The power of no

f nv a Seth Godin fan. If you are not familiar with him, lyou.just might want to be. Indisputably one of the great marketing minds of our time, Seth is a clear and poignant communicator of big, important ideas. Simply put, his messages matter not only to your ultimate professional success, but to the success ofyour industry overall.

Recently, Seth posted the following list of "no's" on his blog:

No.

No, we don't take clients like that. No, that's not part of what we offer.

. No, that market is too hard for us to service properly.

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. No,I won't bend on this principle.

No, I'm sorry,I won't be able to have lunch with you.

. No, that's not good enough. Will you please do it again?

No, I'm not willing to lose my focus, and no, I'm not willing to compromise.

A simple but effective reminder of how critical it is to know who you-and your brand-are, is served up in the power of a single word: no.

The clearer you can be about who you are, the stronger and more valuable your offering, and your brand, will be. When you know who you are-what your values are, what you stand for, what you will offer and how-the better able you can be in setting the necessary boundaries. In plain language, it's about learning to say "no" to the many opportunities in which you could partake but, when push comes to shove, probably shouldn't.

As is reiterated by the French artisan baker Lionel PoilAne, "In business, it is very important to be able to say 'no' when you feel like saying 'yes' would mean losing your soul."

Knowing who you are remains at the core of our decisions and is a powerful place to come from when so many either don't know who they are or worse, try to become too many things to too many people. In short: When you know who you a"re, you can focus. When you know who you are, you can say, "No."

I find it curious that many people feel they have to be dishonest to others when faced with a choice between making up a story or simply saying: "No, I'm sorry I won't be able to have lunch with you." Why should the reality be so difficult to say? Far too many people feel they have to come up with some excuse or reason as to why they cannot-or simply do not want to-do something that's not in the best interest of themselves personally or professionally.

The implications of this disempowered state-the avoidance of a simple no-is highly relevant to what occurs in more important, professional matters. And, that is to say nothing of what it is like to be on the receiving end of disempowered people. For example, if I ask you to lunch and you claim you didn't get my voice message until too late, but when your story doesn't add up, the result is that I no longer trust you. The very outcome you were hoping for-to not damage our relationship because you simply don't feel like lunching today or have other things you'd rather do-is exactly what results.

I find it sad so many talented people feel so vulnerable professionally that they don't yet know the freedom and success that can result when they finally stake claim as to who they really are.

In the words of the late Steve Jobs: "And it comes from saying 'no' to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We're always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it's only by saying 'no' that you can concentrate on the things that are really important."

Many of us admire the contributions and brilliance of Steve Jobs and wish we could be more like him. What we fail to recognize, however, is that the opportunity to be the kind of person worthy of our own admiration is always right in front of us. And it's summed up in a two-letter word: no.

Now, let's make this personal:

1. What are your top five values?

2. What is your ideal professional reputation? Write it down.

3. Do your answers to the above align with your organization's brand?

4. How well do your daily interactions deliver on your ideal professional reputation - your personal leadership brand?

5. If I came to your organization and spoke with the people with whom you most interact, how many would be able to recite your answer to questions 1 andZ?

Given the above revelations, what is the one thing (yes, one thing) you most need to focus on in 2013? And, given the above, are you committed to using the word "no" a little bit more? I hope the answer to that is, well, yes.

- Susanne Biro is a senior leadership coach with Bluepoint Leadership Development, Loveland, Oh., and coauthor ofUnleashed! Leader as Coach as well as the Leader as Coach Workshop. Reach her at susannebiro@ bluepointleadership.com or (888) 22i,-8685.

Reprinted with permission of Bluepoint Leadership Development. No portion of this article may be reproduced without its ftneceov can strike anyone at anyI. time. [n fact. no company or family can escape some crisis at one time or another. First, let's define crisis. It's any unplanned event, occurrence or sequence of events that you have not had to deal with before. It might be external to the business: an economic downturn, hurricane, terrorism, earthquakes. It can also be internal to the business: the death or disability of the founder, workplace violence, product failure, management failure.

Whatever the cause, the keY to survival is planning and the ability to take the long view. Traditionally, family businesses have been better able to do this and, as a result, are often more resilient. For example, the owners of a family-owned clothing store in the heart of New Orleans were the first to reopen their business, just seven weeks after Katrina hit. They credit their recovery to a lot of luck, meticulous planning, and a large dose of determination.

Just imagine that you got a call in the middle of the night from the town's fire department telling you that your building was in flames that were spreading quickly. Imagine that you began to suspect your c.f.o. of manipulating the books to pad his own pockets. What are you doing to prepare for any of these?

Too far-fetched? Imagine that on your way to work tomorrow You have a pain in your chest and down Your left arm. You ignore it until lunch when your assistant, worried about how you look, insists on calling the doctor. You are rushed to the hospital and. soon after. die in the operating room. What do your family and business do to survive your sudden death?

What have you done to plan for this?

Let's look at some of the things you can do to plan and prePare:

Planning: Obviously, prevention is best. The irony is that the very definition of a crisis is that it is an event that can't be fully planned for. However, there are things you can do.

For example, you can evaluate the ways in which your family or company are most vulnerable to a catastrophe. Try to identify possible risks and what can cause them, evaluating the probability of such an event. Any company should have an internal "alarm system." In the best companies, bad news travels up fast. PaY attention to the warnings about product problems, about fire hazards, about bizarre employee behavior, and employees' concerns about a succession plan for the founder.

Preparation' Put a crisis Plan in place before one is needed. One study found that the cost of preparing for a natural disaster was one-seventh the cost incurred without preparation. So, it pays to plan.

(1) Create a crisis management team and identify a spokesperson who is prepared to be the ideal company spokesperson to the stakeholders, public, clients, suppliers, etc.

(2) Develop a manual describing what is done and who does what in the event of a crisis. Keep plans current.

(3) Always keep an uP-to-date employee contact list and make sure key executives have copies of that list on their cell phones or in their wallets. Rubenstein laminates a wallet-sized card for each manager with contact information for several employees.

(4) Consider establishing a company phone number outside of the imme- diate area code for employees to contact for updates.

(5) Evaluate your company data and where you back it up. If possible, store important information related to customer records, inventory, accounts payable, sales, insurance and auditing offsite.

(6) If you are forced to evacuate, take as many forms of communication as possible with you. Laptops, PDAs, and cell phones are all valuable tools for getting in touch with employees. The more avenues of communication, the better.

(7) If possible, pay your employees to help retain them. Establish directdeposit payroll accounts for all employees, ideally managed by an offsite payroll.

(8) Make sure you review your insurance policies annually and know what your coverage includes, especially in the event of a catastrophe. Read those policies carefully.

(9) Be accountable to and for all you employees. Plan for methods to reassure employees and to account for missing employees, if necessary. Identify alternative places to work. Counseling may be needed, immediately and longer term.

Death at the Top

As the song says, "Everybody wants to get to heaven but no one wants to die." Death is not a subject that any of us want to dwell on, especially if it's our own. However, founders of companies who don't have a succespion plan can create financial as well ab emotional chaos in the company they have nurtured and spent their lives on. The risks are high and the problem is real. I

According to a Mass Mutual/ Raymond Foundation survey, of the c.e.o.s 6l years or older who plan to retire in five years, 55Vo had not chosen a successor. In two companies we now work with, the employees are very concerned that there is no succession plan for the founder/president.

Good stewardship is the hallmark of responsible family business ownership. It requires us to protect and care for what has been entrusted to us in our businesses. Others come to rely on owners for many things, not the least of which is their leadership during a crisis. This expectation creates an immense responsibility: to anticipate the needs of the business, especially in the event of the ultimate crisis. an unexpected death.

Create a short-term leadership team who will meet with advisors and stockholders. Decide who will be the spokesperson for the leadership team, to communicate with your customers, banks, and other stakeholders, giving reassurance that it's business as usual. Tell the truth and tell it fast with openness and consistency, being realistically upbeat and reassuring. Be as specific as you can.

Develop a written document-an emergency management letterdescribing who does what and what is done. It should also include:

Guiding philosophy: What overriding principles of your business are important for your successors to continue?

Interim structures: How should the company be managed, the family organized around it, and ownership handled in the interim and the future?

Direction and outside support: Who should be involved in determining key issues related to direction of the company, and how should that input be organized?

Benchmarks: What metrics, or key success factors, need to be monitored-and what should those benchmarks be?

Location of documents.' Where do you keep the important personal and business documents that will be needed in handling that transition?

Finally, involve the stockholders, board, executive management team, and family to put into operation the plans that you've made. Keep plans current and review them regularly. Have disaster drills. Meet with your family and board. Begin the meeting with: "You have just had a phone call that I have been hit by a beer truck. I don't survive. Now, what is the plan? Who's going to do what, when?"

How quickly both the company and the employees rebound is directly related to the planning and preparation completed beforehand. Knowing what to do and how to do it, while in the midst of the crisis, gives everyone a sense ofcontrol and security that helps the recovery phase. As the saying goes, "failing to plan is planning to fail."

- Jane Hilburt-Davis is president of family business consulting firm Key Resources, LLC, Boston, Ma., and coauthor of Consulting to Family Businesses. Reach her at (617) 577-0044 or at j .hilb urtdavis @ c omcast.com.

Reprinted with permission of Key Resources LLC. No portkn of this article may be reproduced without its permission.

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