Don's October Book Report is all about Trust!

Ever ready with a new book for us to read, Don Kardux's recommendation this month looks like a great read!  And it takes on the topic of trust which is integral to all that we hope to accomplish in CN!

Don shares, "Rob Falke, president of The National Comfort Institute (NCI), based in Cleveland, and my dear friend and client for over twenty-two years recommended that our team read and review this book.

Thanks Rob.

Great choice!

Stephen M.R. Covey is the son of Stephen M. Covey of 'Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People' fame, and the great grandson of Stephen Mack Covey and the father of Stephen Covey.

Do you see a pattern here? I do and it is in patterns.

'The Speed of Trust' reveals patterns of behavior which when discovered and more importantly applied can 'Change Everything'  for the better.

The 'Speed' refers to the truth that when people 'Trust' each other, good outcomes take less time than when there is less trust.

Some believe you have trust or you don't.

Covey says, "We can increase trust - much faster than we might think - and in doing so will have a huge impact, both in the quality of our lives and in the results we are able to achieve."

He divides trust into five waves.

They are: Self, Relationship, Organizational, Market, and Social trust.

Sounds kind of dry doesn't it.

But it isn't.

This book is filled with great experiences.

Some are from the author and many more are pulled from others.

All focus on a visual metaphor introduced on page fifty-seven.

A complete tree has parts that are the four cores of credibility which are essential to trust.

Core 1 - Integrity - Are you Congruent? - The roots.

Core 2- Intent- What's your agenda?- The trunk .

Core 3- Capabilities - Are you Relevant?- The branches.

Core 4- Results - What's your track record? - The fruit produced.

The second wave of trust, Relationship, clarifies thirteen behaviors, which when understood and used can strengthen and even repair broken trust.

A most hopeful  revelation happens on page three hundred. 'Restoring Trust  When It Has Been Lost'.

Stephen writes, "As I said in Chapter 1, the ideas that trust cannot be restored once it is lost is a myth. Though it may be difficult, in most cases, lost trust can be restored - and often even enhanced."

Like his Father and Great Grandfather before him Stephen M.R. Covey presents a practical way to make things better.

If you believe that you or a group you belong to has trust issues, this book can be illuminating and helpful.

 

Getting Traction

Don Kardux is back with his most recent highlighted book.  Always fruit for thought, I hope you enjoy the read.

Don shares: 

Michael Matheson some nineteen years ago signed a Letter of Agreement with Business Navigators and now this spring he has asked us to work with his company again.

It is gratifying when clients who have graduated want to come back.

Michael is no longer the General Manage and son of the owner. He is now the President and owner of Matheson Heating , Air Conditioning, Plumbing and Electrical.

His company is over four times the size it was in 1997.

Michael and his leadership team have studied many of the books I have recommended and so, of course, it is time for him to recommend a book to me.

Gino Wickman is the Author of 'Traction' and the creator and head of a group called EOS which stands for 'The Entrepreneurial Operating System'.  This very practical book clarifies the six key components of EOS.

Practical?  Read what Gino writes in the introduction. 

"This book is not another silver bullet management book or flavor-of-the-month strategy. It contains no theory. It's based on real-world experience, practical wisdom, and timeless truths. More importantly, it works. Through hands-on experience, I have developed a practical but thorough method to help strengthen and re-energize your business."

The six key components are:

1.       Vision

2.       People

3.       Data

4.       Issues

5.       Process

6.       Traction

Each of the component chapters is filled with useful tools. For example I really liked  ' The Vision / Traction Organizer (V/TO) which simplifies strategic planning.

This metaphor is  illustrative of the clever wisdom found throughout the book and the difficulty of letting go of behavior which isn't working.

"An entrepreneur slips and falls off the edge of a cliff. On his way down, he manages to grab onto the end of a vine. He's hanging there, a thousand feet from the top and a thousand feet from the bottom. His situation seems hopeless, so he looks up to the clouds, and decides for the first time to pray. 'Is anybody up there?' he asks. After a long silence, a deep voice bellows down from the clouds: 'Do you believe?' 'Yes,' replies the entrepreneur. 'Then, then let go of the vine,' says the voice. The entrepreneur pauses for a second, looks up again, and finally responds, 'Is there anybody else up there?'"

You can also go to the EOS web site and sign up for weekly tips.

You receive some really good observations.

The Dutchman, in me, really likes that it is free.

Summer Book Read About Leadership

Don Kardux doesn't disappoint us this month with his choice of book to share with us.

 Don begins, "I've probably read over two hundred management and leadership books in the past thirty years.

Too many were overblown and overly complex. Or as Bill Treasurer, (who is - a real Treasure) says, "The complexification of leadership."'

By the way, don't look for the correct spelling. I think Bill coined the word.

So when Bill stated in the book’s preface, "I resign from the legion of Leadership Complexifiers," I was encouraged. 

He did not disappoint. 

This book, 'Leaders Open Doors' has a clearly stated premise with two parts, nine chapters, a conclusion and all within a relatively short one hundred and ten pages.

On the last page of the preface Bill writes, "The approach to leadership described in this book is based on the simple and well-tested idea that leaders help people and organizations grow when they focus on creating opportunities for others. But just because the idea is simple doesn't mean it is easy. Open-door leadership takes work. So let's get started. How do you start opening doors for people, and what's in it for you if you do?"

In the preface he outlines each chapter with a matrix which includes three columns. Chapter/ You'll Learn / Key takeaways.

What a wonderful contribution to clarity

For example:

·         Chapter 3- Purposeful Discomfort

·         Why is making people uncomfortable - in a way they can absorb- is every leader's primary job

·         Create discomfort for both yourself and others to inspire them to grow.

I particularly liked 'Ways to increase accountability' pg. 84, chapter 9, The Door to Personal Transformation.

As with many good leadership books, Open-door Leadership is chock full of wonderful examples of people and situations which clearly illustrate the point in focus.

It's worth the read and I'd like to thank my client and good friend Roy Hauser for literally putting this book in my hands.

 

May Book report

Don Kardux took a leave of absence from book reporting last month, but he is back stronger than ever with this book about customer service, something that we can all relate to.

To misquote Portia, "The quality of customer service, in American Business, is strained" so much so that when we get mediocre service we are grateful.

Can you imagine if your business provided superb customer service what would happen?

Well, Scott Brown's book "Who Cares?” highlights  his 'Six essentials of service' that when you understand and implement all of them your customers will cry out, "Mercy! Mercy! I will go nowhere else!"

As Scott says in his first chapter "The Foundations of Customer Service" "Customer Service is Caring about the people you do business with...caring is the key."

His emphasis is that you must implement all six. Picking only some of them just won't work.

1. Essential # 1: Vision, he lists seven elements of vision but, my favorite is the                               second, "Ten things that people who care about you will do"                                        because those ten are transferable to business. 
2. Essential # 2: Hiring, he quotes Walt Disney, "You can dream, create, design and                                  build the most wonderful place in the world...But it requires people                                     to make the dream a reality."  And Brown offers practical insight into                          the hiring process. 
3. Essential # 3: Training, he lists ten elements of training that are critical to                                                 creating, 'Service with a purpose'. 
4. Essential # 4: Communication, seven elements of communication and my favorite                   is the second, "Cherish your Complaints". 
5. Essential # 5: Recognition, five elements and  of course, I like the second,                                              'It's Okay To Have Fun!' 
6. Essential # 6: Revision, follows Deming's 'Continuous Quality Improvement' or                          my, 'Got to keep the plate spinning philosophy'.

I like this book because after thirty years of working with small to medium businesses I am convinced that Scott Brown is right "Caring about your customer (inside and out) is the key!"