Recently I was hosting a session of my Rainmaker Roundtable, a select group of entrepreneurs who sell services to other owners, on the topic of professional integrity and ethics. With their input and my further thinking, here are my three conclusions.

1. Know exactly who your client is and always serve them best. For example, if your client is the firm and the owner is a destructive influence as its president, you have the duty to do what is best for the company up to and including removing the president so the owner and the company will thrive.
2. Be true to how you make money and don’t compromise. For example, if you make money dispensing unbiased advice, don’t take a commission recommending a vendor who provides what you just prescribed
3. Always practice transparency unless it compromises confidentiality. For example, if you will make money, benefit, or be placed in a compromising position by learning or knowing some information, tell the person providing the information why, beware ,or to stop. And when the information comes from your client, (See #1 above) it is absolutely confidential.

What do you think?

In October, a long and tempestuous relationship between the owner and coach of the New York Yankees came to the breaking point. Even if you aren’t a baseball fan, or hate the Yankees, what lessons can we all learn on managing the leaders of our businesses?

To review, Joe Torre, with only a couple of years left before retirement,  expected to remain with the team he took to twelve (12) playoffs and four (4) world championships. With his track record and penchant for managing to the highest standards of integrity, respect and consideration for his players and fans, Torre felt he was beyond evaluation or a performance-based contract. George Steinbrenner, the owner, was in complete disagreement. As the boss of baseball’s most storied team, he and his sons have a singular expectation–World Series Championships–and pay the price for victory at any cost. As we all know, the opera of Joe and George had its finale when Torre rejected Steinbrenner’s victory-based one year contract out of hand, leaving both without a contingency plan.

As business owners, what we can learn and avoid from this sudden ending to one of baseball’s greatest successes?

If you and your president:

•  Personally or professionally disagree on objectives, get on the same page now for your organization’s sake.  Otherwise your people will try to reconcile your differences and in the process waste everyone’s time, money and energy.
•  Have to compromise on how your objectives will be met, determine your personal threshold of acceptable disagreement that you will not only tolerate.  Never fight in front of the “children” whether they are customers, employees or vendors.
• Create a contingency plan or go-to resource for resolving differences, you can avoid needless escalations that can bring you to business divorce.
• Prepare a doomsday scenario and a triage plan if you have to eject your president or if he/she walks out.  Understand that the more you have prepared for a crisis, the less it will be seen as one

Managing a talented, capable leader can be one of the most trying challenges for you as the owner. And if your president becomes respected by your customers, employees or vendors, you may have created a peer who threatens you.  But if you recognize you cannot lead your business all by yourself and have found a talented second in command, managing through your two egos, testosterone and quirks will be a lot easier.

After surviving and succeeding in relative anonymity for years in business, isn’t it remarkable how much attention you get from people who now confront you with black and white decisions you are told you just have to make?

In charity and volunteerism:

If you are told, “To be respected in your community you better give both your money and your time to visible causes,”  I suggest you remember to that you must continue to do well before devoting yourself to doing good. 

In politics:

When you’re baited with, “You must be a Republican, because Democrats will just tax and spend” or “You have to vote Democrat because Republicans are for NAFTA and against immigration!” Consider that since elections, issues and platforms come and go, and aren’t you really independent?

In loyalty to town, association, or team:

As you are admonished with, “Can you believe that LeBron James would root for the Yankees?” or “Our industry practices require that…” and “If you don’t say nice things about your town, don’t say anything,” remember that although groupthink mostly creates fond memories of great moments, it rarely to leads your success.

As an independent, committed owner, you grew your business by staying true to your best and highest use and making grey decisions to serve your clients, employees, and vendors in a very uncertain world.  Your flexibility and tenacity will always be keys to your success.  And your commitment and independence are your most valuable strengths.   When you are told you must make a choice from their options, reject their dogma, go with your gut and create your own choice. If confronted with black and white, remember what they tell you on the plane, “When the mask appears, place yours on first and then help the person next to you!”  Until Willie Nelson stages a benefit concert to save the small business, your best assets are your own strength of commitment and power of independence.  Invest these wisely!

 What do you think?

In writing The Five Catalysts, I described how confidence and conviction is any owner’s first catalyst for growth. And this confidence and conviction comes from a defining point that pushes on owner to turn her or his passion into action.  With October being National Women Business Owner’s Month, I got to thinking how so many successful women-business-owning clients of mine got started and how they built their businesses successfully despite surviving divorce, being widowed, or having to support a family where success was not an option but an imperative for survival.

And as their businesses have grown, I see that “women’s intuition” has caused many clients to make better decisions based on reasoned judgement.  Certainly, fewer women owners are “too smart to help” and aren’t making testosterone-driven decisions based on ego and “diminishing capabilities.” Maybe I have just been lucky, but women are more willing to listen to outside advice which has made them great clients I have been able to help more than average.

In this time of changing business environments, customer demands,and irrational financial markets, there are a lot of women business owners whose patience and perseverance have brought great value to their customers, employees and vendors!  And on top of this, many are also raising families at the same time.  Do you agree, why?

With the recent woes in the mortgage business and the huge hit the economy is taking, it occurs to me that if you don’t manage your customers, your business could follow the same path of peril and pain.  Everyone has heard the old adage, get rid of your worst customers, but how do you manage the ones you need to keep?   Almost any relationship can be improved if both parties see more value in doing so, then they do in letting sleeping dogs lie, so here is a good and easy way to make things better.

1. Reach out and set a new expectation of both your role and responsibilities as well as theirs

2. Agree with the party on these new expectations (win-win of course)

3.  Strive to meet this expectation and set a good example for your customer.

4. End the relationship if there is no reciprocity or rejoice in the valuable improvement you both have created.

The biggest threat to any relationship is the decay and ultimate end of communication.  And the hardest part is finding the time for the people, customers, and prospects that matter.  Reach out to those who do because the best relationships are often those that have been damaged and repaired through reversing the decay and confronting the differences. What do you think?

Read:  Managing Customers From Hell: How to Keep Your Nose Clean!