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Leadership is not only an important part of a business structure, but it is also vital for the strength of a community. Leaders guide, direct, and steer the course for others to follow and good leaders learn also how to serve those who will follow them.

Part of the mission of the Columbia County Chamber involves identifying and developing community leaders. This is done through our Leadership Columbia County program. This 10-month program has adult and youth classes which allow participants to learn more about Columbia County’s businesses, culture and rich history. In exchange, participants are able to foster relationships and walk away with a better understanding of their community and the role they can play to better it.

In addition to growing leaders, the Chamber helps to identify those who are leading us well, with the understanding that leaders can be found on all levels. On April 27th, the first Business Woman of the Year and Administrative Professional of the Year awards will be presented at the Chamber’s SuCCEssful Superwoman’s Brunch. Each of the candidates for these awards have been nominated by their colleagues for their demonstrated leadership and accomplishments.

In many ways you should expect your local chamber to be a part of the community’s leadership. We provide opportunities for businesses to network and grow. We offer professional development opportunities. We help to identify and establish ways to bridge gaps between the needs of employers with the provisions of our community. We serve as a collective voice for businesses when it comes to legislation. In short, we lead by helping you lead.

Tammy Shepherd The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit, membership driven organization that advances business in the CSRA through our community leadership, economic advocacy and membership programs. Applications for the Youth Leadership class and Leadership Columbia County adult class for 2012 are available now at www.columbiacountychamber.com.

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(EVANS, GA) – The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce is now accepting applications for the Youth Leadership program and adult Leadership Columbia County Classes for 2012.

Youth Leadership Columbia County

Students, who are rising sophomores or juniors from Columbia County public and private schools and home-school settings, will be chosen for their desire to learn about the community and their interest in becoming leaders. Students will work on a variety of projects aimed at developing leadership skills and individual talents. Themed class days focus on areas such as healthcare, law enforcement, economic development, government, community service and education.

Tuition per student is $150. Applications are available through area high schools and on the Chamber’s website, www.columbiacountychamber.com. The deadline to apply for the youth class is March 31^st.

Leadership Columbia County Adult Class

Leadership Columbia County is a 10-month leadership development program that offers participants a broad look at civic issues, including education, history, media, healthcare, local government, economics and community service. Class members are chosen from a cross-section of the community.

Tuition is $900 per person with a $100 discount for Columbia County Chamber members.  Applications are available at the Chamber’s office and on the website, www.columbiacountychamber.com. The deadline to apply for the adult class is April 18^th.

For more information on Youth Leadership and Leadership Columbia County programs, contact Lauren Smith, Director of Programs at 706-651-0018 or at lauren@columbiacountychamber.com.

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A simple, 10-step Process, called an Executive Assessment, can help jumpstart you to “Making Great Changes Happen” in your business, career and personal life. You can see related articles at www.buzzon.biz and then scroll down to “Recent Posts by Authors” to find my other articles.

The First 8 Steps: 1. Put Your Goals in Writing, then Assess: 2. The Obstacles in Your Way, 3. Your Strengths, 4. Passions, 5. Dislikes, 6. Weaknesses, 7. What You Need to Learn, and 8. Advisors you’ve worked closely with in the past.

Step 9 Asks: Would you now consider working with a “trusted advisor” (an experienced executive coach)? What do you think you should work on? (You’ll find it helpful to understand the coach/client relationship before answering these.)

The Client/Coach Relationship: Although one’s technical skills are important, PEOPLE SKILLS (such as goal setting, leadership, management, training, important/essential relationships, time management, setting priorities, communications, procrastination, fears, overcoming people problems, confidence, etc.) are often more important. Your goals might include putting Family First, because if you’re responsible for a family/marriage, putting too much time and energy on your business could be hurtful to your family/marriage, which takes a lot of thought, focus, time and work, too.

Other Requirements: A healthy coaching relationship also requires consistent trust, honesty, openness, commitment, and more, but not blind faith. If you’re unsure about what your coach asks you to do, ASK QUESTIONS to clarify things. One mustn’t be closed-minded, nor make decisions without enough clear thinking. And, to be effective, your coach must understand all the relevant issues you’re facing that impacts your decisions.

To Grow a Business, you need to work ON your business, as well as IN your business. This requires the owner/general manager to grow and coach their employees to improve THEIR people skills. The coach is there to help make this happen, too.

To Grow Your Career, don’t overlook people skills as well. For example, many “techies” (engineers, scientists, etc.) love to keep growing their technical skills, not realizing their people skills may be holding them back. The expression “It’s not WHAT you know but WHO you know” is usually true. This implies your people skills may be more important than your tech skills or, at least the skills you need to work on.

Leadership Assessment Tests that evaluate different leadership qualities and provides recommendations about how to improve them is a good starting point. An executive coach will work with you to help you understand what to focus on to help obtain your goals, and work with you on many of them. To serve you well, your coach sometimes must strongly encourage you to do NEW THINGS that will likely benefit you.

Feedback Needed: Coaches require lots of client feedback. It’s because this process is all about YOU, the client. With the coach’s assistance, YOU set the goals, YOU explain where you are today, and YOU must think about how gradual changes are working out for YOU.

Will YOU Benefit from Executive Coaching? The answer is MAYBE. Why? A good coaching relationship is, in many respects, like a good marriage. It’s important to find A GOOD MATCH with whom you are comfortable being very open with, and provides great feedback. A good coach for you will make you feel comfortable talking about important things you may not talk about with anyone else, including your spouse. Therefore, WHOM you pick is the key first step. For more information, and if one of your goals is “A Better Life”, see my website & feel free to contact me.

LARRY RUDWICK This is a sponsored Business-Talk article. A lot more about this can be found on www.BusinessTune-Ups.com. To do an Executive Assessment requires a Word Document entitled Ten Questions That Can Improve Your Life. I would be happy to email one to you; you may request it from me at Rudwick@cox.net or calling 571-331-6102.

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Step 8 of Making Great Changes Happen

A simple, 10-step process, called an Executive Assessment, can help jump-start you to “Making Great Changes Happen” in your business, career and personal life. You can see related articles at www.buzzon.biz and then scroll down to “Recent Posts by Authors” to find my other articles. Here is a summary of the earlier steps.

FIRST 7 STEPS: 1) Put Your Goals in Writing, then Assess: 2) The Obstacles in Your Way, 3) Your Strengths, 4) Passions, 5) Dislikes, 6) Weaknesses, and 7) Know What You Need to Learn to Help You Obtain Your Goals.

STEP 8 ASKS: Have you gotten, or are you getting help, from an advisor, consultant, or “coach”? Are you wondering: Why would I need help? What type of help might be helpful to me? It’s simply because:

1) Many people don’t know themselves very well, 2) Two (or more) heads are better than one, and 3) It can save you lots of time, money and aggravation.

Professional help, in a relatively short time, can make a huge difference to one’s present situation and future.

Example: A former client had four employees. The owner, with 15 years experience, considered his supervisor very important to his business because of certain technical skills, and since the supervisor spoke both English and Spanish. (Some customers only spoke Spanish.) The owner was very stressed out about his business, however; and he had been trying to sell it for some time, because of this stress.

After working with the owner for less than four hours, it became clear to me that the stress was primarily because his supervisor was often late or absent from work, due to numerous personal issues, including substance abuse. And when at work, the supervisor often had a bad attitude.

The owner then realized he had over-rated his supervisor and, after giving the supervisor several warnings, terminated him. Everyone’s morale immediately improved, and the owner gave English lessons to his key Spanish-only speaking employee. The owner now has no intentions of selling his business until he is ready to retire.

Here is HOW Getting Help Can Be QUITE Helpful!

1) A trained coach “holds up a mirror”, and helps people see and hear themselves more clearly. “Mirroring” the client is repeating the same (or similar) words that convey what was just heard. As the client listens to what she just said, she often realizes that her thoughts weren’t fully developed, and her comments didn’t make the positive impressions she thought they did.

2) Coaches ask many smart questions: Pure coaching assumes that the client has all of the necessary knowledge to make keys decisions but may not yet realize that, because they haven’t thought things all the way through. Asking lots of smart questions helps the client put his knowledge together in new and improved ways. This creates what is often called an “Ah Ha Moment”, when the client figures out something very powerful and potentially transforming.

3) Being a “Sounding Board” to the client, who often is helped just by talking to the professional. People tend to think things through more when talking to someone they look up to, compared to “talking to yourself”!

4) Consultants provide advice and technical knowledge: The role of the consultant is different than the coach. Consultants provide knowledge and advice using the consultant’s knowledge of your field of expertise.

5) Brainstorming is the process of two or more people expressing their thoughts to the group about solving a particular problem. Good brainstorming stimulates new, creative solutions.

6) Mentoring is having an experienced, seasoned person, the mentor, help the less experienced person, by sharing the mentor’s experiences, and providing suggestions and advice. In some ways, it’s a blend of consulting, brainstorming, coaching, and a sounding board.

LARRY RUDWICK This is a sponsored Business-Talk article. A lot more about this can be found on the www.BusinessTune-Ups.com website. To do an Executive Assessment requires a Word Document entitled Ten Questions That Can Improve Your Life. I would be happy to email one to you; you may request it from me at Rudwick@cox.net or calling 571-331-6102.

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Don’t Become Indispensable

Organizations need indispensable institutions not indispensable people. Leaders should not allow themselves to become indispensable, nor should they let any of their subordinates do so.

Avoid the Cowardice of Silence

During meetings, so-called leaders often sit on their hands when it is time to raise a hand and speak up. Leadership requires courage – courage to make waves, courage to take on our bosses when they are wrong, and the courage of conviction. Every Robert E. Lee needs a James Longstreet to tell him exactly the way it is.

Fight Against Paranoia

Welcome criticism, help people understand that it is OK to have “love quarrels” with the organization. Loyalty and criticism are mutually supporting while slavish loyalty is deadly. Avoid the defensive crouch. Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

Be Goal Oriented

Leaders, even at a lower level, must try to set some long-term goals for their people and for their organization. People want to know where they are going and in what order of priority.

Follow the Platinum Rule

The golden rule is marvelous. But in leadership situations, the platinum rule may be even better: “Treat others the way they would like to be treated.”

Don’t Waste People’s Time

The best question a leader can ask a subordinate during a counseling session is, “How am I wasting your time?” Not everyone will tell you, but cherish the ones that do, for they will help you grow and prosper as a leader.

Thank the Invisible People

There are lots of fine people doing great work who seldom get thanks because they are “invisible.” They work so quietly and so competently that they often are not noticed by the leader.

Don’t Send Out “I Don’t Trust You” Messages

People who say “I never want to be surprised” or “Check with me before you start anything,” or “I’m off on a trip; I will call in every morning for an update” are sending out very strong “I don’t trust you” messages to their subordinates. People who know they are not trusted will never contribute at their full potential.

Serve, Don’t Humor the Boss

Too many leaders see their big tasks as keeping their bosses happy, getting to the bottom of the in-box, or staying out of trouble. That is not what leadership is all about. Leadership is serving the mission and serving your people.

Criticize Up, Praise Down

Leaders must deflect at least some of the bad guidance they get from above. Is it being loyal to your boss and to the institution you serve to tell the bosses when they are wearing no clothes?

Be Physically Fit

Everyone has a “health age”. If you exercise regularly and watch your diet, you can make yourself four or five years younger than your chronological age.

Perry Smith is an active member of the Augusta Museum of History and area civic clubs and encourages your involvement. He can be reached via email at genpsmith@aol.com. “Rules and Tools For Leaders” is available on www.amazon.com

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Most people would LOVE to make a few changes to improve their business or career and personal life, provided the changes are not too time consuming, costly, or hard to accomplish.

How would you like some positive changes to occur in your business, career and/or personal life just by learning or improving a skill? Step 7 can encourage you to do this!

To review: A simple, 10-step process, called an Executive Assessment, can help jumpstart you to “Making Great Changes Happen!” You can see the related articles at www.buzzon.biz and then scroll down to “Recent Posts by Authors” to find my other articles. Here is a summary of the earlier steps.

STEP 1: Set Your Goals in Writing – and share them with someone who will encourage you.

STEP 2: Assess the Obstacles in Your Way – Figure out what’s slowing you down from meeting your goals efficiently.

STEPS 3, 4, 5 & 6: Know Your Strengths, Passions, Dislikes and Weakness – Knowing these will likely help determine what activities you probably should focus on doing personally, and what you should delegate.

STEPS 7 now asks: What would you like to learn (or learn better) to help you obtain your goals?

To answer this question requires you to first truly know your goals, what changes you want to accomplish. It also requires you to know what roadblocks are in your way. And it requires you to really know yourself, including your strengths and weaknesses.

When you know all these things, it becomes clearer what skills would be helpful to learn. Typically this means further strengthening your strengths, working on some of your weaker areas, or a combination of both.

Skills fall into two distant categories: objective, logical factual areas such as goal-setting and emotional factors such as one’s feelings, fears, thoughts, etc. Making positive changes require taking both of these basic categories into account.

Example: A 50-something former client was a very well paid sales manager, who lost his passion for his high-level position after 10 years of employment. He thought seriously about leaving. After going through the Executive Assessment, it became clear that he was taking his job far too seriously, and this negatively impacted his personal life, too. He didn’t have a great relationship with his boss, and didn’t trust his sales staff that much. He would micro-manage them, which negatively impacted their attitude too, and their self-confidence.

He came to realize that he created this situation and was on a dead end course. He decided that, rather than look for another job, he would focus on learning some new skills and work to grow and help others in new, better ways. He adjusted his goals and realized that his job wasn’t his life; it was PART of his life. He realized that his attitude and actions were not only negatively impacting himself, but his whole division.

So he learned to appreciate others’ strengths, and not obsess on their weaknesses. He taught them “how to fish”, as opposed to “giving them fish”; he trained them better and stopped doing aspects of their jobs for them. He had been “enabling them” – to exist but not grow.

He came to realize he couldn’t control everything in his department, and he learned to trust others in ways he had never done before. Everyone’s confidence and skills developed more, and he regained his passion for his job. And what he learned at work, he applied to his personal life. He became much more satisfied and at peace with himself and others.

LARRY RUDWICK This is a sponsored Business-Talk article. A lot more about this can be found on the www.BusinessTune-Ups.com website. To do an Executive Assessment requires a Word Document entitled Ten Questions That Can Improve Your Life. I would be happy to email one to you; you may request it from me at Rudwick@cox.net or calling 571-331-6102.

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1. Develop Solid Leadership Skills

The best leaders in business, the nonprofit sector, and government are superb at time management and are competent in speed reading, personal computers, dictation skills, and the use of manual and electronic brainstorming techniques.

2. Help Your People Understand You

When you take over a new organization, get your key people together and tell them what your top priorities and your pet peeves are. It is especially important for them to learn very early what really bugs you. They will appreciate your candor.

3. Smoke Out Those of Low Integrity

Leaders must sniff the air constantly to ensure high standards of ethics are maintained. In almost all large organizations, someone is walking out the back door with something. Expense accounts, personnel records, training reports, and contracts need regular scrutiny.

4. Concentrate on Performance, Not Just Results

How you get results is important. Leaders who don’t concern themselves about the process and the performance that leads to the results are making a big mistake. Always ask yourself what it took to gain those great results.

5. Maintain a Sense of Outrage

There are many super-cool managers who worry too much about keeping their bosses happy. As a result, they never allow themselves to be outraged when the system is doing serious damage to those who work for them. The best leaders get mad occasionally and, using controlled outrage, can often make right wrongs that are levied upon their people.

6. Beware of Intimidation

Be very careful here. Some bosses allow themselves to be intimidated by outsiders, by their bosses, and even by their subordinates. An intimidated boss can never be a great leader. You have to have an independent mind to make the right choices.

7. Avoid the Activity Trap

Don’t confuse being busy with being productive. Without discipline, managers can become slaves to their meetings, travel schedules, in-boxes, and telephones. They get so wrapped up in the minutiae that they can become “in-box managers” rather than visionary leaders.

8. Build a Robust Braintrust

One of the great secrets of success is to have a braintrust of experts on various issues. I have learned that a braintrust of around 300 real smart and quick thinking friends can be very helpful whenever I need help. I have their office and home phone numbers and their e-mail addresses so I can get hold of them quickly. The braintrust is reciprocal in that we help each other.

9. Beware of the Paul Principle

Too many leaders allow themselves to slowly slide downhill in competence. When they lose touch with the issues, the new technologies, and the people, they have fallen victim to what I call the Paul Principle.

The future is coming fast. Leaders need to think about the future and prepare their people for it. To keep a close eye on the future, join the World Future Society and read two magazines regularly – Business Week and The Futurist.

10. Get Ready for the Future

Soon leaders will have exciting new technologies to help them be more efficient and effective leaders. The automatic dictating machine will allow leaders to quickly answer their daily mail or write their memos or weekly column. Teleconferencing will reduce the need for travel and speed up consensus-building and decision-making. Electronic brainstorming will accelerate the velocity of innovation. Electronic mail will reduce time wasted with “telephone tag.”

All leaders must work hard to build the future, for that is where they and their people will spend the rest of their lives.

Perry Smith is an active member of the Augusta Museum of History and area civic clubs and encourages your involvement. He can be reached via email at genpsmith@aol.com. “Rules and Tools For Leaders” is available on www.amazon.com

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Please use the audio player above to listen to Larry on the Buzz On Biz radio show.

STEP 5&6 OF MAKING GREAT CHANGES HAPPEN

Most people would LOVE to make a few changes to improve their business or career and personal life, provided the changes are not too time consuming, costly, or hard to accomplish.

A simple, 10-step process, called an Executive Assessment, can help jumpstart you to Making Great Changes Happen today!

STEP 1: Your Goals - June’s article discussed the importance of writing down your short, medium and long-term goals, and sharing them with someone to increase the chances that your goals are realistic and you’ll complete them.

STEP 2: Assess the Obstacles in Your Way – July’s article asked: What’s slowing you down from making progress? No matter what they are, you need to BE AWARE of them, and figure out workarounds.

STEPS 3 & 4: Know Your Strengths and Passions – August’s article asked: What ARE your true strengths and passions? Knowing these will help influence how you should go about making changes.

STEPS 5 & 6: Know Your Dislikes and Weaknesses – This month’s article asked: What do you do you don’t really enjoy? What do you do that you’re not particularly great at?

No one lives in an “ideal world”, where you only do things you love doing, do very well, and get well paid to do them, too. The reality is that most of us get stuck doing numerous things we’re not that well equipped to do for various reasons. And it takes a toll on us: physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The more we do things that aren’t right for us, the more it can negatively impact our attitude, our energy, our focus, and our actions. This also tends to negatively impact the people around us, both at work and at home.

Do you often feel like a round peg in a square hole? If so, do you feel somewhat “stuck” and that you’re not living the life you hoped for? If so, you may want to try this:

Suggestion: Commit to taking some time to stand back and analyze your situation.  Once you know your goals and the obstacles standing in your way, ask yourself:  What do you do you DON’T enjoy? What do you do you DON’T do well? Write them down in two lists.  Think about how you might be able to eliminate some of the things on these lists.  Are there a few on your lists you can eliminate or delegate easily?

Once you’ve made these lists of what you don’t like to do and what you don’t do well in both your work and personal life, you’ll be closer to writing out a plan to “Make Great Changes Happen”. Look for next month’s article for the next step.

I wish you success in making positive changes in your business, career and/or personal life, if this is what you desire. Start by 1) writing down your goals, 2) understanding the obstacles you face, 3) writing down your strengths, 4) writing down your passions, 5) writing down your dislikes, and 6) writing down things you do, but not so well.

LARRY RUDWICK This is a sponsored Business-Talk article. A lot more about this can be found on the www.BusinessTune-Ups.com website. To do an Executive Assessment requires a Word Document entitled Ten Questions That Can Improve Your Life. I would be happy to email one to you; you may request it from me at Rudwick@cox.net or calling 571-331-6102.

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It is always gratifying to hear someone you respect giving the same advice you give.  Recently, at a “Buzz On Biz” networking event, local entrepreneur Jeff Annis told an audience of small business owners, “hire slow, fire fast.”  I frequently offer the same advice to my clients.  But I know from experience this is easier said than done.

First, hire slow.  Small business owners wait til the need is critical before adding personnel.  This makes it very difficult to “hire slow”, the pressure is to get the slot filled.  Speaking from experience, moving quickly in the hiring process can lead to a long, slow, painful experience for the business owner and the employee.  In this economy with so much available talent in the unemployed workforce, there is no reason to hire a person with the wrong skills.  Pay a little extra to have some testing done or hire an agency to do it for you.  You will save ten times as much in the long run.  Be sure the prospective employee has the skills you need before you put them on the permanent payroll.

Even harder than “hiring slow”, is “firing fast.”  Shows such as “The Apprentice” glorify the process.  However, in my experience, making the decision to terminate an employee is a difficult and painful one that gets delayed too long.

Employers run scared of terminating employees for fear of reprisals or lawsuits.  I frequently get the call, “I want to fire ________, but I am afraid I will get sued.”  There is no way to control whether you will get sued.  All you can control is how you act and what you document in the process leading up to termination.  Having a nondiscriminatory progressive discipline policy will go a long way toward defeating any lawsuit based on a termination.  In Georgia and South Carolina, the legal odds are actually stacked very heavily in favor of the employer in the employer/employee relationship.

The keys to successfully beginning and ending employee relationships is to focus on the job and the skills required for that job.  Judge the applicant or employee by this subjective standard and you will go a long way toward easing the pain of employee management.

J. Edward (ed) enoch This is a sponsored Law Talk article.  His practice focuses on business, employment, and real estate law. He is a 1992 Magna Cum Laude law school grad from Washington and Lee School of Law. He’s served in many leadership roles for SHRM, Rotary, the Family Y and the United Way. Reach him at (706) 738.4141 or jenoch@enochlaw.com

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1. Don’t Use “I Don’t Trust You” Phrases. Be very careful about using the following phrases: “I never want to be surprised”, “Before you start anything, check with me first,” “When I am on the road, I will call in every morning for an update” All of these phrases send strong messages to subordinates that you want to keep them on a close leash and, even worse, that you do not trust them.

2. Welcome Criticism. All leaders should fully understand that criticism and loyalty are mutually supporting. When subordinates quit complaining that can be very bad news. It means that they are either afraid to complain or have given up on making things better within the organization. Both are deadly.

3. Don’t Set Unreasonable Deadlines. There is an expression in the Pentagon, “If you want it bad you will get it bad”. Try to give your folks enough time to put together a solution that you and they can be proud of.

4. Expect Exceptional Performance. Although perfectionism in a leader can be deadly in any organization, leaders must not let the pendulum swing too far in the other direction. If leaders don’t ask for exceptional performance from their associates they are not likely to get it.

5.  Don’t Allow Yourself to Become a Wind Chime. If your primary skill is blowing with the wind by being politically agile, you will not be respected by those you lead.  Have a backbone and exercise your strength of character by taking strong positions on important issues.

6. Fight the Temptation to Get Even. If someone does something to you that is mean spirited, think of it as his or her problem—not your problem.

7. Focus on Goals not Process. It is important to be clear about the job to be done but to be very  flexible about the way you do the job.

8. Be a Blame Acceptor. If something goes wrong within the organization which you lead, you must be willing to accept the blame even though you personally may be only a tiny part of the failure. Too many bosses try to blame others, especially their subordinates. By doing so they often lose the respect of their people and their bosses.

9.  Establish Self-Reinforcing Relationships. Praise and support those who can move smoothly from competition to cooperation. Encourage those who find solutions that reconcile the opposites. This is an area where the French have it right. They have a national motto: liberty, equality and fraternity.

10. Be A Leader Developer. A big part of leadership is mentorship. Helping people to develop their leadership skills can be immensely rewarding.

Also, leaders should help subordinates think like them and like their bosses.  When these subordinates get promoted they will then be ready to take on the big job.

Perry Smith  is an active member of the Augusta Museum of History and area civic clubs and encourages your involvement. He can be reached via email at genpsmith@aol.com.  “Rules and Tools For Leaders” is available on www.amazon.com

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