Coaching That Finally Breaks Through!

Every business owner could use some helpful hints on how to improve their business affairs.  Once in awhile I will be moving along my business trail and hear something that sounds so relevant that I wonder why I did not have this piece of knowledge before.  Sometimes I learn about how to do something so much better and it causes me to think about how much time I could have saved over the years...had I known about this piece of information earlier.  There is no end in sight for learning new and better ways to perform our business leadership duties.  The opportunity for learning new things is always there unless of course we have closed down the doors to an open mind.

Everyone has an open mind.  To some business leaders the doors might be closed, but the open mind is still there.  I am sure many of you have heard the phrase that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.  Hogwash.  I recently met an octogenarian who was texting her granddaughter in Texas on her mobile phone.  She was standing behind her husband in an old farm store in the Pacific Northwest.  When I saw what I thought she was doing I walked up to inquire.  She not only shared how she has learned how to text her grandchildren, she also texts her great grandchildren on a weekly basis.  I asked her if she had a computer.  She answered positively.  I do not think these tricks came from her historic background.  She is an old dog who is learning new tricks.  It can be done.  She did not look like some exceptional and extraordinary person.  She did not appear to be technologically gifted.  I think she has refused to close the doors to her open mind.  I think she is a perfect example of how coaching can easily break through the closed barriers we all tend to form as we shut doors in our minds to chambers that still work just fine.  Whatever the case, I was impressed.

Coaching that finally breaks through is a learned trick for some business leaders to help them erase many forms of terminal stagnation.  I do not care if you are a builder, a boat maker, an owner of a sandwich shop or a computer technician, you will stagnate if you do not keep an open mind.  Each of you should take this octogenarians tip and open the doors to your mind.  There is another old saying, "The teacher appears when the student is ready."  Learn how to be a leader who is always ready.  What types of steps can a business leader perform that will help to ensure they maintain an open and "coach-able" mind?

Number one, be open to everything.  Do not push away from information you already think you have mastered.  New techniques, new ideas, new methods and better tools are always being discovered.  If you have learned how to hammer framing nails with just three swings and are proud of it so much that you teach every new young person how to do it well, you would be remiss to learn that nailing guns have arrived.  Years ago I had a best buddy and we spent a lot of childhood time together and this buddy had a father who was a building contractor.  To earn some extra money one weekend, his father had us go with him to help "frame up" a house he was building.  He had us nail two by fours together to make the frames.  His father had a right forearm built the size of Popeye's muscle arms.  When his father heard me "tap, tap, tap, tap, tapping" on the nail heads he came to my side and said, "just three swings."  I went back to trying just three swings but my continued tap, tap, tap, tapping began to irritate him.  From the other side of the new house he yelled, "I said, three swings."  As a newbie, I continued to do my little tap, tap, tap, tapping.  He quietly walked over to me, took the hammer out of my hand and said, "like this."  He placed the nail loosely onto the board, removed the holding fingers from the nail as it remained suspended for a split second and before the nail could tilt one way or the other, he slammed it three times into the two by four and left a little hammer head mark on the face of the wood.  As he hit the nail three times he sounded the call like a cadence, "one, two, three."  He walked away as he said, "Do it like that.  Otherwise you are wasting my time."  Now I know why his right handed forearm looks like Popeye's muscle arms.  It is a good thing he never closed the doors to his mind.  Nail guns have eliminated every muscle-bound framer from their protected specialties.  A new trick entered an old dogs work.  In fact, some builders now buy the frames pre-built, have them delivered and just install them on site.  They have learned how to save in on-site labor cost and the freight does not exceed what the labor would have cost.

Be open to everything.

Second, be the best person in your business to ask questions.  When you become the one who drives the most questions, you become the one who gets the most answers.  More answers will eventually lead you to more discoveries.  More discoveries will lead you to better methods.  A business leader who introduces better methods is the one who will win more often.  It might not be very scientific, but it sure works well over the long haul.

Years ago I worked in California for a very large chain operation.  The volume they produced was second only to a national firm.  I was young and wanted to become one of their future leaders.  After some early success I was attending some corporate office meetings.  These trips to those few corporate office meetings happened after I pleaded with my store manager to take me along.  During one lunch break, I sat next to one of the big wigs that was the vice president of all company product buying.  Several corporate buyers were also sitting at his table.  As they shared in some small talk I decided to ask him what makes a good buyer.  He answered, "2%."

As everyone sat at the table, eating, nobody responded to his answer.  I looked around and it was apparent that nobody sitting at that table understood what he meant by two percent.  So I asked what he meant by two percent.  Here was his answer, "Buying products to resale to the consumer is an art.  You can quantify and study what will sell but you will only reach the point that you are 49% right.  Once in awhile you will land on a good number and win big.  But that is the exception.  Some buyers get lucky in their career and land on a few good exceptions.  I have had my fair share of those exceptions.  The real difference between a good buyer and a poor buyer is 2%.  A good buyer will get the regular guessing right 51% of the time, when you exclude the exceptions."  It was quiet for a little bit.  Then he added this tid bit, "2% is the same to a good buyer as it is to life in general.  The difference between someone who has a life long string of 49% winnings compared to the fortune of one who works life by figuring out how to link together a long string of 51% success efforts, is huge.  Over the long haul, the difference to winning in life is only 2%...over the long haul.  Focus on being 2% better with your decisions.  It will make a lifetime of difference, son."

Ask the most questions.  It will make a lifetime of difference in what you are able to learn.  Your business success is waiting for you to be the leader.  Leaders ask the most questions.  Most business owners believe the best leader is the one who gives out the most answers.  That is false.  If you are an answer giving person, stop it.  If someone asks you a question, answer them with another question.  The one I often use is to say to them, when they ask me a question, "why do you ask?"  Once you ask the question, be patient and wait for the answer.  Remember this little trick...the first person who speaks after the question is delivered, is the person who loses.  Try it out if you do not believe me.  Go ask someone a hard question, then patiently wait for the answer.  Watch how the human dynamics play out.  Remember to stay in charge of the conversation, only respond with questions.  Then wait again for the answer.  You will eventually frustrate the person you are testing.  Be careful, however, do not be mean spirited.  Be useful.

Become the student who is ready to learn.  Be open to everything and ask questions.

Until next time...