Efficient CEO

How NOT To Do It All Yourself

"Focus on what you do best and outsource the rest"

A while back I wrote an article about responsibility and what it means. My definition of responsibility is to make sure things get done but not necessarily that you do it all yourself. Since it is literally impossible to grow a business while doing every function yourself you must consider the different ways to do the work: automate tasks, hire employees and/or outsource functions. It’s this last task that interests me the most.

Consider this: even if you were a dentist, would you drill on your own teeth? No, you would give that job to someone other than yourself to perform the task. Outsourcing is the same concept – give work to someone who is skilled, trained and capable of doing at least as good of a job as you can do, if not better and for less money.

These days it seems like outsourcing is bad word. Thanks to the news media, some people take it to mean lost jobs, poor service quality, delays and even budget overruns. Sure... those things can happen but so can rogue employees who steal from your business, waste time and sabotage your success. The reality is that outsourcing works or it wouldn’t be so popular and effective. And you don’t have to send the jobs overseas, there are plenty of outsource companies that keep jobs on our soil (at least that’s my goal when choosing a service provider).

How do you start outsourcing? It is pretty simple.

1. Pick a function in your company that you need help with, where you want to increase capacity or to improve quality. For example, add capacity to your customer service team by outsourcing some of the functions.
2. Next, do some research on the web to identify companies that can provide the service.
3. Then interview those companies and their customers for quality, price and performance.
4. Finally, start the transition to the outsource provider according to their transition plan and training.

Outsourcing works the best when you have done your own preparation to provide the outsourcer with training materials, management oversight (via daily conversations, reporting and status monitoring, etc) and empowerment to perform the function. Keep in mind that an outsourcer is very much like an employee and the relationship should be treated as such. That means you must change your processes to direct work to the outsourcer (e.g. have customer service phone calls and/or emails sent to the outsource customer service team). It also means you must include the outsourced function in your leadership and management in front of your entire team so that everyone supports the initiative.

The bottom line is what I would tell my clients when I was a financial planner: Focus on what you do best and outsource the rest. Choose a professional who can do it better, faster and cheaper than you can and watch both your company and your profits grow together.

Empower Your Team To Do Their Best Work

"Am I hiring him to do what I say or to let him do what he says?"

My role as President at Efficient Technology Inc is to empower my team to do their best work. While in college I often heard people say “hire people who are smarter than yourself”. Since I was getting straight A’s I initially didn’t understand what they meant by ‘smarter’ than me. As an entrepreneur, it was easy to get caught up in the notion that I already have the best ideas. Truthfully, that was just my immature thinking for that age. What the advice-givers really meant was to hire people who are smarter in their respective roles and areas of expertise. In addition, I have learned to not just hire those people but to let them do what they’re great at doing.

We just hired a VP of Sales and Marketing. He’s an outstanding person with excellent experience and philosophies. His ideas are sound and, frankly, better than the ideas we have been using for the past five years. So here’s the question I have to ask myself: Am I hiring him to do what I say or to let him do what he says? Since I believe in empowering my team to do their best work, the answer is obviously to let him do what he believes is best based on his expertise.

How can you empower your team to do their best work? I have a few simple rules to ensure I can actually extend power to my team.

1. I believe in my team. There is no better gift you can give someone than to believe in their abilities by telling and showing them your belief.


2. I believe that empowerment works. What you believe forms your reality, so if you don’t believe empowering someone will work, then it won’t.


3. I set expectations and measure results. My goal is to get someone’s best work from them therefore I set that expectation and look for the results.


4. I show trust by leaving my team alone. Empowerment is the opposite of micromanagement – trust that the work will be done and you’ll be surprised at not only how well it gets done, but how effective the person becomes.

Giving a new team member full authority and leeway to perform is not necessarily easy nor given without measures of trust and rapport, but wow is it effective. Not only is our new VP already outperforming what I can do in the realm of his expertise, but the synergy the entire company gains from his excitement, focus and the exercising of his strengths is beyond expectation.

How Fast Can You Go?

"My days FLY by and suddenly the week is over like it never started."

As a follow up to my last article, I’m wondering how fast a person can go in their business and in their daily activities. Since implementing some of the suggestions in the “Four-Hour-Workweek” book, I find that I’m working far more efficiently, effectively and intensely. My days FLY by and suddenly the week is over like it never started. What strikes me is the intensity of my work now because I’m focused on getting it done faster.

Focus creates intensity, like sunlight through a magnifying glass creating heat, I’m moving through my workload faster. So now how fast can I go? Pretty fast, actually. Out of sheer necessity to be effective and efficient I’m:

a) Letting (rather insisting) other people do the work I used to do
b) Talking more and writing less (leading vs. doing)
c) Not sacrificing good enough for the sake of perfection

I’m thinking that as I continue to do more in this manner that I will continue to improve even further. My phone calls are becoming shorter and more productive. My emails are briefer and less often. My meetings are "to the point" and driven. And while this change is all about my personal actions and habits, the results are that my entire company is becoming more effective too. So the true answer to how fast can I go is only limited by how fast my team will go in following my example.

Why Am I Out Of Time?

"Actually, my entire company is getting more done because I work fewer hours."

Busy. It's a word I find myself using quite often and have been using for a long time. I'm ready to change that word to: Productive. For the past four years I have been working about 60 hours per week and never have enough time for work, for life, for anything. About three weeks ago I decided to reduce the number of hours I work in a week to 35 or less. So far, I'm averaging about 40 hours per week and getting far more done. Which isn't bad but my real goal is to not have to work at all unless I want to.

Here's what I've done. First, I stopped checking email. Crazy, right? Really, it's not. If you're the CEO who lives with a Blackberry and/or constant email, then you're really not being the CEO… you're being a worker in your company instead of a leader. Right now I check my email at noon and 4 PM (soon to be just once a day). That act alone has completely changed my way of getting things accomplished – now I don't even check email before I go to bed at night (talk about getting a good night's sleep!). Second, I have transitioned all my direct management duties to other executives. This has allowed me to focus on only what I need to focus on – keeping information flowing, enabling others to do their best work and growing my business. Third, I am phasing out long, drawn-out conversations about nothing. While some conversations are fun and part of being social, I really don't need to know all the details – just the actions and results.

Here's what I’m going to do. My goal by summer of 2010 is to be completely transparent in my company. My role is to lead, set the vision and enable everyone to do their best work. The result, I expect, will be that I can work remotely for extended periods of time and be less involved in the daily minutiae. I'm not entirely sure of 'how' to arrive at this stage but I'm sure by doing less and expecting more, I will get there.

Perhaps the most amazing aspect of running out of time with 60 hours per week and now forcing myself to run out of time at 40 hours per week is that I'm getting far more done in the 40 hours than I was in the 60+ hours. Actually, my entire company is getting more done because I work fewer hours. Interesting, huh? What if the results of your organization (whether you're the CEO, a manager or a project leader) were inversely proportional to how much you work? The truth is they are. This is where working smarter, not harder becomes reality.

Can you work smarter? For inspiration, take a look at the book, "The Four Hour Work Week" by Timothy Ferris

How To Communicate Right The First Time

"The hard part is making sure what you said was truly concise, direct and understood as you intended."

This may be a silly question, but have you ever talked to a dummy? I'm talking about a real dummy, like the ones used to display clothing. You can try all you want but they won't talk back. They are incapable of understanding your communication. But people aren’t dummies – people do have the capacity to understand your communication. That is, they can understand if you communicate clearly.

Communication is the foundation of all relationships. Some of our relationships are quite complex dealing with our interpersonal lives, daily moods, personalities, office politics, etc. Other relationships exist in space like this blog or in email. And regardless of the mode, the same challenge persists in trying to communicate clearly.

Good communication is simple in concept but exceedingly difficult in practice. The simple part is to say what you mean as concisely and directly as possible. The hard part is making sure what you said was truly concise, direct and understood as you intended.

Here are two general principles you can use to guide your communications:
1) Think like the person you’re communicating with
2) Speak in terms the other person will understand without hesitation or thinking

The other day I found myself writing an email to an employee who is responsible for a process that wasn't working quite the way I expected it to. I started to write that "your process doesn't work and is failing at this step" and suddenly realized that if I were her, she might start to think that her boss thinks it's her fault or that she failed because I said "your" and "failing".

Frankly I don't care who's at fault, I care about the solution. The word "you" or "your" is too personal and can easily create unnecessary stress or tension. So I changed the phrase to say "a step in the process is not working as expected". By being objective, not subjective or accusatory, I reduced the risk of miscommunication or causing her stress and tension and she quickly fixed the problem without a hint of tension.

Perhaps this seems oversimplified. Who has the time to realize that an innocent word like "you" can cause tension, stress and become the subtle basis for future miscommunications? Actually, the question that should be asked is who has time for unnecessary tension, stress and future miscommunications?!? Think like the person you are communicating with and choose words that don't create hesitation. Then you will be recognizing potential risks with your approach and giving yourself a chance to change them for more effective communication.

How Do You Build Confidence?

"Confidence is knowledge of yourself."

Here's my definition of confidence, which leads to how you can build your confidence: "Confidence is knowledge of yourself". When you have done something well a hundred times you have built knowledge in your ability and therefore you won't think twice about doing it again. This lack of contemplating how to perform a skill is because you know your ability and are confident. Building confidence, then, is to have knowledge of doing something well.

Building confidence can be done in a number of ways. The traditional way is to try, fail, try, learn, try, succeed... in other words, keep trying until you perfect it. Most confidence is built by doing something repetitiously. Another way is to borrow confidence from the future. Try this exercise to see what I mean.

1. Choose something you're not confident in doing today (e.g. public speaking, a new sport, etc)

2. Project ahead in your mind to a future point in time when you've mastered this task (e.g. a month, a year, etc)

3. In your projection think about the knowledge you'd have about that skill and try to sense the confidence you'll feel in the future when performing it.

4. Now borrow that future sense of confidence and approach learning this new skill with the knowledge of having mastered the skill in the future.

If you practice this projection technique you'll find that you can borrow some or all of your future confidence and accelerate your growth and mastery of your new skill today. Of course there is no substitute for actual practice but a little extra confidence will greatly boost your acquisition of confidence and knowledge of yourself.

The Fine Line Between Confidence And Arrogance Is Humility

"A confident person doesn't tell you that they're confident."

This is going to be a tricky article to write because the last thing I want to do is come across as arrogant, or as though I know everything. How do I show you my confidence without being arrogant? Or better yet, what is confidence and how is it not arrogance?

Dictionary.com defines arrogance as "offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride". Confidence on the other hand is "belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities; self-confidence". Some mistake arrogance for confidence and vice versa so if you want to be sure that you're always confident and not arrogant, be humble. Therefore the fine line between confidence and arrogance is humility, "the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank".

I like to define confidence in terms of behavior and my friends have often heard me say that "a confident person doesn't tell you that they're confident". The confident person simply does what they’re confident at doing and demonstrates their abilities without exerting their pride upon you through claims or exaggerations. It's those who lack confidence that feel compelled to tell you how great they are or how well they can perform.

In most contexts arrogance is not a favorable attribute or quality in a person. There can be, however, a time and reason to use arrogance as a tool. The best example of this is Mohammed Ali. Before each fight he would boast to everyone how he was the greatest fighter of all time, the greatest fighter in the whole world even. And then he'd take his gloves to the ring and prove it. He regularly used arrogance as a tool to boost his and everyone else's confidence in himself (while intimidating some opponents). In certain cases it may be appropriate to use a little bit of arrogance to help you push through to a level of confidence. But remember to add humility back into your approach if you want to be confident and not simply arrogant.

The ABC's of Sales: Always Be Confident

"Always be confident and your sales will take care of themselves."

I have never liked being 'sold' anything. The pressure of the other person's need to get your money, to win your deal, is a sure-fire way to dissolve the good will that is initially extended in business. What's worse is I don't ever want to be perceived as 'selling' anything. Yet my company, and I'm sure your company, has an incredible set of solutions to offer the world and that requires sales. So where is the balance between offering and promoting vs. selling and negotiating? For my team it's in the simple letters of ABC.

We changed the rules for what ABC stands for in sales. Have you heard that ABC stands for "Always Be Closing"? The concept is that your conversations, your actions, your intent is to always be focused on how to 'close' a deal. And of course that philosophy works and has worked for many sales people. The problem with that philosophy is that if you are always focused on closing a deal, then you may become too focused on filling your personal needs and you may fail to listen and attend to the customer's needs. I have personally seen too many sales people fall into this trap and alienate customers, relationship managers, partners and even their own team.

ABC in my company stands for "Always Be Confident". Classic sales training books and classes teach that "you" are the product people buy not necessarily the goods and services you're promoting. We all prefer to buy from someone we like and believe in and that person is usually the most confident in who they are, what they do and what their products do. By focusing your personal development and growth on becoming your most confident self you’ll find that:

1. You're not really selling -- you're promoting and informing.
2. You're not grabbing someone's attention -- you're attracting it.
3. You're not closing deals -- you're winning friends and customers.

I have often told people that the fine line between confidence and arrogance is humility. Have you noticed that the annoying, high-pressure sales person tends to be arrogant? Therefore the fine line between being perceived as a sales-type person vs. someone your customers want to do business with is your confidence. Always be confident and your sales will take care of themselves.

How to Know Your Audience

"Knowing your audience means to communicate the way they communicate"

You've heard the phrase "know your audience" but do you know how to do that? Of course it means to know who is in your audience, what their general preferences are, to know different ways to relate to them, etc. Assuming you know who you're talking to, how do you communicate in a way that allows them to easily understand your points?

A perfect example of how NOT to know your audience is to speak in acronyms and technical jargon that others don’t know or care about. Or to leave gaps in your presentation that should give enough information to follow your lead. We’re all guilty of it at some point and there are ways you can improve your communication without a lot of effort.

1. Use words and phrases your audience understands without thinking.
Instead of using an acronym or technical jargon, use a relevant word or phrase that provides the same meaning. For example, business people like to use SME’s (pronounced like "smees") to describe a person who is a Subject Matter Expert. The time you save by saying “SMEES” is lost when it causes an unfamiliar listener to try and figure out what you mean. Just say “Subject Matter Expert” or “Expert” or “Business Owner” or something to describe the same thing. If you cause your audience to have to think about your last words then they will stop listening until they figure out what you meant.

2. Be concise and talk about what’s important to your audience.
If you have the opportunity to discuss a topic that you know a lot about, it is easy to talk at a level of detail that nobody can follow (or care about) except you. People typically only care that the overall process works, not how it works. In sales you talk about benefits with the assurance that the product works, not the features or how it works. Eventually the question will come up where you can bring up the details but that should be based on knowing that your audience wants those details.

3. Ask your audience what they want to hear from you.
The titles people give you in introducing themselves at the beginning of a meeting may be impressive, but not necessarily indicative of what they care about. Don’t rely on their role or title. Instead ask how much detail your audience wants from you. This will not only help you earn their respect it also helps you stay on time and on track.

Knowing your audience means to communicate the way they communicate, and not forcing them to learn your method of communication. If they describe a product as a service, then use the word "service" instead of product. Ask questions to clarify what they want to hear and then be as concise as possible in appealing to their need to understand what you’re discussing. And while there are lots of other ways to know your audience, which I’ll bring up in future articles, these basic tools are the foundation for accomplishing your goals in any presentation, meeting or communication.

Dragon – Speak and Type

"When David told me that he's speaking at typing speeds upwards of 500 words per minute I was blown away..."

I may have found the best tool since the invention of the keyboard. It's called Dragon Naturally Speaking. This is a piece of software that comes with a headset so I can speak what I want to write. Literally every word you're reading. I have spoken out loud. It was typed onto my screen for me.

I was introduced to Dragon by a colleague, David Lawrence, who runs The Efficient Practice. I was skeptical at first because I'm a fast typist. My typing speed is 95 to 105 words per minute with accuracy so why would I need a dictation device? When David told me that he's speaking at typing speeds upwards of 500 words per minute I was blown away and had to try it for myself. I've now been using Dragon for two months. And while I don't use it for every little thing I write. I do use it to write my blog and other long documents, as well as e-mails and even instant messaging.

I don't think I'm as fast as David's 500 words per minute but I am hitting at least 250 to 300 words per minute accurately. That's three times faster than my own typing speed. So what does that mean for my efficiency? It means I can write five articles in the time it would've taken to write one or two. This product has been so successful for me that I ordered a copy for all of my executives and managers.

If you'd like to get your own copy of Dragon naturally speaking version 10.0 call Joseph at Nuance.com at 866-771-6287ext 631#. Tell him the EfficientCEO sent you!

Can A Water Bottle Make You Efficient?

"This is no ordinary water bottle – this is the evolution of the water bottle."

With my focus on software technology, I sometimes forget that the world around us is full of other types of technology that we take for granted. From Post-It Notes to cell phones to TV remote controls to zip-loc plastic bags. I would hate to do without any of the advances that I’ve become so accustomed to, or dare I say dependent upon.

I’d like to introduce the latest technical advance that I CANNOT live without: it’s my new stainless steel filtered water bottle, the Ech2o from Ecousable.

This is no ordinary water bottle – this is the evolution of the water bottle. Certainly we’ve all heard about the number of plastic bottles that are going into landfills each year (approximately 26 billion in the USA) and how plastic bottles leach chemicals into the water, etc, etc. Of course being eco-conscious matters but until we, as individuals, find a personal reason to change, we won’t. So I’ll offer the reasons why I changed my entire practice of bottled water consumption AND why my new filtered water bottle makes me more efficient.

1. Never run out of clean, safe drinking water.
2. Conveniently refills from virtually any water source.
3. Stainless steel bottle travels very well, even through airport security.
4. Emergency water for any reason.

When I got my bottle I thought I might use it only for travel or 'from time-to-time'. What I’ve found is this bottle is always by my side. I no longer carry a case of plastic water bottles in my car. Now, when I’m running my errands, going to offsite meetings or traveling around town if I get thirsty and run out of water I can stop anywhere and fill up my bottle with any water – tap water from a bathroom or kitchen, drinking fountains, and the funny-tasting water from a soda fountain (you know, the water that tastes slightly like orange soda or raspberry tea?). No matter what water I’ve put into this bottle it has always tasted the same: CLEAN. And since the filter is world-class and removes 99.99% of pollutants, I know I can also drink from streams, lakes, swimming pools and everything except salt water – which is great in case of emergency.

The Ech2o filtered water bottle definitely makes me more efficient too. I no longer have to stop to buy water or run back inside my house when I forget to grab water to go, etc. I also no longer have to stock up on plastic bottles of water or refill them with filtered water from other sources.

The simplest of items, a water bottle, has now become infused in my daily life and I never want to be without one. I love my bottle and know you will too. Just go to www.GetTheBottle.com to place your order today.