Chief Operating Officer — Helping companies achieve Growth, Profitability and Efficiency through operational excellence.
Let’s face it, your company or organization is likely to go through a major transformation at some point. Whether it is in a division, within a function, or across the entire organization, you as a leader will need the skills to facilitate the change and help your business continue to thrive efficiently.
Sometimes the reason for change is external; perhaps the change is pushing you. Other times, the reasons for change are internally generated; you are driving and moving the transformation. Either way, change is now the norm, and senior leaders need to be able to handle it with focus, commitment and energy.
Whether your company’s leaders have gone through some sort of formal leadership training or not, a change management program might be the way to make the changes happen as painlessly as possible. An executive leadership program can provide your company with leaders who are creative and driven. And as part of the training, or as a separate one, leaders can be trained to handle a cultural transformation.
A good change management program will be interactive, and tailored to suit your company’s needs and goals. Look for an executive coaching company who is willing to take all aspects of the change into consideration. Not only must one consider revenue; but also communication, performance, and accountability. It is likely that almost everyone and everything is going to be effected by the change and leaders need to think on a broad scale.
When you’re starting a new job or business, you might wish for a lot of things, like having more than enough customers or not having to do marketing. But wishing is weak willed, having no momentum behind it. When you wish for something, you’re not coming from a place of having a strong vision. Instead, wishes tend to be dreamlike, wispy and not grounded. Wishes are future oriented.
To run a business or a department, you need to be intentional, focused and highly aware of the present for it is only from the present that you can make things happen. While wishing is fine, your wishes need to be converted into a vision, which represents what you want most. From there you can craft goals and a strategy to reach those goals. Your strategy should be broken down into easily doable, action steps.
Action is key to getting what you want for your business. Translating a wish into a vision is the first step to creating the momentum to move forward. What are some of the weaknesses around wishing?
1. It hooks you to the future. One of the biggest dangers of wishing is that it ties you to an uncertain future. Wishing takes you out of the present moment and puts you 10 steps ahead of where you should be. Unfortunately the only place you can make changes is in the now. Instead of investing your time and energy wishing about what you want for the future, invest in today by taking action that can create that future.
2. It’s not intentional. Wishing finds itself in the realm of dreams. Wishes are wispy and aren’t grounded on the solid foundation of a vision. An intention on the other hand is a definitive thought or statement that says exactly what you want to accomplish. The energy around wishes tends to be ephemeral, like clouds through which you can pass your hand. Intentions, on the other hand, are focused energy. Think about how you feel when you say you are “wishing” for something. Then, try out the statement “I intend” followed by something you want to accomplish. Notice how you feel about the energy around each of these statements.
3. It’s not specific. Our thoughts are powerful. What we put our minds on and the thoughts we think play a significant role in what we manifest in our lives and in our businesses. Wishes tend to be dreamy and ill defined. This lack of specificity can lead you to manifesting the same. If you want to custom create your future, your thoughts must be intentional. They must be focused, clearly articulated, and very specific about the outcomes.
4. It’s a waste of time. Wishing for things is really not the best use of your time. Wishes are like playing “what if” games – entertaining, but lacking in value. Wishing for more customers is a waste of your time and energy. But getting on the phone and cold calling prospects or sending out letters of introduction is intentional. They are clearly defined, focused steps that you can take to make things happen. Stop wishing and start doing.
5. It keeps you in the comfort zone. Because wishes are weak-willed and ill defined and because wishing is associated with dreaming, no action is implied on your part. It’s just a time for mental machinations, a time to lay back to wish and wonder. Nothing gets accomplished that way. You don’t have to grow or learn new things or step out of your comfort zone. Thinking intentional thoughts about what you want to accomplish requires action. Wishes accomplish nothing; intentions move you forward to accomplish your goals.
6. They have no momentum. The energy behind wishing is weak at best. While this activity is pleasurable to most people and we all enjoy engaging in it from time to time, wishes are the comfort food of folks who are afraid to step up to play a larger game. Intentions, on the other hand, call you to take action, to step up to being more, which will result in having more. And, when you’re in action, it’s easier to stay in action.
9. It can keep you stuck. Stuck is the only place you will find yourself if wishing is your modus operandi. Wishing is a mental activity that leads nowhere. Intentional thinking is a mental activity, grounded in focused thoughts, and coupled with action that leads to results. Stuck or unstuck? The choice is yours.
10. It’s frustrating. Wishing is extremely frustrating because it won’t ever lead to different outcomes. Nothing will ever come of it. Circumstances will never change. Nothing can ever be improved. One could not help but be frustrated when they will never realize what their heart most desires. Change your thoughts. Be more intentional. Take action. This is the quickest route to success and happiness.
Rather than spend your time wishing, set goals and take action. If you do, your wishes are more likely to turn into reality.
When you left home for work this morning, did you feel ready to face the day knowing that you were going to have a number of successful negotiations? Chances are, the word “negotiation” never entered your head. Perhaps it should have!
We often think of negotiation as a formal process conducted behind closed doors by high powered executives, politicians or world leaders. Yet everyday all of us negotiate. You may have to agree with colleagues on the content of a report or presentation; with a customer over a disputed invoice; with a supplier on the terms for goods or services; or with your partner on what to have for dinner tonight! All of these things are negotiations.
Our problem is that we don’t recognise them as negotiations, nor ourselves as negotiators. As a result, we enter these discussions less prepared than we could be. The result? Sometimes a less-than-successful outcome!
To help make all our daily negotiations more successful (for both you and the other party), you need to:
- State your case clearly and appropriately
- Organise your facts
- Control the timing and pace of your discussion
- Properly assess both yours and the other parties needs
How do you carry out these four points successfully? First, you need an understanding of some of the key principles of successful negotiation. Try this quiz to test your knowledge of negotiating by answering “True/False” to each question.
1. Should you ask for twice the amount you need?
2. Is your aim to prevent the other party from saying “No”
3. Will a small concession relieve the pressure?
4. A “Win/Win” result is always possible.
5. Is admitting to an error or omission a sign of weakness?
The following answers will provide some useful tips for your negotiating situations.
1. Should you ask for twice the amount you need? False. You will have to back down and will lose an important opportunity to influence the other party. Research clearly indicates that negotiators who make large concessions end up worse off. The secret of successful negotiating is to first identify your needs, then work out a range of options that will satisfy those needs. Start the negotiation by asking for the options that best meet your needs.
2. Is your aim to prevent the other party from saying “No”? False. In fact getting a “No” from the other party can be very useful because it gives you the opportunity to ask “Can you give me your reasons?”. This leads to uncovering the other party’s real needs and some options that will satisfy them ¡V options which you can probably supply.
3. Will a small concession relieve the pressure? False: If you make a small concession, chances are you are negotiating over options rather than needs. Additionally, the other party may think you are weakening and put more pressure on. Far better to state or restate your needs and then explore as many options as possible to satisfy them. As part of this discussion, you may come back to the offer that was just rejected, or you may find some even better options. Either way you have gained a lot more information and not weakened your position.
4. A “Win/Win” result is always possible. False: It’s desirable, but not always possible. Sometimes, even the best of negotiators have to “agree to disagree”. The way to improve your ratio of “Win/Wins” is to focus very clearly on your own real needs (not positions) and the needs of the other party. Searching for many different options to satisfy both party’s needs generates more “Win/Win” situations.
5. Is admitting to an error or omission a sign of weakness? False: Research shows that disclosing such information demonstrates honesty. In psychological terms, it breeds what is called “reciprocity” – if you do something for me, then I’ll do something for you. People are far more likely to be honest with you when you are honest with them. Pulling the wool over someone’s eyes may give you a short term result at the expense of a long term relationship.
Four tips to help you negotiate successfully
1. If you want a better deal, ask for one. You’ll never know unless you ask! Remember, make sure it will satisfy your needs – do not get locked into bargaining over positions.
2. Argue to learn, not to win. To meet your own needs you need to learn as much as possible about the other party and their needs. The more you learn, the better chance you have of getting a good deal.
3. Make proposals regularly during the negotiation – proposals move the negotiation forward. Use proposals such as “If you will provide . . . . then I might consider . . . .” The other party’s response to these proposals will give you a lot of information to work with.
4. Ask for, and give as much information as possible. For example, questions such as “Can you explain your reasons for . . . . ?’, “What are your priorities? and “What else is there that you think I should know?” are excellent ways of gathering the information you need.
By following these simple tips, you will find yourself well on your way to a successful negotiation.
Good corporate governance refers to methods, laws and policies that direct, control and administers important functions of a corporation. Principal stakeholders and board of directors within the corporation are the ones who manage the principal corporation. Good corporate governance ensures the goals of the management stays within the lines of agreement of the stakeholders.
While working toward maximizing shareholders value and fairness, a good corporate governance system ensures their rights are protected at all times. Stakeholders and shareholders alike are driven to improve corporate governance, although some of these changes come from federal mandates. What most stakeholders want is concise information with a clear and feasible link to overall business strategy.
Good corporate governance structure specifies the distribution of rights and responsibilities among different participants in the corporation, such as, the board, managers, shareholders and other stakeholders, and spells out the rules and procedures for making decisions on corporate affairs. By doing this, it also provides the structure through which the company objectives are set, and the means of attaining those objectives and monitoring performance. Good corporate governance is about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and accountability.
Businesses need to be controlled and directed. Because most corporations are pretty large, good corporate governance tells which groups of people are to do what. Board managers, stakeholders, and shareholders each have a say in the rules and procedures of the company. This gives structure to the company and ensures each group is watching the other to keep things in line. This also ensures the company will prosper because each group has to maintain certain strength in order for everything to work like a well oiled machine.
Analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of a business is a well-established tool that is widely used by academics, consultants, and advisors. Although it is a simple concept, companies often struggle when trying to use it because it is so broad. It is difficult to determine where to start, what questions to ask, and where to focus. The obvious problems get attention while many other important issues get overlooked. SWOT analysis is a great tool, but its effective use requires additional structure.
Strengths and weaknesses relate to internal factors, while opportunities and threats cover external ones. The internal factors can be divided into five categories:
The external factors are also divided into five categories:
To approach the analysis in a structured way, prepare a checklist using the categories mentioned above. Identify factors within each category that are important to your business. Under management for example, a major weakness for virtually every small business is relying too heavily on the owner. What would happen to the business if something happened to the owner?In the workforce category a factor could be employee turnover and the availability of new hires. The threat of new entrants might include the possibility of a big box retailer opening near your business.The bargaining power of suppliers and customers categories should consider the possibility of losing a major supplier or customer. Come up with several factors for each category to complete the checklist. It is important that you do not try to rate or solve each issue as you identify them. If you do, you will get bogged down on each factor and never complete the analysis.Once the checklist is complete, you should rate each factor based on its importance to your business. Use an alphabetical scale from A to E:
Next rate each factor based on proficiency (internal) or vulnerability (external). Use a numerical scale from 1 to 5:
The factors with the lowest letter and highest number (A5) are the biggest weaknesses or threats. The ones with the lowest letter and lowest number (A1) are the biggest strengths or opportunities.Using this structured approach makes a SWOT analysis possible and practical for any small business. To make this process worthwhile you must use this information to take action. Work to fix the worst problems first, prepare for the biggest risks, take advantage of the best opportunities, and build your secondary strengths.
As a Chief Operating Officer of a group of companies in the manufacturing sector, including PKM Steel, Mark Hamade carries executive level responsibilities in the areas of human resources and operations. His extensive business experience is uniquely positioned to help his companies leverage strengths and grow business. Mark leads the implementation of strategy and continues to forge relationships with key influences in the manufacturing industry.
Mark enjoys more than 14 years of leadership experience with top-tier companies. He specializes in vision and mission re-engineering as well as setting goals and objectives for human resources. Mark ensures that each business recruits, maintains, develops and rewards a high-quality workforce in order to successfully manage change.
His extensive business experience gives Mark a unique set of talents:: effective leadership, HR, P&L management, strategic thinking, organizational design, behavior and architecture, social networking, solution identification, mergers and acquisitions, organizational performance, recruitment, investment (start-ups, angel, private, and venture) sales, consulting, compensation, international know how, executive coaching, strategic alliances, contract negotiations, motivational speaking, a key understanding of legal issues, presentation skills, ability to deal with people from all backgrounds, and a high level of administrative competency.
Mark is passionate about all types of companies: Start-Ups, Early-Stage, Growing Companies and Fortune 500. He is equally dedicated to people, human capital and training. Hamade loves to assist companies in finding capital, and identify and recommend companies in which to invest.
