Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Leadership transitions--What could be more vital to a family business to manage well?

Leadership Transitions Panelists: Phil Clemens, Tony Martin, Dana Chryst, and Matt Diller
A diverse family business panel featuring family business principals Phil Clemens, Tony Martin, Dana Chryst, and Matthew Diller will discuss leadership and their views on leadership transitions during the S. Dale High Center's next breakfast seminar on Thursday, January 20, 2011, from 8:15 to 11 a.m.

Leadership transitions in family businesses are potentially volatile events. Typically, there tends to be a serious failure to plan adequately for leadership transitions in family businesses.

Consider these daunting statistics related to family businesses compiled by Key Resources:
  • 88% of family owned businesses plan to stay in the family
  • 47% expect leadership to change within 5 years
  • 42% have not yet chosen successors (of the CEOs 61 years and older, 55% haven't yet chosen a successor)  
  • 13% of the family members said the CEO would never retire; 34% said they were not aware of the successors intentions
  • 20% have not yet completed estate planning
Is there any process more important than transitioning a company from one senior leader to another?

Because each principal represents a different viewpoint and level of responsibility within their family businesses, the panelists will offer wide-ranging experiences and varied expectations and results regarding leadership transitions in their companies.You'll hear from several generations during the "Leadership Transitions" panel--senior executives, rising executives, and next generation executives.

Moderated by S. Dale High Center Executive Director Mike McGrann, the panelists will be asked about some of the processes and best practices they have employed or are employing to ensure successful leadership transitions, and how their family businesses prepared employees and customers, other family members, and themselves for transitioning senior and executive leadership.

A videotape of this event will be available shortly after January 20th through The Network of Family Businesses website. If you live in Central Pennsylvania, and would like more information on this event, call the S. Dale High Center at 717-361-1275.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Relationship Doctor to Serve Women Executives in Family Business

Dr. Rita DeMaria
 relationship expert
Every woman who works in a family businesses knows the unique challenges she faces, whether she's a family member or a non-family principal. Whole books have been written about the particular qualities that women bring to their family businesses to ensure business success and sometimes survival. None are more keenly aware of the dilemmas and conflicts that affect women than the women who work in family  businesses.

That's why we are offering a unique forum at the S. Dale High Center--an Affinity Group for Women and Non-Family Women Executives in Family Business, on three Thursday mornings in 2011 (February 3, April 7, and June 2)--with two new twists.

First, Dr. Rita DeMaria, a renowned therapist and author, is joining the Women's Affinity Group, or face-to-face discussion forum, as a co-facilitator. She brings an invaluable level of communications expertise to help more women realize more success in their family businesses, whatever their roles.

Second twist: Because of Dr. DeMaria's participation, we are opening up the Women's Affinity Group (and only this group) to non-members of the Center in 2011.

For S. Dale High Center members, the Women's Affinity Group is a fee-based program that costs $300/year. The fee for non-members is $500/year, with no requisite for organizational membership to participate in this group in 2010-11. That means, if your family business isn't ready to join the Center, but you'd like to have a valuable forum to discuss issues and professional challenges with other women in family businesses, now you can do just that.

All meetings are held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Elizabethtown College.
We hope you'll consider this wonderful opportunity to realize unprecedented professional success next year through enhanced communications and relationship skills.

If you're a woman executive or non-family woman principal in a family business and would like to enroll in the Women's Group for 2011, please contact us at fbc@etown.edu or call us at 717-361-1275.

Established in 1995, the S. Dale High Center for Family Business is one of largest resources for family businesses in the United States. Created by a group of business people, family business owners, and representatives of Elizabethtown College, the Center is dedicated to bringing the best available resources to family businesses. Serving Southcentral Pennsylvania and beyond, the Center believes that strengthening entrepreneurial families enhances the community and the economy as well. More information is available at the website (www.centerforfamilybusiness.com), by email fbc@etown.edu or by calling 717.361.1275.

Monday, December 6, 2010

'Why Should I Use Social Media?'-- A Guest Post from a Social Media Marketer

Why should I expend
the effort on social media?
Today's guest post, "Managing Reputation and Social Media in a Digital World," is by Kelly Carson, Director of Strategic Marketing, Charter Homes & Neighborhoods

You hear it again and again – social media is the future of business marketing. Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites are experiencing exponential growth, and are gaining prominence in the worlds of marketing and advertising. Most of you already know the basics – a Facebook Page, blog, Twitter account, or LinkedIn profile allows you to talk to current and potential customers and to promote your products, services and latest news. However, for many business owners and marketers, the actual value of social media to their business still seems unclear. Why, you might ask, does my printing firm, landscaping business, B2B supply firm, restaurant, or car dealership need a social media presence?

While I can’t answer each and every objection to spending time on social media, I’d like to tackle one frequent objection I’ve heard – here’s a quick summary:

Why does it even matter if I’m on Facebook or Twitter? Why should I expend effort – and resources! – spending time on sites that are known as “time wasters”? I mean, my customers are on these sites to talk to their friends, and if I start talking to them on Facebook, I’ll just annoy them – or maybe even encourage them to leave negative comments about me!

My response? I believe that social media exists to help people connect in ways that were previously difficult (or impossible!) to do. Want to connect with your best friend from third grade? Just “friend” them on Facebook. Want to vent your frustration with a local restaurant? Tweet away, and Chili’s is listening! The bottom line? No matter what type of firm you are involved with, in order to build relationships with your customers, you need to be present in as many venues where people connect and communicate as you can.

Your customers want a dialogue
and an authentic connection with your company.
Here’s the surprising truth: your customers expect – and even want you to be involved in social media. The capabilities presented by social media have created all new challenges for marketers. No longer can businesses simply “broadcast” a marketing message to customers. These days, your customers want a dialogue – they want to speak directly to the companies that they patronize, and they expect an authentic response from a real person. The more “present” you are where your customers spend their time, the more authentic your connection with them will be! The key for your business is to be where your customers are – whether that is on Facebook, on an online forum, or Tweeting with friends and peers.

You need an active social media presence – and to actively manage your online presence - if you want to know what people are saying about your business and have the chance to respond. In the age of social media, people are becoming increasingly more likely to talk about their experience with your business online. Whether through a tweet, a blog post, an online review, or a comment on Facebook, your customers will find an outlet to express how they feel about you. If you are a member of these sites, you’ll have a greater likelihood of being able to capture – and respond to – these comments. At a minimum, you should take a few minutes to set up free Google Alerts so that you’re notified whenever someone mentions your brand or a keyword related to your brand online.

One additional tip: find someone to keep an eye on your website traffic. Are there a large number of visitors to your webpage from a site you’ve never heard of? If so, check out the URL that they’re coming from – you may be surprised! For example, a few months ago, I noticed a significant amount of traffic coming to our site from a local blog. After doing a little “Googling,” I discovered that the woman who wrote the blog had visited one of our Parade of Homes entries – and then wrote a blog post about how she used it as inspiration as she decorated her own home! As a result, we were able to connect directly with the blogger and share a great review of that home with our other online followers.

Sure, but what if someone complains about my business? I like to think of complaints as “unmade requests.” Rather than ignoring or avoiding your customers’ online complaints, why not address them before they have the chance to fester and grow? People who are unhappy with your business are likely looking for some validation, some sort of response that lets them know that you care. Some of the most successful companies using social media have been able to address their customer’s complaints instantly – just look at Boingo, HP, or Best Buy’s celebrated Twitter customer service efforts. The ability to respond directly to customer complaints is a powerful one. You are reaching out and solving a problem for someone when they are upset or frustrated – meaning that you may just get to be the hero in the story of their customer experience!

Social media: an endeavor worth taking
In the end, while much of social media may still be a “Wild West” yet to be explored and figured out, it’s an endeavor worth taking. Best of luck as you start the conversation!




Charter Homes & Neighborhoods (www.charterhomes.com) is a new home builder based in Lancaster, PA (with a brand new website!) Kelly received her MBA from Harvard Business School in 2010. Originally from Littleton, CO, Kelly has enjoyed working in online marketing and social media since she learned her first snippet of HTML in 2003. You can reach Kelly at kcarson@charterhomes.com.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Partnering with the Network of Family Businesses

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing, S. Dale High Center for Family Business


A longtime professional associate of the S. Dale High Center and friend to family businesses, Dr. Steven K. Moyer has created an exclusive online network connecting family business owners that premiered earlier this year. The Network of Family Business (NOFB) was developed to meet family business owners' limited time and schedules, allowing them to stay on top of trends while building their family legacies.

This partnership gives our members access to their content--online seminars and educational resources--a complimentary service that meshes well with our face-to-face seminars, intimate forums, and other programming.

A few weeks ago, I sampled one of NOFB's virtual learning seminars conducted by family business expert, Dr. Steve McClure called "Critical Issues for Succession Planning in the Family Business." Dr. McClure's slides were illuminating and chock full of content.

Here are just some of the key learnings of interest to family businesses I gained from this seminar:

Is this what your leadership transition looks like?
Key Learning: Succession needs to be managed.


The handoff of a family business is always a source of conflict and is rarely effectively paced, usually happening too fast or not fast enough. Without proper planning, the typical succession scenario can devolve into two buffalo butting heads, ramping up rivalries between the successor and the generation that's stepping down, all of which is highly injurious to stakeholder confidence.


Key Learning: Leadership Transitions should take longer and be more deliberate.
Handing off a business really isn't like passing a baton because we expect that transition to be instantaneous. Handoff needs to be a gradual and progressive transition. A more realistic model regarding leadership transition is needed. Sometimes it can be a 15-year process and will have ups and downs during that time, requiring continual adjustment. Typically, the more that the junior generation says things like, "When are you leaving, Dad?" the more Dad digs in his heels.

Key Learning: Both generations have to make an effort; both contribute to the success of the leadership transition.

One thing that is needed is a different point of view from the successor generation. The successor needs to examine how he or she can be an effective leader in their generation. Focus on learning how to deal and work with the outgoing senior executive. At the same time, the outgoing generation would be wise to consider that letting go of the business doesn't mean leaving. Executives who are most successful at leadership transitions are those who focus not on leaving but on going on to something else.


Key Learning: Put successors to work
on a common task.
 In preparing for a leadership transition, why not give the successor generation a task to complete? Dr. McClure advised putting siblings and cousins together and require them to complete an important task. Also, senior executives may need to provide mentors for those who'll be leading the company in the future. Executive coaches are becoming popular. Forums (like the affinity groups offered by the S. Dale High Center) can be extremely effective in growing the next generation of business leaders.

Those were just a few of the valuable learning points from NOFB's October seminar. For the rest of the presentation, NOFB makes archived versions available--just one of the benefits of the S. Dale High Center's new partnership with the Network of Family Businesses.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Leading in Crisis: Key Takeaways from Latest Family Business Seminar

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing and Member Relations, S. Dale High Center for Family Business

Day to day, some executives never get to directly save lives in the course of running their family business. Then again, their mission isn't shooting astronauts into space and bringing them back alive either.

Make no mistake about it, however. Today's stalled economy shows no signs of catching on fire soon, according to one of the presenters, Scott Heintzelman, a partner with McKonly and Asbury, who is better known by his moniker, "The Exuberant Accountant." Though personal savings are up, the current employment recession shows no signs of abating. It's Heintzelman's prediction that economically businesses will have to accept a new normal, which looks very little like the old economic environment, and that leaders need to adapt their business plans and models accordingly.

Mike McGrann, family business consultant
Leading a family business in today's economic climate may feel manning a rocket launch into outerspace, at least in terms of the risks and pitfalls involved. It's fraught with challenges such as diminished sales, labor shortages, poor employee morale because of layoffs and downsizing, paying for the ever increasing costs of fringe benefits, complying with new regulations, etc. The economic downturn has been cause enough to throw businesses into tailspins and test their ability to lead through crises.

Presenter Mike McGrann, executive director of the S. Dale High Center, suggested that leading in crisis demands that executives ask and answer some hard questions:
  1. Are you honest about the brutal facts? Are you willing to face them?
    A few years ago, US Airways management would not accept responsibility for the severe employee morale problem and slowdowns following a 20% pay cut; and instead of containing the performance problems, they exacerbated their woes--dramatically--imperiling their corporation. "The difference between a good leader and a great leader is the amount of information they receive," says management expert Michael Useem.
  2. Can you let go of the need to be right? Convergent vs. divergent issues.Great leaders build a participatory culture. That means giving team members a voice (though not necessarily a vote), a right to express their opinions and challenge others' assumptions, a role in establishing their goals, and a feeling that their voices are heard. Leaders need to let go of the need to be right. As leaders, they get to make the final call. "Arrogance makes failure," says Millard Drexler, CEO of the Gap, Inc. "Once you think you know the answer, it's almost always over."
  3. Are you willing to conduct "constructive post-mortems" that get to the real cause?Problems are multi-layered and systemic and not linear. There is rarely one single cause for a problem. Leaders are part of the circle that is seeking processes of change and mutual solutions. Ask questions with the goal of seeking knowledge and understanding. "Don't push growth; remove the factors limiting growth," says Peter Senge, organizational learning specialist.
  4. Where is the unique opportunity within the crisis?There are very few quick fixes. At the same time, even crises offer opportunities to examine where business leaders are spending their time:  managing the present, selectively forgetting the past, or creating the future? Typically, leaders, especially those in crisis spend too much time and energy managing the present and selectively forgetting the past. Management expert Peter Drucker has said, "New opportunities rarely fit the way an industry has approached the market, defined it, or organized to serve it."
  5. Have you clarified your values and your vision? You can't make it through a storm without a compass.Effective business leaders have clarified their values and honor certain precepts such as integrity and transparency. Strong leaders have articulated their vision for their organization, too. They have also put practices and procedures in place to ensure their organization feels an urgency for achieving the vision, which shapes everyone's daily thinking. Leaders need to be true to their values, even when it hurts. "A vision provides, both the stability to stay the course and the inspiration to change."
A great summation of a business leader's most important job can be found in The Entrepreneurial Mindset by Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian MacMillan: "Their job isn't to find opportunities or identify critical competitive insights but to create an organization that does these things for you as a matter of course."

Monday, November 1, 2010

World Business Forum provided quality thinking time on important issues

 by Mike McGrann, executive director of the S. Dale High Center for Family Business

One of the benefits of attending the World Business Forum was that it provided a time away from the office in which participants were encouraged to think… rather than do. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, encouraged participants to create time for disciplined thought. He referred to this as “creating white space” in your calendar to think. I know that I spend a great deal of time doing stuff and not enough time thinking about where our Center needs to be in the next five years… about how my classes at E-town need to change… about where I, as an individual, need to grow and change. The few times I have done this since returning from the World Business Forum have been incredibly productive. It is a practice I will continue.


I found several other points raised by Collins to be particularly compelling for leaders:

1. Double your ratio of questions to statements.

2. Continually ask yourself: “How is my industry changing, and what are the brutal facts?”

3. Create a to do list and a NOT to do list and rank it … with no ties allowed.

4. End our obsession with titles – great people have responsibilities, not a title.

5. Companies are more like likely to die of indigestion from trying to swallow too many opportunities… than starve from a lack of opportunities… so FOCUS.

6. Set a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) 10-15 years in the future for your organization.

I also found Al Gore’s discussion of the relationship between climate change and capitalism particularly interesting. Some still doubt whether global warming is occurring, and others doubt that man is the cause of changes in the global climate. But it seems to me that these debates are avoiding one of what Collins calls a “brutal fact”… which is that man is pumping tons of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere. And the other brutal fact is that if you change the inputs to a system, eventually you will change the outputs. How long will this take? Perhaps 5 years, perhaps 50, perhaps 500… but eventually the ecological system of the earth will breakdown if there is no change to our current levels of CO2 output. As Gore pointed out, capitalism’s great challenge and great opportunity is to find ways to address this problem now in a way that creates economic opportunity. Ultimately, policies that inhibit economic opportunity create more poverty and further degrade the planet.

Mike McGrann was one of five business faculty and students attending the 2010 World Business Forum in New York City, representing Elizabethtown College and the S. Dale High Center for Family Business, made possible by The High Companies, headquartered in Lancaster, PA.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

World Business Forum: Confirming one student's professional aspirations

by Hayley Mazzur '12, Business & Economics Major, Elizabethtown College

(L-R) Hayley Mazzur, Dr. Scheiding, Dr. Ciocirlan, & Allan Craven
in front of Radio City Music Hall
Attending the HSM World Business Forum was truly a great experience.

As a college student, it was very inspirational to listen to some of the most successful people in the business world. I really enjoyed listening to speakers like Jim Collins, Martin Lindstrom, Joseph Grenny, and Nando Parrado, hearing them talk about important topics such managerial skills, marketing, economics, decision- making, and success.

This opportunity confirmed my future interest in business.


Hayley was one of two students and three faculty members attending the 2010 World Business Forum, representing Elizabethtown College and the S. Dale High Center for Family Business, made possible by The High Companies, headquartered  in Lancaster, PA.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Business leaders hold the world in their hands: Reflections on the 2010 World Business Forum

Dr. Cristina E. Ciocirlan, Assistant Professor of Management, Elizabethtown College

Attending the World Business Forum in New York City helped reinforce valuable truths about leading organizations in the 21st century. In a global world, where emerging economies are becoming increasingly powerful, leading organizations poses unique challenges that require unprecedented creativity.

Al Gore spoke of the rising importance of China in renewable energy development, while Marvin Odum, President of Shell Oil Company, spoke of the importance of being socially responsible in addressing climate change. An example of Shell’s social responsibility is that the company charges itself $40 for every ton of carbon dioxide it generates and spends a tremendous amount of R&D funds in renewable energy.

Jim Collins and James Cameron spoke about the value of humility in leadership, about giving your team credit for success and blaming yourself for failure. James Cameron stated that creativity requires persistence and scouting for ideas anywhere (as an example, the movie Avatar took 15 years to make and required the collaboration of specialists in fields as diverse as Anthropology, Astrophysics and Languages).

Humble, compassionate leaders, who are able to leverage the creative potential of their team, are needed to lead today’s organizations. I really enjoyed attending the Forum and sharing these valuable insights with my students.

Dr. Ciocirlan was one of five faculty members and students attending the 2010 World Business Forum, representing Elizabethtown College and the S. Dale High Center for Family Business, made possible by The High Companies, headquartered  in Lancaster, PA.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Stepping into a global businessman's shoes at the World Business Forum

by Allan Craven '11, International Business/Spanish Major at Elizabethtown College

Attending the 2010 World Business Forum while still an undergraduate gave me the chance to step into the life of a global businessman seeking to improve his or her company strategy by analyzing the feasibility of various speakers' ideas on innovation, relationships, and creativity.

I felt truly honored to be in a room with so many esteemed executives while still a student, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to hear from such well-known speakers on topics relevant to the business world today. I particularly enjoyed the presentations by Jim Collins on building greatness within a company, Jack Welch about employee incentive and reward, and Al Gore on the relationship between business and the environment.

I know that this conference gave me the valuable chance to see where pertinent issues can be applied to business at the company level before I even enter the job market.

Allan was one of five Elizabethtown College students and faculty members attending the 2010 World Business Forum in New York City, a program underwritten by The High Companies.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Learning outside one's discipline--World Business Forum reflections by an economist

by Dr. Thomas Scheiding, Assistant Professor of Economics, Elizabethtown College

The 2010 World Business Forum at Radio City
As an economist, I was intrigued first and foremost by the economists speaking at the World Business Forum (WBF): Joe Stiglitz and Steve Levitt. While their insights on the performance of the economy and the value of the discipline of economics in a time of heightened uncertainty were valuable, I can't help but remind myself of comments by the likes of Jim Collins and Carlos Brito. 

Collins' remarks made me think repeatedly of what it takes to achieve greatness and what can be done to identify a time within an organization when the institution is on a downward trajectory.  I can certainly think of many companies where good things were being achieved and quite suddenly a downfall began. Collins reminded us that the seeds of a fall from greatness are planted long before the downfall begins and that it is important not to be lulled into complacency.  

Carlos Brito, CEO on Anheuser-Busch InBev, implicitly puts into practice principles that make a company great.  It was amazing to hear him speak of how he took Anheuser-Busch and its culture and both learned from that company and took the time to teach what the culture was of InBev during the merger of the two companies.  Teaching employees about a company's principles and ensuring that those principles are put into practice is one way that Anheuser-Busch InBev has been working to grow and not lose its greatness.  

Upon leaving the WBF, what I unexpectedly found is that I took more away from the non-economists than the economists.

Dr. Scheiding was one of five faculty members and students attending the 2010 World Business Forum, representing Elizabethtown College and the S. Dale High Center for Family Business.

Friday, October 22, 2010

2010 World Business Forum chatter

Three business faculty members and two business students at Elizabethtown College attended the 2010 World Business Forum in New York City. You can read their observations about the event on Monday. Until then, here's some of our favorite posts by bloggers attending the event:

Lessons From The World Business Forum by Kris Ruby: "Being at the WBF was like watching ''The Social Network.'' I left feeling energized, empowered and ready to create something huge . . ."
Charlene Li on Social Networks by Kathie at Fleishman Hillard: "The only way you can get people to go in your direction is to lead them."

A Funny Thing Happened During the Forum by Jill Hart: "Before anyone had taken the stage, I knew that hearing from leaders like Jim Collins, A.G. Lafley and Jack Welch would certainly make for a memorable experience."

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Learning from a book about visionary family businesses

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing, S. Dale High Center for Family Business

The S. Dale High Center offers a Generation Next Affinity Group for young people committed to their family businesses. We meet every other month between October and June to discuss issues concerning their work and work life as they prepare to assume responsibility for running their family businesses.

Since one of the members requested more information on best practices, for the last several meetings we have discussed Managing in the Long Run: Lessons in Competitive Advantage from Great Family Businesses by Danny Miller and Isabelle LeBreton-Miller (Harvard Business School Press) as part of our work in this group.

Thus far we have learned about four categories of exemplary family businesses:
  • Brand Builders
  • Craftsmen
  • Operators
  • Innovators
According to the authors, Brand Builders are image masters who create perceptions of themselves and their prompts that prompt customers to buy from them. Estée Lauder, Hallmark Inc., and L.L. Bean, Inc., are all family businesses who have created a brand that is highly sustainable as a competitive resource. The authors stated that Estée Lauder dominates the United States cosmetics markets with a 40 to 45 percent share. Hallmark lays claim to 55 percent of the U.S. market and is the only brand name card 80 percent of Americans can name. Miller and Le-Breton-Miller stated that L.L. Bean is the world's number one outdoor specialty products and sport catalogue retailer. Each of these companies, several generations old, had the vision to make choices in brand building that would position them competitively in the market. They committed themselves to offering a distinctive product that creates an emotional link with customers and to promote that product in unconventional ways--Hallmark, for instance, was told they can't sell a greeting card by turning it over and reading the name of the company that created it, which is exactly what they've done since the 1930s Hallmark they first advertised their cards on the radio.

The Craftsmen are family controlled businesses for whom nothing less than perfection is acceptable. They craftsmen they cited included the Adolph Coors Company, The New York Times Company, and Nordstrom, Inc., to name a few. Craftsmen adopt the highest standards for their products, are willing to wait years for decent ROI, and are known to sacrifice a great deal just to do things right. The pursuit of quality has served as their conduit to sustaining their reputation and economic well-being of the family.

The Operators focus on efficiency, making great use of routines, procedures, and automation to sustain their efficient model. Cargill, IKEA, and Tyson have all refined their operations based on sustaining a vision of an economy-driven business model that targets value-sensitive clients. Operators are also highly committed to consistent senior leadership.

The last group we studied were the Innovators, or family controlled businesses who have distinguished themselves by taking risks and by continually challenging the frontiers of their industries. Corning, Fidelity, and Motorola were all mentioned as Innovators for whom renewal is a guiding precept. They exhibit an unfailing discipline, committing unprecedented resources to R&D, to sustaining a culture of creative new ideas that keeps moving the company forward.

No matter the category, all these extraordinarily family businesses possessed guiding principals--a vision--of the kind of company they wanted to be and what they needed to do, in the long run, to get there. The family businesses have embraced different paths to success, carefully examining what kind of business they wanted to be, based on their values, staking their reputation, their viability, on their values and vision.

What is your vision for your family business? Have your staked your business model to your vision, your operations, your brand?

Harvard Business Review Press has made an excerpt of Managing in the Long Run available here.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Simple, eloquent, practical--author Bo Burlingham inspires with six precepts for great businesses

by Gale E. Martin, Director of Marketing, S. Dale High Center for Family Business

Someone once relayed an anecdote about a well-respected navy admirable, much admired for his military acumen, for his courage, but above all, for his leadership. What was the secret to his success, he was asked.

The admirable relayed the following story: Every day, he goes to his personal safe, takes out a piece of paper, unfolds it and reads this message:

Port-left. Starboard-right.

So, there you have it. Simple precepts reinforced daily made this navy man one of the most admired leaders in our modern day.

In the same way, Bo Burlingham, author of Small Giants: Companies Who Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, identified a half-dozen qualities common to the great businesses he studied. He shared them with his signature blend of credible enthusiasm during his presentation to the S. Dale High Center membership yesterday at a breakfast seminar at the Lancaster Marriott.

Were the guiding principles that Bo shared unwieldy and complex? Were they radically different messages for seasoned business leaders? Frankly, they could not have been more simple. Most likely, many of them have already been intuited by business leaders who have enjoyed a measure of success.

Yet, according to member evaluations, they found Bo's simple message compelling and reaffirming. Basically, Bo said that the businesses he explored for Small Giants all had an off-the-charts kind of "mojo," or business charisma, resulting from the synergy of six factors:
  1. The leader factor--owners and leaders know who they are, what they want out of business and why
  2. The community factor--the companies are rooted in the communities in which they do business.
  3. The customer/supplier factor--the companies enjoy close personal relationships with their customers and suppliers.
  4. The employee factor--the customers come second. Employees come first.
  5. The (missing) margin factor--the companies have a sound business model and protect their gross margins.
  6. The passion factor--the owners and leaders are in love with what their companies do.
None of those precepts is complex though I'll admit one of them is provocative. I'd never heard the counsel to put employees before customers though it is apparently the central premise of the book Nuts: Southwest Airlines' Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success by Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg.

By embodying the six factors Bo identified, the small giants he studied surmounted incredible odds and obstacles felling other good and near-great businesses--challenges such as competition from giant corporations, the humblest of humbling beginnings, and crushing debt, to name a few. 

Following Bo's talk, in response to the question, "What did you find most valuable about the presentation?" attendees said things like:

  • A great perspective on the importance of culture in making a great company;
  • Bo's confirmation of the importance for community involvement;
  • He reinforced the need to maintain and grow company culture; and
  • After listening to Bo, he made me feel as though I can move forward as a leader in a small family business as an employee not family member.
More than a few guests mentioned the practical wisdom of Bo's presentation.

Sometimes, keeping your family business on course to success, to realizing its potential, can be as simple as reminding yourself daily of what's truly important: Employees. Community. Customers/Suppliers. Leadership. Passion.

Leading a family firm might simply be a case of telling yourself "port-left; starboard-right" more often than you think anyone needs to hear it.

For slides of Bo's presentation from the S. Dale High Center website, click here. For a link to another great summary of Bo's presentation by Scott Heintzelman, "The Exuberant Accountant," click here.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Quote of the week


“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” 
-- Jack Welch
 
           

Thursday, September 16, 2010

3 things values can do for family businesses

At a recent meeting with a third generation family business, it became apparent that the values that drive their business—the organizational culture around how they treat customers and employees, i.e., what’s important in the workplace—had never been set down on paper. When questioned about it, they explained that everyone at their place of business understood their values intuitively—that writing them down hadn’t been necessary.

Occasionally, when led by a strong first generation family business leader, businesses can get around clearly articulating your family values with little negative impact. However, when leadership passes to the successor generation without intentionally articulating and sharing their values, that company risks a scenario where the employees are all marching in different directions, as if to different drumbeats. If that’s disastrous for a marching band, it takes an even heavier toll on any family business’ ability to compete and be successful.

To put it simply, everyone within your organization needs to know the drumbeat. They need to know how to march. Just as surely as the drum major must lead with his baton, it is the responsibility of family business leadership to move from intuitive to intentional by driving organizational values into their organization, especially in successor generations.
How can strong organizational values impact your family business? Here's three ways:
  1. It can improve your top line. What do customers want? Unless they are buying a commodity product, they want to be treated well and with respect. And that only happens when your employees feel as though they are treated well and with respect. Contented employees equals happy customers. Happy customers want to do business with organizations that make doing business pleasurable. If customers and employees are treated well by a company, it is no coincidence. These companies have a really strong culture built on a foundation of well defined values.
  2. It can improve your bottom line. Good values also reduce costs by improving productivity and reducing turnover. Firms that have strong values and deliberately drive those into the business have less turnover than their competitors. Values-driven companies have significantly less turnover than their competition. There is a clear bottom line impact from reduced turnover. The cost of turnover has been reasonably estimate at 150% of salary because of expenses such as recruitment, training, low productivity and new hires.
  3. It can make you feel great about where you work. What could be better than coming in the door every day to a place you want to be, where you feel passionate about the work you're doing and where meaningful relationships are growing right alongside profitability.
Values-based organizations support a vision for the kind of workplace in which you and your employees want to spend the better part of your day and the best years of your lives. It isn't easy to uphold your organizational values day in and day out. It means making tough decisions in terms of hiring, firing, incentive structures, and employee compensation and evaluation. But the outcomes justify the extra effort.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Some final thoughts on Social Media

As summer gasps its last breath in the US Northeast, it's about time to conclude our Social Media Summer posts on "High Ground." Before we resume more conventional topics for a family business blog, it is worth mentioning that even if family businesses, most especially B2B's, don't see a lot of potential for social media marketing in the near future, they need to be aware of what other businesses, large and small, are doing and why.

Here's a handful of great articles from a fantastic website called Social Media B2B: Exploring the Impact of Social Media on B2B Companies worth your perusal:

This concludes your summer reading from your friends at High Ground!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Quote of the week

“Those who ignore the party/conversation/network when they are content and decide to drop in when they need the network may not succeed. It’s pretty easy to spot those that are just joining the network purely to take – not to give. Therefore, be part of the party/conversation/network before you need anything from anyone.”
– Jeremiah Owyang, Web-Strategist.com

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Facebook means business

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing and Member Relations at the S. Dale High Center for Family Business

Today I read an interesting blog post at Inkling Media called, "But My Customers Aren't on Facebook."

The article was so titled because many in the small business world (and that might also pertain to the family business world) aren't on Facebook and thereby assume their customers aren't there either. Essentially, the author made the argument that yes, your customers most likely are on Facebook by examining numbers alone:

The U.S. currently has a population of about 310 million. Of those, about 60 million are under the age of 13 (the age at which you are legally permitted to join Facebook). That means there are 250-million Americans are technically able to be on Facebook. Now consider that nearly 132 million Americans ARE on Facebook.

In other words, more than half the available population in the U.S. is on Facebook.

Still, the disconnect that "customers aren't on Facebook" continues. For how long? In the case of Facebook and many social media, numbers speak louder than words. Facebook users are estimated at 500 million. How much larger does it have to grow before businesses acknowledge that yes, their customers are hanging out on Facebook?

If you are a retailer targeted a geographic customer base, Facebook even has a nifty way of identifying how many Facebook users within a 10, 25, or 50 mile radius are interested in your product. This customer engine is free to use and is found on the Advertise on Facebook page. Though the engine is used to create an ad, you don't need to follow-through and purchase Facebook ads to use it.

Here's an example. Let's say you are a family-owned business that does home remodeling located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Using Facebook's ad engine, you can enter some data and quickly calculate the the number of Facebook users within 50 miles who are interested in Home Renovations, Remodeling My Home, Home Design and Home Building.

In this case, there were 100 potential new customers talking about home remodeling on Facebook, who live within your service area. How many more remodeling jobs would make your year a profitable one? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? How many potential customers could you be cultivating through a Facebook presence or Facebook ads?

Like Twitter, it costs absolutely nothing to open an account and have a presence on either of those social media.

In part two of "Facebook means business," we'll look more closely at Facebook ads and how to use them.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Quote of the week

“You are the tool for social media, Twitter is just an app for you to grow and influence your society.”
– Razan Khatib

Friday, August 13, 2010

The Twuth about Twitter, part deux

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing and Member Relations at the S. Dale High Center

Since numbers of Twitter users are growing even faster than numbers of Facebook users, it's time well spent investigating how businesses, large and small, are using Twitter. (Or in reading a blog post by someone who's been studying up on Twitter.)

One of the things I really value about Twitter are the links to great content readily available. Nearly every worthwhile news and business news publication is on Twitter and posts links to their news: Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, New York Times, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc. Magazine.

I follow all these publications and numerous others. In very little time, I can scroll down my feed and find several things that would be of interest to family businesses or those who work with family businesses. Besides posting our own Tweets on Facebook, I use content I find via the Twitter feed to post on the S. Dale High Center's Facebook page. So, if you've already made the leap to an organizational Facebook page, Twitter can be a great resource for valuable content. And, if I repost a link to their content, it's a win-win in the Google Juice arena--they get more, we get more.

If you don't want trivial and useless information coming through your Twitter feed, you need only be selective about who you follow, or simply "unfollow" anyone whose not offering the content value you're seeking.

Business2Consumer uses of Twitter
If you are a family business with retail operations, Twitter has so many uses:
  • Post links to daily or weekly specials detailed on your website, driving more people to that that website you spent so much time and money creating. 
  • Provide instantaneous customer service by responding to anyone who says anything about you. (Remember Lauren's experience with Dunkin' Donuts on Twitter, and they got back to her--even game her a nickname--"Latte Lauren"). You can subscribe to a service like Social Oomph and receive a list of anyone who mentioned you, or just use the @ feature built-into Twitter to know where your company is being mentioned instantaneously.
  • Promote upcoming special events.
  • Host a contest and offer prizes to someone who can answer a question about your product or from one of your advertisements.
  • Provide a link to a discount coupon.
The only caveat I would offer is that in between promoting your company, take time to respond to customers. Time invested is well spent. Spend as much time talking about others as you do yourself, and you'll be a valued member of the Twitter community. Twitter is a no-cost customer service tool that can be as effective as your telephone. Maybe better--you have to pay for phone use.

If you're not sure how to use Twitter for your retail business, here is a list of retail practices and retailers on Twitter. Follow them and watch what they're doing. You'll soon be expanding on their ideas or come up with ideas of your own, based on your resources.

Business2Business uses of Twitter
  • Post job openings with a link (bit.ly) back to your careers page.
  • Post new product announcements with a link back to your page.
  • Check out the Tweets of new hires or, even better, future hires.
  • Search company name to see what is being said about you.
  • Use Twitter to make connections with executives you haven't been able to connect with otherwise.
  • Respond to industry leaders about their Tweets--relationship building.

At present, opening a Twitter account is free to anyone. I've heard rumblings that may change for commercial users, but the only costs at present are opportunity costs. If you decide to have a Twitter presence, from what other marketing functions will you draw the time and the people to do so? 
If you are interested in social media, I would advise you to think about whether you have the personnel to make your Twitter presence truly personal and authentic, and whether you can stay active. Having an inactive account is almost worse than no account at all. 
Twitter has great search engine optimization potential. If you are a retailer and have been talking about how to ramp up hits to your website, you really should see if Twitter is a fit for your organization.

If you'd like more information about Twitter uses for family businesses, don't hesitate to send me an email at marting@etown.edu.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

The twuth about Twitter

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing and Member Relations

I'm sure you've heard them--the Twitter jokes. Usually they are told by non-Twitter users. TV personality Conan O' Brien joked, “I hear YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are merging to form a super-social media site – YouTwitFace.”

Even President Obama joked that Twitter could replace the Cold War-era red phone after he heard Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also set up a Twitter account.

Whatever you think about Twitter or Twitter jokes, business leaders and marketing communications managers need to be aware of that numbers of Twitter users are growing exponentially. Social media consultant Jeff Pester has predicted that Twitter (now 250M and years later into the game) will beat Facebook (500M) to 1 billion monthly active users.

Why is Twitter growing so fast and why should you care? I mean you have a family business to run, right? You can't be playing with the latest Web 2.0 craze while there's real work to do! One reason Twitter is growing so fast is that its search engine potential is lightning fast. Millions more people are turning to Twitter for real-time information about things that matter to them--news, sports, weather, entertainment. If you've invested in Google Ad words as part of your online marketing strategy, you need to consider that Twitter may outstrip Google in search potential sooner rather than later. Also, Twitter is simple and fast to use in sharing information. It is the most accessible micro-blogging platform currently available.

As to the second question, why you should care, forward-looking businesses know marketing potential when they see it: Consumers are talking about products and services on Twitter, and businesses with a presence on Twitter have the opportunity to respond and engage customers more quickly than ever.


"In the past, companies would hire a market research firm to understand their audience," says Mike Hudack, CEO of Blip.tv, a New York-based video website. "Now we use Twitter to get the fastest, most honest research any company ever heard — the good, bad and ugly — and it doesn't cost a cent," he says.

With Twitter, any business leader can monitor every mention about them and see exactly what people are saying. Smart business people can use it to ramp up their customer service and in turn develop loyal customers. Consider the case of my friend Lauren, who will ever hereafter be a Dunkin' Donuts customer because of their outstanding customer service via Twitter. Read all about Lauren's watershed experience here.

You can even Tweet information about services and products your company is thinking of offering and get instantaneous feedback about whether they're worth your company's time and energy to pursue.

At the very least, you owe it to your family business to know where your current and future customers are hanging out. In part two of "The twuth about Twitter," I'll talk about both B2B's and B2C's are currently using Twitter with customers, consumers, and other publics.

Monday, August 2, 2010

The 4-1-1 on Google Juice

PK Dennis of Die-Tech, Inc.
When the marketing director for Die-Tech, Inc., (one of the S. Dale High Center's member companies), PK Dennis gave her presentation on Social Media for our family business community this spring, she mentioned "Google Juice." And I have been intrigued by the term ever since.

What is Google Juice?
Google Juice (or in more official circles--Search Engine Optimization) is the virtual substance which flows between web pages through their hyperlinks, in both directions! (Notice in the preceding paragraph I have four hyperlinks embedded in the text--just look for the underlined copy for live links). Pages with lots of links to them acquire more Google Juice; pages which link to highly juicy pages--pages with great content which are highly ranked--can acquire additional Google Juice.

Google Juice, in essence, is the value that Google gives to your site, for having a valuable link from a good site. The value adds up for each link, and you get better search rankings!

 Why should you care about Google Juice?
Googlebots will crawl and index your site more often if you have inbound links. Google Juice will help your site be more popular with Internet browsers like Google--though Bing is another popular browser that operates much the same way and responds to SEO techniques.

If you want to attract more visitors to that beautiful brand-spanking new website you've just invested untold thousands of dollars into (and believe me--you do want more hits), Google Juice or search engine optimization should be a primary concern for your marketing/communications/IT people.

How to create more Google Juice?
I can tell you, from having done some SEO research in the past, that posting content regularly is important for best SEO or for kickin' Google Juice. So, if you venture into Social Media, try to carve out time to post content regularly for optimal results.

There is actually a free downloadable report called "Fast and Easy Search Engine Ranking" available at a blog called Google Juice. I merely sent them my work email address, they sent me a confirmation notice and I downloaded the report within seconds of receiving the confirmation. The report contains more specific information than "update content regularly," on how to maximize your Google Juice or SEO and link building.

Here's some other great links I found on fortifying your Google Juice:

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Social Media: A view from the intern's chair

By Joe Flanagan, Intern, S. Dale High Center for Family Business

Before joining the Center for Family Business this summer, my social media knowledge was limited. Sure I was a college student familiar with the evolving Facebook, but my understanding of the broader social media network was not terribly deep. Coming to the Center for Family Business two months ago has expanded my knowledge and has allowed me to experience the business world first-hand. More specifically, I believe I am not only capable in social media, but even social media savvy.

In addition to working with the business Facebook page and website, I have become acquainted with other social media tools such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Before this summer I had never worked with either of these networks, and now I have a LinkedIn account that has already acted as a start-up instrument for my professional career. The ability to use this is an asset that I now possess and am thankful of the Center for Family Business. With technology improving every day, I am now of understanding how vital social media is in the professional world.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Quote of the week -- social media

“ATA – be AUTHENTIC, be TRANSPARENT, be ALTRUISTIC, and you will find enough success in social media to have a satisfying career and experience.”
– Nils Montan

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Summer of social media on "High Ground" . . .

by Gale Martin, Director of Marketing and Membership, S. Dale High Center for Family Business

If you're not heading out for the beach anytime soon but would like a chance to play with fun stuff and bask in a little quick success, why not consider investigating some social media tools this summer right here on "High Ground"?

I liken Social Media to beach toys and sunbathing not because I don't think it's important. I do. In fact the marketing director from one of our member companies, Die-Tech, Inc. and I gave two seminars to members this year to make them aware of the freight train that is Social Media. Family businesses need to know about the extent of its use in business and the degree to which customers are relying on Social Media to conduct business.

Click here for slides from the High Center's Social Media seminar.

How important is Social Media becoming to conducting business in the 21st century? Some, like this online expert, would say vitally important:


"If you don’t have a web presence, your competitors will overtake you. You’ll miss out, without ever knowing about it," say the experts at Kendall Copywriting.

I mention Social Media in the same context as summer fun because it is entertaining, learning about these tools and developing fans and followers. And hunting down little blue birds in search of Twitter banners to post on your website. And for those who've tried to log on when Twitter is over-capacity, even sighting the smiling #failwhale (below) has entertainment value.
Social media use in the era of Web 2.0 is growing exponentially. The latest estimates put Facebook users topping 450 million.

So, in July and August, "High Ground" will look at each of these Social Media tools/sites with an eye toward sharing best practices and other tips.

Stop back soon. Beach pails, smiling white whales and royal blue birds are all welcome. In the meantime, if you need a primer on why you should be paying attention to Socialnomics, watch this video below:


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