Maverick Mastery®

In this Century we are faced with a sceptical buying audience especially when our services are high end, high value. This means we are faced with some choices; we can reduce our prices, alter our business offerings or find a way to be ‘attractive’ to our potential customers – a way where they find us for our services rather than we spend our time looking for them to buy.

In this day and age these can be tough choices.

If you choose to keep your prices and business offerings the same then you need to ensure that your potential clients see you as ‘attractive’. Being ‘attractive’ to our customers begins with ensuring that you have a business proposition that is clear and understandable. If you have more than one business proposition then you need to ensure that you only describe or explain your proposition to the right audience at the right time, and increasingly on the right online network. Unless you are speaking to your inner network describing all your propositions will be seen as confusing and condemn you as a generalist. Only very few generalists with high end, high value services are bought these days. Our sceptical buyers want to buy from ‘the’ expert. It provides a comfort factor and is more likely to reduce any potential buyer’s remorse. Below I have outlined two must do things that you need to achieve to ensure that potential clients buy your services.

How to have a winning proposition

There are a number of things that you need to do to ensure that your proposition has a chance in standing out. These include the following:

v  Be sure of what it is that you have to offer. This may sound like an obvious statement but I have found that clients who start my business accelerator session (whether they have just started up in business or who have been in business for a long time) can often miss exactly what it is that makes their business special and the magic ingredient that they bring to it. This is more than having a Unique Selling Proposition, this is about knowing the deep roots of your business and what it is that you bring to your clients that no one else can.

What is it that you bring to your business that makes it sing?

v  Get back to basics or first principles. When you have been running a business for awhile it is easy for you to divert away from your core proposition or to confuse your offering with industry jargon. A lot of business people first had a career in corporate land and then unwittingly use the same language when they describe their services. This doesn’t really work unless you have a well known brand and have been able to spend the time educating your potential audience on what you have to offer.

What does your service do – in plain compelling English?

v  Ensure that your offering has a market. It is very easy to get swept up in the service that you want to deliver and miss what it is that your customers want to buy. Often your proposition is close to what the market wants and a few people buy – a slight tweak can enable you to have mass appeal.

Listen to what your customers are telling you – and fish where the fish are

v  Learn how to articulate your proposition so that others understand. This is a key crux as to why it is hard to buy your services. One of the best ways to solve this is to work with a mentor that has experience in helping people like you that can solve this conundrum. Another way is to spend time asking your previous clients what they got from your service (there are always pleasant surprises there!), breaking down the core components and then crafting a compelling story that describes your service and how you help your clients.

Ensure that what you do fits your business strategy

Leveraging your reputation

Buying high end, high value, high cost services are considered purchases and in a recession one that a buyer cannot afford to make frivolously.  In which case before they buy your service they will check out your reputation first. Last century a lot of this checking would have been offline with people that you know well and by referencing paid for advertising. This century, offline referencing is still vital but online referencing of your reputation is becoming all important and essential first steps prior to a purchasing decision being made.

The first thing someone does when they are considering buying your services is to check you out on the web. Reputation and credibility is made up of trust, character, competence and track record. It is possible to leverage your reputation but first you must decide what you want to be known for.

What you are known for is essential for people to buy your services.

To leverage your reputation online you should include (amongst other things) the following:

v  Having a Networking Strategy. Your networking strategy should include your strategy for what you are going to do online and offline to integrate your Outer, Middle and Inner networks. You will have clear goals and objectives, and understand the messages that you will be articulating to each group. Demonstrating that you are networking for advocates rather than customers is likely to endear you to your audience. Being able to have cohesive and professional conversations across a number of platforms with diverse people will enhance your reputation as an expert in your field.

v  Having a reputation management strategy. Are you aware of what people are saying about you and your brand? Do you have a strategy in dealing with both supporters and detractors of your message? Are the things that you are doing adding value to your reputation and business?  These amongst others are important questions that your strategy should be answering.

v  Dominate your niche – be the only person considered the best in your niche. Do your online profiles demonstrate your expertise in your chosen field? When you are ‘googled’, what will people find? If people are searching for your expertise are you easily found? To be able to leverage your reputation so that you are ‘attractive’ to your potential customers you need to be seen to dominate your niche. That means using the appropriate Social Media tools in your arsenal and being the only person who other people talk about when discussing your area of expertise. It is a lot easier to do this than you imagine!

v  Have a clear and consistent online/offline message. A great way to destroy reputation is to be inconsistent. People do not trust inconsistency so if you say ‘you help your clients by providing conflict training’ don’t be seen having an online argument with a group of people on an internet forum! You should never assume that something that is said negatively or ‘robustly’ in a private forum will not have an impact on your public persona. In this century your personal and business personas are explicitly linked.

Wondering why it seems so hard for potential clients to buy your services, especially in this climate is a question that is being asked constantly by business people every way. The key to solving this dilemma is to have a clear understanding of what you do and how you add value, providing a clear and consistent message and finally leveraging your reputation as an expert in your field.

A good training course delivers its objectives, is interesting and interactive and allows for the differing learning styles of the attendees. The success of the course will require an effective trainer who can impart their knowledge whilst retaining the attention of the learners. Understanding human behaviour is often a requisite to being able to deliver a course that can exceed the expectations put upon it.

First things first

When you are delivering training it’s important to understand not only what your required outcomes are, but also what the organisational goals are, the prevailing context and what the attendees were told about the course before they arrived. You are more likely to have a higher proportion of difficult people on your course if attendance was mandatory and not seen as necessary by them, and/or an organisational environment where major change is happening (eg redundancy).

Understanding the expectations of the attendees and whether they are likely to be hostile to your training intervention is therefore vital. If this is a possibility then it’s important to design the content of the course accordingly and deal with their potential hostility upfront and immediately that the course starts. A ‘safe’ way to do this is when you ask the attendees what their objectives are for the training course. Our experience shows that at this stage the attendees often articulate any resentment to being on the course and how they feel about the organisation. This is a fantastic opportunity to discover their objections, listen to their issues and calibrate them to the need for attending the course. This is why knowledge of the organisational context is important. It is imperative that this section on understanding their objections and you addressing them should be kept very short. The last thing that you want to do is spend significant time discussing their objections as it will have a destabilising effect of the morale of the group and your ability to deliver the course well and on time.

It is very common (and to be expected) that there will be at least one member of the course who will feel the need to demonstrate their expertise and challenge your authority or credibility in running the course. A good trainer would have used the five minute introduction phase of the course to establish they credibility and to flush out the individuals who are likely to be ‘lively’.

Delivering a lively, interesting course – mindful of the attendees behaviour

Some trainers mistakenly believe that delivering training in environments where some hostility is shown means they are entering a battle zone! The problem with this theory is that within every training environment there will be some hostility! The actions of the trainer can therefore make it substantially worse.

A good trainer does the following subconsciously:

• Analyse the attendees behaviour to discover which ones fall into the subsequent categories

• The ‘know it all’

• The ‘sceptic’

• The ‘been there done it’

• The ‘enthusiastic puppy’

• The ‘maverick’

• The ‘follower’

• The ‘academic’

• The ‘life long learner’

• The ‘demotivator’

• Adjust the course delivery and perhaps content to suit the training characteristics of the attendees

• Seek interaction and ensure that all learning styles are catered for

• Deal with each attendee according to their ‘training characteristic’ (for example the ‘maverick’ needs to be treated differently to the ‘follower’

• Are able to smoothly and flexibly shift their own style to meet the needs of the group

• Deliver a course that meets the objectives of the learner and the organisation

An example of dealing with a difficult training characteristic – the ‘maverick’

I define ‘maverick’ to mean wilful independence and it is this training characteristic which is probably the one that causes trainers the most difficulty. Mavericks have a high sense of self confidence and self esteem and believe that they are more intelligent than others. This can be a heady mix when they are faced with a trainer that has not established their credibility or is delivering a course that they consider to be boring or inappropriate for them.

The following are likely indicators that you are facing a maverick:

• You are asked a number of questions that are disrupting and show that they believe they know more than you do on the subject

• You are shown disrespect by the attendee (this can be on a continuum from mild to extreme)

• They show their displeasure through body language and audio clues (eg heavy sighs and rolling of the eyes)

• You are challenged constantly and other attendees or yourself are undermined

• They refuse to participate in the course or the exercises

Interventions to use with the maverick training characteristic

• Establish credibility upfront and immediately

• Discover their objectives/objections for being on the course (and build into the course)

• Find a way to avoid making them look stupid (if you fail you are likely to make running the training course extremely difficult)

• Ensure that you do not lose control or appear uneasy

• Provide boundaries and structure (when you need to enforce your control, do it quickly and do not dwell on it – avoid trying to make the maverick lose face in front of their peers)

• Be clear on the objectives of the course, and how the course will run. What are the components of the course?

• Give them something to do – eg ensure they lead on some of the exercises

• Recognise them (whilst ensuring that they do not dominate the course) and appeal to their intellectual ability

Training courses present the trainer with an opportunity to engage with all members of team, even those who seem to be resistant to whatever you are trying to teach them. Remember that a one size fits all approach is unlikely to be successful as is approaching resistance from a defensive position! It can be easy to spend the majority of the course then fighting your corner, but by using some of the techniques mentioned above, you can be better placed to deliver a lively and interesting course which has benefit for all those in attendance.

In the past the majority of employees considered that career planning was the responsibility of their employers. There were a number of reasons for this but the most prevalent ones was that there was 1) a strong belief that the employee would be working at a company for many years and promotion was a ‘natural’ event and 2) that the company fulfilled the role of quasi parent and would obviously look after them and ensure their personal growth.

Beginning with the mass redundancies of the 1990s employers began to lose their belief that they were responsible for their employee’s development and begun to encourage their employees to take responsibility in their own career. Fast forward to the ‘noughties’ and it is now imperative that employees plan and control their own career movement and do not rely on their employers to do so for them.

Considering your career plan

Strategic overview

Firstly you are never too late to start! When you are commencing your planning you need to decide what your strategic plan is for your career. For example, where do you want to be in the next 5 years? Will you be a generalist or a specialist in your chosen profession? What are the trends in your marketplace/industry? What skills do you have and what skills do you need? Do you wish to stay employed or start your own business?

Looking at your career

First of all you should analyse whether you are in the correct career path for you or whether you wish to change Industries. To make this assessment it is important to do as much research as possible. Will the job that you are looking for pay you the salary that you wish and support the lifestyle that you want? Does it play to your strengths and your competencies? For example if you are creative by nature than a role that requires strict adherence to rules may not suit you.

The type of person that you are will have a major impact in career choice and progression as well. Extroverts will be drawn to different roles than introverts and will also have a different game plan. Assessing whether your career is progressing the way that you wish is also useful especially if you take into account whether your own behaviours have hindered or helped you. Often people are disappointed that their career hasn’t developed in the way that they would have liked and it is because they are considered by their managers as bad promotional prospects.

By assessing past performance reviews you will be able to see whether there are any consistent trends or key development needs that you need to address before making your next move. This applies whether your next move is promotional, lateral, within or external to the company. You will also need to decide to treat your career as something which you need to manage as ultimately the only one affected by the success or otherwise of your good career management is you!

If you consider yourself as the manager of your career, what are the things that need to happen to ensure that you achieve your goals? Your assessment of your work performance would have raised a few questions including those listed below:

• How competent are you?

• What are your strengths and weaknesses?

• What are your interests?

• What are the company’s goals for you?

• Are you suited to what you are currently doing?

• What are your skill gaps?

By linking the answers to these and other relevant questions with your assessment of your chosen marketplace it will be easier to plan your next steps. If your most dominant need is training or qualifications then your first port of call will be your employer. Perhaps they can sponsor you in developing your professional competence, or by providing you with the opportunity to attend relevant training courses. Your employer may arrange for you to be coached or mentored by external experts or may ask you to participate in ‘job shadowing’. If you can identify an employee that you admire and consider to be good at their job you may approach them directly and ask them to be your informal mentor. This can be very beneficial as it can severely reduce your learning curve.

If your employer will not help then do consider funding your own education and development.

You may have identified your need as more experience or behavioural. If your employer is unable to provide you with more experience then look at the competencies required for the role that you desire and see if you can develop them externally to your current role. This could be from clubs, voluntary work or hobbies. An internal mentor or coach may help with any behaviour deficiencies you may have.

Another thing to consider when planning your career is how you will network to achieve your goals. Many opportunities for development as well as new jobs can be uncovered via networking with the right people. A significant proportion of job hunters for example, use the international website LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) to register their CV and job profile. They also use LinkedIn to connect to individuals from other industries and companies – it is also being used substantially by recruitment agencies to find the right candidates for the vacancies they are sourcing.

There are many online networks and places to connect with socially – be aware however that many employers are using the information to make employment decisions. There have unfortunately, been a few cases where undesirable behaviour on sites like Facebook has led to disciplinaries or decisions not to recruit.

There has never been a better time to take control and be responsible for your own career progression, providing you put a plan in place to help you navigate the path to success. And with the plethora of tools available to aid you in your journey, the future is certainly a bright one. Good luck!

In the current economic climate, the biggest headache for most small businesses is the costs associated with managing and employing staff. Ultimately, this comes down to one key question; are businesses spending too much time carrying out activities that they are not adequately trained to do? Business Mentor and management specialist Judith Germain explains why small businesses need to review the costs of their HR activities and explains why outsourcing non-core activities is so critical in today’s competitive marketplace.

It is inevitable that many entrepreneurs and small business owners will reach the point where they need to support the growth of their business by taking on additional staff, but many are put off doing so by the deluge of rules and regulations covering every aspect of the HR process. As a result, many businesses spend a great deal of unnecessary time and energy on managing their processes instead of running and growing their business.

In this article, we are going to look at the most common HR issues, which cause problems for small businesses and what can be done to ensure these areas are carried out more efficiently.

1. Legislation

Small businesses spend a lot of time trying not to fall foul of the increasing levels of legislation that befall them. Whilst legislation can be a good thing it can have a disproportionate effect on a small business.

For example the Disability Discrimination Act can see small businesses paying huge sums for failing to follow good processes and investigating absence claims properly. Many small businesses do not see the need for establishing absence policies believing that because the business has a family atmosphere there will not be any issues. This is beset with problems as once an employee falls ill, especially if their illness falls under the DDA, then the employee is often encouraged to claim against the employer in pursuit of the huge payouts that is perceived to be available to them. This can cause the business to spend an inordinate amount of time defending a DDA claim which is costly not only in management time but also in professional costs (ie external lawyers).

There is little understanding of the DDA amongst business owners and yet it is one of the most pervasive employment laws affecting businesses. Having a good absence policy can reduce the risk of a DDA claim and it is worth investing in getting such policies drawn up by a HR professional to ensure they meet the needs of the business and the requirements of the DDA.

2. Absence Policies

Whilst absence from work due to sickness is inevitable, businesses need to consider whether the amount of time taken off is reasonable and reflected across the wider business, as there may be underlying issues which are affecting the bottom line that are being missed or masked as ‘absence from work’.

If sickness/absenteeism levels are out of the ordinary (or relating to certain department(s) only) then it could suggest that there is a more serious underlying problem involving the management of the business. This could be due to poor management style, ineffective methods of delivery, low department morale, low motivation etc.

For example, where a department is under threat of redundancy, absenteeism is relatively low and attendance is stable (due to the fear that any days off work could mean that they are chosen for redundancy). But alongside this most organisations will find that there is an increase in absenteeism in other departments as a direct result of the redundancy threat in another department. More often than not this is due to low morale and upset about the pending redundancies.

The key challenge is to look at the company as a whole, and tackle the causes of absence and not the symptoms of it. This could mean a stronger reliance on preventative methods rather than just reactive ones. Thus ensuring that any issues with management efficiency and style as well as employee morale and motivation are identified and resolved at an early stage in order to avoid impacting on absence levels later down the line.

It is worth looking for a consultant who specialises in leadership and development issues who can come into the business and identify and resolve these issues at the core before they have a knock-on effect throughout the entire business.

3. Recruitment

Particularly in smaller businesses, the most crucial task of Recruitment is often undertaken by untrained employees. This can cause a minefield of potential dangers. It’s important to be able to recruit and retain the right employees because replacing an employee on average can cost a business between £5k – £10k.

Remember, businesses may face claims of discrimination in their recruitment process (which are unlimited). One option for small businesses looking to recruit new staff is to hire recruitment agencies to do it instead, as they can reduce the risk and overall cost of the firm doing it itself.

4. HR software for Payroll, Talent Management etc

For many businesses, HR software can bring a number of benefits, the most primary one being a significant cost reduction for the company in terms of administrative time, reduced staff turnover and HR headcount.

Significant improvements in how a company recruits and retains its employees can be established by using Talent Management software as it can provide detailed knowledge of the cause and effect of current and proposed recruitment strategies. Another area where Talent Management software comes into its own is in managing absence. Accurate record keeping, trends analysis and objective assessment can lead to increased attendance, lower costs and avoidance of expensive legislative issues flowing from contravening the DDA as mentioned earlier.

However, HR software should be treated with caution as one of the mistakes that companies make typically when buying integrated Talent Management software is allowing finance, payroll and procurement needs to influence the choice of system with limited input from a HR perspective. This often means that the significant cost savings and performance improvement that could be achieved by having a detailed knowledge of the talent of the organisation are never utilised, because they can be seen as expensive intangible factors for non HR practitioners. This can make the new system an expensive acquisition for small businesses with little practical use in managing the talent of a diverse workforce.

There is nothing worse than spending a small fortunue on a new piece of software only to end up never using it, so it is worth seeking advice from a HR specialist when considering the various HR software options available to ensure that the most suitable option is chosen for the needs of the business.

6. Pastoral Care

Perhaps the most cost effective and efficient means of reducing HR costs is probably the simplest and most overlooked; listening and talking to employees! A happy workforce will be productive, efficient and loyal and simply by looking after staff and ensuring that their needs are met through the business, there will be less absence, less overtime costs and less recruitment costs as staff churn reduces.

Mentoring and Coaching programmes are the most effective way of managing the personal and professional needs of employees and I have come across many situations where a simple miscommunication or misunderstanding between management and employees could have potentially had a disastrous effect on the business if it had not been nipped in the bud during an early mentoring session.

When evaluating the costs associated with managing and running a small business, it is crucial to indentify areas which take up a disproportionate amount of time and detract from the overall growth and development of the business. Outsourcing the more lengthy or risky HR activities such as recruitment, payroll etc can free up valuable time within the business to focus on more critical areas such as the development and well being of employees and their motivation and desire to help make the business prosper.

Radical EU plans which would see women entitled to full pay for the first 18 weeks of maternity have ‘little positive benefit’ for working women and could be the final straw for UK’s struggling small business, according to HR specialists at Dynamic Transitions.

The proposed changes, which could be enforced as early as this year, will have a profound impact on small businesses, especially those that are cash tight. Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain is concerned that many businesses will simply not be able to cope.

Germain says:

“This move may well be the final straw for small businesses as they struggle to pay bills at a time when resources are low and cash flow is at a premium. Particularly for businesses that employ only a handful of people, losing one member of staff can have a huge impact on the day to day business and this is just yet another added stress that is not needed in the current climate.”

Despite the fact that UK businesses would have two years to implement the new regulations, Germain has real concerns for the immediate impact on the employment opportunities for young women, as businesses feel less inclined to hire and retain women of childbearing age.

“We already know that the recession is bringing about a steep decline in graduate opportunities and moves like this will only serve to see yet more incredibly talented young women unable to secure work and lose out on opportunities to progress their career in a similar way to their male counterparts.”

“The short term financial gain of increased maternity pay for 18 weeks clearly does not outweigh the widespread long term effects on opportunities for women who want to work and have a family. In its attempt to encourage fairer working practices for men and women, Brussels is just pushing the divide further apart”.

Judith Germain is founder and principle consultant of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent® and improving leadership performance in companies. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.

Generation Y employees must be granted access to social media tools like Twitter and Facebook in the workplace, as developing work-based relationships online will increase customer confidence, says leadership expert Judith Germain.

The publication of a survey by BT Business reveals that thousands of employees are worried that they will lose clients if they do not get better at using Web 2.0 technologies to communicate with them. Dynamic Transitions’ MD Judith Germain is warning companies to reconsider their restriction policies on the use of social networking sites for business use, or risk losing valuable market share to competitors.

Germain says:

“Companies need to recognise the ease with which these tools can be used to improve customer relationships and to engage with them. Generation Y employees have highly advanced online communication skills developed over years of using social media as part of their daily lives. They have the ability to unlock the potential of social media for the benefit of the business, but only if managers take the lead, set the guidelines, and show them how to harness this talent most effectively.”

“Now more than ever, companies need to devise a social media marketing strategy that encompasses the needs of the employees and the needs of the business. It should be their number one priority as it is only by making a determined move into the 21st century, rethinking the status quo and actively integrating the customer and employee journey, that substantial leaps forward for the business can be made.”

The social media buck should not just be passed to HR says Germain, who is also Vice-President of the BlackStar Life Members Community on popular business networking site Ecademy. “It is not just the HR department’s responsibility to manage social media policies. Marketing, HR and Ops need to find a way of working together to devise an effective social media strategy that can work for the entire business. “

Judith Germain is founder and principle consultant of Dynamic Transitions Ltd, a leadership company specialising in managing Troublesome Talent® and improving leadership performance in companies. For further information or to find out more about Dynamic Transitions visit www.developing-leadership.com or telephone +44 (0) 208 288 0512.

Despite years of flexible working and child friendly policies, women are still struggling to reach the boardroom and the proposed Equality Bill may make this rise to power even harder to achieve.

Designed to bring together nine major laws and over 100 regulations, companies will be free to discriminate in favour of women, however this will in fact do more harm than good when it comes to supporting career progression for women, especially in the current economic climate.

Why would this be the case?

The proposed Equality Bill is designed to enable organisations to become more female friendly thus encouraging more women to enter the workplace and to progress in their careers. Previous research had shown that women are choosing not to pursue careers in environments that are male dominated or highly pressured and perceived to be more suited to the male psyche. The research infers (amongst other reasons) that this is because women are the primary child carer and therefore are required to be more flexible in their work arrangements for the sake of the family. This can have an adverse effect on their careers as they are invariably unavailable for informal gatherings outside core working hours. For example regular drinks after work with key personnel responsible for your career progression remains one of the most effective ways to get to know key decision makers.

Most companies provide limited support for flexible working, which can mean women voluntarily opting out of roles that might present a conflict between career progression and a growing family.

This potential loss of this talent, especially now, is likely to have an adverse effect on the productivity and profitability of organisations. Therefore legislation designed to make working life more comfortable for women should be roundly welcomed by the business community.

Unfortunately this has not been the case, with small businesses fearful that this Bill will bring them to their knees and larger companies mourning the increased cost and potential loss of productivity from employees who cannot take advantage of the new arrangements.

The proposed changes allowing positive discrimination of women and the right to request flexible working for parents of children under the age of 16 will in fact make it harder not easier for women to climb the career ladder. This will be especially true for those in management positions or who work in smaller businesses.

Other than the additional costs and uncertainty of when a return on investment will be received, employers may face resentment from employees who feel that the Bill gives entitlement to some people and not others. Non-parents for example might like flexible working and may believe that they will have to pick up the slack from parents who are working more favourable hours.

The UK workforce enjoys a strong tradition of fair play and the concept of positive discrimination and extended flexible rights for parents strikes at the very root of this convention. Since the early nineties employers have moved to rewarding internal jobs based on performance reviews, awarding the best candidate (internal or external) the role based on merit. Finally after years of employees expecting promotion or salary increases based on length of service and the old boy’s network a real move towards success based on merit has been achieved. The subtle nature of the intricacies of the bill (especially regarding positive discrimination) will be lost on the average employee. An assumption that a senior woman was hired because she is a woman can undermine any authority or respect that she was hoping to garner. The likelihood of increased litigation from potential and existing employees who wish to challenge an appointment because they do not believe that they were positively discriminated against will not endear them to their employers.

The right to request flexible working arrangements for parents with children under the age of 16, does of course apply equally to women and men. In reality there will be more women than men requesting to alter their working arrangements. This will add to the growing perception that there are too many family friendly laws which run contrary to business. Most employees believe that there is little real need for parents to have altered working arrangements when they have healthy children over the age of five. This is likely to lead to jealousy and/or resentment especially if non parents wish to have more suitable working arrangements themselves and are denied in favour to providing arrangements to parents.

managers may perceive that they are being forced to pamper to the whims of parents, a sentiment mirrored by Sir Alan Sugar earlier this year when he warned that current equality laws were ‘counter productive to women’ and would make it harder for women to get jobs.

Whilst the new bill is designed to boost the proportion of female staff into senior positions, this doesn’t then remove the barriers once they are there. The first battle that employers face is one of perception on the new Bill rather than actuality. There may be a potential backlash from other employees who feel that women in senior positions don’t deserve to be in the position they are in and are only there because of their gender. As a result, they will receive little respect from the employees they should be managing, something which will be extremely detrimental to their success in the organisation and could put their future career at risk.

In this day and age it is becoming increasingly important to be able to distinguish yourself from your competition so that you become the ‘no brainer’ choice in your chosen market. Whilst there are many factors that can distinguish you from everyone else, the deciding factor seems to be the strength of your reputation and credibility in relation to your competition. This is especially true for smaller businesses and ‘one man bands’ in over populated niches.

Brand reputation is becoming the ultimate decision maker and to ignore this trend will put your business and earning capacity in peril.

If we agree with the premise that potential clients will only buy high ticket value services from those that they trust, it becomes imperative that businesses consider how to develop, nurture and maintain that trust. The next consideration is to decide how to do this in the most cost effective way for their business.

This may mean foregoing expensive marketing activity that only increases the business’ visibility but does nothing to lessen the risk of hiring the company. This ‘risk’ perceived or otherwise, is continuously assessed by potential clients prior to them making the decision to hire you. The oft quoted maxim of ‘the client needs to be ‘touched’ by you 7 times before they buy’ is derived from this premise.

Lessening the risk of a client hiring you is especially important if the business has decided to use ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’ marketing as a strategy for their business. For example, ‘push’ marketing is where the business advertises its services to its target audience, unsure of whether they are looking for their expertise. ‘Pull’ marketing is where the potential client ‘pulls’ your services when he needs it – without specific advertisement. He might decide to use your service based on a referral from an advocate of yours. This means advertising spend has not been made to secure this client.

Those that rely on referrals or social networking to secure work will realise that the most cost effective way to gain new clients is to use ‘pull’ marketing techniques to gain business.

First things first

Before building your reputation in your chosen niche you need to first understand your current position. An audit of your situation should reveal (amongst other things) your standing in relation to your competitors, whether your reputation is earning you enough referrals and whether your business message is coherent across all your markets. It’s important to ensure that your current business strategy (including networking strategy) is consistent with the reputation that you have and are building.

Reputation is personal in its nature, concerning itself with the character of the business (or person) and the intention of its (their) actions. It is essential that you are consistent with what you say and do, especially on the internet where everything that is recorded there is of a permanent nature. Inconsistency can be the biggest killer of reputation because it undermines the trust that is being established between the two parties.

Credibility needs to be demonstrated and is based on your track record and competency. One of the ways to establish credibility is to ensure that your expertise and integrity is demonstrated regularly and effectively. This can be done by providing expert opinion, a positive and strong personal brand, social proofing and having a strong trust account. This allows potential clients to sample your expertise enabling them to advocate your services or hire your business.

If your business (and/or yourself) has a good reputation and credibility it is more likely to be trusted by your potential clients, therefore increasing your revenue and sustainability. A trust account balance reflects the amount of trust in the relationship at any given time. In any one relationship there are two accounts. How we perceive a trusted relationship – say one with a client, may not be the same as they see it. It would be wise to try and understand the balance that is held in each account.

Can social networking help you build reputation and credibility in your business?

It’s important that businesses establish their networking/marketing strategy so that they can decide which social networking sites they should use or maintain a presence on. Social networking sites like Ecademy (www.ecademy.com) can enable businesses to build reputation and credibility for their business quickly. This is particularly true of Ecademy’s Life Membership Community, where building advocacy is made easier due to the nature of its composition. Ecademy encourages its members to network on and offline. Sites like LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) can enable businesses to build visibility and connections quickly. There are hundreds of sites to choose from, so finding a cost and time effective way to utilise them is imperative. Your networking strategy needs to be defined to ensure consistency of your message.

The use of sites such as Ecademy can help businesses establish themselves as an expert in their area of expertise. To establish yourself (or your business) as an expert using social networking sites requires you to be visible to the membership. It is recommended that you blog and write articles frequently, in your area of expertise, run and join clubs structured around your expertise or around your personal interests (thus developing personal reputation). How you communicate and articulate your thoughts on the public and private areas of the networking sites – will guide potential clients and advocates well. Inconsistencies or extreme views contrary to your ‘public persona’ will do you ill and could even prohibit your ability to gain business.

Freely providing advice to others without expectation of a return helps to build your reputation as an expert and provides an informative view on your character. (This is not the same as providing free consultancy!) Participating in one-to-ones to learn how you can help those in your network can be a positive enhancement to both your reputation and credibility. The return on this activity can be immense.

With the credit crunch still impacting most industries, you need to ensure that you focus your energies on delivering a consistent and compelling reason for clients to work with you and a well defined networking strategy will help you to achieve this for very little cash outlay. It is a solid, credible reputation (not just increased visibility) that will carry you and business out of the crunch and beyond. So, look at the way your brand is seen by others and ask yourself…based on the information available about me, would I hire me?

Despite the word ‘Maverick’ being banned by a leading State University for its continued over-use during the past twelve months, the economy is actually dangerously short of real Mavericks and the emergence of Generation Y employees is set to make this situation even worse, according to leading talent management expert Judith Germain.

Following the 34th release of Lake Superior State University’s annual List of Words to Be Banished and the playful inclusion of ‘Maverick’ for its overuse by John McCain in the US Presidential Campaign, Dynamic Transitions MD Germain believes that joking aside, the time has come to redefine what being a Maverick actually means, and why it is good for business.

“McCain coined the word ‘Maverick’ in his campaign speeches but clearly missed the full scope of what being a Maverick actually means in a business context. I define Maverick as wilful independence and ‘Maverickism’ can actually be found on a continuum from the conformist right through to extreme maverick tendencies”, explains Germain.

“A maverick personality is one which is wilfully independent at all times and in all circumstances. They are keen to make their mark and do things their way and often blaze innovation and lateral thinking to the projects and problems that they are working on. They often exasperate the people around them and peers can feel that they can’t keep up or hurt if an objective comment from a maverick is delivered in their usual blunt and brutally honest way”, explains Germain.

Germain believes that having maverick tendencies as opposed to having a maverick personality, is when the CEO or business owner is wilfully independent in their business dealings only.

Germain believes that the real advantage can be gained by those who can achieve Maverick Mastery® which is about being talented and different and being able to blend knowledge and skills for business success.

“When mavericks are running their business they do things in a way that is different to the rest of their industry, they take risks that other CEOs shirk at, and push harder and seek challenges that others feel are ‘insane’. This can be good for business especially if the CEO can harness their maverick nature”, says Germain.

Germain also believes that more Generation Ys need to adopt maverick tendencies if they want to stand out from their peers in an increasingly competitive environment. “Generation Y employees are already at a disadvantage in the current recession due to a difference in their values and work ethics, meaning they are often seen as lazy and unwilling to put in the extra time and effort that Generation X managers see as a given. Finding out what it means to really be a maverick and adapting those tendencies at work will give Generation Y employees real leverage and help them to secure their place in the business”, explains Germain.

Judith Germain is founder of Dynamic Transitions, a leadership company specialising in dealing with Mavericks in the workplace and Troublesome Talent. For more information visit www.maverick-mastery.com

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December can be an exciting time for business owners lost in a whirl of networking events and alcohol, often forgetting that this is also the time that their reputation can be damaged, having long term effects on their business.

For many new businesses Christmas Parties are seen as opportunities to let your hair down and fill the order books for the forthcoming year. Unfortunately this type of behaviour can be very damaging as well as disillusioning for business owners.

I would like to share with you the experience of a consultant entrepreneur. For simplicity I’ll call him Sean Rollar although that’s not his real name.

Sean set up his business 3 months ago in a flourish of enthusiasm and hope. However running his own business has been a lot harder than he anticipated and he is yet to secure his first real client. He still has some of his redundancy money left but he knows that he must secure a client by the end of January or he will have to return to corporate life, something that he wants to avoid at all costs.

Sean was looking forward to attending his local Chamber’s Christmas Party, there would be a lot of businesses there that could buy his services and it would be a great opportunity to socialise and enjoy himself after a hard 3 months. Securing a client there would be a great way to round of the year.

He took care to dress well and pack lots of business cards anticipating that out of the 100 people attending he would meet at least 50 of them. Sean practiced his elevator pitch and set off for the party. Arriving at the party was daunting as he didn’t know anyone but he was determined to make his mark.

He bought himself a drink to settle his nerves and strode confidently towards a couple of people talking. After twenty minutes he moved on and spent the rest of the evening chatting and drinking, eventually ending with a turn on the dance floor. After a successful night he returned home calculating that he had given out 40 cards. Sean was looking forward to the next Christmas Party he was attending that night, believing that if he was as successful at that party as the Chamber one he will have no problem filling his order book next year.

That night as he changed for bed he reflected on his experience at the second Christmas Party. He was surprised to see that there were many people there that he had met the night before but they had been very reluctant to talk to him. In fact he received a very strange reception and wondered what had happened to cause his experience to be so different.

Below are three things that Sean could have done which would have had a positive impact on his attendance at the party.

Sean needed to put the Christmas Party in its proper context

Whilst Sean understood that the Christmas Parties may bring work opportunities he did not consider it in the same vein as a work meeting. Having made that decision he did not consider that his actions at the party would or could have an effect on his business reputation. This meant that he did not watch how much alcohol that he had drunk, treating others to a version of himself that he would not present at a formal meeting.

The reason why he was being ignored might have been his boisterous dancing! It is important to remember that wherever your business contacts accumulate your behaviour is on show. People will make a determination on how likely you are to behave in a business by watching what you do in social events.

Not really networking – just bumping into people

Sean did not want to ‘waste’ the networking opportunity of the party so he handed out his business card to everyone that he met, in an over eager manner. To potential clients and advocates the manner that he did this made him look desperate for business. This is essentially ‘unattractive’ as well as damaging to his business over the long term. It also made him seem preoccupied to his own business and not listening when others were speaking about theirs.

Be clear how you want to be remembered

Whenever you attend networking events or business meetings consider beforehand how you would like to be remembered. For example in Sean’s case he wanted to be remembered as a Management consultant who specialises in change management. The problem he has is that his business proposition of ‘management consultant’ is not memorable. There are many management consultants out there so he needs to try harder and be more unique to be remembered.

Sean was becoming memorable for his behaviour and not his business, therefore reducing his ability to gain advocates and new clients. Sean needed to develop a networking strategy that ensured that he was around those that could provide him with referrals and advocacy and enabled him to articulate clearly his business proposition. Sean needed to stand out from the crowd for the right reasons.

Your reputation and credibility is key to your success, particularly in the current economic climate. It’s what makes you different from your competitors and whilst it can take years to build a good name, it can take just a few seconds to destroy it, so make sure your actions and behaviour during the festive celebrations work to increase your attractiveness as a potential supplier or business partner. Networking (even at Christmas) is about building relationships and not trying to sell to your network. Create the right impression and your network will do the selling for you!