The Magazine for Business Owners
FLUIDBUSINESS MAGAZINE
Inside This Issue!
WHO DO YOU WANT ON YOUR BUS? EMOTIONS:
HOW IMPORTANT ARE THEY IN LEADERSHIP?
WINTER 16
Discovesrs Busine ith Growth0xw10 our 1 th Grow a Formul9 Page1
JIM COLLINS LIVE IN LONDON!
FIND OUT MORE INSIDE
WHAT KIND OF LEADER
are you?
Discover the 4 TIPS TO MOTIVATE YOUR TEAM!
HOW DO YOU TRANSITION FROM GOOD TO GREAT ? JIM COLLINS LIVE IN LONDON Lead your business to greatness
Books by Jim Collins GOOD TO GREAT GREAT BY CHOICE HOW THE MIGHTY FALL BUILT TO LAST *COLLECTIVELY SOLD OVER 10 MILLION COPIES
Jim Collins, best-selling author of business classics Built to Last, Good to Great, How The Mighty Fall and Great by Choice, will present a powerful half-day seminar on what it takes to build an enduring great company. We live in a world where we can no longer predict with certainty the twists and turns our lives will take. Throughout the world, technological change and global competition continues their relentless, disruptive march. Life is uncertain, the future unknown. Yet some companies and leaders navigate this type of world exceptionally well. They don’t merely react; they create. They don’t merely survive; they prevail. They don’t merely succeed; they thrive. They build great enterprises that can endure. Jim Collins will reveal findings from his 25 years of research which asks the simple question Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not? When buffeted by tumultuous events, when hit by big, fast-moving forces that we can neither predict nor control, what distinguishes those who perform exceptionally well from those who underperform or worse?
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P R E S E N T E D BY
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— First live solo event in the UK —
LONDON 28 FEBRUARY 2017
CONTENTS
04 FLUID INSIDER A run down of what has been going on over the last quarter at Fluid Business.
05 QUESTION TIME Our expert coaches lend their advice for your business needs.
06 4 TIPS TO MOTIVATE Discover our 4 tips to keep your team motivated to achieve your goals.
08 COACH FOCUS Hugo Heij explains how to get the right people on your team.
14 EMOTIONS IN LEADERSHIP Emotions are an incredibly important part of leadership today. But why?
16 4 TEAM BEHAVIOURS We take a look at the 4 common team behaviours. Have you got any of these?
18 THE 03 LEVELS REVISITED
10 WHO DO YOU WANT ON YOUR BUS? We take a look at the bus analogy, and how it applies to your teams. Do you know who you want on your bus?
What type of leader are you? Ray Moore discusses where you should be sat.
NATALIE MOORE Managing Director of Fluid Business Coaching.
Welcome to the Winter edition of the Fluid Business Magazine. We’ve packed in a whole magazine full of useful articles on team and leadership. Having the right people working for you is paramount for achieving your goals. On page 8 Hugo Heij discusses how to get the right people on your team. You can find our 4 tips to motivating your team, something that is key for staff retention, on page 6.
We discuss the importance of emotions in leadership today on page 14. Plus, there is a whole section on the subject of teams in ‘The Levels: Can Your Business Step Up to the Growth Challenge’ which we are giving away for Free (+P&P) on our website: fluidbusiness.co.uk/thelevels-book Have a great quarter!
Natalie Moore 01245 423 377
FBM MAGAZINE 2016 | 3
FLUID INSIDER!
Fluid Insider y EMERY BLAURA BRAND MANAGER
A look into what Fluid Business Coaching has been getting up to over the last quarter and a sneak peak for what to expect over the next three months.
I
t’s been a busy and interesting quarter at Fluid. The Fluid Business Podcast went on a short hiatus whilst we made a few tweaks to the way we offer you value. We are now back at it with insights from the coaches on common challenges faced in business, with plenty of real-life examples.
We have launched the Fluid Business Community. Which gives you access to subscription-only podcasts, videos and further insights from the Fluid Business Coaches as well as exclusive prelaunch access to our latest products. To join us visit fluidbusiness.co.uk/FBC.
If you haven’t done so already, you can subscribe via iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher by searching for the Fluid Business Podcast, or listen on our website fluidbusiness.co.uk.
Looking in to the next quarter, we are working on something huge – it’s top secret at the moment but we cannot wait to share with you soon! So, in the meantime… Have a great and successful quarter.
DON’T MISS
Laura
JIM COLLINS IN LONDON
FLUID BUSINESS PODCAST IS BACK
Don’t miss Jim Collins live in London on 28th February 2017. Tickets are still available from thegrowthfaculty.co.uk/fluid
We took a short hiatus, but the Fluid Business Podcast is back! Giving insight and solutions on the common challenges business owners face.
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COACH QUESTION TIME:
How can I create a team that doesn’t rely on me?
ANDY SLEET Preparing Your Business for stability and sale? Speak to Andy ANDYSLEET@FLUIDBUSINESS.CO.UK
A:
This comes down to building a business that works without you. You need to put structure into your teams, do you employ managers or directors that are capable of doing the job you pay them? If the answer is yes, then give them more autonomy. Empowered employees are motivated employees (as you can read on page 7). So delegate and get the team to step up.
HUGO HEIJ Lead and develop your team on an international scale with Hugo
PETER BOOLKAH Experiencing Rapid Growth? Speak to Peter
HUGOHEIJ@FLUIDBUSINESS.CO.UK
A:
Creating an empowered workforce requires teams to know both the short-term and long-term goals; employees will not feel empowered if they are excluded from the communication process. Keep your teams up-to-date, this will ensure they understand your vision and where their own role fits into the strategic goal.
PETERBOOLKAH@FLUIDBUSINESS.CO.UK
A:
Your team should not be relying on you for every minor thing. If they are constantly needing approval and draining your time and resources, either you are a poor leader, or they are a poor employee. Your team may say they can’t do something without your input, but find out if it is actually a case of not wanting to instead. Then act accordingly!
RAY MOORE MANAGING COACH Expert in family business, succession planning and author of The Levels. RAYMOORE@FLUIDBUSINESS.CO.UK
A:
As a business owner it is so easy to become accustomed to the stress and pressure of having your own business. It’s easy to think that without your input your team cannot make a decision or will just drive your business into the ground. Put some distance between the business and you. Sure enough, Christmas is just around the corner and so hopefully you get just that opportunity. Having time away from your business is great to review, reflect and consider some of the things
that you may need to change in the coming months and year. Also, the key to build a team that doesn’t rely on you is to learn the art of delegation. It’s the major step change that every business owner must take to grow to the next level. Delegate the direct supervision to others and trust them to do their jobs. Interestingly, this does not take away control it gives you more by freeing your time to observe, to monitor what is truly happening.
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FEATURE
4 TIPS TO KEEP YOUR TEAM MOTIVATED Have you found that your team is lacking motivation? Have employees started to seem unenthused? Here are 4 tips to get them back on track!
LIKE TO LISTEN? WE’VE GOT TEAM COVERED ON THE FLUID BUSINESS PODCAST
FBP 011: Improving Your Communication with DiSC fluidbusiness.co.uk/011
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FBP 051: What will make the boat go faster? fluidbusiness.co.uk/051
FBP 025: Do You Recruit Based on Values or Results? fluidbusiness.co.uk/025
When the daily grind of a long term project is bogging down your team and zapping their efficiency, nobody’s happy... not them, and least of all, you! So how can you reignite your team and make it through that big project that looms ahead?
1. Empower Your Team Whilst there is a tendency for employees to become a mere cog in the machine in larger organisations, SMEs often have a flatter business structure; this means that each individual has more impact on the organisation, one of the key benefits of working for an SME. Empowering your team may involve a leap of faith on your part: you may want to have closer control over your employees. However, trusting the team to make decisions beneficial to the business will enable them to feel valued as part of the decision-making process; increased happiness means that they will be prepared to work harder, and the business will be able to tap into the latent talent of the workforce. This is also a double-win, as you have more time to work on the business, instead of supervising the team. 2. Set Mini Goals Successful managers, leaders, researchers and anyone else who’s faced with leading a team through a long-term goal will tell you: Instead of obsessing about the end date or deadline, focus on the day-to-day work your team is performing and before you know it, you’ll all be on track again. Breaking the workload down into manageable chunks suddenly seems doable. Injecting some “mini goals” to keep them motivated. However, the goal isn’t just motivating your team as they slog through their daily tasks, day after day with no end in sight. Simply breaking that big project down into smaller tasks is just the first step towards jump starting your team and getting them motivated to work hard.
Within any organisation, there will be those who stand out and demonstrate excellent skill, loyalty and leadership. These individuals should be given the opportunity to achieve their potential and career aspirations. However, promoting these individuals alone is not sufficient in itself: make sure that if you are promoting a team member they have the skills to do the new role. Offering a personal development plan keeps them motivated and at the top of their game. Another ‘Win-Win’. 4. Offer Appropriate Rewards Notice we said appropriate. We aren’t talking a huge bonus and a trip to the Bahamas. It could be a team wide treat once a quarter or a simple “thank you, you’re doing a great job” to boost morale. You see, human biology proves that people respond well to small rewards throughout the day. It’s all based on those small doses of brain chemicals associated with pleasure (dopamine) that we all experience when something good happens. Teams need something more than knowing that someday they’ll finish. What’s their light at the end of the tunnel? What you need to do is build a few “windows” into your long dark tunnel. This means offering incentives to go along with those “mini goals” you created. Scientists have found that offering rewards inspires daily motivation towards long-term success. Perfect! So get thinking about what small rewards your team would appreciate, set smaller daily goals, create a personal development plan and empower your team to take the lead, then finishing that big project won’t seem quite as daunting.
“ OFFERING A PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN KEEPS THEM AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME”
Often in small businesses team members are asked to go the extra mile, and this is why motivation is important. Here are four tips for making sure your teams are motivated:
3. Create Clear Career Paths for Exceptional Employees
While these ideas may not seem entirely ground-breaking, don’t be misled by their familiarity; creating these conditions can still be challenging work.
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COACHING FOCUS
COACH FOCUS: HUGO HEIJ Hugo Heij explains how to get the right people on your team, and what you should do during the hiring process.
Did you know? The University of Michigan did a study on staff retention. They found that most people fail in their jobs, because 1. They haven’t been told what to do, and 2. They haven’t been taught how to do it.
When it comes to team and people there have been two overarching frustrations that I have heard in the past 20 years, both when I worked in the Shipping Industry, and now working with my clients as a coach.
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The first is, I can’t get the right people, and the second, I can’t retain the right people. And although I can write a book on both comments separately, there is a close connection between them. Because once we attract the right people to our companies, the chance to retain them will also significantly increase. In this article, I will give an insight into getting the right people on board.
So, to get the right people on the team, we need to be clear about a few things: 1. What is the role you are trying to fill. Too often I see that businesses are hiring staff for positions before they even paused and thought about the position to fill. Even though you might have a job specification, is this really what the business needs at this moment. If you are replacing someone, this might be a good opportunity to review the role and see where the job specification can be updated. 2. What are the requirements for the role? Once you have established what position you are looking to fill, you have to carefully review what the requirements are for that role. We all want to have the person that can do it all in the best possible way, but unfortunately these people are hard to find. In Holland we call this the “sheep with the five legs”, meaning someone good at everything. Another key aspect is making sure the personality profile of the person fits within the role. At Fluid we are using a tool called Talent Dynamics which is created to make sure that people are in flow. Flow means ‘the path of least resistance’. This can be achieved when someone loves their role and are good at it. All people have different preferences and strengths. Once we know the requirements and we select the person with the right strengths, we are a step further in finding the right person, and retaining them long term. If you are curious if you and your team are in flow, why not book an appointment with one of our Flow consultants. They can help you on the right track with proven tools and assessments. 3. What are the team dynamics Another important aspect of getting the right staff, is the fit with the current team. A good way to find out is introducing the candidates to the future team they have to work with. If a candidate is selected by a MD and a HR department, who ultimately are not working with the person, this can lead to frustrations and disappointments later. Make sure the team fit is established, before you hire the person. 4. Where do you find the right person? When you have clarity around point 1, 2, and 3 you can start the search for a candidate. You can do this in house or use the services of a recruitment company. Doing it in house you have to determine if this is a good use of your time and skills. We often forget that the money we safe on using a service company
HUGO HEIJ Fluid Business Coach
is easily spend on missing out on much other stuff, because we have been busy selecting CV’s and conducting interviews. When you are using a Recruitment company, make sure you are working together with a company that is looking to help you find the candidate. They need to be interested in your requirements to propose a suitable candidate. Too often I see recruitment companies just pushing CVs, which often means you are still doing all the work. A good recruitment company wants to meet with you to get the requirements clear. Once they know, they go to work and present you with several suitable candidates. In that way, they will save you a lot of work, and a lot of hassle. Not to speak about the money they ultimately save you. When you find a good candidate, who is clear about the roles and requirements and fits within the team you are off to a good start. This will also increase the likelihood in retaining that member of staff.
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FEATURE
WHO DO YOU WANT ON YOUR BUS?
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Great teams know who they want on their bus. Here are 7 questions to ask yourself and your team.
The ‘bus’ analogy is a well known, sometimes over used concept when talking about Teams. Indeed when great ideas are overused they can become branded as common knowledge and with that badge true understanding can so easily be lost. So to give a fresh view on this tried and tested model here are seven questions to ask yourself and your team. Where’s your bus going? It’s not a magical mystery tour! Why would anybody want to get on your bus unless they know where it is going. Make it quite clear where the destination is and how you are going to get there. The route may be subject to slight detours based on the road conditions or by unforeseen obstacles in the way but the ultimate destination remains the same. When are you going to get to the destination? Knowing the destination allows you to plan the route and a time of arrival. The team that you choose to accompany and help you on the journey need to know these plans so that they can fully commit to the journey. Continue to give updates on the arrival time to take account of those obstacles in the road. Why do you want to go there? It is important for you to know why you want to go on the journey. It is not necessary for every individual to have the same reason. The important thing is that they have their own reason to get on your bus and they are not just coming along for a ride. Where are the bus stops? It’s OK for people to get off along 12 | FBM MAGAZINE 2016
the route. The journey may get too uncomfortable or they just like the look of where they are and let you know they want to get off at the next ‘bus stop’. The great thing is that when they get off the bus, at a mutually convenient time and place, there will be others who will want to get on and continue the rest of the journey with you. But beware of anyone who wants to change the destination to where they want to go and see the bus as an easy mode of transport. Help them off, at the earliest bus stop, as they are taking up a valuable seat. What are the rules on the bus? Make sure there are no free seats on your bus. Every seat is valuable and commitment is the price of the ticket. Everyone must be engaged in getting to the final destination. So agree and set the rules of behaviour at the beginning. These are the terms on the back of the ticket and make sure everyone understands the implication before they board the bus. Who is on the bus? With everyone committed to reach the journey’s end then when something happens to slow you down or there is a major diversion everyone will want to keep the bus moving in the right direction. Ask for their help and you will be amazed by the desire to keep the momentum going. Beware! Do not allow people to hang onto the outside of your bus, on running boards or on the roof. These ‘hangers on’ just want a free ride. They are not prepared to pay the commitment fare and when the road gets bumpy and uncomfortable they will jump off or fall away. In the meantime they will cause a huge distraction.
Who drives the bus? In the early days you, the business owner, may want to be the driver. However, it is also easy to be the conductor, bag handler, mechanic as well. Resist the temptation or you will quickly get tired and easily loose your way and end up following a dead end. Make sure all the roles and responsibilities of every seat are clear. Your seat should have a panoramic view so that you can see in all directions and that you can see and plan the route ahead. Seek help and feedback from the whole team as it’s in their interests to get to the destination as well.
WHO DO YOU HAVE ON YOUR BUS?
“Knowing the destination allows you to plan the route and a time of arrival.”
- Ray Moore
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EMOTIONS IN LEADERSHIP How important are emotions in leadership today? We take a look at why it’s so important to be in tune with our emotions when leading and communicating with our teams.
With the rapid pace at which the current business market changes, the ability of the leaders in any business to make quick and good decisions is becoming more and more important. As more time is needed from leaders to keep up to date with the current business market, they have less time to manage their people, so they need to delegate a great deal more of the day to day operation to their teams. For many leaders, delegation brings out a number of fears that tasks and functions will not be done with the passion and commitment that the leader applies. They are torn between delegating and keeping up to date with the market and this is often the reason that slows or stops a business growing. Recruiting, keeping and inspiring good quality people is quickly becoming one of the biggest challenges for UK businesses, wanting to grow. So what role do emotions play in all of this? The most important factor to remember in leadership is that it is about leading people, not tasks or jobs, and people connect with others in a predominantly emotional way. The 3 key areas where emotions play a key role in the leadership of a business are; 1. The external relationships with customers and stakeholders build the value of any business more so than the majority of services or products that a business offers. Customers want to buy from businesses they like and who show them respect. This value is most often measured at the lowest
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level of relationship and not by the quality of relationship between the leaders.
investors because that is what they are, investors of their talents and emotions.
A leader’s key role is to make sure all their employees connect to their business and build an emotional contract with their own business and the customers and stakeholders externally.
3. The third area is the level of energy, focus and passion you invest as a leader in your role in the business and in your personal life.
2. The second area is the internal relationships and it is measured by the emotional commitments of the people within the business.
As a leader, you will quickly realise that you cannot lead by asking people to do what you say when the way you act and behave is the opposite of this.
To build emotional wealth within your business, as a leader you must treat your people as
The primary role that you have as a leader is to create positive emotions in all of the key areas
Successful business leaders in today’s business environment are not just those who can see and act on opportunities in the market, but those who can inspire and connect with others.
above in order to create a competitive advantage for your business. When people do not really know or understand each other or when relationships are plagued by lack of trust or bad feelings, the ability to grow or even carry out business deals becomes more and more difficult.
and perform at levels higher than they thought possible themselves. As a leader, building emotional wealth in your business is a great strategy to build a difference between your business and your competitors and could be the secret to taking your business to the next level of success and profit.
Successful business leaders in today’s business environment are not just those who can see and act on opportunities in the market, but those who can inspire and connect with others so that they achieve
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4 BEHAVIOURS SEEN WHEN FORMING A TEAM BY RAY MOORE
Isn’t is so easy to pigeonhole employees based on the behaviour that we see in the work environment. Their behaviour is dependent on many, many factors but often an accurate reflection of their underlying attitude is highlighted in how they intuitively react to a challenge or task that needs to be completed. Over the years, I have encountered many experiences voiced by countless business owners when building a strong, resilient team. So here is an overview of the four responses.
The Willing Helper Who enthusiastically get stuck in straight from the start. Without a moan or a second thought they understand what needs to be done, work on their own initiative and give it 100% until the task is completed. This group are first to offer help, normally without being asked.
The Shrinking Violet Who initially hang back but once they see others get involved or are personally invited to contribute become enthusiastically involved. It may take more effort to get buy-in but the effort will be worth it. Unfortunately, they are easy to overlook and they can shrink further into the background.
The Press-Ganged Who make themselves look very busy to avoid being pressed into becoming involved. May feel put upon or obligated so make sure they do the minimum to say they
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helped and then escape at the first opportunity having done their bit.
The Ghost Who mysteriously disappear at the first sign of pending involvement. Suddenly making themselves scarce and miraculously reappear when it is all over. Often totally oblivious to what has happened or occurred. Is this a true reflection of the individual behaviour? Well, I’m sure you will recognise most of the characteristics. Interestingly, when building a team it is necessary to treat everyone as unique. One approach will not be appropriate to all. It is a commonly held belief that business owners must lead from the front. It is easy to achieve that with your band of Willing Helpers. It is quick and comfortable to rely on them. They become your first port of call when anything needs to be done. But beware as it is very easy to abuse their goodwill whilst excluding others. Consider how as the leader you can enroll and inspire everyone in your team. Yes it may take more time and effort to involve everyone. Help them to understand why investing their time and energy is important and how you value their contribution. Stop before leaping to conclusions. Make sure you are looking at the true behaviour and not based on hearsay or a one-off. Perhaps those that you may consider to be ghosts do have higher priority tasks to complete but make sure your view is based on facts not just on opinions.
Check that your expectations are inline with reality. Look for repeating behaviours. One of the keys to building a strong team is having everyone included and involved, 100% no exceptions. This way we build an All Star Team. However, if team members choose not to get involved and be part of the team then they are choosing not to be on your bus and it’s time to say goodbye.
RAY MOORE Fluid Business Coach & Author of The Levels
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WHAT KIND OF LEADER ARE YOU? Many business owners believe they should lead from the front, lead by example and their teams will follow suit. If we look at the example of a dog sled “Only the lead dog in a dog sled team gets a change of view” or indeed the clearest view. Hopefully, when you visualise a team of dogs you can imagine the view all the other dogs get! So if many business owners lead from the front then they are the lead dog. The lead dog often is the most energetic and motivated, however has no idea what is going on behind. The lead dog is focused on the task in front of it and has no time to slacken. Giving it 100%, the harness controls the lead dog, pulling along the
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rest of the team. But wait a moment. Who has the clearest view? Who has the time to appreciate the changing scenery? Who knows the destination and can see the route? Who controls and encourages the team? Of course, it’s the person at the back of the sled. They have the time and the energy to direct and motivate the team. Where are you? For more on this, listen to episode 044 of the Fluid Business Podcast fluidbusiness.co.uk/044.