Business owners, will you be keeping one eye on your e-mails on Christmas Day? According to recent research 1 in 5 of us will be. I can picture it now, a sneaky look at your phone secreted under your Christmas napkin and then all hell breaking loose when you’re spotted!

These stats make for interesting reading:

• 75% of UK small business owners will work to some degree during the entire festive season
• A mere 12% of small business owners expect to switch off for the whole of the Christmas period
• Around 60%  working on Christmas Day will work more than six hours, with 18% working more than ten
• Over 60% who do take Christmas Day off will be straight back on Boxing Day

You could expect these figures for Christmas Day if they were coming from the hospitality industry, and of course retail returns with a bang again with Boxing Day sales, but these are across a wide range of SMEs. So what about other owners? Some will take the ‘down’ time to catch up on paperwork, some to think about the coming year and some may just want the excuse to escape from relatives.

For many though it’s the pressure of having to keep up with work. The ‘one man band’ may not have a choice. Larger businesses work over the festive period perhaps because the owners don’t trust their team and manager(s) to run things without them. It’s said to be the reason why so many businesses in the UK remain in ‘startup’ mode instead of scale-up.

So if you have a team but you still need to supervise and double check their every move, take a moment to think about ‘why?’ And then, what better time with the New Year approaching to think about what you’ll do to change things. 

Michael Gerber says in the E-Myth,

“If your business depends on you, then you don’t own a business, you have a job, and it’s the worst job in the world, because you’re working for a lunatic!’’ 

He’s right, because quite often, as business owners, we are lunatics. We’re control freaks. We’re demanding. Demanding of ourselves. We insist on long hours and hard work, and really, that’s the technician, in us, the person who feels that they have to do everything.

Serious business owners and entrepreneurs can take time off whenever they want and their income still comes in. They have two fundamental things: 

• They have systems
• They have good people to run those systems.

I’ll be taking a full two weeks off this festive season. I’m not saying this smugly, I’m saying it because it actually took me a while to get to this point.

To get to the point where I don’t feel guilty to get to the point where I can trust my team to do what needs to be done, where I have that level of trust. And to plan work so that I can also give my team a good break.

The trust that allowed me a totally switched off three weeks last Summer has come from having the strong systems in place that I need, having the team in place to get on and follow the systems, and achieve our goals.  We business owners talk endlessly about how to engage and reward people and what better way than enabling them to get on unhindered by our daily meddling. Ask yourself how you would like to work for someone constantly looking over your shoulder and that’s how your team will feel. Simple, logical, repeatable systems, and a good team to run them, are the root to stress-free holidays, to long weekends off, to any weekend off, and to financial and time freedom.

Holidays, for me, are absolutely vital for continuing to do good work for my clients, continuing to come up with new ideas, or better ways of doing things. That all just comes out of resting my brain, stopping the relentless running and rushing around to see clients, or to develop and deliver programmes. It’s really, really important that you take that time to rest and relax, and you can only do that, as a business owner, if you have the systems in place, if you have the team in place.

I’d love you to think about that, if you recognise yourself here. 

Simple, logical, repeatable systems, and a good team to run them.

Do one thing: Let this be your goal for 2019.

    •        you will not be working bank holidays
    •        you will not be working weekends
    •        you won’t be working 60 or 70+ hour weeks

Instead, you’ll be spending quality time with the people that you love, with your animals or whatever you love doing beyond your work.

Merry Christmas from all of the MPL team x

In my business I often come across managers with one thing in common; they are flying by the seat of their pants! People who are ‘accidental managers’. You know, the great team member who is plucked from their team and given a management role or the talented business owner who finds themselves managing people as their business grows. They have little or no training or development and rely on what they’ve learned along the way from managers around them, good or bad. And if you need a great management role model, we can learn some really crucial lessons from Gareth, and his signature waistcoat.* ​

Lesson 1 - Nurture your Culture
Many clients say to me, ‘I really want to improve the culture of my business. I want to get it right.’ So what can we learn from Gareth? First of all, he had a really clear idea of what he wanted the culture of Team England to be. The thing with culture is that it starts with values; it starts with the values of the person at the top. Gareth clearly is a man who has strong opinions, strong values, a really clear idea of how he wants to operate. What I think he did brilliantly was choose people for his team who shared those values. I don't think it's any mistake that certain people were not brought into the England setup, people who maybe had massive egos, big superstar baggage or people for whom it was ‘all about them.’
 Just look at the individuals within that team and how well he brought them together. Regardless of what team they came from, he managed to bring in those people who shared his values, who bought into the idea that ‘we are one team,' and he did a fantastic job of building that culture.

He talks about the England DNA. If you think about the last 20 plus years, the England DNA has been big egos; it's been superstars; its been cliques, it’s not been about pride in wearing the England shirt. Look how many people have pulled out of playing for England, have not seen it as a real privilege. They've seen it as a chore, and he, in a very short space of time, has been able to turn that around.

The fact that he'd raised a few of these guys from a very young age as manager of the England under-21s, proves there’s an awful lot to be said for growing your own talent - bring in the attitude and then develop the skill. 

Obviously, with football you have to have natural talent, but attitude is so, so important. In a lot of situations it's not the superstars who win, it's the collective, it's the team. Look at Croatia - great example. Look at England - great example. We got all the way to the semi-finals, and Argentina with Lionel Messi went out. Portugal with Ronaldo went out. The collective, bringing together a great team, will always win, and Gareth Southgate as the manager was responsible for that.

So great first lesson, nurture the culture you want to build. Think about your values; it starts with values, then bringing in people who share those values.

Lesson  2 - Build Unity 
Within the England setup, there was no us and them. There was no ‘the staff and the players’. That was really clear from what you saw on TV, how they were with the physios and the psychologist and with Gareth himself. Although a few of them did slip into calling him ‘Gaffer’ they mostly called him Gareth, which was just unheard of in the past. There was no us and them. Absolutely, they were one.

Gareth Southgate was great as a manager in sharing any praise. It was always, ‘We, the team,’ ‘We, the squad,’ ‘We, the entire group of staff and players.’ And taking responsibility for any blame, ‘Yeah, I'm responsible. I'm the manager.’ I absolutely loved that he was brilliant at sharing praise and shouldering blame.
He was also very good at supporting those who were having a hard time. Take Raheem Sterling, the England scapegoat; Gareth was great at protecting him and keeping his confidence high. Not just because he recognised that Raheem was so crucial to the team effort, but also just because this was in line with his values, that he would look after the team. He would keep that person feeling confident and part of the team.

So the second lesson is unity. Make your business one team.

Lesson three - Develop Relationships 
As a manager, you need to build great relationships, and Gareth did just that with his competitors. 

When you saw him going around at the end of each match they played, he seemed genuine in his congratulations to the other players, to the other staff, made a really big point of shaking hands with everybody. Perhaps that’s easy when you’ve won, but even in defeat, when it must have been absolutely killing him when they lost to Croatia, you saw him going around to every single member of their team and to the staff, hugging them, congratulating them. 

Then going to his own team to just remind them how far they'd come and how well they’d done. Building relationships was really important, just as he did with the managers of the players he brought into the England squad. He didn't antagonise them in the old ‘club versus country’ way, but was just very firm, fair, and friendly with everybody that he had dealings with.

So the third lesson is about building relationships.

Lesson 4 - Inspire and Motivate
One of the common questions I get asked by people on our Management Development Programme is, ’What's the difference between a manager and leader?’  

There'll be books written on how managers are the logistic experts, they just keep things ticking along. A big part of a management role is making sure that the attention to detail is there, that mistakes aren’t made and if they are, that they're learned from and so on.

But these days in any business, you have to be a leader as well. You have to inspire and motivate the team, and quiet as his media persona was, our Gareth was clearly a very inspiring and motivating guy. He didn't immediately crack the whip. When he first met with the squad, he took them into a room and shared his vision of what it was like to be an England player and how privileged they were to wear the three lions shirt.    
That is something I find that a lot of managers and business owners miss. They miss sharing their vision. ‘Where is this all headed? Where are we all going together as a team and why?’ He inspired and motivated them so well. 

He clearly showed them how much he believed in them, and as a result, they believed in themselves. Every interview there was no talk of, ‘Oh, well, crikey. If we get to the quarterfinals, we'll be lucky. We'll have overachieved.’ No. ‘We're going to win this. We're going to win this.’ That's what inspired the country. It's coming home. He got those players to believe that they could win it, that they really could win it.

He also treated them like adults. Sometimes, particularly new/young managers feel their role is to be the boss, to talk at people, to tell them what to do. When you have adults or adult conversations with people in your team, when you give them the training and development and support that they need, when you really believe in them and remember that you have a responsibility to help them to fulfil their potential, that's when you get your team to take ownership. That's when people start to step up and go, ‘All right. I'm responsible for this. This is my job.’ And you saw that right through the tournament with England. The team were taking ownership. The team were taking responsibility, and they were acting like adults. 

Fourth lesson - look to inspire and motivate your team to build ownership and belief.

Lesson Five - Have fun!
It became obvious as the tournament progressed that the team were enjoying themselves. They had an enormous amount of fun, which was something, again, that Gareth Southgate encouraged. He wanted them to enjoy themselves.

We are lucky with what we do, a lot of us, and why not have fun doing it? Why not encourage our teams to have fun? People are at work for so many hours of the day, it's part of our responsibility as managers to help people enjoy it, not to dread coming into work and be managed by us.

Fifth lesson- create an enjoyable workplace. This goes back to culture and values as well.

Lesson 6 - Learn, learn, and then learn some more!
The final thing that I really wanted to bring up as a lesson from Gareth was his desire to learn, his desire to be the best possible manager he could be. Look how he went and studied other really successful people, both in sport and in industry. He really wanted to learn how the most successful teams operate, and he left no stone unturned. He will continue to learn. He'll have already learned lessons from this tournament. He'll already be preparing for the next because he wants to be the best he can be. 

That's really what I want for each of you. I want you to be the best possible people managers that you can be. So think about the lessons from Gareth. Think about your values and your culture. Think about how you can create unity in your team. Think about the development and support that you're giving not to the team as a whole, not just to the stars, but to every single individual, however minor their role is in the team.

Think about the relationships you're building and how they will help you to be a better manager. Think about how much you're inspiring and motivating the team who work with you, and then think about how you're going to become a better manager, what you need to do, the skills you need to develop, where you can learn those lessons that you need to learn to keep improving, keep developing, and be the best manager that you can be.

*waistcoat optional ;)

Do two things: think about how you need to develop as a manager then think about the areas you need help. 
We run a highly successful online Managers' Development Programme; the next is starting in August. To find out more, click here

Testimonials
‘I'm only two modules in, but I've already grown in confidence in leading my team and I'm no longer nervous around giving them constructive feedback. Thank you to Marianne for her wisdom and expertise!’ - Maddy Kelly, Boda Skins
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‘Since starting this programme, my team’s productivity and progress is going up, consistently, month on month. And not just by a few percent! It’s significant. I’ve got my team into a really good position. Everybody knows what’s expected of them. Everyone is looking at their performance, and looking at their goals. I’ve shared my knowledge with other team leaders in the business, and they are starting to implement change in such a positive way throughout the whole company.
On a personal level, I’ve gained confidence, I’ve become more direct and clear with my expectations. I feel like a manager now, and I can also manage upwards to my boss effectively.’ - Ryn Moser - Chief Language Officer, Supertext    

Britain is 3rd in the world for start-ups but only 13th for scale-ups!

It’s hard to escape the news at the moment about the lack of productivity in Britain and what that means for the economy going forward. I don’t know about you but when I start thinking on that sort of scale I get incredibly overwhelmed!

But what if we break it down; just imagine if each business in the UK, however small, did their bit. Imagine what that would look like. That’s what the challenge is. It’s not for ‘the country’ to do, it’s for each one of us in business to drive the improvement in productivity and growth, that collectively will make such a difference.

I was really fired up at the Great British Scale-up Conference in London this week. Can you believe that Britain is 3rd in the world for start-ups – there’s 600 million of them. But when it comes to scale-ups, we’re only 13th. What is it we’re doing wrong? Why are so many businesses staying in start-up mode?

Is it because they don’t have the people?

Is it because they don’t have the systems?

After all, scaling is all about these two things.

In last week’s blog I wrote about the importance of finding the right people, and not ‘settling’ for anyone who isn’t absolutely right for you. Once you have the right people, it’s all about keeping them.

How do you do that?

By inspiring them. That’s got to be the goal; don’t just engage them; inspire the life out of them.

Inspired people will stay with you, they’ll grow with your business. So involve them every day, be upfront about the challenges ahead and seek their opinion. If you want to improve the way you do things, ask the people doing them how, don’t always think you know best as the boss.

Communicate, communicate, communicate and then communicate some more. Make yours a business where people are falling over themselves to be a part of what you’ve got going. Give them a sense of emotional ownership so they want to stay. Give them the training and development they need, and then trust them to get on and do their job, take pride in how they do it, and feel that responsibility and ownership for their part in your business success.

Are you ready to do this?

I read an article recently that said two out of three people feel that they work for a ‘bad boss’. A bad boss doesn’t necessarily mean a bully or a lazybones. A bad boss can be lovely, but just not good at the job.

How many times have you come across people promoted to ‘manager’ because they were good at what they do? How many business owners, find themselves managing people as their business takes off? Of course some people are naturally gifted, and some may get training & support, but how many don’t?

Someone once coined the phrase ‘Accidental Manager’, and that’s exactly what these people are –  flying by the seat of their pants, fire-fighting, feeling under-pressure, losing sleep over their daily people problems. The joy has gone. They’re now bogged down with people issues instead of doing what they love.

And what does that mean for the team?  What does that mean for the business?

Chaos, inefficiency, confusion, and a group of people who would rather be anywhere but working in your business.

So what can you do?

Well, I know what I’m going to do… I’m going to run an online training session, aimed at giving these talented, but struggling managers, tools and strategies for overcoming their people problems, and moving their team from chaos to consistency.  In fact that’s what I’ve called it!

If you are one of these accidental managers; if good people keep leaving your business, and you don’t know why; if your team don’t do what you say, or work to the standard you expect; if you’re drowning on your own, but the thought of employing people brings you out in a rash… then you’ll want to be there, to learn:

    How to change your mindset around people management
    The 3 things all employees want from their managers
    The strategies McDonald’s use to get every task done ‘the right way’ every time
    How to give feedback & why it’s important
    The 3 essentials for building a high performing team

Don’t let the people management in your business chain you to start-up status forever.  Break free and reap the rewards of building your very own high performing team.

Do one thing: Put 28th November at 12.30pm in your calendar now, and join me for this free training. It might just change your life. Follow this link to register…do it today…do it now.

Have you ever had someone leave your business after ten minutes?
Let’s take a look a few of the perils and pitfalls of people selection, and how to prevent them.

In the last few weeks, three new clients have had issues while recruiting that might have put other business owners off recruiting for life!

1. A woman was chosen from the hundreds of applicants for a post. Client A was thrilled to have hired such a great person but wasn’t quite so thrilled when on offering her the job she said, ‘Well that’s great, but I’m only going to take the job if you give me more money.’ She hadn’t even signed on the dotted line, and yet there was a demand for more money.
2. In client B’s business a young guy was hired, and worked with the business for two days – set up on his computer, given his passwords, trained for two days – and at the end of day two decided that the job wasn’t for him. He needed to go, it just wasn’t right.
3.  The most startling, was a woman who joined client C, arrived at nine o’clock for her first day, and ran out of the building ten minutes later. She was gone by ten past nine, and left so fast that she actually forgot her coat…

So, could any of these have been avoided?  Maybe, maybe not, and if not, how do you overcome this sort of challenge?

The girl wanting more money

How to avoid

Be upfront. I’m a big believer in being upfront in interviews. As far as you possibly can, tell people what it’s like to work in your business, what the salary is going to be, perhaps why it’s set at that level. Maybe you’re a very small business just starting out. Maybe you have a set pay structure, just be clear and open about it, and manage their expectation.

Talk about the other benefits of working with you beyond their salary

If you take great pride in the training that you give every employee, and the development that you give them as people, that’s a great selling point. Your performance management system is too – people want to know what their job is, they want to get feedback on it, and they want to know that they’ll be rewarded when they do a good job.

Involve team members in your recruitment, and give them the opportunity to talk to your potential new recruits about how they’ve benefited from these systems.

Put yourself in their shoes. Think about what you would want if you were them. What would you want to hear that would make you feel more comfortable about the fact that, okay, maybe the salary isn’t quite at the level you wanted, or the level you’re coming from. Get them to feel the excitement of getting on board with your business, with somebody whose going somewhere, somebody who has got a big vision.

How to deal with it

You’ve heard the expression, ‘Don’t negotiate with terrorists.’ For me, this sort of person is an employment terrorist.

Because you’re hiring to your values, you’ll be saying, ‘Whoa! I’m not actually sure that you’re right for us. I’m not sure that our values are aligned. If our values aren’t aligned before you start, what’s it going to look like further down the line?’

If somebody’s prepared to hold you to ransom before they start working with you, what is going to happen in the future?

Keep that in mind.

Is it a massive short term pain finding someone else.absolutely!  But better that, than the long term pain of having somebody on your team who believes that they have you over a barrel.

If somebody does this to you before you hire them, they’re doing you a favour because they’re saying, ‘I’m not right for your team.’ So thank them, and let them go.

The two day guy

How to avoid

The best way to avoid this happening, is to offer on job experience. It gives people the opportunity to see what they’re walking into; to experience the culture, what it feels like to be in your environment; the buzz, the good and bad, just the whole sensory blast of what it’s going to be like.

It also gives you and your potential employee a chance to check each other out and decide if you’re the right fit.

How to deal with it

In this example it was great that the guy said, ‘You know what? I’m really sorry. This just isn’t right for me,’  and to leave after two days, instead of three months. Again a case of short term pain, but much better for everyone long term.

The ten minute runner

How to avoid

Who really knows what happened in this case, maybe the girl realised before she walked in, that it wasn’t really what she wanted. Maybe the thoughts of flying solo were just too scary.

How to deal with it

This one possibly could have been avoided through really clear communication upfront. I recommend you do this with every new starter – be really clear about what’s going to happen on day one, in their first week; what their probation period looks like. Think about what you would want to know if it were you. There should be no surprises, or in this case, shocks; you’ve managed their expectations.

I am a big believer in hiring great people, and then helping them to fulfil their potential. It’s the foundation for building a high performing team, and when you have the right mindset around hiring, it will be a joyful experience.

Of course you’ll make mistakes, and there will be incidents like the above; don’t worry about them. They’re just part of building an A plus, high performing team. Remember though, never settle. If you’re building high performing team, never make do with anybody who isn’t A plus.

Good luck with your recruitment. Enjoy it, see it as a wonderful challenge, and start building that high performing team.

Do one thing: talk to your most recent recruits and ask what they found good and bad about their experience and their ideas for improvement.

Date For your diary: Tuesday 28th November 12.30 pm join Marianne to learn how to ‘Move your team from Chaos to Consistency’.  It’s for you if you want to become a more effective people manager.  If you want to build a high performing team that doesn’t need you around to work well.
E mail hello@mariannepage.co.uk to register your interest.