Elevating Teams: Developing Empathy and Continuous Growth in Leadership

By Patty Crabtree, CEO Lighthouse Consulting Partners LLC

Building High-Performance Teams Through Empathy and a Growth Mindset

In today’s dynamic workplace, the ability of a team to collaborate, communicate, and navigate challenges effectively can make or break a company’s success. While technical skills and expertise are essential, the intangible qualities of empathy and a growth mindset are increasingly recognized as foundational to building cohesive and resilient teams. The growing demand for team-building workshops—especially among leadership teams—reflects this shift. As leaders and team members deepen their understanding of one another’s work styles, they can more easily foster these essential qualities, creating a powerful framework for high performance.

The Power of Empathy in Team Development

Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of others, is a vital element in building strong teams. When team members can see situations from each other’s perspectives, they can communicate with greater openness and address challenges collaboratively. This foundation of empathy also reduces misunderstandings, enabling teams to resolve conflicts constructively rather than allowing them to simmer under the surface.

Google’s Project Aristotle highlights the value of empathy in fostering psychological safety—a key factor in team effectiveness. Teams with high levels of psychological safety are more likely to innovate and take productive risks, as members feel comfortable being their authentic selves. When empathy is encouraged within a team, individuals are more willing to engage openly, take ownership of their contributions, and support each other’s growth.

Building a Growth Mindset for Lasting Success

The concept of a growth mindset—the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work—fosters resilience and adaptability. In a team setting, a growth mindset enables individuals to view challenges as learning opportunities and to seek feedback as a pathway for improvement. When teams embrace this mindset, they’re more likely to persevere through obstacles and achieve their goals collaboratively.

Leadership teams, in particular, can benefit from a growth mindset as they set the tone for the entire organization. According to the Center for Creative Leadership, teams that cultivate trust and a growth mindset experience a 15% boost in overall performance. Leaders who model growth-oriented behaviors encourage others to do the same, creating an organizational culture where learning and improvement are part of the day-to-day environment.

Increased Demand for Leadership Team Building

In recent months, Lighthouse Consulting Partners has seen a notable increase in requests for team-building workshops designed specifically for leadership teams. This trend reflects an understanding that cohesive and empathic leadership is essential to organizational success. When leaders understand each other’s work styles and approaches, they can communicate more effectively, leverage other’s strengths and present a united front. This cohesion at the leadership level resonates throughout the organization, creating a culture that prioritizes collaboration and empathy at all levels.

A study from Deloitte highlights that 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe that a positive corporate culture is crucial for success. By focusing on the development of their own collaboration and communication skills, leadership teams set a powerful example for their entire organization.

Practical Steps to Develop Empathy and a Growth Mindset in Teams

  1. Foster Open Communication: Open communication is the cornerstone of empathy. Team-building workshops help teams create environments where members feel comfortable sharing their perspectives and listening actively to others. These workshops help establish an empathy that encourages team members to engage in honest, productive discussions that lead to stronger relationships and mutual understanding.
  2. Encourage Reflective Listening: Teams often miss the full value of each member’s contributions due to misunderstandings or lack of active listening. Reflective listening techniques help team members paraphrase and confirm each other’s ideas, reducing misinterpretations and demonstrating empathy. In high-functioning teams, reflective listening becomes a natural part of the communication process, strengthening relationships and minimizing conflict.
  3. Focus on Strengths, Not Weaknesses: Embracing a growth mindset means focusing on potential rather than shortcomings. When team members identify the unique strengths and contributions of each member, these can be utilized to enhance discussions and outcomes. As team members recognize and value each other’s strengths, they become more supportive and solution-focused which is critical to creating a collaborative team environment.
  4. Develop Conflict Resolution Skills: When handled constructively, conflict can be a powerful driver of growth and innovation. The focus on a growth mindset helps team members view conflicts as opportunities for learning rather than obstacles to avoid. According to the Harvard Business Review, companies that foster open communication and constructive conflict experience 30% fewer conflicts within teams. By learning to approach conflicts with curiosity and respect, team members can turn potential friction into productive conversations that enhance collaboration.
  5. Model and Reinforce Empathy and Growth Mindset from Leadership: Leadership teams that embrace these qualities set a powerful example. When leaders approach challenges with empathy and model a growth mindset, they reinforce these values across the organization. A quote from Patrick Lencioni underscores the importance of these qualities: “Not finance, not strategy, not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare.” By developing empathy and a growth mindset in leadership, organizations unlock this advantage.

A Path Forward: Commitment and Accountability

A focus on team development is an ongoing process and not a one-time fix but a catalyst for lasting transformation. An effective workshop establishes shared commitments within the team that guide how they will work together moving forward both from the individual contribution to the group goals. Leaders become accountable to hold periodic follow-up meetings to ensure accountability and reinforce the team’s growth.

Gallup research found that highly engaged teams—those that understand and value diverse perspectives—achieve 21% greater profitability and 17% higher productivity. When team members are committed to fostering empathy and a growth mindset, they bring out the best in each other and collectively work toward achieving their goals.

Building a Future of Collaboration and Success

Today’s business landscape demands teams that are adaptable, resilient, and collaborative. By fostering empathy and a growth mindset, organizations equip their teams to meet these demands effectively. Investing in leadership team-building creates a ripple effect throughout the company, as leaders set the tone for a culture of support, understanding, and continuous growth.

At Lighthouse Consulting Partners, our team-building workshops help organizations unlock this potential, developing that empathy and growth mindset necessary to drive results. As more companies recognize the value of team development, these efforts will lead to a future where high-performing, collaborative teams create lasting success.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires, staff development and team building. LCP can provide these assessments  in 19 different languages along with offering skills testing, leadership and management coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, staff planning, operations, refining a remote work force and much more.

To order our books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

Bridging the Gap: Resolving Conflicts by Embracing Work Styles

Conflicts are inevitable in any setting. We each bring unique backgrounds, experiences, and personality traits to the table and these differences can often lead to misunderstandings. Interestingly, many conflicts in the workplace don’t stem from disagreements over tasks but rather from miscommunications rooted in varying work styles. Understanding these work styles is a powerful tool for resolving these miscommunications and fostering a collaborative environment. By recognizing and respecting individual differences, leaders and team members can avoid common pitfalls that lead to workplace discord and slow down progress. This knowledge serves as a foundation for developing empathy across teams.

The Role of Work Styles in Conflict

Work styles can be categorized into several types, such as task-oriented versus relationship-oriented, structured versus flexible, detail-focused versus big-picture-focused, and proactive versus reactive. These differences are not inherently problematic; in fact, they can bring a richness of perspective to a team. However, when these styles clash, they can lead to misunderstandings, frustration, and ultimately, conflict.

I once worked with a colleague, Joe, who would often say in frustration, “I wish everyone would just think like me.” In this case, his frustration stemmed from a lack of understanding of another colleague, Joan’s, perspective. They were using similar words, appeared to have similar ideas but the execution was not on the same page.

Joe’s approach was straightforward—he wanted everyone to get on board with his vision and move forward quickly. He believed that once everyone saw things from his perspective, the best path would be clear. On the other hand, Joan preferred to gather all the data, ensuring that every detail was considered before making a decision. She wanted to discuss what was needed, test for gaps in information, and ensure nothing was overlooked.

This mismatch created tension. Joe was ready to move forward, while Joan was still in the information-gathering phase. Although they were discussing the same project, they were in completely different mindsets.

Had they understood each other’s thinking processes, they could have avoided frustration. Joan could acknowledge Joe’s message, and Joe could give Joan the space to gather the necessary data. Instead, they were stuck in a cycle of misunderstanding, wishing the other person would just “think like me.”

Variety in thought processes creates a balanced team. It mitigates blind spots and encourages healthy conflict. This dynamic keeps things moving forward and prevents teams from getting caught in a never-ending loop of inaction.

Developing a deeper understanding of each team member’s thinking style and learning how to leverage these styles for the best results can create an unstoppable team dynamic. It empowers individuals to better articulate their needs while recognizing others’ perspectives. When conflicts arise, they can transform into healthy exchanges rather than battles over who is right. This insight equips teams to bridge differences before they escalate into significant issues.

Bringing the Concept of Thinking Styles into a Team Dynamic

I worked with one team that struggled to meet its goals on time. While they agreed on the overall objectives, they couldn’t seem to piece everything together to achieve them. We conducted a team-building exercise focused on reviewing each person’s decision-making and communication style. This process identified each person’s unique work style and the support needed for each approach.

The results were enlightening. This newfound understanding sparked something new in their team dynamics, energizing the group. They began to acknowledge each other’s styles, integrate different approaches into their thinking, and as a result, the team’s communication and collaboration reached new heights.

By fostering empathy and understanding, teams can achieve extraordinary results.

Enhancing Communication Between Introverts and Extroverts

Introversion and extroversion are prime examples of how differing work styles can lead to conflict. Introverts often prefer to think deeply before speaking, working alone or in small groups. Extroverts, by contrast, are energized by social interactions and may speak their thoughts as they arise. These differing communication styles can cause friction in team settings, especially when collaboration is required.

Paul, an extroverted team leader, was frustrated with Olivia, one of his direct reports, who was an introvert. Paul frequently asked for input during team meetings, expecting immediate feedback. Olivia, however, preferred to process information before responding, which Paul misinterpreted as disengagement. Their conflicting communication styles began to erode trust between them.

Recognizing the strain this was causing, their manager encouraged the entire team to complete work style personality assessments. The results revealed that Olivia’s introversion led her to prefer thoughtful, reflective responses, while Paul’s extroversion made him more comfortable with spontaneous, real-time discussions.

Once Paul understood that Olivia’s need for reflection wasn’t disengagement but simply her way of processing information, he knew to give her the space she needed. Similarly, Olivia understood that Paul’s eagerness for immediate feedback wasn’t pushy but a reflection of his collaborative nature.

By adjusting his approach—such as sending meeting agendas and information in advance—Paul allowed Olivia the time she needed to prepare thoughtful contributions. Olivia, in turn, became more comfortable engaging in discussions, knowing she had time to reflect beforehand. Through the lens of their work styles, both gained empathy for each other’s approaches, improving their communication and enhancing team collaboration.

Practical Steps for Using Work Styles to Resolve Conflict

These stories illustrate how identifying work styles can be a powerful tool for conflict resolution. Here are some practical steps to leverage these assessments for resolving workplace conflicts:

  1. Encourage Self-Awareness: Personality assessments allow individuals to develop a deeper understanding of their work styles. This self-awareness is the first step in recognizing how one’s behaviors might be perceived by others.
  2. Foster Empathy: When team members understand the work styles of their colleagues, they are more likely to approach conflicts with empathy. Personality assessments help teams move beyond surface-level assumptions and appreciate the different strengths each individual brings to the table.
  3. Facilitate Open Communication: Use work style assessments as a starting point for conversations about communication preferences, decision-making processes, and potential friction points. This can help prevent misunderstandings before they escalate into conflicts.
  4. Adapt Expectations and Processes: By identifying individual work styles, teams can adjust workflows and expectations to empower different approaches. This flexibility helps resolve conflicts and leads to a more collaborative work environment.
  5. Focus on Team Dynamics: Assessments not only help individuals but also offer insights into overall team dynamics. Leaders can use this information to create balanced teams, ensuring a mix of complementary work styles that enhance collaboration.

Conflict in the workplace is often rooted in clashing work styles rather than fundamental differences in values or goals. An in-depth work style personality assessment can provide critical insights into these differences, offering a path to greater empathy, understanding, and ultimately, resolution. By using these assessments, teams can bridge communication gaps, resolve conflicts more effectively, and enhance their overall performance. Embracing these differences, rather than trying to eliminate them, can lead to stronger, more cohesive teams that are better equipped to handle challenges and achieve their shared goals.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

The team at Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC remain focused on their mission statement – “To bring effective insight to your business”. This is done through the use of in-depth work style personality assessments to raise the hiring bar so companies select the best people to reduce hiring and management errors. Lighthouse can test in 19 different languages, provide executive and leadership coaching and offers a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication, stress management and more.

If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact us at (310) 453-6556, email [email protected] or visit our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Hire Right the First Time

Hire Right The First Time By Dana Borowka, MA Is your company still hiring employees using the same process it did five years ago? Think carefully about the question for a moment. Is the company recruiting, screening, interviewing, and verifying using the same techniques and procedures as in the past? Next question. Do you wonder […]

Read more

How To Develop The Next Generation Of Company Leaders

By David Shaffer MBA , Sr. Consultant, Practice Head for M&A and ERP/MRP

Finding and keeping great employees is getting increasingly hard. Your company’s ability to fight and win the ongoing talent wars hinges on your most important asset: your leaders.

According to research in the Harvard Business Review, “Leaders who prioritize relationships with their employees and lead from a place of positivity and kindness simply do better, and company culture has a bigger influence on employee well-being than salary and benefits (“The Power of Healthy Relationships at Work,” June 21, 2022).

When it comes to attracting and retaining better employees, it comes down to leaders fostering positive relationships at work. But positive leader-employee relationships do not happen by chance.

Most managers weren’t born knowing how to create those positive relationships. But your organization should not suffer while your leaders learn by trial and error. In an age when there is an ever-escalating war for the better employees, it has never been more important for a business to invest in developing leaders.

This is why CEOs of privately owned companies in the $5 million to $100 million in revenue range and division heads of global organizations need to make sure to invest in training managers.

In other words, so one day they can confidently turn over the day-to-day management of the company to the next group of leaders. Here is a comeback story of a business owner who did just that.

How Fred Developed New Leaders

This is the tale of a 48-year-old business owner named Fred (not his real name), who created a small manufacturing company with annual revenues north of $5 million. On a personal note, Fred was a spiritual man who enjoyed being an active volunteer at his church.

On the job Fred had faith in his people and believed in them to work issues out. Unfortunately, that led to him being a victim of undeserved misfortune, His people loved working for Fred and knocked themselves out for him; however, as the adage states, haste makes waste.

Fred’s business problem was wasteful rework costs in excess of 35%, which meant that millions of dollars of the products required rework. That’s a tremendous amount of dollars that had to be absorbed by the business on a regular basis.

When Fred invited me in, I did an assessment to determine the root causes of the troubles. On the basis of that review as well as doing the LCS in-depth work style and personality assessment, we identified two solutions that needed to be implemented.

“On top of the rework nightmare, sales are dropping like a stone because all of the sales are being funneled through me, and I am totally consumed by the rework issue,” said Fred. “My sales team has been reduced to being order takers, not order generators. These are good people, and I do not know what to do.”

“We can fix this, Fred,” I told him. “It’s not going to be easy because you have some blind spots. You need to make some changes, but we can tackle the two needed solutions together.”

The first solution was a lean manufacturing process, which included quality control checks throughout the manufacturing process. That way, they could identify potential defects right at the point of the defect rather than at the end when it’s delivered to the customer.

That may sound like a very simplistic thing to do. However, understand that within the operation, there was a need to develop leaders who understood how to schedule the projects, communicate the goals to their team, and resolve issues with the people.

We conducted workshops for each of the shop supervisors, plus the shop foreman. We also brought in the sales team to talk about effective communication between sales and operations so that we could identify where time was being spent.

The second solution was to turn over the reins to the next generation. Eventually, we removed Fred as the owner from the day-to-day operations and put in place an executive team that included sales management, supervisors, shop foremen, as well as accounting to meet on a daily on what are the issues.  We also did our LCS team building program, which includes using our LCS in-depth work style and personality assessment for the staff members.  This provided me with insights into how to get the most from the team members as well as with helping them to bond and communicate with each other at a whole new level.

The net result was that the rework was reduced to 5% from 35%, and sales rose by 15% because now sales were not having to deal with the quality issues that were affecting sales. And here’s the kicker, Fred was a happier owner because it allowed him more volunteer time to lead bible study sessions at the church.

Seven Steps To Develop The Next Generation

With Fred, we followed these seven steps:

Step One. Maintain the mission, vision, and values that are a part of the company. The journey begins with an assessment of the DNA of the business.

Step Two. Recognize the strengths that each person brings to the company. Leadership is not a birthright; it is about potential. So, test your people to assess leadership potential. Conducting in-depth work style and personality assessments can be extremely useful.

Step Three. Understand that leadership is something that is developed. Know this: leaders are not born; leaders are trained.  Never has a baby been born, and the doctor slapped his or her bottom and declared, “Now here is a future company president.” Certain positive traits develop during a person’s life, which is a gift. But just relying on gifts and not training future leaders is a bad option for small-to-midsized companies.

Step Four. Dispel the belief that the best performers make the best leaders. Don’t make the classic blunder of just thrusting top performers into leadership roles. That is a 50/50 proposition at best. Once, I was a director of business process improvement and information systems consulting at one of the big accounting firms. The philosophy within the CPA firm was that you took your top-performing senior managers who were outstanding in doing tax returns, and you, therefore, promoted them to partner. Then we came to the realization that they don’t know how to be good at business development, a key requirement of a partner.

Step Five. Allow for creativity yet stay within the values of the company. People are not robots. And nor would you want them to be.

Step Six. Train leaders throughout all levels of management or job responsibilities. If you think training is expensive, then look at the costs of not training. Trained leaders make it easier for the company to fill jobs with the right people, retain top talent, and keep employees fully engaged. Today this is no easy feat, and paying more in wages and benefits is not the answer.

Step Seven. Introduce accountability and taking responsibility. Are you familiar with the “Miracle on Ice” with the US hockey team winning the Olympic gold medal in 1980? The underdog US team beat the Russians and made it to the finals to win it all. But if you really dig into the analysis of what happened, the coaches of that team took a bunch of individuals that were stars at different levels and molded them into a team. They achieved their goal of winning a gold medal by introducing accountability and taking responsibility.

Use A Three-Phase Approach

To optimize success, companies use a three-phase approach:

Phase One. Company Assessment And Understanding. This starts with meetings with executives and ownership to understand the company’s mission, vision, and values. Then comes outlining a key strategy for transition and personnel development. Follow this with preparing an objective assessment of the current environment, including gaps analysis to reach the desired structure. Next, we need to get everyone on board with the changes, so we prepare a presentation for review with key personnel.

Phase Two. Conduct A Workshop On Leadership And Accountability. Begin by reviewing components of leadership. Next, cover how to create an environment of accountability. Then cover the characteristics of effective communication. This is followed by a discussion of setting and achieving goals by leveraging talent and reaching individual potential. Lead the group to understand how to achieve team effectiveness. Nothing is ever smooth, so cover how to handle and resolve conflict. Finally cover the most effective means of coaching.

Phase Three. Continued Follow-up. This is not a case of setting it and forgetting it. Schedule one-on-one coaching sessions. Conduct group meetings to share experiences.  And celebrate milestones that measure achievement.

Summing It Up

In my experience, privately owned companies are looking to put in place the next level of leadership within their company.

The main goal is to allow the existing ownership to be able to have appropriate leaders developed within the organization that allows for the owner/manager to extricate themselves from the day-to-day business and still be in a position to provide high-level feedback on what’s going on within their company,

If you are open to a conversation about how to develop your next generation of leaders, or how our in-depth work style personality assessment could help your team, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 410 or email  [email protected] and our website is www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

David Shaffer, MBA , Sr. Consultant, is our practice head for our Business Consulting For Higher Productivity Division and for our ERP and M&A practice. He is recognized for his ability to effectively integrate all aspects of the business, including financial management, information systems, infrastructure, sales management, sales strategies, and operations. David assists companies from planning through operational and business process improvement opportunities to the selection and integration of management information systems solutions. His range of company support includes start-ups through Fortune 500 firms.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCP can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

Five Ways To Increase Value For A Merger, Acquisition, Or Succession

By David Shaffer MBA , Sr. Consultant, Practice Head for M&A and ERP/MRP

We recently did an Open Line on this topic with David, so please click on the link for the slides/audio:
Keeping on Track Open Line – M & A and Succession Planning – 5 Top Things to Consider with guest, David Shaffer.
Please click on the website link or copy/paste the full link into your internet browser: https://recordings.join.me/IyY5elXeoEGX8niO7Cw5-g

Does your business serve you or do you serve your business?

“Once you recognize that the purpose of your life is not to serve your business, but that the primary purpose of your business is to serve your life, you can then go to work on your business, rather than in it, with a full understanding of why it is absolutely necessary for you to do so.”

Those are the words of bestselling business author Michael E. Gerber, who wrote The E-Myth Revisited.

For the better part of 40 years, Gerber has been encouraging business owners to work “on, not in” their business. Gerber firmly believes every company should be built as a product to sell.

Are you building a business you can sell? More important, are you optimizing the value of that business for a sale, merger, or succession plan?

What Is Your Current State Of Mind?

Which of the following statements best describes your current state of mind as the business owner:

• I have been working in my business for many years and I am ready to explore alternatives.
• I had hoped that my family would continue the legacy but there is little interest.
• I struggle with balancing the cash flow and need capital infusion to keep going.
• My team continues to point to having to upgrade my use of information systems
• My key team members are in the same age bracket as me and not certain they can move into leadership.
• My competitors are constantly focusing on their growth and my opportunities are being pressured to reduce margins.

For some business owners, all six of the above statements apply to their situation.

Five Action Steps To Assess Your Current Situation And Start Toward Value Creation

The following five action steps are designed to help you assess your situation. The steps also provide an outline for making your business more valuable.

Step One. Review, update, or create a strategic business plan that well defines your business.

By JESHOOTS.COM

Do you have a strategic plan that well defines your business? Because any potential buyer is going to want to see what is the business, what is the mission, what are the vision, what are the values of that business.

Do a detailed SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis so that it’s well defined. Outline the structure or organization that is in place that you can show a potential buyer. Or, analyze internally how you can extricate yourself from the business.

Step Two. Review your financial reporting to assure a proper representation of cash management.

The second step, which is critical, is your financial reporting. Are you able to provide accurate historical financial reporting? Can you determine your EBITDA, which is your bottom-line profitability?

When I value a business, I look at the EBITDA, which is the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (that funny money that helps you pay less in taxes). When interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization are removed it becomes the true bottom line.

Within each industry there is multiple of earnings defined by the industry to calculate business value. The more you have exclusivity within the industry, the higher the multiple. You multiply those two numbers together and it gives you a good idea of the value of the business.

Step Three. Complete an objective assessment of your organization.

Can you explain to potential buyers your mission and vision? Do you have clear goals, objectives, systems, and policies?

When we go in to work with a client, we assess where they are today, what they’re looking to achieve in the longer term, and then where do the gaps exist. Following that we work with the company to put in place the appropriate steps to close the gap and create more value.

Step Four. Assess your role as business owner.

When we work a business, next we ask the owner to really take a look at themselves and where are they as far as key responsibilities. Do they have a transition plan to move out of the business? Are they communicating internally to keep personnel?
One of the things I see a lot in an acquisition is when a buyer says to the owner selling the business that it appears to be very dependent upon you. Then they say, “We’re going to put in place a three-year plan where over a three year period we’re going to buy out your business, but you need to be around for three years and hit certain objectives.

Well, if you’re a driven type personality and you’ve been successfully running your business for years, the last thing you want is someone externally telling you how to run your business.

That’s why we work with owners to extricate themselves from the business before the sale. That way they do not have to stick around as an employee for several years.

Step Five. Engage with experienced support team.

By Nick Fewings

Getting ready for a sale, merger or succession plan is not something for the do-it-yourselfer. This is probably a once in a lifetime transaction for you. This is the time to do some due diligence and get a team of trusted advisors on your side.

The trusted advisors you engage should have experience both on the operations and financial side. The objective, regardless of the exit path you choose, is to create value in the business. In many acquisitions there are tax ramifications, shelters, and potential benefits. The use of a qualified tax advisor will help uncover both opportunities and potential liabilities. Engaging a firm to complete financial due diligence and identify target markets reduces time and helps create a realistic value proposition.

Indeed, if Gerber is correct and your business is a product to be sold, you should work on the business, so you realize the best price. Here is a case in point about family business owners who sought help.

More Cash Flow And Time To Enjoy Life

Once I worked with a family-owned business and both principals were about to turn 60. They were at a crossroads as business owners. The dilemma was; should they stay or should they go?

This couple were the overstressed owners of a privately owned manufacturing company. When I was introduced to them they were looking to make changes in their internal information systems from a very archaic system to a new one.

I was brought in to work as a conduit between the owners and their operational team and the software firm. Because of my background in manufacturing operations and systems, I was very much involved in helping with the implementation, project management. and delivery of that information system.

However, further exploration and understanding of the business demonstrated that there was more than the existence of an archaic system problem. What we determined is that the information systems brought with it a need to align the organization and the best practices because the ownership was considering two options.

Option one was to sell the business, and option two was to retain the business. Neither option sounded attractive.

Both owners were heavily involved in day-to-day operations. Collectively they were involved in the manufacturing and delivering of products and overseeing the sales team as well as overseeing all of the human resources and finances of the company.

By PublicCo

Through the work that I did outside of the systems, we restructured the entire organization where we brought in interim sales management. We took one of the key operation people, promoted him to chief operating officer, put in place a dotted line between him and the sales team.

We brought in and developed a key accounting person to oversee all of the receivables, payables, and general ledger. Then we put together an advisory team that included myself with the owners. And through the implementation of the new system, we put in place dashboards to monitor the management of the system.

The net result was we increased the value of the company by 10% in the first year simply by having visibility into the profitability of the company. We had no need other than to bring in an interim sales manager to increase our expenses on personnel. We uncovered that their sales team was really one of customer service as opposed to new account sales.

We were able to reduce the outside sales team by two individuals, which represented 60% of their sales team. We added in customer service in-house at a far less expense. The whole process took 20 months.

The moral of the story: the owners now have more cash flow and time to enjoy life. The were able to purchase a second home outside of the state. They travel on a regular basis. Recently they sent me an email saying that they were on a two-week vacation and the company is running.

Now they are also entertaining a potential sale. But at this stage, they are less stressed over the sale because they know they’re making money and they’re not involved on the day-to-day operations of the business.

Conclusion

Whether the decision is to sell the business or retain, the creation of value is always a benefit. Whether it stays with ownership or enhances the sales, it is a cornerstone best practice.

If you are open to a conversation about mergers and succession, improving manufacturing workflow or if you are a service company taking a look at various ways to improve efficiencies, or how our in-depth work style and personality assessment could help to hire the right person and understand how to best work with the candidate from day one as well as gaining insights of your team, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 410.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact Lighthouse Consulting Partners LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, [email protected] & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

David Shaffer, MBA , Sr. Consultant, is our practice head for our Business Consulting For Higher Productivity Division and for our ERP and M&A practice. He is recognized for his ability to effectively integrate all aspects of the business, including financial management, information systems, infrastructure, sales management, sales strategies, and operations. David assists companies from planning through operational and business process improvement opportunities to the selection and integration of management information systems solutions. His range of company support includes start-ups through Fortune 500 firms.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCP can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

The Power of 360 Assessments In the Evolving Workplace

By Patty Crabtree, Sr. Consultant

Back in math class, you learned 360 degrees meant to go full circle, a whole circuit, the complete cycle, or a literal round trip. In other words, to circle around to get a full view. In today’s evolving workplace, leaders are taking a complete new full look at the 360 assessments.

by Gerd Altmann

Beginning in the 1990s, the natural desire to improve the performance of leaders through feedback gave rise to the popularity of 360 assessments. The objective was using these assessments is to create high-performing organizations by tapping into the collective feedback of many colleagues, rather than just a top-down approach.

In today’s evolving hybrid work environment, 360 assessments can be an important tool. The fundamentals of remote interactions are different than having everyone in the office. Attaining meaningful feedback regarding interpersonal interactions can help guide a company leadership and overall team training. Meaningful dialogues can lead to individual and company development plans that support the desired growth and success.

That is the power; however, there is a danger. The amount and level of training of those providing 360 assessment feedback can impact the level of accuracy of the feedback. There can also be a lack of follow through with the feedback. Without guidance from a trained professional, bias may distort the value of the feedback.

But there is a way to avoid this feedback peril.

Why The Waning Effectiveness?

Naturally to some degree people are resistant to feedback. We all have defenses against feedback, so the process needs to be mediated by someone who is trained to do this.

Before using 360 assessment assessments, some people are curious about the origins of the approach. It all began around 1930 when military psychologist Johann Baptist Rieffert developed a methodology to select officer candidates for the German army.

by Dorothe

The jump to the business world occurred in the 1950s when the Esso Research and Engineering Company gathered information on employees, which arguably is the first recorded business use of the technique.

Also called multi-rater assessments, 360 assessment feedback is a process through which feedback is gathered from an employee’s supervisors, subordinates, and colleagues, as well as a self-evaluation by the employee themselves. The 360 assessments can be contrasted with downward feedback from the boss or upward feedback delivered to managers by staff.

Over the years, 360 assessments have lost some of its effectiveness. This is due to many factors. Automation has taken away from the meaningful aspect of the feedback. A lack of creating development plans and holding others accountable to their growth commitments has lessen the impact. Follow through on growth commitments wane as other priorities take over. These assessments have become routine and just part of the process.

A worst-case scenario is to just grab some 360 assessment tool from the Internet and let the recipients interpret the feedback from the various people on their own. Looking for the cheap option does not make it the best approach.

360 assessments, done in an effective and meaningful way, can be a powerful tool for development. Being curious about the feedback as opposed to just gathering the data can elicit more opportunities for growth.

An automated approach limits the opportunity for this curiosity. Many automated systems will have options to rate multiple factors on a scale of 1-5, which is typically done anonymously. People can be skeptical of the anonymity and will give high ratings or incomplete feedback fearing potential backlash or just wanting to check this process off their list. They don’t see change from the effort of providing worthwhile feedback so there can be ambivalence to the process.

The Return of the 360 Assessment Gift

Feedback is a powerful growth tool. Understanding how others view your performance and your impact on those around you can make your stronger. Feedback is truly a gift.

Recently, one growing company decided to perform a 360 assessment on their senior leadership. They had weathered the pandemic, implementing some hybrid positions and were seeing a post-pandemic rebound. Their first reaction was to take operations back to the way it was done prior to 2020. This is what they knew, what was comfortable and a quick response to meet the client needs. It caused some conflict as staff were looking to continue the new ways. On top of this, they also faced a change in senior leadership as a retirement occurred.

by Headway

They wanted to take embrace the evolution, but leadership had some blind spots. They needed to know if they were ready for everything coming their way and decided to get a better understanding of how leadership was being viewed.

Using the 360 assessments, a picture was painted showing the strengths of the team along with opportunities to grow their leadership skills. There was an opportunity to embrace the changes the pandemic brought and enhance communication. The leaders listened to the feedback and heard the messages shared.

They created a developmental plan to strengthen the areas where staff felt some growth needed. Leaders saw how they were holding back the company’s momentum by not embracing the lessons learned over the past few years. They also understood how they needed to step up communication to ensure everyone felt included and were clear on the company’s vision. The lessons of a hybrid work environment became a larger part of their culture.

We also worked with them to keep the conversation alive and provide tools for the leaders to meet their goals. By using a professional coach, leaders had a safe environment to share their successes and struggles and discuss new ways to embrace the opportunities.

Avoid the Misuse of the 360 Assessment

Any tool can be used for good or for harm.

Some people see 360 assessment feedback as punitive and unproductive. This comes from how companies use this tool. It is not a process to check off the list but an opportunity to have thoughtful feedback that can support growth and change.

by Jason Goodman

Lighthouse Consulting uses an interview style and collaborative approach to the assessment. We partner with the organization to help ensure the feedback is effective and inspires change. We have conversations with the participants to elicit meaningful feedback and cultivate a deeper understanding of the individual’s strengths and opportunities. Follow up questions happen in the moment that supports a more effective discussion of their observations.

Debriefing with each client helps manage the potential emotional response to the feedback. This partnering method puts the focus on the opportunities and empowers the leaders toward growth. This partnership continues through coaching to achieve the desired goals.

When successfully implemented, 360 assessment feedback can be a game-changer for a business. This process can initiate positive changes and provide more accurate performance evaluations leading to accelerated professional growth.

When professionally conducted, interpreted and coached, the results can be significant. Without a trained professional, the value of their results can be diluted and meaningful change lost in the process.”

If you are open to a conversation about the 360 assessment process or how our in-depth work style and personality assessment could help your team, including pricing and the science behind the tests, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 403.

Patty Crabtree is a Senior Consultant at Lighthouse Consulting Services with 25 years of operations and finance leadership experience.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact your Human Resources department or Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, [email protected] & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

Time To Leverage Your Staff For Higher Productivity

By Doug Clute

In his business classic Good to Great, Jim Collins said: “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” Famously Collins says you need to have the right people in the right seats on your bus.

In business, profits and shareholder returns can be linked to productivity growth, which can be directly linked to having great people. Productivity measures output per unit of input, such as labor, capital or any other resource – and is typically calculated for the economy as a whole, as a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) to hours worked. Labor productivity may be further broken down by sector to examine trends in labor growth, wage levels and technological improvement.

A staffing plan makes sure you have the right people in the right spots at the right time.

A Staffing Plan Fit For A King

Have you ever tasted Original Hawaiian Sweet Bread?

The bakery that created this treat was founded in the 1950s in Hilo, Hawaii and later became known as King’s Hawaiian. In 1977 the company expanded and built its first mainland bakery in Torrance, California. Its vision was to become the biggest Hawaiian food company in the world.

To support their continued growth, in 2010 their strategy included building a new production facility. To better serve the East Coast they started construction on a third bakery facility in Oakwood, Georgia. This was a project that was estimated to take at least one year to complete. Initial staffing of the new facility would require hiring over one hundred new employees.

Well before construction began, a staffing plan was developed and implemented. The plan included headcount, timing, skills needed, and training required for each position.

Success was dependent on a lot of hard work by great people. Internal partnerships between operations and human resources, as well as relationships with local agencies and recruiting partners were key to its success.

The plant opened on schedule and within budget. Since then, the plant has been expanded several times and each time a staffing plan was one of the keys to success.

Staffing Linked To Productivity

Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of a company’s production process, This is calculated by measuring the number of units produced relative to employee labor hours or by measuring a company’s net sales relative to employee labor hours.

Most successful organizations have a strong understanding of their strategic direction. Mission and vision statements communicate who they are, what they do, and where they are going. Operational plans and budgets that lay out the organization’s periodic goals, objectives, and projects that are in support of the mission and vision.

But will they achieve the mission and vision without the right people? Even with a clear mission and vision, without the talent required to support this direction, organizations are unlikely to reach their full potential. Management journals contain many studies that have found that companies incorporating a staffing plan into their business are more likely to increase performance.

For many organizations – especially one that is growing quickly – the focus is often on things like improving or expanding products and services; increasing revenue; and acquiring new customers. These are the lifeblood of a successful growing business. However, if the workforce needed to support this growth is more of an afterthought, it can slow that growth and even jeopardize servicing existing customers.

The Six Steps Of Staff Planning

There are six steps included in the staff planning process: establishing goals, identifying influencers, surveying the current state, envisioning needs, conducting a gap analysis, and developing and executing a plan. Let’s examine each step:

One: Establishing Goals. This step should largely be completed through the operational planning process mentioned above. Having an accurate understanding of the periodic goals, objectives and projects the organization anticipates completing in the planning cycle is the foundation of successful staff planning.

Two: Identifying Influencers. What factors might influence the staffing plan? Influencers can be external or internal. They can be positive or negative. An influencer is anything that might affect the plan but is largely uncontrollable by the organization. This step can be completed with a brainstorming session to identify factors that need to be considered. What is the status of the local labor market? Are there any technology changes that will impact productivity? Are local competitors growing or laying off staff? Are there any facility constraints such as office space limitations?

Three: Surveying the Current State. What is the state of the organization’s current staff? What expertise does each staff member have? Are there employees who are likely to leave for personal reasons or retirement? What employees are likely to be promoted into different roles? Are there poor performers who may need to improve or be replaced? While this step includes a listing of headcount, the main objective is to create an inventory of skill sets, competencies, and availability of the current staff.

Four: Envisioning Future Needs. To reach the organizational goals and complete the projects identified in step one, what skills, competencies, and staffing will be required? It is best to complete this step with the mindset of building the staff from scratch. This will help identify requirements without being overly influenced by the current state. Will the goals and projects require new competencies? Will additional staff be needed? Will staffing need to change during the year? Would using contractors or outside expertise be a good fit to meet short term needs?

Five: Conducting a Gap Analysis. What is missing between the current state and projected needs to accomplish the organization’s goals? Is additional training needed? What would be the timing of any new training? Do you need to add staff? In what positions, when will they be needed, how long will it take to recruit and onboard? Are current staff in the correct roles, or would reassignment make better use of their skills.

Six: Developing and Implementing the Plan. With the insight and information developed through this process the organization can now build a plan to successfully support their goals and projects. Planning for needed training, recruitment of staff additions and backfilling departures, use of outside expertise, etc. This plan will include actions as well as timing. The ultimate impact the plan has on the organization is dependent on an effective implementation and follow up. Committing to periodic updates and review will keep the plan on pace.

Let The Process Flow

This overview references six separate steps in the process. In concept the process follows the logical thought flow. However, in practice steps may overlap. The staff planning process can include as few or as many individuals as needed. Staffing plans can be created in any format that is comfortable to the organization. What is important is that the plan includes the relevant information in a format that is easy to understand and actionable.

Here is a thought to guide the plan. In the words of Lawrence Bossidy of General Electric: “I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”

The right staffing plan improves the odds of succeeding on the bets you make on your people.

If you are open to a conversation about staffing planning and how our in-depth work style and personality assessment could help, please contact us at 310-453-6556, extension 403.

Doug Clute is a Senior Human Capital LCS Consultant with over 30 years of insight and expertise as a human capital management executive within four different industries on an international scale.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC Divisions

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, extension 403, [email protected] & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

Don’t Rush the Hiring Process: Bad Hires Are 3X More Costly Than You Think

By Dana Borowka, MA

There is an old adage that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. A bad hire can be that bad apple for you.

by Natalie Grainger

Now contrast that to the famous words of anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

This is the power of good hires. Team members working together in thoughtful, committed ways to the company mission, core values and objectives can change your workplace world for the better.

When our team has conversations with C-level executives, better hiring is on their minds. Research backs this up.

“Labor shortages are driving talent retention and recruitment to the top of the CEO agenda in 2022,” concluded The Conference Board in its 2022 “C-Suite Outlook,” it’s 23rd annual survey. The report reflects the views of 1,614 C-suite executives, including 917 CEOs globally.

The Conference Board report details the external stress points business leaders face and the impact of these stressors on growth strategies. It includes views on the benefits and risks of hybrid work models, and the struggles to find and keep good employees.

Finding good employees is noticeably harder these days. Research from Glassdoor says attracting the right job candidates is the most difficult task for 76% of hiring managers. A common woe is that the best hires are snapped up in the first ten days of actively being available on the market. This adds up to a hiring process that lasts 36 days, on average.

True Cost Of Bad Hires

Bad hires can cost your company more than you think. CareerBuilder reports that 74% of employers say they have hired the wrong person for the job.

by FIN

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average cost of a bad hire is up to 30% of the employee’s first-year earnings.

When you examine the true costs broken down by hiring, retention, and pay, you might conclude the researchers at the Labor Department might be lowballing the true cost. Our team extrapolates the real cost might equal at least projected first-year earnings and maybe more.

Here’s why: Poor hires can result in lost productivity and expenses in hiring, recruiting, and training replacements. That can quickly add up.

Robert Half International reports in Fortune Insiders that managers assert lost salary isn’t the only money they lose by hiring the wrong person. Managers must also spend 17% of their time monitoring underperforming employees. In a typical workweek, that time suck equates to nearly a full day of wasted time.

A Harvard Business Review column by David K. Williams and Mary Michele Scott noted “that of nearly 2,700 employers surveyed, 41% estimate a single bad hire cost $25,000. A quarter of respondents estimate a bad choice has cost $50,000 or more.”

Not to mention the demoralizing impact on other employees.

”A hire that is going the wrong direction is bad for everybody involved,” writes Williams and Scott. “A dismissal is bad for the morale of the entire team. It’s even worse for the morale and future of the person you fire, who faces one of the most stressful events in human experience.”

by Tim Mossholder

Here are just some of the ways your company can suffer: lost productivity, loss of focus, poor execution, training costs, legal fees, damaged employee morale, damaged reputation in the marketplace, and lost manager supervision time.

Research by Gallup estimates that actively disengaged employees in the United States cost businesses anywhere from $450 billion to $550 billion in lost productivity each year.

Plus, the number of bad hires is staggering. Think of how many new hires fail to meet expectations.

“Over 50% of newly hired employees fail to meet expectations,” says recruiting expert Barry Deutsch of Impact Hiring Solutions. “Most hiring managers don’t make a significant change by firing the person, putting a PIP together, or having a deep developmental program to improve performance or behavior. They just accept partially competent people, or take those elements off the plate that the employee can’t do – and the manager does it by allowing the monkey to be transferred onto their back.”

Deutsch says that is the definition of dysfunctional.

How To Avoid Bad Hires

Deutsch, coauthor of the book You’re Not The Person I Hired, offers several suggestions for avoiding bad hires.

“One of the most powerful interview techniques for measuring success is to probe for the ability to continuously learn and adapt it to their job and expectations,” says Deutsch. “Do you probe for deep and continuous learning from the professionals and managers you’re looking to hire?”

According to Deutsch, the interview, when conducted with focused structured questions that correlate to job expectations, can be a very reliable predictor of future success.

“Unfortunately, most hiring managers don’t define the expectations so the interview questions are in doubt,” adds Deutsch “Secondly, the biggest mistake is that most hiring managers have never been trained how to conduct an accurate interview – so they are just winging it based on their life experiences. No wonder, the studies show that interview accuracy is basically as effective as rolling dice.”

Deutsch believes a proper interview process includes in-depth work style and personality assessments. As with any business decision, having the right information is critical. Work style and personality assessment testing can help reduce bad hires in three main ways:

by Bernd Dittrich

Identify potential red flags. An In-depth Workstyle and Personality assessment can discover issues that are sometimes overlooked during the interviewing process and can quantify an intuition or feeling the interviewer may have about a particular candidate. It can be used to identify potential red flags concerning behavioral issues, help understand how to manage individuals for greater work performance and compare interpersonal dynamics of teams, departments, and candidates.

Optimize employees’ work performance. An In-depth Workstyle and Personality can provide extensive information on an individual’s ability to work with their job responsibilities, team dynamics and company culture. Additionally, the assessment can show effective strategies to gain optimal performance from that individual within their particular work environment. It can also be employed to quickly identify the most effective management style for a new employee or predict how team members are likely to interact.

Ensure you have the right people in the right positions: Additionally, an In-depth Workstyle and Personality Assessments can be utilized in rehires, or situations which call for employees to re-apply for their current jobs, as in the case of a corporate merger or restructuring. A personality assessment can also ensure that your company continues to have the right people in the right positions and distribute assets and talents effectively.

How does Deutsch define a good hire?

by Jackalope West

“I would define quality of hire as a candidate who hits or exceeds your specific quantifiable outcomes at the 90-day or six-month timeframe with a set of behaviors and style that is consistent with your organizational culture and values,” says Deutsch.

Assessments and professional feedback is not just for the Fortune 500 companies, but can help organizations of all sizes with avoiding bad hires.

Lighthouse Consulting Services helps a variety of companies avoid bad hires through in-depth workstyle and personality assessments and professional interpretation of the results. Not only does this help avoid bad hires, but these assessments also help companies get the most out of new hires from day one. These assessments are tremendous productivity tools for managers who want high-performing teams.

In addition, Lighthouse Consulting provides 360-degree feedback surveys. Be warned: The amount and level of training of those providing the 360-degree feedback can impact the level of accuracy of the feedback.

Without guidance from a trained professional, bias may distort the value of the feedback. To get the full benefit, leaders need to be debriefed on the 360-degree survey results by trained professionals such as those who are part of the Lighthouse Consulting team.

Bottom line: When professionally conducted and interpreted, the results assessments help produce can be significant. But without a trained professional to help interpret the assessments, the value of their results is severely diminished.

by Kyler Boone

Dana Borowka, MA, CEO of Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC and his organization constantly remain focused on their mission statement – “To bring effective insight to your business”. They do this through the use of in-depth work style & personality assessments to raise the hiring bar so companies select the right people to reduce hiring and management errors. LCS can test in 19 different languages, provide domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication, stress & time management, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills as well as our full-service Business Consulting Division. Dana has over 30 years of business consulting experience and is a nationally renowned speaker, radio and TV personality on many topics. He is the co-author of the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”. To order the books, please visit www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC – Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication. Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact Lighthouse Consulting Services LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, [email protected] & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

Being Planfully Minded For 2025

By Paul David Walker, CEO Genius Stone Partners

Now is the time for business leaders to get centered for 2024.

by Milada Vigerova

In my book Invent Your Future, I shared that knowing how to invent the future was a strategic advantage in simpler economic eras. Now, you need this knowledge to survive.

Five Steps To Plan For The Coming Year

Back in the 1990s folk singer Pete Seeger turned some advice from wise King Solomon into a song called “Turn, Turn, Turn.” The lyrics say to everything there is a season, a time to plant, a time to reap, a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.

If you believe it is the time to plan, then how do you best do it?

Step One. Define The Future. Start by articulating what you want your business to accomplish. What are your goals? Having a facilitator to help you guide these discussions is highly beneficial.

Step Two: Work Backwards. Once you understand that, then work backward to determine what you need to do to achieve those goals. Ask your leadership team questions like: How important are those goals? How will they add value to our business? A business leader should ask, how will they bring value to my life?

Step Three: Build Your Roadmap. Once you have the destination, then build a roadmap for getting there. What are the major mileposts you need to reach month by month and quarter by quarter?

by Planète Chocolat

Step Four: Align Your Team. Next, you need to align your team around your strategy and goals. Don’t just assume they’re going to follow the roadmap. You really need to talk with them so they understand why it’s important to them, why it’s important to the company, why it’s important to you as a leader, and be ready to execute given the dynamics that are likely to come.

Step Five: Monitor The Horizon. The other activity I recommend for business leaders is to read The Wall Street Journal and all the business press that predicts what’s going to happen in the economy and your industry. The media is not always right, but it gives you some idea as to how the economic winds are blowing. Trust me, it pays to be aware of what people are thinking and what they’re doing in your industry so that you can be on top of your game.

Now is the time for business leaders to plan.

Each insight is a flash of seeing into the true nature of things, and leads to another, providing you act on the first, if you don’t the spark dies, and an opportunity is missed. Being in “the zone,” simply described is one insight after another, acted upon in the flow of cause and effect. It is like dancing in perfect harmony with a band. Dancing to the rhythm and flow of the moment brings out our souls’ calling, and our natural genius, both of which have yearned to be expressed most of our lives.

As insight expands it can create momentum and turn into a compelling vortex that draws energy like a giant storm draws air. There is an attraction that brings in all manner of opportunities as the worlds, near and far, see a familiar intent and join an energy field that feels like their tribe; like going home again.

The key to creating a chain response of insights is our ability to act in the moment before the flash of insight fades. A professional athlete has the muscle memory from years of practice in a given sport to respond in this manner. But can business teams do the same? Why not, most have years of experience in their business. It is a matter of practicing the art of connecting insight to action as a basketball player responding during the flow of the game. A team of athletes has to practice so that when opportunity presents itself it is ready to act as a team in a fast break. Likewise a business team needs to do the same.

Knowing The Difference

An insight is a combination of two or more ideas merging to create a reality previously unknown. It has an expansive, curious, and inclusive feeling, even if stimulated by reading a poem, or seeing a painting. The observer and the observed becoming one to uncover new realities, paths, and understandings.

When ideas come from stored memory they seem to be cloaked with a “need to be right,” which prevents merging and expansion. It is like pulling the answer out of the internet or our past, the feeling lacks wonder, unlike a true insight. Only with practice do we learn the difference, but do not underestimate the tricks our egos can play on us.

First We Become a Team

The first step is becoming a team committed to each others’ success that knows each person’s strengths, weaknesses and potential. Each member of the team is committed to helping unleash each team player’s potential, the potential of the team, and business. This creates a safe field for innovation and exploration. Each understands and have expertise in their roles, and those roles synchronize to form a team ready to build on insight and act upon opportunities uncovered. This is a healthy high performance team.

Stimulate Insight

Once you have a strong team, as described above, it is time to stimulate insight and action. To do this the leader and the team has to question the status quo, and collaborate to understand new realities, then act on solutions that lead to manifestation. One of the CEO’s I work with, Celso Pierre CEO of Goodridge Americas, developed the following values for his team.

by pexels

We Work Together To …

• Bring a sense of possibility beyond the status quo
• Examine possibilities until solutions emerge
• Align our intentions to drive solutions

As this example illustrates, a clear compelling picture of the desired state is important. It is an aspirational statement that provides an understanding and a draw towards the ideal. A picture of the goal creates insight as we succeed or fail that is self-correcting in a positive manner. Insights that uncover hidden realities that are successfully acted upon create engagement. The purpose is for you and/or your team, as observer of the ideal, to become one with it, then create a new ideal.

The assumption that fuels insight, is understanding that there is no limit to what we can create together. As an individual I find that if I capture insights as they occur, not letting them fade, and take action, even deeper insights emerge. To facilitate this I always have my journal at hand to capture, understand and expand insights before the clarity fades. I allow time in my schedule to reflect. Likewise a team should have time as individuals and a team to reflect with the purpose of discovering “possibility beyond the status quo.” Business leaders who make this a priority tend to lead their sectors.

The Habit of Reflection

After a success it is easy for us to fall back into old patterns, as individuals and teams. So it is important that personal, professional and business growth is the default setting. Insight into the true nature of things followed by action invents futures that provide strategic advantage. To win consistently we have to teach each other, and those that follow us how to create a state of mind around insight that is similar to athletes “in the zone.” Each time I learn something my state of mind is lifted and I become committed to new levels of action. The same is true with teams. When creating insight is a natural habit, higher states of mind will drive intent and performance at all levels.

“Here you will find a treasure trove of distinctions, tools, and models that will allow you to engage people in a way that naturally harmonizes and enhances working with others—and that in turn advances the mission and purpose of the organization. More than that, you will be introduced to the thinking that guides and directs our most advanced leaders. There are years of learning available in Invent Your Future. Do not be surprised when, in the days and months to come, you find yourself referencing this book. It’s that good.” —John King, Bestselling Author of Tribal Leadership

Paul David Walker, CEO of Genius Stone Partners works with domestic and international companies to improve their bottom line today and plan for the future. He works with the CEOs, founders, boards, and executive teams to accelerate the performance of their business, the growth of their leaders, and the health and well-being of their organizational culture. He has been a business leadership adviser to the CEOs of Fortune 500 and midsize companies for over 30 years. He is the author of four books, including Invent Your Future and Unleashing Genius.

Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC

Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCP can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication.

Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

If you would like additional information on this topic or others, please contact Lighthouse Consulting Partners LLC, Santa Monica, CA, (310) 453-6556, extension 410, [email protected] & our website: www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

Permission is needed from Lighthouse Consulting Partners, LLC to reproduce any portion provided in this article. © 2024

Your Business Can Benefit From The Fourth Industrial Revolution

By Dan Hamon, Senior Consultant

In the words of President Teddy Roosevelt, “Sometimes a revolution is necessary.”

By Gerd Altmann

Now is that necessary time for business leaders. The global economy is in the midst of revolutionary technological innovations that are predicted to lead to supply-chain miracles, with long-term gains in efficiency and productivity.

That’s if you embrace the revolution and don’t fear the technological advances.

When it comes to mass adoption of technology, there was a silver lining to the pandemic. Many embraced technology solutions during the days of Covid lockdowns. The pandemic did not cause what has been dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but it did accelerate all sorts of technology adoption by many years.

The pandemic was a compelling demonstration of technology that accelerated adoption by 10 years or more. All the tools for remote calls and meetings and sharing documents were all there, but people were not fully using them. These technologies enabled businesses to continue and even prosper. Some say it was the crucible moment of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

To understand this fourth revolution, it pays to examine the previous three.

The First Three Industrial Revolutions

Step back into history to examine the first three industrial revolutions. First came the steam engine in the 18th century, and industry no longer moved at the pace of a horse, Next came electricity in the 19th century during Teddy Roosevelt’s lifetime, and that powered mass production.

By Jim Semonik

Then in the mid-20th century came the power of computers, which led to the digital transformation of business. In the early 21st century we have entered the Fourth Industrial Revolution, set to change the world of work in ways previously imagined in sci-fi books and films.

Klaus Schwab, the person who labeled today’s advances as a new revolution, is a German engineer, economist, and founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF). He has acted as the WEF’s chairman since founding the organization in 1971.

In his 2017 book, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Schwab wrote that like the revolutions that preceded it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution “has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world.”

According to Schwab, “Transportation and communication costs will drop, logistics and global supply chains will become more effective, and the cost of trade will diminish, all of which will open new markets and drive economic growth.”

Simply put, The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the current and developing environment in which disruptive technologies and trends that are changing how we work and live, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, robotics, and what’s dubbed “The Internet of Things.”

What Really Is The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT), a subset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, describes physical objects embedded with sensors and actuators that communicate with computing systems via wired or wireless networks—allowing the physical world to be digitally monitored or even controlled.

By Pixelkult

Here are startling statistics: According to data from Giancarlo Mori at MVYL Associates and Lori Lewis at All Access, during one minute on the internet 700,000 Instagram stories are shared and 9,000 LinkedIn connections are made. In a minute, 500 hours of YouTube content is uploaded. A total of $1.6 billion is spent online every minute. That’s fueling this Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Lighthouse Consulting works with B2B software clients that are at the intersection of deploying advanced technologies to solve complex problems to deliver compelling business results. Our clients are organizations that are doing big things: like semiconductor design software, high speed computing hardware and supply chain solutions.

As an example, in one instance we helped a client in the cold supply chain space whose business is all about using technology to monitor and ensure the quality and safety of food during transport.

Typically, we work alongside the owner/CEO to help implement their vision while also refining the strategy. We roll up our sleeves and assist with the implementation.

Strong Yet Opposing Views Of Technology

As a society we seem to concurrently hold two strong yet opposing attitudes about technology. People let gadgets rule their lives (hello Siri and Alexa), and yet we actively dismiss the smallest of inquiries as to how those gadgets work.

Sci-fi films and sensational media coverage are encouraging fear. But in my opinion business leaders need to be ready to experiment. Leaders need to be curious and open about technology. People need to step out of their comfort zone.

By thisisengineering-raeng

These disruptive technologies are not new, AI has been around for more than 50 years and its consumer applications have been in our midst for at least 20 of those years. Robotics has made a huge impact on manufacturing.

But recent sci-fi movies play upon the fears of data science, robots, and AI. Here is a recap of the 2013 film Her, starring Juaquin Phoenix and Scarlet Johanson. Consider this plot synopsis from IMDB website:

Theodore (Phoenix) is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce… He decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world’s first artificially intelligent operating system, “It’s not just an operating system, it’s a consciousness,” the ad states. Theodore quickly finds himself drawn in with Samantha (Johanson), the voice behind his OS1. As they start spending time together, they grow closer and closer and eventually find themselves in love. Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt.

Sure, Siri and Alexa are helpful, but are we in danger of falling in love? Another sci-fi film to examine our new reality is from 2014 titled Ex Machina, starring Alicia Vikander and. Domhnall Gleeson. Here is the plot synopsis from the IMDB website:

Caleb (Gleeson), a 26-year-old programmer at the world’s largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location, he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl (Vikander).

Data science and AI are closely related. They’re not the same thing, but they rely on each other. If you’re open to taking all your sales data at every stage of the sales cycle and doing some serious analysis on it, you will find insights. You will find trend lines, and opportunities for growth that you’ve never seen before without these tools.

Business leaders should care about these tools because the barriers to entry for creators and entrepreneurs will come down. The creation, market adoption, and distribution of intellectual property will expand dramatically, There’ll be huge opportunities to create value and scaling any of those types of businesses will be cheaper and faster.

The possible opportunities are made possible by advances in computer science algorithms, high performance computing architectures, widely available and constantly improving semiconductor design, chip design manufacturing techniques, and almost infinite and basically free cloud storage.

Which Businesses Will Benefit The Most?

Companies of all sizes will be positively impacted. Small companies can develop and get products to market faster at lower costs. Some experts I’ve spoken with claim that experienced software engineers can be 30% more productive when paired with AI bots. That means companies can make either 30% more products or become 30% more valuable.

By Riccardo Annandale

Medium and large companies can leverage data sets and create models that will revolutionize healthcare consumer products, law, and other areas. I would not be surprised if a high-tech company buys a national hospital chain just for AI purposes. Why would they do that? Having ownership of vast amounts of radiology imaging data would be a compelling reason to invest billions of dollars because then you can create probably the most advanced AI model to identify early-stage cancer without any IP violations.

Small law firms and other professional services businesses are already leveraging tools from AI to do administrative marketing, content generation and automation of intensive tasks. Obviously, this is going to increase even more.

Other studies suggest that if you pair AI with a domain expert like a lawyer or a surgeon, you’ll get much, much better results than if you have the human expert alone or the AI expert alone. That will be like a super genius assistant that is right next to you, enabling you to do more and do better.

To learn more about how you might take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and other services offered by the Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division, please email [email protected].

Daniel Hamon is a Senior Consultant in the Business Consulting For Higher Productivity Division at Lighthouse Consulting LLC. He has played key leadership roles in product development, marketing, sales, and worldwide operations and P&L. He is particularly gifted at drawing together and leading the right internal and external teams for solving complex problems, including business turnarounds. His industry expertise includes software, semiconductors, micro-electro-mechanical systems, high performance computing, cybersecurity, data encryption, crowdfunding, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Lighthouse Consulting Services, LLC – Testing Division provides a variety of services, including in-depth work style & personality assessments for new hires & staff development. LCS can test in 19 different languages, skills testing, domestic and international interpersonal coaching and offer a variety of workshops – team building, interpersonal communication. Business Consulting for Higher Productivity Division provides stress & time management workshops, sales & customer service training and negotiation skills, leadership training, market research, staff planning, operations, ERP/MRP selection and implementation, refining a remote work force, M&A including due diligence – success planning – value creation and much more.

To order the books, “Cracking the Personality Code”, “Cracking the Business Code” and “Cracking the High-Performance Team Code”, please go to www.lighthouseconsulting.com.

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