Out of the Snares

Business Consciousness

Business ConsciousnessConsciousness in Business is as important as living lifeconsciously.As a business owner and CEO, you are the Lid of yourbusiness. Your business succeeds or fails behind your leadership.  As a Leader you must become conscious of how all aspectsof your business is being run.You must learn to ask the tough questions; you mustanticipate market trends, you must be continually learningand growing personally, you must hire the right people andmatch them properly to the different roles in your company.  You must Lead consciouslyIn the book the best CEO's by Jeffrey A. Krames the authorshowcases some of the greats of this era. Sam Walton, thefounder of Walmart, Jack Welsh, of GE fame, Michael Dell, of Dell Computers, Gary Kelly of Southwest Airlines, BillGates of Microsoft, His research uncovered 7 common traitsthat all the best CEO's possessed. They are:1 An outside in approach – It is not about what you want,it is always about what the customer want. What arethey willing to pay for, what problems can your productor service solve? All of the top CEO's understood thisconcept but Michael Dell of Dell Computers perfectedthis approach. His company model of building computersto his customer's specifications not only allowed himto put the customer's needs first but saved him moneyon storing inventory. It allowed his company to succeedwhen others failed.

2 The top CEO's Have an Evangelical gene. They arezealous with crusading enthusiasm. They have a consumingFire in their belly and they spread their gospel towhoever would listen.

3 They understand the role of culture in their company.They create a culture in which the employees are passionatelyattuned to the growth and success of theircompany. A Leadership culture is a mandate to take careof the people that work for the company. Mergers hitthe rocks because of the clash of cultures. None does itbetter than Gary Kelly of Southwest Airlines. Kelly createda culture of fun while earning a profit. Culture is soimportant to Southwest Airlines that his managementstaff are only allowed to hire people if they fit the cultureof the company. i.e. they are fun. Some of thecharacteristics Southwest looks for in the hiring processare:• Attitude• Self-Starter ability• Cheerfulness• Optimism• Decision making ability• Team spirit• Communication skills• Self-confidence

4 The Best CEO's are visionaries, they have a vision fortheir companies and create products or services for theemerging markets and move quickly to implement.Once you have the formula work on improving it. Stay faithful to the vision. Sam Walton stayed faithful to hisvision of "everyday low prices" even when he couldhave gotten away with charging higher prices.

5 They have a good sense on where the ball is going to go next! Example Bill Gates saw the future in 1975. He recognized that software was critical to the PC revolution.Sam Walton, saw the future of retailing and sawdiscounting as the future. He founded Walmart from thisvision. "Everyday low prices"

6 Learn from your competitors. Absorb good ideas andimprove on them. Jack Welsh of GE Made learning apart of the culture of his organization.

7 Spend more time with the customer. Make time duringthe day for face to face time visits with customers. Invitekey customers in to speak to department heads. Createan ongoing dialog with customers. Make sure communicationis not one way. Get feedback from customers andmake the improvements they suggest. Do your otherCEO duties at night.

8 Differentiation – The Best CEO's create ways to differentiatethemselves from the competition. They offer value.Delivering better value allows you to sustain acompetitive advantage.If you have the ability to differentiate yourselfthen a price war is dumb—MICHAEL DELL

As a Leader in your organization, ask yourself these questions:• What have you done to grow your business and stayrelevant lately?• Are you leading the market or following?• Have you introduced a new product or service?• Have you upgraded your technology?• Are you ahead of the trends or becoming obsolete?Organic Growth starting something new from inside something oldHow to launch a new product or service: