The Agenda
There are two agenda’s, your employees and yours. There are 85 items on your employees list including:
- Taking care of the kids
- Holding the marriage together
- Planning holidays
- Planning out a night out
- Finding out who Sue slept with
- Getting to work on time
- How much profit can I make for the company
- And 78 other items
On the other hand you have one item on your list:
- How much profit can we make today?
If you understand and acknowledge this concept, things will work out just fine for everyone, fight against it and it will be emotional, time draining and frustrating.
Work is supposed to be rewarding not fun, this is the key. If you employ the right people by employing slow and firing fast and not the other way around you will be fine.
Be yourself, warts and all. If you are a demanding person, employ thick-skinned who can handle your extremes. If you are lazy, employ people who can accept your laziness.
The Program
We know there are two agenda’s and that’s fine, it’s the way it is, this is because the relationship serves two different purposes:
- Wealth – when you are successful you may have a larger car, a larger house, go on longer holidays etc…
- Power – You can fire your employees, they can’t fire you.
These two factors create resentment. Like it or lump it that’s the way it is. You do have a choice though. You can either have your own program, to achieve your agenda or, if you are lazy, you can allow your employees to have their programme and you run with it. Which would you prefer?
But My Business Is Different
Dan says, this is an argument many business owners come up; or that their employees are different.
“Susan would never do that to me”
Complete B.S! In the right circumstance you can bet she possibly would!
Yes, there are some great employees, but they are rare. The majority have their agenda and it’s different to yours.
Create your own Program - to keep you to your Agenda.
They All Go Lame – Why Dan Fired Himself
Dan owns racehorses; at any one time he had between 15 and 20. He tells a story about horses becoming lame, they will slow down and in the worst cases have to be either sold or put down. It’s just the same for employees.
It’s not a question if. It’s a question when. With racehorses they mostly go lame physically, but some will go lame psychologically. They lose their personal passion, they lose their will to win, or they become very picky about conditions.
Dan fired himself a few years ago, because he went lame, he became bored, irritable, and tired with the many business functions and responsibilities he had. This did not play to his strengths and he became unwilling to hire and manage key people.
He found someone within his clientele who was qualified and willing to move from running a small niche business to running Dan’s business. Dan now does what he wants to do and is working to his strengths.
Broken Windows = Broken Business
The broken window theory was first published in 1982. The idea was that aggressive policing even the pettiest crimes such as graffiti and loitering would clean up a neighborhood and reduce crime because it sent out a message.
Rudy Giuliani served two terms as Mayor of New York City, and was credited with initiating improvements in the city's quality of life and with a reduction in crime. He created a Zero Tolerance Policy for all crime. This worked and cleaned up New York.
How can you apply this to your business?
Quite simply! Don’t allow sloppiness, anywhere; from poor telephone answering to poor attitude. Create positive systems and processes for the small things, and police them. This gives out your message of your programme.
Hired Assets
Dan say’s your employees are hired assets. Now this may sound harsh, but in reality it’s the way it is. Take a look outside the box for a minute, and look at what you really have.
- Why do you hire them?
- What do they do?
- Are they reliable?
- What results do they deliver?
- Are they delivering the results you want?
- Which ones give you your best return on investment?
- Which ones fail to deliver a return on investment?
Answer these questions and make a plan. People are your most valuable and most costly asset. Pay them over the odds, this creates leverage and can be a powerful tool in those times when you don’t get the results you want. Why? Because they will know you pay the best rates for what they do.
Action Points
- Buy the book – it’s a great read!
- Develop your own Program
- Focus on the small things and create a process, then a system and write a manual. This way, if you lose someone, you can easily train their replacement. • Weed out the lame
- Employ slowly and fire quickly
- Focus on key result activities that are important. Work on them with your team and make them work.
- Use best practice. Then create the process and system and write it down in a manual. Would you fly with a pilot who didn’t have a pre-flight check list?
For more on Dan Kennedy’s resources, please click her www.gkwebstore.com/davidhilton