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I just finished reading Onward by Howard Schultz, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Starbucks–lower case letters used by his example. The subtitle of the book is How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul. You may remember the closing of many Starbucks stores a few years ago and the looming possible demise of the company. Howard Schultz took back his leadership position and turned the company around. Onward is the tale he tells about this journey. I was mesmerized.
I’m sure every reader is familiar with Starbucks as it is, according to this book, the most frequented retailer in the world. What a gift to read this account of the good, the bad and the ugly of that journey back to profitability well written by his co-author Joanne Gordon.
What, you may ask, can I, a sole/soul proprietor, gain from this corporate giant? Let me count the ways! Here are just a few of the nuggets I highlighted in my edition:
- “Third Place” concept created by Starbucks – a social yet personal environment between one’s house and job (or home office). ~Raise your hands if you’ve met a client or colleague at this “third place.”
- Starbucks is intensely personal. p. 23 ~Isn’t your business, when you really come down to it?
- If coffee and people are our core, the overall experience is our soul. p. 25
- Moving forward became more important than laying blame. p. 28
- We needed to rediscover who we were and imagine who we could be. p. 73 ~Even big companies need to do vision work.
- We will transform the company internally by being true to our coffee core and by doing what will be best for customers. p. 90
- People inside the company needed to see and connect with me. Often. I had to be accessible, almost ubiquitous, more than I’d ever been. p. 99
- Anyone can ask questions with no fear of retribution. p. 99
- When we relegate responsibility to our partners and give them the right tools and resources, they will exceed expectations. p. 110
- Starbucks mission: To inspire and nurture the human spirit one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. p. 112 ~Is your mission as simple and straightforward as this?
- Partners mission: We always treat each other with respect and dignity. p. 113
- Emotional connections our true value proposition. p. 117
- At its core, I believe leadership is about instilling confidence in others. p. 308
Is any of this relatable for you?
…and 600 others was held at the Hartford Downtown Marriott yesterday and focused on the Econo-ME. Kristin Andree graciously extended the invitation to me and two other colleagues whom I was thrilled to meet: Dena Castricone, President of CABO and Trisha Gallagher of The Gallagher Group.
It felt good to dress up and hang out with another industry at an upscale venue. It broadens my perspective. The room was filled with men in suits, as this event was sponsored by Northwestern Mutual. John Schlifske, the Chairman and CEO, shared the dais with Steve Forbes and pitched the benefits of investing with Northwestern Mutual. “I paid for your lunch, so I get to do this,” he said tongue in cheek.
I thought I’d be out of my league in terms of the info being imparted, but I felt comfortable and intrigued. Here were a few of the notes I jotted down:
“Black Swan” (not the movie) – A term for something that happens in nature, but only rarely, like what’s going on now in Japan, for instance.
He said that we are experiencing the slowest recovery in the history of our country.
“Fear and greed ruin most people’s portfolios.”
He also recommended listening to your financial adviser as you would your personal trainer. They know what’s best for you, unlike your brother-in-law or friendly neighbor with a hot tip on the market.
“Don’t let your inbox dominate you. Be strategic rather than tactical.” (Or what I call being pro-active versus reactive.)
Here’s the last one which I need to chew on a bit: “Emotions are your enemy.”
Who wants to discuss that one?
My friend Doreen mentioned a sign she noticed while seated in a public space. After reading it, she did a double-take. It was a fire exit by the door whose message she immediately re-framed. As a business owner, she knows how critical it is to Keep Clear At All Times.
When she shared this with me, I had to laugh. Having seen similar signs for years, I never made the entrepreneurial connection to its message. Talk about ‘when the student is ready, the sign will appear.’
Here are the checkpoints I want to stay clear about at all times. Feel free to use what you choose.
- How much income do I have today? This month? Am I on target for this year?
- How many customers/clients do I have? What’s my goal for how many to serve?
- Do I know exactly what I’m offering to each of them?
- Whom do I owe money to and how much? And when is it due?
- Who owes me money?
- When are my (estimated) taxes due?
- How and how often am I reaching out to my market?
These are the thoughts that go through my brain on a regular basis. When I know the answers to all or most of them, I find myself at peace. When more than a few are unclear, I’m less comfortable. I like the simplicity of that sign and will hold it as a mantra now.
Leigh Scott attended my Create Your Own Future retreat three year ago this month. During that event, we had a Come As You’ll Be activity projecting forward five years from the present. That night Leigh presented herself as the successful author of a book on parenting. She’s right on schedule.
This morning Leigh showed me a copy of her proposal–the document an author prepares for a literary agent who then sells it to a publisher. I got goosebumps when I saw what Leigh had put together. It was a spiral bound book with dividers for each of the areas required in a proposal including:
- About the book
- About the author
- Marketing
- Table of Contents
- Sample Chapter
- The Competition
And more. It took Leigh nearly a year of dedicated work to prepare this draft. She made the book her priority during this time. She made other changes as well. Knowing how much time she wanted to devote to writing, Leigh looked at her whole life and chose to make changes. She downsized her living situation to reduce her cost of living, which in turn reduced how much money she needed to earn.
These were all well-considered decisions with the vision of the book serving as the achievement that would make this worthwhile. She knew that in order to accomplish this life goal, certain activities would fall by the wayside. Making writing her priority, Leigh intentionally went without watching TV for a year. She chose to make time only for what was most important–earning enough to live while writing this book. Leigh was sure to include and pay for an accountability structure to keep her on track with her writing during the process.
In describing her feeling of satisfaction and delayed gratification, Leigh told an analogous story, perfectly related to her subject matter: parenting. A young boy had poured water on his father’s laptop computer. The father, modeling the behavior of a loving authority, explained to the child that his toy tractor was going to be taken away until the little boy carried out enough chores (suited to his level of ability–like licking envelopes and putting away toys) to make up for his dad’s loss. After four months of enforcing this ‘punishment’ the debt was repaid. The father took out the toy tractor which the little boy thought was brand new. “This is even better than the one I used to have!” he proclaimed. “It goes faster and I like it better.”
When you process something step-by-step (no shortcuts), suffer the slings and arrows of the journey, the ultimate reward is sweeter. Even if you weren’t in Westport, CT this morning, you may have felt the joy radiating out from Leigh’s pleasure in accomplishment.
Watch for Leigh’s book Becoming a Loving Authority: How to Get Out of Your Own Way as a Parent. I’ll see you at the book party!
My client, Debra Hamilton who is a brilliant mediator with a special interest in animals, participated in the Annual AKC Dog Show recently held in New York City. During our call yesterday she used a phrase I’d never heard, “Oooh! Shiny!” referring to a new area of interest attracting her attention. She said it’s used to describe Irish Setters who are easily distracted. I can think of a lot of business owners, present company included, who might strongly identify with those words.
I experience, “Oooh! Shiny!” with every email request and phone call that potentially means financial opportunity. I may drop whatever’s in front of me at the moment to process a book order or create a letter of agreement that includes a deposit upon receipt. “Oooh! Shiny!” is the person sitting next to me at a networking event with an idea of how we might work together. A date with new prospect pops up on my calendar and registers as “Oooh! Shiny!” my heart fluttering in anticipation.
The flip side of “Oooh! Shiny!” is a term I learned years ago: single-handling. It’s the antidote to “Oooh! Shiny!” Single-handling is looking at the task at hand and sticking with it from beginning to end. No glitter. No sparkle. Just straight task-oriented, nose-to-the-grindstone effort. The result? Success.
Today it was creating my script for the Remarkable Women’s Network (sold out) event I’m hosting tomorrow night. I wanted to incorporate some lessons from my book Soul Proprietor, make sure that I’m clear on my instructions for the breakout sessions and visualize the event in its entirety to be sure I’d covered all the bases.
I was hoping for some “Oooh! Shiny!” distractions, but resisted looking at my inbox or social media accounts until I’d gotten it done. The feeling of completion is unbeatable. Even better than “Oooh! Shiny!” but often hard to remember in the midst of the effort.
Can you relate?
I have happily enrolled in a course offered by the WBDC which began this past Saturday. It’s an opportunity for me to focus on my business and grow myself, a service I continually offer others without always giving myself the time and focus to stay current with my own company’s needs.
The instructor is a knowledgable and generous executive from Citibank who donates her time to give back to entrepreneurs in the community. Because she’s in the business of loaning money to the biggest companies in the world, she’s intimately familiar with the reasons for success and failure in businesses large and small. There’s not an ounce of emotion involved. It’s all about the numbers. This is a refreshing vantage point as I am intimately connected to the feelings and lessons involved in entrepreneurship.
Our teacher’s vocabulary included terms that were new to me: spectrum analysis, operating leverage, throughput, end-user benefits, etc. But as they were defined, I realized they were all things I knew. They just sound so much more professional when uttered in this context.
If you didn’t come from a corporate background, or were absent the day they taught this, let me share one of these terms to you.
Operating leverage – One of our members owns a space that is used about 20 hours per week in service of his company. Figuring out the operating leverage, he can look at what the advantages (and disadvantages) would be to using the space 40 or more hours per week. The concept is simple. The wording gives it a bit more heft.
This reminded me of when my friend Murray Aitken, an ex-McKinsey consultant, came and spoke to the Jane Pollak Arts Forum I founded several years ago. Murray talked about having a ‘forcing mechanism’ in your business–the equivalent of a boss or a paycheck for which (or to whom) you are accountable on a regular basis. Sounds much classier than a ‘goal buddy’ or ‘accountability partner’ which I have always recommended.
Anyway, it feels good to be learning the terminology the Big Guys use. Feels better that I already know this stuff under a different label.
Little did I know when I told Erica Tannen that I’d like to meet her for lunch in New Haven that I was dealing with royalty. Erica, of the-e-list.com, is the doyenne of all good things along the shoreline in CT.
She recommended that we meet at Heirloom, an exquisite restaurant in the charming boutique hotel Study in the Yale environs. Shortly after we were seated, the waitress brought a delicious appetizer “compliments of the chef.” I thought, How nice! but made no association regarding the treat–like an amuse bouche that comes with, you know.
After we ordered and were enjoying the locavore salads on the menu, again the waitress came over and said, “Chef wants you to have these sides on the house.” Erica looked amused, but I was wide-eyed. “It happens to me a lot,” she confessed. As the go-to reviewer for shops, restaurants and anything of interest in this region, her name and face are famous. Retailers and chefs fall over themselves to get into her good graces. I was the fortunate beneficiary of the attention being paid Erica at yesterday’s lunch.
So, the food and generosity were amazing, but spending time with this dynamic woman surpassed even that. Erica had heard me speak a year or so ago at the Reinvention Convention at the Water’s Edge. We’ve had a correspondence since then, and this was our first sit-down. Sparks flew. We’re looking to co-create an event in the Guilford/Lyme region. Any thoughts?
In the meantime, sign up to be on Erica’s e-list so you’ll be the first to know about everything worth doing along I-95 northeast of New Haven (until Erica broadens her reach, that is!).
Jenifer Howard was the resident expert at 341 Studio’s Fresh Intelligence breakfast event this morning. The subject was online PR, at which Jenifer is an expert. While she covered the gamut of online resources and outlets, she spent a great deal of time on twitter.
She used an example of a media gaffe that happened yesterday. Kenneth Cole, the designer, had posted a tweet that within two minutes was ‘heard’ round the world, and not in a good way. The backlash was so huge that he deleted the post. But, as Jen pointed out, it still lives on the internet. The link I provided above will take you to a recount of what happened.
What I came away with after the breakfast was a renewed interest in using twitter wisely. My plan is to hire a helper for regularly scheduled ‘field trips’ to the site until I can remove the training wheels and ride alone. I’ve got my ad out there as I write…
I could go on and on about how inspiring these events are, but will share one moment that I simply savored. In mid-January I spoke at EWN on the subject of goal-setting. I included a piece where I asked each woman to find a person in the room whom she didn’t already know and share briefly a short-term goal that would take her a notch closer to a new place in her business. They were to compare notes and commit to follow up with each other on February 1.
Truthfully, I forgot about this entirely. But, at today’s event, I said hello to the woman sitting next to me as soon as the formalities were over. “You know,” she said (I’m paraphrasing…), “I was at your EWN talk a few weeks ago, and my goal buddy and I compared notes on the first. I am very excited about my goal of focusing on feeding my client pipeline, so partnering with this terrific executive coach was just what I needed.”
We’re always out there planting seeds, but when a beautiful blossom falls into your lap unexpectedly, it’s totally joyful. Whatever means of networking you’re using–online or in person–keep it up.
I was interviewed on Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate show this morning. The topic: how to stay educated as an entrepreneur. I chose that theme, because when I was in California over Christmas, my brother caught me up short with this challenge. “What new things are you going to learn this year?”
Since I returned from that visit, I’ve signed up for three different learning opportunities. One will be to attend a conference in Phoenix (okay, I’m going to go where it’s warm!) to better understand a marketing program I use called infusionsoft.com. I also anticipate that the networking there will be amazing. It’s a sophisticated online program. I imagine that the attendees will be equally professional and inspiring.
I’ve signed up for a fun Saturday afternoon program at the Silvermine Art Guild to learn how to really use my digital camera. I’m not happy with the quality of my photos, and since facebook is now such an important part of my communications package, I want to improve that skill.
I also have enrolled in a ‘growth’ program for business owners through the WBDC being offered on several Saturdays over the next few months. I believe it’s a good time to re-evaluate my business model and have other successful women and mentors give me feedback and suggestions.
Specifically, Jim and I discussed not overloading on information just for the sake of information. We all have so much coming at us all the time. But education is different. My high school Latin teacher, Mrs. Abbott, would be very proud to know that I still remember the Latin roots of the word educate, which comes from: ducere = to lead and e = out –> e-ducere = to lead out. If the information isn’t leading you out of where you are and toward something you care about, edit your information stream.
What will you be doing in 2011 to lead yourself out and into your best future?
I’m honored and thrilled to be the EWN keynote speaker next Wednesday at the Norwalk Inn. I’ve been a member of the organization for 20 years. This is my first time ever speaking at a lunch event. Today, with so many things shut down due to snow, is the perfect day–a week in advance–to get everything in order. I can let it marinate over the next several days before going live.
My topic, a good one for the month of January, is It’s 2011: Do You Know Where Your Goals Are? Like I do for most projects I undertake, I created a mind-map for what I want to accomplish today. This visual allows me to see the multiple areas I need to spend time on, then designate the minutes or hours on my calendar for each item. My handwriting has become less legible, so here is the bulleted list seen in the spokes below:
- Finalize script- decide on illustrations
- Practice one hour
- Create packing list
- Figure out staffing for book sales
- Create handout
Here’s the take-away for anyone attending next week–You will participate in an exercise to identify a life or business-changing opportunity and create the accountability to take one step towards that vision.
I dare you to attend!
And I invite you to share this posting so others can take the dare too.
