Business Book Summaries

Introduction Any strategy for managing change needs to anticipate resistance. Resistance is natural, and it can come from employees, partners and even clients. You're taking people out of their comfort level and probably introducing risk into their professional lives.

Here are some ways to think about resistance as you incorporate overcoming resistance into your change management strategies.

Who is Resisting? If you are making changes that are impacting clients, the degree of resistance will be correlated to the client's view of the level of risk vs. potential benefit to them. Client resistance to change is so important that we've devoted a separate paragraph to the subject below.

What Type of Resistance? For your employees, partners and others, it's important to understand whether their resistance is passive or active.

Passive resistance involves worrying, grousing and otherwise complaining about the change management strategy. Some call it whining, and sometimes they're right. You can't ignore passive resistance, even though it need not be fixed immediately. Passive resistance is a distraction, and it can slow your entire organization's rate of learning and adoption of your change management strategy.

Active resistance involves organizing others, refusing to participate in a change program or activity, and even sabotage or other serious efforts to malign the strategy.

Active resistance must be confronted quickly. Acknowledge individual (or group) right to their opinions and concerns. Then define acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, and hold people to them.

Your goal here is not to win people over, or even to bully them over. It is only to correct the behavior. If you can do that, you've gotten your active resistance to the same level as your passive resistance, and you can go on with addressing both. If people or groups won't discontinue unacceptable behavior, you must find a way to separate them from your change program, to the point where they have no role or influence.

Addressing Acceptable Resistance Now that you're at the point where you don't have a behavior problem, you still need to get people past their concerns.

Allow time for grievances. Listen to them. Try to find something you can actually address, since many times people will feel better just knowing that something they said was acted upon.

If you've really been listening, the group will know that and they will likely be appreciative and jump on board. A few may opt out, but since you already handled the really violent objections earlier, this should not be traumatic.

Client Resistance Any time you introduce client impacting change, you're going to see the guard go up. Their first question is the always popular WIIFM (What's in it for me?) and if you have a great answer to that one you can probably win them over quickly.

Even with an answer, and especially without one, you can expect to have to do a lot of hand holding. You may need to repeatedly address what is changing and why. You'll need to show that you have contingency plans so that there will be no disruption if things go wrong.

Be honest with your client. If a non-disruptive contingency plan is not possible, tell them how you'll minimize their risks.

Consider offering incentives to clients for supporting the change management strategy. If they are going to incur costs to monitor systems while you're making changes, help them recover those costs. Show them that you have their interests at heart.

About the Author: The organization that isn't changing is probably dying. For more information about managing change and developing leaders, please visit http://www.thomasjodea.com

Tom O'Dea has more than 20 years of senior leadership experience in companies ranging from startups to multi billion dollar corporations.

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These days it seems that chaos is all around us. We are being whipsawed by the wild run-up in energy costs and commodity prices, the pressure on credit markets caused by the mortgage bust, the stock market gyrating seemingly out of control, some large financial institutions and banks are in trouble, historically iconic companies (examples are General Motors and Ford) are facing difficulties considered unthinkable until recently. You and I have no control over any of this!

We do have control over the way we react to it! We can be reactive or proactive. And we better take action because, in unstable times such as this, there are significant opportunities that many businesses can take advantage of and huge threats that can destroy a business.

It is time to look at your strategic plan (if you don't have one or haven't updated it in years please realize that it is like flying an airplane in heavy fog without any navigation aids) and consider if the assumptions you made when it was written are still valid because, in many industries, the playing field has changed. Those sales and cost projection assumptions have probably changed significantly and, if you look at them critically, you may see new patterns emerging that, if used to advantage, can help you weather a storm or profit handsomely in a changing, or changed, environment.

It is time to reconsider every aspect of your business to determine your actions, either defensive or offensive, over both the short term and long term to help you survive and prosper in these uncertain, difficult times.

It is time to ask difficult questions, consider the possible shifts in your customer base as they react to this environment, look at various contingency options by playing a "what if" game to help you make those difficult decisions. One word of advice is to avoid, as much as possible, locking yourself into long-term commitments because we've seen sudden changes turn markets upside down. As much as possible give yourself flexibility so you can be on the right side of chaos.

About the Author: Larry Galler coaches and consults with high-performance executives, professionals, and small businesses since 1993. He is the writer of the long-running (every Sunday since November 2001) business column, "Front Lines with Larry Galler" For a free coaching session, email Larry for an appointment – Larry@larrygaller.com – Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.larrygaller.com Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement

Leadership isn't just about getting others to buy into your vision and follow you. To become a true leader today you must understand the principles of servant leadership, focusing on the people in your team and encouraging and supporting each person to realize their full potential. It is only once you let go of your ego and learn to lead with your heart that you will become a truly magnetic leader.

Magnetic leaders encourage and support others to do better, to become more and be the best they can be resulting in success for the leader, their team and the organization. When you become such a leader everyone benefits – it's a win win and others will seek you out want to follow you because you add value to them.

Don't just teach them to fish I know you've heard the saying before, haven't you – give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime – however if you want to become a successful magnetic leader you need to go one step further and teach them how to be a fisherman.

There's a lot more to great leadership than just managing people and getting the job done. Sure being a good manager, teaching people to fish and getting the job done can make you a success, but imagine the possibilities if you can do so through the willing support of others.

It's essential when you induct a new team member that you teach them how to do the job, the processes and procedures, so they can do their job successfully. When you teach someone to be a fisherman however, you help improve them as individuals. When you help them problem solve, encourage them and coach them to cultivate a positive attitude, that's servant leadership. When you support someone to improve a personal quality that will benefit them across all areas of their life, like people skills, that's servant leadership.

What I've found is that many managers and leaders don't have a service mindset. They expect their staff to seek their own development, be proactive and show initiative before they offer any additional development. Many of my executive coaching clients began with this mindset believing they had already invested enough just training the person to do the job they were hired for. And they think if they do any more for them that the staff member will get too skilled and leave for another opportunity at the earliest opportunity before they've seen a return on their investment.

Sure serving and developing your people in more than the necessary job skills is harder and more time consuming to do, but as all my executive coaching clients now testify – it is worth the price and they are reaping the rewards of loyal, highly motivated staff and seeing much higher dividends over the long term.

Developing your people is a long term strategy While teaching your people the basics of their role is relatively quick and straightforward, developing the whole person requires change, change that takes time. Why? Because the core of a person themselves requires change – their beliefs, values and attitudes, not just their skills – and that kind of change can't be rushed.

In all my roles throughout my career I have made serving and developing my staff one of my highest priorities. Naturally, as a qualified coach I did some of it one on one. But in every leadership position I've had I've also committed budget to send people on training and personal development courses as well as coaching and mentoring over a longer period of time.

In addition I also encouraged monthly knowledge sharing both written and verbal on topics that would support their growth as leaders. Recently my management team and I dedicated a part of our managers meeting every fortnight to reviewing a chapter of a leadership book and discussing together how we could apply the knowledge in our own day to day work. I would often conduct activities, teach a lesson or ask them to do homework between meetings. Basically I leveraged my own skills, strengths and passions and gave the development moments my own unique spin.

Did the managers participate? Absolutely.

Did they like it? Most of the time, but not always.

Did they appreciate the value of continual and never ending improvement? Of course.

Was I putting myself out on a limb and being vulnerable? Indeed.

But in doing so was I also improving and developing myself? Definitely.

In order to develop your people, you must be prepared to keep growing yourself.

So what are you going to do to serve and add value to your staff? About the Author: Coach, author, speaker, trainer and online entrepreneur, Heidi Alexandra Pollard, The Communicators' Coach publishes Value Ad a free monthly ezine for smart, savvy professionals who want more prosperity, passion and purpose in life. If you're ready to jump start your personal and professional life, make more money, boost your career and have more fun then get your FREE tips now at leadingvalue.net

Yours in prosperity, passion and purpose Heidi Alexandra Pollard The Professional Communicators Coach visit us at http://www.leadingvalue.net or http://theprofessionalcommunicatorscoach.blogspot.com

In this day and age – the Information Age – we are spoiled for choice regarding information and, as a result, for opportunities, as never before. Enormous amounts of data can very easily be obtained, almost instantaneously, on the internet, and, somewhat less rapidly, from other sources such as broadcast or print media.

This of course leads to an unprecedented increase in opportunities for all those able to access and make use of this information to further their ends. This information opens up new avenues for both individuals and companies that are both knowledgeable and ready to make use of it.

Not all the vast amount of information available nowadays means the same to everyone. Some of it is more useful to some people or groups than others. In addition, not all this information may actually be factual or accurate; as a result, some may be downright damaging. Selecting which opportunities and information to exploit and which to forego is thus vital to living and working productively.

However, as we all know, making good choices of this kind is infinitely easier said than done. The amount of information that many of us feel we need to absorb and process can be overwhelming, and can lead to paralysis – and/or bad decisions.

In his book “How to Survive the Information Age at Work”, author Ron Hopkins teaches his readers key principles to navigate this vast sea of information and opportunities without drowning. In addition, he also provides practical tips in the form of ‘snorkels’ and ‘buoyancy devices’ to help people cope in case they do get pulled under by developments. Mr. Hopkins aims to teach readers how to achieve `peak performance amid never-ending change’ in this modern-day world through teaching them to be selective regarding the information they work with.

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The degree of success that you achieve in business will ultimately come down to the degree of depth of your conversations. Business is, essentially, nothing more than a conversation. If you lose the conversation with your customers, you will eventually lose the business. And if you lose the conversation with your teammates, you will eventually lose the business. And if you stop engaging in personal conversations with yourself through silent reflection, eventually your business life will suffer. The more you can keep engaging in thoughtful and stimulating conversations with all those you surround yourself with, the more you will find the business success you deserve as well as the personal satisfaction that is your birthright.

The primary block to us having necessary conversations at work is technology. While technology is a wonderful servant, in many instances it has become our master. Rather than walking down the hall to have a "belly to belly" conversation with a member of our team, we fire off an email. Rather than making the time to have a lunch with a valued customer to further deepen our relationship, we leave a voicemail to save ourselves time. All this reliance on technology severs our human connections and human connections are the primary driver of business growth. People love doing business with people who care about them. People love doing business with people they trust. People love doing business with people who they feel an emotional bond with. Without regular and sustained conversations, no such bond can exist.

Here are 5 practices that will help you keep engaging in conversations and, as a result, continue to experience higher levels of success:

1. Make time for "human moments" at work. Research has shown that one of the main reasons that people are no longer as motivated and loyal at work is because they do not feel that they are part of a community. "Human moments" are infrequent. To increase the "human moments" within your workplace, carve out the time on a daily basis to personally meet with people and connect with them at a level beyond the superficial. Speak to people's interests. Open your heart and truly listen to them. Ask them about their family, their passions and their hopes. Show them that you are truly there for them and they will respond with greater energy, empathy and commitment to you.

2. You can also keep increasing your conversations by making sure that you "circulate". Circulating simply means that you make it a priority, as much as possible, to take your clients out to lunch or to breakfast. Whenever possible, visit your customers' place of work to get a feel for their environment and the energy of their workplace. Make the time to "show up fully" and to be there for people at a very human level.

3. You can also keep extending conversations with your customers and your teammates by creating a rich community. Keep thinking about building your community and taking care of it. This might involve sending an article that has been of value to you to every member of this community every 90 days. This might involve making calls to every member of your community when you are stuck in an airport for 2 hours and have nothing to do. This might involve sending a book you have read that has touched you at a deep level to all community members.

4. Remember that "conversations at home" are even more important than your business conversations. Having a peaceful and fulfilling home life serves as a platform to fuel your business success. If you lose the conversation with your partner, you will lose the relationship. If you lose the conversation with your children, you will lose the connection with your children. In other words, if you lose the conversation and stop having deep communication with your family, you will ultimately lose your family. Make the time to talk in a very open and engaging way to the members of your family on a daily basis. It does not have to take a long time but it should be strong quality time.

5. Don't forget the "inner conversation". I have discovered in my own life that the more I make time for self-conversations, the more thoughtful, innovative, effective and happy I am. On almost a daily basis, I journal. Journaling is nothing more than a conversation that I have with myself. I reflect on how I am working and how I am living. I reflect on the insights I have learned through my day and the course corrections I must make to improve. I reflect on the lessons I am learning, on the people I am meeting and the thoughts I am thinking. It is interesting that only humans have the capacity to step out of their thinking and evaluate their thoughts. This is an incredible gift that only human beings possess. We can actually study our thinking and witness our thoughts. The more we witness our thoughts, the more we can disengage from our thinking if it does not serve us and make higher choices around better thoughts.

So as you become the main person and the leader you are meant to be, keep increasing your conversations. Keep talking to the people you work with. Keep talking to your customers. And keep engaging in the most important conversation of all: the conversation with self.

About the Author: Robin Sharma, LL.B., LL.M., is one of the world's top experts on leadership and personal development. The author of ten major international bestsellers including The Greatness Guide Series, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, Robin is the CEO of Sharma Leadership International Inc., a global training firm with a simple mission: to help people Lead Without Title. Profiled regularly on leading international media such as CNN and MSNBC, clients include GE, Nike, FedEx, NASA, Unilever, Microsoft, BP, IBM, The Harvard School of Business and Yale University. His website http://www.robinsharma.com is one of the most popular leadership and personal development destinations on the Internet.

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This is always a brand steward's nightmare. Boardrooms talk about the importance of innovation to keep the company vibrant and ahead of the game. Yet many companies translate this into change simply for the sake of change. Without clearly understanding the brand relationship with the customers change can be fatal to a brand.

Wendy's is an example of how a brand lost its way with the sudden death of its founder, Dave Thomas, in 2002. The company continues to struggle to find its brand voice without Dave leading the way. This is often a problem when the owner/founder of a company is also part of the brand.

The biggest dilemma facing many brands is internal boredom. The desire to change the look and feel of a brand. The need to make it new and modern. The aspiration for brand managers to put their own mark onto the brand. Make sure the purpose for making changes to your brand is clearly understood and doesn't attempt to change the brand's DNA.

Pizza Hut has been struggling trying to find its brand positioning (a very costly way of understanding how the brand is connecting with its customers). Unfortunately, they keep changing the messaging and executions in the hope of connecting to their customers. They should spend more time and money on understanding their relationship with their customers than continually changing their advertising direction.

Brand line extensions are another brand folly. There are some natural and obvious line extensions and there are some ambitious attempts to get customers further embracing the brand. Virgin Group Ltd., the parent company's to the over 200 Virgin branded company under the control of its billionaire founder, Sir Richard Branson, has shown that a relevant brand position can extend beyond many business sectors ranging from mobile telephones, to transportation, travel, financial services, leisure, music, holidays, publishing and the list goes on. If you visit the Virgin Group website they state that "Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge." It is through these brand values that allow the Virgin brand to transcend across a multitude of businesses as a unique and distinct brand. While BIC pens brand promise didn't allow them to extend their brand into pantyhose (what where they thinking!). They did successfully extend the BIC brand to water sports equipment (go figure!). Whoever heard of disposal surf boards?

The more unique, relevant and credible the brand promise is, the greater the chance its brand extension will be successful. That's why Paul Newman's food products succeed and Willie Nelson Biodiesel Fuel and Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong mutual funds failed. Consumers may love Nelson's music and respect Armstrong for his many "Tour de France" cycling races; their brand promise has no connection with consumers concerning car engines and finance.

The moral of this story is don't mess around with a successful brand unless you truly understand the brand connection with its consumers. The Virgin Group's example shows how a brand promise is bigger than a product (a plane, cell phone etc) but is intricately linked to the core values that drive the entire Virgin group of products. This brand promise connects each product strongly to the brand and to the consumer. A Virgin medical centre may not succeed.

About the Author: This article was written by Derrick Rozdeba – I am a connoisseur of fine brands. Using my brand appreciation and insights, like a sommeliers, I will impart my knowledge and opinion in savoring the many brands that identify our lives. Visit my blog.

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Talking to a prospective client recently I was amazed at the affect that the so called 'credit crunch' has had on this previously bubbly and positive personality.

This is a partner in a company that had been positive and growth motivated, recently embarking on an expansion program that was producing real growth as indicated in this extract from our conversation: "although we haven't seen any evidence yet, in fact business is on the up, we feel that there is probably going to be a downturn soon and so we are going to consolidate and see what happens", (double talk for playing safe and contracting the business).

When pressed further on why they felt this, it was all down to outside influences such as the media and news channels and talking to 'friends' and colleagues

So here is a business that was on plan, doing well and with no actual evidence of problems that is now changing those plans simply because of the worry that things may take a turn for the worse. They will undoubtedly suffer as a consequence, losing ground they had fought really hard to gain over the previous couple of years – and all because they had allowed themselves to be damaged by outside influences.

In my opinion, it's this kind of action that creates opportunity for their competitors – only the strong companies become stronger in times of challenge.

Success visits those that keep their head when all about them are losing theirs

If your competitors are worrying that "things are going to get tough" they will probably 'consolidate' in their droves. 'Consolidate' means reduced marketing and sales activity – accepting excuses from clients when they decline to buy, seeing a slow down in sales as a sign of the times instead of looking inward for improvements and generally expecting the worst – and we know what happens when we expect the worst!

On the other hand, if you do precisely the opposite and increase your activity, stay positive that business and orders are still there, look to give your clients more reasons to buy, its your company that will get the orders, your company that will fill the void left by the others and your company that will come out of any challenging times all the stronger in a reduced competitor market.

Here are a few pointers:

1. Use the Lord Nelson approach – put your telescope to your blind eye.

2. Don't agree with anyone who says that times are tough – in fact argue the opposite.

3. Know that your competitors will give you opportunity to grow because they will contract.

4. Know that you have a choice between contracting and growing.

5. Let others do the moaning.

6. Prepare to take full advantage of market conditions, make sure your business is the most dynamic and the sharpest its ever been, your staff the most highly trained to be at the top of their game and the most positive they have ever been – and prepare them to 'repel and reject' bad information.

7. Decide that when our so called leaders have finally sorted themselves out and the graph goes back up, that your business will be one of those that have continued to grow, prosper and flourish.

8. Put your prices up.

Remember, it's our choice, we may need to work a bit harder, but the opportunities are there for the taking.

About the Author: William Offen CInstSMM, IDM is Managing Director of Sales Dynamics Ltd & creator of Communicate4â„¢

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For Those Who Find Themselves In The Role Of Mediator

In this time of pressing economic concerns, busy work schedules, and limited resources, the ability to exercise patience in the workplace can be a challenge. It's no wonder that conflict often times will erupt for what seems to be 'no reason'.

As an initial step to managing conflict, we ask that you should stray away from assuming the 'head in the sand' approach will make conflict that lasts for more than a few days will simply go away. In fact, rarely does this approach work where employee relations are concerned. For this reason, consider the following tips for managing conflict when you find yourself in the role of "mediator".

1. Allow employees involved in apparent conflict to separately vent without fear of being judged.

2. For damage control, separate employees to allow them a "cooling off" period which will likely help them to regain control over their emotions and gain a new perspective.

3. Engage employees to work together to create solutions. Ask what it would take to resolve the conflict and what each employee is willing to contribute. And then hold each accountable.

4. Share lessons learned with others affected by or involved with the conflict.

5. Consider introducing an outside third-party consultant like MMC to facilitate issues and teach concepts to resolve future conflicts.

6. Would mandatory training for all managers and supervisors in conflict resolution, problem solving, and teamwork improve the level of interpersonal skills guiding your workplace?

7. Appraise and reward not only what is accomplished in terms of performance, but also how goals are reached through conduct. If you would not tolerate such bad behavior from employees, don't tolerate it from managers? Remember, you get what you give, expect, tolerate, and reward in the workplace.

8. Finally, reinforce cooperation as well as results. Like most relationships, no pain/no gain. Conflict can actually strengthen outcomes, based on how they're resolved. So embrace conflict as a natural part of most workplaces, and manage it with confidence.

About the Author: This article was written by Crystal O'Brien, Esq. Visit her webpage at http://mmchr.com

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Running a business is not at all easy by any stretch of the imagination. It is difficult and demanding at the best of times and for all sorts of reasons. Both business owners – entrepreneurs – and managers – those who help with its administration – need to learn how to juggle competing and conflicting demands on their time and resources and to learn how to build better relationships with suppliers, staff and customers, as well as how to overcome the financial, legal, marketing and personal issues that impact their businesses significantly. In addition they have to be on their toes constantly, as things are all too often fluid and unstable. Just when one thinks he has a good grasp of a situation, things can change rapidly enough for one to need to return to the drawing board.

Many tricks to surviving and prospering exist, but one of the best is working around the common hazards that all business operators face along the way. One has to learn how one can successfully navigate through these hazards in order to help one’s business reach its full potential.

Andrew Griffith’s seminal book “101 Survival Tips for Your Business: Practical Tips to Help Your Business Survive and Prosper” offers both first-timers and experienced business owners 101 basic, simple and practical tips geared at precisely this: helping you run your business better by avoiding the most common problems that prevent businesses from prospering. All are designed to highlight common problems and to give you a clear course of action that will increase your chances of business survival.

This book has particular resonance in troubled times such as ours, where businesses must do all they can in order to make sure that they stay afloat and competitive. Technorati tags: book summaries, business books, business productivity, self improvement

On the home front, it's you, your business, and your employees. This is only a small slice of your total business picture, but it's the slice that you have total control over when it comes to your business success.

Working against you are the office politics. There's always at least one employee who is jockeying for position within the company. They're the ones doing a little brown-nosing to find a short-cut up that company ladder.

They are working their agenda to position themselves as a favorite in your eyes or another decision maker. It's natural for people to want to get in a better position at their place of work, or be recognized as a valuable employee, but you have to wear blinders to their stealth ways.

Office politics does nothing but divide your troops into good guys and bad guys and weakens your effectiveness as a company. This is not to be confused with business rivalry. Competition is healthy and tends to strengthen your team.

Management is your office politics buster, because they can be shuffled and so can the employees. This will aid you in eliminating the communication void between what is going on at the top and what is happening at the street level.

You're busy growing your business in its ever-increasing competitive environment and you don't have time to deal with office politics. You have to concentrate on getting people who are smarter than you to join your company so it can grow at an exponential rate.

If you select smart and ethical people to join you, you really won't have to worry about the office politics logjam. True, it may cost you a little more to sway some of these top choices to join you, but you will more than make up for it through productivity, competitive edge, and bottom-line fattening.

Train your managers not to be dictators, but coaches and the whole company will benefit. Keep your employees informed as to what the company wants to accomplish, which goals are priorities, and where the next breakthrough is coming from.

Hire those who have vision, talent, and can bring excitement and energy to your team.

When you invest in people it doesn't mean just money, but the tools that they need to get the job done and a schedule that energizes them, not one that puts them in a breakneck time vacuum.

Understand that the sales staffs, purchasing people, manufacturing employees, delivery drivers, dock workers, marketing and advertising people are all on the frontline every day.

They get firsthand knowledge on a daily basis that can assist you, but you have to let it be known that you are receptive to hearing from your team members. Encourage them to share with managers and be willing to sit in the lunch room and let them vent, advise, suggest, and criticize your business operation.

It is difficult for many managers and big bosses to accept the ideas and criticisms of their team members, but once they do, the company gets stronger and becomes a respected workplace, both in and outside the organization. Don't be naive to think that your employees don't talk about what they think is wrong with the company outside of the workplace.

Let them vent it all to you and your managers and they'll spread the word that they work for a company that listens to its employees and treats them with respect. That alone, can cut your employee turnover.

The more points of view you have, the better your big-picture perspective. Once they know they can share ideas, criticisms, and points of view with you, without being ripped a new ____, you will begin to hear things about what is going on in the marketplace that you never dreamed of hearing.

In order to get a great return, you usually have to make a hefty investment; invest in good people and don't be surprised when good things happen regularly.

About the Author: Lazz Laszlo is a former Investment Executive and Radio & Television Financial Reporter with many entrepreneurial endeavors to his credit. He spends his time as an emcee, public speaker, enjoying life and writing eBooks and articles about business, travel, retirement, strategy, and pleasure. To learn more, please visit Lazz's website.

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