Being an influential Leader/Manager

In my current position I am part of the management team, it has been a very eye opening experience for me to go from a processing employee to part of the leadership team. Quite often employees will complain about how their bosses for a variety of reasons, the challenge is everyone is seeing the work from a different perspective. I cannot say every leader is fair or has the best interest of the team in mind, but I do think there are times when an employee misjudges a boss’s intent. After reading President Kimball’s talk Jesus: The Perfect Leader I sent it to my co-workers (I work for the Church so I can get away with something like that). When it comes down to it the best way to be a good leader is to be a good person. If we are following the guidance given by our Savior we will naturally focus on what matters most. The challenge is that as a manager you have certain responsibilities and will have to require certain performance measures of an employee. I have had opportunities to talk with my manager and realize how much effort goes into helping an employee before letting them go. Once again I recognize that not every leader out there manages the same way and provides the same level of support for their employees, but my goal is to be a leader that emulates the attributes of the Savior.

Kiva Update

We currently have two photo shoots scheduled. One will be maternity pictures for a lady in our neighborhood that my wife has become friends with and the other will be a family session for an extended family of 32 people. The family photo shoot came about as a referral from someone my wife knows who knew we were working to provide photo sessions. Overall things are going great!

Pay me to quit?

This week we learned about a company that will pay new employees to quit while they are in the training process. Zappos will pay them $2,000 in their first week of training and up to $3,000 by the last week of their training. On the surface this may seem crazy. Why pay someone to quit working for you? We had some excellent discussions about the benefits to the company but what I overlooked until just a few days ago was the benefit this would have for the employee who realizes this isn’t a fit for them. About 6 months ago we had an employee in our department who just did not enjoy the work. He was an internal hire, came into our department at a higher pay grade then his last position and our entire management team was very excited to have him. Unfortunately everyone quickly learned the job was only taken for the increased pay. He really didn’t enjoy the job and consequently did not perform. For this job he was not a fit, but to this day when he is brought up no one will deny that he was a sharp individual with great potential. I think trainees at many companies may realize they do not fit the culture or job but cannot make the decision to leave when they finally got a job and they have bills to pay. Zappos incentive to quit may give these employee the courage to quit and take some extra time to find a job that fits them a little better without having to worry as much about the financial aspect of quitting the job. In all reality even $3,000 is not a large amount of money when put into perspective of supporting life and lifestyle.

Changing topics…

In the HMM study this week the following statement was made. “Even firms that have relied upon high employee turnover—for example, fast-food chains, which have tended to hire low-skilled employees at minimal wages and provide them with minimal training—are beginning to understand that satisfied, long-term employees help build customer loyalty and satisfaction and cost less to manage. As a consequence, these companies are starting to question their traditional assumptions.”

This caused me to think of two fast-food style restaurants I went to recently. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of one of them (but I know exactly where it is!)… It was a baja style fish taco place. A little nicer than a typical fast-food atmosphere but nonetheless still fit the style. The other was Chick-fil-a. Both of these restaurants were very impressive when it came to their customer service, the question was “How do these companies cause employees that probably aren’t making much more than minimum wage to be so happy?” I think these are companies that understand the statement made above, maybe they are making better money then I assumed, or maybe the company provides other means that help them be customer service oriented. I would love to find out, maybe I’ll just ask them next time I’m there… because I can guarantee you I’ll go back due to the nice experience (and the food is good too!).

Business update

Not a whole lot to update this week. The weather has gotten much nicer who knows how long it will last… but we are going to start pushing the idea of outdoor family pictures. My wife grew up in this area and knows of some really neat places to take pictures even when the trees are bare and it isn’t quite as bright and beautiful outside.

Elevator Pitch

Truth be told, I was really not looking forward to the elevator pitch activity for this class. However now that I have completed it and received some feedback I feel better about it and see what an opportunity it was. Essentially we had to put together a short video of ourselves explaining our business and how we could offer a service that others need. I think the best part was taking the time to really think about how I would explain my business to others and then being able to receive some great feedback from others about how to improve my services. The one thing I found interesting and was completely understandable was that each person questioned my prices, mainly indicating that they were too low or could be increased in certain ways. Some great insight was given about the idea of upselling, but part of the idea of this business is to provide a service as well as provide a way for my wife to earn some income and practice her photography while still being a stay at home mom. The income isn’t our main goal, but that was never really explained so it makes sense that I received this type of feedback.

This week I also really liked was what Phil Romano said "Money to me is applause," I create things to help people." Now obviously Phil needed to make money, but money was not his main motivator. Good people that do good things will succeed in life. This isn’t always in the form of money, and I think Phil would have felt just as satisfied with his successes if his bank account was not nearly as full.

This week we have done some photography work with our son to provide some more example pictures for people to view to see my wife’s experience. We have also spent some time working on our Facebook page for the photography services. The page is called Through the Eyes of a Peacock.

Becoming an Entrepreneur

This week has been a good reflection week for me and my career goals. At times I feel a little odd taking classes about entrepreneurship because this is not my lifelong dream. In part I am taking these classes because they are requirements for the business management program, and in part I am taking them because I really like the concepts taught about entrepreneurship and how they relate to all of us. I feel I am a better employee when I can think like an entrepreneur has to think. My boss has a degree in entrepreneurship and says it was one of the best choices he ever made, not because he has a burning desire to start his own business, but because it taught him how to think effectively.

This week I really enjoyed reading about an Italian Restaurant that was started, I got to see the decision making that took place, and the challenges that were faced. One main lesson it taught me was that we need to always be ready for unexpected challenges. The most noticeable in the reading was a legal battle that took place early on, luckily the owners had a good knowledge of what they were being accused of and were able to combat the accusations in a professional (for the most part) and effective way. Having a knowledge of the legal aspects might seem daunting, but this is a prime example of where that knowledge is needed. That or pay a lawyer $250 an hour to help... 
$100.00 Challenge.

Not much really took place this past week. We had an unexpected funeral to attend (in Rexburg of all places) which took a good portion of the time we would have spent working on this project. The goal we had this week was to raise the necessary capital, but no more than $20. Luckily we already own the equipment we would need so we do not need to raise capital. The only real expense we would incur would be CD's to provide the photographs on, but this would be purchased with a small portion of the cost of the photo shoot.

 

Business Plans

Sometimes while taking classes I have sat back and asked the question "How is what I am learning really going to help me?" Some classes we take because we have to and some we take because they will give us knowledge in a certain field of study. For example, one of my most enjoyable classes was a Music Appreciation class. It was fun and interesting, but it didn't really do much for me (except maybe got me to have Mozart playing while I do homework instead of something else). On the other hand, I have taken many Accounting courses that, while not being fun, have opened my eyes up to a new world of professional work being done and given me knowledge that I need for the business world.

This week has been a learning valuable information week. I have learned a lot about something I have heard talk of, but never really created or even seen, at least not that I really remember. A Business Plan. We read a case study where the individual had a very detailed and thorough business plan showing anything you would ever question about what she planned to accomplish. It was very impressive. I was able to read some information about what makes a business plan effective, and how to cater it to different audiences. And most importantly I was able to put together two 1 page business plans. One for my $100 Challenge, and one for my Big Idea. This was a great experience because it really made me think about what I would do and how I would accomplish my goals. I have no doubt they need work and mentoring, but it's a start!

 

$100 Challenge update

We got our first photo shoot scheduled! It will take place hopefully this upcoming week. Right now is somewhat difficult because the weather has been interesting. Snow, hazy/fog, poor air quality, and just cold. We don't have an indoor studio so for lighting and other important photography things that I don't fully understand it would be ideal to do these photo sessions outside. I think if this is something we plan to pursue further we will need to invest in some of the indoor equipment that will help us make that a viable option (I should probably update my business plan...).