9. March 2010 by Monique Guilford.

When a person decides to become a franchisee, I do not believe that he or she says, “This is my opportunity to bring havoc upon my customers” or “This is my opportunity to sink my business by running all of my help away.”  I believe that most franchisees enter into an organization with good intentions for the organization and for the people that work for them.  After observing my husband for six years as a business consultant for a major corporation, it is my belief that most franchisees want to run a lucrative business, one that will be there for them through their retirement years.  Most businesses that have withstood the test of time have had exemplary leaders.  Leaders such as Sam Walton (founder of Wal-Mart), Ray Kroc (founder of McDonald’s Restaurant), Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft), and Robert Johnson (founder of Black Entertainment Television) just to name a few, have all had common characteristics of exemplary leaders.

The Merriam – Webster Online Dictionary (2010) describes exemplary as deserving imitation because of excellence.  Kouzes and Posner (2002) believe that when getting extraordinary goals accomplished within organizations, leaders engage in the following Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership:
 
Model the Way.
Simply put, do not ask your employees to complete a task that you are unwilling to do yourself; regardless if there is pay or not.  We all have our limits on a job and employees get a kick out of life when they see owners of the organization or upper management completing some of the same tasks that they have to accomplish while working.  Exemplary leaders know that they want to gain commitment and achieve the highest standards. They must model the behavior that they expect of others (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  So, go ahead, do not be afraid to let that employee see you scrubbing a toilet or taking the trash out.  This will give the employees the opportunity to see you (the leader) in a different light and they may gain a new respect for you.

Inspire a Shared Vision
Since the beginning of time, every organization, every social movement, begins with a dream (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  Leaders inspire a shared vision, not command it.  When people have a vision or when they share and believe in a common vision, they are more so inclined to work efficiently towards achieving the goals of the organization.  The key words here are: shared vision.  When visions are only shared by leaders the visions become insufficient to create an organized movement or significant change in the company (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  If there are no constituents, there are no leaders.  Remember, people follow the person first, then the plan.

Challenge the Process.
Leaders seek and accept challenge (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  Warren Bennis writes, “as weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders.”  Exemplary leaders challenge the status quo (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  There is not one leader that exists that claims to have achieved personal greatness by keeping things the same and remaining inside the box.

Enable Others To Act
Exemplary leaders empower constituents to feel strong and capable (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  People will not perform at their best or remain committed to the organization (or you) if leaders make them feel weak, dependent, or alienated.  Let’s face it, no one wants to work for a company in which they are “brain dead” while at work.  Employees like to be “free to do their own thing” (Sergiovanni, 2005).  Encourage creativity among your staff (especially, according to renowned motivational speaker Eric Chester, your Generation Yers) and watch the growth of your business.  Employees thrive in businesses in which they are trusted to make the right decisions (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).

Encourage the Heart.
It is part of the leaders’ job to show appreciation for people’s contribution and to create a culture of celebration (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).  This is a matter in which “real will recognize real”.  Hard working employees like to be sincerely recognized for all of their hard work.  The rewards do not have to always come in the form of money.  Recognizing an employee for their hard work during a staff meeting, assigning a parking spot closer to the building for a month, or posting an employee’s picture and biography for Employee of the Month are a few examples of a non-monetary rewards.  Recognition is not just an opportunity to celebrate, it is a chance to recognize the accomplishments and encourage the hearts of the employee.  Employees will not respond well to pretentious ceremonies that create a false sense of camaraderie (Kouzes & Posner, 2002).


So now what?  Now that I have all of this information, how do I implement these tips into my organization?  As an exemplary leader in training, you should take every sincere opportunity that will allow you to slowly integrate these tips within your organization.  You should reflect upon the outcomes by keeping a journal and make necessary adjustments.  According to Kouzes and Posner (2002), leadership is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those who chose to follow.  Remember the goals for your business.  Keep your vision close to your heart.  If you have difficulty with implementing some of this traits, seek out a leader who aspirers to take their leadership skills to the next level.  Improving your relationship with your constituents through these traits will empower them to get extraordinary things done on a regular basis.

Source:

exemplary. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Retrieved March 5, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exemplary

Fullan, M. (2007).  Understanding change (3^rd ed.).  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2002). The five examples of exemplary leadership (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Sergiovanni, T. (2005).  The principalship: Manager to leader.  Retrieved from:  www.cnx.org/content/m12924/latest

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28. February 2010 by The Original Bulldog - Bob Griffin.

Darwin was right.  Survival of the fittest is the mantra of every living organism and that includes business.  It is especially true in franchising where fresh new operators jump into open waters under the watchful gaze of the franchisor.  Awash in the blissful wave that is the Franchise Agreement, franchisees feel safe that someone will rescue them if something goes wrong.  This is where Darwin’s theory smacks them upside the head with a thud.  The problem is that safe in business is not a reality you will find.  Did you ever think that some of the big-box retailers would go out of business?  Of course not.  Were you thinking bigger is safer.  That’s wrong and so is buying a franchise and thinking you are safe.

Want to be safe in business?  You have to work for safety.  There is risk in everything and the quicker you realize how fast things can turn upside down, then better your business will be.  The only constant in life is CHANGE.  Darwin knew that and he applied it to animals.  I know it and I see it every day in business.

As we have mentioned many times here at Business Bulldog, there are really three areas to pay attention to in your business:

1. The Leadership
2. The Employee Team
3. The Marketing

You may notice that no where in that list is a parachute with the franchisor of choice’s name on it.  That’s because you bought the right to use a system, not the right to be saved from failure.  Now, do not get me and the team at Business Bulldog wrong; the franchisor wants you to succeed.  They make more money when you make more money and they get to survive another day right along side of you.  Some franchises though are not set up for rescue missions.  We have worked with plenty of them and cried with the families who lost everything.

Jumping back a couple of paragraphs, I mentioned that you can work for safety in business.  Here is the secret to that safety in a franchise…follow the system.  Sound simple?  The franchisor has already lost a ton of money on how to do things wrong.  If it is a good franchise, it will change over time to meet the new needs of customers.  Follow the system and be prepared to follow the three steps above.  Focus on what will strengthen what you already have and your business will live another day.

The question you need to ask is, “Are you the right person to be a franchisee?”

If you are going to get into a franchise, think like Darwin.  Are you the strongest you can be to jump into the pool and keep your hear above water?  Can you survive the first of many attacks by competition, vendors, and customers?  Your franchise may not be able to help you fast enough or understand what is happening in your local area.  There are more questions like this that you can ask, but the main question is, “Are you the right person to be in business under contract with a franchise and grow a business that you are comfortable with?”

How dare I say that some of you won’t make it in a franchise?  That seems to be the million dollar question.  That is, a million dollars you can earn or lose.  I would rather tell someone they aren’t ready to be in a franchise than let them flop around like a fish out of water with the hope they learn to breathe.  Darwin had it right.  There are groups of people who make it and thrive and there are groups that disappear.  The world of business is ugly and does care if you really, really want to be a business owner.  Failure happens more often than success.  It has always been that way and it always will be. Franchising is best suited for a follower/ leader - yes, that is the same person.  Is that you?

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2. February 2010 by The Original Bulldog - Bob Griffin.

I was looking around my house for new items that would help me convey a sense of team dynamics to a group I will be speaking to later this week.  I have a speech I will use about the disconnect in most teams and how the dynamics of getting a team to embody a message is difficult, but not impossible.  Great speech if I do say so, but it was missing an element.  Something for the audience to “visually” hold onto while I made my story come to life.

I thought about using a knife since you need to cut through the clutter of “stuff” that gets in the way of delivering and receiving a message.  Can you image a speaker holding a knife in front of a group talking about slashing through the outside junk that builds up between you and your employees?  I came to the quick conclusion that they would wheel me out in a straight jacket if I did that.

I thought about bringing a peach.  Peaches smell nice and no one will think I lost my mind.  (That last sentence will not stand on it’s own)  Anyway, back to the peach…sometimes you need to gain a person’s focus with something that draws on one or more of their senses.  Peaches smell nice, taste great and feel soft and comfortable.  Most people know the taste of a peach and can see themselves eating it.  The point of using a peach is to say that there is a lot of reasons to just focus on the outside, tasty side of a peach, but if you want to grow, you need to dig through that part and get to the core where the pit is.  You can either focus on the one peach (the comfortable side of business) or you can focus on getting the team to put the pit in the ground and have each member of the team add their skills to growing a peach tree (the business) that will give you peaches (money) for years.  I am not sure I would be able to make a good point of team dynamics by talking about a peach, but it is a good visual…and tasty.

I kept wandering around my house thinking about how to get a message across to a group of people who are glad to have a job, but want to do as little as possible to make a living.  Then it hit me.  No, really it hit me.  My son threw a ball at me and yelled “catch!”.  How’s that for finding a visual?

Once I regained my senses and reassured my son that he was not in trouble, I looked a the ball and and I went through what happened.  In one word and in one action, my son made the point he wanted to get across to me.  “Catch the ball!”  Often I will clutter up my own words, actions, and attitude with too much stuff.  Stuff is the junk that makes every simple thing more complicated.  Holding the ball, I figured it out…toss simple, clear, understandable ideas to your team.  If they don’t get it, then get rid of them.  They aren’t trying and you do not have time to slow down for them.

Clear messages are the thing that most people have a hard time with when they want something done.  The best leaders make a clear statement.  They don’t spend time trying to get you to understand the history of why they are making the statement.  They just talk clearly, with one idea and one message.  I wish someone had thrown a ball at me when I was younger.  I would have saved piles of time and effort.  I probably would be a lot further ahead in life and business had I been jarred with a round object hurled at high speed.

Great team dynamics happen when you slow down and clear out the “stuff”.  Stop wasting time with explanations or trying to fit every message to everyone.  Either they trust you or they don’t.  Follow up on your directions and you will see who is listening and part of your team and who is not.  There is no way to please everyone and there is no way to have a group of people who are not on the job to follow you and find success.  Don’t feel bad for the ones who don’t get it.  They need to find their own clear message…with a different team.

By the way, I am going to use the ball.  I had already eaten the peach.

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22. January 2010 by The Original Bulldog - Bob Griffin.

Draw three circles - one around the next.  This is all the business model you need to create a dynamic growing business in this depressed economic environment.

Three circle?!?  Yes, three circles.  The diagram should look like a target.  Once you understand this model, you will never be lost in what to do next.

Inside the first inner-most circle write the word “Leadership”.  We always start with leadership.  Getting to the core of the brand starts with looking at the face of person or people who are leading the organization.  As you know by our rules, either you are the right person to be in the inner-most circle leading the charge or you are not.  It is not about ego or power, but about having the most effective person in charge of the operations.  There are too many businesses that fail because they have the wrong person in charge.  How many of the businesses in your area have closed because of poor leadership?  Most, if not all.

The next circle is the team.  Write “Team” in the circle that goes around the leadership.  It is amazing that so many people are lost when it comes to hiring and training the right people.  Is it fear or something else?  We have seen clearly that most people are not trained in how to hire well or train someone to do a job effectively.  As Noel Guilford wrote in the last article, “Hatch an Egg - Build a Leader”, you want to create your own team of leaders to grow your business.  Hiring in someone who is well suited to the job means that they are capable of doing the job.  However, they may not do things your way.  After all, they were trained to do things at another company. Are you willing AND able to hire someone who is capable and spend the time and energy to train them into the employee you need and a leader in their field?  The questions to start with are “What is the nature of the job I am hiring for?” and “Is this the right person to train into being the best employee for that position?”.  You will be burned by hiring and spending time training someone.  That is the nature of business.  Get over that and keep working.  You would not let your competition tell you how to be successful, so why would you allow a bad hire limit you?

The outer-most circle is local store marketing.  Write “Local Store Marketing” in this circle.  The first two circles are focused inside your business.  They are the core of the business.  Can a business grow with just the right leadership and the right team?  Yes.  It is the foundation for all great businesses.  Without the first two circles, you have no business at all.  The local store marketing circle is the relationship you want to have with your customers.  It is the public relations, the couponing, and the message you want to send to people in the area you want to spend money with you.  Failure in this circle does not necessarily mean that your business will fail.  It does mean that you are limited to word of mouth advertising. This can also include bad reviews or anything anyone wants to mention about you.  Get the inside of your store operating well and then get out and brag about it.  Be known for something great.  Shameless promotion for the sake of yelling about your store is the worst kind of marketing.  GO for something that people will think of when they think of your business or your industry.

Three circles are simple and encompass the entire method of controlling a business.   I have always been able to help a business grow when we break the effort down to these three parts.  You will jump back and forth as things change - and things will most definitely change.  Change is the only constant thing you can count on in life.  Reexamine your leadership often.  Look at the goals you set for your team and make sure everyone is on board to reach them.  Do the right kind of local store marketing.  All of these things are the parts of your business that you can handle.  You can not change the economy or your competition.  You can handle your business as a professional. 

Draw three circles and start growing your business now.

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10. January 2010 by Noel Guilford.

OK, so now you’ve found your way down that long path to business ownership. First, congratulations! You have done something that many only dream of and even fewer have the courage to pursue that dream. Over that rise, past your opening day, lies a expansive land full of responsibilities and challenges…many of them daily. For those people with enough foresight and vision it gets easier over time. The reality is that most business owners have no experience and often feel lost even after many years of running their first or even second business. If any business owner should find themselves in this position there is no shortage of assistance out there for those that look.

Of all the obstacles faced, nothing compares to how difficult people-management can be, especially in today’s work force.  You can go absolutely mad trying. The most commonly used tactic is to find someone else to deal with it. Sounds easy right, well who is going to manage that person? If anyone needs sound and consistent leadership it’s the middle management. To manage a strong leader takes an even stronger leader. This is all considering that the right person can be found, hired, trained, compensated, and retained. I wont take the time here to discuss the possibility of doing that when there is a more effective and rewarding option available.

Unfortunately the “no wait, right now” society that we have become totally conflicts with the time and effort needed to effectively mentor anyone. Yes I said it! That person with the extensive resume and years of experience didn’t crash land in your lobby.  They were made just like me, just like you. Someone molded and honed the well qualified professional aspirant looking to fill a position in your business. Good thing you found them and they you. If you haven’t yet found a gem of a worker for yourself then make one.

Take the hand of an employee with the determination and drive to excel and push them. Some of my most rewarding experiences has been laboring over the spark of potential and watching it grow. The biggest benefit to hatching your own egg is you get the desired experience necessary to fit your needs and the needs of your business with the added factor of the earned loyalty.

This is the real world and these eggs hatch and sometime move on to bigger and better opportunities. What I will leave you with is this - If a protege of yours needs to grow beyond you and your organization and has the chance to do so consider it the highest compliment to your ability to lead that you will ever receive. So find an employee worth the effort and sit on them.

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