Fresh Thinking

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.  Prov. 15:22

In the market we’ve weathered for the past two years, it’s easy to feel beaten up, preyed upon, and victimized.  “After all,” some may lament, “I was doing fine until those goofs on Wall Street and Washington took down the economy.”  If you have allowed this to be your primary mindset, you’re probably hunkered down doing your best to manage through until the storm passes and things get back to ‘normal.’  How is that working for you?

If you are doing your best to maintain status quo, you need to be reminded the health of your business is similar to the muscles of our bodies.  When not stimulated to grow, the strength and tone are not maintained; they atrophy.  Are you in need of a boost to get your business back on track?  Even if you are not; here are some provocative facts to help you move forward in a positive way:

·         What got you here won’t get you there.  Things change, even when we resist, causing a compelling need for us to adjust our offerings, methods, and staff core competencies if we’re to continue to provide a compelling customer value proposition. Necessity is often the mother of invention!

·          For the thinking business leader, there are no commodities! It’s easy, especially in a recession to think that lower prices are all that matter and our company’s offerings are indistinguishable from our competitors. Focusing solely on competitors brings sameness, bloody price wars, and a loss of focus on what it takes to thrill customers with truly differentiated goods and services. For example, some might view copper as a commodity, but think about the differing ways it might be used (e.g., Siemens power plants, Carrier air conditioners, U.S. Mint pennies, Ford auto radiators, etc.)… all leading to differentiated selling, packaging and logistical support.

·         Now is a great time for fresh thinking and perseverance in relooking at how to best serve customer needs! 50+% of companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession or bear market.  The prize for companies who do what it takes to survive major economic dips — keeping a highly motivated staff nucleus in place and remaining a visible presence — is being first in line to address expanding customer demand with a sharpened offering when the rebound happens.

·         The fundamentals of successful business – identifying customer needs and filling them well – haven’t changed. For those who are feeling beaten down, tired and ‘last generation,’ take note that the age group with the highest rate of entrepreneurial activity over the past decade are 55-64 year-olds!  Those who ‘get it’ and regularly engage customers regarding their needs and hopes in any technical or supply niche will routinely uncover breakthrough business ideas!

The CEOs and business owners of the C12 Groups of Philadelphia recently participated in peer brainstorming exercises intended to get fresh ideas from others who aren’t burdened with the potentially myopic view of sitting at the helm of a single organization.  The results were highly stimulating and energizing.

When was the last time you conducted a true brainstorming session involving your management team, clients, suppliers, and/or peers?  If the answer is close to “I can’t recall” or you have to call for a ruling to decide whether the lunch you had two weeks ago where some market topics were discussed would qualify, you’re well past due.  Would you value that type of input for your business?  Perhaps you should consider visiting a C12 Advisory Board meeting.  [Click here] to find out more.

Pray for our Country's Leadership

Joe Wright, a pastor in Ocala, Florida and friend of C12, gained a bit of notoriety in 1996 when, while leading a church in Wichita, he gave a prayer of repentance to open the Kansas state legislative session as guest chaplain.  This prayer had also been given previously by a Louisville pastor and later by a Colorado pastor in front of their state congresses. It has since generated great attention by being featured multiple times on the late Paul Harvey's nationally syndicated radio program, The Rest of the Story.  In fact, Harvey reported that his first airing of this prayer received the largest response of any segment in his long, storied broadcasting history!  Brother Wright reportedly received more than 5,000 phone calls in the six weeks following his public prayer, with just 47 (i.e., <1%) responding negatively. Meanwhile, requests for copies of his prayer poured in from as far away as Korea, Africa and India! Why the fuss? In a 'politically correct' culture accustomed to appeasing secular sensibilities, he actually spoke what was on his heart in a way that reflects God's revealed will as captured in Scripture.  Let's listen in...

 

Heavenly Father,

We come before You today to ask Your Forgiveness and seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ''Woe to those who call evil good,'' but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our Spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. We confess that;

• We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism;
• We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism;
• We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle;
• We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery;
• We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation;
• We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare;
• We have killed our unborn and called it choice;
• We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable;
• We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem;
• We have abused power and called it political savvy;
• We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition;
• We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression;
• We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent here by the people of this state and who have been ordained by You, to govern this great state of Kansas. Grant them your wisdom to rule and may their decisions direct us to the center of Your Will.

 

I ask this in the name of your Son, The Living Savior, Jesus Christ.