Are Leaders Born Or Made?

Have you ever fallen into the trap of wishing that you were like someone else? Imagining what it would be like to have the business acumen of Warren Buffet or the marketing savvy of Richard Branson? Do you wish that you were able to present your product in the compelling manner of Steve Jobs? Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you had the leadership ability of Jack Welch or Carly Fiorina?

These questions beg of us the answer to a deeper question - Are we born into greatness? Do some people just 'have what it takes' and others not?

According to experts in performance management the only people who are born with an advantage are some sportsmen and women whose body size may give them an advantage in their chosen sport.

Every other achiever. in business or elsewhere, has had to work extremely hard to achieve success. However there are certain characteristics that these outstanding achievers share. Here are some of them :

1) They put in more practice than others and do so strategically while seeking feedback from those around them. They know that how you practice is as important as the practicing itself.

2) They focus on building on their strengths and don't worry too much about things that don't matter.

3) Instead of just trying to get the job done, they seek out ways to improve the results of each task each time it is completed. They review constantly and are not satisfied with the status quo.

4) They seek positive criticism and learn from it.

5) They never stop stretching beyond what comes easily.

Small business owners compete in a crowded market. In order to stand out from the crowd they need to show the market that what they offer is far better than their competitors - be that product quality, customer service, after-sales support or whatever. To gain this advantage takes clear strategic planning and a willingness to implement the habits and strategies outlined above.

Are You Bored With Your Job? - 5 Strategies To Overcome Work Fatigue

For some people even the excitement and challenges of owning and developing their own business can become tedious. The long hours, paperwork, marketing, strategic planning and product development can become too much for some. All is not lost however as there are strategies that can be employed to prevent burn-out and the onset of "job boredom".

Here are some ideas :

1) Do it differently! It is said that variety is the spice of life so why then do we insist on always doing things the same way? Find new ways to complete old tasks and develop new systems that will enhance job satisfaction

2) Change the order! Combine tasks or do them in a different setting. Sometimes it is as simple as just choosing to order your day differently that can make a difference.

3) Take a time-out! Take short breaks throughout the day to "reboot" your brain and reinvigorate your muscles. Walk around the block or in the carpark, go out into the garden - simply put - "Get out of the office!" Scheduling regular weekends off and holiday time is also key.

4) Pass it on! Learn to delegate well. This is a learnt skill that is essential to develop as your business grows. You need to be comfortable with the fact that others can do just as well, or better, at tasks you have always done yourself.

5) Evaluate your busyness! Sometimes our lack of time is indicative of avoidance behaviour. We occupy ourselves with irrelevant tasks so that avoid working on those which are truly important. Spend some time checking your diary. If necessary keep a personal time sheet for a few weeks. Check where your time is going - you may be surprised at the result!

100 Greatest Leadership Principles - New Book Available For Pre-Order

To celebrate this 100th post on @Home.Biz I could have written some really inspirational piece about setting goals, visioning and other leadership principles. However while browsing through Amazon today I came across a book entitled The 100 Greatest Leadership Principles of All Time which is only due for release on 31 August this year.

Now obviously I have not read this book but I wanted to link it to this 100th post! So here it is :

According to Amazon this book is for anyone preparing to step into a leadership role and is a unique collection of quotes from 100 great leaders of armies, social movements, political revolutions, fashion revolutions, businesses, and nations is sure to inspire. From Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, Jr. ,from Napoleon to Coco Chanel, readers will encounter such inspiring words to lead by as: "It is not fair to ask of others what
you are not willing to do yourself." (Eleanor Roosevelt); "You do not lead by hitting people over the head--that's assault, not leadership." (Dwight D. Eisenhower); and "What you cannot enforce, do not command." (Sophocles). The essential and eloquently expressed principles in this book will motivate readers to lead with passion and compassion and teach them how to identify and achieve what is best for the group.

I like these kind of easy-read books for inspiration when I am not in the right head-space to get me teeth stuck into anything meatier. I am open to anything that will help me to raise my leadership bar even if it means spending ten minutes a day contemplating a quote or two from a recognised great leader.

My order is in - at under $10 its a steal!

Dreamers And Visionaries

For years I have told teams to "dream big", "dream the impossible and make it happen" and "dream the dreams of champions". I have lead folks through exercises where they write down their dreams and begin to discover what it will take to make those dreams a reality.

The problem has come with those teams who leave the exercise purely at the dreaming stage. No clear action plans are put in place, no commitment is made to ensuring that the dreams of the team become a reality. Over the past year I have been convicted of the need to change my wording as I lead these type of workshops. It has become necessary to differentiate between those who dream and those who have a vision. Vision is such an over-worked word in business leadership circles but it has its place. The most helpful definition of vision I have come across is this :

Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion in the present.

It is the passion that brings energy to the process of working towards the vision. I have discovered that if our thoughts remain only at the 'dream' stage, they are seldom realised.

There is nothing wrong with dreaming - it is a creative exercise which allows us to think beyond the immediate. However, in order for progress to be made these dreams have to morphed into a clear picture of the future that produces passion in the present - a vision of what could be.

Micah Davis in the blog Food Forethought lists these differences between dreamers and visionaries -





It seems to me that entrepreneurs are visionaries while those content to work for others while trying achieve their goals are dreamers. Which are you?

Stop Moaning - Sort It Out or Get Out!

Running your own business is hard work - period!

I am tired of hearing the moans of those who have taken the decision to start their own business and then discover that long hours and plain old hard work is required to make it profitable.

This post was precipitated by a conversation I overheard in an office yesterday. The gentleman concerned was on his cell-phone to a person who had cancelled an appointment and wanted to reschedule. This gentleman's words went something like this,

Do you know that I am self-employed? I can't just leave to come to a meeting. Do you know what time I worked to last night? Ten past one in the morning! Yes, that's what time I went to bed. And do you know I was up at five this morning. I haven't got time to be messed around - I'm self-employed you know.

Come on... Get a life! Business owners are not the only ones who work long hours. Self-management and better use of time is needed when you begin to live for work, not work to live.

When deciding to start your own business you need to be sure of the sacrifices required. The most successful start-ups are those that have been thoroughly thought through by the business owner.

So stop moaning - sort yourself out or get out!

Quote of the Week #9

So a leader must learn to lead down, up, and laterally. But perhaps the most overlooked leadership challenge is the one in the middle. - Bill Hybels in "Courageous Leadership"

Is A 4 Hour Work Week Possible - Maybe So ...

Could you change your current working reality so that instead of a 60-70 hour work week, you spent 4 hours a week working your business?

It seems that this may just be possible!

While listening to the Internet Business Mastery podcast I was introduced to the concept of a Four Hour Work Week. This was put forward by Tim Ferris who has made this his lifestyle and heads up a very successful business. Does this seem impossible to you? It certainly did to me. However take a look at these case studies of people who have implemented a reduced hour work week posted on YouTube. See this post on eSoup to read another account of how a reduced hour work week has changed the author's life.

The website of Tim Ferris, author of The Four Hour Work Week, espouses the idea of "outsourcing your life". The site gives great insight into this concept and is well worth a visit. There are also chapter samples available to read to get an idea of what Tim's book is about. The book has been a New York Times bestseller and is based on a series of controversial lectures at Princeton University.

It is clear though that embarking on the journey towards chronological freedom entails risk taking, making sacrifices initially and the willingness to back yourself to win. That all seems perfectly acceptable to me - short term sacrifice, long term gain. Isn't that a principle of life? It seems that all successful people understand that.

I must confess that I have not read this book but having heard about it, listened to the testimonies around it and having explored the website, I am now dead keen to go out and purchase it!

Once I have read the book I will post my review. If you've already read it, please send me a review to publish as well.

If you know of any South Africans who utilise this type of work lifestyle, please do let me know. I would love to feature them (interview them) for this blog.

To find out more about the book or to purchase your own copy, please click on the cover below.

Quote of the Week #9

Energy is the currency of your leadership. It is also the currency of your team. Good personal stewardship of energy will inspire your team to do the same. - Dave Fleming (Author of Leadership Wisdom From Unlikely Voices)

10 Commandments of Human Relations

I recently attended a business leadership presentation where the presenter gave each of the participants the 10 Commandments of Human Relations. I had never come across these before but I am led to believe they have been around for some time.

If we are serious about business then we have to be serious about people. These commandments give us a great platform on which to build a successful business.


The 10 Commandments of Human Relations - author unknown

1. Speak to People.
There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.

2. Smile at People.
It takes 72 muscles to frown, but only 14 to smile!

3. Call People by Name.
The sweetest music to anyone's ear is the sound of his or her own name.

4. Be Friendly and Helpful.
If you would have friends, be friendly.

5. Be Cordial.
Speak and act as if everything you do were a real pleasure.

6. Be Genuinely Interested in People.
You can like everyone if you try.

7. Be Generous with Praise, Cautious with Criticism.
Praise will win out when it comes to gaining friends.

8. Be Considerate of the Feelings of Others.
It will be appreciated.

9. Be Thoughtful of the Opinions of Others.
People love their opinions as they do their own children, calling them ugly won't get you anything but anger.

10. Be Alert to Give Service.
What counts most in life is what we do for others!

Tom Peters - Top To Bottom

Go on offense.
Give everybody a shot.
Decentralize.
Try a bunch of stuff.
Make it up as you go along.
Get some stuff wrong.
Laugh a lot.
Get some stuff right.
Become a "success."

Extract "lessons learned" or "best practices."
Thicken the Book of Rules.
Become evermore serious.
Enforce the rules to increasingly tight tolerances.
Go on defense.
Install walls.
Protect-at-all-costs today's franchise.
Centralize.
Calcify.
Install taller walls.
Write more rules.
Become irrelevant and-or die.

This list is what Tom Peters calls the essence of his life's work and is a sobering reminder to retain our personal and business identity as our organisation grows. It also reminds us to remember to have the courage to fail at trying something new. Developing a culture of experimentation in your business is critical if you are to be successful in the long-term.

It was Eleanor Roosevelt who said,

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

There are few things as disheartening as seeing a business grow to be successful and then begin to atrophy as the owner/CEO decides to maintain the status-quo instead of continually striving to improve what the business offers. An unwillingness to experiment with new business models, improved product offering, more efficient distribution methods and out-of-the-box marketing, is destined to bring eventual failure.

Be brave - do something different today!

Art Of The Start - Essential Viewing

Every now and again one comes across a piece of teaching that is so valuable it cannot be kept to oneself. This is certainly the case with this video of Guy Kawasaki teaching about "The Art Of The Start".

It can be found on Guy's blog and I highly recommend any person in business to watch it and take notes. It is highly entertaining and informative. The slides used in the presentation are also available for download - all for free!

Enjoy . . .

Revisiting The Basics

It is so easy to become ungulfed in the reality of running your own business that you begin to neglect those basic principles that made you successful in the first place! Like a good sportsman, it is important to be grounded in the basic skills and principles so that when the going is tough you can continue to make progress.

Here then are 10 principles of business basics that we would do well to remember :

1) Know what you don't do - be clear on those things that your business is not offering clients. It is too easy to try to be all to all - a sure shortcut to business failure.

2) Know your market - understand who your business is serving - what is your target market? Write this down and be specific - age, gender, class, location, language etc.

3) Differentiate your service - be prepared to do something different to stand out from the crowd.

4) Watch the pennies - keep a very close watch on the comings and goings of your bank balance.

5) Truly care for your employees - a happy, cared for and affirmed work force is your greatest asset - look after them and they will look after you.

6) Under promise, over deliver - you cannot afford the advertising value of good word-of-mouth referrals (neither can you afford the negative publicity linked to a client's bad experience!)

7) Set goals and go after them - Write down your goals and share them with others

8) Make your business known - explore all options to let the market know what you offer - some creative thought and minimal expense can reap great dividends.

9) Stick it out! - every business will have rough patches - how we choose to react to them can be the difference between success and failure.

10) Always maintain your integrity - have a clear moral compass and ethical values in your business at all times.

- This blog post is adapted from an article by Greg Fisher in the May 2007 edition of Entrepreneur magazine.

Lead Where You Are

Following on yesterday's post about training I would like to draw your attention to what is fast becoming the leadership training event of the year - The Global Leadership Summit presented by the Willow Creek Association.

At very affordable pricing (from as little as R300 for the day) this event features speakers such as Colin Powell (former US Secretary of State), Jimmy Carter (39th President of the US), Richard Curtis (award-winning screenwriter and producer of films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral), Carly Fiorina (former CEO of Hewlett-Packard) and Bill Hybels (senior pastor and founder of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago).

The US event happens earlier in the year and the best sessions are recorded in very high quality onto DVD. The conference package is then taken to a further 193 cities in 31 countries around the world and broadcast to local audiences at individual summits. I have attended the last two of these in Johannesburg and have been blown away at the quality of broadcast and, of course, the quality of the leadership input.

This year the Summit will be taken to the following venues in South Africa :

1) Johannesburg - 5/6 October
2) Durban - 12/13 October
3) Port Elizabeth - 12/13 October
4) Cape Town - 19/20 October
5) Jeffrey's Bay - 19/20 October
6) Nelspruit - 26/27 October

You can download a brochure by clicking here.

For further information you will need to visit the Willow Creek South Africa site - click here

Where Did My Time Go?

Working at home provides many benefits but at the same time allows one to fall into the trap of time-mismanagement. It becomes very easy to say, "I'll do it later after I've watched TV or had coffee or read this chapter in my book." and so on.

We have all heard it said that time is our most valuable commodity. If this is so, how do we spend it? Are we being wise in our time allocations? Does our family see enough of us at home away from the home-office?

Take some time today to check your priorities. Our allocation of time is often a reflection of our priorities! Use this Time Tabulator to see visually what is happening with your time. If necessary keep a time diary for a week to see where your time is going.

The world will continue to rush around us. Why not be the calm place in the storm? Be strategic about how you allocate time to the demands of work, family and down-time for yourself. Invest in a daily planner and use it daily. Use time-management software or Post-It notes - whatever you need to make a system work, do it and stick to it.

GetMoreDone.com has this list of Top 10 Time Tamers - it makes for excellent reading :

1) Write down your long-term goals. Use the SMART formula; make them Specific, Measurable, Appropriate, Realistic and Time-bound.


2) Every day, divide your tasks into A, B and C priorities. Always start with a high priority "A" task, even if you can only accomplish a small part of it.


3) Block off time for activities that are important. Make an appointment with yourself, and don’t let anyone schedule anything for the time you’ve put aside.


4) Stop spending time on trivia. You don't need a new voice mail message every day. Don't spend hours preparing a high tech presentation when a good conversation will suffice. And stop fussing over routine administrative tasks. Delegate or automate them.


5) Have the courage to say no. Don't try to please others all the time. Create personal policies that make it easy to say no and stick to your plan.


6) Always start meetings on time. Don't punish those who show up on time and reward those who are late. Do something however minor, but get started.


7) Slow down. Productivity isn't about going fast. It's about doing the right things. Stop rushing around, driving too fast and getting upset at things you can't control. A couple of minutes gained aren't worth the added stress.


8) Avoid procrastination by completing unpleasant tasks first. The tough stuff usually turns out to be not so bad. Break complex tasks into easy pieces and give yourself a reward for getting something done.


9) Don't be a slave to technology. Communication devices are simply adding more and more ways to be out of touch with each other. Simplify your life and leave your phone at home. Plan for people to reach you some of the time, not all of the time.


10) Create time for balance in your life. Set aside time for family, fitness, social, educational and spiritual needs. Plan for balance the way you plan for work.

Learning from Curious George

Remember Curious George, the curious little monkey? When I was much younger I read about Curious George in books from our local library - nowadays Curious George has his own TV show!

Enough of the trip down memory lane! I was reading an interview with Jim Collins today. You most probably know Jim as the author of the fantastically successful book Good To Great. He is credited with the following quote :

Be like Curious George, start with a question and look under the yellow hat to find what's there.

It is said that as Jim Collins began research into Level 5 Leadership, he assembled a team of young researchers which he called the "Chimps". They were given this name as chimps are unruly, irreverent, energetic, creative and, most of all, inquisitive. The team began pasting pictures of Curious George all over the board room as a reminder to keep asking questions and to keep open minds. Altogether, 21 Chimps worked on the job, usually five per year, performing such tasks as analyzing stock-price statistics, gathering articles, scheduling and conducting interviews, doing massive amounts of coding, and fact checking the numbers in the book. They read and coded every published article they could find about the 11 good-to-great companies, while researching 17 other companies they had selected for comparison. This team of Chimps held collective responsibility for decisions made and were totally committed to the task.

I believe two major issues raise themselves here :

1) Entrepreneurs who desire to build successful businesses need to keep asking questions. They need to have an intrinsic discontent for the status quo. They also require an open mind for solutions that may not fit into their paradigms.

2) Business owners need to surround themselves with a team of key people who are also not afraid of asking the difficult questions and who are open to new ideas and solutions.

What questions are you asking? Are you open to new suggestions, ideas, criticism? Is the idea of a team of "Curious Georges" a little scary for you? Are there questions you are avoiding because you know you won't like the answers?

Know Your Competition - And Survive

When I travel around our beautiful country I often stay at hotels belonging to the City Lodge Group. The group has shown tremendous growth over the past year (2006) increasing headline earnings by 18%, turning a R144 million profit and maintaining an occupancy rate of 79%.

The group was founded in 1985 by Hans Ederle and since 1996 has been managed by Clifford Ross. In a recent interview with Monique Verduyn of Entrepreneur magazine, Ross makes a comment which I believe any business owner should take heed of :

Our operations directors and I always stay in competitor hotels when we visit the regions. We look at what they are doing and assess our standards against theirs.
You have to know your competition so that you can be a cut above them.

There is so much wisdom wrapped up this quote! Knowing what your competitors are doing is essential if you are to position yourself positively in your market.

Knowing what your competition is about allows you to do the following :

1) Develop an offering that will meet a need that is unmet by your competition
2) Upgrade your offering so that customers will prefer you to your competitors
3) Remain humble as you see that some of your competitors do certain things better than you do
4) Rectify what you noticed from point 3!

In my humble opinion there is nothing more unattractive in an entrepreneur than an arrogant "I have all the answers" attitude. This never bodes well for future long-term success.

John F Kennedy said, "Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other." - we cannot suppose to be leaders in our business if we cannot make the time to learn. It is often from our competitors that we learn so much about ourselves!

The stark reality of business is that intense competition is a fact. If you have a client, someone else is trying to take them away from you. If a prospect has a need, someone else is trying to beat you to the deal. New competitors are popping up all the time, and old competitors are constantly changing their products, strategies, messaging, and pricing. It is in your best interest not to be arrogant but to engage your competition and get to know them well.

A Woman of Courage, Conviction and Passion

Catherine Mahubane is a name not known to the vast majority of South Africans and yet she stands tall as an example to all of courage, conviction, faith and vision.

The small village of Puleng is home to about eighty inhabitants and lies approximately 230 km northeast of Johannesburg. It is here that Catherine Mahubane decided to carve out a new future for herself and her family. She made the decision that spending time away from family and friends working as a domestic worker for those wealthier than herself in far away cities was not an acceptable option in her life. She had a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) : Open a peanut butter factory.

Armed with only a Grade 10 education this remarkable woman set about casting the vision to the people of her village, preparing the soil using only picks and shovels and preparing to harvest her first crop of peanuts to make into peanut butter. Lacking basic farm machinery and factory equipment the roasted nuts were ground using the traditional back-breaking method of hand-grinding. Despite these obstacles the first jar of Kono Kono Peanut Butter was produced to great celebration.

The story from then on is even more remarkable. Now the legally registered Kodumela Trading Cooperative boasts six hectares of farmland, a factory building with store and sales office, flushing toilets, a generator for electricity, a maching for removing peanut shells without damaging the nuts, a grinder and a mixer. This success is due in part to the help given to Catherine by Africare SA, the US Department of Agriculture and the South African Department of Agriculture.

Today Catherine is the General Manager and a shareholder of Kodumela Trading Cooperative. She has secured the rights for 70 hectares of farming land and this year alone plans to clear and plant 20 hectares of peanuts and 6 hectares of vegetables.

The Kodumela Trading Cooperative has been an inspiration to many of the villagers and those in surrounding areas. Their success has enabled other enterprising rural entrepreneurs to start up their own concerns. One local villager has acquired a tractor which he hires, along with himself, to the Kodumela Trading Cooperative and other budding farmers in the area.

Catherine's story is an inspiration. She shows us the power of a dream and personal determination. Hers is a story of economic upliftment through entrepreneurship and of rising above one's circumstances to improve the lives of others.
To hear an audio clip about this wonderful story click here. http://www.justicetalking.org/mp3/061016_PBReport.mp3

Any exporters, wholesale traders or other interested parties are welcome to contact me and I will connect you with the cooperative.

Integrity in Business

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not. - Oprah Winfrey

According to Steven Covey in the book Everyday Greatness integrity is the common denominator that sustains every other principle of everyday greatness. He states that without the foundation of integrity, all other principles are greatly diminished.

In a world of confused values business owners are tempted to take moral shortcuts to increase their profit margins. This may seem like a quick fix to a financial bind but in the long term it is a moral and ethical compromise.

Socrates stated that the way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear. If you are wanting a good reputation in your chosen field of business, make sure you keep the moral high ground and maintain your own personal integrity in your business dealings. Make sure any staff you may have understand that any breaching of your business' code of ethics will be dealt with severely. (Make sure they know beforehand what that code of ethics is - even better, engage them in a staff workshop to develop the code of ethics for your business).

Taking shortcuts in business is never worth it, especially when it comes to the integrity of your business - just don't do it!

Video lessons for entrepreneurs

Here are two interesting videos from an entrepreneur in the trenches. Both videos contain common sense advice and neither is earth-shattering. However it does us well to be reminded that what are about is far more than making money.

We are making a difference in the lives of people - watch these videos and see how to make that attitude a reality in your business.