How to Be a Successful Business Leader Instead of a Turkey this Thanksgiving

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As our Canadian Thanksgiving is next week (I know our neighbors in the States don’t celebrate for some time yet), I thought it appropriate to give thanks to you – our dedicated and loyal followers with my top five leadership tips.

Don’t be a turkey this holiday season, be the leader your people want to impress and follow, by deploying these tidbits in your business.

1. Open Doors Create Open Communications

The biggest challenge in every office is getting everyone to simply talk to each other. Everyone from the janitor to the CEO gets so caught up in their own thing, they fail to take – no – make – time to talk to others.

Your door should always be open – except when you’re in a meeting or really can’t be disturbed – so that your teams feel comfortable approaching you when they want.

Leaders that sit behind closed and locked doors shut out their people, and remember, everyone follows your lead. If you are a closed mind, your teams will be closed minds too.

And you don’t want that – so always keep your door open.

2. Create an Open Dialogue with Your Teams

Building on the previous tip, having an open door is just part of the communications solution, as the leader, you have to set the example and the tone. TELL every single person you work with – whether they report to you or not – that your door is always open. Invite everyone you work with to come and see you for anything – no matter how silly or small.

Encourage your people to be just as approachable with each other. Reward those who follow through, and demonstrate their openness to other team members. Mentor those that aren't being open, they may be shy, or just need a little inspiration to get going.

3. Get Out of Your Office

Last one on communications – I promise! Having an open door policy and encouraging people to be approachable again is only part of the communications solution. You need to get out of your office and make cubicle visits.

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Throughout the week, randomly walk amongst your team members, asking them how they are. Ask them about their work. Tell them you are here to help – ask how you can help them – then do whatever you can to help.

Be it assigning another resource to a project, re-evaluating a project's budget, even rolling up your sleeves and taking on some of the work – that’ll really impress your team, because it’ll show them how helpful you are, and that you really are in their corner.

4. Reward Don’t Punish

To err is to be human, we all make mistakes. The best leaders reward those who do good, the poor leaders punish those who don’t.

When I worked for American Express, our leader would publicly humiliate, chastise, and ridicule anyone that screwed up during our project meetings. She was demeaning and cruel, and everyone feared and hated her.

No one gave her their best effort, and the projects – and ultimately the company – suffered because of it.

Don’t be a tyrant and a bully like my former vice-president at Amex

.

Even you make mistakes – yes you do.

How would you like it if someone yelled, cursed, hissed, and angrily stared you down publicly in a room of 50 or more of your co-workers?

Sometimes, I swear I saw gobs of spit spewing out of that horrid American Express leader. How she got to be in charge of anything bigger than a broom closet, for the third largest credit card company in the world, is beyond me . . .

Reward those who do amazing, wonderful things.

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Reward those that do good too – everyone should be made to feel successful and on the right track – no matter how big or small their contribution is to your team.

And when someone messes up, don’t get your up against the wall and punish them. The best leaders teach, instruct and inspire their staff to do good. Show them how they can do better, and guide them through it.

5. Share the Spotlight with Your Team

At a party full of people, there is always that one person that naturally attracts others to him or her. They are the ones making everyone laugh and smile. They are the ones telling the greatest stories, getting into the best conversations, having the biggest laughs, the most smiles. They own that room, even if they aren’t the host.

Ever wonder how that one person somehow manages to attract everyone?

Here’s the secret – although they appear to be the centre of attention, actually they aren’t. They are sharing the spotlight with everyone around them.

They laugh and smile invitingly to everyone that is in on the joke. They are extremely observant, and draw people in by noticing the little things about those around them, and then showing a genuine interest in those little things.

It’s like they bring their own spotlight, stand in the middle, and anyone that walks by, they engage on such a personal level, that passersby naturally wander into the spotlight, and share in its warm glow.

Share the spotlight with your team. Be the person that everyone wants to be around, by simply being engaging, inviting, interesting, and above all else – genuinely interested in everyone around you.

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People respond when you show a genuine interest in them and their well-being.

Combine that interest, affection and sense of fun with the other tips above, and whether the people on your team stay with you forever, or move on in their career, they’ll always fondly think of you as the best boss they ever had.

As a leader, you want that. You want that bad.

Entrepreneur Life Lessons: Never Cheat Your Customers -- Ever

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Recently, the girlfriend and I went to a local cafe to grab a light snack before lunch. It was a sunny Saturday in Toronto, Canada, and we were enjoying some together time on the weekend.

We saw a quaint looking coffee shop -- The Grind Cafe -- in the underground at Toronto’s busiest intersection – Yonge and Bloor streets.

The gourmet tea selection won us over, and we each picked one to try, along with a puff pastry filled with cheese and other yummy stuff.

The cost for our light snack came to $11.42.

The barista behind the counter asked for $11.45.

With the elimination of one-cent from Canadian currency, the federal government has implemented guidelines for business owners in rounding to the next whole cent.

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According to their guidelines, $11.42 should be rounded down to $11.40 – NOT up to $11.45. Actually, it’s also basic elementary school math – round up for numbers ending in five or higher, and down for everything else.

“It’s only three cents,” protested the man behind the counter when we politely reminded him of his error.

Yes, it is only three lonely cents, however that’s not the point. You don’t reject your customer’s objection, you should politely answer it – even if you’re wrong – because picking a fight with a customer just isn’t good business.

We paid the extra three cents, though as we sat in the lovely cafe, sipping on our teas, the experience just wasn’t as cozy as we had hoped.

Great customer service makes people swoon, and want more – horrible customer service makes you want to head for the exit and never look back.

As we exited the cafe, we strolled past a Shopper’s Drug Mart – one of the largest chain of pharmacies in Canada, owned by the Weston Family (they own Loblaws grocery stores and the President’s Choice, and No Name labels of products).

We needed a few items we know we’d find there, so we went in.

“Do you need a bag for that?” the person behind the counter asked, as we were at the check out.

We did, which she proceeded to charge us five cents for.

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In 2009, the City of Toronto implemented a poorly executed by-law, requiring retailers to charge five cents for every plastic bag given to a customer. It was poorly implemented, because it wasn’t enforced, nor was it ever really clear where that nickel per bag was going.

The city claims it was being put into an environmental fund, to promote environmental practices and keep the city clean. However, as it was up to each retailer to manage the collection and distribution of the funds, most of those fees just went back into the pockets of greedy retailers looking to make a buck.

The original intent of the five cent fee was to reduce plastic bag use, in favor of reusable cloth bags.

In 2013, under Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, he killed the five cent per plastic fee, however, because it never was managed well, the city didn’t end the program well either, leaving it in the hands of greedy retailers.

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If the city really wanted to reduce or eliminate plastic bags from the city’s landfill, they should have banned them outright – which they eventually did – however the plastics industry sued and the city quietly cancelled their ban in 2013.

So, now wherever you go in Toronto – and even in the areas surrounding it – you never know if you the customer will get dinged an extra five cents for giving someone your business.

“Where does the five cents go?” I ask the kid behind the counter at the Shoppers Drug Mart.

“I dunno, probably somewhere good,” she says.

Yes, it probably lines the pockets of the executives running Canada’s largest pharmacy-retail chain.

Although charging for plastic bags does reduce their use – a City of Toronto report claims a 53 percent drop in 2012 over the three years since the five-cent fee was initiated – that’s a drop of 215 million plastic bags – the money collected for an environmental initiative shouldn’t be used as a revenue stream off the backs of customers.

Never lie to a customer, because if and when you get caught, you’ll never see that customer again. And worse, using a social cause (such as environmentalism) as a way to make money is the ultimate way to cheat your customer.

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This got us thinking about our earlier experience with the Grind Cafe. We figured, if that store wrongly rounds up it’s prices for everyone, then that three-cents quickly adds up, giving them an additional revenue stream. For every 20 customers wrongly rounded up, that’s about a dollar in profits. That adds up day-in, day-out.

However, again, you never want to cheat your customers, because that’s not a great way to keep them coming back.

Numerous studies prove it’s a lot easier to please and retain customers, than to pay for marketing and advertising to acquire new ones, some going so far to say it costs between four to ten percent more to acquire new costumers.

So you never want to do anything – anything – which could cost you a customer, especially cheat them out of their hard earned money, such as the examples used above.

There are great retailers that don’t round up – when they should round down – and that don’t nickel and dime their customers over a plastic bag. Or those that do charge for plastic bags honestly, inform and educate their staff as to where those funds are actually going, rather than “somewhere good,” which in business, just doesn’t cut it.

What’s the entrepreneurial lesson here?

Simple.

Be honest with your customers unless you want them to feel cheated, lied too, and that something just isn’t right.

Because once your customer feels that something just isn’t right, they stop being your customer. And you never want anyone once willing to pay for whatever you sell, to stop paying for what you sell – ever.

The Entrepreneurship Lifestyle -- It Isn't What You Think

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Many people envision entrepreneurs as always driving the latest luxury sports car, wearing the hottest most expensive fashions, living in mansions around the world and going to all the A-List parties.

Not so.

Yes, you can make it big, and have all that -- and more.

But the whole point of being an entrepreneur is to turn your passions into profits. Do what you love, yet trick the world to pay you for it.

That's the essence of being an entrepreneur, otherwise, you'd just be working at some company, to make money doing something you hate.

Most people have jobs they hate. Well, hate may be a strong word. They tolerate them, they've accepted the fact that this is what I'll do, forever, and ever, because everyone has to have a job. Everyone has to work for someone. That's how you make money to enjoy the few hours you get to yourself each week.

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Or at least that's the myth society sells us.

We're taught to stay in school, so you can get an education because a good education is important in getting a job. Oh, and you'll get one of those too. A job.

And you'll be at that job forever, commuting in traffic to get there and back, until one day you're given a gold watch and a blue box with all your personal things in it, and wished a happy retirement.

That myth is dead. Has been for a long, long time.

Though our society is still stuck in that myth, so anytime someone bucks the system and bolts for the door of entrepreneurship, they are automatically called a "rebel," a "troublemaker," and considered the darkhorse of the family.

"You don't want to end up like your crazy uncle Harry, do you?" is often heard at family functions.

No one knows what crazy uncle Harry does, other than he'll always show up late in his big and shiny European car from some automaker no one has heard of, arms full of gifts for all the naysayers.

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Crazy uncle Harry is known as a person that likes to party. His big full-on laugh can be heard miles away, he's always the center of attention, flanked on all sides by others, laughing at and with him, and just as he arrived late to the party, he'll leave late too -- usually closing the place down.

However, it isn't is party-hard persona that scares people. It's the fact that Harry doesn't work for anyone. He's never had a regular nine-to-five job. Ever.

But that's still not what really scares people about Harry.

What really makes everyone worry and wonder about Harry, is this:

Why is he always so happy?

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How come he never counts down the hours until he has to go back to work?

How come he never complains about his boss?

He's crazy -- uncle Harry.

Harry isn't crazy, he's an entrepreneur.

And like most entrepreneurs, he's living the life he's always wanted too.

That's the entrepreneurial lifestyle -- living life on your terms -- not living the myth society tells you is "life."

So the next time you see that relative that's been labeled the black sheep of the family, pat him or her on the back, smile, and ask them for some advice on starting your own entrepreneurial journey.

Then one day, if you're lucky, you'll be the one that gets the word "crazy" appended to their name at family functions.

Just Because You Run a Small Business Doesn’t Mean You Should Answer the Phone Like Your Kid

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Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, much as their businesses do.

Sometimes you’ll never know they run a small business unless you actually meet them.

Then, there are others, that have the telltale signs of being a small business:

• Their email address is a Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or some other free one.
• Their email address is firstname@companyname.com
• Their web address is some free-hosted site.
• When you call them, they answer the phone as your kid does when you’re calling him downstairs for dinner.

Seriously, I’ve been talking to a handful of small business owners recently, and more than just a few answered the phone in such an unprofessional manner, I had to double check to see if I dialed the wrong number.

“Yo,” is not an acceptable way to answer your phone if you want to be taken seriously as a professional.

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Neither is: “Hey, how ya doin’?”

Nor does: “What?” inspire great things when calling someone you might be looking to hire.

How you answer the phone makes a big difference, even if you’re running a small business.

You’d think this would be common sense, however, as with most things in life, common sense doesn’t seem to be all that common.

When you answer your work line as above, you instantly put your potential customers on edge.

“Does this bozo really think I’m going to pay him for his services?”

How can you trust someone with your money, if they can’t answer the phone like an adult?

Unless I’m calling a stand-up comic, or someone that works in a business where light-hearted fun is the business, anything as the above tells me I’ll be looking elsewhere to spend my cash.

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So, how should you be answering your work phone?

A good rule of thumb is to simply say your first and last name as the introduction: “John Smith.”

That works in the mega-huge faceless corporate world, so it also works in a small business.

Though adding some personality and customer service isn’t a bad idea: “Hi, this is John Smith, how can I help you?”

Want to sound like a big company? Use the company name in your greeting: “Thanks for calling XYZ Inc., this is John, how can I help you?”

We’ve all heard the saying, you never have a second chance to make a first impression – that is very true on the phone, especially if this is the person’s first time calling you and your business.

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If you don’t sound like a reputable, professional person, you won’t get that person’s business.

Competition in all fields is immense these days, so you really don’t have a second chance to make that all important first impression.

So, unless you’re a Sylvester Stallone impersonator, answering your business phone: “Yo” just doesn’t cut it.

Once you’ve established a rapport with someone, and know the number, then perhaps you could answer slightly less formal.

However, that’ll never happen, if you scare off potential customers by answering your phone like your kid.

So, until that time, always answer the phone like a business person – unless of course, you don’t want to be in business.

Is Authenticity in Business Best?

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Thanks to podcasting, social media and the very public world we’ve created for ourselves through similar technologies, there is a growing trend towards authenticity.

Want to succeed in romance, your career, business or anything in life? Just be yourself.

Tell it like it is.

I’m a big fan of some of the most popular blogs and podcasts in the entrepreneurial space which tell you to just be you, as the hosts demonstrate by just being themselves.

From the always informative and interesting Smart Passive Income blogs and podcasts, where host Pat Flynn shares his story of personal success – leaving the world of architecture, to start and run several successful online businesses.

To Entrepreneur on Fire, where host John Lee Dumas interviews successful entrepreneurs, sharing their stories of failure, success and tips for starting their own businesses.

I love these guys, for their bravery in being honest, true, and authentic.

There’s that word again.

Authentic.

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It’s the new buzzword of the business world. Just be authentic while providing any product or service, and watch your customers line-up ‘round the corner.

If being authentic is the best thing to be, how come the biggest money makers online still dabble in the totally unauthentic worlds of sex and drugs?

Porn still makes up over 70 percent of the commerce traded online, according to several studies. The next biggest money maker online? Discount prescription drug sales, most notably, for erectile dysfunction – you know – that purple pill called Viagra.

Neither of these businesses uses authenticity to sell – quite the opposite! The whole porn industry is based on creating entertainment based on our fantasies.

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And it is not just the realm of the online business world.

Yes, I’m a proud '100 percenter' – someone who’s listened to the Humble and Fred podcast since it first hit iTunes, and has listened to every episode then and since.

Humble and Fred two well-known Toronto radio personalities, have been together for a quarter of century, making listeners laugh with their silly – some may say offensive – fart and dick jokes.

Since embarking on their own entrepreneurial ventures, they boast about being authentic too. They talk about their lives, the lives of their guests, and share their blunt opinions about the world around them.

Their unique format has done them well -- although they began their podcast because they claim no radio station would hire them – since launching their authentic talk radio show, it has been picked up by several terrestrial radio stations, and has become the morning show on SiriusXM’s Canada Laughs channel.

Humble and Fred talk about being authentic as the key to their success – people don’t like being sold personality – they want the real deal.

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Humble and Fred, Entrepreneur on Fire and the Smart Passive Income podcasts and blogs are among my favorite guilty pleasures when I have a moment to spare.

They are all exceptionally entertaining, and informative.

Yet, they always talk about being authentic.

Tell it like it is.

Yet we still live in world where the biggest businesses don’t.

Like the joy ride automakers take us on when they show off their latest cars, speeding down a narrow mountain road -- with lots of fine print about it being a closed course, and do not ever attempt what we're seeing.

To beer commercials still selling us good times over cold brews – with more fine print reminding us to please drink responsibly.

Even burger joints like McDonald’s are trying to sell us on their “healthy choices menu” even though the number one product McDonald’s sells are their French fries.

If the truth will set you free, and being authentic in business is the new norm, why are the biggest and most recognized brands on the planet still peddling products and services the old fashioned way?

Truth is, sometimes the truth hurts.

So being authentic just isn’t in the cards for most of our guilty pleasures.

Think about it – would you buy beer if the ads showed overweight men with beer bellies, getting into bar room brawls?

Probably not.

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Clearly, authenticity isn’t always best.

Being authentic really depends on what it is you are selling.

If you’re selling entrepreneurship, being your own boss, and making it on your own – authenticity works. Authenticity works here, because it’s all in the self-improvement space.

However, if you’re selling things that are more status symbols – like high end sports cars – or ways to escape reality – like porn and beer – than being authentic could actually hurt your business.

So, does the truth set you free in business? Depends on the business.