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Hub You - In Management, Your Ego Is The Performance Killer
Did you hear about the couple that won the Irish Sweepstakes?The husband enters the kitchen one morning and kisses his wife. “Darling,” he announces, “we just won The Irish Sweepstakes, so we did. ?5 million! But what are we going to do with all the begging letters?”His wife replies: “Keep send them.”Paddy knew, as all professional direct mail fundraisers know, that the secret to success in raising money through the mail is repetition. You need to ask often, often during the year and often in your letters.Each appeal letter you write should ask for a gift more than once, for a number of reasons.Your donors are busy. Your donors skim their mail, including your appeals. I hate to admit that, seeing as how I
As a manager, how do you know if your ego is out of control?
Just pay close attention to a number of critical factors. I guarantee that if you are aware of your circumstances, honest with your self-appraisal, and in touch with reality, it will become crystal clear whether your ego is in control or is running rampant in your organization or department. Some of these factors are:
· consistently poor morale
· constant communication breakdowns
· bad hiring decisions
· consistently poor decisions
· acquisitions or mergers that go sour
· high employee turnover
· consistently poor quality
· outdated policies, products, services, and/or procedures
· loss of market share
· vulnerability to competitors
· poor sales results<
Profit in any business comes from your business turnover multiplied by your margins. In simple term, Profits = Turnover x Margins Turnover, in turns, is determined by the number of customers you have, multiplied by the number of transactions each customer had with you and the average dollar sale. Thus, Turnover = Number of Customers x Number of Transactions x Average Dollar Sale The number of customers you have depends on your lead generation and conversation rate of these leads. Thus, Number of Customers = Lead Generation x Conversion Rate By breaking down the process into small chunks, you will see that your business profit is governed by 5 variables, namely 1. lead generation 2. conversion rate 3. number of transaction 4. average dol
Everyone has an ego. It is a natural part of everyone’s psyche and vital for success. The problem occurs when a manager’s ego is given too much control of their behavior, attitudes, and management style.
The ego wants to look good, be right, not make mistakes, not admit failure, manipulate, and control or appear in control at all times. It would be nice if organizations and their strategies, objectives, goals, purpose, mission, and performance were always predictable and operating at peak efficiency and optimum results.
However, in the real world, change is the mantra and norm. Uncertainty prevails. And there are forces at work that would sabotage your ideal world. They include: the government, the weather, unpredictable employees, technology, competitors, customer attitudes and expectations, just to mention a few. If all of these could be harnessed for optimum control, we would never have business failures, lost customers, unhappy and poor-performing employees, disgruntled suppliers, and frustrated accountants.
Ego has cost Corporate America more money than any other single factor. It has resulted in poor decisions, thwarted initiatives, products that have out-lived their life cycle, and acquisitions gone bad. Want more?
· New products that should never have hit the street
· Bad products that were left on the street too long
· Poor hiring decisions
· The decision to terminate a good employee for no other reason than they have an ego, too
· The unwillingness to let go of control of anything
· Keeping decision-making at the top of the corporate ladder
· Unwillingness to delegate difficult or critical tasks
· The desire to look good to the rest of the corporate world, regardless of whether you are making money or not
I believe by now I should have your attention. So why is ego such a big problem in business? After all, Donald Trump has one, and he is successful.
If you were to ask an out-of-control-ego executive or manager if their ego is out of control, guess what you will hear. Believe it or not: No. Why is this? Denial? Arrogance? Insecurity? Or some other psychological or emotional need that has not been or is not being met?
During my career, I have watched clients make acquisitions (against my recommendations) for no other reason than ego. In almost every case, these cost their organization dearly in focus and reputation, not to mention profits. And, ultimately they were shut down or sold off again to some other executive with a big ego, maybe this time to someone who prides him- or herself as a business savior or turn-around master!
Before I lose you, I don’t want you to get the impression that ego is only an issue in the big decisions or choices made at the top. Its impact can be found day-to-day in many of the small and often less significant parts of an enterprise, in the actions and decisions made by mid-level managers and supervisors. I see the results of this every day and everywhere I go in my travels as a speaker and trainer.
As a manager, how do you know if your ego is out of control?
Just pay close attention to a number of critical factors. I guarantee that if you are aware of your circumstances, honest with your self-appraisal, and in touch with reality, it will become crystal clear whether your ego is in control or is running rampant in your organization or department. Some of these factors are:
· consistently poor morale
· constant communication breakdowns
· bad hiring decisions
· consistently poor decisions
· acquisitions or mergers that go sour
· high employee turnover
· consistently poor quality
· outdated policies, products, services, and/or procedures
· loss of market share
· vulnerability to competitors
· poor sales results
Getting a job can be a very stressful experience, but the right preparation can really take off some of the pressure. One of the most basic ways you can really improve your chances of being hired is by having a professional resume. Most employers have seen thousands, if not more, resumes in their position and can instantly recognize something that is professional versus something that is rushed and sloppy. Using professional resume writers for developing the perfect resume is an excellent way to insure the quality of your resume and help give you confidence in applying for the jobs you know you can do.A solid resume is always considered heavily in the job hiring process. People who present themselves well will always have the best possibility of being hired. This is not only true for clothes, cleanliness,
Ego has cost Corporate America more money than any other single factor. It has resulted in poor decisions, thwarted initiatives, products that have out-lived their life cycle, and acquisitions gone bad. Want more?
· New products that should never have hit the street
· Bad products that were left on the street too long
· Poor hiring decisions
· The decision to terminate a good employee for no other reason than they have an ego, too
· The unwillingness to let go of control of anything
· Keeping decision-making at the top of the corporate ladder
· Unwillingness to delegate difficult or critical tasks
· The desire to look good to the rest of the corporate world, regardless of whether you are making money or not
I believe by now I should have your attention. So why is ego such a big problem in business? After all, Donald Trump has one, and he is successful.
If you were to ask an out-of-control-ego executive or manager if their ego is out of control, guess what you will hear. Believe it or not: No. Why is this? Denial? Arrogance? Insecurity? Or some other psychological or emotional need that has not been or is not being met?
During my career, I have watched clients make acquisitions (against my recommendations) for no other reason than ego. In almost every case, these cost their organization dearly in focus and reputation, not to mention profits. And, ultimately they were shut down or sold off again to some other executive with a big ego, maybe this time to someone who prides him- or herself as a business savior or turn-around master!
Before I lose you, I don’t want you to get the impression that ego is only an issue in the big decisions or choices made at the top. Its impact can be found day-to-day in many of the small and often less significant parts of an enterprise, in the actions and decisions made by mid-level managers and supervisors. I see the results of this every day and everywhere I go in my travels as a speaker and trainer.
As a manager, how do you know if your ego is out of control?
Just pay close attention to a number of critical factors. I guarantee that if you are aware of your circumstances, honest with your self-appraisal, and in touch with reality, it will become crystal clear whether your ego is in control or is running rampant in your organization or department. Some of these factors are:
· consistently poor morale
· constant communication breakdowns
· bad hiring decisions
· consistently poor decisions
· acquisitions or mergers that go sour
· high employee turnover
· consistently poor quality
· outdated policies, products, services, and/or procedures
· loss of market share
· vulnerability to competitors
· poor sales results<
FIRST STEP -- Set short-term, incremental goals. Work up to larger plans later. Never put yourself under the gun right from the get-go. If you do... discouragement will be right at your doorstep. You’ll quit! Remember your New Year's resolutions? Set incremental time frames. Short-range goals are very important. Begin the first month and increase a little bit each succeeding month. Don’t give up too early in the game.... give yourself a chance to succeed. Set UP too big a goal and you know..... nothing happens! Most of us throw in the towel rather than work slowly to the next plateau. Remember all those BIG goals in the past.... how long did they
· The unwillingness to let go of control of anything
· Keeping decision-making at the top of the corporate ladder
· Unwillingness to delegate difficult or critical tasks
· The desire to look good to the rest of the corporate world, regardless of whether you are making money or not
I believe by now I should have your attention. So why is ego such a big problem in business? After all, Donald Trump has one, and he is successful.
If you were to ask an out-of-control-ego executive or manager if their ego is out of control, guess what you will hear. Believe it or not: No. Why is this? Denial? Arrogance? Insecurity? Or some other psychological or emotional need that has not been or is not being met?
During my career, I have watched clients make acquisitions (against my recommendations) for no other reason than ego. In almost every case, these cost their organization dearly in focus and reputation, not to mention profits. And, ultimately they were shut down or sold off again to some other executive with a big ego, maybe this time to someone who prides him- or herself as a business savior or turn-around master!
Before I lose you, I don’t want you to get the impression that ego is only an issue in the big decisions or choices made at the top. Its impact can be found day-to-day in many of the small and often less significant parts of an enterprise, in the actions and decisions made by mid-level managers and supervisors. I see the results of this every day and everywhere I go in my travels as a speaker and trainer.
As a manager, how do you know if your ego is out of control?
Just pay close attention to a number of critical factors. I guarantee that if you are aware of your circumstances, honest with your self-appraisal, and in touch with reality, it will become crystal clear whether your ego is in control or is running rampant in your organization or department. Some of these factors are:
· consistently poor morale
· constant communication breakdowns
· bad hiring decisions
· consistently poor decisions
· acquisitions or mergers that go sour
· high employee turnover
· consistently poor quality
· outdated policies, products, services, and/or procedures
· loss of market share
· vulnerability to competitors
· poor sales results<
Many people think that promotional pens are just that – pens that you write with. However, the realm of personalized promotional pens extends beyond blue and black ink. In fact, you can even have personalized highlighters as your promotional pens – something that is a little different than your average pen.You can highlight your business or latest product range by including personalized promotional highlighter pens into your promotional item inventory. Pens are used by everyone, every day in office the world over and that makes a promotional pen a very valuable advertising tool. However, you can only have so many promotional pens and sometimes it’s a good idea to have something different, such as a promotional highlighter pen to go with your promotional items.Personalized promotional highlighter pen
Before I lose you, I don’t want you to get the impression that ego is only an issue in the big decisions or choices made at the top. Its impact can be found day-to-day in many of the small and often less significant parts of an enterprise, in the actions and decisions made by mid-level managers and supervisors. I see the results of this every day and everywhere I go in my travels as a speaker and trainer.
As a manager, how do you know if your ego is out of control?
Just pay close attention to a number of critical factors. I guarantee that if you are aware of your circumstances, honest with your self-appraisal, and in touch with reality, it will become crystal clear whether your ego is in control or is running rampant in your organization or department. Some of these factors are:
· consistently poor morale
· constant communication breakdowns
· bad hiring decisions
· consistently poor decisions
· acquisitions or mergers that go sour
· high employee turnover
· consistently poor quality
· outdated policies, products, services, and/or procedures
· loss of market share
· vulnerability to competitors
· poor sales results<
Too many business owners believe that marketing their business means just paying for a few ads. What few understand is that Advertising is not the same as Marketing. Too many clients have come to us only after they have wasted large sums of money by copying their competitors with "me too" advertising. And the media and advertising agencies love it. When you approach an advertising agency, their mission will be to convince you to spend your entire marketing budget with them, not to help you devise a marketing strategy for your business which will look at all available marketing options, not just advertising.When developing a marketing strategy for your business, you must consider a number of aspects of your marketplace, before even thinking of your business. You need to answer the following questions:
As a manager, how do you know if your ego is out of control?
Just pay close attention to a number of critical factors. I guarantee that if you are aware of your circumstances, honest with your self-appraisal, and in touch with reality, it will become crystal clear whether your ego is in control or is running rampant in your organization or department. Some of these factors are:
· consistently poor morale
· constant communication breakdowns
· bad hiring decisions
· consistently poor decisions
· acquisitions or mergers that go sour
· high employee turnover
· consistently poor quality
· outdated policies, products, services, and/or procedures
· loss of market share
· vulnerability to competitors
· poor sales results
· decreasing profits from year to year
· the negative consequences of your decisions
Carefully observe early warning signs for these factors and determine their cause and any relationship between them and your ego, and then respond to them and manage them ego-free and effectively before they become embedded in your corporate culture, employee attitudes, and customer attitudes. You could ask yourself:
1. Can I ever be wrong?
2. Can an employee be smarter than I am?
3. Do I trust my employees?
4. Can I reverse myself after a bad decision or do I die by it?
5. Can I give up control?
6. Do I have pet projects or activities that I can’t let go of?
7. Can I freely give credit where someone else was responsible for the positive outcome?
8. Can I discard old products, services, or ideas that I was responsible for?
9. Can I share the limelight with others?
10. Do I give adequate appreciation and recognition to others?
11. Can I admit failure?
12. Can I admit to not having an answer?
13. Do I procrastinate on simple or important tasks, decisions, or initiatives?
These questions should get you started. Honest answers will help you clearly identify if your ego is a problem in your position.
In his classic book Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t, Jim Collins states:
Level 5 leaders channel their ego needs away from themselves and into the larger goal of building a great company. It’s not that Level 5 leaders have no ego or self-interest. Indeed they are incredibly ambitious – but their ambition is first and foremost for their institution and not herself or himself.
If you can rise to the challenge of channeling your ego in this way, be encouraged by the following:
1. Your ego is not part of your DNA or genes. It is man-made and can be un-made or controlled if you choose.
2. It is better to succeed and enjoy your success with a controlled ego than it is to go down in flames with an ego that is out of control.
3. You will never “win them all,” no matter how good you think you are. So get used to losing once in a while, if you aren’t already.
4. Hire a personal coach. What it costs you will be peanuts compared to the time and money you could save your organization. I accept ten new coaching clients every year. If you want to be considered for one of the slots, give me a call.
5. Business is not about winning or looking good, but serving others well.
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