Free eBook – Paige’s Laws of Business

April 26, 2013 — 6 Comments

In my latest novel Dare Not Blink, main character Dave Paige keeps a handwritten journal for recording his periodic musings on business situations and business people. Paige is of the energetic, results-driven sort, so he’s usually racing headlong toward some tangible objective. His life seems centered around solving one problem and then quickly moving on to the next. Occasionally, however, the insightful Paige is given to bouts of thoughtfulness and contemplation while in the quiet, after-hours solitude of his office, or in that trancelike state one can easily slip into in the cabin of a commercial airliner.

Thus, when he feels so inclined, he reaches for his Paige’s Laws of Business to chronicle his observations, lessons learned, and unwavering leadership and ethical principles.

Some of my early readers of Dare Not Blink commented on how much these pithy notations from Paige had added to the novel. My publisher, Navigator Books, also saw the potential to excerpt Paige’s Laws into an eBook format. In all honesty, my main purpose in creating the scenes where Paige recorded his thoughts was simply to develop Dave Paige as a character. It must have worked because now it seems Paige is offering something in return. For me, Paige’s Laws of Business is a way to introduce myself and to extend the awareness of my latest novel to prospective readers, as well as offering a gift of thanks to my existing readers; for you, it’s a free eBook that I hope you can find value in reading and sharing with others.

Simply click on the book’s image nearby and then follow the link to download your own free eBook. I’d enjoy hearing from you about this or any of my other books, so feel free to drop me a line on this website.

And if you do find value in Paige’s Laws of Business, thank Dave Paige.

I certainly did.

 

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Leadership Roles – The Importance of Mentoring

April 23, 2013 — 7 Comments

Most successful leaders consider the development of people as a key leadership function. Aspiring leaders need guidance and role models if they are to business-mentoring-page-imageeffectively grow into their own leadership roles. Mentoring provides an established leader an opportunity to influence and teach an understudy by sharing knowledge and wisdom that has been accumulated over years of experience. Thus the mentor can not only reinforce the established practices, core values, and overall culture of the company, but can also challenge the understudy to see and think in new and different ways.

The benefits to the understudy are numerous. Broader knowledge, enhanced critical thinking, and an expanded professional network are but a few of the potential gains. Once the understudy has developed over time and assumed a leadership role, at some point the former pupil will likely become a mentor and pass along the value of their own experience. A culture of continuous learning is thereby established where corporate memory and corporate ideals are shared, reinforced, and retained.

Speaking of benefits, the mentor can reap a significant return for the time and effort spent in further developing more junior associates. Below are several of those rewards:

  • It can sharpen the mentor’s skills. The understudy should be expected to question everything, and in so doing the mentor will be expected to provide thoughtful, reasoned answers. Thinking about and answering questions concerning virtually every area of the business will challenge the mentor. Additionally, the mentor will be dealing with someone who is presumably younger, and who can perhaps bring a fresh perspective to problems or opportunities that the mentor may not have previously considered.
  • It can provide solutions to existing problems. A mentor who tasks an understudy with a specific business problem to delve into and then propose solutions for are not only developing the skills of the understudy, but bringing about a potential resolution to an existing obstruction.
  • It can retain the top leadership talent in the company. Retention and succession planning are important for any organization. Developing home-grown talent and then creating the right conditions for enticing them to stay is a very cost-effective way to build and then keep a leadership team.
  • It can be personally satisfying. If you believe that what you get is in direct proportion to what you give, then having an active role in the personal and professional growth of others will be immensely satisfying. Giving of ourselves is one of the greatest gifts we can offer. Seeing the results of those mentoring efforts giving rise to the blossoming of a successful, competent leader will indeed bring great fulfillment.

Leadership mentoring involves many things, but ultimately it is all about performance. Not just results, not just career progression, but performance. A leader can enhance the performance of an understudy with coaching and direction, to be sure, but that mentoring relationship has the potential to improve the mentor’s own performance, as noted above. Adding bright, motivated, energetic young leaders to the management team can also benefit the senior leader with an improved performance of the organization as a whole.

Leaders have a large stake in mentoring, for the good of everyone involved.

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Why Business Ethics?

April 9, 2013 — 14 Comments

I’ve been making my way around Atlanta speaking to various groups on the subject of business ethics. My talk is entitled Business Ethics – Why the Bother? In it, I make the case that a company can benefit in multiple ways from adhering to high ethical standards. Indeed, I believe it is well worth the bother to be known in the marketplace and society at large as an ethical entity. After all, with the mere summoning of Google and the avalanche of information that can follow, who wants to do business with a shady, ethically challenged company?

Making my way from writing a novel to speaking on business ethics isn’t quite a straight line, is it? While my novel Dare Not Blink is a business thriller, it also deals with ethics. The book’s protagonist, Dave Paige, is a business executive of high character who becomes embroiled in a nasty power struggle with others of another, lesser sort. So does the ethical guy win in the end? Well, for no less than the sake of the American system of capitalism, let’s hope so.

I exaggerate, I confess. That a novel would have a discernible bearing on the survival of American free enterprise is a bit of a stretch, to be sure.

But in real terms the idea of the ethical guy winning in the end has everything to do with our free-market system either flourishing or fading away. Americans are fast losing confidence in many of our long-standing institutions, to include government, the press, the public school system, the church, and business. Some in the political class, who themselves are regarded in a now famous survey as only slightly more preferable than cockroaches, have made a sport of bewailing the behavior of many business leaders, especially those on Wall Street. The criticism is not entirely without merit, in all fairness.

That’s why I’m speaking up. The vast majority of the men and women I dealt with in my business career were virtuous, conscientious people who tried to do the right thing for their customers, employees, and suppliers. Of course they weren’t perfect, but they were guided by an ethical code that drove them to do the right thing. They are the good and righteous nucleus, the backbone of the business profession.

Much work still needs to be done at the executive levels in adopting and then maintaining a rigorous code of ethics in their respective companies and industries. Leadership is critical here, and there is little chance of regaining the trust of the public without the broadly positive examples that only leaders can provide.

Additionally, students of business should be exposed to ethics in a far more intensive way. These are our future business leaders, and the global, ultra-competitive, cutthroat arena they will enter will be fraught with ethical challenges. They should be made to understand that a profession with little appetite for policing itself will bring about the ubiquitous and ruthless regulation from the outside, the cumulative results of which will resemble death by a thousand cuts.

We have lots of challenges ahead of us as a nation. Political, economic, and cultural issues abound, many with implications that could alter our society in ways that we can’t yet foresee or even understand. But our free-enterprise model has done so much for so many, and has so much potential yet unrealized, that its healthy continuance should be central. We should relentlessly seek to improve upon it, but never apologize for it. As far from perfect as it is, it’s still the best economic system in the world. And it’s up to us to make it better.

That’s the reason I advocate for business ethics.

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My Uncle Jack, RIP

April 4, 2013 — 16 Comments

Jack Hughes, a beloved uncle and the eldest of my mother’s three younger brothers, died Easter weekend of natural causes. He was 86 years old.

I’ll remember Jack as one of the most decent, honest, and loyal human beings I’ve ever encountered. While he wasn’t wealthy in a material sense, he was rich beyond measure in the love and admiration he received from his friends and family members. Family was important to Jack, and because I was his first nephew in what would become a long line of nieces and nephews, I was therefore important to him. He made my younger brother and I feel that importance from an early age onward, and I always loved him for it.

When I was a young boy and confronted with the death or serious illness of a family member, Jack would always be there, his caring and inner strength a much needed boost, in effect wrapping me in a blanket of comfort and well-being before such an event could overwhelm me. As I got older, Jack would still be there when those same conditions arose, still providing that calming, reassuring presence with such ease and dependability. When bad things happened, I looked for Jack. And, inevitably, I would always find him. I loved him for that, too.

Jack enjoyed a laugh, and after he married Barbara, he laughed a lot. Both he and Barbara had previously experienced the painful loss of a spouse, so they were ready to laugh, needed to laugh. We have an exceptionally strong tradition of storytelling in our family, and we found that Barbara could turn a tale to match any of us. Barbara was good for Jack, and good for our family. As for Jack, he didn’t have the sort of fragile ego that kept him from laughing at himself. He could needle and be needled, giveth and receiveth, and always in fun. A room was a brighter, better place with Jack in it.

When it came time to answer the dinner bell, Jack had no shame in being the first through the food line. In fact, if Jack wasn’t the first to spoon his way through the home-cooked Southern goodness spread out before him, who knew what might’ve transpired? Not to worry, though. It never happened.

Jack and I talked often of Chicago, a city he called home for a time in the Fifties, and a place I have visited often. In my childhood he sent me a baseball that had been fouled into the Wrigley Field stands by Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn of the Phillies. I still have that old baseball in my closet, safely ensconced in the pocket of my equally old glove. It’s not Richie Ashburn whom I think of when I see that ball. No, I think of Jack. Always Jack.

Any person would be truly blessed to have such an uncle as Jack Hughes. I was so blessed, and I’ll be eternally grateful for Jack’s presence and influence in my life. In fact, I was blessed with three such uncles, two of whom remain as friends and lifelong role models. Just like Jack.

Thank you, Uncle Jack, for the great example you provided for me. For all you gave me. For all you taught me. For all the times I looked for you and found you when you could have been elsewhere. You were greatly loved. And you will be greatly missed.

Jack, Jerry, Ben

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10 Ways to Improve Your Communications Skills

March 20, 2013 — 4 Comments

7054375-podio-de-roble-aislada-sobre-fondo-blanco-con-microfonoWebster’s defines communication as “an act or instance of transmitting.” Communication is about effective expression, and is very much a skill that can be acquired and improved. For these purposes, we will concentrate on verbal communication, and specifically the improvement thereof.

Communications skills are necessary for success in virtually any endeavor. Those who possess high levels of skill in communicating with others have an advantage in the marketplace of information and ideas. Unlike many other skills, effective communicators can take their expertise anywhere. Like any other skill, it must be practiced diligently to maintain and improve.

While there are numerous methods for improving one’s communications skills, here are 10 suggestions for your consideration:

1. Always design your message to fit your audience. This focuses the use of your words and builds discipline and economy.

2. Always assume a lack of clarity. Whether providing verbal instructions, giving a performance review, or chairing a meeting, always ensure that your communication removes any confusion or ambiguity. Repeat as needed. Repeat as needed. Did I mention repeat as needed?

3. Give verbal presentations. Remember the book reports you used to give in class? The more you did, the better you got, right? Whether it’s a PowerPoint presentation on sales growth or a lecture on foreign affairs, get up in front of an audience and speak. Learn to deal with and overcome the nerves that precede; it’s rarely a fatal condition.

4. Become a better listener. Some of the best communicators are some of the greatest listeners. Conversely, some of the poorest communicators are often some of the worst listeners. Make a conscious effort to become a better listener. Listening is more than an interlude between your own sentences. Hear your audience. I assure you they will notice.

5. Get feedback from others. Ask friends or colleagues to critique your speaking for both content and delivery. Do you show impatience or frustration and thus limit your effectiveness? Are you too condescending or too inhibited? Ask for candid, constructive criticism. And don’t get offended; get better. Put the feedback to good use.

6. Find your voice. Pay attention to the tone of your spoken words. Modulate the pitch and volume of your voice, as appropriate. Choose your words wisely and enunciate them correctly. Develop a style of speaking that fits you.

7. Observe others. Find speakers who impress you with their abilities and study their differing styles. How well do they use humor? Do they show emotion? Are they inspiring? You don’t have to copy them, since you need a style that fits just you. You can certainly borrow, however. And you certainly should.

8. Make good eye contact. Look at your audience, whether an assemblage of hundreds or a single individual across a desk. You can become far more aware of how your message is being received by looking at, rather than looking past, your audience. This is common sense but so very often uncommon practice.

9. Be passionate. This is not to say you should be obnoxious or all-knowing. In fact, it is almost always better to be humble. It is to suggest, however, that your audience should feel your energy and enthusiasm, as appropriate.

10. Keep speaking. Keep developing your skills. Keep building your confidence. You will reap what you sow in this area of your life, as in others.

Good luck and good communicating!

 

 

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Dare Not Shrink

March 12, 2013 — 8 Comments

My main character in Dare Not Blink, Dave Paige, by chance meets Paula Markham, a consultant who is also a trained psychologist. At Paige’s request, Paula provides him with the brief assessment shown below only an hour after meeting him. Question: Do you know anyone like Paige? A colleague or former boss? A friend? Yourself? Disclaimer: These are fictional characters. I am not a doctor nor have I ever played a doctor in film, on television, or on the stage.

“Okay, Dave. Like it or not, here’s my take: You’re an insatiable overachiever, the consummate Type A. You’re restless and tireless and clearly ambitious. You’re fair and even-handed, and you’ve built a reputation as a person of integrity. You place value on great results, but you also appreciate great effort, especially the ‘above and beyond’ kind, and you sure as hell don’t abide sloppiness or laziness. Everything you’ve ever gotten in your life—everything— has been a result of your own hard work. You walk into a room and the energy level invariably increases, never decreases. It’s in the way you carry yourself, the manner in which you speak, the eye contact you make, and the distinct impression you give off as a careful, attentive listener, which is far less common in executives like yourself than you might think. You don’t strike me as being afraid of confrontation—to the contrary, I get a certain vibe that you may actually enjoy it, need it, at times, perhaps even often. You don’t like who you don’t like, and you see no reason why they shouldn’t have the benefit of knowing it.

“You’re also conflicted about your failed marriage, since failure is neither a concept nor a result you have much familiarity with. You’re conflicted about being at a point in your career where the seeds of antagonism you’ve planted and allowed to grow in other corporate carnivores may now suddenly flower and reach out for you like a Venus Flytrap, and you don’t quite know what to do about it, which frustrates you greatly. You’re conflicted about remaining with a firm you love, which has been stable and nurturing and comfortable, but now which is none of that, and in fact perhaps even the polar opposite. You feel a sense of loss, not just about your chairman and mentor, but about the mental image you’ve had of the firm for all these years, almost as if it, too, is about to be laid to rest.”

Paula turned her head slightly, trying to gauge Paige’s reaction. “Is this making any sense?”

Paige nodded slowly, seemingly transfixed. It was as if he were sitting on a beach at the water’s edge, only vaguely aware of his surroundings, the rhythmic crashing of the waves, the cool sudsy water washing over his skin, the sand giving way beneath him as the water recedes and giving off the momentary sensation of falling into a hole. “Please continue,” he said softly.

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Paige’s Lessons of Leadership

February 26, 2013 — 7 Comments


Follow the LeaderIn my new business thriller Dare Not Blink, protagonist Dave Paige becomes involved in a brutal struggle with fellow executives over an attempted takeover of his firm. Paige is a solid, natural leader in his own right—not perfect by any means, but smart, sturdy, and dependable. He exhibits many traditional leadership characteristics, and he has achieved a degree of professional success that, at his age, few can claim.

His most apparent virtues could be described thusly:

  • Paige has integrity. He tries to do the right thing, and he uses his moral principles, his reliability, and his trustworthiness as guiding lights. He is ethical and fair-minded, and highly respected throughout his company.
  • Paige displays courage. He takes risks that others avoid. He constantly challenges the status quo. He speaks up when others dare not and thus is not afflicted with the cowardice of silence. He suffers neither bullies nor fools easily, and has little fear of confrontation.
  • Paige shows great discipline. He has exceptional focus. He has the ability to function under pressure. He can adapt to rapidly changing conditions (he is a former U.S. Marine—what would you expect?)
  • Paige is unselfish. He shares the credit. He accepts the ideas and input of others. He takes the time to teach. And he accepts responsibility for his employees’ shortcomings, as well as his own.
  • Paige demonstrates perseverance. He doesn’t give up, even when all seems lost. He stays in the fight despite the odds and naysayers, despite the abandonment of others, even despite the prospect of humiliating failure looming above him like a dark cloud.

As the storyline unfolds, Dave Paige becomes increasingly interesting as his character and leadership traits are openly revealed when he becomes embroiled in a bitter contest of wills. Can he rise to the challenge? Will his leadership win the day? Can he overcome and prevail against such heavy odds?

Well, I’m not going to tell you here. You’ll just have to find out for yourself. It will be more exciting that way, I assure you.

I will, however, tell you this: Paige occasionally jots notes and observations into a handwritten journal he calls Paige’s Laws of Business. It has some pithy and wise counsel, and we’ll discuss it in more detail at another time.

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What Does Integrity Mean to You?

February 14, 2013 — 7 Comments

Are you sometimes confused by the meaning of the word integrity? Is it a complicated set of principles that can vary according to a particular moral consideration or a specific set of circumstances? Or is it simply doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do?

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that, “Character is higher than intellect.” What does integrity have to do with character? Can you have one without the other?

Think of integrity as the quality of having high moral principles, of being reliable and trustworthy. It does not mean you are nearing perfection as a human being, but rather that you can be trusted with words and deeds. Doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do? Of course. If you are described by others as a person of integrity, would it also follow that you have high character? Yes, absolutely.

Now think of groups of people who are presumed to have integrity. Judges, doctors, military officers, and ministers come to mind. True, we can point to examples in each of the preceding groups of dishonest, immoral, and perhaps even criminal behavior. As with any group—business, politics, sports, education, journalism, etc.—we don’t need to search far and wide to discover similar failings. Indeed, it is our human nature to err.

Next, think how hard it would be for our society to function if trust and honesty were the exception rather than the rule. Samuel Johnson noted that, “Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful.” As a group, our elected leaders are losing the confidence of the American populace precisely because we are becoming conditioned by their saying one thing and doing another, sometimes blatantly and defiantly.

Business leaders who shamelessly enrich themselves at the expense of their customers, stockholders, and employees reflect poorly on their firms and industries. Judges who take bribes and teachers who sexually abuse their students give us all pause, and disappoint us greatly.

Why? Because they failed to do the right thing.

It need not be any more complicated than that.

For you, if integrity means doing the right thing, even if nobody knows or notices, then you understand the concept. If you behave consistently and use moral principles, reliability, and trustworthiness as your guiding lights, you can rightfully be described as a person of integrity.

It is a description that is earned, and one that should be prized. If you have it, guard and nurture it. If you don’t yet have it, pursue it zealously. It’s certainly worth the change in behavior you will have to make to earn it.

In Business - Ethics
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A Model For Ethical Leadership

February 1, 2013 — 9 Comments

Are you a leader who aspires to set an example of ethical behavior in your organization? If so, you are headed in the right direction.

An organization’s leadership is responsible for influencing others to perform an action, complete a task, or behave in a specific manner. Leaders must be people-oriented, decisive, and bold, with a well-developed ability to inspire and motivate. They must also be able to do what is sometimes inconvenient, unpopular, or perhaps even temporarily unprofitable. Leaders must do all of the above, and those leaders who are viewed as ethical and honest will have a far greater chance of gaining and keeping the loyalty of employees and others. To be viewed as otherwise is indeed a slippery slope.

The following steps may be useful in establishing an ethical-leadership model:

  • Set high ethical standards and meet (or exceed) them. Standards should be established and promulgated for both professional and personal conduct. Those standards should be maintained and monitored, with the leadership team always setting the proper example. Drive a culture of ethical behavior by constant reinforcement and demonstration, and clearly establish that partial or non-compliance from anyone is unacceptable.
  • Openly share information. Transparency should be more than a promise or a slogan. Make sure your employees understand that you share information with them because you trust them, and thus you expect them to make the right decisions because of their being well-informed.
  • Be fair in all personnel decisions. Merit and fairness should always factor disproportionately in decisions affecting employees. Never assume that employees can’t detect favoritism or prejudice; they can. Always assume that examples of unfairness will do great damage to the fabric of your organization; it will. Know that fairness will help gain and maintain trust; it does.
  • Keep your word. This should be common sense, right? Often, however, it’s uncommon practice. Your word is truly your bond. The more your employees can count on you to do what you say, the stronger the bond. They can count on you, you can count on them–there is a direct correlation.
  • Treat everyone with respect. An ethical leader leads in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of others, both within and outside the organization. It is critical that this behavioral characteristic starts at the top; it is not a bottom-up process.

The above steps can help establish in everyone’s mind the importance of ethics. It is the leader’s responsibility to build the trust, set the example, and drive a culture of high ethical standards in an organization.

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A Book Launch Experience

December 10, 2012 — Leave a comment

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to launch the new book you’ve spent weeks and months writing? And then spent weeks and months attempting to find a publishing home for it?

If you answered Yes to the first question above, let me see if I can explain what it’s like. But first, let me note what it isn’t like:

  • It’s not like childbirth. How, you ask, do I know? Well, nobody’s dressed in scrubs and there is no beeping fetal monitor and there are no medicinal or distinctive other odors. And nobody is shouting, “Push!”
  • It’s not like winning the lottery. A lottery ticket has a far better probability of paying off than does a new book becoming a blockbuster bestseller.  
  • It’s not like launching the D-Day invasion. There aren’t as many moving pieces to a book launch, the noise levels are far lower, and the spectre of violent death is generally remote .

So, then, what is it like? Well . . .

  • It’s tense. Will readers like it? Will they talk about it? Will they buy it?
  • It’s busy. Are all of my sites updated, to include website, social media, blogs, etc.?
  • It’s sobering. Will I be able to handle it if it does poorly? Or if it does spectacularly?
  • It’s exciting. My author name is out there now, potentially all over the world. Good, bad or indifferent.
  • It’s fun. It’s great fun. It’s the payoff for a lot of hard, sometimes lonely work.  

There you have it. But don’t take my word for it. Write and launch your own book and see for yourself.

And you’ll find that it doesn’t lend itself to easy description. It’s an experience unlike any other. You’re bringing something new and unique into the world, with your artistic DNA all over it. You’ve labored long and hard, and the moment finally arrives. It’s not an end, but a beginning. You might even shed a few tears with family and friends.

Welcome to the world, you beautiful, gorgeous Dare Not Blink.

(Oops. Does that sound a bit like childbirth?)

    In Books & Writing
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