No time like the present

Smart business owner managers have been using the recession as a time to gain new skills and wisdom; taking advantage of a range of short courses. Kevin Kevany reports.
This year you will increase your business knowledge and lead rather than manage.
Or will you?
It’s a brand new year. Are you one of those owner-managers who’ve taken-stock over Christmas and want to break the shackles of the last couple of years? Do something decisive about where you and your company are headed? A New Year’s resolution perhaps? Or are you preoccupied with ‘hanging-in there’ and hoping?
If it’s the latter; it’s time for a wake-up call. The holiday season is over. Ask WHK Business Growth’s Ian Skelton.
“Dinosaurs became extinct because they failed to adapt. The recession has changed the business world we operate in. No longer can we rest on our laurels. Those that seek to improve their skills and adapt their businesses will be the winners,” he says.
But to what end, you ask?
“Banks have tightened up their lending criteria and need proof that the owner has a robust understanding of the business and can demonstrate the validity of budgets and cashflow projections.
“Customer expectations of both service level and outcome have risen and will continue to rise. Are you prepared to improve in this area or do you run the risk of losing customers to your fiercest competitors? Evolution is alive and well in the business world and only the fittest will survive,” he warns.
That should have got your attention. Now let’s deal with the recession “excuse” first.
Rachel Hopkins, The ICEHOUSE marketing director reckons, irrespective of the state of the economy, real business leaders come “looking for opportunities for their business, rather than ‘management knowledge’ for themselves.
“In the real world, business owners are recognising their business won’t grow unless they grow themselves,” she says.  
“Over the past three tumultuous years, participants on The ICEHOUSE Owner Manager Programme have gained real benefit from both the structured business planning within our programmes and from the sharing of experiences with other business owners.
“You and we meet and benefit from the wisdom and experience of some very special individuals who create jobs and livelihoods for many New Zealanders and have worked hard through the recession to care for their teams.”
And if you feel this is all a bit too high-powered and arcane for you, take heed of the thoughts of Wellington’s Chris Elphick – a self-styled, practical guru with a range of experience and knowledge, and concerned about business owners’ lack of people skills.
“During the recession, smart business owners have continued to seek help and additional knowledge – the demand for my mentoring and coaching support has soared.
“As a country, we support entrepreneurial thinking, yet we lag behind many others when it comes to effectively managing and developing our people. This is where we let ourselves down. 
“We still are terrible at succession planning – a supervisor or manager is usually someone who is good at something else. The very best businesses, a small minority in my view, are trying to tackle this issue.
“But I think the smart business owners who run successful businesses are always seeking additional knowledge from a variety of sources. They are the ones who have a genuine commitment to continuous improvement. They see this as a way to do better business. They will read more, research the web, go to networking functions, train their staff, maybe use a coach or mentor, try out new ideas and so on.
“Those that ‘know it all’ never will; and their businesses will probably never fly,” says Elphick.
No time like now
Let’s check some facts with Darren Levy, director of executive development at The University of Auckland Business School, which celebrated its 40,000th Short Course attendee at the end of 2010.
“Activity across the board through The Business School Executive Development programmes during the period from 2008-2010, has been the strongest ever in the 14 year history of the programmes.
“The way in which programmes are being ‘consumed’ has changed as many businesses and owners have used the recession wisely to target learning-opportunities with laser-like focus. You could say the successful owners, managers and executives we work with ‘have not wasted a good recession’.
“The programmes tend to be where direct application by the owner/manager (or the team member they have nominated) can be made back in their business almost immediately. In general, the successful ones are self-aware of the skills and knowledge they need, yet the challenge is to extract themselves from being in the business to come to a programme to reflect and work on their business. They do understand they don’t know it all.”
Levy has the goods to back this up. Research conducted by the Business School’s Leadership Institute clearly shows that SME owner-managers ‘default to management’ at every opportunity.
“What this means is that we prefer to manage (hands on) and find this easier; rather than leading and understanding. This is also true in general business, where people tend to default to skills-training and development, rather than mindset development, such as leadership and relationship development, for example.”
Research specifically for a “Global Mindset Leadership Programme” for NZTE confirmed Kiwi business owners needed to develop a truly global mindset.
“This is an area we are very passionate and excited to be working on and an area that can make a measurable difference to business owners, their business and the country. With our vision to ‘lift the competency of the nation’, programmes like this take us ever-closer to achieving our BHAGs,” Levy says.
WHK Business Growth’s Skelton isn’t concerned about those who have a thirst for knowledge, make the effort and are keen to invest in their own business development.
“It’s the others I fear. After all, if they’re not prepared to invest in their business, why would they expect the bank to?”
He is most concerned that although 80 percent of business owners recognise the importance of improving their managerial capability, less than 20 percent engage in coaching and training to gain those skills.
“For most business owners the biggest issue is time and the use of it. At WHK we work with owners to turn busy business people into better-focused and informed business people, so they can make better business decisions, use their time more effectively and reap the benefit.
“Our Advance Programme doesn’t follow the traditional approach of chasing revenue growth first, which is an all too common mistake. We start by getting the business financially optimised, so the focus is on profitable growth,” says Skelton.
Elphick is another who likes to combine knowledge with hands-on experience. But he is adamant learners need to decide what they need and most importantly what will suit them and their life-and-work-styles.
“We all have different learning styles – firstly, we need to understand which style suits us best. There is a mass of stuff on the web which can be very confusing, even if we have the time to review it.”
He points to a relatively simple model formulated by Richard Felder and Linda Silverman, which assesses learning preferences on four dimensions.
“Take Active versus Reflective: active learners like to leap in and do it; reflective learners prefer to think about it a while. In the case of Sensing versus Intuitive; sensing learners like to learn in a logical facts-based way, whereas intuitive learners tend to learn in a more holistic way – to see the big picture first.
“When it comes to Visual versus Verbal; here visual learners need to see and experience, while, self-evidently, verbal learners need to hear to take in the facts being imparted.

“Finally, in the Sequential versus Global method; sequential learners tend to prefer steps – one thing following from the previous – whereas global learners will absorb seemingly unconnected information until suddenly seeing the big picture.
“Only you can decide the option or options which work for you. And you can always get help from professionals in deciding what will be best,” Elphick says.
Rachel Hopkins likes to let their customers do the talking.
“The ICEHOUSE understands how busy self-employed people like to learn. There’s no time-wasting or irrelevant academic theory. Their workshops and programmes are practical. You get to meet other owner-managers, share their ideas and, best of all, see how things are done in different industries. It’s a great way of benchmarking,” says Michael Guthrie, MD of Mainland Poultry, describing his experience.
“Savvy owner-managers recognise that they are the key to making things happen – the culture and progress of their business is often set by them,” Hopkins notes.
What are the benefits of the ICEHOUSE approach? Hopkins lists them as:
• Learn alongside other owner managers. You surround yourself with ambitious people across different industries to power your network and motivate your progress.
• Apply what you learn as you go. Take what you learn and apply it to your business. Learning in blocks over a period of time allows you to implement new initiatives and bring your team along with you as you make changes.
• Make sure you have access to the best information. University Business Schools have access to some of the world’s best practice information that is relevant to organizations both big and small. Find a programme that weaves theory and practice together in an environment that understands the unique perspective of being an owner with ‘skin in the game’.
Develop yourself
Darren Levy wants owners and managers to “think of their development in two simple and distinct areas”:
1. How can I develop the skills I need to be the best I can be? [He calls this “the how I do my business” piece.]
2. How can I develop a mindset that will help me, my business and my team become the best they can be? [This is the “why I do what I do and think how I think” piece.]
This is good separation, but what about the issues of time and especially ‘lifestyle’, and all that it embraces, with a generation not interested in ‘work, work, work’?
Levy again: “With 60 percent of employees worldwide (Gallup survey) feeling significant pressure to work too much, it is crucial that businesses and individuals take the necessary time to develop themselves and thereby to become more productive and better users of time.
“SMEs also need to prepare for the market to rebound and the challenges of finding skilled workers will become apparent once more. The key is to be strategic about development at all times, whether boom or bust. This will create a sustainable competitive advantage for your business.”
Levy believes that by continuing to develop yourself with a postgraduate or Masters degree and by committing to life-long learning, through options such as short courses, you can differentiate yourself from the pack. This, he reckons, will help to build your own personal brand and help you to advance your career, and at the very least – if the recession lingers – be more likely to secure your employment.
Overall, attendees looking back on the benefits of attending short courses point to the priceless, ‘practical-and-adaptable’ experience they gain from working with a range of different people with the full spectrum of approaches to problems.
Then there’s the ‘networking effect’, the great intangible which generates contacts and a myriad of options.
An eye opener
Some institutions offer ongoing coaching and monitoring. Renee Greenland from RG Design recently engaged on the WHK Advance programme and had the proverbial “Damascene experience”.
“The optimiser session really opened my eyes to how badly I had been running the accounts for my business. The time my customers were taking to pay me was incredible – I was acting as a bank for them, while I was struggling with cashflow.
“Sitting with Ian and Amy and going through the different scenarios of what my most profitable type of work is and what my income needed to be – to achieve my goals – really helped us to make a plan for the year ahead.”
Was there a practical application back into the business?
“Most definitely, I was inspired to take action immediately,” says Greenland. This meant creating better systems for my accounts and my method of invoicing. Already my cashflow has improved immensely.”
And what does the monthly coaching session do for her?
“Being a ‘solopreneur’, my weeks are pretty full-on, so monthly sessions are ideal. It gives me time to follow through on the plans set each session. The changes I’m making to my business don’t happen overnight, so after a month I have results to take back to my coach.
“I also need to have someone to be accountable to. Strengthening my business is an on-going process and I wanted to work with someone step-by-step the whole way. I also like the fact that I can use the skills and knowledge from a range of coaches to get the most out of my business.”