The other day when I was walking through the parking lot at Jimmy John’s, I noticed the ‘tag line’ on the van of a local carpet cleaning company.  It said “When Quality Matters”.  As I drove away with a ham sandwich that was made with freshly-baked bread, I couldn’t help but think how ridiculous that phrase was.  I mean, even Jimmy John’s thinks that quality matters enough to ensure that a four dollar sandwich is made with quality ingredients.

Nonetheless, this carpet cleaner’s slogan got me thinking about “When Quality Doesn’t Matter”.  And you know what, I’m at a loss.  Sure, I guess I’m somewhat willing to give quality a pass when I get something for free or really cheap.  And I’m sure you’ve probably been there too… something breaks or quits working and your first thought tends to be, “well, what did you expect for five bucks!?!”

But even then, buying something that’s cheap and doesn’t work still costs you.  Not only do you waste the money you spent; on top of that, you also lose the value of your time and the opportunity cost that’s being incurred as you search and wait for an alternative.

When I was in college I had a landscaping company and I learned about quality the hard way when it comes to tools and equipment.  It didn’t take long to realize why cheap rakes and shovels were so affordable… they were cheap.     It turns out, one expensive shovel works better and lasts longer than two of the ‘more economical’ alternatives.

Of course, it makes perfect sense that any time you’re going to invest a quarter million dollars on a piece of equipment; you need to do your homework before buying such big ticket item.  And at that level of spending, chances are you’re not just buying on price, right?  Sure, the price has to be reasonable.  But more than anything, the price tag needs to reflect the value that you’ll receive from whatever it is that you’re buying.

And when you finally decide to pull the trigger on one of these big purchases, who do you trust enough to drive it?  Do you let any and all employees drive your newest and most expensive piece of equipment?  I’m guessing you don’t.  So why not?  After all, these are the same people you trust to care for and work with millions of dollars worth of cattle and equipment throughout the entire day.

And yes, I’m realistic enough to know that not every employee you bring on-board is going to be a top-quality hire.  Sometimes you just have to hire the best candidates available at a given time.  But hopefully, once you get settled in with your newly-hired employees, you choose to dedicate the same amount of time developing them as you did when deciding on what piece of equipment or machinery to buy.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you’re buying or how much you’re spending.  Whether it’s equipment, animals, or the people you’ve hired and pay every day to take care of these assets… you count on quality.

Sure, the price you pay for quality tends to be a little higher than that of an alternative.  But what are you really looking to buy?  Something cheap, or something that returns the best value?  Either way… quality matters.

After a long, snowy winter, it’s no surprise that most of us couldn’t wait for spring to arrive.  But so far, it doesn’t seem that spring is quite ready to give us that literal and figurative fresh start for new life that we’ve anxiously been waiting for.  This year, it seems that spring has been replaced by late snow falls, extended cold temps, and excessive rain and wind.  And in many parts of the country, deadly and destructive floods and tornados have added to the misery.

To make matters worse, rural residents and their farmlands throughout the Mississippi River valley are being sacrificed this week in order to protect larger metropolitan areas further down the river.  And I’ll admit it… I have a hard time accepting that the government has decided to reduce the damage to large, heavily-populated cities by flooding rural communities just like the ones most of us call home.

At the same time, I know (and so do the residents that choose to live in these floodplains) that these levees exist and are designed to be opened for this very circumstance.  I guess a part of me I can understand that this is a purely utilitarian decision… the greatest good for the greatest number.  And who knows?  Maybe we would make the same decision if we were put in the same position as the Army Corps of Engineers who concluded it was necessary to start opening the levee system.

But regardless of whether you reluctantly understand or fiercely disagree with the decision, it’s a devastating dose of reality to anyone who knows that their land, their livelihood, and their homes are only a couple days away from being completely destroyed.

Yet for some reason, I can’t help but think that the real story from this event has yet to be told.  And that’s the story about the resiliency and recovery of rural America.  And with all due respect to the residents of New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and other big cities that will also be affected by the flooding… if I had to put my money on who will pull together faster to recover and rebuild everything that will soon be lost, I’d have to say that the spirit of small-town USA will ultimately prevail.

And regardless of where you go… that always seems to be the spirit of ‘the farmer’.  Regardless of the hand that farmers are dealt, they always show up and play their best cards.  While most people look forward to spring and summer because of the recreational activities that come with warmer weather, farmers see the end of winter as another chance to continue doing what they do.  An opportunity to produce the crops they need to feed their animals, their companies, and the people who count on them to do so.  And although it seems that many people have forgotten where their food comes from, those of us in rural America are thinking of the many farmers whose cropland will soon be underwater.

Yeah, this spring has been a tough one for anyone who counts on the land for their livelihood.  As the days go by and fields remain too wet to be plowed and planted, I’m sure the uncertainty of this growing season makes stressful times even tougher.  But as it is every year, Mother Nature calls the shots.  And even though she’s challenging your patience and fortitude right now, you always seem to make it in the end.

Ultimately, this year is no different than any other… and there’s nothing we can do but wait.  Sunnier days are sure to follow.

After almost ten years since 9/11, the U.S. military finally got Osama bin Laden.  Through a combination of observing, strategizing, communicating, planning, training, waiting, and executing, U.S. Navy Seals ‘Team Six’ brought the world’s most sought-after terrorist to justice… a great day for the United States military and the safety of the entire world.  However, as most people would agree, al Qaida’s presence around the world doesn’t end with the demise of their top leader.  And although we can appreciate that bin Laden is now gone, unfortunately, his death won’t diminish the terror organization’s desire to continue recruiting and building its terrorist network.

But just as evil-doers continue to develop and plan for their future, fortunately, so do the good guys.  Every day, the United States military and intelligence department continue to seek and develop courageous leaders who are dedicated to defending our freedom.

So how are you currently developing your team and planning for the future?  When it comes to succession planning, are you actively thinking about it or do you try to avoid the conversation each time your financial advisors bring it up?

All too often, when the conversation turns to developing an organization’s future leaders, it seems that most people would prefer to side-step the issue than actually address it.  Sure, we acknowledge it.  However, succession planning usually doesn’t make its way to the top of the ‘future business needs’ list.  Maybe it’s because you can’t imagine letting go, retiring, or passing away… and that’s completely understandable.  But regardless of why you choose to avoid the unavoidable, everyday the future is slowly creeping up on the present.

And while time continues to tick away, many managers and owners genuinely think that they’re grooming the future of their business.  But the truth is that many of the people in their current roles probably don’t possess the necessary skills or ambition to fulfill their next role and take your company to another level.

And you know what?  That’s okay… for now.  As long as your people are fulfilling their current responsibilities, all is well.  But I’d imagine you’ve already noticed that the world you work in is constantly changing.  And as your business and the market changes, so must you and your leaders.  Today it might be fine that your ‘future leaders’ aren’t currently being challenged to grow.  But how prepared will they be when you need them to step it up and take charge?  Will they be ready when the time comes?  Or will they merely be another good employee who’s willing to work long hours?

Hopefully you and your future leaders are working each day to improve your skills of observing, strategizing, communicating, planning, training, and executing.  Regardless of what your job is, the more you do it, the better you should become.  But at the same time, if you’re not challenging yourself to reach past your current limits; tomorrow you’ll be in the same place as you are today.  And if that sounds like a description that fits your up-and-coming leaders, the future of your company might just be in trouble.

Over the past couple years, I’ve come to realize the best part of holidays with little ones around is watching how excited they get about the surprises that await them.  Whether it’s a birthday party, Christmas morning, or Easter Sunday; their energy and excitement is off the charts!

But as we get older, our enthusiasm for participating in some these traditions just isn’t the same.  Sure, the occasional scavenger hunt can be kind of fun, but being the only one who can’t find his plastic Easter egg tends to lose its luster thirty years later.  It turns out, a lot of us just don’t have the patience for playing “hotter / colder” as we move through the basement looking for our ‘hidden treasure’!

So how are you when it comes to discovering surprises at work?  I’d imagine your answer would be pretty positive if work surprises always consisted of good news.  But typically, that’s not the case.  That phone call in the middle of the night or knock on your office door early in the morning usually isn’t followed by good news.  Those tend to be moments that we all dread.  Those ‘surprises’ usually involve a smashed gate, an injured cow, or someone quitting in the next 24 hours.  But finding out ‘in person’ sure beats the surprise of walking out in the barn and discovering ‘on your own’ a smashed gate, a down cow, or that only one person showed up for work today!

Most of us would probably agree that surprises at work just aren’t much fun.  And unfortunately, careless accidents, sick cows, and employee turnover will always exist.  So what can you do to help reduce the number of surprises you encounter each day?

It starts by teaching and training your team how to do their work correctly in order to prevent costly mistakes and accidents.  But for most managers, that’s pretty obvious and they’re already training their employees so they can reduce these additional problems.  So now that you’ve spent time teaching your team proper protocols, the question is, how easy and convenient is it for your employees to communicate when there are problems?

You see, most of these bad surprises at work are a result of poor communication and the fear of getting in trouble/fired.

So assuming you’ve already invested in training your workforce to make sure they know how to do the work you’re paying them to do, what can you do to make sure that it’s easy for your employees to communicate their concerns and problems right away?  The short answer… provide them with systems that make communication simple and easy.  Instead of a blank dry erase board and sheets of paper, organize a dry erase board in the parlor and notebooks for in the barns so everyone knows what to write and where to write it.

 And how to you get people to tell you as soon as there’s a problem instead of just leaving it until the next shift?  Make it clear that an employee isn’t going to get fired just because of one accident.  In fact, show your team that being honest and upfront when they make a mistake actually earns your trust and won’t be punished; while doing the opposite will most likely cause the opposite response.

Unfortunately, it’s not realistic to think that we can eliminate surprises at work altogether.  But at the very least, train your team so they know what do and how to prevent costly mistakes.  And when problems do arise, make sure that communicating them is simple and easy to do.

When it comes to hiring a new employee, what are the top three traits that you’re looking for?  Do these traits differ between entry level positions and middle management?  And finally, how did you decide which traits are the most important?

The desired characteristics for choosing employees is probably almost endless, so I won’t bother trying to provide a comprehensive list of possible choices.  And I also won’t claim that there are any right or wrong answers to the above questions (although I’m a huge fan of trustworthy, productive, and disciplined)… that’s up to you to decide.  Ultimately, every company and manager has different personnel needs and unique management styles to consider.

Nonetheless, let’s take a look at just a couple of the most popular traits that most managers seem to look for when screening potential candidates.

A lot of managers say that reliability is at the top of their ‘must-have’ list.  And it’s hard to argue with needing someone you can always count on.  But what does reliability truly mean to you?  Are you referring to someone who’s got your back and makes sure the job gets done before going home?  Or are you simply looking for someone who shows up every day for work?  Yeah, there’s a big difference.  And maybe the first one is more necessary at the middle/upper manager level than at an entry level position.  But the truth is, many employees (and employers too) believe that if someone never misses a shift, that means they’re dependable and they deserve a raise because of it.  And as critically important as that is, I tend to think of attendance as a minimum requirement for merely staying employed.  At some point, poor attendance and chronic tardiness are going to get someone fired, regardless of how talented or experienced they are.

Speaking of experience, that’s another popular trait that a lot of managers look for in new hires.  And depending on the level of position you’re hiring for, I’d have to agree with the cliché that “past experience can be a great indicator of future success”.  But how much extra value does an entry level employee with prior experience bring to your team?  Sure it makes training on the first couple of shifts a lot easier and faster.  But what happens in a few days or weeks after being hired?  Does previous experience pay off in the long term?  Or does someone’s experience at other dairies bring a lot of undesirable baggage like bad habits and misinformation?  If that’s the case, this kind of prior experience is hard to ‘unteach’.  Many people I’ve worked with would agree that they’d rather “hire for attitude and train for skill.”

Like most managers, I’m sure your profitability and peace of mind have both suffered as a result of ‘poor hires’ in the past.  And with any luck, this has taught you that finding top-notch employees who work well in your system is absolutely critical to your company’s success.

Regardless of what you consider to be the three ‘non-negotiables’ that you look for in your dairy’s employees, hopefully your team knows what these traits are.  And not just because they’ve heard you talk about them, but most importantly, because that’s what you reward.

Do you think ‘being busy’ is a good thing?  I suppose if the alternative is ‘not working’, well then yes, being busy is great.  But all too often, it seems there’s really no ‘in between’ on the ‘busy scale’ of life.  For many of us when it comes to being busy, it’s either all or nothing.

So how well do you maintain balance between work and life?

I’m probably not the most qualified person to discuss the importance of maintaining work/life balance.  And chances are, you also struggle to find a healthy balance between your work and everything else that’s important.  But it’s not that anyone seeks to lead a unbalanced life.  Unfortunately there’s just always a lot of work to do and never enough time to do it!

But the question is, “How much of what you’re doing is absolutely necessary?”

If you made a list of all the activities that keep you working late every day, how many items would you consider ‘time wasters’?  And of all the tasks that remain on that list, how many of them would then qualify as ‘non-essential’? Hopefully you’ll see that once you cut out the ‘time wasters’ and the other ‘non-essentials’, you’ll be able to find some more time for all the other important things you’re currently neglecting in your life.

Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking.  I’m sure that most of what you do every day is truly necessary for keeping your business running and creating revenue.  After all that’s why you do it… that’s why all of us do what we do.

But when is it ever going to slow down?

You know how they say that “you can tell what people value by the way they spend their time?”  Yeah, I kind of hope that that’s not entirely true.

Let’s say you were granted three wishes… would you use one of them on ‘World Peace’?

If somehow I was given three wishes, I think I’d use my first one to obtain a million more wishes.  And then I guess the idealist in me would say ‘Yes’ to world peace.  But as it turns out, I’m afraid I’m stuck being a realist.  Now don’t get me wrong, I would still love to live in a world where there’s world peace.

But with all the strife and turmoil in the world lately, it seems that everywhere we turn these days, conflict is alive and kicking.  Whether it’s war in Libya, protests in Madison,  Organic vs. Conventional, Robin Hood economics, or a potential NFL lockout, obtaining world peace isn’t exactly close at hand.  And let’s not kid ourselves; we don’t have to look around the world to realize how difficult it is to find a peaceful coexistence.  Think about some of the relationships that you’re personally familiar with: marriages, families, friendships, and business partnerships.  Many of us struggle to get along with the people that we’re closest to and understand really well, much less people from different backgrounds and belief systems!

I guess in a way, I tend to think that conflict can actually be a good thing.

Now before you conclude that I’m giving up on ‘getting along’, allow me to explain.

How many times have you found yourself in the middle of a conflict, and instead of addressing it, you let it go unresolved?  The conflict continued and so did the tension, right?  And since you admittedly dread conflict, you continued to ignore it and the situation grew and got worse, right?  And as the problem ‘rooted in’, the people and their stubborn positions did too.  After awhile, it seemed that the damage was too much to overcome, right?  I imagine that’s the ugly side of conflict that all of us have experienced in the past or maybe even dealing with right now.

The good news is that conflict can help open the lines of communication that lead to resolution.  You see, acknowledging that a conflict exists serves as an opportunity to address and resolve it.

I know that sounds really naïve, but think about it.  Most of the time, you and I just want to be heard and express our frustration with something that was said or done and then move on.  If we don’t allow that to happen, no one is talking and no one is listening.  And if neither person is communicating, nobody can hear and consider the other person’s perspective.  Unfortunately, that’s how a lot of really good business partnerships, relationships, and families grow further apart and eventually fail.  Instead of seeing a normal conflict as an opportunity to talk, clarify, and grow; the conflict acts as a wedge that tears the two sides apart.

But wait, it’s not that simple.  The key to getting something positive out of conflict is that both sides need to genuinely want to resolve the conflict and make the relationship and endeavor succeed.  If one or both parties are incapable of being reasonable and rational, it’s probably not going to work.  And if that’s ultimately what happens, it would appear that ‘winning’ the conflict was probably more important than resolving it and moving forward in the first place.

The reality is that working with people can be one of the most difficult challenges we all face.  But it can also be one of the most rewarding ones at the same time.  Resolving conflicts and finding peace within your relationships starts with you.  The question is, who do you need to meet with first?

When’s the best time to start eating healthy?  After a heart attack.

How about exercising?   After you’re already overweight.

The best time to stop smoking?   After someone you know has lung cancer.

When’s the best time to start talking to your teenager?  After the cops call.

And when’s the best time to buy homeowner’s insurance?  As soon as you buy a house.  Huh!??!?

Yeah, we all seem to know when to buy insurance… but it’s interesting and somewhat sad how we put off other important aspects of our lives, isn’t it?

Of course, not everyone waits until it’s too late to do what they should’ve done earlier.  But as long as an issue doesn’t seem too urgent, a lot of us think we can get away with putting it off just a little bit longer.  After all, we’re hoping it will go away on its own or maybe even fix itself.  But as you’ve probably already learned, it almost never does.  And no, I don’t’ truly believe that anyone thinks procrastinating is a good idea.  But ‘waiting until tomorrow’ is definitely easier than actually ‘starting something today’.  And even if you had good intentions of improving a situation along the way, the ability and opportunity to do so typically diminishes as time goes by.

So why do so many of us procrastinate?  Is the ‘act of starting’ really that painful?  Or is it that you actually dread the activity itself?  Or maybe it’s that you’re afraid that if you do start something, essentially you’re making a commitment to finish it.  Whether it’s doing paperwork, conducting performance reviews, returning phone calls, or training your employees, the task isn’t going to disappear or get better unless you actually take care of it.

So when’s the best time to train your employees?  Some would say that it’s after you know your employees aren’t going to quit and work for the neighbor.  Others wait until times are good and the dairy is finally making money.  Unfortunately, employees can quit at any time and waiting until the economy turns around is like saying you’re going to wait until a cow produces more milk before you start feeding her.

How about getting people prepared for success as soon as you hire them and continue supporting their efforts until they leave?  After all, if you’re going to pay them to help you make the dairy successful; you might as well show and teach them how to do so, right?

So what about you?  What’s been stuck on your to-do list that keeps getting moved to the bottom of the pile?  What are you waiting for?  Today’s a great day to get it done!

For anyone who grew up in a small town, I’m sure you will probably agree that “everyone knowing you” is both a blessing and a curse.  Unfortunately, our parents somehow already knew about the shenanigans we pulled before we even got home.  But on the flip side, there was usually someone nearby who’d help us get out of a jam before anyone else found out.  And for many of us who moved ‘back home’ after school, we’re still hoping nobody remembers who we were during our rebellious high school days!

All kidding aside… along the way, most of us learned first-hand how the concept of trust worked.  You see, in small towns, your last name carries with it your reputation.  And although I’m not so sure that’s completely fair, I guess your opinion probably depends on who all your  family members are!

Over the years, your grandparents and parents created a reputation for what your family stands for and represents.  Through their decisions, words, and actions, the people in your town formulated and shared opinions regarding your family’s character and trustworthiness.  Every dealing they had with someone in your town served as an opportunity to build trust or destroy it.  Soon, everybody knew who could be entrusted with ‘handshake credit’ and who needed to pay ‘cash upfront’.  And once your family earned people’s trust, you also learned from your parents and grandparents that your family’s good reputation was something worth preserving and protecting.

When it comes to having a reputation of trustworthiness, how do you think you rank?  Does your ‘trust score’ differ with people at work, within your family, and your circle of friends?  How about when someone is in a bind, are you one of the first people they call or one of the last?

Of course, nobody’s perfect.  Sometimes we forget to follow through on something we said we would do.  Or maybe you’re really busy and you’ve fallen behind, unintentionally dropping the ball.  Regardless of the reason, we all step in it once in awhile.  And when that happens, most people are willing to give us a pass.  After all, we’ve all been there.  But when your lack of follow-through is repeated over and over, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that your reason (or excuse) is no longer valid or trusted.

We’ve all heard the old cliché that it “takes a lifetime to earn trust, and only a moment to lose it.”  And I think most of us would agree that it’s easy to lose a person’s trust if we say or do ‘big things’ that are meant to intentionally deceive or harm someone.  Those transgressions are hard to ignore. But I’d contend that it’s in the ‘little things’ that we say and do that earn people’s trust.  It’s in these seemingly unimportant moments that you’re actually presented an opportunity to demonstrate that you can and should be trusted.

So what are you doing to earn the trust of the people you work with?  If you’re told that something doesn’t work, do you fix it as soon as possible?  And when someone asks you a question that you’re not prepared to answer at the time, how long does it take to get back to them with a reply?  If there’s a mistake that involves someone’s paycheck, how sincere are you at trying to quickly solve the problem?  Whether you realize it or not, these ‘problems’ are truly some of the best opportunities for building trust with your team.

Regardless of whether you’re from a small town or a big city, trust is universal and is always moving your reputation forward or backward.  Either way, you own it… and it’s all you’ve got.

When you need to hire a new employee, what are some of the traits that you look for in an applicant?  How about when a position opens up and you’re planning to promote someone from within your team?

If you were asked to answer those two questions at a seminar with a room full of managers, I’m sure the group would come up with a pretty long list of characteristics.  Actually, it would probably be so extensive, you might decide not to hire or promote anyone until the perfect candidate comes along!  But most of the time when someone chooses to quit, you need to hire their replacement as soon as possible.  And unfortunately, out of desperation, you’re probably even tempted to hire the next person available.

But instead of going that route, how about considering a person’s employability and coachability?

I think all managers take into account how employable a candidate is whether they realize it or not.  Assessing an applicant’s employability involves first impressions, employment history, responses to your questions, and overall job qualifications.  Neglecting to take a little extra time to honestly and fairly evaluate these basic attributes will almost certainly increase your odds of hiring someone who isn’t going to meet your expectations in the long run.

But what about coachability?  You might even be asking yourself, “What the hell is coachability?”  At the risk of sounding too obvious, coachability refers to how coachable someone is.

And chances are, you’ve noticed this characteristic with a few of your employees whenever you start a new project or try to implement change.  Some are eager to learn and easy to teach while others are not.  Whereas most managers would say that we need to spend more time working with those who need more help, I argue that we need to invest more time with the ones who will catch on the fastest.  In other words, I recommend that you choose to work with your most coachable employees first.  Once they help you demonstrate that your plan will work, you establish reasonable expectations and gain momentum that will hopefully wear off on the other members of your team.

Leading and managing people is anything but easy.  In fact, being a successful manager and leader often has just as much to do with your employees as it does with you.

So how can you make sure that you and your team will be more successful in the future?  Avoid investing in someone simply because of their availability.  From now on, spend more time hiring and developing people who possess coachability.