The Most Precious Commodity (Part 1)

Yesterday I had to go visit my accountant to drop off my income taxes.  I ended up having a bunch of time in the car by myself.  I generally listen to inspirational, educational, or business news podcasts while I am driving.  Unfortunately I forgot my iPod and didn’t have anything “useful” to listen to.  Since I had nothing to occupy my mind, it got me thinking about time.

How many times have you said “There are not enough hours in the day,” “If only I had a little more time” or some similar statement.  In my opinion, time is the most precious commodity.  It cannot be created or destroyed.  It cannot be stopped from passing by.  On top of that, each of us only has so much of it to spend.

A lot of people spend thousands of hours and dollars on “Time Management” training, tools and processes.  I always get a kick out of the term “Time Management”, since in reality time cannot be managed; it is only ourselves that we can manage.  That being said, making the most of the time that we have is a critical step towards success.  In fact, my team is currently investing heavily in Time Management training for our leadership team to help us be more effective as individuals and a team.

To take it to its most basic form, the key to the effective use of time is prioritization.  It is choosing to do what is most important to you, and choosing not to do (or better yet delegating) what is not.  I will do a future post on prioritization, so I don’t want to dive into it too deep here.

We cannot be effective members of a team or an organization if we are not effective individuals first.  Do you know what your personal priorities are?  Do you “manage” your time to ensure that you achieve your goals?  “Work-Life Balance” is a term that gets a lot of attention in today’s fast-paced world.  However, to me there is no such thing as balance. 

At different stages in our lives we focus our attention, or split our focus between different areas of our lives.  When we are children, we focus almost entirely on ourselves, having fun, meeting friends and exploring the world around us.  In general, we get out of school and set out to start our career, often throwing ourselves into it whole-heartedly.  Then as we get established, we start a family.  Having a partner and children takes some of our attention away from our professional lives, so we split our focus, often giving neither the attention we feel it deserves.  As we get older and our kids go off to start their lives, we have more time to focus on our career, and often our partner.  When our career begins to wind down we focus on our partner and ourselves. 

With the exception of the very beginning and the very end of our lives, we are forced to balance competing areas of our lives that consume time. 

How do you “manage” your time?  When you look at how you are going to spend your personal and professional time, do you make your decisions based on your goals and priorities?

In the second half of this post I plan to write about the constant competition between personal and professional goals.

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure the mention the blog) and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Bill Roth

Either/Or and the Power of AND!

One thing that always surprises me is how often I hear either/or in both my professional and personal life.  I always find it strange that companies and people are so eager to look at things in such a “closed” way.  We can either be low price, high volume or high price, high margin.  Should I be a “jack of all trades” or a specialist?  I can either be a good employee or a good family person.  My favourite is the old cliché within the consulting world “Good, Fast, Cheap….Pick Two”.

Throughout my career, both within the organizations that I have worked for and within my clients’ organizations, I have seen these either/or compromises taking place all the time.  As a service becomes commoditized, people labour over the decision to keep providing a service or product that has shrinking margins.  At the same time, can they justify investments in developing a more specialized service that commands higher margins?  

By looking at things from an either/or perspective we seem to limit ourselves to the “beaten path”.  Why can’t we be more than one thing at a time?  Isn’t that the strength of “AND”.  Why can’t an organization profitably compete on low price, high volume work AND also have other specialized “boutique” capabilities or high-end products that command higher fees and margins? 

Within my own team, we have focused our energies on developing what I consider to be world-class processes and procedures that allow us to compete on ultra-competitive large scale public tenders for what many groups and organizations consider a loss leader service.  However, by combining our tools and processes with a strong training program we have been able to provide our clients with a high quality service, with short turn-around time and at a very competitive (for our clients) and profitable (for us) price.  At the same time, we use those same processes and tools, which are altered somewhat for the more specialized service, to allow us to be even more profitable on higher fee work.  As we continue to evolve the services that we offer on our team, our constant focus is on developing the processes and tools that will allows us to provide both commoditized AND specialized services at the same time.  Our growth prospects would be a lot different if we chose one path or the other.

The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin focuses on how great leaders can hold two opposing viewpoints in their minds, and develop a better third alternative.  I think that this is exactly the kind of thinking that we need to employ to get over the either/or way of thinking.  I would highly recommend that anyone in a leadership position read Martin’s book.  It provides tremendous examples of how AND thinking has helped shape some of the greatest companies in the world today. 

Next time you find yourself at a crossroads in your life or career, rather than simply picking the path to the left, or the path to the right, why not stop and think in there isn’t another path that can lead you to a better destination?  Let me know how you have found a better AND result for you or your team!

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure the mention the blog) and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Bill Roth
“The Success Junkie”

Life is Your Stage - What Kind of Performance are you Giving?

Long time no blog!!!  It has been far too long since my last post.  For those of you that have been stopping by looking for new posts, I am sorry that it has been over a month since I added anything.  Going forward I will do my best to add new content at least once a week.   

For those of you in northern climates, I am sure you have all been dealing with the same long, cold winter that we have in Ontario.  Thankfully, in the last few weeks the temperatures have risen, much of our snow has melted and we have seen more sunshine that we have in a number of weeks. 

During the “dog days” of winter, I found myself feeling the strain of a long, grey, snowy winter.  I hadn’t truly realized how much I had been impacted by the weather.   I found myself feeling rather “cranky” as the snow fell.  I was scheduled to lead a webinar with my entire team and in that moment, I would have rather done almost anything than “putting on a happy face” for our monthly team update.  As I worked to get “up” for the presentation, I was reminded on a conversation that I had earlier in my career…..

Back in the late 1990’s the office I worked in was going through a very tough period.  We had a significant drop in workload, a high level of turn over, lots of corporate pressure to improve, and the atmosphere around the office was quite poor.  Personally, it was very difficult for me to stay positive.  I often found myself taking part in “bitch sessions” in the lunch room or around the water cooler.  One of the senior members of the team pulled me aside and helped me see the impact that I was having on the team and myself. 

He told me that given that I “used to be” a very positive influence around the office, my current negativity was having a huge impact on other members of the team.  When my colleagues heard me complain, it made them complain more.  I had not realized the negative influence that I was having on the team, and how I was making a bad situation worse.

I was really taken aback by the conversation, and spent a lot time thinking about it over the weekend.  On Monday morning, I decided that I was going to be upbeat and try to focus on the positive in the office and see what happened.   I kept a smile on my face all day.  Whenever I heard someone stewing I changed the subject to something positive about the team, a recent project or something entirely unrelated to work.  I was amazed at how injecting a bit of positivity to a negative situation turned people’s attitudes. 

Remembering the critical lesson that I learned earlier in my career, I made the conscious decision to put aside the weariness I felt about the long winter, focusing on all the good things in my personal and professional life and my entire attitude improved.  I was laughing and joking throughout the webinar, people seemed to respond to the messages and we all went away to continue our hard work with a brighter attitude. 

Each and every one of us is being “watched” by those around us, at the office, at home and wherever we are.  We are always on stage.  We each have a decision to make.  Our attitude, tone and behavior can either create an upward spiral of positive energy or a downward spiral into negativity.  What type of performance are you going to give tomorrow?

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure the mention the blog) and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Bill Roth

“The Success Junkie”

Mentors – If you don’t have one, find one!!!

In the last few weeks my professional mentor, Rick Muzyk retired.  Even though he announced his retirement many months ago, somehow I always expected him to call one day and say “Just kidding!!”.   As the reality of Rick’s retirement sets in, I have been thinking a lot lately about how I have benefitted in my career from mentorship and how invaluable it is to anyone at any point in their career.

I have been very lucky to have two key professional mentors in my life, Rick Muzyk and David Rae.  The interesting thing, to me at least, is that these two gentlemen could not be more different in personality, style, approach and strengths.  However, I had the opportunity to work with each of them at two different stages of my career and benefitted greatly from their guidance and wisdom.

The Early Years – David Rae

I met David Rae on the day I started my “career”.  I was a 19-year old Co-Op student who moved to Ottawa to do a work term.  David had joined the firm a week before I did, so although there is over a ten year age difference we bonded over being the “newbies”.   I really was still a kid when I started out, and didn’t really know much about anything (although I sure thought I did!!). 

David is reserved, detail-oriented, and methodical in his thoughts and actions.  For those of you that know me, you know reserved, detail-oriented and methodical have never been used to describe me. 

On the surface you might think that we would have a hard time relating.  Luckily, from a personal perspective we both liked to shoot pool and have a beer or two after work so we quickly became friends.  Around the office, David also had a passion for developing people.  David would bring me in to sit in on client conference calls so I could get a “flavour” for client communication and management.  David was also the first person to let me “shadow manage” projects by helping me work through the basics, but also letting me try different things in a controlled environment.  One of the most vital things David taught me was the need to surround oneself with colleagues that have complementary skills in order to succeed.  David valued me for my differences and helped me to grow as a result. 

David and his family moved to New Brunswick in 1997.  He stayed with our firm so we still stayed in touch, but we did not have an opportunity to work together much from that point on. 

In 2001 when I got married I was honoured that David made the trip all the way from New Brunswick to stand for me at my wedding in Ontario.  Recently on a business trip to New Brunswick, David and I had a chance to grab a beer (well, maybe more than one) after having not seen each other in a number of years.  It was as if no time had passed since we last raised a glass. 

The Middle Years – Rick Muzyk 

As I continued to complete my undergraduate degree and work for the same firm, my main focus was continuing to develop technical and project management skills.  Once I had developed a solid technical base, I decided that I wanted to shift my career more into client relationship management and sales, which is when I met Rick.

Rick’s and my association dates back to September of 1999 when I was manning a tradeshow booth at a real estate conference in Toronto.  Rick, who recently joined the firm as our Vice President, Real Estate was in Toronto and came by the booth to check out how we were presenting ourselves to the market.   We instantly hit it off and the rest as they say is history. 

Whereas David and I from a pure personality perspective were almost opposites, Rick and I were cut from the same cloth.   We are both passionate, energetic, driven, client-focused people.  In some ways I am surprised we were able to be in the same room together without it running out of oxygen!!

Over the past twelve years I have learned so much from Rick, too much to even begin to list it all here.  His business knowledge, passion, enthusiasm and vision have not only inspired me, but they have pushed me to grow, learn new things and develop as a professional, a leader and a person. 

In Retrospect

I consider myself so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with David and Rick, and to call both of them my friends.   I am not a big fan of clichés, however, looking back at my career I am constantly reminded of the old saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”.  Had I met Rick at the beginning of my career, or David later on, I likely would not have connected with them the same way that I did, and I wouldn’t have benefited from the guidance and leadership that they shared with me. 

I am sharing this story to encourage anyone to seek out a mentor and give yourself over to their guidance and teaching.  I cannot thank David and Rick enough for helping to make me the professional and the person that I am today.  I owe them both more than I can ever repay. 

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure the mention the blog) and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Bill Roth

“The Success Junkie”

A Lesson from Lexi and Jackson

This past Saturday both my kids, Lexi and Jackson, began their 2011 Skating Lessons at the local recreation centre.  We spent Friday trying on skates, getting them sharpened and convincing Jackson that wearing his helmet was COOL!!

Lexi took skating lessons in the Spring of last year.  She had really taken to it at the time, but hadn’t been on skates in eight months.  Jackson had only put skates on once ever (and it didn’t please him very much, to say the least), so we weren’t sure how the lessons were going to go. 

Julie and I sat intently, quietly hoping that things would go well.  Both kids struggled, Jackson throughout his lesson, and Lexi at first as she worked the rust off her early skills (she really did improve by the end).  I cringed as I watched them take numerous falls and slips, some of them looked pretty hard.  However, I was filled with an immense sense of pride as I watched after each fall, both of them get up (or at least try to) and try again.  There was no crying, no complaining to the coach, no sitting on the ice and giving up.   The first thing I asked them after the lesson as they came off the ice, their snow pants covered with snow and ice, was “Did you have fun?!?.  Both of them responded with a resounding and joyful “YES!” despite the adversity they both faced. 

Later in the day I was talking to both kids about their skating experiences again, just to see if they had changed their opinions of the excitement they had just after they came off the ice.  I was once again amazed that they both had the same level of excitement and interest.   As Lexi and I continued to talk, she mentioned that she knew that she fell down a lot at the start of her lesson.  I told her that she had made me proud by how quickly she got back up each time she fell.  Although she smiled when I said it, I think some of the deeper meaning was lost but I did tell her that “It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, as long as you get back up just one more time!”

The day’s events got me thinking, when do we as adults create a phobia of failure or “falling down” or “looking silly” that often times halts our growth, that keeps us from trying new things, or in many cases from casing our dreams.   Here I have two young kids who were willing to get on an ice rink in front of hundreds of strangers, both adults and kids, and fall down over and over (fail, temporarily) and just get back up and try again.  How many adults would willingly and joyfully put themselves in that kind of situation.   How many of us slink away into a corner after a failure or set back.  How many people are “once bitten, twice shy” when it comes to trying something new or taking a risk.  As leaders, how many of us punish members of our teams when they “fall down” on the job. 

I am 100% sure that after a few lessons both kids will have improved immensely at their skating, in no small way because of their determination to “get back up”.   How much more could we achieve as individuals if we were willing to have such dogged determination to achieving our goals.  How much innovation could we create on our teams if we encouraged people to “fall down” and “get back up again”.

Next time you fall down (literally or figuratively), I hope you remember this story and follow Lexi’s and Jackson’s examples and GET BACK UP!

Thanks for reading.  Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure the mention the blog)  and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Bill Roth

“The Success Junkie”

My Favourite Business and Success Books

As I returned to work after the holiday break, which was preceeded by a two-and-a-half week vacation, I must admit I had a hard time getting my "head back into the game".  I sat at my desk Tuesday morning and was feeling a bit lost as to where/how to begin 2011 so I decided to pick up a few of my favourite books from my professional library to look for inspiration.  In total, I have approximately 80 hard-cover books covering areas of leadership, business, sales and marketing, human psychology, inspiration, etc.  However, since getting an iPad last summer, the size of my hard copy library has become fairly stagnant as I am now reading almost exclusively eBooks these days (although admittedly, I still have a few old school books on my night stand that I am trying to get through). 

I am a huge believer in lifelong learning.  I have been out of school for over a decade but through a steady diet of educational books I truly believe that I have learned as much or more after I completed university.  To stay current and mentally sharp in today's fast paced, change-addicted world, we all need to make sure that we never stop learning. 

In returning to my library for the first time in over a month, it got me thinking that in general there are a few books that I go back to most of the time when I am looking for a pointer or some inspiration.  I want to share the following list of favourite business and success titles from my library. 

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (No list would be complete without it!)
Good to Great by Jim Collins
In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman (Another classic)
Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan
Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (Nobody tells a story filled with thought-provoking insight like Gladwell)
On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis (One of the first and best books on leadership that I have read)
Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles (I am a Raving Fan of both authors)
The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer (I love all of Gitomer's Books and would recommend any of them)
Rain Making by Ford Harding (For any professional whether in sales or not, this is a must)
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (Hard core economics mixed with excellent writing make for one of the most interesting books I have ever read)
Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill (I am always amazed that this book was written so long ago!)
Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess (Don't laugh until you have re-read it!)

Hopefully you found a few new ideas for future reading in my favourites.  This is by no means an exhaustive list or a best-of list.  These are just my personal favourites from those that I have read to-date.  My wish list on Amazon.com is almost as long as the titles in my library.  I would like to recruit you to help me on my continuing journey to learn more about leadership and success.  Please post a list of your favourite books in the comments section to help me find the book that will keep me company on my next cross-country flight.

On a related note, for those of you who are looking for an eReader, I would highly recommend the iPad (in addition to the eReader function it obviously does a whole lot more).  My wife has a Kindle and it is nice, but you still need a light on to read it, which is a big deal for me as a late night or middle-of-the-night reader.  Now that being said, I am a huge fan of the Kindle App for the iPad over Apple's iBooks.  I love the white text/black background setting, which let's me read with the lights out in bed or on a plane without lighting up the room (or waking up my wife!).  In general, I also find the books on Amazon.com are cheaper than on iTunes. 

Please connect with me on Linked-In (be sure to mention the blog) and follow me on Twitter (@billroth13).

Happy Reading,
Bill
"The Success Junkie"