Executive Accelerators have established a Rountable Group for business leaders in a small, confidential and supportive environmment where successful CEO's, MDs or emerging leaders from non-competing businesses meeting every month in greater Geelong.

This group is in collaboration with G21 - Geelong Region Alliance and is modelled on two very succesful groups currently operating in the City of Kingston in Melbourne and include the City CEO and the leaders of a number of successful local business and social entities.

The primary focus of the Geelong group is business model innovation and accelerating the potential and growth of business and leaders. In today's fast changing business environment everyone should be challenging their current business model and seek to create innovation as a core business culture.

G21 is the alliance of a variety of independant organisation with a shared vision for the Geelong Region and inlcudesfive local councils and I strongly believe this rountable fits within their goals of sustainable development for business and leaders in the region.

The groups will meet once a month for a breakfast session for two and a half hours.

For further information contact myself on 0411536424 or  email info@executiveacccelerators.com.au

In recent times I have been exposed to a number of companies in various market segments and they all are questioning the future of business, the economy, the lack of trust and confusion from Canberra and inability to predict the short term business climate.

There is so much negativity in the press, not helped by journalist looking for senational stories and writing without really understanding the facts or the sniping between rival media giants.

There is no doubt in my mind that, for business to survive, you must have a focus on some essential strategies such as a culture for innovation, low cost manufacturing, staff who are engaged and who understand what the vision is that everyone is striving to achieve. And, a product or service that fills a need in the community

The real key is the Vision. Once you can clearly articulate a Vision that is achievable and believable then it is strong and effective leadership that will guide business success.

A leader in any situation who cannot win the hearts and minds is bound to fail. An effective leader has to influence behaviours and, according to some, there are two ways to influence human behaviour: you can manipulate it or you can inspire it.

A great leader commands and not demands respect. The successful  companies I come across in my work are those who understand the value of vision driven by leadership throughout the organisation. I often refer people back to the work of Kouzes and Posner who wrote their Ten Commitments of Leadership nearly twenty years ago and holds true today. The key practices as mentioned them  are well worth repeating as the attributes of  practices of exemplary leadership.

Challenge the process:

Insiring a shared vision

Enabling others to act

Modelling the way

Encouarge the heart

There is no room for egos or silos within a successful business. It's 2012 not the 1960s. There is no more damaging leader than one who will not take advice or accept that they have to keep learning themsleves.

According to an article in today's Australian Financial Review by Fiona Smith, high-performing workplace are 12 percent more productive and up to three times more profitable than their low-performing competitors.

There is plenty of research to back this claim and my own experience, working in and with small to medium sized companies, is that most private business owners do not understand the importance of understanding  reward for effort when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of employees.

The large coporations measure their employee engagement and are able to benchmark against some reliable numbers that have been established over many years. The lowest score I come up aggainst was in 2008 when I became the interim contract COO of  subsidiary of a well known listed entity. The parent company had set a target of 65-70 as the engagement score of this business unit recorded a score of 28 %. Productivity was in the pits and I calculated they were invoicing less than fifty percent of the direct time on the shop floor.

Over two years, with the help of a great support team of five key managers, we achieved an engagment score of 62 percent and, just as important, we turned the financial result around. There were a number of initiatives that were implemented, the most important being that people had targets and  we engaged them in what we were trying to achieve. We created a whole new focus on leadership that recognised those who wanted to be involved and understood the end goal.

We had the dream-stealers and the those who wished that nothing would change as it was easier before the changes. We made the changes in spite of them and worked around them. We set about changing behaviours and allowing employees to have pride in their work. We created a whole new OHS environment and started to implement a lean culture with the initial implementation of 5S. Initially we did this with one hand tied behind our back from  head office personnel who were from a past culture.  Fortunately we had new champion appointed at head office who encouraged and backed our ideas and passion to improve behaviours and workplace culture.

Employee particpation and involvement were critical. Can you say that in your workplace ?

Over the last month I have travelled over 2000 kilometres around country Victoria and I mentioned in a previous blog my angst with the activity, or lack of it, in the main retail strips in country towns.

In the workshops I have been facilitating in country regions the question of buying on the internet always gets into the conversation and when I ask who has bought off he internet in the last three months nearly all hands go up. Yet when I ask who has a formal internet strategy and a professional internet site that is in sync with their business, you hardly see a hand go up. Why is this happening ?

If you have a business of any kind and have not made a real effort to understand how you can use the internet to grow your business you have no one to blame but yourself. I bet you that someone in a business similar to your's in some place around the world has developed and implemented a strategy that is successfully in building an online presence and growing their business.

Your generation Y customers are now more interested in going to a gym and /or drinking at a local coffee shop than they are in going shopping in a bricks and mortor store. Where I live in Albert Park/Middle Park  in Melbourne the coffee shops and eating places are packed. Their customers are not shopping in the local shops as they do that on the internet.

If you want to really get a handle on what people are buying online go the nearest Australia Post parcel depot as see the volume of parcels moving through the facility.

One prime example for me recently was trying to book motels in country towns. The web sites range from crappy to good. No wonder I drive pass lots of motels that have very few customers. If you are like me you do your research online first before making a booking. The I usually book through whatif.com.au

Your internet site is your gateway and fist impression to thousands of potential customers.

Finally , it does not end with just web site , its the whole jigsaw. vidoes, facebook, twitter etc etc

This has been another week where the press is covered in stories about companies putting staff off.

So, it was refreshing to attend a breakfast briefing this morning put on by Matthews Steer, Chartered accountants and hear a successful private business owner tell his story. This family business, is in high-tech engineering and surface coatings.

They survived the impact of the last four years without having to put one person off and, in fact, employed some new staff. They had a typical successful family business attitude that their staff come before higher profits. The family believes that persistance is the key ingredient to their success and decided to just work harder to get through tougher times.

They understand the value of innovation, partnering with institutions such as universities and the CSIRO and seeking outside assistance where they have identified a weakness.

Finally, judging by the presentation I heard this morning, they understand the vital leadership attribute of humility.

I was involved in a discussion today about culture within a business or a Not For Profit and the question revolved around who drives and/or leads the culture within an organisation.

As usual, this monthly group had some different points of view. That's fine because it makes for a robust discussion and enables us to consider different aspects instead of having a one-sided debate. The real question was what role directors play in influencing a culture that ensure success.

I once saw a great definition of culture that stated Culture is what people do when no-one is looking. I believe that the culture within a business needs to be pervasive as everybody embraces the principles that make a business standout from the crowd. It the way people in an organisation behave, their over-arching beliefs, the unwitten rules, the respect for each other and the ability to work towards a common and shared objective.

I also personally believe the standards are set from the top of the pyramid in a traditional heirarchy type business structure and the directors must be more involved in the business in way that they can see and understand the behaviours and actions at grass roots level. After all that is where our customers experience the culture within a business. Just as the Chairman of board can set the standard for board effectiveness, the CEO sets the standard for the management team who in turn can make or break what filters through the whole organisation. A poor CEO will result in a poor culture throughout. Therefore the Chairman has a responsibility to manage and mentor the CEO as well as the board.

Two reference points worth looking at is a book titled The Maverick  written by Richardo Semler and the other is a book titled The New Gold Standard by Joseph Michelli. The first will challenge you on a different business model and the second will explain how The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company have a culture of customer service that is ledendary.

In my experience, over a number of both large and small to medium businesses, the great ones are those that have been successful in winning the hearts and minds of all employees and everyone is on the same bus heading in the same direction. They don't need to be told or micro managed. Everyone just does it.

Late last year Grant Thornton published a paper on private food companies in Australia. For me, the key issue that came out of that survey is that innovation is a core success factor in growth and profitability.

I often see private companies who have their head in the sand when it comes to taking a proactive stance on innovation. They believe that what has worked in the past and been successful will get them through in these ever changing times.

Jack Trout wrote a book that should be a must read for all business owners. It is titled Differentiate or Die although written in 2000, it is even more relevant in today's highly competitive business world. The only difference is the impact of the web in 2012 an some of the examples mentioned are no longer in existence due to mergers , takeovers etc.

Consumers are faced with thousands of choices on a daily basis. They research on the internet before making a purchase and are able to access product from all over. For example, my daughter is expecting her first baby next month and I have watched with interest how nearly all the new baby gear has come via research on the internet.

Innovation has to be part of your DNA and be a constant core activity in your business. Your competitors will copy you and that requires you to be leading the way. My experience is that the greatest change is in packaging and making convenience king.

What are you doing to ensure your clients will chose you and your products over your competitors ? If you have an advantage now, is it sustainable ?

Just look at McDonalds menu today compared to ten years ago and their sales are still growing. 

That's the headline in today's Financial Review. But I do not see such headlines for private companies.

My information is that there is major restructuring going on in the banks and Insurance companies across Australia. We also see adverse headlines for the major retailer groups and their plans to close stores.

Every month I meet with 24 business owners in two forums where we discuss issues impacting on business performance and there is no talk of redundancies from any of them. In fact they are having trouble finding staff to meet their business growth. There is a disconnect here somewhere.

It will be interetsing to see where these white collar employees end up in the future and its the older employees who are going to feel it most. People I know who are over fifty and made redundant are taking many months to find employment again. My advice to anyone working for a services company such as a bank or insurance company is to develop new skills. Don't be caught with a single skill set.

It is private business who will eventually employ most of those who lose their job in large companies. This should be an opportunity for private companies to find people who are looking for a challenge in their job.

A key issue for private companies is the ability to operate in a business environment that encourages employment.

There is no doubt that business owners are confused by what they read in the press regarding the current rumblings around the Fair Work Act. I have yet to come across a business owner who understands how the wage rates pertain to their industry or work place. In fact most are paying above award wages due to market pressures and hoping that have the right rates in place.  The place to start is to join a reputable Industry association such as the VACC or a group such as VECCI. Use the extensive services they offer to members.

Last week I attended a  Conference in NSW for  Australian Auto Recyclers. This conference was organised out of Scotland by a software company, Actual Systems and I was one of the presenters.

Auto Recyclers were historically called Wreaking Yards and its the first time I was exposed to this group of business operators in such an environment. As a group they are typical of family owned companies all over Australia and mostly successful business people.

Just like most, they are facing change as their traditional market and the car industry evolves in the way cars are manufactured. You might not be aware, but for a number of vaild reasons, smash repairers often use second hand car panels etc when repairing cars that have been in an accident. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using a second hand door or other part verses a new ones.

I congratulate those recyclers who attended the conference as it means they are looking to learn what is changing in the world business and what constitutes best practice in taking their business to a higher level of performance. Those who did do not go to such events will wake up one day and wonder how the world passed them by. I learnt a lot from just being there and, as always, so did all the other attendees.

Get out of your workplace and Be Seen, Be Read and Be Heard and be prepared to learn from others.

In today's Financial Review there is a major article titled The hidden cost of working from home.

It highlights that the law says. Employers are liable when formal permission is given to work from home or at any other identified location off site.

I have written on this topic before, however, this issue has been highlighted following a recent judgement that found Telstra liable for physical and psychological injuries sustained by an employee who fell down stairs in her house while working from home in 2006. The case is still in the process of determining the amount of compensation as the employee has not been able to work since and has been made redundant. This could end up with a liablity of a huge amount.

More and more employees are working from home. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics the number has doubled in recent times.

There is information available that the new national OHS system to be implemented on 1 Jan 2012 will include civil penalties of up to $3million and private business owners and directors must make themselves aware of the changes. One point that is overlooked is the number of private companies that have elderly shareholders on the board. If something drastic happens, then they are equally liable even if they are not involved in the day to day activities. For example, how many have the founder's widow sitting on the board ? Do they understand that their assets are on the line ?

If you have employees working from home have you been to their premise and carried out a risk assessment ?