This week PricewaterhouseCoopers released the results of a survey of 1,300 CEOs worldwide showing a fairly optimistic outlook on the global economy for 2014. In fact more than 60% of CEOs in the United States said they planned to increase hiring this year versus last. What’s interesting is the amount of confusion in the market right now. While we see this high degree of optimism among U.S. CEO’s we are reading about layoffs at Best Buy, JC Penney and Macy’s. Even Johnson & Johnson, a stalwart of Wall Street, and one of 4 companies to still carry a triple-A-rating showed signs of concern in yesterday’s financial news indicating a “slowing due to weak prescription drug sales”. The other 3 companies maintaining a triple-A status include ADP, ExxonMobil, and Microsoft.

In our data hungry society we have the ability to create one story that shows extreme confidence supported by data, and at the same time build another story that shows the complete opposite…supported by credible data. The Consumer Confidence Index shows a slight increase in December 2013 but is still below 80. The national unemployment rate is below 7%. And the stock market seems to be unstoppable. All data points that suggest improvements in the economy and beyond.

But peel another layer off the onion and you’ll see that the number of American’s on food stamps has doubled in the last 10 years. In the last 5 years alone there has been a 51% increase in households on food stamps. In just the first few weeks of 2014 nearly 35,000 jobs have been eliminated by some of the companies mentioned above, as well as, others including HP, Kmart, Sears, and Intel. Major companies from Target to Trader Joe’s have announced major cutbacks in employee benefits due directly to the negative impact Obamacare has had on their business.

And now we get to the heartbeat of our country…small business. The latest survey of small business confidence put out monthly by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) shows lagging confidence, low expected hiring rates for 2014, and still limited access to credit markets. The report goes on to indicate that the economy, Obamacare, and the current political climate makes expansion less likely as small business owners tend to withdraw from risk when facing these types of issues.

So how can there be such a disconnect between the confidence of small business owners and that of corporate CEOs? Perhaps it could be the fact that many large companies simply have more options. Capital markets and debt markets are two places large corporations can access that small businesses can’t…or at least struggle to.  Healthcare reform, company benefits, and “big company perks” are areas where many small businesses also struggle to compete.  Finally, there is some interesting data from NFIB that shows a signficant increase in the sale of small businesses.  What would be more interesting is to see how many of these small businesses have actually been gobbled up by larger companies taking them out of the equation altogether.  I’ll dig into this more to see what I can find.  If you have any thoughts please comment.

The fact is, we should be spending our time watching what small business is doing rather than relying on what they’re saying.  Some times there is a disconnect between what we say and what we do.  Not because anyone is trying to mislead, but instead because our actions speak to our reality far more accurately than our words.  Listen AND observe.  It’s not either or…there is much to be learned.

PTO, otherwise known as Paid Time Off, is a topic that evokes major emotions from employees across just about every industry type. Relatively new, PTO seems to have been introduced in the late 1990s as a way to move from traditional vacation time to more of a “bank”-type program. PTO provides an employee with a certain number of hours each year that they can use as they wish…vacation time, sick time, bereavement time, etc. But is PTO driving your employees to be more or less productive? The answer lies in how companies, and more specifically how bosses, manage their employees PTO time.

Human beings are interesting creatures. We require rules, guidelines, and parameters to operate within. In the absence of rules or laws we have chaos. However, even in light of having rules and laws there are still those who hold little regard for doing what they’re told. When someone breaks a law they are called a criminal, yet when someone pushes back against a policy at work they are often referred to as either a trouble maker or a progressive thinker…it all depends on the type of culture they work within.

Many companies are pushing the envelope when it comes to paying their employees for time away from work. Companies like Motely Fool and HubSpot have unlimited vacation time for which they pay their employees. Both companies say that by treating their employees like adults they get better performance. While I agree in concept, the challenge arises when we experience people having different definitions of what it means to be, and act, like an adult.

Still there are companies who have chosen to rule with an iron first. They micro manage PTO to a level that can at times create distrust between management and its employees. Worse yet, these companies end up forcing employees to make decisions based upon the impact that decision will have on their PTO. Do I leave early to go to the doctors and get docked for PTO? Do I stay home during a winter storm or hurricane or go into the office? Do I pick up my child from daycare early because she’s sick?

If management held its employees accountable for their performance at the highest level than PTO would be a moot point. It is in my experience that organizations that continue to employ non-performers are the ones that try to exert the most control…because they have to.  But docking an employee an hour here, and an hour there for time away doesn’t lead to better results. It simply leads to the perpetuation of tepid results at best.

In order to solve the PTO dilemma companies must first decide upon the culture they want to develop. If it’s one of performance then create the structure that provides clear expectations relative to results along with the tools provided to achieve those results. If your goal is to create a culture of dependency and command and control style management then a rigid PTO policy may be exactly what you need to keep your folks in line.

Now more than ever, companies can create highly productive work forces by leveraging technology more so that traditional command and control policies. Before making any changes to your policy first ask yourself what’s most important to you and your business followed by how do I feel about the employees I have today relative to their ability to executing what I define as most important.

Mixing Personal with Professional – Can it be done?.

One of America’s most quoted writers of the 19th century, William Arthur Ward said, “if you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it.”  The truth in that statement is evident throughout the history of the world.  The capacity and capabilities of the human mind are impressive, and sometimes unbelievable.  Imagination creates ideas, which in turn drive inventions that lead to further innovations, and ultimately affect the evolution of our civilization.  Going back in time there are countless examples of how imagination led to major improvements in the quality of life for that generation and beyond.

Inventions like fire and the wheel, to penicillin and electricity, and more recently to the combustion engine and computer, the human race has traveled far since we first stepped foot on this planet 200,000 years ago.  We have dreamed big and accomplished much.  We have brought the world closer together with communication devices beginning with the telephone and television to cell phones and Skype, and now we’re about to see a new device that will combine all our communication and media needs into a watch! Finally, all those nifty gadgets that have only been available to James Bond will now be within reach.

But as we travel the technology highway leveraging new software, hardware, middleware and any other kinds of “wares” are we really evolving or are we digressing as a civilization? Not long ago we took pride in our ability to meet people and interact with them in the most human of ways…through speech. Even before the most popular languages of the world became official, humans communicated with sounds, noises, pictures, and touch. Leaders were identified by their ability to communicate and influence. These skills were learned and perfected over years of varying experiences. And one of the most powerful experiences that develop human beings is our ability to navigate successfully through conflict.

As I look at our children’s generation I wonder how effective they will be able to manage conflict in the future. Personal and professional conflict are challenging enough but world conflict is what I find more troubling. It’s unbelievable to me that as we near the end of 2013, email has become a bit passé.  Texting and instant messaging have become the communication tools of choice for the younger generation. Kids no longer sit on the phone for hours with their friends. In fact, if you have kids, when was the last time your home phone rang with one of your child’s friends on the other line? It’s far more likely that instead of talking live they have chosen to text one another.

I’ve watched good news, bad news, funny news, and everything in between be communicated through texting, and it’s left me wondering…

Human beings are emotional creatures if nothing else. How will we evolve in the future if all of the emotional aspects of our lives are synthesized into an electronic communication? Do we risk becoming desensitized? Where will this generation, and the next, find joy? What will cause their pain? As they become accustomed to receiving bad news from a device versus another human won’t they in fact become numb to bad news? How will they develop the coping skills required to grow and develop? Usually those skills come from interacting with other people by making a connection with one of our senses. If you can’t see who you are dealing with, nor can you hear them, or touch them how will those skills be learned. Perhaps they won’t.

Communication devices and tools most certainly serve a purpose. However, I would suggest that for life’s most important events, put the device down and engage the old-fashioned way…with speech, with sight, with human connection. Not only is this way more fulfilling emotionally but it allows our innate skills, our instincts, to flourish and continue to developing.

Years ago I was invited to join a SPIN class. Spinning isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s a grueling hour+ exercise class that pushes your boundaries…if you let it. Like any other type of exercise, you get what you put in. Sure there are people that go to a class and coast…literally. But then there are those who push their own limits to achieve new mental heights and physical accomplishments.  You test yourself to see what you’re made of, what limits you can blast through.  You learn a lot about yourself and what you’re capable of achieving.

So what does leadership have in common with Spinning? What characteristics can be borrowed and shared between the two? Consider the following:

Leadership, like Spinning, requires a huge amount of energy.  Endurance and stamina are also required, and the more you have of each the better your results.  In addition, great leaders, like great cyclists need rhythm, discipline, focus, desire, and most of all integrity.

• Rhythm is extremely important to both leadership and Spin. You need to have a regular rhythm to running your business.  A normalcy for when you host meetings, when you communicate to customers and employees, how you recognize top performers.  Spin requires a steady rhythm as well.  Consistent pedal strokes are important to maintaining your energy levels so you can finish the race.
• Discipline is something all leaders must have. It’s easy to share the good news, but challenging times requires a greater degree of discipline to maintain a steady flow of communication.  Great leaders know that staying disciplined will help them pull through the toughest storms.  Spin too requires discipline.  It’s not easy to get up at 4:30 am to get to a 5 am Spin class.  But with that discipline comes the benefits of better endurance, stamina and energy.
• Focus is another requirement of great leaders and cyclists.  When leading  an organization an effective leader must have the power of focus.  Jack Canfield’s book The Power of Focus offers great insight into this critical element of success.  One specific chapter, “If You’re Feeling Swamped, Get Help!”  In Spin class when you feel you can’t do more, you’re simply out of gas, you rely on those around you to help you focus and get through it.  The Boardroom is no different.  Great leaders know what NOT to focus on as much as what TO focus on while collaborating with their team to achieve that focus.
• Desire, or will, is necessary for all great leaders.  It is also required for surviving a SPIN class.  Having a strong will, or constitution as some call it, is essential to being an effective leader.  If no desire or will exists you will struggle with all the other elements required to be successful including the ones already listed above.  A strong will drives you through difficult business circumstances, much like how your will takes over 35 minutes into a SPIN class when you’ve hit a wall and giving up becomes a possible option.  It’s your will, your desire to finish, that drives you forward.
• Integrity, the final element that shares a connection with leadership and SPIN, is perhaps the most important.  You can do all of the above perfectly but if your intentions lack integrity they simply don’t matter.  Integrity, like character, is defined as what you do when no one else is looking.  It’s making the right decision even when that decision may come at a personal cost to you.  In SPIN class when the instructor says “add a gear”, no one but you knows how much gear you’ve added, if any.  You’re tired, exhausted, breathless…do you add gear or fake it?  Integrity is about turning the dial up when the only person that knows is you.  In business you’re faced with tough decisions, some visible and some not.  Great leaders are consistent when making decisions in public as much as in private.  They do what’s right even when no one is looking.

America’s history is filled with successful compromise.  That’s what makes our country so great.  People of different backgrounds, experiences, ideas, and  opinions coming together to debate and decide on the best path forward.  And while I’m not naive, or remotely suggesting that the big decisions we’ve made in the past have been easy, I am saying that we seem to have been able to place country first.  One of the most memorable quotes of all times that illustrates the importance of country first, came when Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey team said to his team, remember, “the name on the front (of the jersey) is a hell of a lot more important than the one on the back.”  If we start with that premise, believe it, and embrace it we can begin to work toward better outcomes.

Here are 3 ideas that could help us focus on getting big things accomplished that will help the United States move forward:

1. Re-define essential.  A quick trip back to review our Constitution suggests that there are certain things our government must provide.  Use those items as the starting point in defining what must be considered “essential” when negotiating in and with Congress.  The only truly essential guarantee referenced within the Preamble of our Constitution “provides for the common defence.”  Defence is defined as “resistance against danger, attack, or harm.  The other five elements could be viewed as “best intentions” statements.  Words like insure and promote are not guarantees.  Given the brilliance of our Founding Fathers, I believe that if they truly wanted to guarantee Tranquility or domestic welfare they would have used stronger words such as ensure versus insure.
2. Term limits.  Politics was never meant to be a career.  I’d suggest that prior to Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR), most people who entered political life held the view that they would serve for a period of time and move on.  In fact, at our country’s founding, many of our first leaders gave up significant riches to serve in America’s political arena.  Prior to John F. Kennedy’s presidency, U.S. Presidents paid for parties thrown at the White House out of their own pocket.  I’d propose setting an 8 year term limit across the board.  For those in Congress, it would provide 8 years should they have presidential aspirations to accomplish big things…it would create a sense of urgency to really showcase leadership and negotiation skills… required elements of our government leaders.
3. Adjust corporate tax rates.  The United States has the highest corporate tax rate of any developed nation in the world topping out at 39.1%.  This level of tax rate results in U.S. based companies expanding elsewhere, foreign companies avoiding U.S. shores, and domestic companies parking huge sums of cash offshore.  Just look at Apple’s balance sheet as an example.  Currently Apple parks more than $100 billion dollars in offshore accounts.  To bring these dollars back to the states would result in huge tax assessments to the company that would have a negative effect on all of Apple’s stakeholders from employees, to customers, to stockholders.  This capital is sitting idle when it could be placed to work or deployed in ways that create new jobs, drive new innovations, and grow our economy.

None of these 3 ideas are completely new concepts to consider.  However, I’ve often found that during times of uncertainty when line of sight is obstructed, the simpler the idea is, the quicker the road to improvement.

What’s your point of view?  How do you think Obamacare will affect the country and our economy?  What are the implications of the United States interactions overseas?  How do you feel about the solvency of Social Security?  These topics and many others are front and center in our daily lives.  They have overreaching effects on us as individuals, employees, families, and communities.  And so…what do you think?

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who didn’t have an opinion?  Or worse, who expressed an opinion they were unable to support or back-up?  Our culture of soundbites has left many people believing they know enough to have an opinion, but not really.  Little snippets provided to us by the “media”.  Data points that no one validates, or perhaps pieces of information spun in a way that slant the viewpoint of a story.  An example of this can be found in the monthly national employment numbers.

Each month between the ADP National Employment Report and the official government data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the country is provided with a number for the unemployment rate.  August’s number from the BLS was 7.3%.  While this number has dropped over the past 12 months it does not by any means indicate a strong and robust economic recovery.  Only by diving deep into the data can one gather the facts to form their own opinion, and one they can support and defend.  By understanding the rocketing increase in the number of part-time jobs being worked, and the concept behind the term “marginally attached” you may form a different opinion on the health of our economy.

So how do you keep up with these highly sensitive and emotionally charged topics?  How can you maintain a valid point of view and one you can support and defend?  How can you begin to position yourself as a deep thinker…a thought leader?  Follow these 3 steps to get started:

1. Read.  As the old saying goes, knowledge is power.  Educating yourself on a broad set of world events will add value to your conversations.  Your ability to draw correlations between current events and how they may impact you, your family, community and company will position you as a sought-after thought leader.
2. Network.  Surrounding yourself with only those people who think like you is a dangerous strategy.  Doing this creates tunnel vision and leads to shallow or narrow perspectives.  Build a close network of friends or colleagues that share different viewpoints.  The key here is to first establish trust and respect.  If these two elements are present then it becomes much easier to move to the third step…
3. Debate.  Now turn to your small group of trusted associates and test your opinions.  Go back and forth sharing your thoughts and perspectives on a given topic.  Provide your data points, make your case.  Have them do the same.  You’ll find that in the end, while your blood pressure may have risen during the debate (which is completely natural if done right), you will walk away a more enlightened and deeper thinker.

Follow this road map and in no time you’ll find yourself engaged in highly charged, challenging, and educational conversations.  You will have your knowledge tested and expanded, ultimately leading you to become a deep, and thoughtful thinker.

5 Best Practices for Maintaining Intense Focus.