Bruce Eckfeldt Bruce Eckfeldt

The best ways to build and maintain great business partnerships

After many years in product design and development, I founded a technology company in 2003. We did well and the company grew in both revenues and people. We made the Inc 5000 list five years in a row, one year placing 243 on the Inc 500. I started the company with a partner who subsequently left and then switched partners during the life of the business.

In 2014, I sold the company to a third party after the partnership failed and we couldn’t find a way to exit on mutual terms. I’ve been in several mediations and even lawsuits over partnership issues and have learned a lot. Today, I coach entrepreneurs and executives on management and organizational performance and deal with several partnership situations.

Whether it’s individual business partners in a company, a strategic partnership between companies, or partnerships between employers and employees, they all require careful design and ongoing commitment to be successful. Partnerships that put themselves on cruise control run the risk of missing obstacles in the road and failing to see upcoming turns. Partnerships that are committed to continuous review and improvement and are able to effectively resolve issues and navigate change have the ability to grow and deliver increasing value.

There are several factors to consider when developing a partnership agreement and several practices to follow to keep the partnership on track and delivering value for every party involved. Ignoring these can not only put the future partnership at risk, but it can destroy the existing value that has been created. Even if you’re not a formal business partnership, these ideas and recommendations can be helpful to ensure long term success and to avoid destructive conflict.

Partnerships are not until death do you part

One of the first things I coach new partnerships on is that you shouldn’t assume your partnership will last forever. It’s unrealistic to think that a partnership won’t end at some point. Even with the best intentions and the largest of opportunities, people and businesses change. Designing a clear, reasonable, and equity way in which to part ways that protects your assets and the value that you’ve built in the business. It’s much easier to work out how to handle different scenarios while the energy and intentions are collaborative and productive.

Design the process to work regardless who is in which situation. Where you can, create scenarios where either party has equal chances of being on either side. This will incent each side to create a fair and equal resolution process. “You split I pick” approaches force parties to be fair about the choices they make because they could end up on either side of the deal.

Separate initial contribution from ongoing contributions

What someone puts in at the beginning of a partnership can be quite different than what they are going to put in over the life of the deal. Plus, things change. Just because someone intends to contribute something in the future doesn’t mean they will. Even with the best intention. My recommendation is that these types of contributions are be separated and, if need be, accrued over time. 

For example, where one side is going to put up working capital and the other side is going to put in time operating the company, I suggest having a equity/ownership model that accrues the second partner's value over some period of time. The rate of accrual should be based on the difference between the market rate of the operating partners time contribution and the actual draw/salary.

If both partners are operating, come up with market rates for each person’s roles and then accrue at the difference between these. If need be, have a process for adjusting these based on a third party over time with some pre-defined formula. Having these in place means that if one partner can’t or doesn’t want to delivery on the ongoing contribution, then there is a clear adjustment that’s fair and equitable.

Have a clear and equitable process for winding down

When things get heated, rational thought and collaboration tend to go out the window. Having a clear resolution and wind-down process ensures that value is maintained regardless of emotions and unfortunate situations. Partners get divorced, tied up in litigations, suffer health issues, etc. These are unfortunate but a reality of life. And these need not be dispassionate. Provide funds, time, consideration for resolution and assistance, but define up front how much the partnership will invest and how much exposure it will take on.

Have a defined process for conflict resolution and mediation

There are two main reasons to have a clear process for conflict resolution. First, you want to know how things are going to be handled should the partners not be able to collaboratively reach a resolution. Have a clear process for notices and escalating that can be invoked unilaterally if needed. I generally suggest a process that has two or more levels of escalation to allow for time/space to re-engage in a collaborative process before moving to irreversible stages.

Mediation, Arbitration and Collaborative Law processes are generally more effective and can be significantly less expensive than the traditional litigation. Consider mandating use of these methods before allowing resolution by the courts.

Develop a shared future vision and operating values

Parties enter into partnerships because they think it will get them some future state more quickly, with less costs, and/or with less risk. If not, they wouldn’t need the partnership. The challenge comes when the futures each party envisions don’t exactly line up. That’s not to say the parties need the same vision or same reasons for entering into a partnership, but if each side isn’t clear on why they are doing it and why the other party is doing it, it is much more likely to lead to misunderstanding and conflict.

Get clear on what you want and get clear on what the other side wants and know that you’re making commitments to each other to deliver on both ends, not just your own. If you can’t commit to making both yourself and your parter successful, then think twice about entering the deal. 

Define expectations and commitments for each party

Many partnerships end up in conflict because the expectations of what each party is going to contribute over the life of the relationship is either not clear at the outset or changes over time without clear mutual agreement. Take the time to really explore what expectations are and how each side wants to handle changes in expectations. Who is responsible for what part of the business? If there is a failure to deliver on expectations, what is the resolution process? 

Create a clear and effective decision making process

All businesses need to make decisions. Partnerships need even more structure since values, priorities and impacts might be different for each side. Separating the type of decisions (what copier to buy verses the decision to make an acquisition) can help keep the process effective and timely. Create a few categories of types of decisions and define how each will be determined and which decision making process will be used.

Don’t assume everything needs to be unanimous or just by ownership. There are many decision-making strategies and process you can develop. Think through who has rights for input, developing options, making decisions, approving decisions, and notification. Sometimes the issue is not who gets to make the decision but rather who has input and who get’s notified.

Sometimes bringing in third parties to approve decisions or that decisions conform to external standards or opinion can help. Consider processes for alternating or setting terms for different decision-making responsibilities. The point being, figuring these out up front can help smooth the day-to-day operating process and avoid rows and costly delays. 

Have regular and well-structured review meetings

Regardless of good intentions and well-laid plans, people change and things happen. Not always for the worse. Sometimes partnerships struggle with success. Have a regularly scheduled check in points with a defined agenda to catch issues early and make necessary adjustments. I find quarterly is a good timeframe for conducting a partnership review.

The agenda should generally include a review of the previous quarter and a 12-24-month forward-looking plan. Having a facilitator can help make sure you address all issues in an efficient and thorough manner. Also be sure to include things that are happening outside the partnership that might affect the partnership either directly or through either party.

Every partnership will have particular needs and will want to implement these and other practices in a way that works best for them. Great partnerships take work and careful management. But done well, they can also deliver amazing results that would be impossible otherwise.

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Bruce Eckfeldt is a former Inc 500 CEO and long-time member of the New York City Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. He provides executive and team coaching and management training to startups and high-growth companies. For more information on Bruce, visit http://www.eckfeldt.com or contact him at bruce@eckfeldt.com.

This post originally appeared in Business Insider:
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-build-and-maintain-great-business-partnerships-2015-5

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Bruce Eckfeldt Bruce Eckfeldt

Setting powerful team goals using objectives key-results (OKRs)

The Objective - Key Result (OKR) framework is a powerful tool for tying short-term actions to long-term vision. Especially for teams, where you have multiple people to align and coordinate. The key to the model is the two-part framework which provides traceability to long-term goals while specifying short-term action items in a clear and easy-to-manage process.

As a coach, I use quarterly OKRs to help teams decide on improvements they are prioritizing and implementing. My goal is to create a simple and effective method for focusing and aligning the team's efforts. Of course like any framework, while the ideas can be straight forward the implementation can be difficult. For some teams this process can be fairly easy. For others its a challenge.

Regardless of your situation or history, below are several suggestions which will help make the process more successful.

Start with a sober assessment of where you currently stand

You need a clear vision of both your destination and your starting point. If you set overly-ambitious objectives, you risk frustration and disappointment. Avoid failure by starting with a honest assessment of your current skills and capabilities. Then set reasonable objectives that give you good reasonable chance for success. Build on that success by setting progressively more challenging and ambitious goals. You wouldn't go out and run a marathon if you’ve never completed a 5K.

Set OKR’s on quarterly basis

One calendar quarter is the ‘goldilocks’ time period for OKRs. Monthly is just too short. Yearly is too long. Three months is just right. 90 days gives enough time to set meaningful goals while still creating urgency. I find that with yearly OKRs, people will to wait until the last quarter to really focus on action, effectively wasting nine months of time. When you’re working in monthly cycles, a spike in regular project demands can through an entire cycle out the window. With a three-month cycle, when a project crisis hits and you need to put your OKR’s aside for a few weeks, you still have time to pick them back up and make good progress.

In the beginning, it’s better to under commit

Go easy the first round. Being conservative allows you can focus on learning the process and building a solid foundation. Once you have a good quarter and have the taste for success, then get more aggressive. I’ve seen teams who commit to far too much, complete only a fraction of their KR’s, getting deflated, and then spend several months rebuilding their confidence. I’d rather see a team get a few things done well and build momentum.

Objectives show progress towards a vision

When I write objectives, the first question I ask is, “how does this objective help advance me towards my vision?” An objective that doesn’t tie to a vision is at best a waste of time. At worst, it actively interferes with organization success. Good objectives have a clarity of purpose. Sometimes this takes a few rewrites. Everyone should be satisfied that achieving an objective will clearly advance the team in the right direction.

Here are a few examples where rewriting objectives can improved clarity:

  • Get more feedback became Get more customer feedback early in the process so we can prioritize our work better

  • Improve retrospectives became Go deeper in retrospectives so we can find and address root causes

  • Do one-on-ones became Send time each week with direct reports to develop closer personal relationships

  • Waste less time in meetings became Improve meeting productivity by having a clear goal and meeting agenda

  • Work in iterations became Improve delivery consistency by planning and delivering our work in consistent iterations

  • Meet our deadlines became Improve our ability to estimate complexity and capacity so that the business can prioritize and plan confidently

Target 3-5 objectives, each with 3-5 key results

I suggest teams have a total of between 15-20 KRs for the quarter. The size and complexity will depend on the team composition and size, but I find those numbers to work well. Using the 70-80% goal, that means a team is targeting to complete roughly 10-15 KR’s. That's about one a week, which sets a reasonable pace. Generally I recommend you invest about 10-15% of your total capacity in OKR work.

Assuming a team has 3-5 KR’s per objective, then you should have between 3-5 objectives to get to your 15-20 total KR count. Once you have a well-written objective, find three to five key results that, when completed, will show meaningful progress. The KR’s don’t need to “complete” the objective, just show substantial progress. An objective can go on for several quarters with different KR’s under it. Start with three to five KR’s per objective. Less than three and you leave too little room for choice. More than five and you’ll create too much focus on one objective or too many KR’s. 

Select objectives based on passion and impact

It's easy to come up with dozens of objectives. Select those you feel both passionate about and will make a meaningful impact. This will motivate you. If you have an objective that the team is passionate about but doesn't have a clear impact on strategy, keep working on it and find an angle. I find that it’s easier channel passion into impact than to try and rally passion for an objective that lacks interest.

Key results need to be specific, definitive, and independent

Key results need three things to be effective. First, they need to be specific. This means that everyone knows the scope and what tasks are involved, and what tasks are not. Second they need to be definitive. You know when it’s done. And I mean done, done. Avoid subjective measures and vague definitions. Lastly, they need to be independent, which means that the team has the power to complete each KR without dependence on outside parties or resources. This includes independence from other KR’s. Your KR’s should not end up in a big Gantt chart with tasks strung together in interlocking threads.

Develop OKR’s as a group

OKR’s should not be a collection of individual OKR’s. Everyone should have their own personal OKR’s, but keep them separate. Teams OKR’s need to be about what the ‘team’ needs and should be team efforts to complete. One person should not go off by themselves and complete all of the KRs.

Don’t over-complicate tracking and scoring

I’ve seen teams come up with elaborate point values and scoring formulas for each KR. Over-complicating them in the beginning typically turns into a problem and focuses the team on process rather than progress. Better to start simple with a system that everyone can see and quickly calculate progress. If KR’s are of significantly different sizes, I typically have the team adjust them--splitting them apart or combining them or re-writing them--to get them to be in rough balance. For tracking, I suggest a simple chart where each KR can be checked off when completed. Progress is simply calculated by completed KR’s over the total number of KR’s to get a percentage.

Plan and prioritize your OKR work along side your other project work. I have teams keep separate task backlogs, one for OKR’s and one for project work; but when we plan iterations, it's one absolutely prioritized list. For teams working in iterations or sprints, I have them allocate 5-10% of their capacity for OKR stories. For teams working with kanban or continuous pull systems, I suggest pulling an OKR task every 10th task.

Burn-down and/or burn-up charts can help visualize work completed, work remaining, and current progress rate. This allows everyone to see the progress, or the lack there of, and set expectations accordingly. For OKR’s, since the target is 70-80% completion, I have the teams mark those rate lines on the chart so they can clearly see the target zone.

Assign one owner for each key results

While the entire team needs to be involved in the completion of OKR’s, each KR should have just one name next to it. The owner is responsible for managing tasks, delegating work, and removing roadblocks. Do not expect the owner to complete the KR by themselves, but they will likely be heavily involved. KR ownership should be distributed as evenly across the group as possible. I also encourage people to take KRs that are slightly out of their comfort zone. Again, this should be a group effort.

Target 70-80% completion of your KR's

You should have some stretch to your KR’s. If you complete all of their KR’s in a quarter, you haven’t stretched enough. Teams should target completing 70-80% of their KR's in a quarter. This gives you room to do more than planned while ensuring that the you are not over-scheduling yourselves and wasting time and energy. If the you are getting less than 60% completed for two quarters in a row, then cut back. If you are finishing more than 90% for two quarters in a row, add more. Again, do not over-complicate the measurement and tracking.

Don’t get stuck on a KR, if it’s not working move on to something else

If you realize that the KR just won’t deliver the value you expected, don’t be afraid to scrap it altogether. This is another reason to plan on 70-80% completion. It leaves room to drop a few if they turn out to be duds. Be careful of getting into this habit, however, as it will lead to sloppy OKR definition at the beginning of the quarter. And only do this with KR’s, not with objectives. In all cases, make sure to address these in a retrospective.

Sometimes you end up with an KR that turns out to be more difficult than you estimated. When this happens don't be afraid to move on to other KRs and put this one aside. If you have time at the end of the quarter you can pick it back up.

Retrospect after each quarter and apply what you’ve learn

Lastly, be sure to retrospect at the end of the quarter. This is where teams can learn about what’s working, what’s not, and where they can improve. I suggest the following retrospective structure: 1) create awareness by collecting and present information and data, 2) develop insights by asking questions and challenging assumptions, 3) develop a multitude of possible action items, and 4) choose what to implement based on impact and feasibility.

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Bruce Eckfeldt is an entrepreneur and former Inc 500 CEO. He provides executive and team coaching and management training to startups and high-growth companies. For more information on Bruce and how he can help you and your company, visit http://www.eckfeldt.com or contact him at bruce@eckfeldt.com.

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Building a powerful advisory board

Many companies create advisory boards with great intentions. Unfortunately, they don’t always do the best job and the board becomes a chore for everyone involved or is abandoned out of apathy and frustration. Having a clear purpose for you and your members and a plan for building and managing your board can greatly increase your chances of success and having a powerful impact on your business.

As a successful entrepreneur, former Inc 500 CEO, and, currently, an executive coach, I’ve been asked to serve on several advisory boards over the years. Some had been successful and allowed me to have significant impact on the business. Others have been a waste of my time and the companies’ money. Today, I often help business put together advisory boards and help recruit members. Here are several recommended considerations that can help drive success.

Know the Difference between a Board of Advisors and a Board of Directors

People often get these confused. Generally, a board of directors has some sort of fiduciary responsibility to investors and/or shareholders in a company. They are there to protect the folks they represent and generally have voting rights in high-level decisions and have some control over management. Boards of advisors do not have this type of responsibility and power.

Advisors are there to provide insights, resources, opinions, and perspectives to leadership and management. Making sure you and your board understand this is an important first step. Confusing these can mean that you’re using your advisory board in the wrong way. It can also mean that you’re not getting the right people or the people you want on your board because they are turned off out of concern for legal risk (board or directors usually, or at least should, be insured and protected/indemnified against litigation liability).

Decide What You Want Out of an Advisory Board

Advisory boards can serve many purposes. Some boards provide information about industry or markets, other boards know about operations and management, and others provide access to key resources and external credibilities. These are different purposes. Being clear with yourself so you can be clear with board members is important. What you choose as a focus depends on you and your business.

I usually suggest leaders to identify where they are weakest and where a board could have the most impact and focus on that intersection. Look at your current strengths and weaknesses. If you don’t have much experience with finances and operations, focus your board on finding people with that experience in your industry. If you need access to key markets, recruit members with a reputation and large rolodex. Picking a specific focus will help you find and select members and get the most out of their involvement.

Brainstorm All the Possible Things You Can Offer Members

First, I generally suggest companies don’t offer equity for board members. It’s too complicated and leads to problems if you need to end a relationship. Further, I also suggest that you don’t focus on monetary compensation to start with. (I do suggest you cover any and all expenses and, if appropriate, a small honorarium.) Equity and money miss the opportunity to appeal to a member’s desire for more intrinsic rewards such as community, reputation, and the satisfaction of helping a meaningful cause. Don’t underestimate the value you can offer advisors. Think about things like reputation, networking, and industry insights. The more you can think out of the box on value, the more options you’ll have to recruit.

Decide How You Want to Meet and Interact with Your Board

It’s important to have a clear plan for when and how you engage your board. Generally, boards meet as a group on a regular basis. However, you might want one-on-one time with some or all advisors separately. Think about the benefits of each and what will serve you best. Timing can be anywhere from monthly to annually. Generally, I suggest quarterly meetings as that gives a nice balance between seeing your board too often and not having anything to really discuss and too infrequently and not receiving enough input on key decisions. Some boards alternate between meeting in person and via video conference to ease travel time and costs. Meeting in person at least once a year provides for more meaningful connections with, and between, board members.

Develop and publish an agenda for your board meetings. The one thing that kills a board’s enthusiasm is feeling like your time is not being used efficiently. Know what you want to discuss and what input you want from members. Provide sufficient background and details prior to the meeting with enough time for board members to review. I suggest at least two weeks in advance. You want to spend your board time discussing and working out ideas, not reading documents and presenting background materials. 

Decide Who Has Involvement and a Relationship with Your Advisory Board

Some companies I work with set up an advisory board just for the owner(s) of the business. Others include several members of the management team and senior staff in board meetings. Either is fine, but it’s important to work out the logic and logistics beforehand and set expectations for both the board and the company. Consider why you have an advisory board and what you expect to get out of it. If you want to focus on operations and delivery, you probably need members of your operating team involved. If you’re more focused on long-term strategy, you might not. You can also pull in key managers to discuss specific topics. Also consider what information managers and employees will go out to employees and make this clear to board members. If minutes are being distributed, it might change what advisors are willing to say and you don’t want there to be any miscommunications.

Create an Advisory Board Agreement

Advisors should be treated like partners. And like any good partnership, the expectations, terms, and scope of the relationship should be defined and detailed in a clear document. Draft an agreement you can give to potential advisors once they express interest in serving. Be willing to make changes, but offer initial details so a member can see expectations and the relationship you’re envisioning. Be sure to include things like time commitments, meeting logistics, expected preparation work, and what you expect with respect to phone calls and emails between meetings. Other things to consider are terms regarding confidentiality, non-disclosure and publication, non-compete, termination, and resignation.

Have a Clear Term Limit and Renewal Provisions

I strongly recommend that you have a term limit for all advisory board members. This will ensure you have a means of keeping your board fresh and engaged. Generally, I suggest one to two year terms with any optional explicit renewal provision. This makes it easy to retire board members who either turn out not to be a good fit or fade over time. It also allows you to change the focus of your board as the company grows and the needs change. I also feel that advisory boards benefit from new blood. Fresh ideas and perspectives from people who haven’t been steeped in the history can be exceptionally valuable.

Strike a Balance between Commonality and Diversity

I find great boards have a well-crafted balance between commonality and diversity. Too much commonality and you risk group think and anemic discussions but too much diversity and members can’t build on ideas and collaborate effectively. When targeting and recruiting board members, consider a range of factors: size of companies they’ve worked with, types of roles they’ve had, general views on their domain, etc. Read things they’ve posted and look at their profiles. Also consider personalities and communication styles and how these will affect communications and group dynamics. Don’t fall into the trap of putting together a fan club. Push yourself to create a board that will challenge you and add valuable insight and cover your blind spots.

Creating a focused plan for your advisory board can be a lot of work, but taking the time and care to do so will great improve the contribution a board can make. I’ve served on several advisory boards and it’s always clear to me when a company takes the time and care to create a good plan and a win-win relationship. They’re a pleasure to work with and leave me energized, engaged, and willing to give my all.


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Bruce Eckfeldt is an entrepreneur and former Inc 500 CEO. He provides executive and team coaching and management training to startups and high-growth companies. For more information on Bruce and how he can help you and your company, visit http://www.eckfeldt.com or contact him at bruce@eckfeldt.com.

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Anatomy of a winning startup competition pitch

Startup competition pitching is hard. You have limited time to convey a lot of information in a compelling and engaging way. The right structure is the basis for a winning pitch and can mean the difference between taking home the gold (literally) and eating ramen for another month (or more).

As an entrepreneur, Inc 500 CEO, and business coach, I’ve helped dozens of startups with their pitches and I’ve been a judge in competitions for many years. Over that time I’ve develop some basic guidelines and recommendations I give my teams. All of these are focused on maximizing the team's ability to convey the right information in an engaging and convincing way. This structure is specific to competition pitches. While similar to investor pitches, they differ in a few important ways which is important to consider before getting started.

Most competitions have a limited number of entrants and the process is forced to award places/money to the people within the pool. With an investor pitch you are competing against complacency and the “do nothing” option. In competitions, judges don't have the option to choose nobody (usually). This means you only need to be the best one that day. With an investor pitch, you need to convince them you are better than anything they “might” see in coming weeks or months.

The format typically gives you a fixed amount of time during which the judges are obligated to listen. There is generally also a fixed amount for questions which makes it unlikely they will interrupt your presentation. An investor can cut you off anytime and every phone call is a potential distraction. This allows you to plan out your presentation with specific structure and timing.

A competition is often filling a higher mission than just investment return. Competitions are usually organized or backed by people with a “purpose”. This could be to support a certain demographic or community or institution. Some competitions have specific application criteria or judging standards to reinforce these. However, even if they don’t, a smart team takes into consideration that judges and organizers want to showcase their selection. Figure out what would make a good-looking winner and tailor your pitch accordingly.

Finally, many competitions are straight-up grants or low/no interest debt, rather than equity. This means that the investment proposal is usually not as important, or at least not considered as heavily, as it would be in an investment pitch. Even in the case when winning involves an equity position, the judges are usually not directly investing their own money. Also, the equity position is usually fixed (X number of dollars to Y percentage of equity) and doesn’t get negotiated. All of this means that you may need to make a detailed case for valuation or provide a return/exit strategy.

Taking all of this into consideration, the general structure of the pitch is based on the idea that you want to present a clear and compelling business model and an engaged and charismatic team within the time permitted. You need to make it easy for the judges to compare against the other entrants and feel good about choosing you over them. And most importantly, you need to be a choice that the judges are going to “feel good” about selecting.

Here is what I typically suggest for the pitch structure:

What's the problem?

First, present the problem you are solving and why the problem is a problem. Who does it impact? How many people? What pain are you alleviating? What happiness are you enabling? If you don’t address the problem what horrible thing is going to take place or opportunity will be squandered? You want to make this emotional, not just logical. Personalize the problem by talking about specific stories of specific people (real people if you can). Show faces and contexts. You want the judges to become emotionally, not just intellectually, drawn into the presentation.

Why hasn't it been solved already?

Second, describe what a good solution needs to consider and accomplish. Where and why have people failed up until now? What skills need to be applied? What knowledge needs to be learned? What external factors need to be in place? This section sets you up as the best solution relative to the competition. You want to define the selection criteria such that only your approach will work and other people's approaches are doomed for failure. Tilt the table towards you by emphasizing your strengths as being the only important evaluation criteria. This will allow you to compare yourself as being far ahead of the competition.

Your solution

Third, present your solution in simple terms. You need a one, maximum two, line description of your concept. “We allow college alumni to stay connected and plan events via online community” (http://alumnispaces.com) or “We provide the insight and support of a great high school guidance counselor through an easy-to-use self-service web application” (https://admitted.ly/).

The key here is you need to provide the judges with a memorable description of your concept. They need an anchor to “get it” and be able to understand what you're proposing. If your idea is not clear to them, they will get caught up in trying to resolve it in their minds and won’t be able to pay attention to the rest of your pitch. I’d rather have teams come up with a description that might not be totally accurate but easy to understand, than try to describe their concept with perfect fidelity and leave the judges confused and questioning.

Further, to the extent that you can make it catchy and easy to remember, you will enable the judges to recall and refer to your idea and team quickly. Judges spend a lot of time trying to sort through many entrants and discussing the relative merits. I’ve found that entries with easy to refer to ideas get talked about more. As a result they tend to get more time being discussed. Though this won’t help a bad idea, it does mean that it’s less likely that a good idea will be ignored.

Why you're better than others

Fourth, position yourself against the competition using the criteria you established in step two. Generally, this is one or more 2x2 matrices showing how you compare. You want to show that even though some competitors maybe close to you on one axis, they are far behind on another. Show that you’re uniquely ahead of the game and that your mix is the best mix to solve the problem successfully.

How are you going to make money and when?

Fifth, describe your high-level financial model. Keep it simple. Show costs and revenues and cash flow for two years; generally in quarters. Only show months if there is something irregular or unique that can only be shown on a monthly basis. For each period, show beginning cash balance, then expenses, then revenue, then calculate profit/loss, and finally ending cash balance.

If you already have capital infusion or debt financing, show that at the bottom and then carry the balance to the top of the next month. This way you can easily show operating expenses, revenue projects, cash flow, and financing requirements. For some competitions you can make this simpler. If there is a risk that the details become too complicated, I often coach teams to show the slide but only cover the points that are most pertinent to that jury. You want to visually show the jury you’ve done the work, but don’t want to take up time with involved explanations.

If you have been in business for some period of time and can show you’re executing your plan, show historical financials. If you’ve already had investment, show when this was done and what it’s been used for. Emphasize that you’ve put in money and time and others are supporting you already. The caution here is that you don’t want the judges to feel that you don’t “need” to win this competition. Make it clear that you winning this competition is critical. You want the judges to feel like they are going to make a true difference in the outcome.

Why should people invest?

Sixth, make your investment case. Again, for a competition, you can most likely keep this simple. For an investor pitch this would be covered much more thoroughly. Make some reasonable and rational projections as to where your company will be in five to seven years. I generally suggest teams start with a bottom up build and then do a top down check.

Start by showing how you’re going to grow the business. How many customers are you taking on each year? What’s your retention rate? What are costs per acquisition? What are your profits per customer? What is the lifetime value of a customer?  Based on your assumptions and projections, show how that translates into annual revenues in the final years of the projection. I suggest five to seven years for two reasons. First, because that’s the typical time-frame for most venture and early-stage capital investors. Second, because it’s a reasonable range for making projections.

Once you have your bottom up model, develop a top down model to show that your projected size and total market share are not unreasonable. Calculate the market size by looking at the total number of current and projected customers, the average revenue per customer, and then show the percentage of the market you are projecting to capture. If you’re greater than 50% you’re likely to be judged as being over-optimistic with how much of the market you expect to capture. In this case, you might want to look at expanding the market to show new/more areas you can compete and grow. If you’re under 10%, you’re projecting that you’ll be a minor play in the market. This can come with concerns that you’ll either need to be acquired or will struggle as bigger players dominate the game. The sweet spot is 20-40%. Big enough to be a player, but not so big that you’d need to be the leader to get your return. All of this is highly dependent on the market and context, but they are good general guidelines.

Why are you the best team for the job?

Seventh, you need to present your team and why you’re the best people for the job. Let’s face it, the adage that one would rather invest in an “A” team with a “B” idea rather than vice versa, has a great degree of truth. In competitions, there is yet another reason to focus on the people behind the business: judges are there to enjoy themselves and feel good. They want to give awards to people they like, or at least know, not to business plans. Highlight the team and the unique qualities the team has to execute. Key things to highlight are related experiences, education, industry knowledge, track record, and unique access to resources. And make your team likable. Use a smiling, high-quality picture. Don’t use cell phone snap shots with friends and drinks cropped out.

Why should people care about your success?

Finally, in the last section I have my teams re-engage the judges emotionally by reiterating the importance of addressing the problem. Highlight what will happen if they don’t award your team. This can take the form of either a horrible impact or a tragically missed opportunity. You want the judges to feel like they are compelled to pick this team because they have a moral obligation. They should feel that finding a solution is so important they should award them regardless of the plan or the team.

Too many teams end on a business note and leave the judges with a spreadsheet showing impossible exponential curves. Instead, leave the judges with the picture of a child walking down the hall of the school with their head down because of bad college selections, the increase in college dropout, and the social tragedy of those who don’t go to college because they never had a guidance counselor to show them the way.

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Bruce Eckfeldt is an entrepreneur and former Inc 500 CEO. He provides executive and team coaching and management training to startups and high-growth companies. For more information on Bruce and how he can help you and your company, visit http://www.eckfeldt.com or contact him atbruce@eckfeldt.com.

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Running effective daily scrum stand-ups

When starting a team coaching assignment, I start with the question, "when this engagement is completed, how will you know we have been successful?" This helps create focus and set direction for the engagement. Early this year, while working with a marketing team, one, somewhat frustrated, woman gave me the answer “if we actually stood up at stand-ups!”

"Really? That's all?", I asked. That was something I was fairly sure I could do. (Just take away the chairs was my first idea.) But she continued.

“No,” she said, “it’s more than that.” She went on to explain that stand-up meetings were taking longer and longer and were now almost an hour. People droned on about details and dove into detailed discussions trying to make decisions and resolve problems. People would speak as long as fifteen minutes. As the meetings became longer, the meeting quickly transformed into a full-on project review meeting.

When I attended my first stand-up the following day, I found out it was even worse than described. As the meeting time was approaching, about a dozen people came into the room and sat down, some at the conference table and some in chairs in the back. Then, everyone began to take out their laptops. I was perplexed, but I was just observing that day so stayed quiet. As the meeting started, seven more remote team members joined via conference call.

The meeting itself consisted of walking through each and every open project story. The members of the team talked about status and discussed open questions. They resolved open issues and decided next steps and action plans there in the meeting. Using their open laptops, people researched issues, looked up emails, and conferred with documents. Those not part of the immediate discussion were emailing, instant messaging, and surfing the web.

I realized then, that things had gone awry with this meeting. And while they were calling it a stand up, it was far from it.

Over the ensuing weeks, I worked with the team to restructure the meeting, along with the reporting and tracking process. We separated out status reporting and working meetings from the stand-ups. It started with some clear meeting objectives, a defined agenda, and a heavy facilitation hand for the first week or two. We got the meeting down to twenty minutes in three weeks. As a result, everyone stayed engaged and focused. And most importantly, everyone actually stood up!

If your stand-ups are lacking, try applying these principles and practices to get your meetings focused and on task.

Pick a time that works for the group

Different team members have different work and personal schedules. Not everyone can make a 8:30 AM meeting time. Find a time which is reasonable to everyone so that people are more likely to attend and be ready. Most teams work well in the morning, but don’t be afraid to try an afternoon stand-up if that makes more sense. Generally, try to make it the same time each day, however I do have teams that meet at different times each day to accommodate flex schedules which have been successful.

Have a clear agenda with set time limits

The agenda needs to be short and focused. I recommend the following to start: what I finished yesterday, what I’m working on today, and where I need help. Some teams add something they learned or key announcements. Each team member goes through that agenda quickly; no discussion, no questions. Follow up on those after the meeting. Generally 1-2 minutes per person is a good heuristic.

Empower the facilitator to keep the meeting on schedule and on topic

The role of the facilitator is to keep the meeting on schedule and on topic. If someone starts getting into details or off the stand-up agenda, they need to politely ask them to move forward and wrap up. I find that people will only get better at stand-ups if they are held to time limits and are cut off if need be. People allowed to drone on have no incentive to get better and bad habits form. The team needs to understand that the facilitator’s job is to keep the meeting on schedule and respect everyone's time. They should treat everyone the same, don’t play favorites or play to power. The entire team needs to support that. I’ve had successful teams that have the same facilitator, others that have rotated between qualified people. Try both.

One person speaks at a time

When it’s someone’s turn to speak, only that person is speaking. No questions, no discussion, no sidebars. If a team allows people to interrupt it will be impossible to enforce time limits. The interrupted person’s time get taken away and it's too easy to then give them more which starts the spiral towards long stand ups. When someone’s done, the facilitator asks if there are any parking lot or follow up items and people can chime in quickly. Once that’s closed, move on to the next person quickly.

Cycle through people, not tasks

This is a common problem that I see: people cycle through tasks and everyone chimes in. The problem is that not every task is active or worth talking about so time is wasted. And then it becomes difficult to get the complete picture of what someone is working on as their information is segmented over several tasks. Keep the focus on the 48 hours window: 24 previous and 24 upcoming. One of the subtle impacts of rigorous stand-ups is that it exposes what people are working and how productive they are. It quickly shows if someone is getting stuck and needs help. Going by task conceals this information. Stand-ups are about checking in with people, not tasks. Go through each team contributor (see note below on Pigs and Chickens) on the team. Not all tasks will be discussed and that’s fine. Wrap up the meeting with any key announcements or upcoming events and then break. After the meeting, anyone on a parking lot item can coordinate with just those people to follow up and discuss.

Make status reporting simply “done” or “not done”

When reporting on status, insist that first thing said is either “done” or “not done”. Don’t let people start with explanations or caveats. “Not done” needs some further explanation of how close and why, but don’t let people start on that until it’s clearly indicated it’s not complete. This enables two things. First, it focuses everyone on results rather than effort. Good teams don’t reward effort, they reward completion of work on time and on budget. Second, it makes it clear to everyone that has a dependency or interest in the task its real status. As Yoda says, “do, or not do, there is no try.”

Use a parking lot to hold items that need more discussion

As each person presents, hold all questions and comments until they are done. At that point, open up the floor to parking lot items. “I want to follow up and hear more about that customer meeting” or “I have some feedback on the logo design,” but no discussing these during the stand-up, make it a follow-up conversation off-line. Make sure to assign someone to track the parking lot items and/or write them on a whiteboard or flip chart as you go; if the parking lot is not being tracked, people won’t trust it and will try to address things as they come up.

Have people prepare for the meeting

Everyone should be responsible for taking five minutes before the stand-up to organize their thoughts and what they are going to say. This keeps them on time when it comes to them and ensure they are communication the maximum amount of information within their slot. It also means that they are listening to what others are saying rather than trying to put together their thoughts as other people are speaking. One team I coached, made everyone hold up their notes before the meeting and anyone that didn’t have notes, wasn’t allowed to go. I liked it because it use consequences rather than having to chide people about coming unprepared.

Pigs speak, chickens listen

Scrum has a parable of the chicken and the pig. A chicken says to a pig, “I have a great idea for a new restaurant, and I’m willing to make you a 50/50 partner?” The pig asks, “sure, what’s the name?” “Bacon and Eggs,” says the chicken. The pig frowns and replies, “I don’t think so, you’re only involved, but I’m committed.” The point is, this meeting is for the people doing the work, not the people watching (executives, other team members, managers, etc.). These people are welcome to attend and listen in so long as their presence doesn’t interfere with the stand-up goal and agenda. They do not speak or ask questions. Only contributing team members participate in the stand-up.

Use video calls over conference calls

I’ve coached several teams that have remote team members. Some just doors away, other on the other side of the globe. If someone can’t be there in person, try to have them on a video call rather than a phone call. For a few reasons. One, it builds a stronger team bond by seeing them and getting to know the person beyond their disembodied voice. Two, video can help communicate body language. Three, it prevents people from engaging in other tasks that take away attention (looking at phones, emails, etc.).

Set clear ground rules

Every team should set a set of ground rules which are enforced by the facilitator. These should be developed by the team and regularly updated. Start them with a brainstorming session and unanimous vote for adoption. Some good basic ones are: phones off, start on time, end on time, have notes written down, one personal speaking at a time, stop when your time is up...and of course, stand up!

 

The power of stand-up meetings comes is that they re-align everyone and quickly remove roadblocks to ensure everyone is on target and moving forward productively. However, they have to be short and relevant to keep people engaged. Standing up helps remind people of that. If that doesn't work, try one leg.

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For more information on Bruce and how he can help you and your company, visit http://www.eckfeldt.com or contact him at bruce@eckfeldt.com.

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Are performance reviews really worth it?

I played squash last week with a fellow McGill alumnus. I got my ass kicked since it’s been ten years since I’ve picked up a squash racket and he plays three times a week. Despite that, I’m glad we played. We had a good conversation about the merit of performance reviews and whether or not, in the end, they are really worth it.

His position was that they are a waste of time. He’s held several CEO positions and every time he’s seen them implemented they’ve taken a significant amount of organizational effort and have resulted in limited, if any, meaningful changes in performance. His general conclusion is that performance reviews are too little, too late. In some cases, they actually do more harm than good by delivering the wrong message and setting false expectations about performance evaluation and career longevity.

From his descriptions, I agreed, these were poor performance review systems and I didn’t blame him for having them eighty-sixed. The problem I saw was that they were trying to give feedback on performance rather than evaluating performance. Feedback should given continually. Performance reviews are intended for organizational planning.

Giving feedback once or twice a year is ineffective. Instead, feedback should be delivered on a regular basis, ideally right when the behavior takes place. At a minimum during weekly one-on-ones. If there are issues with inadequate performance, employees should be given timely and appropriate notice, not at annual performance reviews. Annual feedback is not helpful to the employee, it’s also a waste of opportunity for the company.

Performance reviews are not about giving employees feedback. Instead, the main purpose of performance reviews is organizational planning. Traditionally, performance reviews in professionally-managed organizations only went “up” the chain. Feedback to the employees was not part of the process. Upper management used that information to assess current capabilities and potential talent and determine where gaps exist.

Many companies confuse this process. The results are that employees don't get the feedback they need to develop effectively and business don't have clear organizational assessments and talent plans If you’re in an organization who’s using performance reviews focus on giving feedback rather than planning, here are some suggestion for how to improve the process.

 

Implement a weekly one-on-one meeting program

Weekly one-on-ones between managers and direct reports will provide more regular opportunities for discussion of performance. Managers and give employees more regular feedback on behaviors and results. Employees can get more input on development ideas and coaching on making changes. The weekly one-on-one also offers an opportunity to develop a deeper professional relationship between the employee and manager. As experienced managers will attest, stronger relationships mean more effective teams.

Train staff to give immediate, direct, behavior-based feedback

Giving feedback is a specific skill. Poorly delivered feedback is ineffective at best and can create friction in working relationships and discontent on teams. Good feedback is delivered in a timely fashion, delivered in a matter of fact way, and focus on behaviors that can be observed. By training everyone to give effective feedback on a continuous basis, pressure on performance reviews to delivery feedback is alleviated.

Conduct a talent succession analysis

The pressure on performance reviews to give feedback can often be the result of a lack of focus on organizational planning. A succession analysis looks at all of the key roles in the company and determines who the A, B, and C replacement would be for each role. By doing this, the need for talent and potential development is brought into focus. This focus, in turn, can redirect the performance review back towards organizational development and aware from a feedback system.

Implement quarterly OKRs

Annual planning is, honestly, a thing of the past. Business and markets move too quickly to plan in twelve-month cycles. Quarterly is a much better balance between setting long-term goals and still responding to changing business situations. The Object-Key Results (OKRs) framework provides a simple, yet extremely effective, method for bridging business strategy to actionable tasks and for connecting high-level business objectives to individual development plans. Implementing OKRs removes the burden of goal-setting from the performance review process.

 

In the end, for companies who have no strategic need for talent planning, annual performance reviews are not that valuable. Instead, focus on more direct and effective feedback during one-on-one meetings and improve planning using OKRs. However, given that business has become a war of talent, conducting performance reviews as part of a talent strategy process has become what distinguishes high-performance organizations.

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How great leaders apologize

As leaders, we are faced with tough decisions that impact many people. And let's face it, not everyone is going to be happy with each one of those decisions. In fact, if we’re not stepping on a few toes, we’re probably playing it too safe. Good leaders know how to act decisively, but they also know how to recognize when their actions hurt others, and they actively work to repair damaged relationships. A well-crafted and heart-felt apology is key to mending these wounds.

For a meaningful and effective apology,  your goal  should be to acknowledge that you hurt someone else and to show contrition. It is not about defending your actions or arguing about why you did  them. If you’re not ready to own your decisions and actions, wait until you’re in a better place before attempting to repair the relationship.

Done correctly, an apology will maximize your success and build stronger bonds with the people you trust and rely on. Here are the five simple, but crucial steps to making an apology.

1. Say “I’m Sorry”

Say those exact words. “I’m sorry”. Too many apologies go on and on without actually saying these simple words. This leaves the receiver having to guess. Don’t make them. Tell them right off the bat. Whether you are apologizing in-person or in writing, open with a clear statement that you are sorry. Let them know you are apologizing and that you want to repair the relationship. No defensiveness or explanations needed.

2. Give a Detailed Account

Express what behaviors, choices, and actions (or inactions) were involved. Be specific and be exhaustive. Again, don’t explain why or list excuses, just be clear on what you did. Try saying, for example, “I didn’t invite you to the meeting,” “I made the decision without consulting you,” or “I decided not to give you the lead on the project.” Describe your actions factually and neutrally. If you’re not clear on which actions caused impact, you need to take the time and ask some questions and gather information before you continue.

3. Acknowledge Impact

Now that you’ve detailed your actions, give a detailed account of the impact on the other person. Show that you see and understand the effects your actions. Again, you don’t need to come up with justifications or excuses, just state you are aware that your behavior impacted the other person. Show that you’re not oblivious to its consequences.

Building on the example above, you could say, “I understand that excluding you from the meeting meant that you didn’t have the opportunity to express your concerns about the project, and that the final decision that was made without you affects your team.” You can also state how you think they felt about your decision. Unless you know for a fact how they felt because they have told you, do NOT assume you know what is/was happening in their head. Instead, you could say, for example, “I can imagine that that was frustrating for you and that you felt sidelined.” Be careful here; you want to empathize,  not assume. Don’t be condescending.

4. Express Regret

You need to show that you wish that it didn’t play out the way it did. Here’s the trick: you don’t need, or want, to say that you’ll make up for it, or change your decision. The fact is, sometimes things just happen. You can both hold firm on your decision and be sorry for the impact it has caused. As a leader you will make difficult and imperfect decisions. If you are constantly trying to make up for these situations, you’ll always be trying to make amends or doing damage control. Don’t get caught in this trap.

However, if at this point you realize that something did go wrong, or you feel like you need to change or fix something, be very clear about what it is you’re going to do and be sure you are able and likely to do it. Do not make false promises just to make everyone feel better.

5. Ask for Forgiveness

This is the final, and key, step. Ask them directly for their forgiveness. This is the moment of truth for the relationship.  Clearly state it as a question to which you expect an answer. Do not say, “I hope you can forgive me”, but rather, “Can you honestly and fully forgive me?” Wait for an answer. You might need 5-10 seconds of uncomfortable silence. If you feel that they are giving you a disingenuous answer, say so. Ask them to really consider what you’ve said and what you’re asking. For example, say, “I’m worried that you haven’t given this enough thought and I want to make sure you’re really ready to forgive me Do you want more time?” Explain that the future of your relationship is important and that you want to be sure that you’ve truly addressed the situation and you're both ready to move forward.

Once you’ve delivered your apology and have asked if they can forgive you, there are three possible outcomes to consider:

Outcome 1. They forgive you

Great! This is the ideal outcome. First, thank them for listening and for truly considering their answer. Tell them that you value their relationship greatly and that you can have open and honest conversations with them.

Outcome 2: They say they can’t forgive you, ever

This might happen, and it’s not an easy situation. Immediately, you need to accept their answer and thank them for their honesty. Acknowledge that this will affect your relationship and that you’d like to talk about how things need to change. If the mood feels tense, you may need to give it a little time. If not, ask them what they suggest your next steps be and what changes they want to see happen given what’s transpired. In this case, you need to renegotiate the working relationship so that each person feels safe and valued. In some cases, this might mean new working agreements or ground rules, in others, it may mean changing roles or switching departments. In extreme cases, it could mean ending the relationship. While this may seem harsh, the sooner these issues are addressed, the better.

Outcome 3: They can’t forgive you now, but they will work on it

Again, thank them for being honest and for carefully considering your apology. If the situation warrants it, ask what you can do to help with that process. If it's heated, back off and come back to the question another time. Your goal at this point is to assist them in forgiving you. It might take a while. And it might get to a point in which you are no longer willing to wait and need to move ahead under the assumption that it won't happen.

The majority of the time, leaders act with good intentions, use reasonable decision making processes, and steer through relationship turbulence successfully. In fact, the best leaders I've worked with have been though many apologies but yet have amazingly dedicated teams. Why? Because their people trust them to do the best they can to make hard calls, and when there is fallout, they know they will be treated with fairness and respect.

* * * * *

Bruce Eckfeldt is an entrepreneur, a former Inc 500 CEO, and member of the New York City Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. He is an expert in organizational performance and coaches startups and high-growth companies on leadership and management. You can reach him at bruce@eckfeldt.com or visit his website at http://www.eckfeldt.com.

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The right answer won't help if you don't know this first

As an executive and team coach, I spend a lot of time helping people develop solutions to problems. What to do with a problem employee? How to develop the right strategy? When to start a new initiative?

Core to the coaching process is developing plans and execution strategies and then guiding people to take action and implement. However, I’ve found that often times, the most value I add is not in helping find the answer, but helping find the right question.

Albert Einstein famously said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask.” He knew that before you can find the right answer, you first need to find the right question.

Often, once you find the right question, the answer follows much more naturally. The right question brings about clarity and focus to the issue, which helps to illuminate the path to resolution. More importantly, time and energy spent arriving at the right answer to the wrong question is wasted. The perfect answer to the wrong question is still the wrong answer.

Finding the perfect question, however, can be difficult (which is why I get paid the big bucks). By asking, or thinking, the following to yourself, you can refine your question before you start investing in finding an answer.

Is this the biggest problem you have?

The first thing to consider is that this might not be the biggest problem you have. What are your other problems? What are the impacts of all of your problems? How might you discover what other problems you have? How should you prioritize these problems? Going through these questions will help ensure your focus is on the right issue, or help you to refocus your attention to where your effort will yield a better return.

A great technique at this phase is to conduct a retrospective. This will systematically review the recent past to gather data and generate insights that otherwise might have been forgotten or missed. Get the right people together and dig into the right discussions to unearth these valuable gems.

What is causing this problem?

I’m a big Lean advocate, which uses the great technique of root cause analysis. By tracing a problem back down the causal path, you can find more fundamental issues that are driving the surface level effects. The customer service problem can quickly become a problem of operational standards, quality assurance or even defective raw materials.

Making changes to the call center script will never improve the quality of the core components. I liken it to finding a leak in a house: you might see the water in the basement, but the problem is the flashing in the chimney.

What new problems might surface if I solve this problem?

Another consideration is what will happen if you fix the problem being considering? Will that just cause other, potentially worse problems? Not solving the issue at the core means you’re applying band-aids at best, but worse, you could be introducing even more trouble. In the early days of antibiotics, treatments would stop infections but end up poisoning the patient. Make sure that what you’re considering doesn’t have adverse effects at the higher level.

Are there other ways to phrase this problem?

Lastly, even a rewriting of the problem can lead to a different type of thinking, subsequently leading to different types of solutions. In the best cases, a good writing can turn a problem into a creative solution.

Bruce Eckfeldt is an entrepreneur, a former Inc 500 CEO, and member of the New York City Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. He is an expert in organizational performance and coaches startups and high-growth companies on leadership and management. You can reach him at bruce@eckfeldt.com or visit his website at http://www.eckfeldt.com.

This post originally appeared in Business Insider:http://www.businessinsider.com/the-right-question-comes-before-the-right-answer-2015-6#ixzz3dAGeNDa0

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If you want to be a leader, get comfortable with doubt

I’ve been coaching a young, freshly-minted executive who has been selected for a high-potential development program. Recently, we’ve been exploring what it truly means to be a leader. She said to me that she believed that being a leader means always knowing what to do and to “never be in doubt”. Having been a CEO myself and having worked with many executives, I knew that the answer she provided wasn’t quite right. However, rather than challenging her directly, I asked her to validate this belief by speaking to three different executives in her company whom she trusted. Her assignment was to ask them how often they know exactly what to do and if they ever have any doubt.

Two weeks later we met again for our coaching session. She had spoken with three executives as promised and was surprised by what she had learned. Contrary to her assumptions, all three freely admitted that they don’t always know exactly what to do and often experience doubt; in fact, more often than not. Regardless of this, they functioned very well. All were well-respected as exceptional leaders in the company. And all three were perfectly comfortable with the fact that they had doubts much of the time.

When I asked how this changed her thinking, she told me about three key lessons she learned in her conversations which had shifted her beliefs.

Doubt is a natural part of the decision making process

All executives have doubt. In fact, dealing with doubt is a key function of leadership. A decision that has no risk or uncertainty should be made at a low level without getting executives involved. Leadership is not about acting without doubt. Leadership is about intelligently managing doubt so you are free to act boldly and confidently.

Doubt is a guide to seek information and ask questions

Experienced leaders use doubt as an informational divining rod. Their doubt serves as a tool they use to point to areas that need investigating and research. Years of experience and dozens of projects have given them intuition about uncertainty, risks and impact. Doubt illuminates the path to clarity.

Good decision making quantifies the risks with costs of delays

We live in a messy and imperfect world. No big decision comes without uncertainty. Opportunities have a narrow window and competitors are always looking to eat your lunch. Successful executives learn to balance the risk of acting with uncertainty against the opportunity cost of not acting. By continually assessing and quantifying these two forces, the tipping point of decisiveness can be found and action subsequently taken.

As a young executive, my client was still, understandably, acting as a manager, squeezing out every last drop of risk she could find in a situation. As a result of this behavior, she was missing out on good opportunities. To grow, she learned to become comfortable with doubt and to strike the right balance in her decision making process.

To become a leader, embrace your doubt and use it to hone your decision making. Understand that big decisions will involve some level of uncertainty. Focus your energy by being mindful of your doubts. And calibrate your scale for weighing the risk and reward of taking timely action.

Bruce Eckfeldt is an entrepreneur, a former Inc 500 CEO, and member of the New York City Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. He is an expert in organizational performance and coaches startups and high-growth companies on leadership and management. You can reach him at bruce@eckfeldt.com or visit his website: http://www.eckfeldt.com.

This post originally appeared on the Forbes blog:http://www.forbes.com/sites/entrepreneursorganization/2015/06/08/if-you-want-to-be-a-leader-get-comfortable-with-doubt/ 

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