Business Resource Center › Todd's Results 2011

Ah-Ha! Moment — In 2011, "Creating Value for Everyone" — including Clients, Prospects, Firm Members, and Referral Sources — has been my theme. A key word in the theme is "Creating." So much of what we do for our clients and ourselves is truly creative, and all creative activities involve some risk. Will it work? Even if it works, will someone like it? The great majority of times, our creativity, ideas, and effort do indeed turn an idea into reality — and it feels GREAT! But occasionally, things don't work out as we had hoped. Despite our best efforts, we discovered in December that a significant internal project into which we invested a great amount of time and creativity would not bring the results we thought, and this was a big disappointment.

The lesson learned? I can't change the past. I can, however, learn the lesson and quickly move on, wiser for the experience.

Ah-Ha! Moment — Most of the year, my staff and I focus very hard on serving our clients and meeting with referral sources and prospects. In late November, however, we begin to throttle back slightly and make time to enjoy our seasonal traditions.

One such tradition is that every year, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we have a firm meeting where continuing education and "roundtable discussions" of our projects are on the agenda. Then, right around 11:30, we break and hurry off to heat, slice, or otherwise finish the potluck items we brought to share for our Thanksgiving luncheon. This tradition has great value to us — we all have a chance to be thankful for each other.

The lesson learned? A common adage goes, "You can't give away what you don't have." So if we want our gratitude, goodwill, and other feel-good values to rub off on others — our colleagues, our clients, our families — we have to make sure we nurture and grow these qualities in ourselves and our firm.

Ah-Ha! Moment — My firm has hosted an annual reception every year since 1999! These twelve all shared similar venues — typically, a hotel or an upscale restaurant — a variety of food and beverages, and a very short welcome by me. We have hewed to our formula because it always worked well for us. Our guests enjoy themselves and always compliment us on the food, location, and wonderful conversations.

When my Manager of Business Development proposed two venues for our 2011 reception — a hotel and an historic home — I was nervous. I had never noticed the Weir-Jordan House (also referred to as the Women's Club, the house's owner) before, so we visited it one bright sunlit afternoon. Frankly, I was skeptical — things creaked, the main room looked plain and barren, and the bathrooms were those of a home, not a hotel or restaurant. It was very...different. Nonetheless, I really liked the energy and professionalism of the caterer, and trusted my manager's recommendation, so I said "Yes, we'll go with this," and worked out details on food, room layout, and decor.

Finally, the big day came, and I was REALLY impressed with how things looked! The main room was now homey and warm, with soft lighting for the evening, cabaret tables draped with orange and brown organza fabric and topped with candle lanterns, and a nicely arranged buffet line. And that's when I "got it" — the main room's strength was "her" versatility. "She" was a talented actress who could play any desired character!

Artist Bill Mangum planned to attend this year's reception, so I asked if he would be willing to bring his 2011 Honor Card painting — now in its 24th year — to the reception for a "private viewing," and he most graciously did. Guests began to arrive, and all the firm members made them feel welcome and comfortable. Several guests, when learning I was Treasurer of Greensboro Urban Ministry (GUM), commented that it was the "crown jewel of Greensboro." Knowing my likely guests for the evening, I added some extra touches to my comments:

• I welcomed everyone and recounted the significant benefits we had brought to seven clients in the room that evening.
• I then introduced Mike Aiken, Executive Director of GUM, to the group and thanked him and GUM for truly being a "crown jewel" for our city.
• I finally introduced Bill to the group, and he told the true story of Bonnie Harris, the woman depicted in his painting.
• Mike thanked Bill for his generosity in donating an original painting annually, and thanked my firm for sponsoring the CROP Hunger Walk and the Honor Card for many years.

The outcome of all this? We had our BEST firm reception EVER!! People were gushing over the warmth and coziness of Weir-Jordan House, raving about the food (at least 6 people wanted Stacy Street to cater THEIR next dinner party or event), and thanking all the firm members for generously promoting and supporting GUM.

The lesson learned? Shaking things up can be risky — and can also turn out really well!

Ah-Ha! Moment — If you're like me, there's always one nagging item on your "To Do" list. An item which is meaty and could help the business — yet is not critical and gets pushed off "until there is time." That item for me — develop my thoughts around a particular idea, and present them to my staff as continuing professional education (CPE) at a Firm Meeting.

In late June, we set the date for our next Firm Meeting — September 28. In early September, I planned the meeting agenda with this item — "CPE — 1.5 hours — Content to be determined." The problem? I didn't have any ideas for relevant content! And then it hit me — this was a perfect opportunity to get that nagging, yet meaty, item done. Great — I finally had an idea!

I researched the topic and found material — some really on-target, much only indirectly related to my idea. I began to furiously jot down notes, organized my thoughts as best I could, and started producing my material. The problem? There was too much content, and even some of the better content was tangential to the main idea. Fortunately, one of my regular "thinking partners" reviewed my rough draft, offered some GREAT suggestions on triaging and reorganizing material, and developed the framework for a "class exercise" to illustrate the concept. Armed with all this, I was able to overhaul things and produce an outstanding presentation — which impressed even my hard-to-impress folks.

The lesson learned? When I tried to do it all myself and hit a mental roadblock, I greatly benefitted from having another viewpoint — which helped me add value to my staff, and ultimately to our clients.

Ah-Ha! Moment — As the president of my firm, I have always faced a conundrum common to all professional service firms — the need to appropriately divide my time between "Business Development" and "Client Service," or between the "Future" and the "Now." Early in the firm's life, this was easy — the "firm" was only me, and I could spend most of my time in the "Now" serving clients and fit in business development — the "Future" — as needed. That quickly changed, however, once I had even a couple staff members working for me — I had to meet payroll because, funny thing, people don't like to work for free. Over the years, I found — through trial-and-error — a formula which worked reasonably well. Until recently.

For the past nine months, I have spent a lot of time meeting the needs of one large client as we collaboratively developed a new service line. And while I don't want to whine, this has been tough! Not only has the balance of "Future" and "Now" shifted too much to the "Now," I have deliberately had to go out-of-balance to service the "Now" without sacrificing the "Future." These two factors have taken their toll, challenging me to stay motivated and engaged, so that I could continue to keep my folks motivated and engaged, too.

The lesson learned? While a leader has to be primarily focused on the "Future," the leader sometimes has to significantly step up his or her game to help others, and the firm, get through the "Now."

Ah-Ha! Moment — A "very big deal" around our office in July and August was an office upfit. Over two weekends, we had our 10+ year old broadloom carpet replaced with carpet tiles and a new coat of "eggshell finish" paint applied over the existing "flat" paint (also 10+ years old).

Neither my Practice Manager, to whom I had delegated the project, nor I had been through an upfit before. Although I could understand most of the steps she took — we had to pack up the entire office! — the one I could never quite get my head around was putting a numbered sticker on each book. With over 1,200 books on 50 shelves, she believed a sticker was the best way to get the books back in the correct order, which was important because we catalog and shelve our books by the Library of Congress system. Fortunately, she politely ignored my "suggestion-phrased-as-a-question" to just stack them, in order, in the boxes. Her idea made unpacking and restocking the book shelves very easy and quick — no thinking required, and every book returned to its rightful place.

Because her vacation coincided with the first week of packing, my Practice Manager also had to delegate to our Office Assistant. Planning work schedules, explaining tasks to temporary staff and supervising them, and making decisions as issues arose — these were all new experiences for our 20-year old Office Assistant, and she performed them admirably!

The lessons learned?

• One way to create value for others is to delegate challenging projects to them.
• Once you've delegated the project to them, you have to move to the sidelines — give them the opportunity to shine!

I'm glad I learned both lessons, because it made me feel great to see my Practice Manager and Office Assistant really shine!

Ah-Ha! Moment — In late May, we began rolling out the third — and final — software component required to perform a new service line. This rollout came in the nick of time!

In early June, our personnel had just completed all the work they could using the first two software components, and they needed this third piece to begin the final phase of our first major project. After troubleshooting a few inevitable hiccups, our personnel quickly began tearing into their tasks, working hard to meet a very tight July 14 deadline!

This project is very important to our firm, for its...

• return on our investment...
• validation of a new service line's viability, and...
• proof that our people-process-technology trifecta makes these services efficiently repeatable!

As Col. Hannibal Smith says in The A-Team, "I love it when a plan comes together!"

The lesson learned? It's only when a plan successfully comes together that value can be created for everyone involved!

Ah-Ha! Moment — In May, many things started to gel! My staff all rose to the challenge I had put forth in late April — to do "whatever it takes" to dramatically move forward our first major project in a new service line. These services can only be performed efficiently by extensive use of sophisticated technology, and only one of three software components had been implemented prior to May.

• During May, a second piece of software — designed by me beginning in February, and developed by one of my staff members over four months — was completed and put to good use on two smaller projects.
• Also during May, another staff member designed the third and final software component — and yet another staff member began developing it, to roll out in several stages beginning in late May.

Because all of us were overloaded in May, tensions within the firm were high the entire month. Yet, come early June, with the second software component completed and the first stage of the third component in use, we had met our key goals! Our people were finally able to use the long-envisioned process and technology for this service line. Everything started to gel — effort went down, effectiveness went up, and clients validated our findings. The nicest outcome? Tensions dropped back to normal levels, allowing us to better focus our time, attention, and effort.

The lesson learned? Ideas are good, but ideas are insufficient by themselves. Actions turn ideas into tangible results — and people feel good about their hard work when they see vision become reality!

Ah-Ha! Moment — Perhaps I'm a slow learner. You'd think after nearly 22 years of projects centered on process improvement and technology usage, I would have learned a key lesson.

We have been working on a new service line for nearly a year — I thought we could complete it in six months. The only way to perform this service line profitably requires building a specialized data warehouse, coding some pretty nifty processing routines, developing a custom user interface to allow interpretation and review of results, and wrapping repeatable process around all this incredible technology to yield results for the client.

We have done all this, and the first two projects of this new service line are nearly complete.

The lesson learned? Going from "idea" to "invention" always takes longer than you think, especially when the idea is novel and complex, and the invention...has never been produced before.

Ah-Ha! Moment — In January 2011, I decided to go "out of balance" for several months — consciously working many more hours than normal — to address time-critical business needs. This "out of balance" continued in March, and allowed me to move toward achieving my overall goal of "Creating Value for Everyone." In particular, I created value for my firm and one client where we work jointly to help cities and counties find more revenue — and there is plenty of demand for these services right now!

The results? I generated some key insights on a technical issue blocking progress, developed and communicated this insight to my staff for implementation, and oversaw implementation as a new service line neared completion!

As this last quarter has demonstrated, going "out of balance" is not sustainable — yet it can be absolutely essential when a project must be brought to successful completion.

Ah-Ha! Moment — In February, we were slammed! All of my staff were extremely busy, and yet some of our essential work was still not getting done. Thus, I had to go consciously "out of balance" to do extensive hands-on client service and to perform time-critical "research and development" work for an emerging service line.

The results? Critical client needs were met, and the emerging service line continued its strong progress unabated. And it was good validation for me that I've still got the technical chops to do what my talented consultants can do!

Ah-Ha! Moment — In January, things changed. Not just little changes. Pretty good-sized changes. Changes continuing the trend I call "The New Normal" which began for us last year.

These changes caused me to shift client priorities and staff assignments several times. And the good thing? I was calm and proactive about all these changes — qualities essential to deliver on the 2011 theme of "Creating Value for Everyone." I can't create value for anyone, if I'm stuck in worrying or inaction.

Being calm, decisive, and proactive as I plan appropriate responses to changed conditions and then implement these as best I can — doing this is all I (or anyone) can do. I can only control me, so I have to trust myself and trust the outcome of my actions. And it was a good lesson for me to see that some situations, especially those I considered not "right" or not "fair," just naturally resolved themselves after I took what actions I could!