Diamonds to You

Someone just asked me if it was OK to send copies of my newsletters, or articles contained in them, to colleagues. YES, please do! As long as you are letting them know what you send comes from me.

I’d love to increase the membership of this newsletter—and your sending items you find of interest to your colleagues helps me get the word out—and is also a potential referral source. You might consider asking them if they wish to subscribe to the newsletter themselves.

Of course your friends and colleagues are welcome to visit my website and find all back issues of the newsletter.

Oh, before I forget—we goofed last month and forgot to add the article I wrote from my talk to CEOs. We did provide the link to the article on my website though, so many of you might have already read it. If you didn’t and now want to read So You Want to Be A CEO: Basics In Entrepreneurship and Launching a Startup, you can hit the link here, and/or scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter and you will find the complete text.

TV Interview

Issues Today, a weekly TV program interviewed me recently about my management theories and the problems facing CEOs and other executives in Silicon Valley today. It was a half hour interview conducted by Tom Buckholtz and Frank Jewett and appeared a few Wednesdays ago at 7:30 PM on the Comcast Community channel. I am getting a copy of the dvd and will be glad to send it to anyone interested for $30.00 (that’s what it will cost me).

Holiday Celebrations

Tis the season to eat too much, party too much, enjoy friends and family a lot. I hope everyone is taking full advantage of the season and having a wonderful time, without stress and without gaining too much extra weight.

My tips are simple. Don’t take on unnecessary obligations. Don’t try to do it all yourself—ask for help, get caterers and pre-prepared foods, and go to great restaurants. Oh yes, and do eat too much, but only of the foods you love—cutting back on everything else.

For me, the holidays have additional fun and excitement. Not only do I celebrate anything I can find, including Halloween, Thanksgiving, Chanukah, Xmas and New Year’s, I have several birthdays to celebrate during December and January including my own. Parties, parties, and more parties to look forward to enjoying.

New Year’s and Its Resolutions

Yes, we all fall victim to making resolutions each year. Some of us do it sensibly, while others make these grandiose and impossible to meet resolutions. I thought it might be helpful to provide you with my list of Goal Setting and Time Management Tips to make your resolution making more successful this year.

Book to Read

If you haven’t already read it, please read The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell. He talks about how little things make a big difference and uses concepts of Mavens, Connectors, Stickiness, and Context. He also shows how “epidemics” are created. This is a great book for anyone interested in learning how to make change.

My favorite examples are how Paul Revere saved Boston and how New York City was turned from falling apart to the great city it was in the past—and is again. Just reading these examples makes the book worthwhile—but you really ought to read the whole book—it’s worth your time.

Workshops and Speeches

After having given my October presentation about CEOs and Entrepreneurship to the Korean organizations, I was invited back to give them a talk on Management, dealing with “the home office in Korea,” working in a diverse environment and of course, time management and goal setting. This talk went well and hopefully will lead to some on-going workshops for these groups which meet in San Jose at iPark.

One of their major challenges is going from management of a homogeneous population to management of a diverse one—understanding how to work with people who are different from you, expect different things, behave differently and have other life experiences is indeed a great challenge.

The Silicon Valley Objectivist Society is meeting on Sunday Sept. 10th and I am the speaker of the evening. I will be giving them a somewhat tongue in cheek talk about sex, since it is their 69th meeting.

On January 16th, Tuesday from 10:30 to 1:30 I will be speaking at the meeting of CSIX. Once again I will be helping their membership learn how to make more effective presentations, create better resumes, develop more powerful professional images and participate in successful interviews. The public is welcome to attend any of these Tuesday CSIX meetings which are held in Sunnyvale at the Sichuan Chinese Restaurant on Stevens Creek Blvd. at Blaney Avenue in Cupertino.

Although the dates have not yet been confirmed, I will be offering a series of workshops through the Silicon Valley Economic Development Center. They serve under-privileged populations of people wishing to better themselves through small business development. I’m also writing grant requests for SVED—so if you know of foundations that fund micro-entrepreneurship for minorities and poor people, please let me know about them.

So, how can I help you?

My clients are so good to me! Here’s something another client said about me:

ArLyne’s instinctive ability to very quickly understand the crux of the issues that management has either overlooked or not acknowledged has set her apart from the majority of consultants with whom I have worked over the last 20 years.
    – George Cameron, SamTrans Chief Administrative Officer

Recent Publications

My two published books are available at www.ProductivePublications.com.

• Training Your Board of Directors: A Manual for the CEOs, Board Members, Administrators and Executives of Corporations, Associations, Non-Profit and Religious Organizations
• The “Please” and “Thank You” of Fundraising for Non-Profits: Fifteen Essential Ingredients for Success

Goal Setting and Time Management Tips

By ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D. - Consultant to Management

1. Goals are those “end-points” you set for yourself. They are your destinations and since they tell you where you are going, they enable you to create the road-map to get there.
2. Goals and road maps should be in writing—it makes them real. Having a specific place to record them, modify them and check them off is always useful.
3. Road-maps, sometimes called business and/or marketing plans, are the specific steps you have to take in order to achieve your goals. It is really important to create a road-map and look at near distance, medium distance, and long-range distance goals.
4. Once you’ve created your road-map, set your course and make sure you do those things that you need to do in order to reach your goals.
5. Goals should be positive, specific, a call to action and have time deadlines.
6. Use Present Tense and motivational I am or I will or I am doing not I hope to or I want to.
7. It’s helpful to know and record the benefits each goal will give you.
8. Review your goals daily and picture yourself achieving them.
9. Reward yourself when you achieve your goals—but keep those rewards realistic. No mink coats for making ten phone calls. On the other hand, M&M’s aren’t good enough when you land the big contract you’ve been working towards for the last six months.
10. Set and keep priorities—label things ABCD (Extremely Important - Important - Need to Do - and Do Eventually) and do those things that are most important during your best times of day.
11. Don’t be rigid—allow the priorities to shift but don’t give yourself away at anyone and everyone else’s trivial request.
12. Remember too, there are always obstacles. These should not stop you. It’s helpful to anticipate obstacles, plan for them, and have strategies for overcoming them, going around them, through them, or above them.
13. Allow yourself time to think. Thinking, planning, organizing, deciding, writing lists—these are all extremely important activities. They allow you to get much more done in the long run.
14. Time Management Systems are merely lists created by others than make it simpler for you to keep your information in order. Wander around stationery stores and find those that please you. You can use computerized systems and/or paper systems. I often design my own.
15. Control Interruptions—especially the unimportant ones. People often carve a few hours out of their day for uninterrupted work. No e-mail, no telephone calls, and no-one coming in their door (or cubicle) at those times. Sometimes it is necessary to put a sign or funny (but meaningful) signal at the door to warn people off during those times—but also to let them know they are invited to come back at other times.
16. Take your personal needs/wants/wishes seriously and schedule them into your day..
17. Schedule specific time to worry and/or obsess and stick to the schedule.
18. Delegate effectively.
    • Delegate in planned stages
    • Teach each stage and get consistently positive results before moving to the next stage.
    • Don’t try to get a square peg into a round hole—you’ll make yourself crazy in the process.
    • Teach the difference between blame, fault-defending, and problem-solving.
    • Offer constructive criticism—and most important of all—compliment and reward outstanding performance.
    • Compliment in public, criticize in private.
    • Manage the delegation (macro, not micro)—always know what’s happening and what resources are needed for success.
19. Balance—balance your work, your time, your life. Be sure to replenish yourself because other wise you won’t have enough to give to others.
20. Recognize that everything takes at least twice as long as you thought it would.

So You Want to Be a CEO

Basics in Entrepreneurship: Launching a Startup

In preparation for this talk to you tonight, I questioned a number of the CEOs with whom I’ve worked and I asked them two questions:

I: What are the most important ingredients to be a successful CEO?

II: What do you need to do—and to know to launch a successful startup?

There was much consistency in their answers, which I will share with you. Let me start though with a story.

I: Ingredients of Successful CEO

When working with a CEO a few years ago, he mentioned that his most important job each day was to come into the office with positive energy and a smile on his face. “I create the atmosphere in the office every day. I cannot afford to appear to be tired or in a bad mood. I must always be up and energized.”

I agree: One of the critical ingredients for a successful CEO is to be a positive, inspiring leader. As another CEO put it: “Always be gung-ho about the company’s future.” This ability is part of what we mean when we talk about Charismatic Leadership.

Charismatic Leadership—Some common ingredients

• High I.Q.
• High enthusiasm, energy
• Ability to be positive
• Gung-ho about the company’s future
• Leadership—The ability to motivate others to embrace a common vision and work to achieve that vision.

Vision/Mission

Everyone talks about having a vision. Some think of that vision in terms of the product or service you are producing. I want to suggest you think about this in even broader terms. Here are a few examples.

When John Hall started MicroPower Systems his vision was to create a working environment in which talented engineers and technicians would enjoy the process of developing processes and products. He wanted it to stay privately funded so that it would not get caught up in the problems often created once a company goes public. Small, safe, and cozy was part of his vision.

Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard created a vision of a company that put people first.

So, your vision is not only having a clear and actionable mission—or as Steve Kirsch says, “finding the right market niche” but it has to do with what you want for yourself, your employees, and your customers,—the corporate culture and the legacy you might want to leave behind. Let’s look at some of these variables:

1. Taking care of your employees

• Hire the best
• Compensate fairly and generously
• Promote the deserving
• Hold them accountable—be clear about expectations
• Treat employees really well
• Communicate internally—manage by walking around—get to know everyone

Steve Wynn, Mr. Las Vegas and Bob Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods both say the exact same things. If you want to have happy customers, you must have happy employees—you must pick well for character and personality—and treat them well.

You must also be a positive role-model by treating people as you wish your managers to treat them—and making sure all of management is following your mandates in this area.

2. Create and Maintain the Culture you want

Cultures evolve whether you create them or not. It is incumbent upon you, as CEO to create the corporate culture you wish. What are the values that are important to you? Ethics? Integrity? What do you mean by those words, how do you follow them and how do you hold all your management team responsible for managing them? Everyone says that the CEO must have integrity—but what do they mean by that?

3. Integrity:

• Honesty. Trustworthy, Truthfulness
• Say what you mean and mean what you say
• Keep your word and your promises
• Treat “outsiders” as “insiders”—in other words, treat everyone as you would treat your most respected family members.
• People follow people by who they are—they need to trust, have confidence in and believe in their CEO.

4. Cooperation—vs. Competition

Do you want your executive team to lie, cheat, steal and compete with each other or would you prefer that they actively cooperate—Cooperation is what is needed in an executive team. It should be a group of people, managing departments or divisions (as you grow) who work cooperatively and honestly with each other.

If you foster internal competition and distrust you will create silos—which are never as effective as one integrated organization.

5. Empowerment of People

This is another common buzz word used by consultants like me—but what does it really mean:

• Pick your people well—hire the best and the most honest
• Treat each individual differently—as they deserve and wish to be treated
• Teach them what they need to know—what the parameters are into which they make their own decisions.
• In other words, not just stock job descriptions but real, honest, and useful ones for each position you need—and pick your people well to fill those positions.
• Make it possible for them to learn and to win.
• Make sure the people you surround yourself with can work with you and with each other as positive team contributors.
• Really smart leaders and managers are smart enough to get smatter people around them.
• Have retreats regularly so that people are away from the tasks (like the ants) and are able to think about what they are doing, plan, re-organize, streamline, create, etc.

6. Advisory Board (Trusted People)

Surrounding yourself with smarter people might not only include your employees and your “real board” but might very well include trusted people that you turn to for advice. An advisory board is like trusted relatives to whom you can turn for advice, but don’t have parental control over you. Your “real board” has parental control. I’ll talk some more about boards a little later.

7. Ability to Execute

Since money is no longer growing on VC trees, it is important to actually develop products and services that lead to profitability. Your executive team must be able to work cooperatively together, sharing their varied skills so that they can execute on your mission.

Traits of Successful CEOs

• Charismatic Leadership—high integrity, IQ and energy
• Pick people carefully
• The ultimate problem-solver—at the highest level
• Ability to delegate well and to hold people accountable
• Know what you know—and what you don’t know—be intellectually honest with yourself as well as with others
• Know what you are doing and talking about
• Live by your clear and compelling vision
• Role model—stand out in front, commitment, dedication, investment, working hard, treating people well, etc.
• Admit your mistakes
• Discussion and argument are good—don’t get caught up in always making everything nice. “The Tyranny of Pleasantness” or we go along to get along and be good team players, often leads to horrible decisions.
• Work to build consensus—after you’ve allowed the discussion and argument to last long enough for people to vent and for solid information to emerge.
• Bill Gates says:
  • Take personal retreats to clear the cobwebs, think and develop long term strategies.
  • Read books and attend speeches and workshops on topics that don’t pertain strictly to your business or industry. You need to create and maintain a broad perspective.
  • Identify problems early by being aware of what’s going on in your organization—look for and track exceptions—such as sales figures that are suddenly lower for a particular product or service.
  • Prioritize—get rid of unessential things by learning how to delegate effectively. At the end of each day, Bill Gates analyzes how well he used that day and if he wasted time on things he didn’t need to do, he made sure to eliminate them in the future.
• Prioritize— My experience has been that successful people are those who can prioritize their time, activities, needs, desires, etc. BUT who are also quite able to switch priorities in a moment’s notice when an important opportunity presents itself.
• Laser beam focus—and search light focus. CEOs need to be able to be aware of all elements in their organization—the view from the top. They also need to be able to put blinders on and concentrate deeply on the task at hand—whatever that might be.
• Willingness to take calculated risks—to dare to be different—to go where others have not gone before you.
• Enjoy working with others—enjoy being with others—really have solid positive people skills.
• Be a sales-person for your organization.
• Patience
• Tenacity
• Trust in yourself and your vision.

II: Launching A Successful Startup

Although there is no “one size fits all” there are a few things I’d like to mention as important to people wanting to start their own company.

Strategic Plan

• Vision/Mission—ability to dream and make that dream realistic
• A plan that allows you to look at the short-range, middle range and long range goals. How do you start now, what next and where do you want to get eventually? (Covey: Keep the end in mind.)
• You need your personal road map as well as the formal business plan.
• You need to be able to articulate your dream and how you are going to execute on it before the financial community and other possible investors.
• Execute, execute, execute—good ideas are a dime a dozen, how can you take the idea and turn it into a viable and profitable business?

Executive Team

• Pick carefully and balance strengths and weaknesses
• Imagine your top VPs (Technical, Financial, Marketing) as three legs on a stool. They must be of equal size and strength. If one overcomes the other, the decisions made may be biased in the wrong direction. (Here I told the story of a company that was technically 10 years ahead of its time and failed because the CTO was the strongest of the team and convinced the others to go forward with a technology that the marketplace was not ready to buy.)
• Do not create intermediaries between you and your key staff. (Wow, I wrote an article about this last month, didn’t I?)

About Money

• In the eighties, the startup team assumed that money would flow to them freely—that it grew on trees, or that the streets of Silicon Valley were paved with gold. That’s not true—or if to some extent it was, it is no longer true.
• We are back to business basics—and to bottom line profit. Economics 101 tells us that you have to produce in order to consume—that is you have to actually create something useful to the marketplace.
• It really helps if you have and/or create relationships with the investment community. Your banker can be one of your greatest allies.
• Create a clear and comprehensive business plan—to show to potential investors, making sure you have accurately approximated needed budget, resources, and potential income.
• Be willing to invest in yourself—but take only calculated risks.

About the Marketplace

• There is an old saying, “You gotta know the territory”
• You need to clearly identify a current market niche, if you are too early you might have the greatest idea in the world, but no customers. (I told my story about trying to convince the VP of Marketing of an Automotive Technical products company that we ought to design computers in cars that gave driving directions. I was way ahead of my time and he laughed at me. We never developed the idea—and look at what’s in cars today.)
• Let the marketplace take precedence over your technical gurus with their great ideas.
• Selling effectively is a high art form—find the best sales people you can find and support them with technical help.
• Learn everything you can about selling skills—because you as CEO need to become the primary salesperson in your organization.
• Reward your sales team lavishly—without them you are doomed.

Customers

• Develop them and provide real value
• Be customer focused at every level in your organization
• You need to understand your customer and the impact your product or service has on their revenue—it’s about making them more profitable.
• Get them to be your best sales force—referrals come about when the service and products you provide are extra-ordinary.
• Partner with your customers wherever possible.
• Someone said, “It’s not the best mousetrap that sells, it’s the one that is easy to use.”

Decision-Making

You as CEO are the final decision-maker—or as former President Harry Truman said, “the buck stops here.”

• Surround yourself with trusted advisors and listen to what they say
• Listen to your executive staff
• Create an environment that makes it easy for you to listen to your employees
• Listening and absorbing does not mean they get the vote
• Decisions by committees are often mediocre and compromises
• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes—if you do, acknowledge them, correct them and move on.
• Take as much time as you can get—but use as little as you need—don’t stall.

Your Board

The New CEO has the luxury of choosing his/her board. Choose wisely.

• Pick the brightest and best people you can find—with a range of skills and experience.
• Don’t forget the “soft skill” experts—those with HR and/or OD experience—they can be of enormous value to you.
• Pick only people you trust and who respect and trust you.
• Remember, this is your beginning board—as your company grows and your investment community becomes involved, money will dictate some of the board’s positions. Be sure your starting board is strong enough and “on your side” enough to handle the newcomers. [Note: I had lunch today with E.J. Dieterle, a Principal in the executive search firm YES Partners and he too mentioned the importance of both the executive team and the board as being strong, capable, trustworthy and loyal to the CEO.]
• Sometimes the person you choose retires or dies and his successor takes the seat—this could be dangerous (Here I told a story about how a privately held company was forced to go public due to a change in board composition.)
• Don’t forget to create and nourish your advisory board as well.

Reputation

• Build your corporate reputation—it is one of the most precious things you can create and maintain.
• Create a strong corporate identity.
• Incorporate reputation management in all aspects of your business—this has to do with corporate culture—and how you create and maintain it.
• Do damage control immediately and honestly if problems occur. Take responsibility and do not hide or blame other factors.

Top Ten Traits of a Good CEO

10: The ability to hire, develop and retain the highest quality professionals in all major aspects of your business—especially high quality IT professionals.

9. Have international or global experience. Understand how to deal and manage in a global economy –with diverse values and expectations.

8: Be extremely knowledgeable about the industry into which you are entering. This includes knowing the technical as well as marketplace aspects.

7: Be able to create and manage change. Be flexible—but firm.

6: Be the decision maker—but the best listener to everyone who can add to your knowledge base.

5: Have outstandingly good communication skills and the willingness to communicate both internally and externally.

4. Outstanding management skills and interpersonal relationship skills. You need to treat your employees, customers and investors as the most loved family members.

3: The ability to create and maintain an effective and productive corporate culture.

2: Walking the talk—be the person you want others to be.

1: Integrity and respect—Great leaders need to be trusted, respected, and emulated. If you want them to follow your lead, lead with integrity.

It costs so much to be a real human being
That there are very few who have the enlightenment
Or the courage to pay the price.
One has to abandon altogether the search for security
And reach out to the risk of living with both arms.
One has to embrace the world like a lover.
One has to accept pain as a condition of existence
One has to court doubt and darkness as the cost of knowing.
One needs a will stubborn in conflict.
But apt always to total acceptance of every consequence of living and dying.
    – Morris L. West in The Shoes of the Fisherman

Let me be your Aufin—your advisor to Kings.

ArLyne Diamond, Ph.D
ArLyne@DiamondAssociates.net