There is a small percentage of people who are intentional conscious goal setters.  They establish written measurable goals in every area of their life.

It’s no coincidence that these people have the greatest amounts of success, status, power, influence, wealth, happiness, and balance in their lives.  Are you in this small percentage?

Is it “luck”?  It helps to know what creates luck.  It is created through the activity of achieving goals.

When a goal is set, you know where you are going.  Maybe not exactly how you are going to get there though.  It may require discovering new knowledge, gaining new capabilities, and using more of your potential.  And goal achievers know that these will be found or created by taking purposeful forward movement.

Want to start creating some of your own luck?  Here is how:

1) Imagine what you want differently.

2) Commit mentally and emotionally to the results you want.  (Don’t overlook this!) Make your goals measurable with a deadline.

3) Get into action and move into the unknown.

It sounds easy, right?  It’s certainly not complicated.

Goals can be modest or ambitious, depending on the desired result.  The less ambitious the goal is, the more likely it will be that you will stay within the framework of your existing knowledge and thinking.

The more ambitious the goal is though, the more it focuses you beyond your existing knowledge and capabilities.  This is called “developing potential.”  What you become in the process of achieving the goal can be just as important as the result itself!

As people, we are goal setters by nature.  We don’t move from place to place without a goal.  The vast majority of us though do not take advantage of the true power of goal setting and achievement.  Those that do gain courage and confidence to be able to take on ever increasing goals.

It’s easy to say that goal achievers are “lucky.”  Many people do so because it makes them feel better without having to change anything in their lives.  Don’t let this be you!

“Luck in this world, everywhere, all the time, favors goal achievers.”

Become a lifetime goal achiever.  Take ownership and control of your future.  And create the “luck” you want for yourself!

If you would like to experience what  goal planning could do for you, contact me for a no cost, no obligation “boost your results” session!  I look forward to hearing from you.  My contact info is below.

howard@howardlitwak.com

518-664-5033

“What we need is not more knowing, but more doing!”

Many years ago, Charles Schwab, CEO of the Bethlehem Steel Company was talking with a management consultant.  The consultant inferred to helping Schwab’s people gain more knowledge around managing.  

Schwab issued the famous words “What we need around here is not more knowing, but more doing!  If you will help us to do the things we already know we ought to do, I’ll gladly pay you anything you ask!”

Like any smart consultant would do, he took Schwab up on his challenge.  “In 20 minutes, I’ll show you how to get your organization to do at least 50% more” the consultant said.

The advice he gave was as follows:

- Write down and prioritize your 5 most important tasks to complete in the next business day
- Put the list in your pocket until tomorrow when you will take it out and start working on number one
- Look at that item every 15 minutes until it’s done
- Then move on to the next and then the next
- Don’t be concerned if you only finish two or three or even one because you will be working on the most important things

Schwab, who was paid a million dollars per year by Andrew Carnegie for his abilities, said that this was the most profitable lesson he had ever learned.  What was it?  

The organization small or large that understands and executes on the power of focusing on priorities will progress and succeed.

Schwab paid the consultant $25,000 for this advice, which was A LOT of money at the time.  Especially for just a few minutes.  And there you have it for nothing!

Now you just need to do something with it.  If you need some help implementing, just call!

~adapted from “Mastering the Rockefeller Habits” by Verne Harnish

There are most likely at least one or two areas of your business that have gotten a little bit “messy”.  Kind of like your hallway closet.  If you don’t pay attention to it once in a while, it gets cluttered and out of order, right?

Customer focus, sales, inter and intra departmental communications, work flow processes, and employee development are some common areas that need some looking at and “tidying up” as part of quarterly organizational improvement initiatives.  (You do have them, don’t you?)

So, whether your organization is 5 people or 1000, here are three steps you can immediately take to start improving whatever it is that you want.

Let’s say you wanted to improve your customer satisfaction scores.  (You do measure that, don’t you?)

Start with letting everybody in the organization know this is a top priority for improvement.  Then by team or department:

1) Define  what customer service or satisfaction means to the organization.

2) Decide what needs to be done to implement the changes.

3) Decide how you will know that you are there.

See how easy it can be?  You just need a process to follow.  Add to this shifting the mindset of everyone to one of empowerment, thinking, and participation as part of the company culture and you will have a top performing organization before you know it!

What area will you start working on first?

It’s not enough to just have a strategic plan.

It needs to be used as a tool to drive your business forward.

Here are some areas you need to make sure are being addressed effectively in that plan for you and your people to accomplish what you really want.

Poor or sub par professional sellers has a tremendous negative impact on business, regardless of the size.

With poor sellers:

• stress levels are raised
• profits and revenue suffer
• growth is crushed
• morale suffers

Regardless of the size of your business, making sure you are maximizing your potential and not leaving any money on the table requires these two things.  This is like insurance against failure!

This video will show you what they are.

The Problem:

All organizations today face constant changes, uncertainty, new rules and regulations, and increasing customer demands.   Organizations continually need to look for ways and areas to improve in order to gain a competitive advantage.

Yet most organizations, no matter how well run, still have issues with communication, alignment of resources, and management.

The Symptoms

-Departmental or “Silo” mentalities,

-Competition between departments (i.e. “Winners” and Losers”)

-Reactive management (otherwise known as “putting out fires”)

-Lack of strategic direction and focus,

-Short term thinking,

-Internally focused.

The Implications are wide ranging including stress, lack of productivity, customer service and retention issues, poor attitudes, and turnover to name a few.  And these all impact both the top and bottom lines negatively!

What You Can Do!

Get hard data as to where there are “disconnects” within your organization affecting results. The source of the data is the people within the organization. The data provides a tool for identifying specific issues that may need to be addressed in addition to areas of strength which should be capitalized on.

The approach is outcome focused rather than simply measuring non-relevant activities. It is designed to provide data as to how well critical elements are working together to achieve business and strategic goals.  It also identifies which of these critical elements are working against you.  So that you can make strategic decisions on the actions you want to take.

The critical elements include: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer and Market Focus, Knowledge Management, Human Resources Focus, Process Management, and Business Results.

Are you ready to break out of your routines and habits and transform your organization into one which is high performing in all areas?  Contact me today!

Here is the process in more depth:

AREAS COVERED

Leadership: Senior management’s involvement in creating and sustaining values, organizational direction, performance expectations, and a customer focus that promotes performance excellence.

Strategic Planning: How the organization sets strategic direction and how plans are put into action.

Customer and Market Focus: How the organization determines requirements and expectations of customers and how the organization strengthens relationships with customers and determines the level of satisfaction.

Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management:  The use of data and information in the organization to better understand areas for improvement and how the organization is performing.

Human Resource Focus: How Employees are encouraged to develop and utilize their potential and the organizations efforts to build and maintain an environment conducive to performance excellence, full participation, and personal and organizational growth.

Process Management: This category addresses the key aspects of process management to include how key processes are designed, managed, and improved.

Business Results: The organizations performance and improvement in key business areas and how effectively these results are communicated throughout the organization.

Sustainability (optional): How the company employs the competitive business advantage of sustainability and its positive impact on the environment and the organization’s future ability to do business.

Gathering the data:

Two methods are used in gathering the organizational data: Personal interviews and a web-based questionnaire/survey.

The interviews are conducted in order to gain an understanding of the intensity of feelings within the organization.  Typically, they are done over the course of a day. The web-based survey is used to gather the depth of understanding, he views of the employees, and to determine directional trends.  This is done over the course of about 10 days.

Time Line of Key Activities:

• Personal Interviews are conducted.
• Instrument is administered over a period of approximately 10 days.
• Responses are scored.
• Results are presented.  This meeting consists of a discussion of positive and negative influences. Also “Gap” analysis and directional recommendations.

Investment: 

$2500 plus $40 per participant – Includes personal interview time, setup and administering of report, review of scored responses, preparation for report of findings, and debrief of findings including “Gap” analysis and directional recommendations.

Is the timing right to address what is working and not working in your organization?  If so call or email me today to talk about whether this process is right for you.  I can be reached at howard@howardlitwak.com or 518-664-5033.

 I look forward to speaking with you!

Most organizations, no matter how well run, have issues with communication, alignment of resources, and leadership.

Poor or sub par leadership negatively impacts business like nothing else.  Poor leaders:

• kill morale
• increase turnover
• erode profits
• crush productivity

Friday March 2nd 7:30-10:00am @SUNY Adirondack Regional Higher Education Center Room 128

This workshop provides a clear overview and a step-by-step guide explaining how to combine environmental with business sustainability in a “common sense” approach.

Many business leaders, small and large are concerned with how to balance the interests of the environment with the necessity to produce business results. The approach in this workshop outlines how to accomplish both. It is not an either/or approach … One is actually complimentary of the other.

This workshop is instructive and enlightening. Sustainability can be implemented by following a series of logical steps that are strategically driven.

Organizations that recognize that sustainability is not going away and position themselves as sustainable organizations will achieve a sizable competitive advantage. The organizations that capitalize on business sustainability will benefit not just by optimizing resources but by increasing their bottom line!

This highly interactive, hands-on workshop will address:

* What sustainability really means to your business.

* How your business can benefit from planning a sustainability strategy.

* How your business can effectively implement a strategy right away.

* How to create actionable steps specific to your business – steps you can begin to implement immediately to gain profitability and competitive advantages.
COST is $45 for Adirondack Chamber members and $75 for not-yet-members and all reservations made after February 29, 2012.

Reserve your seat by Wednesday, February 29th by printing a registration form HERE or contacting the Adirondack Chamber. Questions may be directed to Howard Litwak at 518-664-5033.

As business people, it is critical to understand how the world is changing around us. It is with this understanding that we can make proactive decisions about strategic direction and actions that we may want to take.

Our world here in the Capital District has been evolving and changing for years as a high tech economy has grown in R & D and now manufacturing.

Here is a presentation on the impact of GlobalFoundries on our community. Down load the text here and follow along on the power point below.