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"Capital Gains" is a monthly look at the human element of business.
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September 2011
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 The News A selection of articles for business leaders and owners.
The impact of losing a leader whose vision overrides rules. Could you lose an icon?
Big firms have big employee engagement programs.
Can your firm compete?
There are ways to fill the gap between what you need and what's available.
Are you going to need more skilled people?
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Success Factors are People Factors...
Entrepreneur and New York Times writer Jay Goltz has a top ten list of business success factors for entrepreneurs.
 Along with topics such as accepting risk for lower competition, executing a plan, and making sure the math works, several points underscore the importance of managing the human element.
Integrity Act responsibly to customers, employees and vendors.
Learning Do not reinvent the wheel. Learn from others - join a business group.
Focus Make sure that every employee understands and works toward the mission.
Balance There will be sacrifices but find a balance. It's not about the income, it's about the outcome.
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Three Good Links
The title tells it all.
The optimistic things around us.
Take a leap - trust us...
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Recommended
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The brains behind benefits consulting.
Boutique expertise
in Group Benefits, Communications, Retirement and Technology.
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Recommended
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Sophisticated simulations to test candidates for success factors.
More fruitful reference checks.
Unique services to compliment your talent search process.
Click to learn more...
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Greetings!
We've created this newsletter to be interesting and helpful... only you will know for sure if we succeeded! If you have feedback for us, questions or suggestions for topics, send them along to me at pgibson@truecapitalgroup.com or call me at (905) 510-6935. 
 Paul Gibson Managing Director
True Capital Group Inc. |
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CEO Storytelling
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The stories leaders tell can lead to a more profitable culture.
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Crafting Culture Through Leaders' Stories
 Business cultures, especially private ones based on founder legends and family values, require deliberate work to keep the elements you want and lose the ones you don't want. Storytelling and corporate legend-making can help a firm consciously guide its culture. Stories can change the way we think, act, and feel. Business leaders can use the power of a well-crafted story to influence and motivate people to perform and stay on track. Stories can deliver understanding and inspire action. They can create legends that underpin a workplace culture, reduce bureaucratic rules and increase independence of thought and action. While most business education focuses on the use of facts to drive decision processes, narratives have a tremendous impact on success. True Capital's method for helping leaders use stories is simple but effective - Collect, Reflect, Connect and Tell. - Collect, through interviews and facilitated sessions, the stories that make up your firm's history.
- Reflect and categorize your stories by themes (celebratory, illustrative, cautionary, etc.).
- Connect and associate certain stories with strategies to be pursued, behaviours to change, desired adjustments to culture and other goals.
- Tell stories well by learning skills and being ready do so whenever a teaching situation arises.
If you'd like to read more about leadership and storytelling, we suggest reading The Leader's Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning.
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True Solutions
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Sometimes it's good to get free advice on how to do it yourself.
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Lots of material in newsletters like Capital Gains are focused on telling you what you could do and then how someone could do it for you. Let's breakout and try some advice that doesn't need an expert.
Communication with Style
Newspaper stories and magazine articles take time to craft and are longer than what would be required to just state the facts. So why do their writers take the time? To catch our attention and ensure we get the message.
Next time you sit down to write an email or memo to the people in your business, try these tips.
- Capture their attention - use an unusual subject line. Don't just rely on the power of your role to get them to read your mail. Maybe even make a one line statement at the start that's controversial or challenging.
- Build curiousity - don't just jump to the point. Lead them there by describing the background or history first. Tell a story (see above) and turn even a simple announcement into an opportunity to teach people about your vision or culture.
- Put yourself in their shoes - ask yourself what do they want to know about the topic, not just what you want to tell them. What questions might be nagging them? Now try to answer those questions without being asked.
- Close strong - reinforce, repeat in another way, and drive home the main point even if it's just "thanks for all your hard work".
And yes, we can help you write if you wish. But try these tips first.
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Funny But True
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We may laugh but there's a truth buried in there.
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Just keep trying?!
We should not confuse perseverance with stubborness.
Steady persistence in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement is great! Repeating a course of action without questioning it's likelihood of success or examining other options is wasteful.
Ask yourself if there's a problem you're facing that isn't responding to old methods. Is there an employee who isn't improving regardless of performance conversations? Are errors continuing after multiple meetings to brainstorm solutions? Are new hires still falling short regardless of interviewing techniques, reference checks and training?
Let's not just send in more hunters! Let's stand back and think of a new way.
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True Capital are experts in the human elements of business.
Our firm's services include strategic & tactical planning, executive search, interim management, leadership development, succession planning, coaching and other solutions designed to produce success in human capital.
Highly experienced in family and private businesses, we solve the unique concerns of growing or entrepreneurial enterprises. True Capital focuses on changes to the people and processes in your business to improve results and achieve business goals.
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Pass Us Along... 
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Our clients are leaders of private and public companies.
They often head family-run or entrepreneurial businesses and are feeling the impacts of more complex people management issues.
Help us connect to leaders who are facing strategy, recruiting, performance improvement, coaching, organizational structure, and other human capital issues.
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If you know someone who would benefit from our services, please send us a note.
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