peak when we have global citizens who can pay their taxes where they please and enjoy the benefits of the government that serves them best no matter their geographic location . . . will it be any different from those of ages past who paid their taxes to Rome?" Sunil Unni echoes this point of view: "Globalization is an ongoing process that can only peak when citizens across the world enjoy its benefits without any barriers whatsoever." Henrique Plöger Abreu approaches the question from another direction in commenting, "If we look at all the regional trade barriers, subvention politics, protective measures, and legal and fiscal barriers that exist worldwide, I think one can assume that globalization is far from having reached its peak."
Elisio Neto proposes an interesting notion that "Globalization comes in waves. We are just seeing the aftereffects of one peak . . . this wave will be different from the one before . . . natural resources will play a strong role, and immigration will be an issue." The next step of globalization, according to Akhil Aggarwal, will involve companies currently performing outsourced tasks sending much of their work abroad, enabling them to "further outsource non-strategic work so as to concentrate on strategic issues that their audiences (the U.S. firms) would be more interested in." Gregory Black describes another aspect of change while sounding a cautionary note: ". . . the elephant in the room is the assumption of the availability and cost of petroleum . . . the economics of globalization will change dramatically in the decades ahead."
Will what is true for the world turn out to be true for individual global corporations? Biju Cherian weighs in with this comment: ". . . there could be a rise and fall in global corporations—a rise of corporations from new economy nations and a fall in corporations in old economy nations." As M. P. Jayaprakash puts it, "Like water finding its own level, globalization will go on until such time that disparity between the haves (U.S., Europe, etc.,) and the have-nots is significantly bridged."One theme common to several of these comments is that globalization (and the outsourcing it promotes) will turn out to be an equalizing force between have and have-not countries and corporations. This is a far cry from the claims of the protesters at the World Trade Organization summits. Is it possible that globalization will be the catalyst that speeds up a process by which the poor get richer instead of poorer and that this process has just fully gotten under way? What do you think?

* This is a transcription of a text originally published by Professor James Heskett at the Harvard Business Review , Working Knowledge

Quotes # 10

"Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will understand"Benjamin Franklin

Instinct and Intuition

"Most of entrepreneurship, for me, is about instinct and intuition. Many times I have been asked by someone considering a new venture if he should go for it. But an entrepreneur knows instinctively when to go for it." Michael Dell from Dell Computers.

There is written in a lot of books that Instinct is something that we are born with; it is something that we do naturally without thinking. Instincts are generally an inherited pattern of responses or reactions to certain kinds of situations, and can be seen as a reaction. The word "intuition" can be seen as the direct perception of meaning or truth, without conscious reasoning, but, both words suggest us the idea that some amount of knowledge and awareness is involved, but how reliable are our instincts and intuition?
Instinct and intuition are two attributes that don't fit the scientific mold and are very hard to measure. Yet they are vital in order to create real entrepreneurship.

Vision and Entrepreneurship

“An entrepreneur is ambitious, has a vision for the future of his firm and for the future in general. With regard to a hi-tech enterprise, this vision is basically all that an entrepreneur has to have. All the rest can be outsourced “ Jane Royston.

In order to succeed an entrepreneur must develop a solid vision, he must be able to surround himself with talented people, effectively communicate his vision and allow it to be improved by colleagues, mentors and stakeholders. Vision is important because it is all about ones ability to dream the future.

A Leader is passionate about.....

I am fully convinced that passion is a main attribute of a successful entrepreneur. I can not imagine someone driving a Team/project and ultimately celebrate success if this same person has no passion about it. To get commitment has to do primarily with pulling people rather than pushing them. To pull you have to be able to influence their opinions, to inspire them to follow you and to motivate them to collaborate. I can not picture any successful leader/company/project that hasn't been started with a huge portion of passion.

A Leader has Courage to Take Risks

In order to succeed, leaders need to have courage, because, by going down the road trying to achieve your objectives you also will experience fear. It is a natural feeling. Being courageous is not about lacking fear. It’s learning how to deal and to cope with it, but knowing that at the end you’re going to be okay.” If we would not experience fear we would not need to have courage in the first place. According to the Wikipedia definition Courage, is also known as fortitude, and is the ability to confront fear, pain,danger,uncertainty,or intimidation . It can be divided into "physical courage" -- in face of physical pain, hardship, and threat of death -- and "moral courage" -- in the face of shame , scandal, and discouragement.The root word of courage comes from the Latin , and means "heart". It is not surprising then that we find courage to be at the heart of all other traits in effective leaders. I define courage as the ability to drive projects and actions that are hard for us to perform. I truly believe, that one can achieve almost anything, provided that one has the right education, enough self- confidence, the will, the commitment, and ……………….the courage.

Innovation has become a corporate buzzword. But constantly talking about an idea is totally different from practicing it: One is about wishful thinking; the other, is about action. Innovators are doers, they act.
But how can a business organization achieve this goal? Well one way is to build a companywide culture of innovation. This strategy should require tangible steps like creating the right internal teams, setting up the right processes and procedures and rewards but also require intangible steps like giving employees room to be creative, and even more important is encouraging them to take risks and initiatives.
But at the end what counts is the perception that a costumer builds in his mind about the value of a firm goods or services. Innovation has to be good value. It’s not innovation at any price or cost.

Today is the first anniversary of this blog.
What do You like most? the least ? Suggestions for improvement?
Would appreciate your feedback.

What it takes to be an entrepreneur ? ( Part 1)

A survey of Stanford MBAs suggests that the decisive factor that divides entrepreneurs from the rest of the pack is their well-rounded experience.
Business School Professor Edward Lazear, is the Jack Steele Parker Professor of Human Resources Management and Economics, and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He is also the founding editor of the Journal of Labor Economics. He conducted a research centered on employee incentives, promotions, compensation and productivity in firms. The main factor affecting whether someone was more likely or less likely than average to become an entrepreneur, was, the number of different positions the individual occupied previously. Lazear stated that, "If you perform different roles, you pick up different skills and that makes you multidimensional” and added that: "Entrepreneurs are jacks-of-all-trades, not specialists."

From a financial perspective we can state that competitive advantage exists when the global sales turnover of a company is greater than the sum of its costs, including those of the opportunity of capital.
Competitive advantage can be achieved in different ways, by selling a product or service that customers perceive as possessing superior value, therefore the supplier is able to set a premium price, but, competitive advantage can also be achieved by lowering the costs in relation to the direct competition.
The challenging question is the following, which approach impacts most in value creation ?

Quotes # 9

"There's nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all". ( Peter F. Drucker)

Do we plan Strategically ?

The essence of Strategic Planning is in my view: defining where You want to go, finding out where You are now, and then determine how to get there .
To achieve this You need to have the ability to steer the organization as a whole through strategic change under conditions of complexity and uncertainty .

How well do we manage ourselves, or, the art of Self-Leadership

Which is the most overlooked leadership challenge? What is your toughest leadership challenge? I think it is managing us. All effective leaders must master the art of Self-Leadership, which means knowing how to achieve the results one aspires in his or her personal and work life and, as Daniel Goldman stated, “it is all about self control”, before You go out there and try to lead others by being a source of inspiration and motivation, we have to learn how to balance our "emotional self-control." What characterizes full leadership potential, according to Goldman? Continuously staying in leadership despite overwhelming opposition or discouragement. Staying in the leadership role and maintaining a cool head and clear mind during times of crisis. Keeping ego at home. Staying focused on the mission and vision instead of being distracted by someone else's agenda. All these indicate high levels of emotional self-control. Goldman says, "Exceptional leaders distinguish themselves because of superior self-leadership.” This is a task that is difficult to master, if You do not know how to dig deep into this, You can always seek the help and advice of a professional coach.

Execution ( Part 2 )

Hold Everyone Accountable—All the TimeStephen R. Covey, Ph.D.
At the bottom of the execution gap is the lack of accountability. In the Industrial Age, the theory was that people performed to expectation—or else. With the rise of knowledge work, goals get blurry and workers have more autonomy. Most leaders are deeply conflicted about how to manage knowledge workers: Do I spell out what’s expected and then crack down? Or, do I let workers choose their own way and hope for the best?
Organizations that execute with excellence invar-iably have strong accountability systems. The data indicate, however, that such systems are not very common. In a recent Franklin-Covey xQ study, more than 12,000 U.S. workers were asked to describe accountability within their organizations.
These are key symptoms of weak accountability for commitments:
Only about two in five (41 percent) of respondents talk to each other routinely about progress toward their goals.
Only about one in four (26 percent) meets at least monthly with a manager to review progress on goals.
Only about a third (31 percent) said they stay on budget.
A few more than half the respondents (58 percent) indicated that they keep commitments in a timely fashion, meaning deadlines are only met around half the time.
One in three said that no one cares much if they deliver with quality.
If sharp execution requires precise accountability, the typical organization is in trouble.
Teams known for excellent execution are also known for “mutual accountability.” They feel themselves accountable not only to owners, bosses and supervisors, but also to each other. They have clear roles in executing a few core goals, and they regularly and often answer to one another in keeping their commitments.
That’s why the fourth discipline of execution is to hold everyone accountable—all of the time. Those who practice this discipline do three things extremely well:
Hold frequent accountability sessions—at least weekly: Most knowledge workers aren’t asked to account to their managers even monthly. It is so easy to lose focus on key goals without intense and frequent focus. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s turn-around team met every day in a “morning meeting” to keep key goals in constant sight.
Focus on the “wildly important goals”: Many goals are important, but only a few are “wildly important”—that is, crucial to the mission. Examine the scoreboard on those crucial goals. Ensure that everyone agrees precisely and individually on what to do this week to move those goals forward.
Clear the path for each other: The notion that the boss holds subordinates accountable, that accountability flows only one way, is not characteristic of an execution culture. On a real work team, everyone accounts to everyone else. Everyone has individual tasks, and everyone encounters obstacles. If I’m the leader, I clear the path for you by getting you resources or approvals or making important contacts. In turn, you clear the path for me by giving me technical assistance or research data.
Only organizations that execute with excellence can sustain results over time. Practicing the four disciplines of execution is truly a key to superior performance.
Stephen R. Covey, Ph.D., is co-founder of FranklinCovey, a leading global professional services firm. Stephen is also author of the best-selling“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

Execution ( Part 1 )

The “execution gap” is the difference between what a Business company promises and what she actually delivers. The “execution gap” represents a lack of execution capability which should be monitored closely. The key factors influencing this “execution gap” are; people, strategy and operations. From these three key factors the people element is the most sensitive one, according to the old business saying that; “ People make your business successful “.

Quotes # 8

“There is always a choice about the way you do your work, even if there is not a choice about the work itself.”—Stephen Lundin, business coach and author

Is Leadership Art ?

We can consider that Leadership is more an art than a science, but,
Within any profession or sector, one of the primary characteristics of the art of leadership is the willingness to work on an edge—the edge between the familiar and the emergent. Harvard University professor Ronald A. Heifetz refers to this edge when he speaks of :”the capacity to lead with only good questions in hand—and that acts of leadership require the ability to walk the razor's edge without getting your feet too cut up—working that edge place between known problems and unknown solutions, between popularity and anxious hostility “.

Quotes # 7

"When planning for a year, plant corn.When planning for a decade, plant trees.When planning for life, train and educate people."Chinese proverb: Guanzi (c. 645BC)

Education (1)

The path to sustainable growth is the ability to innovate, create knowledge and apply this to new products and services. Here should lye the foundation for profitable growth of a business organization which is the backbone of a nation’s economy and the development of society. But, in order to be effective creative Leaders know that it is not about having the most knowledge; but to know how and when to use it. Traditional education systems are not meeting increased challenges from young people, many of them are becoming more and more disappointed with current teaching approaches and start to feel that their education is becoming obsolete to their daily lives and future careers . The first aim and goal of all education should be to bring enlightenment to the students. TRAINING THE MIND, and NOT STUFFING THE BRAIN with facts and formulas, is what they need.

What does it need to become a...........

What are the key characteristics a great Leader should have? Warren Bennis stated that all leaders seem to share some common traits:
1.) The ability to “dream” a vision,
2.) To have a very clear picture of what she or he wants to do professionally and personally, and will try to accomplish those goals relentless and regardless of some setbacks
3.) Being passionate and having the motivation, enthusiasm and the ability to communicate, inspire and motivate others for that passion.
4.) Self-knowledge
5.) The ability to make judgments free from discrimination or dishonesty
6.) Maturity achieved from learning by doing and learning from past mistakes
7.) Being capable to learn as much as possible
8.) The will to take risks.

Inspired in a WSJ Online article.............

These days, the recruiter's main ideal target is the job applicant who shows the potential of being an articulate leader. But , such candidates ( MBA´s) are proving to be all too rare. Of all the complaints some recruiters register about M.B.A. students (in The Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive survey) top of the list are: inferior communication skills and a close second the lacking of leadership skills.
Leadership should be about developing the ability to inspire people to reach high levels of performance and success .Being able to dream a vision , having the passion to communicate that vision and concentrating the attention at key strategies , listening ,coaching, mentoring being an inspiration for others while managing the change culture of your organization.
Leaders should have the ability to tell THE right story to their stakeholders/customers , and to communicate these stories in the most compelling, consistent and credible way possible.
Leaders should develop the ability to proper listen to people, by focusing time and energy on really actively listen to what other people have to say. By doing this, they will become better listeners and better critical and creative thinkers.
Leaders daily face an endless exchange of ideas, messages, and information by dealing with their internal and external network day after day. How well they communicate and listen can help determine whether their companies quickly grow into an industry leader or join thousands of other businesses stranded in mediocrity.

Quotes # 7

Where so many hours have been spent in convincing myself that I am right, is there not some reason to fear I may be wrong?

Jane Austen
English novelist (1775 - 1817)

Create Brand Awareness

Have You heard about this? That Branding is all about creating an emotional engagement between the consumer and the brand, that the brand must inspire high degrees of confidence, integrity, pride, and passion ?
If this applies to the way we market brands to our customers/consumers, why don’t we use the same approach to market our internal projects by engaging team members and stakeholders with a similar level of passion that lies behind premium brands .It is important to show the soul of real people that make it all happen. This human dimension not only bonds customers with brands but it strenghtens the ties that connect leaders to their followers even when they are working in and for the same company , it raises empathy levels, making them more patient and understanding when things do go wrong.
Can this be an effective strategy ?

Quotes # 6

"You can buy a person's hands but you can't buy his heart. His heart is where his enthusiasm, his loyalty is."

Stephen Covey

"Sailing in stormy waters......."

Is it wise, in turbulent times and framed by an uncertain economic environment to avoid risk taking and implement changes in a business Organization?
Some “bean counters “out there, believe that, by avoiding risk, organizations can “beat” their lesser wise competitors. That by playing on the safer side, they can avoid making “extra” investments and implement needed changes to their organizations'. But in today's global marketplace, playing it safe and avoiding change is probably the riskiest strategy of all. What do You think?