If you’re a cat person, you know that you don’t own your cat – your cat owns you. He only tolerates you living in his house. Sometimes business owners feel the same way – they don’t own their business, their business owns them. A 35 year old veterinarian who attended my seminar yesterday was falling into this rut. I asked her what emotion she feels first thing in the day when she pulls up in the parking lot. I won’t reveal her answer, but I will tell you that she’s way to young to feel that way. So what was Dr. Glenn’s prescription? No, not a vacation. While that IS a good idea, here’s what feels even better for all you small business owners or professionals in private practices who are falling into the same rut. Plan on taking a day off work in a few weeks, preferably a Wednesday or whatever the middle of your regular workweek is. Make it a play day with your husband or wife, but don’t tell your employees where you’re going or what you’re doing. It’s kind of like playing hooky from your own business, and it’s an incredibly liberating feeling when you reaffirm for yourself that your name is on the door for a reason.
Here’s a great example of why it’s a good idea to allow employees to write a rebuttal to a written warning. A manager who attended yesterday’s seminar said the three lines on the form weren’t nearly enough; her employee wrote 5 pages. It’s not hard to predict that when people do this, they’re not writing to convey information. They’re writing to convey emotion, and the emotion is anger. As hard as the employee was working to burn her boss, she opened her mouth, inserted foot, and hung herself out to dry.
For the last few years, managers who attend my seminars have been complaining about Helicopter Parents who come to the job interview along with their young adult children. But a manager who attended yesterday’s seminar brought up the opposite side of the equation, which I have never considered. One of his employees IS the Helicopter Parent who took a half day off of her job in order to go to a job interview with her 16 year old son.
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This morning I sat on I-65 in Louisville for about a half hour while emergency crews cleared the scene of two school buses that collided. Though the injuries were all minor, the congestion and stifled traffic flow was apparent for many miles after the accident scene. Then it hit me. While the accident contributed to the congestion, I’ve been seeing more of this all over the U.S. in the past few weeks, and I think I know why.
Back in 1994, I was speaking at the University of Toledo when someone asked me if people drive faster in Ohio than Tennessee. Interesting question, because we Southerners are slower than northern city dwellers at many things, but it seemed that driving was not one of them. I surmised that the reason interstate traffic in Ohio moves slower than in Tennessee is because the speed limit is the same for trucks and cars in Tennessee, but the speed limit for trucks in Ohio was lower than for cars. (Texas is like this as well).
As the price of diesel fuel has skyrocketed even higher than gas, I’ve read that many truckers are slowing down by 5 mph or more to get better fuel efficiency. As a result, interstate traffic in all states is now experiencing this same slight increase in congestion regardless of the speed limit. Not that it’s a bad idea to slow down and save fuel, but basic laws of physics dictate that this could increase highway accidents. The more differential there is in the velocity multiple objects traveling on the same path, the greater the chance of collision. I wonder if the D.O.T. will monitor whether accidents go up as the price of fuel increases.
Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic, bu I’m totally fascinated with Jenna Bush’s wedding. I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally wanted her to have a White House wedding, though I completely understand her desire for privacy. But that got me to thinking. I wonder how long a sitting President’s daughter has Secret Service protection. They’re going to Europe for their honeymoon, and I’d be more than willing to have my taxpayer dollars cover the cost of Secret Service protection for the bride and groom until they return to U.S. soil even of she no longer has it due to age or marital status. Definitely not the most romantic idea, but if I were President and she were my daughter, it would be a must.
A business owner who attended yesterday’s seminar found himself in one of those situations that every manager wants to avoid and can avoid, but often allow to happen because we all get so busy keeping everything running and putting out fires. He needs to get rid of an employee, but that employee is the only one who knows how to use a certain computer program that ‘s critical to keeping a large contract with a big customer. The solution is to constantly cross train, and always have a Plan B.
I’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on printing and mailing equipment over the years so that we can do most of the printing and mailing of seminar brochures (several million per year) from within in my office/warehouse. This saves a lot of money in the long run, and also allows us to make sure the mailings go out on time, every time.
But every year I still outsource a handful of jobs to at least two outside printers and mailing services. This gives me peace of mind that if all my employees quit tomorrow, the work will still get done, albeit at a higher cost. This also gives us a Plan B if we do fall behind schedule do to a machine being down, or one of my employees being out for vacation. I always test at least two vendors (for every supply or service) against each other so that I know who is most reliable in a pinch.
When we discuss having employees do self evaluations, someone is my seminar inevitably asks how to respond to the employee who gives him or herself all perfect scores. Yesterday a high school principal named Paul suggested a great spin on this. He has job applicants evaluate themselves. If they give themselves all perfect scores, he doesn’t bother going any further with the interview.
Sharon Stinson hit the nail right on the head in her comments on last Tuesday’s Blog about Bill Gates speech (Click here if you missed it).
Jill, who attended yesterday’s seminar, teaches an accounting class at night at a local college. She is dumbfounded by how many kids will argue with her when they don’t like their test scores. They argue that her grading system is wrong, or that it’s just “her opinion” that a balance sheet should balance. She was concerned that she might not be asserting herself enough in the classroom, but it’s not her fault. College professors all over the country are frustrated with Generation Y, which was raised with “relativism” instead of absolutes. They believe that “it’s all good”, nothing is wrong, there is no such thing as evil, everything and everyone should be accepted, and that people just have alternative ways of looking at things. This is a direct result of Baby Boomer and Gen X parents rewarding kids for participation instead of achievement. Once they hit adulthood, it hits back like a ton of bricks when they discover the world doesn’t care about their self esteem, that there are absolutes, and there is a right and wrong way to do things.
A CPA who attended yesterday’s seminar had to fire her receptionist right in the middle of tax season. Not having time to interview and hire another, each accountant had to take turns answering the phone in between doing tax returns. Not what they wanted to do, but an amazing thing happened. Their production actually INCREASED after the disruptive receptionist was gone, and by 75%! Proof that one bad employee can drag down the morale and productivity of everyone around them, and of how people can rise to the occasion when they have to.