Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Leadership

Beyond Leadership is Horizon Point’s line of resources for managers of people. Managing ourselves is a distinct set of behaviors from managers the work of others, and we are here to help. Read stories in this category if you are ready to take the next step into people leadership (or if you’re looking for articles to send someone else…).

If You Want to Make a Difference, Start a Business Not a Charity

“An idea hit me: Why not create a for-profit business to help provide shoes for these children? Why not come up with a solution that guaranteed a constant flow of shoes rather than being dependent on kind people making donations? In other words, maybe the solution was entrepreneurship not charity.” Blake Mycoskie, TOMS Shoes

Although Blake and his TOMS shoes have spurred the whole concept of one-for-one business models, he isn’t alone nor the first to consider how business can be a cause.

With decreasing government funding for charitable causes (and I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad thing) and so many charities competing for individual’s attention, people who want to make a difference may be better off being entrepreneurs rather than social workers or not-for-profit managers. Blake’s quote tells us why: sustainability. Want to help, then you have to have a continuous flow of revenue to do so.

There are three key ways we see businesses aligning with this idea:

1. The TOMS Model.- One-for-one models.   Buy something, something is given. Simple as that. It’s done with shoes, water, eyeglasses, blankets, meals, vaccines, even condoms. The list goes on. However, in the wake of business as a cause through one-to-one initiatives, there is speculation that these models may actual hurt in the long run by sabotaging local economies.

2. The Microsoft Model- Make a lot of money so you can give a lot of money.   It’s simple, make a lot of money so that you can give away a lot of money (and time) to support needs. What do you think Bill and Melinda Gates spend most of their time doing now?   It isn’t designing computer software. It is working to meet the needs across the globe through their foundation.   Many for-profit companies, large and small, operate charitable foundations, while others give a certain percentage of their earnings to charity.

3. The Patagonia Model- Promote a social cause through your company message, product(s) and profits. With a desire to reduce consumption and waste the impacts our environment Patagonia started this campaign (see image below- subscribers click through) What happened? Profits are up. They sell fewer jackets that cost more, and should last forever, and by doing this they build a loyal brand of followers who are interested in the same thing they are, conservation.

In all of these cases, the purpose is dual: the profit and what the profit can do for the purpose.

In reality though, capitalism or free enterprise systems (with certain controls) where there is the incentive of profit to be made, is THE economic system that actually may be the single best way to reduce poverty in this world and fight the ills that result from it. History has shown that the to be best method for bringing a society, and therefore individuals, out of poverty is to give a person the opportunity to work for something worth working for- namely a profit (and this may be why the TOMS model may actually be hurting local economies). Because what does that profit produce? Self-sufficiency and independence. Then, some people will keep all they earn for him or herself, but most, as we can see by many models, find a way to give much of it back for the greater good.

So what should you or your organization do if you want to start or focus a business on capitalism with a conscience?

1. Identify your greater purpose. What is it that you want to impact and how is your business or how can you position a business to uniquely meet that purpose? Is it tackling poverty, world health issues, conservation, education, entrepreneurship? Define specifically what is you want to impact and get it on paper. You can’t move on to your how of impact until you define your what and why.

2. Learn.

a. Learn by reading about these different models and determine what the best fit for your organization.   For the one-to-one model, read Blake’s Start Something That Matters as well as the pieces that show how this model may actually hurt- such as When Helping Hurts. For the Microsoft model, read Bill Gate Sr.’s, book Showing Up For Life. For a local model, read our Give Back Piece on Valley Rubber, LLC. For a piece on several models like Patagonia, read This FastCompany article.

b. Learn through education. Like Casey Gerald said in his graduation speech from Harvard Business School, if you want to find a method for helping the most today, then go to business school. You may not need to actually go to business school, but you do need to know how to design a business model that meets a market need through your product or service.

3. Create or revise your business plan so that it meets both the market need and the greater purpose you have in mind. For some great resources to do a business plan, visit score.org.

What cause is closest to your heart and what business(es) are doing something about it? My guess is you buy from them.

June 9, 2015
Top 10 Leadership Quotes

What is leadership? In one word, leadership is influence. It’s the ability to accomplish things through others.

Taken to the next level, and as the noble ideal that leadership has become (as opposed to say, management) great leadership involves positive influence that leads to positive results. Leadership makes others, and therefore the world, better through focus on people.

With this in mind, here are some of the great leadership quotes that espouse what real leadership is:

“Lead from the back- and let others believe they are in front.” Nelson Mandela

“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” Sheryl Sanberg

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin

“Leaders don’t create more followers, they create more leaders.” Tom Peters

“Great leaders don’t set out to be a leader…they set out to make a difference. Its never about the role- always about the goal.”

“Leadership is not a position or a title, it is action and example.”

“Leaders take all the blame and give away all the credit.”

“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.” John Buchan

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. Jack Welch

“The key to successful leadership today is influence not authority.” Ken Blanchard

May 26, 2015
Are you doer who is destined to be a leader?
Are you currently thriving in a position and considering transitioning into a leadership role? If you’re not sure, consider the following:

Are you praised for displaying company values and known for always delivering?

Are you a good communicator?

Do others come to you with problems or to get your advice?

Do you enjoy the role of leading/encouraging your co-workers?

If you answered “yes” to the above question, you should definitely consider a role in leadership. So how do you transition from being a “doer” to a “leader”? Tips to Ensure a Smooth Transition into a Leadership Role suggests the following:
- To start, be sure you know exactly what your supervisor expects from you in terms of performance and as a leader.
- Once you know what success means in your new role, get to work on becoming a good leader.
- It will likely be helpful to start by meeting with each of your direct reports individually and it may be a good idea to take the meeting off-site.
- Finally, remember, to earn respect, you need to be respectful. Don’t show favoritism to any employee, don’t participate in office gossip, and follow through on the things you say you’ll do.
“Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence.” Sheryl Sandberg

If leadership opportunities are not available with your current employer and you are considering a move, how do you market your transferrable skills? According to The Top Transferrable Skills Every Manager Should Have, communication and empathy are two key skills for leaders. Update your resume to include your transferrable skills. For more about transferrable skills, read How to Identify Your Transferrable Skills. If you happen to be in an administrative role, read this month’s career spotlight: Front Line Leaders of Administrative Personnel.

Are you ready to be a leader? Check out 10 Books Leaders Need to Be Reading for more insight.
May 19, 2015
Get a Leadership Professional Development Game Plan
Leaders take control of their personal and professional development in order to continuously grow and maximize their contribution. As a leader do you have a professional development game plan? If you do, here are some good ideas to consider, and if not, here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Read- Commit to reading a sampling of the following:
- A book about leadership a month. For recommendations on books to start with, see our Top 10 Leadership book recommendations. Downloading the app Good Reads and selecting the “Business” category can help you select some good titles. Once you begin rating books you’ve read, it will recommend other titles for you.
- A great business publication once a month. FastCompany is my go-to for this, but others prefer something a little less edgy and more news oriented like The Economist or The Wall Street Journal
- An industry specific publication once a month. My go-to for HR related topics is Workforce Magazine (their online content is great too) and HR Magazine published by SHRM and for Career Development it is NCDA’sCareer Convergence that is online content once a month and Career Developments Magazine which is in print.
- Something outside your industry once a month (Oftentimes reading a great business publication will cover this. For example, I’ve been enjoying reading about the fashion and ecommerce industry in the last severalFastCompany
- Leadership blogs and blogs related to your industry. Subscribe to ones that are of interest to you and/or get a content mining and archiving app like Flipboard to find, organize and catalogue your info. Make sure you don’t miss out on the Leadership Carnival the first Monday of every month that features a compilation of posts from a variety of key leadership bloggers. Blogs I love in the HR/Career industry are Fistful of Talent,The HR Capitalist and UpStartHR
- Take your reading a step further and write about leadership. Set a goal to get something published once a year and then quarter. Where should you start to try to get published? Start with the publications you are currently reading.
2. Engage and Listen. To other experts in your field and those who are learning with you.
- Attend conferences to hear from the best and network with your colleagues. Record your insights and connections while you are there. You can also do this through webinars and podcasts.
- Find a thought leader in your field and schedule a time to meet with them regularly (at least quarterly) to discuss ideas, leadership challenges and insights in your field.
- Volunteer with an organization in which you are passionate about and learn from those around you and from your experience.
- Request a regular, standing time to meet with your boss (at least one a month) to discuss business challenges and opportunities and plans of action.
3. Practice and Apply. The reading and the engaging and listening really doesn’t matter if you don’t apply any of it to your work and life. As you read and listen, make notes of things you can apply on the job and set a game plan to do so. A goal setting worksheet may help with this. Take the time to discuss this with your boss in the regularly scheduled meeting you have hopefully established and ask for assignments that help you apply your knowledge, practice what you’re learning and that aid the business in pursuit of success.

What is your personal career and leadership development game plan?
May 12, 2015
The Best Way to Thank Employees is to Make it Personal
I’m working with a client now where the one of the company’s core values is relationships. The value they place on relationships, with their employees and their customers, leads to a competitive advantage for the company. But I don’t think they do it because it creates a competitive advantage. They do it because it is just the right thing to do.

One thing I’ve learned from them is how this value actually plays out in the way that they recognize and reward employees.

As an outsider looking in they:
1. Get to know their people as people, not just as workers
2. Set clear expectations for everyone in the company
3. Reward people in a personal way when expectations are met. They are able to do this because they did step number one.
Because they reward people in a personal way, their employees are more loyal, work harder and continue to met and exceed the clear expectations that are set.

For example, they have a high performing engineer. The guy loves anything to do with planes and flying. He did a great job last year. His bonus was flying lessons (and in case you didn’t know, flying lessons are not cheap).

I have a book sitting on my shelf in my office that is titled 1501 Ways To Reward Employees by Bob Nelson. It is a good little book to get you thinking. It lists things like “provide a free makeover, give a full-day pass to a spa, give passes for bungee jumping, skydiving, hot-air balloon ride, whitewater rafting, provide lessons: golf, scuba, flying, rafting, tennis, horseback riding, cooking, painting…” and so on and so forth.

All these things are cool, but if you give someone who is scared of heights skydiving lessons, that isn’t rewarding, that is scary to them.   I’d love a pass to the spa, but would my husband? Nope. And if you gave him a pass to the spa thanking him for a job well done, I think his first thought would be, you don’t even know me at all do you? Taking the time to know people on a personal level communicates to them that they matter and you care.

If you are going to reward people, make sure what you are doing is actually rewarding. This means that giving the same reward to everyone company wide, is oftentimes not rewarding to most.   A ham at Christmas is nice, but do all your employees like ham?

And before you go saying, well money is rewarding to everyone, just give everyone money as bonus, stop and think about that for a minute. I just had a conversation with someone that is willing to take a pay cut for more flexibility at her job. Money isn’t rewarding to her, the flexibility is.   She will work harder for the boss that gives her more flexibility in getting her work done than she will the boss that pays her more.

How do you personalize your rewards? When you do, what results do you see?
May 7, 2015