In today’s business world, it has never been “foggier.” Changing regulations, advancing technologies, and a younger generation moving up the ranks have created a situation in which it can be challenging to make decisions at the top, based on fact alone. It is in these situations that many organizations, such as the military, rely on doctrine. Doctrine allows those at the front line to make decisions that are in line with the organizational goals and core values. Every organization should want to have decisions made as close to the ground as possible, and right on the front lines. However, without a set of guidelines, these decisions can have some disastrous consequences. What doctrine creates is a set of lines on the highway that make navigating through the fog easier. Creating a doctrine allows the decisions to be made at ground level, but within the framework of what is best for the company. Harvard Business Review quotes NATO’s definition of doctrine: “Fundamental principles by which the military forces guide their actions in support of objectives. It is authoritative but requires judgment in application.” Under this definition, doctrine is the mission, vision, and values of the company, and decisions made at the ground level, in the fog, reflect this. There are four things required for a doctrine to be successful:

• A robustly networked force improves information sharing;
• Information sharing enhances the quality of information and shared situational awareness;
• Shared situational awareness enables collaboration and self-synchronization, and enhances sustainability and speed of command; and
• These, in turn, dramatically increase mission effectiveness.

If you do not have a set of doctrine in your company yet, then consider implementing one. Work with your team to design a doctrine that is applicable, usable, and holds to your core values. 

The days of working nine to five, five days a week, are gone. In place of that schedule, we have near-24 hour days, seven days a week. Thanks to the advancements in mobile technology and cloud computing, there is no time when we can’t be reached by clients and coworkers. However for some, there are greater priorities than being constantly available to clients. Learning to accept the new culture, and embrace the technology can actually help you regain the time that you used to have for friends, family, and yourself.

First, accept that you are a coordinator. Organizing teams and projects now will consumer a greater portion of your day, since your staff is probably spread out in various locations across different time zones. Coordinating and communicating are more important than ever.

Second, collaboration with colleagues helps you take the time away from work that is needed. Conversely, it allows your coworkers to take their time off too, since you can cover their responsibilities also.

Finally, you can ask your coworkers and employees to contact you if they need you. Rather than be tied to your computer or telephone, you can communicate with your team that you need time away, either to take care of things at home, or to take a half hour lunch break.

Remember with the advancements we’ve made in technology, the goal was to make life easier, not create even more responsibilities. While it’s great to be able to take on more, and to work hard, it’s also important to keep a healthy perspective on life’s priorities, and not be owned by your job.

Bosses are common. Good bosses are slightly less common. Extraordinary bosses are incredibly hard to come by. They are the ones that somehow make the lives of those around them better. They believe in causes bigger than themselves, and work not for their own benefit, but for the benefit of those around them. Inc.com has narrowed it down to thirteen traits that all great leaders have.

Rather than grandstanding for their egos, they build communities and collaborate within the company. They know that personal success is more easily achieved when the group itself is successful, and will build communities to pursue a goal that expresses and supports the company’s core values.

They are able to take criticism in stride, and enjoy the process, while diffusing the worry and stress that often accompanies business. They understand that there is more to life than making money and having a successful business.

Extraordinary bosses are able to communicate, help others have a vision, and buy into the core values. Tied into this is their ability to mentor and coach those who may not have as advanced skills or who are facing challenges and struggles that may be overwhelming.

These bosses can integrate the pieces of a situation into a whole. They can take a fragmented situation, and create a whole solution for the entire problem.

Finally, they are honest, and value trust. They are able to tell the hard truth to those around them, and expect the same in return. They maintain peace, and create a culture of trust.

Look in the mirror and examine yourself to see if you are the kind of leader or future leader that will be exemplary and extraordinary.  

Innovation is, in and of itself, not an end, but rather a means to an end. However, for innovation to occur within a company, an industry, or a culture, then there need to be three things present that help drive the innovation to be used by the system to improve itself.

First is a leader’s emotional intelligence. Leaders need to be able to inspire their colleagues with a clear vision. This doesn’t mean being a cheerleader. It means having a mission and vision that people can commit to and get behind. This kind of leader makes the team want to get their job done, and makes their team want to succeed. This leader also needs to create a community that lets the team partner with other companies, and be welcome and a part of something bigger than themselves. And the leader needs to be able to think long-term, and plan for the future, not the present.

Second, the company needs to create a cross-collaborative culture. Learning teams are able to open their eyes to see how things are done differently and better. Organizing teams are able to penetrate the white noise of marketing and find a way through regulations. Building teams create the connection between the learning and organizing teams. Every successful organization has to have these three groups within it.

Third is establishing a repeatable process. Recognizing innovation opportunities, designing and enhancing future options, and managing in order to realize sustained value are at the core of creating a repeatable process. Without a repeatable process, innovation dies out.

Does your company have what it takes to harness innovation to serve your core values? If not, consider how to develop the necessary means to have an innovative company. 

One of the most important decisions a small business owner can make is how to incorporate his or her business. Many owners start their business as a Sole Proprietorship, in which the owner has full liability for the business. There are other types of corporations that actually help shield the owner from bearing full liability of the business, and are very simple to set up. The easiest, and most useful, is the Limited Liability Company, or LLC. It offers the entrepreneur a wide range of benefits, but perhaps most importantly it shields the assets of the owner in case of legal judgments or debt. Here are some of the distinct advantages of incorporating a small business:

1. Shielding of personal assets from liability. Properly constructed LLC’s (and corporations) provide security to the business owners, exposing them to minimal liability.
2. Additional credibility and name protection. People are more likely to do business with a company that has Inc. or LLC in the name, knowing that it is a real business. Additionally, most states will not allow businesses to use a name that has already been taken by a corporation, so the name you choose will be protected.
3. Perpetual existence. In the event of an ownership or management change, the corporation and name of the company can stay the same, providing some stability should you bring on new partners.
4. Tax flexibility. LLC’s can have the tax structure be set up as a pass-through entity, where profits and losses are passed on to the ownership. However, they can also elect to be taxes like a corporation. Corporations double tax, where the company pays corporate taxes as well as income taxes. However, by incorporating as a Subchapter S, the owner can avoid double taxation.
5. Finally, deductible expenses. LLC’s can deduct normal business expenses, including salaries, before they allocate income to owners.

Leaders have a tendency to assume that they are always at their peak. Athletes have this problem, tenured professors have this problem, and CEO’s have this problem. Pope Benedict XVI showed remarkable leadership in removing himself from the office when he realized that he can’t be of as much value as a younger leader. Here are some of the questions to ask yourself:

Is your knowledge base static or expanding? If you aren’t learning continually, it may be time to consider moving on. If you are out of sync with the changing economy and technology, you need to either get educated or  make room for somebody who can keep up.

Is your network expanding? If your network of customers and colleagues is not continuing to expand, that means that you aren’t growing your business.

Are you able to keep up with the work? If your job is demanding more and more of you, and you don’t have time for anything but the job, you are getting overwhelmed and may need to consider hiring somebody or stepping aside.

Do you think that others around you can do a better job than you? If you are doubting yourself, and are surrounded with people who can lead better, then step aside and let them lead.

The Pope’s willingness to self-reflect and take stock of his capabilities is an example that all leaders should be willing to follow. Knowledge of one’s abilities is a key component to any leader’s ability to run a company. 

When you’re the CEO of a small business, it’s extremely important to stay focused and productive. In today’s world, it seems that it gets harder and harder to stay motivated and to stay productive with all that we have going on around us. CEOs need to find a way to beat the productivity blues, stay focused, and help their businesses flourish. Here are a few ways from Fast Company on how CEOs can stay productive:

Clear your mind, define your focus – Every morning take fifteen to twenty minutes to clear your mind of all of the thoughts going through your head about the upcoming day. Define what it is exactly that you need to focus on for today and don’t stray from it. 

Cut back on meetings – Unnecessary meetings are, well, unnecessary. If something can be said through an email or a phone call, there’s no need to waste thirty minutes to an hour of your time meeting up with someone. 

All about Evernote – Evernote is a great tool for productivity. You can compile everything from documents, emails, articles, etc. all in one place to reference later. 

Get tunnel vision – Focus on the few things that you absolutely need to get done before even trying to focus on all of the small items on your to-do list.

Get physical – Exercise increases your energy levels, which is extremely helpful when trying to be at your peak of productivity.

Police your own Internet habits: notifications are evil – Block seeing when you get notifications from social media sites or personal email accounts. When an alert pops up on your phone or computer, you’re more likely to check it out. This wastes time and lessens productivity. 

Put email in its place – Don’t spend hours on hours checking and responding to emails when you get to the office. 

While we all would prefer to work at a wildly successful company, and be a part of something great, there is a lot to be said for working at a failing company, and being a part of a sinking ship. In those companies, you learn many things that you can’t learn at a place where success is the norm. Working in an understaffed, underfunded, and overworked office will give you incredible experience. And if the company prevails, then you have been a part of something great.

First, you learn to how to drink from the fire hose without drowning, meaning that you learn to cope with a flood of responsibilities without being overwhelmed.

Second, you will learn if you are in the right place. If you work in the extreme conditions of a failing company, yet enjoy getting up in the morning and going to work, then you have found your home. Loving the job in spite of the stress (or because of it) means that you are in the perfect place professionally.

Third, you will learn what great leadership is. In a struggle like this, only good leaders can survive the stress, the pressure, and the expectations. This is where the metal meets the meat, and great leaders thrive here.

Fourth, you learn how to niche your product and own a segment. Not everybody can lead the whole market, but smart companies can find a niche, and own that segment.

Fifth, you learn improvisation, and how to win in a no-win situation.

Sixth, you learn guerilla warfare. You don’t learn to be a fighter while working for an easy, cushy industry leader with nothing to prove. You learn to battle it out when you have your back against the wall and your success on the line.

Finally, and most of all, you learn how tough you are. You learn what you can and can’t do, and if you really have the guts to dig it out and battle.

Today’s business environment is becoming more and more embedded with metrics. Major decisions aren’t made without some sort of analytical study done first, and once changes have been made within the company, their analytics are tracked and used to determine whether or not the change was a good one or not. However, many companies have a tendency to grab onto the first metrics method that comes into view, and this is often times an inappropriate method.

This first mistake with metrics is to apply the wrong metrics to a situation. Revenue, sales, and other metrics are popular, but when a new market is being penetrated, they can in fact actually hurt the company. Focusing instead on things like customer feedback, reference customers, customer inquiries, and quantifiable impact on the client’s business are better metrics because they help you improve your product and marketing.

The second mistake is to set unrealistic goals. Management likes to set stretch goals, but if the goals are unreasonable high, then what could be a celebration of good growth turns into a blaming for not meeting the goals.

The third mistake is setting metrics without analysis. This stems from a lack of understanding of the market        potential of the product. Do the metrics measure product life cycle? Size of market segment that needs the product? These are important things to measure right off the bat, and before launching a product. If you are measuring success in a market much too large for your product, the numbers will look horrible, but if you launch the product to the right sector, then your number will look great.

The fourth and final mistake we’ll discuss is whether or not the team understands the metrics. Without understanding why the metrics were selected, how the team contributes, and how evaluation will be done, the rest of the team can’t profit from the analysis.

As you move forward in measuring your success and your efforts, make sure that you have a good understanding of what you want to do, and then implement a good strategy for doing so. Otherwise what could be a very successful product might look like a gross failure.

There have been many, many, many books written, blogs posted, and articles written talking about how to be a good leader. Periodically one comes along that offers a bit of a different perspective. This one highlights the attitudes a leader should have when asked to lead, and what mentality a trustworthy leader should have.

First, the leader should be honored and grateful, and understand the responsibility that accompanies the position. He or she should embrace the role without pride and arrogance.

Second, the leader needs to be inclusive. Jim Collins cautions against division in the company leading to “us” and “them” and “the suits.” To have a well-functioning team, the entire company needs to be on board and committed, without outsiders.

Third, there needs to be an appreciation for the followers, and an understanding that they add value to the business. A leader that doesn’t have a concern for how the followers are doing is a bad leader. Good leaders make sure that the followers are comfortable in their roles and are performing well.

Fourth, information sharing by the leader is key. When the employees have access to information, whether system and process information, or goal information, they are able to help and contribute as well as stay motivated.

Fifth, and possibly the most important, true leaders develop others.  A great leader wants to ensure success of the company after he or she leaves, because they understand that it’s not all about them. They are committed to creating a lasting foundation.

Sixth and finally, leaders can move through uncertain situations to find the opportunity amid the struggle. Navigating the waters of uncertainty can separate a great leader from a mediocre leader.

Examine yourself and see if you meet the qualifications of great leadership.

In all aspects of life, we prefer to work with people that we enjoy being around. We obviously socialize with people we like. And we most definitely marry people we like until we don’t like them anymore, and then we divorce them and find someone we do like. However, sometimes it is a good idea to work with someone you don’t like, for a variety of reasons. It may seem counterintuitive, but after further thought, it makes sense.

1. You will have different viewpoints and perspectives on all topics. It’s better to have somebody who will take a differing perspective to help look at all possible flaws in a decision. A person who merely agrees with everything is useless for investigation problem solving.
2. You won’t be distracted by social lures. The only time you will spend time with this person is for work, and even then you will want to be fast and efficient in order to get away from your coworker sooner rather than later.
3. It will be easier to terminate the relationship. If you need to fire the person, or another job opportunity comes up for you, there won’t be emotional strings attached to the decision to separate. Whenever friends are part of the equation, stress ensues.
4. Smart is better than yes. Like we said earlier, it’s better to have people around you that are willing to push back (or want to push back) on your ideas. Smart people that you don’t like are an asset to the decision-making process.
5. Respect is important. Although you may not like each other, you have to respect each other. If there’s no respect, nothing will be accomplished and you and your hated partner are needlessly frustrated.

Choose your partners carefully, and make sure that you’re not hiring people just because you like their personality, but because they bring a lot of tools to your business.

There is no denying the fact that the GOP has been sucker punched on a national level (not so much a state level, as most states have recently elected GOP governors). The problem is a large-scale perception problem, as the GOP has been shown by numerous polls to appear to favor wealthy old white men. This is not necessarily the case, since there have been more black republican presidential candidates, more female presidential candidates, and more female presidential runningmates. However, the GOP certainly aligns itself with older values, which do not appeal to a young generation, many of whom have parents from other countries and did not grow up with the same foundation as the previous generation. Moving forward, the GOP has to make a few decisions. First, what does the brand stand for? The GOP doesn’t have a clear set of core values that it lives and dies for. It is shaky and easily manipulated. The party needs to reevaluate what it will stand for. Second, have a brand personality. The Republicans need a person that has appeal that can carry the message of the party well. Third, they need to have politicians that actually fit the brand. The brand right now is rich old white guys, and that’s who the keeps getting nominated for President. The leaders fit the brand. Fourth, they need to get the name right. “Grand Old Party” has real 1800’s feel to it. Because the name dates back to 1888. Fifth, a new logo. The elephant isn’t relevant, and doesn’t communicate any core values. Sixth, rebrand the slogan. Seventh, learn how to use metrics, and kill it with advertising. Obama destroyed Romney using advanced analytics to effectively market to swing voters who would get on his bus, using social media and modern technology.

To succeed in 2016, the GOP needs to become something different from what it is today, and appeal to a whole new market. Otherwise, it will fade away. 

Numerous major corporations like Bank of America, and likely numerous small businesses that don’t make headlines, have become synonymous with poor standards for customers and employees. From Bank of America to BP to United Airlines, businesses say one thing, but do another. How does one overcome the tendency to overpromise and underdeliver? The answer lies in character. Businesses must first see to it that they start measuring for ethics and values. Companies should start gathering hard data on customer satisfaction, employee wellness, and operational efficiency. Not only should businesses collect this data, they should share the results. If the business does well, then customers will more willing to give their money, workers will be more eager to work there, and costs will be less. On the other hand, publishing bad results gives the company motivation to improve on safety, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Finally, make ethics part of employee performance. Demanding respect to clients, offering opportunities for self-improvement and advancement to employees, and holding executives accountable.  Making the top of the company accountable to implement the desired culture is the key to creating success in company values. 

Creating a company that allows employees to be successful and empowered requires a careful strategy. The first key ingredient is character-driven leadership, from a leader who understands the value of employees, and the value of combining self-improvement in life with improvement in the office. It requires a culture to be defined and embraced. A set of principles and values that will shape all other actions, that the company can take hold of and make their own. It also requires that employees be in a good fit, as Jim Collins says, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people out.  This lets the employees succeed. Vital to success is a system and process. Nobody is better about creating a process than Nick Saban, whose focus-on-the-play-right-now has been the recipe for three national championships. Freedom and responsibility within the process provides ingenuity and sparks creativity. And finally, celebrate success, and analyze failure without blame. These are key components to creating a culture that forces employees to be satisfied, fulfilled, and who are successful. 

The CEO, or other leader of a business, has the responsibility of seeing the future of the company, and steering the ship in that direction. While it is good for team morale to be a nice, caring, compassionate, and open-minded leader, there are ways of doing this that will instill trust and commitment to the people that work for you.

First, don’t try to get things done. Your job is to cast a vision and get people there. Part of that means building a team that executes that vision.

Second, it’s not a democracy. The team doesn’t get to vote on what the company does. Instill confidence by being decisive and authoritative.

Third, keep your goals big. Having small goals doesn’t let you get very high.

Fourth, make time your enemy. Grow now, achieve now.

Fifth, keep people engaged and excited about the future. When the job becomes boring and monotonous, people lose their passion.

Sixth, deliver a finished product. Proposals and projects that look like they were rushed and not thought out get immediately dismissed, as does their author.

Seventh, prepare extensively for each meeting. The more structure you implement, the better your team can deliver the intended results in the desired timeline.

Eighth, get rid of the staffers who aren’t delivering. Being a man down is better than picking up the slack for an underperforming employee.

Ninth, don’t ever turn off. Constant communication helps drive the team forward, and keep everybody focused.

Tenth, act like you run a public company, with every move scrutinized by investors.  This will help your best ideas make their way to the front.

Sports provides great analogies and lessons for the business world, particularly when teams face off for the biggest sporting event in the country: the Super Bowl. When the Ravens and the 49ers kick off on Sunday, we’ll see some major strategies being played out.

The first is studying your opponent. Know how their plans and strategies, and how they operate. Studying your opponent is always the first step to developing a strategy to win a business deal or football game.

Second, develop a great game plan. Know what you do well, and have written plans detailing the processes and strategies that your company will employ to succeed.

Third, attack your opponents’ weakness. This illustrates why it’s important to study your opponent. Being able to exploit their weaknesses, whether it be price, services, technology, or something else, is the thing that will help you beat out the competition.

Fourth, practice a little deception. No, this doesn’t mean lie to the customer. It means keep your competitors guessing. There’s no reason to make your strategy’s details public.  This just lets your competitors develop a strategy to beat you.

Fifth, make halftime adjustments. Adaptability is one of the most important thing for any company. Once you are engaged in a battle for a client, the ability to adjust and change your fees, tweak your services, or redeploy personnel to the client will help you win out in a fierce battle.

Finally, if you lose, come back stronger. Both coaches lost in the conference championship games last year, but improved their teams, and came back to make history as the first brothers to coach against each other in the Super Bowl.