The Power of the “60 Second Greeting”

Daily habits can be a motivating part of your day, especially if they beneficially impact others and provide an inspiration for their work challenges.  I learned years ago the importance of developing productive habits in the workplace, and I particularly gravitated to those which enhanced my leadership skills and improved the performance of my staff. 

One leadership characteristic that I have cherished is the habit of consistently engaging in the “60 second greeting” with my associates.  Such a greeting extends beyond the proverbial “good morning” and very briefly explores some subject that is relevant to the other person.  Examples could be asking about a project they are undertaking or asking about their big issues for the day.  You are not searching for details here, but rather, you are seeking high level responses that can fill a 60 second time period. 

Obviously, there are multiple facets to building effective leadership skills.  Linda A. Hill, Harvard professor, elaborates on this topic in an interview with Eric Markowitz in the December 17 issue of Inc.com on-line.  Hill specifically says, “You should lead as if everybody matters, because everybody does.”  This philosophy is embodied in the “60 second greeting” that I follow, and executed properly, it can become an integral part of your leadership skills.  Here are three reasons to try this approach:

1.     It builds respect between you and your associates.  Everyone wants to feel that they are an important part of the overall team in a business setting.  As a leader, conversing with your associates with more than a simple “good morning” demonstrates that you care about their contribution, which will foster a feeling of mutual respect on their part toward you.

2.     It yields higher productivity and happiness.  When an employee knows that their leader cares about their performance and contribution, their productivity increases.  With a few sincere words of acknowledgment coming from a leader each morning, an employee will feel a greater level of ownership of their business and work more productively.  And as a leader, if you recognize the productivity increase and give the appropriate recognition in the “60 second greeting”, the dividends grow even more.

3.     It enables you to stay in touch with your team’s business.  Branching out of your office each day to greet the associates on your team allows you to keep abreast of issues in their world.  Average leaders can easily fall into the trap of believing they know about their team’s business without maintaining a regular routine of communication.  The above average leaders know that greeting and talking to their team members on a consistent basis provides them with information that may otherwise be filtered, resulting in incorrect conclusions.

Being an effective leader is many times measured by the effectiveness of your associates.  For me, the “60 second greeting” is a valuable and natural approach that has allowed my associates to experience success and happiness in their work.

How Effectively Managing Change Can Improve Your Business

One of the most challenging, yet rewarding, aspects of being a business leader is managing the process of change.  Illustrating its importance, a former boss of mine from a recent company had a saying, “You don’t get better unless you are willing to change.”  He was a strong advocate of that philosophy, and I learned to appreciate its value in enhancing business operations and improving employee productivity.

But what does it entail to be effective at implementing a business change?  It is certainly not an overbearing or domineering approach, for that will surely result in eroding employee morale and minimizing any opportunities for success.  Instead, the most effective path to achieving the best results from a change is to involve affected employees in the process to gain their feedback and implement their suggestions, where appropriate.

Mary Ellen Slayter addresses this topic in her December 6 article in “SmartBlog on Workforce” in which she interviews Peter Bregman, CEO of Bregman Partners.  In that article, Bregman states, “The way to make a change happen successfully is to give choices to the people who need to make the change successful.”  Clearly, this is the basic and underlying principle of effective change management, and I have successfully utilized it in my career. 

I recall one of my best examples of exercising this technique centered on consolidating the export shipment activity at the major retailer where I formerly worked.  At the time, we were operating in a decentralized environment with multiple stores being permitted to fully process their own export shipments of sold merchandise to international customers.  However, with the lack of proper expertise at the stores to accurately complete the strict and precise export documentation, customer shipments were being delayed in the foreign countries and occasionally seized by government authorities.  In some instances, fines were issued by U.S. government agencies before the shipments departed the United States.  Customer dissatisfaction was a growing problem. 

As a result, we decided that we needed to consolidate the export processing with the corporate international compliance team in my area.  Initially, this process was met with extreme reservation by our stores because they felt it would delay the delivery to the customer even further.  However, we elected to partner with the stores to design a new logistics and compliance process, plus, we solicited the input from associates in my area.  Because of our decision to involve those affected by the change, the new process was embraced by the stores and ultimately improved the customer deliveries and satisfaction.

Had we not consulted with the stores to garner their support, their ownership of the change would have been much more difficult to achieve, and the success of the program would likely have been in doubt. I like reflecting on that event because it demonstrates how to engage others in the pursuit of effective change management.

Four Basic Elements of an International Program

For those who have read some of my previous blogs, you can tell that I like writing about the business of trade compliance, ethics, and leadership.  Let’s face it, I’ve been schooled in a corporate environment operating an international business, where successfully navigating through technical hurdles and staff development has regularly given me a sense of accomplishment.

Over the years of my career, I have found that achieving success in the international business of importing and exporting hinges on four basic topics.  To me, they are basic because they encompass just about every aspect of the foundation of a productive international business.  Wally Bock believes in basics as well, and he elaborates on a few simple elements of leading and conducting yourself in the best possible manner in his November 30 Three Star Leadership blog.  In the spirit of Bock’s “leadership basics”, here are my four basics on building a solid importing and exporting business:

1.     Hire competent and engaging people.  Indeed, this can be easier said than done, but finding the right people with the best chemistry to interact with others can be worth gold.  Sure, you want staff members who possess appropriate technical skills to understand the international market, but it is highly important to surround yourself with people who are eager to learn and embrace change.

2.     Utilize strong service providers.  All companies operating an international business will use third party service providers in some capacity.  This may consist of carriers, freight forwarders, consolidators, or Customs brokers.  Selecting these parties should be based on a practice of conducting regular competitive bidding along with the associated analyses and fostering the relationships on a continual basis once the selection is made.

3.     Implement solid financial and operational systems.  While the logistics and trade compliance functions of importing and exporting are very important, it is critical to maintain visibility through effective systems that provide data management.  The ability to track shipment activity and to capture relevant data electronically will provide a competitive edge that is necessary in the international market.

4.     Maintain effective process management.  Instituting proper controls for the oversight of the financial and operational aspects of importing and exporting is essential.  This consists of documented procedures, regular reporting of KPI’s (key performance indicators), and an ongoing methodology to ensure regulatory compliance is maintained and improved as needed.

None of these basic points are complicated, but regardless of the size of your international business, focusing on these will certainly advance your importing and exporting operations.