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Archive for the ‘Life’ Category
Raising Entrepreneurs
Thursday, May 12th, 2011 by Nevin McElwrathFirst some background: I am a father to an amazing 2 year old son named Neilan who is in the midst of innocently testing as many boundaries as possible with his mother and I, but still has me belly laughing daily at his antics. He’s a true showman. While I believe raising your children to be entrepreneurs is a great thing to encourage – I do not think it is a good thing for everyone enforce. Why? It depends on your child’s personality traits. There’s no boilerplate on how to raise your child – that’s kind of the fun part. It’s up to you to see the traits and react.
The above video had a huge impact on how I approach supporting my son as he gets older. What opened my eyes the most? The things to look for when searching for those “entrepreneurial traits” that may be hard to see in your child. Neilan certainly is capable of having and/or developing these traits, it may be too soon to tell at 2 years old. There’s no doubt it’s in the blood lines. Both his mother’s family and mine have a plethora of entrepreneurial traits and characteristics both in personality characteristics and family history. However, that doesn’t mean his path is already paved. It’s up to us as parents to watch for the traits before we start encouraging. With a parent’s point of view, here are some of my takeaways from the video:
- Use encouragement instead of limitations to form your child’s interests and capabilities. Don’t build walls, supply them with the tools.
- Once the entrepreneurial traits are seen, encourage these skills: problem solving, to ask questions, to be creative, to lead others, to learn from mistakes, how to save money, to want to make money, how to sell, to ask for help, public speaking, to never give up, to see solutions.
- Teach your child to fish, rather than giving them a fish.
What was your most resonating takeaway from the TED video?
Another Superman in Metropolis
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 by Butch Whitmire
Look, up in the sky! Actually, it’s not a bird or a plane – it’s David Morgan, one of our principals here at Force 5. David is away this week in Metropolis, Illinois, the home of DC Comics hero, Superman.If you’ve ever met David Morgan, it won’t take long for you to figure out that he has developed some pretty amazing super powers: teacher, video producer, airport commissioner, and EMT. You’ll also learn quickly that he and his partner, Deb DeFreeuw are active and passionate advocates of animals.
This is King. He was found on top of a floating refrigerator.
Because of his passion for helping creatures that cannot help themselves, David recently added to his list of super powers by becoming certified in pet rescue through Noah’s Wish, an organization that helps recover lost animals in natural disasters. In the wake of the floods that are ripping through the Mississippi River corridor, Noah’s Wish has been called into action to build an animal rescue shelter in Metropolis for animals that have been displaced as a result of the disaster.
David is in Metropolis as I post this helping families and their lost pets become reunited. Way to go Superman! Pup, pup, and Away!
Force 5 Peeps
Friday, April 22nd, 2011 by Deb DeFreeuw
Happy Easter from the Force 5 Pup-Peeps
The Boss Rules #4: The Perfect Day
Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 by Butch WhitmireI remember walking into Joe’s office pretty frustrated. I’d had one of those days – the bad kind. Actually, I’d had about 10 of those days in a row, placing me exactly halfway to a pretty lousy month. I had recently accepted a new role leading a new team and things were just not happening the way I had envisioned. Already we were missing deadlines, delivering below-standard work, and experiencing infighting and poor moral. As a newer manager I was tired and frustrated. I wondered if I was ever going to be able to pull out of the tailspin I found myself in.
“I just don’t know where to begin,” I said to Joe, “I feel like I’m just getting started but I’m losing control of the team already.”
Joe looked at me and said, “Maybe a good place to start is by describing the perfect day.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he replied, “describe the perfect day.”
I thought for a moment, “Well, I guess the perfect day would mean that we’d hit all our deadlines with great work and we’d all be happy about it.”
“No,” he said, “I’d like you to think smaller than that. What would be the perfect day for you – one sentence at a time? Say something like ‘I wake up in the morning and I feel refreshed.’
I repeated after him, “I wake up in the morning and I feel refreshed,”
“Good. What’s next?” he replied.
“I come to work and say, ‘good morning’ to everyone and they’re glad to see me.”
“Excellent!”
I continued, “Then, I run a great morning meeting.”
“Now, you’re getting it!” he exclaimed, “Butch, I’d like you to make a sentence of each and every event that would describe a perfect day for you. Then, when you’re done, I’d like you to answer a single question for each of these events. Here’s the question: In order for this to happen, what must be true?”
He could tell I was confused.
“So,” he replied, “If you say, ‘I wake up feeling refreshed,’ what must be true is that you may have go to bed at an earlier time. If you say, ‘I run a great meeting’ , one of the things that might need to be true is that you carve more time to prepare for the meeting. There aren’t any perfect days, Butch, but maybe by going through this exercise, you can identify a few things you can do to get the day and your team a little bit closer to good.”
The Boss Rules: Rule #3
Friday, March 4th, 2011 by Butch WhitmireI’ve worked for a lot of years, enjoyed a lot of roles in my career, and had a lot of supervisors who imparted their wisdom to me. I thought I would share some of their best stuff with you in this series of posts called, “The Boss Rules.”
Rule #3: Become an “Owner”
Sometimes the best things a boss can say to you hurt a little. I remember going into a review feeling pretty good – sales were above goal, profits were good, and there had been no mutinies. I was a newer sales manager so I was comfortable (and probably a little cocky) that all the metrics were where they needed to be as I walked into Joe’s office.
At the end of my review Joe said, “Butch, you’re becoming a fine manager and things are looking pretty good. But you know, what I really want you to do is focus on becoming an owner.”
I thought, “An owner! Am I being offered a stock option?” But then I remembered we were a privately held company.
“Butch, we serve a lot of restaurants,” he said. “Have you ever noticed the difference the owner of a restaurant behaves compared to the rest of his staff? “
“Yes,” I replied, “They stay late and come in early, they shovel the drive when it snows, and they fill in for the cook who calls in sick. They work really hard. And I think I’ve been doing those things.”
“You are doing those things, Butch, and that’s really good,” he said. “But there’s something else about ownership you should consider: owners put their family names on the signs outside. At the end of the day, not matter what calamity befalls them; owners know that they must take care of their customers because their business is a reflection not only of them, but of their entire family.”
“I’m proud of my work, Joe.”
“I know you are and you should be, but ownership is more than doing good work. Ownership is an attitude. When a customer at a restaurant has a complaint about a bad experience, a manager says, ‘Sorry, my cook called in sick’ or ‘we’re short of staff’ or ‘my delivery guy was late’ or ‘our internet connection went down.’ But the truth is: Customers don’t care about why they didn’t get a good meal; they just want a good meal. Owners are ultimately responsible and they have to behave accordingly.
Butch, during our last review you said you were going to get an appointment at the Burger Boy account. When I asked you about how that was going, you said ‘I sent three letters, four emails, a made three phone calls but they haven’t called me back yet.’ That’s an effort, Butch, and that’s exactly what a manager would do. But an owner would just get the appointment – some way, somehow – he’d figure it out. Does that make sense?”
“Joe, I was just trying to tell you I was making an effort.”
“I know Butch, but I want you to know that I trust you and I want to empower you. So, moving forward, when we decide to do something, I’m going to ask you just one question:
‘Do you own this?’
If you say ‘yes’ then I’ll assume it’s going to happen. I’ll assume you’ll give it every possible effort, and I won’t have to worry that it’s going to happen. And I’ll assume you will ask me for help if you can’t get it done on your own. And when I ask you about it, you can say to me, ‘I have this done’ or ‘I don’t.’ Cool?”
“Cool. I can own this.”
The Boss Rules
Monday, February 14th, 2011 by Butch WhitmireI’ve been here at Force 5 for just 6 months now, but I’ve been in the workforce since I was legally of age. Throughout the years I’ve been fortunate to have had some great bosses who took the time to pour their wisdom into me. Because their “rules” have been so helpful to me, I thought I would share some of the best ones with you over my next few posts. Here goes:
Rule #1: “Always assume the best in people.”
Now, in a world full of Bernie Madoffs and Balloon Boys, you might say, “Butch, are you crazy? In business? People will cut your throat in a minute!” I know. This one was hard for me to swallow, too. But hear me out: I’m not saying we should go about business naively or that we should turn a blind eye to misconduct. We should do our best to never be surprised by the actions of anyone, friend or foe. What I’m talking about here is making a choice, about choosing a mindset when we hear the rumors or see activity that is suspect.
The business world tells us to assume the worst and why shouldn’t we? After all, assuming the worst is usually the safest route and it proves to the world that we are not oblivious.
But the problem with assuming the worst in other people is that it can apply a dark filter to everything we see around that person. It tints to our emotions and thus our interactions with them. Ultimately, this limits our ability to respect them.
In their book, Crucial Conversations, the authors Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler state:
“As people perceive that others don’t respect them, the conversation becomes unsafe and dialog comes to a screeching halt … The instant people perceive disrespect in a conversation, the interaction is no longer about the original purpose – it is now about defending dignity.”
When we lose respect for someone, that person knows it. Hence, our ability to influence, engage, and dialog with them drops to almost nil. Our ability to get to the truth, correct and redirect becomes virtually impossible, and we exhaust our relational collateral.
By nature, I can be quite cynical. I have to work hard at assuming the best in people. But when I manage to fight off my natural tendencies, when I make that choice, I am finding faster paths to the truth and stronger relational growth.
When Marketers Should Make BIG Promises
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 by Butch WhitmireMy blog post last week on discoverforce5.com left you with this question: “How much should a marketer promise about an experience?” Probably better stated as :
“How do I promise people enough to move them to action without setting them up for disappointment once they make the move?”
I had several conversations about this last week. It was clear this question hit home to those of us experienced in sales: “Under-promise; over-deliver.” I remember every sales manager I’ve ever had say this and I believe it to be true. Yes, we must under-promise. Yes, we must over-deliver. Now, how much is optimal? It might be the marketing question. I don’t know the full answer, but I am learning some things. In the marketing world, I am learning that big promises can draw big crowds or get the big sale:
So, here’s when to make BIG promises:
1) When you absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt personally believe the claim you are making about the experience.
I believe your authenticity can alter my reality. I believe that when you believe what you are saying, you actually shape the outcome of my experience. “You will believe a man can fly …” That’s what the people who made Superman said. I ran home from the theater, tied a tablecloth around my neck and jumped down the staircase. They believed I would believe … and I did.
2) When your experience is outrageously and radically unique.
I remember the first time I saw Cirque du Soleil . It was the greatest … I-don’t-know-what-kinda-show-thing I’d ever seen. Whatever it was, people told me it was the greatest and that I had to see it. They were right – it was.
When you are that new and that unique, you define not only the experience itself, but the criteria for the quality of the experience – yet another reason to be first to market.
And finally, make BIG promises …
3) When you must have the sale today, no matter what, and you don’t care about your customer or whether they or their friends will ever buy from you again.
If you’re selling snake oil and just passing through town, if you don’t care about actually helping people, or if they will give you repeat business or referrals, make big promises about what the snake oil will do for them. I mean, people typically want to believe in something too good be true and, at the end of the day, should ultimately be responsible for themselves, right?
A Force 5 Client in the News – Tobacco Free St. Joseph County
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011 by Force 5
Recently in the local news WNDU reported how the “Freedom from Smoking” program started last week. The report was based off of the Tobacco free program in St. Joseph County which is involved in helping the public stop smoking.
Tobacco Free of St. Joseph County has been a client of Force 5’s for over a year now. Force 5 recently produced a website for Tobacco Free to help communicate its mission for a smoke free lifestyle.
To learn more about the Tobacco Free program please visit KickTobacco.org.
Source: WNDU
A good reminder
Monday, December 20th, 2010 by Deb DeFreeuwI was at church this Sunday and received a good reminder. Let me take a step back, this was the weekend when the little people come up from little people church to big people church and sing a few Christmas songs. So here comes the first group, 4-7 years old, I believe. The girls have on their new tights and sparkly skirts, the boys have their hair combed and are sporting a new sweater. The proud parents are happily snapping photos. Their songs are very nice; they clap their hands, mostly to the beat, and shyly, sweetly sing.
So the second group comes up on stage. These children are a little older, probably 8-10 years old. They line up on the risers, some looking scared and others waving at family in the crowd. The first song starts and there is one voice, a bit off key, rising above the others. So I start looking for the source, in the middle of the entire group is a little girl, dressed in pink singing at the top of her lungs and doing all the “moves” with gusto! My first thought was “I wonder if her parents are embarrassed,” as a ripple of laughter travels through the crowd. I cannot take my eyes off of this girl; she is doing everything with 110%, no, probably more like 150% of everything she has to give. It was a wonder and probably divine intervention that she didn’t take out the kiddos standing next to her. Arms flying, leaning forward, she was all in. It was wonderful, fear of criticism was non-existent and she was enjoying the experience of being on stage and singing in praise. She was a hit!
So, what was the lesson? Whatever you are doing, be all in, all there. There are times not being “in tune”, coloring outside of the lines and taking your own path can have its rewards.
Lessons from a Discouraged Coyote
Monday, November 22nd, 2010 by Butch WhitmireWhen I was a kid, I loved watching the The Road Runner Show cartoon on TV after school. Yes, it was a little violent. Yes, it was a lot predictable. And no, it really wasn’t very funny. But what I liked about the show was the Coyote’s creativity. What imagination! I mean really, this dude had some creative chutzpah! He came up with some incredibly inventive, out-of-the-box, traps to catch that bird. Of course every one of his plans failed. You ever wonder why? After years of analysis, I think I’ve finally figured it out. Ready?
Here’s the scene: The Coyote paints a large target on a road runnning down the middle of a canyon. In the center of the target, he places a bowl of birdseed. High above the target, between the canyon walls, he’s strung a tightrope. On the cliff’s edge, he’s placed a 2,000 pound anvil. His plan is simple: when The Roadrunner stops to eat the bird seed (as he always does,) he’ll carry the anvil across the tightrope and drop it on the unsuspecting Roadrunner’s head. Good plan.
But here’s what happens: As predicted, the Roadrunner comes running by, notices the birdseed, stops, and then starts eating. Good so far. The Coyote picks up the 1-ton anvil and starts walking out on the tightrope. This is where an error in the plan is discovered. Overburdened with weight, the tightrope stretches, lowering the Coyote down to the street. Still holding the anvil while standing on the taught tightrope, the Coyote finds himself face-to-face with the roadrunner. The Roadrunner taunts him, and speeds away. Furious, the Coyote releases the anvil to pursue the Roadrunner, which unfortunately causes the tightrope to recoil, launching the Coyote into the stratosphere where he is hit by an airplane.So what does the Coyote do next? Does he analyze the situation? Does he fix the problem with the rope? Does he get a lighter anvil? Does he build a bridge instead? No! He goes right to the rocket-powered roller skates! This plan too, is met with failure. And then on to the ACME spring-loaded boxing gloves! Plan after plan fails and is thrown away.
I see this happen in many organizations. Great minds come together ands wonderfully creative and innovative solutions are developed. There is agreement by everyone: insiders, outsiders,experts, and customers.
“This is the solution we need!”
There is excitement and anticipation. Planning happens and finally, execution. Sometimes there is great success!
“YAYYYYYY!”
But oftentimes, results come up short.
“Well, that didn’t work! Booooo!”
And then …
“Let’s forget Plan A and try Plan B!”
And then I say, “Yikes.”
What I love about working at Force 5 is that we are always trying to incrementally improve our systems, our business model, and ourselves. That means isolating the variables, keeping and expanding on what went right, and fixing or disgarding what went wrong … and ocassionally scrapping everything and going to plan B. I think this makes us better for our customers and puts us and them one step closer to catching that elusive Road Runner.
