The "New" Business Rules

Every business today is trying to figure out how to improve their revenue and increase business.  Ironically, it seems to me that the key to success in 2014 is to return to a common sense approach and to realize that by helping others, you really are helping yourself.

The ideas listed below will never be used at the Yale or Harvard Business School because they are too simple.  However, the ideas listed below, while simple, are not easy.  Enjoy!

The New Business Rules for 2014

1. Take care of your relationships and the money will take care of itself.
2. Lead YOU first. You can’t help others reach for their highest potential until you’re in the process of reaching for yours.
3. Small daily improvements over time create stunning results.
4. Surround yourself with people courageous enough to speak truthfully about what’s best for your organization and the customers you serve.
5. Every moment in front of a customer is a moment of truth (to either show you live by the values you profess – or you don’t).
6. Copying what your competition is doing simply leads to being second best.
7. Remember that what makes a great business – in part – are the seemingly insignificant details.
8. If you’re not thinking for yourself, you’re following – not leading.
9. The job of the leader is to develop more leaders.
10. In the new world of business, everyone’s part of the leadership team.
11. You’ll get your game-changing ideas away from the office versus in the middle of work. Make time for getting away. Creativity needs space and quiet.
12. The people who gossip about others when they are not around are the people who will gossip about you when you’re not around
13. The way you do one thing defines the way you’ll do everything. Every act matters.
14. The purpose of work is to help people. The other rewards are inevitable by-products of this singular focus.
15. Remember that the things that get scheduled are the things that get done.
16. Keep promises and be impeccable with your word. People buy more than just your products and services. They invest in your credibility.
17. Lead Without a Title.
18. You become your excuses.
19. Brilliant things happen when you go the extra mile for every single customer.
20. Good enough just isn’t good enough

Focus

Albert Einstein once observed:

"Only those who devote themselves to a cause with their whole strength and soul can be true masters. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person." 

I am no "Einstein", but Einstein himself knew the secret to success:  becoming the best is less about natural talent and more about what you do with what you've been given.  For example:

The first round draft football player usually doesn't become a "hall-of-famer"...the most focused, practiced and passionate one does.

The most  talented piano player doesn't become the concert hall pianist or rock-n-roll keyboardist...the most dedicated and devoted one does.

The most brilliant entrepreneur doesn't reap great fortune and change the course of history...the one with the most discipline, work ethic and grit does.

I know, I know...

...this thinking is so opposite of the way society has taught us to consider those at the top of their game. We're told that the Mozarts and Michelangeos, the Oprahs, the Eminems and the Jordans are cut from some divinely-blessed cloth. And born into their amazing great gifts.

But a growing body of research into exceptional performance (much of it led by Anders Ericsson who was first to report the now-famous "10,000 Hour Rule") is confirming that concept of naturally gifted genius is pure myth...

And the reality?

...That those we admire--the awesome athletes and the great business leaders and the remarkable musicians and our heroic military--are just normal people who, early on, made a few uncommon choices and installed a few unusual habits. And in so doing, generated unbelievable, exceptional results. 

But here's the point: Michael Jordan didn't practice the piano instead of shooting free throws. Pharrell is not spending his best hours becoming a chess master. And JK Rowling definitely wasn't obsessed with joining professional tennis.

All people who rise to genius have something in common: singularity of focus.

The "rich and famous" are focused on their skill. And epic performance is much more about the things you have the discipline to say "no" to rather than the things you say "yes" to...

The point I'm suggesting to you is really this...

...you can try to do many things but you'll always play at mediocrity. Or you can commit to just one thing. And be the best at it. For example, if you are a sales exec, learn everything you can about roofs and the way people make decisions (add value).  If you are a manager, study and figure out how to motivate your team and how to provide peace of mind and a sense of security with our customers.  If you are part of our office team, commit to figuring out how to be the most efficient team we can be and let those ideas be known. 

So simplify. Cut through the noise and clutter.  Get great at saying diplomatic "no's".  And if we all focus on what our roles and responsibilities are, we will succeed.

 

A Means to an End

OUR MISSION

Every interaction within our community is built on trust-

The foundation on which we build lifelong relationships

caring for all in a way that provides peace of mind

and a sense of security 

I am proud of our mission.  I hope you are too.  It speaks to who we truly strive to be.  The underlined words above are indicators of what Dale wants us to focus on:  community, trust, relationships, caring, peace, and security. 

Do we always fulfill our mission?  No, of course not!  After all, we are human.  But this mission statement should serve as a guide for us as we deal with each other, our customers and prospects, and our community.  

The strange thing about our mission statement is that there is not one word in it that describes roofing.  And yet roofing is what consumes our every working second.  We talk about TPO, and Cam 2's, and meetings, and hitting our profit margins, and making sure that we are OSHA compliant.  And yes, those issues are vitally important to our business.

But truth be told, the leadership in our company views SRSI as a means to an end.  For 35 years, Dale has been proud to have a part in helping to provide for his team and their families.  He has also always given back to our surrounding community.  Just this last year we were blessed enough to help two families at Christmas, to volunteer over and over for Habitat for Humanity, to take part in roofing a chapel for Camp Paradise, to take supplies and offer help to tornado victims in Washington, IL (see pic above), and to give back to countless people with stories that most in our company aren't aware of.

For many reasons, but especially for the above-stated reason, I am proud to be a part of Showalter Roofing.  I am proud that roofing, for us, is really a means to an end.