Dr. Rick Johnson Articles

The Consequence of Leadership Incompetence - Click To Read Article
How do you identify a member of your management team that just doesn’t get it when it comes to getting their employees to release their discretionary energy that is critical to success especially during the turbulent times we are facing in 2009-2010? Sometimes these individuals that don’t get it exist simply because they have been around a long time. I often have CEOs tell me about problems with specific managers that aren’t promoting the vision, values or core principles of the company. The majority of the time these managers have been around a long time.

Reduction in Force needs to be a “Surgical Strategy” - Click To Read Article
During tough economic times a reduction in force (RIF) often becomes a necessity for many companies. Let’s face it; payroll expense is probably the biggest expense for the majority of companies in business today. Unfortunately, many leaders have a tendency to panic and make across the board cuts without regard for the long term effects, including employee morale and the overall health of the company and its ability to weather the economic storm.

Don’t Let the Media Kidnap your Intellect - Click To Read Article
These days it seems the message being sent to everyone is how to survive in this turbulent economy. However, if you are following best practice you should be looking for ways to thrive instead. Media sensationalism tries to kidnap your intellect through continuous coverage about the economic downturns; lay offs, and stock market fluctuations. How you react to this attempt to smother you with negative information is what will determine your success or failure.

Understanding Customers - Click To Read Article
Companies must create and use formal methods to gather customer feedback and improve communication. Best Practice companies have a source of information about what customers think of them that does not come from their sales people. Sales people make stuff up; sorry, they do. Sales people often provide customer information and that is fine. You need to listen to your sales force. There is no question about that, but Best Practice companies have a way of getting input directly from customers. • What do you think of us? • How are we doing? • What are the practices that our competitors provide to you that you really value?

Don’t Get Trapped by Success - Click To Read Article
Make no mistake ---- It’s extremely difficult to maintain business success if you don’t maintain personal family success. You don’t have to be trapped by success. Success is a good thing but part of being successful is creating balance in your life. There are steps you can take to create the kind of balance that will not only improve your personal life expectations but they will enhance your business platform for success. The Very First Thing Sit down with your family and have an open honest discussion. Ask for their input, their observations and their opinions. Don’t get defensive and don’t act like a martyr. Listen, listen and listen some more. Refocus some of that entrepreneurial energy on creating family success.

Leadership Development during a Recession - Click To Read Article
Listen, times are tough. Some of you may even be facing economic crisis. Keep in mind that as a leader you don’t create crisis. But, a crisis can create leaders. Now is the time to leverage the current economic crisis to enhance leadership development within your company. Ask yourself these questions: • What kind of example are you setting during these tough economic times? The majority of your employees have probably never experienced a recession. • What kind of knowledge or experience are you passing down? • Are you living up to your responsibility to have a personal impact on leadership development within the organization? • What kind of mentor have you been? • Are you allowing your employees to stretch – to fail – to grow? • Are you empowering and demonstrating faith and trust in your employees?

Crisis and the “Black Swan” - Click To Read Article
Black Swans are important events, either good or bad, that are highly improbable but happen nonetheless. Using the term Black Swan is a metaphor for an event that just is weird or unexplainable before hand using logic. None the less, Black Swans are explainable after the fact. Most are rare events that have extreme impact on the business. (Taleb, Nassim Nicholas. The Black Swan. New York: Random House, 2007.)

Training and the Cost Cutting Dilema during Tough Times - Click To Read Article
Most company executives decide to spend money on training because it's popular, especially when economic times are good. There is a view that it's “good," and it's also something that responsible leaders are “supposed to do” to prepare for the future. Unfortunately, training becomes the first activity to be cut when times get tough. There is also no objective measure that calculates the business case of return on investment for training. Actually, training, education and coaching should be the absolute last consideration when investigating cost reductions during difficult economic times. However, continued spending of money on training isn’t the only answer. Training alone will not produce the kind of results that training combined with coaching and education can produce.

Accepting Credit Card Payments --- Is it Really Worth It? - Click To Read Article
Do you accept credit card payments on your web site? Do you accept credit card payments against processed invoices sent to your customers? Do you have a store on your website that allows customers to purchase your products and pay for them instantly by using a credit card? If you don’t, you may be overlooking one of the basic best practices in marketing strategies. Strategies focused on customers buying habits, convenience and levels of comfort. Regardless of the value propositions presented by your company, people want to be comfortable with the way you handle their transactions. This is true whether they are ordering by phone, by fax, at your counter or from your website. Tread on their comfort level by not providing enough options and they will go elsewhere or limit the amount of product purchased from you.

The Service Factor during Economic Turbulence - Click To Read Article
Improving and maintaining good customer service is not an exciting endeavor. It involves detailed study and steadfast execution rather than temporary brilliance or inspiration. Therefore, customer service improvement is fundamentally an effort of continuous improvement. You must develop a basic competency in process improvement to attain and sustain high levels of customer service. This means that it is absolutely critical during tough economic times that you don’t make the mistake of cutting resources that support service excellence in your attempt to control operational costs.

Economic Turbulence – A Window of Opportunity - Click To Read Article
The state of the economy is a fact. How you feel about that fact and what it means to you personally is a belief. Your beliefs have a major impact on your employee’s attitude. Beliefs that drive your sales behaviors are the keys to becoming successful in a down economy. If you believe that this economic crisis can provide you with opportunities than your attitude will drive the behavior of your employees.

Profit Covers Many Sins --- Cleaning Up the Mess - Click To Read Article
Simply put, there are good times when things are going well and it’s easy to make money, and there are bad times, when it’s much more difficult to make money. Prior to 2008 we had a run of good times that exceeded most of our expectations. I have often said that it didn’t take a genius to make money during that run. However, “Profit covers many sins”. That means that many of us got a little complacent. Maybe we didn’t quite run our business following absolute best practice. Maybe some of us overlooked less than the best performance expected from our employees. Maybe we were a little too compassionate regarding employee effectiveness and as a result we haven’t “weeded the garden” to allow our good employees to flourish.

The Sky Isn’t Falling - Click To Read Article
Some of you may be taking the attitude that now is the time to hunker down, cut costs and go into a cautious no risk taking mode while putting duct tape on your wallets and purses. Although I believe caution is prudent and contingency planning may be essential I’d like to stress that you shouldn’t make blind assumptions and react too quickly without doing a complete analysis of your independent customer base and markets.

Sales Planning during Economic Crisis - Click To Read Article
A formal sales plan for 2010 is probably the most important activity that you should engage in during the economic challenges we are facing now and throughout the year. I am not talking about the typical DREF, (Delusional Rectal Exaggerated Forecast) that many of us have become accustomed to. I am talking about a realistic, documented plan that lists the specific activities required to accomplish the objectives set for targeted accounts with identified growth potential... A sales plan is a schedule of events and responsibilities that details the actions to be taken in order to accomplish the goals and objectives necessary to be successful during these turbulent times. The plan ensures everyone knows what needs to get done, coordinates their efforts and keeps close track of progress.

Leadership Courage --- Don't Get Bit by Your Own Rattlesnake - Click To Read Article
Honest negative feedback is difficult to accept. It takes tremendous courage. I learned that twenty years ago. I thought I knew just about everything there was to know about running a company let alone a smaller $100 million dollar division. I had owned and sold several successful businesses and that success certainly enlarged my ego even though I didn’t realize it at the time. I was a little too self-indulged and my self confidence bordered on arrogance and stupidity. I even had a rattlesnake sitting on my desk with a statement that can’t be printed exactly as it appeared, due to censorship.

Are You a Procrastinator - Click To Read Article
“Procrastination is like a disease. It develops slowly, often over a long period of time.” It can be like an anchor around your neck. We have to learn to deal with it if we are to become effective at whatever we choose to do. You see, procrastination is the breeding ground for incompetence. If we don’t learn to conquer it, we will not maximize our effectiveness and become everything we can be. Experts have written that only twenty percent of employees reach the level of effectiveness based on individual potential. I believe that procrastination contributes to that negative statistic. Procrastination can drain your energy, affect your attitude and suppress your creativity.

Succession ----Have You Taught Your Son or Daughter How to Swim? - Click To Read Article
If it is your true desire to keep the business in the family and pass it on to the next generation, you have an obligation to yourself, to the business, to your employees and yes to your son or daughter to make sure you are doing everything you can possibly do to help them prepare to take over the business. I can offer one simple piece of advice; when they are ready, back off and get out of the way. There are all kinds of published recommendations on this subject regarding family qualifications etc. If Dad is a typical old school autocratic type of leader who believes that sweating blood, an exceptional work ethic without concern for balance and shows no interest in discussing the emotional feeling side of succession, the kids will have difficulty maintaining a clear sense of expectations for themselves.

Ten Tips to Avoid Micro Management - Click To Read Article
Micro managing may make you feel in control but in reality you are only hurting yourself and the company. It only limits an employee's ability to be innovative and creative. This can cost the company thousands of dollars because it is the creativity and innovation of your employees that maximize the profitability of your company. Micro Management is often just a symptom of ineffective planning, too much compassion and the inability to judge performance and develop bench strength. Developing a strategic plan for your company is a very effective way to address any or all of these challenges. I often tell my clients that the most valuable part of a strategic plan is the development process itself. Running a company with a shoot from the hip mentality often encourages micro management and does not allow employees to develop their skills.

Leadership Tips - Click To Read Article
Success in any organization often depends on leadership ability to adjust quickly to a changing environment both internally and externally. Trends, regulations, competition and yes the economy may force organizational change. This change has a direct impact on employees often creating a decrease in morale which can lead to complacency and apathy. To circumvent these consequences leaders must justify, communicate and explain the long term benefits to the company and the employees. Sometimes it may simply mean survival. But, even survival can be positive when it relates to maintain security for the employee.

Future Shock - Click To Read Article
Adam Toffler wrote a book by this title about change in 1970. Many of the principles he explained then still apply today. But... this article isn't about change. This article is about compassion, leadership, integrity and "Mentors". Do you remember who your mentors were? Do you currently have a mentor? Is there someone in your organization that you really respect, someone you look up to, someone who's actions and words have a real impact on how you live your life, perform your job and think about your future? If you do, whether you or they know it or not, they are mentoring you. Or, you may be mentoring them. Of course it is much more effective if it is done in the conscious state and both of you acknowledge your independent obligations to the process.

Can Your Son or Daughter Really Run the Business - Click To Read Article
How can you turn the business over to your children without creating chaos--- This is probably the toughest question any business owner that has family working in the business will ever face. However, the answer is simple. The answer is..... It depends. It depends on how well you (the owner) have prepared yourself and your child for this transition. Have you planned this out? Has your successor been trained, developed and prepared for the transition? This is pretty easy if you only have one child in the business and he/she just happens to be the next Jack Welch of wholesale distribution. This child has worked outside the business for someone else for a minimum of five years. They have completed their MBA and they worked their way up in your organization starting in operations or customer service.

Empowerment – The Rewards are Greater Than the Risk - Click To Read Article
Employees must take ownership in the success of the organization. This means they must become part of the strategy employed by the company. Acknowledge their presence and contributions, and praise them at every opportunity. But, be sincere. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric, had a favorite method of sending personal handwritten notes to employees who demonstrated some form of success. This is an employee issue that cannot be emphasized enough. Employees want to know how they are doing and they want to be held accountable. Winning organizations continuously build leaders at every level in their organization. Leaders, who actively attempt to mentor, coach and build other leaders gain respect throughout the organization and transfer knowledge, ideas, values and an attitude about success.

Gone Are the Days… Revitalizing Sales Reps for the New Century - Click To Read Article
As an "A" player in the New Century you must build business-to-business relationships through channels that other team members can service. The special buyer/salesman relationship isn't dead, golf is still allowed, entertainment is still acceptable, but the degree to which these tools are used has changed. Certainly, the focus and the gray matter behind the sales planning process must contribute more to the long-term goals of the organization. The sales representative in the New Century ensures that their products, their services and their company becomes the channel of choice. The primary objective is the same. "First Call and Last Look," but the methodology has evolved to a higher level. Transactions are no longer managed by the field sales representative.

Hiring is not Easy ---- Interviewing Techniques to Improve Your Success - Click To Read Article
Hiring the right individual, with the right skill set, that has the right attitude and the right personality to fit in can be one of the most challenging endeavors any manager will ever face. Leveraging your chance of success by using the team approach, profile testing and seriously checking references helps. But, if you have several qualified candidates it's still like flipping a coin. You just can't be positive about your choice until you see the individual in action. Sometimes it takes months, even years to see the real person you hired whether it's really good or really bad. Finding the really bad ones months after you have hired them can be extremely expensive. Face it. What you are trying to accomplish in the selection process is to predict the way an individual will behave in the future in your environment.

How Do I Fire My Son Toby? My Wife Won’t Allow It - Click To Read Article
"I love Toby. He's my oldest son, he's Vice President of Sales but he just doesn't get it. My daughter should be running this business, she's brilliant but she's married to a surgeon and doesn't want anything to do with wholesale distribution. She's quite happy with all the charity work she is involved in. My youngest son has potential but he's only twenty two and just isn't ready to take over a 0 million dollar distribution business. Two events have occurred recently that are wearing on me a little. First, I transferred 75% of my stock equally to my three kids, 25% each. All three receive a salary although my daughter rarely appears at the office due to her charity work. The second event occurred after I hired a succession consultant to help me transition into retirement. He told me that Toby was incompetetent.

You Survived Economic Crisis ------ Now What? - Click To Read Article
Is the recovery on its way? Some will have you believe the signs are there. At any rate, you have survived what seems to be the worst that can be thrown at you from an economic stand point. What now? We can’t possibly believe that its time to return to business as usual. That questionable beginning glow of the recovery beam, although welcome, must not cloud your judgment in preparing to face an entirely different business landscape that requires that we run our businesses differently.

Wounded Wolves --- The Journey Forward - Click To Read Article
This is a story about finding your way. It's dedicated to any and all people that may have found themselves lost, confused, powerless, in a dead end career, going nowhere and those who may have lost sight of what they really want from life. It's a story about "Wounded Wolves" and making the journey forward. Forward to success, self esteem and pride. Maybe a few of you can relate to this as it's happening now. Or, maybe you were wounded once and remember the journey you had to make to create happiness and success in your life. Being wounded can be a result of many things - a personal crisis, family life, a bad marriage, the way you were raised, poor life decisions, limited exposure to education and learning, and sometimes just being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The Employment Interview --- How Hard Can It Be - Click To Read Article
Interviewing a new job candidate sounds easy. After all, you are in control. You have something to offer. You can select anyone you choose to select. Right? That sounds good but in reality interviewing a person to fill a job opening is one of the more difficult tasks you may face as a manager. It does require specific skills to do it right and increase your chance of hiring the ideal person for the job; the person that will stay and fit in with the culture of your company. That being said, I personally don't know of one company that has a formal program to train their managers on how to conduct an interview. Interview training is much the same as training managers how to conduct a performance review. It is a rarity to find a company that actually does it.

Stay Calm --- Don’t Panic - Click To Read Article
Forest Gump once said – “Stuff Happens”. Yes it does -- anytime and anywhere. You can prepare for just about any type of economic disaster by developing a Contingency Plan and being prepared to execute under even the most difficult circumstances. What people usually do not prepare for is how to be effective leaders when a crisis begins.

Success Isn’t a Mystery in any Economy - Click To Read Article
My first piece of advice on success today for anyone willing to listen is simply to turn off the news. Don’t listen to CNN. Turn off the Fox News network, NBC, CNBC and all the other networks that are sensationalizing everything that is happening in our economy on a minute to minute basis. I have made a conscious decision not to listen because a high percentage of what you see on television today is pure garbage designed simply to improve ratings. I refuse to listen to a constant diet of negativity. In fact, I refuse to even associate with negative people. I suggest that each and every one of us has an obligation to protect our attitude.

Purchasing Management ---- The Driving Force to Maximizing Success during Tough Economic Times - Click To Read Article
Purchasing managers, purchasing agents and buyers are the life support system of your supply chain. This has become much more apparent during these tough economic times. I often use the phrase in leadership training; "You're only as good as the people you surround yourself with." That phrase also applies to one of the most critical functions in distribution, the Purchasing Manager. So what does being the life support systems to supply chain management mean? It means purchasing is the center of the universe, the equator, the fulcrum when it comes to meeting customer demands. This is a common fact. We all know it. Most of us say it and yet few of us really understand it.

Maximize Performance through Understanding - Click To Read Article
The most effective leaders seem to have both a unique ability to pick the right people for their team and they are superior in reading and understanding people. Getting to know and understand people really doesn’t take an enormous amount of time or effort for effective leaders. I often perform business assessments and one of the most effective tools in determining the challenges facing the business is simply meeting with individual employees for an hour and listening to them. I mean really listening. It is amazing what employees will tell you by asking a few precise questions and having the discipline to then shut up and listen.

Maintaining Company Stability --- Contingency Planning - Click To Read Article
A “Contingency Plan” is a plan developed for a specific situation when things “could” go wrong or are going wrong. Contingency plans include specific strategies, initiatives and actions designed to deal with identified variances to assumptions. These variances usually result in a particular problem, emergency, or state of affairs. The plan also includes a monitoring process and “triggers” for initiating planned actions.

Let’s Face It --- The Economy Sucks - Click To Read Article
Let’s face it --- “The Economy Sucks.” But, being in a recession is not something most of us havn’t ever experienced before. Simply put, there are good times when things are going well and it’s easy to make money, and there are bad times, when it’s much more difficult to make money. When this recession started, officially at the end of 2007, we enjoyed an extended period of exceptionally good business conditions. Revenue and profits exceeded most of our expectations. During these times leadership and success often came much easier than it should have. Too much good can often dull the edge necessary to excel in tougher times.

Jobless Recovery --- An Oxymoron - Click To Read Article
Jobless Recovery ----- Every time I hear this term I want to vomit. Wikopedia states ---- A jobless recovery or jobless growth is a phrase used by economists to describe the recovery from a recession which does not produce strong growth in employment. How can we possibly recover if we aren't creating jobs? The September unemployment rate is in. We lost another 263,000 jobs and unemployment in this country is now at 9.8%. Tell one of those hundreds of thousands of people that are out of work that the economy is in recovery and they are liable to smack you in the mouth.

First Call --- Last Look - Click To Read Article
A former colleague of mind was fond of quoting what he considered "less competent" sales people who claim--- "My customers don't give last looks." His response; "Well, that just means someone else is getting it - Batman!" I really love that quote. Unfortunately it doesn't go far enough. The real question is what do you do when you get last look? Do you automatically match the low price? Unfortunately, that is the first response of most sales people. In fact, it is often the first response of many managers. The real test is how you maintain the business at a price that is profitable, acceptable and meets your margin objectives. Can you sell the customer at a higher price when he has a lower priced quote staring him in the face?

Consignment --- A Sales Adventure - Click To Read Article
Once upon a time, many years ago when I was a young, ambitious salesman selling flat, rolled steel, I called on one potentially large account for months and months with zero success. I was going nowhere fast. The only thing I got from this rather large, burly looking professional purchasing agent was frustration. He knew I was young and short on experience and, I believe he actually enjoyed watching me squirm month after month. I tried every sales technique I had ever learned. Of course, he was familiar with every one of them and had seen them many times before. Nothing seemed to work on this guy. I just couldn't reach him. So, I went back to something very basic that most of us in sales (especially we Baby Boomers) learned from day one. I remember the words from my most cherished mentor, "Build a relationship son. Get the man to like you

Cash for Clunkers -- Was It Worth It - Click To Read Article
The cash for clunkers program is over; at least for now. My initial thought was --- what about the cash for doors, refrigerators, guns, forklifts --- you name it? Why can't every business get a boost? Of course, I am being facetious simply because I believe we were only kidding ourselves by thinking the Government can actually "create demand". That is simply not true. Only the free market can create demand.

Are You Doing the Moon Walk --- Going Backwards While Moving Forward - Click To Read Article
The death of Michael Jackson recently was a tragic event. No matter what you thought of Michael personally, there is no doubt that he was one of the most talented entertainers of all time. His singing and dancing talent showcased so effectively by his performance in the video and album “Thriller” will be remembered forever as the Capstone of his career. I, like millions of his fans, mourn his passing. However, the one thing that I remember the most is his invention of the “Moonwalk”. The “Moon Walk” is a dance move that looks as if you are going forward when in reality you are moving backward. Michael made that move famous. His tragic sorrowful death reminded me of that move. The Moon Walk itself brings to mind how many businesses often struggle to achieve success; doing things that are supposed to gain market share and create success.

Avoid Being the Dumbest Competitor - Click To Read Article
Pricing is the tip of the profit spear. It is often said that profit is made on the buy side of the equation in wholesale distribution. That is a true statement. However, it only holds true if you are disciplined enough not to give that profit advantage away during the quoting and pricing process. The Quotation - Pricing Process "Your customer has no need for you to make a ‘fair' profit unless there is no other distributor willing to take your place." This is quite a sobering thought, but one that we should keep fresh in our minds. Pricing strategy starts by providing guidelines for your quotation process. If we do not have a vehicle, a scorecard or some methodology to determine how we are doing then we are driving through a tunnel with our lights off. Not having a formal quotation process increases our chances of becoming the


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