The United Kingdom is jubilant that they chose not to enter the Euro sweepstakes. Their ability to somewhat control fluctuations in the Pound has enabled the U.K. to better weather a prickly economic storm. Germany, on the other hand, rues the day they abandoned their beloved Mark in favor of the Euro “experiment.” With Greece in virtual default and Spain and Portugal not far behind, the strong economies of the European Union (think Germany and France) have little choice but to bail out their EU buddies. This will exacerbate the dulling of the Euros luster.

The Euros folly breathes a sigh of relief for the United States. The Euro is, in fact, not going away, however, it places the Dollar at center-stage again with regard to the world’s currency of choice. And with trillions of Dollars being held by foreign benefactors such as China and Saudi Arabia, it reduces the possibility, and the economic strategy of these countries dumping their Dollars in favor of the Euro. While the U.S. does not desire for the Dollar to gain significant value strength (this could impede its ability to drive increases in exports), it does relish the position of being the only game in town.         

A recent study showed that we sleep 22% less than we did 100 years ago. This results in lower productivity, more mistakes, and lower sex drive. The average person requires seven to eight hours of sleep per night. Observations show that leaders who sleep five hours a night do not accomplish more than peers who sleep seven. Quite the contrary, a little bit of sleep results in, well, better results. Plus, a high percentage of people who are sleep deprived are drowsy or fall asleep while driving and drink lots of caffeine – both of which can be hazardous to your health.

Here is the bottom line: get adequate sleep. It is better for business and it will enhance the quality of your life.   

0. A business plan, complete with an action plan
0. An emergency recovery plan
0. Wills, Living Wills, and Power of Attorneys
0. A buy/sell agreement if you have a partner(s) 
0. An emergency briefcase. Okay, it’s not a document, but it contains copies of your important documents, databases, accounting system, and recovery plan. Importantly, in case of an emergency you can grab it, leave, go buy a laptop and be back in business within one hour.  

Last week I was listening to an interview with a cyber-security expert. During the interview he referenced that a variety of government security networks had been compromised in recent months and years. He then detailed some of the techniques that cyber-criminals have used. Frankly, I was expecting to hear about high-tech tools that somehow outsmarted the firewalls created by our best technologists. Surprise! One of the methods largely counted on the non-technology quality of curiosity. That’s right, it turns out that just like curiosity can kill the cat, curiosity can also kill the security network. Perhaps you are asking yourself, “How?” The answer is simple. Here is the set-up that cyber-thieves used. They downloaded a Trojan virus on a handful of thumb drives. Then, they sprinkled the thumb drives here and there in the parking lot of a national defense agency. Along came a defense employee, who was giddy at the site of a stray thumb drive. Rather than reformat the thumb drive first, they unwittingly plugged it into their computer to take a peek at the contents. The second they inserted it a nasty virus was injected into a very important computer network. Suddenly, cyber-criminals could download terabytes (that’s geek-talk for “mucho”) of data. Remarkably, the criminals could download the data remotely. In other words, they did not even have to be within 100 miles of the agency from which they stole precious secrets.

Keep in mind; I listened to this story via a national radio program. So let me ask you this: How safe do you keep your technology systems? Importantly, what kind of procedures do you have in place for your employees regarding screensavers, external downloads, remote informational devices, etc.? While it is a wonderful world, it can also be a scary world. Take precautions: set up logical processes and procedures and thoroughly train those curious animals out there.

Many of you work in organizations that you KNOW need to change. There are glaring, critical aspects of the business that need to be overhauled, yet certain people refuse to do so. I know this, you and I talk…I like our discussions. In order to be competitive in 2010 and beyond, many strategies and actions need to change. This is a repositioning year for many businesses. Remember that as the economy improves, we must position ourselves to take advantage of future opportunities. If you are not positioned correctly, opportunities can be missed and, voila, you are behind the eight-ball. The predicament is: we typically cannot change everything that we believe needs changing. The desire to change things, coupled with the inability to do so can lead to a maddening work life. As such, I have created a simple, yet effective, grid for you to consider in your work world. Take a step back from your situation and attempt to look at your business, department, etc. in an objective way. As you do so make a list of items that you can control (i.e., change to your liking), items that you can only influence, and things that you cannot change. Then focus on, you guessed it, the areas which you can control or influence. Acknowledge the areas that you cannot change and live with them. I have summarized this exercise in the table that appears below. Give it a try and see if it doesn’t elevate your level of focus and reduce your psychosis.      

Many investment analysts are looking at the results of stock indexes over the past ten years and bellyaching that this is the first decade where the S&P 500 lost money. Further, they imply that the average investor lost wealth in the past ten years. The wealth that they should be worried about is the amount of wealth that the United States shipped offshore - mainly to China. That’s right, over the past ten years in our quest to have cheaper toys, mostly meaningless manufactured items, and an array of plastic junk, the U. S. has exported trillions of dollars to China. Isn’t it interesting that the meteoric rise of China as a world and financial power coincides with the decline of the U.S.’s financial impact and caché? Then, to make matters worse, when we mismanage our national financial system, we relied on China to buy our debt – with our money. My goodness, the Chinese must think we are off our rocker. Now I am all for free-trade, a protectionist stance in this world economy is a ridiculous proposition. However, living with a large trade gap (i.e., shipping our wealth offshore) is not a bright idea. Here are two things we need to do right away:

0. Innovate. Interestingly, innovation is one of the factors that brought us out of broad recessions in the past. With the lack of innovation from Bell Labs, Xerox’s Parc and the like, innovation will be a tough one for us. Certainly Apple is trying to do their part, and the science department at Stanford (recent stem cell breakthroughs) is trying to do theirs, but we need broader innovation nationwide. In sum, there is great opportunity out there for both crafty entrepreneurs and behemoths like GE to take risks with some investment dollars and invent a wave of unique product lines for the world to embrace. Note: we need authentic innovation that comes from capitalistic intent, not artificial innovation that comes from governmental set-asides. 

0. Educate. By and large, our national school system is broken. Okay, there are pockets of good public schools in Kansas, Minnesota, and Palo Alta, but these are, unfortunately, the exceptions. Stop bellyaching about poor education! The national lower-education quality will not change soon enough to meet our national needs. This means it is up to us. That’s right, YOU. What I mean is the following:
   0. If you have children, nieces, nephews, etc., proactively teach them what they need to know in order to be competitive in the world economy. This means they must be multi-lingual, and have unbiased knowledge of the REAL history of our nation (i.e., a clear understanding of our founding fathers and the values they embraced). In addition, they must be cracker-jacks with science and math. That’s right folks, come up with some creative and fun home science projects. Try cooking, there is a lot of chemistry involved (just ask Alton Brown of the Food Network).
   0. Teach others. Seek to coach at the YMCA or the Boys & Girls Clubs. Use your personal impact and charisma to help youngsters embrace real role models. In the process, seek to open their eyes to the wonders of learning, and the healthful benefits of good nutrition.  

Here is the bottom line folks: we are sitting on the sidelines watching our country deteriorate. Take charge. We have all the tools we need. Our parents and the wonderful teachers from our past taught them to us.           

Congratulations, you have made it to 2010. Many economists are predicting that this year will hold economic growth and will officially usher us out, what has been, a nasty recession. Whether you have flourished or merely survived over the past two years, you have what I call Survival Cache. In other words, you and your business have shown the intestinal fortitude, the resources, and the grit to weather a storm that took out quite a few businesses. Years from now you will be able to boast to people, “Yep, my business made it through the financial crisis of aught eight and aught nine.” So during 2010, wear your survival cache as a badge of honor. Small business owners in particular should do this. Boast about your perseverance, you deserve it.

Now go out there and make some solid business calls. And as you garner more business, keep delivering on your promises – your keen actions and terrific implementation helped you navigate a storm, big time!

Political correctness has gone wild. Do not worry, I will not go into a diatribe about how we have subversed our national culture by catering to an incredibly small portion of the population. What this verbiage is about is how the concept of political correctness has seeped into the art of good leadership. Consider this: in an effort to not “upset” their worst performers, most leaders spend a majority of their time coaching and counseling this segment of their team. In the process, they ignore their best performers, who they perceive as self-managing very well. Yet, who hurts a company more if they leave, a good performer or a bad performer? That‘s right, the good performer. So leaders, I implore you: don’t be correct, be smart! The ROI you receive by spending time and effort with your top performers and high-potential people is vastly higher than any time you spend with low performing people. It is a cruel fact, but the business world calls for survival of the fittest – there is nothing politically correct about that. Treat everyone nicely (this makes sense), it is how you would want to be treated anyway. But for goodness sake, take a peek at your team’s results and spend an exorbitant amount of your energy on your best producers. I assure you, they will appreciate the attention and growth opportunities. They might even stick around a bit longer.

I know nothing about feet. Well, I have big feet so certainly I know something about them. But what I mean is this: I am not a foot expert. Yet, I have had several people reach out to me when they had foot issues – chronic pain, discomfort, and the like. Was I able to help them? You bet, I have a client who is a world-renowned foot expert, and Happy Feet Plus, the incredible shoe retailer, is a client. I was able to direct people to resources which, ultimately, helped them a great deal. It was my pleasure. 

When you need a resource concerning something you value, who do you contact? The more important question is this: Who do your customers contact when they need a resource – any resource? Is it you? If not, ponder what you can do to raise the level of your perceived resourcefulness. If you are viewed as a rich resource now, think about how you can expand your benefit.

Bottom Line: By coupling the excellence you offer professionally and the array of solution-providers you know, you position yourself as an invaluable resource for your clients to tap in to frequently!

A friend of mine is an artist. In fact, one of his paintings hangs in the Southwest terminal at the Tampa International airport. A long time ago a defunct airline named Eastern (yes, you remember them) used to fly out of the Southwest terminal. My friend’s painting depicts an Eastern airline scene circa the 1950’s. I remember going to the unveiling party of the painting. There were a number of attendees who were former Eastern pilots, stewardess (as they were called then), and staff who wore their old uniforms. The fact that they wore their uniforms was fine. It made for some interesting nostalgia. What ultimately became uncomfortable though, was how many of the attendees were living in the past. They were beyond nostalgic and, instead, were quite stuck. Hmmmn, getting stuck in the past. Do you know any people who resemble this description? It is a growing trend you know. Whether it was brighter economic times, a different job, or simply an era possessing less change, many professionals are mired in nostalgia.

Do these people (are you one of them?) need to snap out of it? Answer: Oh yea. They must accept what they must and move on. When one of my favorite movie characters, Edna Mode – a designer, was asked to reinstate something to its past glory, she refused. “I never look back darling,” she stated. “It detracts from the now.”

Here is my advice: Don’t detract from your now by looking back over your shoulder. Deal with the now, and set your sites on the future. There are some amazing opportunities staring at us right now. Take off your blinders, unfold from the fetal position, and stand tall. And as you stand, look far, reach farther, and take action. Years from now you will be able to reflect. And guess what? These will be the good old days – if you play your cards right!

It is estimated that small business owners create anywhere from 65% - 75% of new jobs that are created in the United States. This is an impressive statistic and a huge economic responsibility. Job creation, however, is just one of many interesting stats surrounding entrepreneurs. The September 2009 issue of Spirit Magazine (that’s those fun-loving folks at Southwest Airlines), contained a potpourri of facts pertaining to small business owners. The following items I found of particular interest:

• 6 – percentage by which self-employed people out-earn the rest of the population
• 18 – percentage of small business owners who said that losing the Internet would make them go bust
• 42 – percentage of entrepreneurs who say they launched their first venture during childhood
• 99.7 – percentage of all business that are considered “small businesses”
• 5,000,000 – average revenue of a small business with a website
• 7,000,000 – estimated number of new small business ventures per year
• 10,000,000,000 – number of uncompensated hours entrepreneurs collectively work each year

Think that online learning is a fringe activity or passing phase? Think again. According to a 2007 ASTD (American Society for Training & Development) study, more than $134 billion was spent on e-learning by United States organizations. Something interesting to note is that e-learning is not just focused on internal functions. Quite the contrary, nearly $51 billion was allocated to mission critical skill-building in areas such as leadership, communication, and salesmanship. It appears that many companies are utilizing e-learning options to reinforce best practices that are in place or recently learned through coaching and training activities. 

If you have not visited the Leadership Simplified e-Learning Center, take a peak today. It is filled with back issues of newsletters, as well as free downloads and podcasts. But stay tuned, a potpourri of creative online learning tools will be unveiled in the coming months.

On August 13^th, USA Today ran a terrific article entitled “What shape is the recovery in?” While I am not wild about the grammatical correctness of the title, the content was outstanding.  In a nutshell, the article stated that the economic recovery will likely resemble the shape of one of three letters: U, V, or W. It highlighted that “most economists, including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, predict a slow and gradual upturn.” This would be the U-shape. On the other hand, 37% of the economists they polled believe the recovery will be moderate or fast. This connotes a V-shape, which would be a best case scenario. The article then went on to say that “a small group of experts believe the nation will endure an unusual W-shaped or ‘double-dip’ recovery in which the economy falls back into recession before growing again.” In my opinion, the double-dip is the likely scenario. In a word here is why: inflation. Perhaps a two-word explanation is better: interest rates. Well, let me share a few more words on the whole double-dip theory. There has been a ton of money injected into the economy. This fact, coupled with some favorable sociological behaviors, is beginning to push the general economy towards recovery. Please note that a critical interest rate (i.e., the Fed Funds rate) is essentially zero. Lowering the Fed Funds rate is how we fight inflation. What inflation you say? Hold on to your hat. When the economy begins to ignite, the excess cash that is running around will create inflation like we have not seen since Jimmy Carter was relevant (you know, the 1970’s). See my June 3^rd blog post entitled, Deflation then Inflation for more on this topic.

In order to have a hedge against future inflation, Big Ben Bernanke will HAVE to increase the Fed Funds rate. If he times the increases perfectly, we have a good shot at a U-shaped or even a V-shaped recovery. Now please answer this question: When was the last time a government official did something perfectly? Right – George Washington! Let’s be pragmatic. The odds are good that Mr. Bernanke’s interest rate increases will be mistimed, and as a result the economy will be temporarily sent back into recession or into an inflationary environment. Neither is overly positive. Thankfully, a recessionary revisit would be short-lived. With a few tweaks, the economy should get back on track in no time.

The bottom line is this: be pragmatically optimistic about the future. Strategically plan for a few more bumps along the road to growth, but growth there will be. Plan on it!      

Attention business owners and executives – flu season is just around the corner. Typically, this is a non-event. Sure, there will be more unexpected absences during flu season than normal, but that is to be expected. Most businesses are typically prepared for that. But this is not projected to be a normal flu season. Public health officials are predicting a brisk flu season, punctuated with a resurgence of the H1N1 (i.e., swine flu). Some health officials are projecting that as much as 50% of the United States population may be afflicted with swine flu this season. As such, now is a good time to strategically examine your business and brainstorm on some “what if” scenarios. What if your key producer comes down with H1N1 and is out sick for five weeks? What if a key leader in your organization is down for three weeks? What about losing your office workhorse for a month? 

Am I a pessimist? No way! I am merely advising that there is strong statistical probability that your business will be impacted by something out of your control – yet inside your realm of preparedness. I like you, I want you to be prepared. Also, I want you to mitigate the potential disruption that flu-related absences may cause to your business. Luck favors the prepared. Be one of the lucky few this fall and winter. And while you are at it – take your vitamins!

It should be fairly obvious to everyone by now that the current stimulus package is nothing more than a social welfare program wrapped with a really expensive bow. It was supposed to create jobs, right? Well, at best it has kept some States alive, like Florida and Pennsylvania, but less than 10% of the stimulus package will create any kind of new jobs – and that segment of the package is caught up in the web of Washington bureaucracy. So what needs to happen? Unfortunately (the use of that word is your cue to grimace), a second stimulus package will be needed. Shockingly, the next stimulus package will need a larger price tag than the current one. In fact, talk of a second stimulus package should replace all the current rhetoric about health care reform. (See my previous blog post for the solution to the health care issue). What should the second stimulus package look like? Answer: 100% dedicated to infrastructure in the United States! Repair the 170,000 bridges that have been identified as needing attention; engage in new road and highway projects that will increase travel efficiency; and fix inadequate motorways that need some TLC. The aforementioned actions will create jobs. Further, money from those jobs will flow into the economy in the form of goods and other services purchased. What can you do? Plenty. Contact your State Senator and demand action. Will they even listen? Surprisingly, they will take your outreach quite seriously.