Most of my CDs have been packed away for over a year now.  Being a new home owner, getting them out and organized wasn’t really high on the to-do list.  Sure, I’ve got an iPod filled with music that I could listen to, instead. But there’s just something about cracking open a jewel case and listening to an entire album.  So, today begins the ‘album a day’ series!  Even though unpacking and organizing my CDs still isn’t high on the priority list, I’ll be reaching into the boxes that they’re packed into and pulling out a new disc at random each day.  They goal is to listen to the entire album during that day – which gets more and more difficult the busier that I become.  Today’s album is from 1998 – I believe it was the year that the ‘Family Values Tour’ kicked off.  In case anyone wants to listen along, I’ll try and create a Grooveshark playlist for each album.  You’ll have to overlook all of the duplicates that Grooveshark is known for, though.  So, without further adieu – today’s album of the day! Family Values Tour ’98 Playlist.

From time to time, one of my clients will ask me “What are your most successful clients doing that we’re not doing?” or “What’s the secret sauce?”, as if I’m  holding out on them. Here’s the thing – it doesn’t matter how many great ideas I throw your way or how many marketing plans we come up with.  The biggest difference between my clients who are KILLING it and the ones who are just ‘doing okay’ is pretty simple…

It all boils down to two things.  Leadership and Execution.

LEADERSHIP:

If you’re a business owner and you’re struggling to simply rally the troops, than we shouldn’t even bother talking about anything else yet, because it won’t matter.

Those who can lead their team, are successful.

Those who can’t, are not.

I’m not saying that you need to rule with an iron fist in order to get anything done, but you need to set a clear path and objective for the direction of your company.

Start by setting the objective and outlining the mission.  Treat your business as a war and each day as a battle!

Make sure that each individual knows what is expected of them. Make it CRYSTAL clear.

Assign measurable metrics to each expectation.  You can’t measure what you can’t track.

Once those expectations are set – accountability is KEY! Hold your staff, and YOURSELF accountable!  Hold weekly meetings (QUICK meetings) to discuss the successes and failures of the week, as a team.  What worked?  What didn’t?  Where did we KILL it and where did we fall short?

Finally, be consistent!  You can’t be the hardnosed sales manager one day, and the soft spoken “better luck next month” guy the next.

Now, not everyone is a ‘leader’.  I get it.  If you just flat out can NOT (or are not willing to) lead your people into battle, find someone who can and hand them the flag.

EXECUTION:

All of the ideas, marketing concepts, theoretical hypothesizing and unnecessary pontification don’t mean ANYTHING unless you, at some point, actually take some kind of action.  Execute!

Here’s a little tip:  Don’t wait for everything to be perfect because it won’t ever be!  Do your research and plan accordingly, sure.  But don’t overanalyze everything to death.  Not only will you drive yourself crazy, you’ll waste a ton of time and in 6 months, you’ll be exactly where you started.

Establish your objective.

Lead your team.

Develop a plan.

EXECUTE.

Measure the results.

Adjust.