Leadership Qualities

Objective:

Improve my methods for following up

Purpose:

To increase my ability to gain trust with employees, clients, and other threads

Action:

• Create a database to keep up with the people I am currently in contact with

• Make sure I return e-mails and phone calls within 24 hours

• Summarize meetings to make sure we both have the same objectives

• Immediately put information into my Blackberry concerning contact information and dates

• Check my messages and e-mails at least twice a day.

Objective:

Become more receptive of feedback

Purpose:

To use feedback more effectively when improving myself personally and professionally

Action:

• Make sure I pause and think about the feedback before commenting

• Realize that every critique or feedback does not call for an immediate response

• Write down feedback as soon as possible

• Set goals based on improvements that results from feedback

After assessing my leadership skills, I recognize four skills that I am strong at. These four strengths are:

·          Vision

I have been able to create a personal vision and then in turn inspire other people to believe in my vision. I also have the passion and focus to help make my visions come into fruition.

·          Presence

I maintain a professional demeanor and display confidence with humility.  I lead by example and sacrifice whatever is needed to get the job done. I believe that leaving my job and going after my dream of entrepreneurship, shows courage and the ability seize opportunities.

·          Adaptability

I am flexible and adapt to change well. I have always been able to work with diverse groups. Teaching has prepared me with the ability to change communication styles quickly depending on the audience.

·          Personal Growth

I am constantly looking for ways to improve myself. I listen to feedback and look for ways to incorporate it my life. I recognize my personal strengths, as well as my personal weaknesses. Accountability is something that I am currently working to improve for myself as well as holding others accountable.

I believe that these four skills will help in the constant development of Launch Learning Group.  The opportunities lie in the ability to react to change that will occur constantly in our business, and the ability to see a vision, and create a path to accomplish that vision.

A true entrepreneur has the ability to see opportunities when others see problems. For Liz Blondie, she noticed that her friends throughout Detroit were traveling as far as thirty miles away to take their dogs to daycare. Liz did not currently own a dog, and had no idea what it took to run a daycare. As a true entrepreneur, she began researching dogs and dog daycares throughout the region. She paid the largest dog daycare in Ontario, CA a consulting fee to show her the business.

K-9 to 5 has become a daycare, grooming shop, boarding house and Dog Park. Liz started marketing her company 6 months before she opened the doors. She made sure her business plan was complete and she thoroughly researched her industry. “I don’t think you can ever know too much about your industry,” Liz made sure she made that clear.

She has also sponsored two events in Detroit: In Detroit, and Future Leads, which she used as a way to get her name out there while helping the city. She believed that networking is a major part of any successful business. Liz helped to start Open City, which is a networking group for young entrepreneurs.

I was motivated by Liz, because of her passion and determination. She realized that she made some mistakes along the way and is still figuring things out as she goes, but her business is successful and growing. She estimates that from her grooming along she will bring in $250,000 in revenue this year.

Although success isn’t easy to come by for startup businesses, there is a formula that is present in all of the successful businesses. If you follow these formulas I believe that your chance of success will quadruple.

Have you ever been in the kitchen or watching an infomercial and came up with a brilliant idea for a new invention? Robert Major had this same epiphany while talking to his grandmother, who was suffering from arthritis, and had trouble opening her pill bottles.

The Perfect Opener is the first invention that Robert came up with to solve the problem that some senior citizens have with opening pill bottles. This product has many features; from opening tops, to pulling out the cotton, to pushing pills through the aluminum foil. He tested his product at local fairs and found that there was a need for his product. He now has his product in Meijers across the country and has appeared on QVC.

During Mr. Major’s presentation,  he spoke about some ideas that would help most small businesses improve their own business. He spoke of the Blue Ocean Marketing technique, which allows business owners the opportunity to explore their market and find an untapped area and arrack that area. He referenced the technique that Yellow Tail Wine used to promote their inexpensive wine. Yellow Tail found a void in the market, for easy to purchase wine by using color coding. They have found huge success by attacking this area that know else in the market has explored.

Furthermore, Robert also talked about his struggles with trying to find his niche in the marketing. He originally found that his product had a broader range than it was intended and tried to market it to all of those markets. There is a book called “From Good to Great” which talks about the “Hedge Hog” concept which describes how a business can be more successful if it simplifies its market.

So the next time you have an idea about a great new product, think of Robert Mazur, who took an idea, and is on his way to creating an extensive line of products to help senior citizens live an independent life.

How do you get ahead in this economy as an entrepreneur? According To Lisa Toenniges, (C.E.O. founder of the Innovative Learning Group) You have to look ahead and see what’s next. Whatever business you are in, if you cannot look ahead and forecast some trends for the future then your business may be in trouble. After finding out, on a Thursday that her company was folding in a couple of days, Lisa instantly started creating her own business and was ready to operate by Sunday. She stayed in the same line of work and mananged to keep most of the same clients. With 8 employees, she was able to become profitable in a month and a half, and her company is now worth approximately 3 million dollars.

She was able to take her experience in her former company and apply that to her own. She realized that the most important part of any business is the customer relationship. Many speakers have mentioned the fact the customer relations and service can make or break a business. Lisa also have to make sure that she has a very good relationship with her more than 250 free lancers that she contract to do certain jobs. She was very clear that she makes sure that all eight employees set expectations and give feedback whenever it is neccessary.

Innovative Learning Group (ILG) is a company that focuses on companies that have an annual revenue of over half  a billion, and need a customized training program. ILG is a service based company that focuses on companies who have something out of whack, a lack of skill or knowledge, A lack of technology, or a lack of core capabilities. The company can customize any program and works mostly with businesses trying to implement new programs or technology.

I was impressed with Lisa’s presentation and could tell right away that her school teaching experience has been very helpful throughout her career. She hit on a lot of great points such as, her companies integrity. They will tell a company if they do not think the training will help them solve their problem. As she puts it, “We do not want to train butts in a chair.” She also mentioned the importance of giving, whether it was money, time, or knowledge. The most important thing she said was for entrepreneurs to make sure they have a vision and know what they expect there business to look like down the road. She could probably easily expand her employees to 50 instead of 8, but she has decided that she wants to grow her company “Steadily and Profitably”.

Imagine a limo picking you up from your house and driving you to an exotic location, flooding you with gifts, and topping it off with a demo of the latest up-to-date product at no cost to you. This is where marketing has gone according to Michael Melfi, C.E.O. of Six Degrees magazine.

Michael Melfi started Six Degrees magazine three and a half years ago, and it is blossoming into a major magazine operation. As a former lawyer and graduate of Wayne State Law School, Michael used his experience working in contracts to help spearhead his magazine. His magazine is pocket-size and consists of sixty percent editorials and forty percent adds. The magazines are free of charge and are placed in the hottest stores, restaurants, clubs, and lofts. The magazine is currently in Three cities; Detroit, Miami, and Atlanta, and intends to expand into other markets in the future.

“Respond to everyone timely, and you will have humility and integrity,” according to Michael Melfi these three things; responsiveness, humility and integrity is what every business owner needs to have in order to remain successful. Ironically, Michael sees his company as being in the advertisement business rather than the magazine business. He has to convince companies that his product will consciously persuade people to into the lifestyle of their product. His biggest obstacle has been measuring how many eyes are actually viewing his magazine on a monthly basis. He has hired an outside company to come in and measure this.

Michael has proven himself to be a very successful entrepreneur. He believes that there are six skills that every future entrepreneur should have:

·         Write at every chance you get

·         You are selling or getting sold

·         The clients are always right

·         Go with your gut feelings

·         Keep your team members happy

·         Know your assets and resources

            “Am I going to be able to compete, that is my biggest fear,” this is something that you would never imagine going through the head of Dave Bing. In our class, Dave Bing discussed the moments in his life where he doubted if he had the wherewithal to achieve greatness. This is from a man who is a NCAA All American, NBA Hall of Famer, and C.E.O. of Bing Group which currently has a yearly revenue of $600 million.             Dave Bing discussed to our class the three things that is needed to become a successful entrepreneur.  Access to capital, it is crucial to make sure that the you have a enough capital to sustain your business. Mr. Bing reiterated that when he started Bing Steel, he did not make a profit for the first six months and had to dip into his daughters retirement fund.                         A solid business plan, make sure that the business plan is solid and looks professional. Dave Bing worked as a bank manager, a mortgage banker, car dealership, and steel plant during his NBA career. This was unusual to most NBA stars, but he told us that he knew he would not be a ball player forever, and needed something to do when his career was over. He honed his business skills with these summer jobs and they ultimately gave him the skills to break away and start his own business.             Surround yourself with good people, this was one of the most important of the three. He made sure that he surrounded himself with a wide range of talented people who shared his values. In business, you are only as good as your worst employee.             The most impressive thing about Dave Bing is not the sports accolades, his steel business, or his real estate developments, it is the way people talk about the class and leadership that he exerts. He was able to ignore all of the negative in his life and excel as a man.

            If I told you there was a business that operates solely by referrals, does not have a marketing department, does not have an operational website, does not have a brochure, has nine employees and is worth 1.5 billion dollars, you would probably think I was crazy.   But this indeed, is the operating status of the John Ferchill Group, led by founder and CEO John Ferchill.

Mr. Ferchill’s company does rehabilitation on dilapidated historical buildings in urban cities.  This company has defied all conventional entrepreneurial rules of creating a successful business.   Growing up in a small town in Ohio, John learned quickly that the most important tool in business is “Your Word”.  He has been able to sustain a successful business by keeping an impeccable success to failure ratio and has made every deadline. The Ferchill Group has managed to complete 69 out of 70 rehabilitation jobs in an industry where a 75% completion rate is outstanding.

Ferchill began his empire by following the development of professional ballparks, and arenas, and then building or renovating hotels in those areas.  The Book Cadillac Hotel is his current project, which is an $88.5 million project. Amazingly, he was able to sell forty condominium units in four hours worth $20 million, and to this day he has sold 61 of the 65 available units. When asked,  “what is the two most important issues when developing in an urban environment”, he responded, “Is it safe and is it clean.”

            Although John Ferchill’s business practices are unconventional, he still reiterates the same keys of success as most successful entrepreneurs.  Those practices are developing excellent customer service and creating customer loyalty by delivering on all obligations in a timely fashion.  John’s personality is straightforward and to the point, he may not be Mr. Personality, but he is definitely someone who you would trust to run your business.

This is my homework for Thursday, September 18,2007.