Sollé Coaching » Business

Why Rupert Murdoch Should Be Thrown Under The Bus – Not What You Think

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 21:18:06 +0000

OK, I realize it’s been a while since Rupie has been in the news, but I still had to write this blog article even with the time lapse. I know, shame on me for neglecting my blog on vacation. (Tsk Tsk Tsk).

Back to Rupie. What I’m not going to talk about are the eavesdropping acts. That has been covered very well in the blogosphere with much colorful language than I would have dared use (always thinking of that personal brand…). Instead what I want to talk about is how his billions and his countless business transactions failed to teach him one simple lesson: Taking responsibility for the actions of his underlings.

Did you see how he just threw all the blame on his managers during the congressional hearings? The man just threw all his direct reports under the bus! And not only did he so ungracefully shift all the blame to his underlings – the ones that were under his leadership – but he also publicly threatened that they would be disciplined internally.

Lessons for you dear reader?

When your team makes a mistake (and they will), blaming them just to clear your name makes you look petty, like a bad leader, makes you childish, and still doesn’t clear your name. You are the leader – it’s your responsibility!
Apparently being a successful businessman doesn’t mean you are a good/responsible leader.
No amount of money or power can shield your personal brand from tarnish.

These are the lessons that I gathered from Rupie’s 15mins of fame. What lessons do you draw from all of this?

P.S. Here are some tips for Managers & Business Owners: 20 Definite Ways To Make You Successful Leaders

I’m Worth More Than a $3 Coffee!

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 15:06:34 +0000

I received another email today asking if someone could take me out to coffee to “pick my brain”. What makes people think my time is only worth a $3 coffee? Would they ever call a lawyer and say “I don’t want to pay you for a consultation so if we do it under the pretense of coffee, I can get away with a $3 investment. What day are you free?”

I love helping business owners – I hold free seminars as fundraisers, I blog, I post on my Facebook fanpage, I post on Twitter, I answer questions via email, I answer questions on LinkedIn, I send out educational newsletters, I have pro bono projects, I donate services to charity auctions – yet it’s somehow not enough for some. And how fair is the $3 coffee fee to all my other clients who pay my full fees?

I also want to make clear, I am not talking about my strategic partners or certain projects/charities that ask for my help – these I help with great joy.

Did I also mention I invest a lot of time and money in gaining my knowledge? I read countless business and marketing books. I subscribe to many many blogs. I attend seminars. I watch webinars. I research. I skype with other professionals in my field. And I put time into creating a process that works in helping businesses achieve success with their marketing.

Can you tell I’m frustrated? To all the other consultants and service providers out there – how do you deal with this issue? I would love some advice please.

20 Definite Ways To Make You A Successful Leader (Part2)

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:58:35 +0000

In the previous blog post, I listed items 1-10 for becoming a successful manager and leader. Here is the remainder of the list:

11. If people don’t feel better after leaving your business, then they did when they walked in, you have failed that customer. Sales 101.

12. Is it really a wonder that businesses who invest in training and education for their employees are the businesses that succeed? Education is not a waste of time or money – it is an investment with a return.

13. Your team isn’t motivated? They’ve become complacent? They feel like they’re not the problem? They may be right. What are you doing to change things?

14. If you are not doing mid-year reviews, if you are not regularly talking to your employees about where they are with goals – you have no one to blame but yourself at the end of the year when your sales numbers are not achieved.

15. Don’t ever ever ever (!) say you didn’t have the time for something. We all have 24 hours in our day. People run multi-billion dollar companies spread across continents – and they only have 24 hours as well. Take responsibility of how and where you spend your time. Replace (and encourage your team to replace) “I didn’t have time for it” with “I didn’t take time for it”. Replace “Can’t” with “Won’t”. Now you can even taste the accountability, can’t you?

16. And eliminate “But, Yet, However” completely from your vocabulary.

17. If you take pride in being a “perfectionist” as a business owner, all it says is that you don’t know how to manage time, and you spend so much time and energy on small and unimportant details, that you don’t have time to spend on important matters. “Perfectionism” is used as if it is something great and a trait to be proud of – it isn’t. No one is perfect.

18. Take pride in where you work – your office, your waiting area, and your desk. Not only does the clutter send a message to your customers, it sends a message to your employees that you are unorganized and scattered. Is this the example you want to send?

19. Turn your TV off at night and spend time with your family. Or read books and blogs on professional growth. TV isn’t going to improve your personal life or your business.

These things are a direct reflection on yourself and your business. Your business values aren’t what is written in a dusty business plan or on a plaque on your wall – it is how you run your business every single day. These are my 19 tips for business owners. Where is number 20? I would love your advice on what you believe the final tip should be: What is the one tip you would give business owners?

Managers & Business Owners: 20 Definite Ways To Make You Successful Leaders

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:19:14 +0000

I want this to be a wake up call for the business owners out there who blame the economy, the community, the employees, the customers (yes! The customers!). Stop making excuses! TAKE OWNERSHIP! It is your business – if you aren’t going to step up, lead it, and to turn it around, do you really think it is going to run itself successfully? In working with numerous clients, companies, and teams in United States, Asia, and Europe – here are the mistakes I saw managers of all backgrounds make and what you should do to make you more successful at your job and as a leader:

1) Take ownership. Take responsibility. It’s time!

2) Stop making excuses. While they may make you feel better because you are shifting blame from yourself, they make you look weak, unprofessional, undependable, and cause you to resist professional and financial growth.

3) Quit blaming other people for your mistakes and failures.

4) When you get customer complaints, don’t justify your (or your employee’s) actions or behavior and blame the customer. Badmouthing the customer after you’ve gotten them off the phone might make you feel better, but tell me how it is going to grow your business? Fix the situation!

5) Don’t be passive. Don’t be passive aggressive.

6) Have zero tolerance on negativity. Negativity begets more negativity and then motivation sinks. Lead by example. People complain about it being Monday? Get them enthused with a team breakfast before you open doors. They feel overwhelmed? Ask them how you can help them, where things can be delegated, where time is being wasted, etc. You set the atmosphere and that atmosphere is what determines sales and success.

7) Learn to delegate. You are not as great or as irreplaceable as you think, and yes, with proper training, some of your tasks can be delegated to your team members. If you still think they can’t do it after training, time to get new team members! Still don’t want to delegate smaller tasks? Is it because you don’t want to concentrate on the harder, bigger issues?

8) Your business is only as good as your employees and your management skills. Period.

9) If a team or a project or a business is sinking, it is the manager’s fault. If you, as manager, still blame the team, who’s responsibility was it to deal with your team before it was too late?

10) Don’t let employees determine the quality of your service. Lead by example. Have the courage to correct your employees. If you set the example of not making excuses, they will follow in your foot steps.

These things are a direct reflection on yourself and your business. Your business values aren’t what is written in a dusty business plan or on a plaque on your wall – it is how you run your business every single day. The next 10 tips are listed in the following blog article; Keep reading!

Solutions To Social Media “Problems” At Work

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 18:04:56 +0000

photo © 2011 Sean MacEntee | more info (via: Wylio)In the previous blog post on Banning Social Media At Work, we identified why banning is not a solution. Now, let’s look at alternatives to banning. If Social Media can help your company, business, gym, law firm, non-profit (getting my drift?) to get new clients, why would you ban it completely? People will always find a way to socialize during work hours. Remember, it is not the tools that are the problem. Instead, formulate a social media policy that outlines which sites are OK to access and for how long and for what reasons.

Your tech-savvy team members can also help you monitor what is being said online about your company, your industry, and your competitors; thus helping your sales. Because selling is simply about listening and relationships. Sites like LinkedIn and Twitter and Blogs do that – they help build relationships and help you listen. Let these employees become online ambassadors for your business. Your people already represent your brand- give them the tools to do so online as well. As Stop Blocking suggests, these active employees can “increase online business literacy for the rest of your employees.”

It is important that companies understand that the key is in measuring productivity, and not face-time in the office. If I happen to read Wikipedia or Facebook for 15 minutes to rest my brain, and still make my sales quota or my marketing deadlines, aren’t I more valuable than a person who leaves the web surfing for home, but doesn’t come close to my productivity results? And then there is the issue with allowing some people taking regular cigarette breaks while expecting the non-smoker to work without the breaks.

So rather than banning Social Media, build a Social Media plan and define guidelines for your employees. Teach them how and when to use the tools effectively and in ways to help your business.

IBM is an example of a company that benefited greatly from pushing to become a “social business”. According to Brand Media Strategy, “IBM has over 30,000 employees on Twitter, over 200,000 on Facebook, over 200,000 on LinkedIn and over 35,000 bloggers. Add these to internal networks and a 75,000 strong community of ex-IBMers and you’ve got a massive community that creates and shares content with unrivaled speed and agility.”

What do you think of these solutions? Are they a viable alternative for you to blocking things completely?

Playing Ostrich? Banning Social Media At Work

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Wed, 11 May 2011 22:01:48 +0000

photo © 2008 Uwe Hermann | more info (via: Wylio) According to Epicenter, in a 2009 survey of 237 corporate employees by Nucleus Research, 77% of workers who have a Facebook account said they use it during work hours. And of those using Facebook at work, 87% said they had no clear business reason for accessing the network.

Thus, many companies ban Social Media at work… and this ban is as effective as taking aspirin to cure a sunburn. And these companies block Social Media sites (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube, etc.) due to one reason: FEAR. They are afraid that productivity will drop, time will be wasted, or employees will say the wrong thing online. They are also afraid of these sites since they don’t know how to use them or “control” employee-generated content.

You might be right about productivity. And if you are right, don’t you think the issue is with your workforce rather than Facebook or Twitter? Doesn’t this suggest that there is a bigger underlying issue? Understand that taking toys away is not going to solve productivity issues. Are you going to ban the phone because people might make personal calls? Going to ban emails? Going to ban the entire Internet? And good luck with banning texting. See that the tools aren’t the core of the problem?

Banning Social Media also suggest lack of trust from management and micromanagement. It also shows that the company operates a la Flintstone era and it not only doesn’t know how to use these tools, but is afraid of them and just doesn’t “get it”. Furthermore, with most people carrying smart phones that access the internet, isn’t banning the computer a bit like playing ostrich?

Banning social media can also backfire. Even the world power China couldn’t ban it successfully – do you think you really have a chance? Social Media is not a fad, it’s not going away, and banning it completely isn’t going to solve your problems. So what is the solution? We’ll discuss that in tomorrow’s blog article.

Watch Out World – Here Comes Sollé!

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 23:10:22 +0000

Dear Friends,

As you know, I have been the sole employee (owner, strategist, marketer, accountant, secretary, and let’s face it – even janitor) of my company and have worked with great strategic partners that I regularly partner up with on projects.

I am very excited to announce that Itai Boublil has accepted a position with Sollé Coaching and will be the first direct team member of Sollé as VP of Business Development & Marketing. Many of you already know Itai from his posts and interactions on the Sollé Fanpage. Itai has tremendous experience in both Traditional & Online Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Design, and is also fluent in Hebrew. He and his wife Irm reside in Princeton, NJ. On a personal note, Itai does Olympic weightlifting, and also trains for Strongman competitions and lifts trucks to workout… but you know, the way I see it, that’s a great asset which will come in handy if vendors say they might miss deadlines. :-)

As most of you know, many of my clients are not local. They are mostly based in Indy, Ohio, East Coast and in Europe. The great news is, together with Itai, we are already in the process of further expanding Sollé into Israel and Asia. We will soon relaunch Sollé’s website to make it available in 4 languages (English, German, Hebrew, and Turkish) so that we can better serve our clients and markets there. We are also actively searching for partners (copywriters, web designers, SEO specialists) in each market right now that we can either hire directly or outsource to.

There are some wonderful things in the works for Sollé and I simply cannot tell you how thrilled I am to see my company grow from simply an idea to this in less than 18 months!

Itai, you have been a great friend and I am so excited to be working with you. I simply cannot wait to start implementing all that we have planned. Congratulations and welcome to Sollé!

One Year Strong – Sollé’s Journey

If You Can’t Be A Good Example, Be A Bad One: Cue Chase Bank

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:57:17 +0000

photo © 2007 Derek Baird | more info (via: Wylio)I just went to Chase bank – my bank that I’ve been dealing with for years and where we have both my business account and our personal account – and have been scolded and insulted. So what is a girl to do? Blog about it!

Due to negligence on my part, Chase charged me fees. Gotta love fat-cat and his fees. So I emailed a friend who works there and asked him what I should do. He was very polite and told me what steps I should take. I called the hotline, they reimbursed only part of the fees. Then I went to a branch manager and met the man that Napoleon Complex must have been named after.

I explained my issue, took complete responsibility for the mistake, and asked him if there was anything he could do as the hotline couldn’t solve all my issues. By the time he was done, he had scolded me, insulted me, and was annoyed and said my friend should have known better than to send me to him (because apparently… he was too important to talk to little ones like me). And after he finished with “This bank doesn’t owe you anything!” (Yep, the exact wording he used), he said “Now, what I will do is, talk to you about upgrading your account because you qualify.” Oh, thank you Your Grace. I was so shocked at all of this outburst that all I could muster out of clenched teeth was “That won’t be necessary as I will close all accounts with your bank.”

Did I mention that it was just a $70 fee that caused him to feel like he could treat me like dirt, lose a customer, and receive bad PR?

Why do businesses continue down this path? Why don’t businesses invest in customer service? Serving is the new selling! He never even asked me for my name – just my account number. Every one who walks into your business is a person, not an account! How can you serve, if you don’t even take the time to shake my hand or ask me my name?

He could have simply told me professionally that there wasn’t anything he was willing to do (or could do) and send me on my way. Why do the whole ego-trip thing? Do you have toxic people like that on your staff? Yes, trainers and mystery shoppers cost money. But have you considered the opportunity cost of bad customer service? When you lose customers (and all businesses do), do you follow up with them to see what happened or what circumstances changed?

And most importantly: Do you monitor your business and your brand for when customers like me are upset and vent online? Every person is a media outlet now. Every person is a publisher now. What does that mean for your brand?

Oh, and Chase, keep the $70. I’ll consider it your fee for being the bad customer service example in all of my seminars.

Business Owners – 9 Ways To ReFocus!

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 02:36:04 +0000

As business owners, saying we are busy is an understatement. If we had 12 more hours in a day, we would still need more. So it is normal that many of us lose focus at times while putting out the daily fires.

Here are some words of wisdom from real business owners, entrepreneurs, and yours truly to help you refocus as you begin 2011.

1) Read books to gather your thoughts. Internet and blogs (such as this one… cough cough) are great to get info but go deeper than the Internet. Read non-fiction books to educate and challenge yourself. And read a fiction book as well to relax. We have to have balance in our lives.

2) You already know everything you are going to say. So listen. Whatever you want to learn, there are many people with experience in that area; ask to learn and listen. There is no shame in asking.

3) Organize your thoughts. Go beyond To-Do lists. Write things down. Any time you need to make a decision – make a pro-con list to drive your thinking ahead. When you write down the cons, you also make a list of problems to eliminate.

4) Slow down. Stop and think. Stop and reflect. The world we live in steals your time like never before. Today goes too fast. This is where individuality resides. Find the time (best toward mid-day or end of the day) and simply spend 5 minutes thinking or praying or meditating.

5) When you come to a solution, don’t stop. Keep going. Pretend like that solution doesn’t exist. Your second solution will be better. Your third one will be the best.

6) Define what’s important to you, what you accomplished today, and what you want to accomplish. Write down your goals in life (professional, personal, financial, spiritual) and how you’re going to achieve each goal. Write these down and consult them frequently. Take control of your life and time again.

7) Get a laptop and a smart phone. You have two choices: Be up to date with information or be left behind. You have to have reliable information at a timely manner in order to make decisions and act. But don’t become a slave to these tools.

8) Care about people. Be there when things go wrong for people or for friends. The best way to develop a secure social safety net is simple: Do it for them! This will develop people who are there for you personally and for your business.

9) Success is not who you are in relation to the person next to you. Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone is unique and has unique abilities and circumstances. Measure success in relation to where you started from and who you are. From there, it becomes a journey.

Enjoy your journey my friends. What challenges do you have in finding a focus? What are some ways you prioritize things correctly?

Tools For Success – Do You Have This Tool?

Günes Yilmaztuerk — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 03:03:40 +0000

photo © 2005 Irish Typepad | more info (via: Wylio)You don’t actually have to invent the tools. You don’t have to invent the next Google. Or invent the drug that cures cancer or diabetes (although you’d be my personal hero if you did). You don’t have to invent an incredible tool in order to make things happen. You just have to know how to use them.

Cue Starbucks. They took a regular old commodity – coffee – and revamped the yawn enticing S,M,L into Tall, Grande, Vente, gave people the idea to order crazy combinations to make them feel choosy and important and oila! One of the most successful companies in the world; recognized across the globe, selling coffee at crazy prices which we are happy to pay.

OK, think that was still a great invention? Cue Water. Yep, plain old H2O. Free everywhere. Put it in a bottle, make it conveniently ready to transport, give it a refreshing name, say it comes from an exotic mountain and oila – you are now charging $4 for something that’s available for free.

My point? You don’t have to invent the tools. You just have to know how to use them.