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.