Now Is The Time To Plan For 2020.

December is the perfect time to start laying out your plans for the new year. 

First, I'd like you to revisit 2019 to better understand where you are and where you need to go. Answer these questions (I will break out each section for business owners and corporate executives to make your planning a better fit for your profession):

1. WHAT WENT RIGHT IN 2019?

Businesses: What behaviors, habits, initiatives or projects were a success? Were they easy to do or did they take a lot of work on your part? What kind of ROI did you see from them? 

Corporate: Who did you meet that gave you a tremendous leg up within the company? What areas grew in 2019? What projects were a big hit to upper management and customers? Where did you find efficiencies in your day-to-day activities?

2. What Went Wrong In 2019?

Businesses: What did you expect to happen and it didn't? Where did you spend a large amount of time or money? Did any of your feeder or prospect lines dry up this year? Did your competition do something that you're not doing?

Corporate: What areas of the company or people were a waste of time? What projects failed or were put on hold, eliminated? Where are the weak areas of your department/division? How's your boss doing?

Looking back gives you a great foundation to start planning for 2020. You should continue what went well and make hard decisions to possibly stop those areas that went sideways in 2019.

3. Set New Goals.

Now for 2020 - where are you now at the end of 2019 and where do you want to be in 2020? 

Businesses: 
Financially: 10%, 20%, or 25% rise in revenue?
Clients/Customers: 20-40% increase? Better customers? Faster paying?
Work/Life Balance: Spend less time worrying? More time away?
Better Feeders: More qualified referrals?
Hire Staff: Your first hire? More staff? Better qualified?

Corporate: 
Financially: A bigger bump in salary/bonus?
Work: Better, more high-profile projects?
Connect: Meet the movers and shakers in the company?
Move On: Time to go?

Use the SMART method to ensure success for each goal:

Specific: Is the goal clearly written?
Measurable: How many/much and how often?
Achievable: Is it a realistic goal? Need support?
Relevant: Does it make a significant difference? 
Time-Bound: Clear & specific completion date?

4. Lock-In Your Goals With Deadlines.

If you don't measure it, it will never get done. It's that simple. Take each of your goals and do three things:

a. Define the sub-activities and tasks that have to occur to deliver the goal on-time.
b. Place each task in your calendar and list all the people/resources required for you to complete it. Use a GANTT chart if needed.
c. Set a hard deadline when you want to see it DONE. Be reasonable and honest with yourself.

Don't wait until January to start your planning. Do it today.

Pre-New Year Is A Smart Time To Forge Your Career Strategy for 2015.

You’re not happy with your job. Or you might not have a job at the moment. Most people in this position will look at the month of December as a time of rest and relaxation and tell themselves that they will begin their brand-new job search on January 1, 2015. Unfortunately, they will be far behind their competition in the marketplace who are actively looking for a job. Bottom line, you need to develop a career strategy during the month of December to know who your targeting, what you will do, where you will go, when you will do it, and how you will track your progress. We know the ‘why’ — you need to find a new position!

Now you’re probably thinking that I’m suggesting an enormous task for you to accomplish during a month filled with holidays, families visiting, school vacations, etc. You just won’t have the time to even start thinking of a strategy to help you kick off the new year. That’s where you’re wrong.

All I’m asking for is 1 hour a day, five days a week. That’s it. Instead of watching a really bad TV show every weekday night, all I’m asking for is just one hour to plan and ensure a successful job search. So what do you do?

Step One:

Find a quiet place in your home with no distractions or interruptions. This time is for you. Get a notebook to take notes and have your laptop handy to do incremental information searches on the web.

Step Two:

I want you to draw a vertical line down the center of a piece of paper. At the top of the left side write “Energize” and on the right side write “Enervate”. Under Energize, I want you to list all the elements of your last job that you really enjoyed and energized you. Under Enervate, I want you to list all the elements of your last job that you hated and de-motivated you. Now you know what to look for in a job.

Step Three:

I want you to research your industry and better understand who are the big players, where it is going, where they are going and what the future holds. This will give you a better feel for who to target in your job search.

Step Four:

I want you to pick 5-10 organizations or companies you would LOVE to work for. Not just ‘like’ or ‘it would be nice’, I want you to LOVE them. Do a little research on each one, see where they are and where they’re going, find out who are the key people in your area of the organization.

Step Five:

Housekeeping — I want you to clean up your résumé and your LinkedIn profile. Add in any additional info from your current research. These two areas must shine before you begin to look for a position. Also, check all of your current (and past) social media like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare, etc. You need to clean them up or if you can, make them private. You need to put on a perfect face for potential opportunities.

Step Six:

Begin to plan out a schedule starting on January 1. If you’re currently employed, begin to figure out when you can allocate time to research, contact, and interview new career opportunities. If you are in transition, develop a 40-hour a week schedule that includes research, networking, visits to the library, etc. You need to be busy starting in January, the best thing you can do is be prepared with a comprehensive schedule.

This is just a short overview of what you can do, but it helps you develop a great action plan to kick off the new year with energy and focus. Good Luck!

Rich Gee is CEO of the Rich Gee Group, a career coaching practice located in Stamford, CT. You can reach Rich at www.richgee.com and catch his 700+ articles on career success.

Why Your Good Leadership Isn't Great.

Good To Great. An incredible book by Jim Collins — relates how certain companies overcame their obstacles and pushed themselves from being just good companies to the stars of their industry. It chronicles how they made the leap, what they did, and what they didn't do. How can you make the leadership leap with your team and go from just being a good leader (and that isn't bad) to a great leader? Here are some basic qualities most leaders use and how to kick each one up a notch to great:

Integrity

When was the last time you really assessed YOUR performance? Do you stand by what you say? I'd like you to think back to three major or difficult decisions you had to make over the past year and review how did you make them? What was the result? Do you feel that you stayed true to your ethics and that your decision grew you as a leader in your organization?

Vision & Planning

How much of your time is focused on looking forward? Not just a few days or weeks, but months and years? How much of your time do you actually design personalized visions for your team — where you see them going?

Communication

What kind of communicator are you? Do you find yourself speaking more than listening? How can you communicate more effectively and efficiently in 2011? Do you know what talents and issues your team leaders have? How you can show them top-notch communication styles that they in turn can show their teams?

Persuasion, Motivation, & Coaching

What techniques do you use to get your teams to efficiently execute company strategy? Have you revisited your motivational and coaching behaviors? When was the last time you learned new ones? Do you treat everyone the same or do you personalize your coaching to ensure that you not only get 100% out of each person, but they in turn are encouraged to do more?

Adaptability

How did you handle adversity in the past few years? It's been hard on a lot of us. What behaviors did you see come to the surface and which ones did you desperately need for certain circumstances? What tools do you have at your disposal to help you better adapt to changes in the marketplace and the competition?

Decision-making

Do you make fast decisions or really take your time? What effect does this have on the flow of work coming from your area? Are you a micromanager? What information do you rely on? What can you do differently in 2011 to make faster and more reliable decisions?

Most of all — it's self-reflection. It's taking the time and energy to understand your current behaviors and how they are working. If they work, but at your team member's detriment, you might need to rethink some of your strategies.

Do you have any other areas that are critical to building GREAT leadership skills?

Are You A Bonus Delivery Officer?

You're not a CEO. Or a CMO, COO, CIO, CTO or any other C-Level title. You're not a GVP, AVP, MVP or VP.

You're not a Senior Director, Partner, Manager, Owner, etc.

You are a Bonus Delivery Officer.

Your primary role in your position is not to deliver on projects, motivate the team, present information, or hob-nob with the hoi-poloi.

You are a Bonus Delivery Officer.

You may ask:

"What is a Bonus Delivery Officer?" It's a person who delivers bonuses to their people — it's that simple.

The problem is most managers — from someone who only has one direct-report to the CEO — do not see themselves as Bonus Delivery Officers (or BDO).

A BDO is someone who ensures via financial planning and sheer determination to reward their staff. With MONEY. Not the phrase, "You're lucky you still have your job." They need to keep their eye on what I call "What's Left" or Revenue minus Costs.

Unfortunately, most companies and their executives are graded by a number of other measures which don't trickle down the MONEY. How many organizations in the past few years have delivered reductions in pay or flat payouts while upper management and major shareholders still receive outlandish payouts and bonuses?

Get where I'm going? What I've described is not a healthy enterprise. And sick enterprises easily control and keep their people during bad times (because there's nowhere else to go), but when times begin to turn around and improve — WATCH OUT.

You're going to see a tsunami of your best and hardest-working people leave to better-performing and better paying positions. And they will never look back.

Why am I so harsh? Because it's the responsibility of the people in the higher echelons to deliver profits — by planning, anticipating the market, understanding the consumer, and managing all the moving parts. But for many years, they have been caught with their pants down and their hand in the till — a "Whoops, sorry" attitude, a "We'll do better next year" attitude, or a "Sorry, I have to do this to YOU" attitude.

No more. The world is changing AGAIN. Get ready for the Tsunami. 

The idea for this post came from a good friend and client — Thanks Lisa B!

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

Our Favorite Four-Letter Word Starts With An 'F'.

Gotcha. You thought I meant that other word. I'll save it when I hit my finger with a hammer.

Today's four-letter word starting with an 'F' is: FEAR.

We all have some sort of fear at some level at some time in our life. It might be a very present fear staring us in the face or it might be a background fear hiding in the attic — but it's still there doing its dirty work.

I know your fears. How? We all have the same fears . . . Fear of:

• Meeting new people
• Asking or demanding more from your team
• Stepping outside of our comfort zone
• Pushing back on your boss or a client
• Losing your job or a major client
• Fear of failure
• Fear of success (this happens more than you think)

Fear sucks. But what really is fear?

• It's the future. It's what is going to happen.
• It's the unknown. Anything can happen. You might looks stupid or unprofessional.
• It's the loss of security. When you are insecure, you begin to get anxious.
• It's your mind taking you from anxiety, mixing in a little bad thinking — and you get fear.

Anxiety is not all bad. It's your body telling you that you are stepping out of a secure zone in your life. You're pushing yourself — you're trying something new.

Unfortunately, your mind takes over and you begin to spin terrible stories in your head about 'what might happen' and fear rears it's ugly head.

So how do you conquer fear? 

1. Acknowledge you are stepping into an area that is new or hard. You are pushing yourself.
2. If you feel anxiety, stay there, let your body feel the anxiety for a little while — it will fuel your next step.
3. You need to get back into a secure mode. How do you do that? You need the other four-letter word: "PLAN".

The best way to deal with fear is to have a PLAN. And not a 20-page plan. Sit down and write up a simple one-page plan with steps and activities on it. What happens?

• You begin to stop worrying about the future and stay in the present.
• You start to envision a gradual set of tasks to take you from where you are to where you need to be.
• You have a process to fall back on in case fear creeps into your head again.

"Do what you fear, and the death of fear is certain." - Anthony Robbins 

What do you FEAR? Do you have a PLAN to take care of it?

Image provided by Alex Talmon at Unsplash (Free - do whatever you want - hi-resolution photos).

Thinking Big vs. Thinking Small.

Find yourself thinking small? Too afraid to think big? Think Big: Take chances. Think Small: Take no chances.

Think Big: Meet New People, Target important contacts, Touch Movers & Shakers Think Small: Stay within your current group of contacts and colleagues.

Think Big: Spend money, Invest in your business, Grow your career. Think Small: Don't spend money, hunker down and wait for the issues to go away.

Think Big: Speak in front of people, Go after bigger and bigger groups, Attract influentials. Think Small: Keep your ideas to yourself, Think of writing a book, Never complete it.

Think Big: Take on more than you can chew, Push yourself, Reach higher (and higher). Think Small: Keep things in context, Don't push yourself, Stay within your box.

Think Big: Inspire people, Get their attention, Be a BILLBOARD. Think Small: Do the same things and expect a different outcome.

Think Big: Challenge yourself, Change the game, Make It HAPPEN. Think Small: Be content.

Think Big: Consult with experts, Ask questions, Challenge the status quo. Think Small: You know enough.

Think Big: GROW. Think Small: SHRINK.

It's that simple.

How To Better Control Your Time.

Time is the one thing you can never get back. So you need to be careful with it, don't waste it, don't hurry through it, and use it effectively. You need to CONTROL your time.

How do you do that? It's easy and it's hard — here are some tips:

Clear Your Desk.

I know . . . it's hard. But once it's done, it is so easy to focus without any distractions to instantly pull you away from the task at hand. Also there is the visual aspect of a clean desk. You FEEL better about yourself and your surroundings. It's easier to find things and important papers don't get lost.

So here's my strategy — Pile, View, Attack/File/Toss/LCB:

1. Pile - Take everything off your desk and make a single pile of paper.
2. View - Pick up and look at each piece of paper. You must make four piles:
3. Attack - work on it immediately - something you can complete within a short amount of time.
4. File - File it away for future access.
5. Toss - Throw it away. I know it's hard - but most of your pile can go this route.
6. LCB: Last Chance Bin - get a box and place it under your desk. If you are unsure of tossing something, put it into this bin. If you need it later, it's there. If not (after 3-6 months), toss it out. This bin works wonders.

Plan Your Day.

This is the hardest and surprisingly the easiest way to get a better handle on your time. Why?

If you go somewhere or if you're on a trip, you have a destination and a route to get there. That's called a plan.

Why is it when you get to work you don't architect the same thinking for your activities, meetings, and tasks? What needs to be done — what is it's priority — and when will you complete it?

Randy Pausch developed a very simple, yet effective template to help anyone plan their day. It's made up of four quadrants:

• Due Soon and Not Due Soon
• Important and Not Important

When you look at your "Attack" pile of work for the day, you usually work through it based on time in and time out. But importance flies out the window — most people aren't working on the most important and critical tasks. This tool helps them do it.

Which ones to work on first? Upper left! Which ones to work on last? Lower right! Here's a PDF template you can use.

Work On One Thing At A Time.

This is where we all fall down. We think we can 'multi-task' our work and guess what? We never get anything done or even worse, we do things in a haphazard fashion.

Take your Attack pile and your Activity List and make your way down each item. Once it's complete, check it off. Set aside time to work on your attack pile — don't answer the phone — don't let anyone bother you — don't let anything take your focus away from the task at hand until you are DONE. You can always return that phone call 15-30 minutes later or go see the person who wanted to see you.

Also — turn your email reminders OFF. You can get back to checking email when you're DONE.

At first it will be difficult. But when you start to see a clean desk, a planned out day, and REAL progress on your work. These basic behaviors will begin to kick in. Try it!

Be Proud Of Yourself.

As a coach, one of my responsibilities is to help my clients acknowledge their accomplishments. Why? Because we don't. We get so caught up in the rat-race, getting things done, moving as fast as possible — and we don't take the time to stop and review where we are and where we've come from.

A big part of my job is acknowledgement — I help my clients fully appreciate where they are in life — all the hard work, all the sweat and tears, all the long nights and early mornings — everything.

Why? It gives us perspective. It allows us to understand what it takes for us to really succeed. It also allows us to understand how hard we are on ourselves and how we forget all the hard work.

So . . . I want you to take a few minutes this morning and fully acknowledge where you are in life today:

• Do you have a roof over your head? A lot of people don't.
• Do you have a full stomach? A lot of people are hungry in this world.
• Do you have a partner in life? Family? Good for you!
• Are you employed? Nice work!
• Do you have a car? Excellent!
• Do you have a savings account? Good planning!

If you say yes to most of these questions — congratulations! If you have most - great job.

Be proud of yourself — who you are, what you do, who you impact, and what you leave behind. If you put yourself in the position of acknowledging your current position and what you've done — you have only one way to go — UP.

HOW DO YOU ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS? HOW ARE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF?

LET ME KNOW BELOW . . .

How To Close Your Year With A Bang (and have fun too).

Here's how to make the last two months of 2011 accelerate to the finish line. But the last two months of the year are littered with holidays, the beginning of bad weather and procrastination. You can still pull out some key working strategies to make both months powerful winners for 2011.

You need to break your time down and devise a plan for each week, each day. Copy and Paste into Word/Pages and then Print this out to list what you can get done each day. So here goes:

NOVEMBER:

Week1: 1st-4th: You're down one day this week: Halloween. Planning week for the next two weeks. Strategize what needs to happen, who you need to see and what results you expect for Weeks 2 & 3.

Week2: 7th-11th - Friday: Full week - Take Action - Hustle. Hit the ground running - make things happen.

Week3: 14th-18th: Full week - Take Action - Hustle. This is the key week - keep the momentum going.

Week4: 21st-25th: Thanksgiving week. Most people are powering down - reach out to key clients and managers to thank them for making your 2011 a powerful one. Use cards (handwritten) or phone calls.

Week5: 28th-30th: Three days. Come back from your Thanksgiving time with a bang. Review what you accomplished in November and begin planning for December.

DECEMBER:

Week1: 1st-2nd: Two days. Still planning - ensure you have a solid action plan for the next two weeks.

Week2: 5th-9th: Full week - Take Action - Hustle.

Week3: 12th-16th: Full week - Take Action - Hustle. People usually start powering down - get a feel for what is happening and keep the momentum going.

Week4: 19th-23rd: This week is shot: Christmas. Take it easy - enjoy this time with your colleagues, team and family. Build deeper and stronger relationships. Take your best client out for an expensive lunch.

Week5: 26th-30th: This is your key planning week: No one is there. Work. Time to look at 2012. Make broad stroke planning goals and activities. If your boss is in, have a meeting and discuss what has to happen next. If you own your business, this is the week to lay the groundwork for a powerful 'start out of the gate' for 2012.

I've run every NOV/DEC like this for the past 10 years and guess what? I surpass my numbers every time. Plan - Hustle - Enjoy — it's the only way to sanely get through the holidays.

POST YOUR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS BELOW

P.S. How do you like this schedule? Is it practical? Let's talk. I've worked with a number of clients — and we developed a successful plan to grow tackle the last two months. If you’re not a client . . . pick up the phone and call me — I offer only one complimentary session each week.

Why Leaders Can't Coach.

"All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself." - Bill McCartney When executives coach, they commonly make the mistake of downplaying their role as the boss. Confusion occurs with the associate and coaching fails.

To be clear, a boss is the one who holds people accountable for results. A coach helps people increase their skills to achieve the results.

When executives coach, they usually downplay their team's accountability for results because as a coach, they want to develop their skills. They use coaching to get them to do what they want. That's wrong.

Coaching is not a substitute for performance management. You have to do both and develop clarity with each endeavor. Ensure each team member understands their performance expectations AND coach them to accomplish those performance expectations. It's a dual role — don't mix them up.

Communicate your expectations and ensure you get full commitment.

1. Make sure they understand their goals. Get them to break down each goal and to identify the Who, What, Where, When and Why. This process will allow the How to appear. Steer them when they go off-course and ensure they will deliver EXACTLY what you expect.

2. Get them to mentally commit to their goals. Ownership is key — if they see these goals as yours and not theirs, all will fail. Impart clear accountability — if goals fail, it's their head, If the goals succeed, they get the accolades. It's that simple. If they are stuck or don't know how to do this, I show them how I do it.

3. Give them space to take initiative to reach their goals. Now be a good boss, step back, and give them space. This is a critical time where bosses tend to crowd their team members — give them adequate real estate to reach their goal.

Coach to keep them focused, on track, and to increase their performance.

1. Put yourself in their place and understand their challenges. Each team member has their own strengths and weaknesses. It's your job to understand what they are and where the possible road hazards might occur along the process. Once this is done, you will know approximately where each tipping point will occur and be available to coach them through it.

2. Work with the associate so they can plan all their steps. Get each associate to come up with a process comfortable to them to easily track their progress. The process of planning together allows you to step out of your 'boss' role and to help guide their progress as a coach. Remember it's their plan, not yours.

3. Actively coach them through the process. Develop regular meetings to discuss issues, concerns and opportunities along the way. If they are getting frustrated, help them solve each obstacle by asking questions. Do not attempt to help — this will only move the responsibility from the associate to you. Provide regular tracking to measure where they are and how much farther they have to go. Finally, help break bad behavior patterns along the way — this will help them accelerate and grow during the process.

How do you coach your team?

BRAG — Toot Your Own Horn Without Blowing It.

Most people can’t sell themselves.

The Best Salespeople, who obliterate their numbers every year, selling products and services - have a hard time developing a personal talk-track.

Accomplished Executives, who are comfortable pitching in boardrooms, convincing multi-nationals to sign on the dotted line — have a hard time in interviews for a new position.

Business Owners, day-in and day-out, have the best location, web-site, media, and business card — have a hard time coming up with a simple process to close the deal.

Why is this? Why is there such a dichotomy between great sales performance and the ability to apply those techniques and tools to ourselves?

In my ongoing series, “Are You A Catalyst?”, today's focus is knowing how to brag effectively.

Peggy Klaus, author of Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn WIthout Blowing It, proclaims we tend to tell ourselves myths which ultimately sabotage our actions.

Myths such as:

• A job well done speaks for itself.
• Bragging is something you do during performance reviews.
• Humility gets you noticed.
• I don’t have to brag, people will do it for me.
• Good girls don’t brag.
• And the biggest one — Brag is a four-letter word.

Her main drive is to abolish these myths taught and ingrained into our psyche. One has to un-learn past behaviors (taught to us lovingly by our parents and schools) — to be prepared to brag effectively when it feels comfortable — during appropriate times and places.

Some suggestions from Klaus:

• Get a plan in place - be prepared with tight talk-tracks to help you brag.
• Get creative - make what you say engaging and interesting.
• Become the star player vs. promoting team spirit - take credit when credit is due.
• Brag through your weak points - acknowledge liabilities and focus on strengths.
• Make sure your fans get it right - prep them to present your story in the right light.

This book is a keeper — I recommend it to all of my clients when they hit an invisible wall and struggle with self-promotion. Check it out.

What techniques do you use to brag effectively?

2011: What Do You Want To Change?

Buckle Up — this is going to be a fun ride. Answer these three questions with fast, (1-2 word) specific responses . . . don't just write 'work', write 'client calls', or 'Penske Project'. Don't just write 'business', write 'BNI connecting' or 'new website', or 'product expansion'. I'm looking for you to blurt out items without a lot of introspection. I want your gut responses:

In 2010:

1. What was great?
2. What sucked?
3. What surprised you?

Why 1-2 word responses? I want this to be a fast assessment that only you will see. Keeping it short, easy and personalized will ensure you'll do it. If it was any longer or introspective, you probably wouldn't find the time.

You can't plan for the future without measuring where you are currently. It's like going on a trip — you need to have a destination, a route to get there, and a starting point. I like to start my clients with this as a starting point.

Now you know where you've been and what has happened to you, let's begin to plan your new roadmap for 2011.

In 2011:

1. Based upon what was great in 2010 - how can you do more of it this year? How can you expand it? How can you branch out to other areas? Who can help you grow it bigger and stronger?
2. Based upon what sucked in 2010 — how can you do less of this? Was it because you spent a lot of time doing it and it didn't pay off? Did you hate doing it? What else can you do to get the same or similar results? Who can do it for you so you can do other things that leverage your strengths?
3. Based upon what surprised you in 2010 — why did it surprise you? Was it an action or activity delivering much, much more than you ever dreamed? Was it something you've never done before and found it was exciting to do?  What can you do in 2011 to make your successful surprise more powerful?

These simple guideposts will allow you to either toss bad behaviors or occurrences quickly and allow you to easily identify, quantify, and deliver new growth based upon your strengths.

Make 2011 a powerful and defining moment for your career and life.

5 Tips On How To Treat New Employees.

Whew! After a phlanx of interviews and resumes, late nights, early mornings and lost lunches, you've just hired that new team member. Now you can sit back and focus back on work. Not so fast. It's important as they're new boss to make this transition period in their life bump- and trouble-free. It will not only behoove you, but will also ensure that your new hire is happy, engaged, enthusiastic, and motivated.

What most managers don't realize is that the new team member has been interviewing and they might still be on the market. Any inclination or occurrence to upset the apple-cart might make them flee quickly. So it is in your best interest to keep them happy.

1. First Impressions — Have someone greet them when they arrive (either you or your assistant) on their first day. Bring them up to their desk, let them get settled, and have a short, 10-15 minute meeting planned first thing in the morning just to temp-check. Also, make sure that everything (and I mean everything) is in place — their desk, supplies, laptop, passwords, systems, software, phone, and paperwork. One thing that gets the new hire to question the efficiency of the company is to drop the ball at this time.
2. Plan Their Day — If your company has an orientation process, great. If not, have an itinerary on their desk with meetings, paperwork to fill out, and time for them to learn the basic communication platforms. Make sure that you schedule a lunch with them to discuss three things — their current responsibilities, what you expect of them in the next week/two weeks/month and get their feedback. After lunch, when you return to the office, send them home at around 2-3 PM. Why? Most people are pent-up with anxiety and nervousness the first day — show them that you care by letting them leave early, regroup, and come back fresh the next day.
3. Plan Their Week — Schedule a series of meetings with their peers, subordinates, and any other superiors. Tell everyone these are introductory meetings — 'getting to know you'. This will give them a better lay of the land, understand what everyone is doing, and how they fit in. It also makes them feel part of the family. And it gives the people a chance to meet 'the new person'.
4. Eliminate Obstacles Quickly — Inform them if anything is in their way (people, processes, things) or if they have any questions, stop by and let you know ASAP. It shows that you care and are willing to work with them. If it's something you can't do, help them get around the obstacle. If they are unreasonable, listen to them. but be firm about their objection. Also, let them know that you encourage mistakes, so they are not hesitant to try something without constantly bothering you.
5. Get Their Feedback — At the end of the week, set aside some time to get their impressions, ideas, and feedback. Having someone who listens is critical at this juncture — the weekend is the decision-point for most executives — whether to stay or flee. So your job is to get them to open up, deal with any objections, and help them acclimate to their new environment.

Years ago, at one of my new positions, I contemplated leaving the company at the end of the first week — what they advertised in the position was nowhere near what I encountered. So I met with my boss and let him know. He said, "Rich, I like you and feel that you are perfect for this position. Come back to me with a plan to change your position and we can discuss it." I came back Monday with a new plan and he embraced it immediately. I stayed for six years.

What do you do to make your new hires feel more comfortable during their first week on the job?

Do You Have A Career "Plan B"?

You just missed the last recession, hopefully things are getting better. You're getting quite adept at dodging the executioner's axe — ducking at the last minute while watching fellow peers lose their heads. Are you talented or just lucky? At my last corporate gig, I managed to have seven bosses in six years. Six LONG years.

Talented and lucky just don't take you very far anymore. There might be a time when you need to resort to "Plan B".

What is "Plan B"? It's that time of your career when you realize that it's time to change, to make a move, to take ACTION. Some executives realize it when they are still employed and some realize it when they are carrying the contents of their desk in a box.

Here are some basic "Plan B" activities:

• Get Out & Meet New People. Today. Try to have lunch with a new person every week. Do it.
• Get Out & Strengthen Current/Old Relationships. They already know you. Pick the most motivational and influential and connect with them again.
• Brainstorm. Sit down with a white sheet of paper — draw a line down the center and write energize on the left and enervate on the right. List all the elements of past positions that energize you and all elements that enervate or deplete your energy. Your new position should leverage the 'energize' elements.
• Keep Alert. What's happening in your company? In your marketplace? In your city/state? What companies are doing well? Which ones need help? If you're going to go — go for the gold.
• Get Your Resume In Order. Work with a professional (I have a few great recommendations if need be).
• Start Reading The WSJ/Financial Times/The Economist/BusinessWeek. It tells you what's happening. Where to focus. What areas are growing, who's shrinking. New areas you never even knew existed.
• Past Bosses. Have lunch with them. Find out what they're doing. They might want you.

Bottom line, now is the time to take action and develop a robust "Plan B". Today.

Short Term Thinking.

What ever happened to Five Year Plans? Long Term Planning?

• It's probably the reason why our economy is in the state it is currently in.

• It's most likely why many companies fail to grow and just keep things the same.

• It's the reason why your team is always questioning your decisions.

• It's the reason why there is massive churn at the top of many companies.

What ever happened to Five Year Plans? They became dirty words over the past 10 years. Anyone who ascribed to a 3-5 year plan was not a forward thinker, someone who was not 'up with the times', or a 'Web 2.0' executive (by the way, Web 2.0 as a descriptive term has been dead for a long time).

What the business glitterati forgot is that long term planning is focused on a GOAL - and the route to that goal might change - and even the goal might change. Unfortunately, the latest fad 'state' of executive management is to come on board and throw out everything that was done before and start anew. Then your successor comes on board (after you have received a very handsome golden parachute) and throws out your plan and begins anew. And so it goes.

I charge that this cleansing of capitalism must wash away the flippant ways of past executives. We need the captains of industry to lead with bold visions and stay the course - and never waver. I hope I am right.

What long term plans do you have?