My Leadership strengths and weaknesses

Some of my leadership strengths include:

 

• The ability to delegate. As a leader it is important to understand that you can’t do it all. Just as important is knowing that you don’t know everything. As I have learn these things, I have developed the ability to delegate different tasks and to use my team member’s strengths as an advantage.
• The ability to lead by example. If our team’s tasks is to dig a hole, I will be the first one to grab a shovel. This is one of my strengths because it let’s my team know that I am willing to give them my 100% effort.
• Persistence. This is a strength of mind because it shows my team my commitment to completing the task at hand.
• Confidence. I tend to believe in myself and in my abilities even when the odds are stacked against me. This is important when your team may not yet see your vision and the direction your going in.

 

Although there are many areas that I need to improve on, these are the areas that I am currently focusing on.

 

Opportunities for improvement:

 

• Improve listening skills. This is an area for improvement for me, because in order to lead I need to know and understand my team members needs. In order to understand their needs, I need to have great listening skills.
• Thinking Deeper. Quicken’s motto is “Go Deep or Go to Sleep”, and in order to be successful in Bizdom and in the Quicken culture I need to be able to understand the deeper meaning and reasons behind things.
• Talent Development. Talent is what got me into the Bizdom program. In order to accelarate in this program it will take the development of these talents.
• Becoming more organized. As a leader, it is imperative that you keep your team on task. You must be organized in order to do this effectively. This is an area that I need to improve on.

A Doggie-Dog Business

Using a home equity loan to fund her business, Liz Blondy is willing to do whatever it takes to make her business successful. Opening early 2005 with no employees and 14 competitors, Liz Blondy has still managed to make her business, Canine to Five, profitable. Liz Blondy is a great example of an entrepreneur doing whatever it takes to help her business work. Canine to Five is a daycare for dogs that also does training, grooming, and boarding. Liz Blondy says the most important asset to her business and to almost any business, in her opinion is the customer relationships, because the customer is the only reason any business is running. Canine to Five gives each of their customers a newsletter and pictures of their dog on a regular basis. Liz Blondy has quoted her customers saying that the main reason they like Canine to five is because they are very flexible, and will do an endless number of things to keep their customers happy. In addition to being very generous to their customers, Liz and Canine to Five are also very employee friendly. Liz makes it a point to give her employees a lot of freedom, especially in the area of the dress code. Canine to Five’s employees are allow to wear whatever they would like as long as it is not offensive to customers, or too revealing.

            Ms. Blondy left us with a few recommendations to help increase the chance of success in our journey to business ownership. Liz recommends us, in regards to leasing a building, to try and keep a good relationship with your landlord. She also recommends us to get very familar with employment laws. When it comes to marketing, Ms. Blondy recommends to market by relationship with current customers; according to her, we should start doing this even before our business even starts. Ms. Blondy left us with this final statement, which in my opinion is priceless: “You can never know too much about your industry.”

The Purrfect Relation

November 6, 2007, yet another Business Wisdom; the Bizdom U entrepreneurs were informed that Robert Mazur, inventor of the Purrfect Opener will be coming to speak to us. I think to myself, “Great, another extraordinary, conquering entrepreneur who is in a position that I want to be in some day.” I’m glad I found out that I was wrong. Dave Bing, John Ferchill, and Michael Melfi are all great men and wonderful entrepreneurs, but in my opinion, Robert Mazur is the ideal Business Wisdom speaker. Unlike Dave Bing, Robert Mazur is in the transitional phase to becoming a great entrepreneur. Everything is in place: he has a product on the market, his product is starting to get some recognition, and people are starting to speak his name. This transitional phase is the phase that most (if not all) of the entrepreneurs in Bizdom are working to get to. Mr. Mazur is the perfect speaker for us, because he was one of us a couple of years ago. Sure Mssrs. Bing, Ferchill, Melfi were once an inspiring entrepreneur still at the “starting blocks” of their career, but Mr. Mazur is so much closer to that phase than them, making him much more relatable to us, the “staring block” entrepreneur.

            I learned a lot from Mr. Mazur, including things that weren’t spoken like persistence and being constantly enthused about your product. Mr. Mazur did go on to say that we, as entry level entrepreneurs, should try to get as many referrals and recommendations as possible because of how useful they can be. Mr. Mazur also recommends talking to people in the industry we are entering in, and when making a product, a patent is one of the most important things you can have. Lastly, there were three main statements that Mr. Mazur said that really stuck out in my mind; and they were:

            “Before you spend the dime, spend the time.”

            “Try to be the LEADER of whatever you do!”

            “Keep moving, keep making decisions”

            While these three quotes are not the “be all, end all” solution to creating a successful business, I believe making perpetual effort to try and follow these quotes can make a huge impact on the success your business.

           

Innovative Learning w/ Lisa Toenniges

On October 9, 2007, Lisa Toenniges, CEO and President of the Innovative Learning Group, came to speak to the entrepreneurs of Bizdom. One thing I liked about the talk with Lisa Toenniges is: Instead of telling us about what the Innovative Learning Group did, she told us about the principles that got the ILG were they are today.  When asked for recommendation and advice on how to become a successful business owner, Mrs. Toenniges began to tell us her story, and what advice helped her along the way.

Mrs. Toenniges started by giving us a valuable lesson in bootstrapping, telling us how the ILG started out in her basement. She then gave us a lesson in the importance of identifying our business concepts; when she was asked the question: “What do you do?” she knows that the Innovative Learning Group performs “Performance Analysis”. Mrs. Toenniges even knew her company’s strengths, which are a diversified clientele base, and the valuable relationships they have with this clientele base. Mrs. Toenniges has a clear vision for the ILG that consists of profitable, steady, growth. Lisa Toenniges knows her business like the back of her hand, a direct result of this knowledge of her business is the tremendous growth that the innovative learning group has seen. The ILG is approaching the $3 million mark in company worth after only three and a half years of being in business. Is that progress or what! Mrs. Toenniges even went so far as to giving us a couple of tips on being a great manager. She suggest to always set expectations, and to always give feed-back.

Lastly, we were left with this very applicable quote:

“One thing doesn’t get you where you are going; it’s a number of experiences.”- Lisa Toenniges

Six Degrees of Heat w/ Michael Melfi

Networking, networking, and more networking are the key to building a business according to Six Degrees Magazine CEO, Michael Melfi, who visit with us (Bizdom U) on last Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Mr. Melfi gave us a heavy dosage of what Six Degree Magazine is; but more importantly he gave us a few of the key components that contributed to the success of Six Degrees Magazine, in which we could implement into our businesses. These components include:

“Don’t try to re-create the will”

Although Six Degrees Magazine is unlike any other magazine on the market; Mr. Melfi realizes that there has been successful models that have came before him; and instead of attempting to re-create these models, he uses them as leverage, and follows  them instead.

“Listen to people’s wants, needs, desires!”

What Six Degrees Magazine has done, is created an “out of the box”

Way of viewing a magazine. Even though Six Degrees is going in a completely different direction than traditional magazine, Michael Melfi still realizes the impotents of meeting the customers’ needs, and that is what is meant by this quote.

“Do what you say, when you say you are going to do it!”

Obviously, Michael Melfi preaches integrity, but he’s not the only one. I can recall John Ferchill speaking about being a “stand-up guy”, and Mr. Dave Bing seems to be an advocate for integrity as well. I think it’s safe to say that integrity is one component that should be held to the utmost quality in general, but especially in the world of business. It’s vital to business-world survival.

 

 “When executing a plan….stick with it!”

 

Lastly, most great “how to” list on creating a business (or anything else for that matter) end with an emphasis on execution, and this list is no exception. I think the message that Mr. Melfi is stressing is to stay on course and stick with the road map. He simply says: You developed the road map (business plan) for a reason, let’s stick to it!

Michael Melfi’s talk with us was very helpful and relevant, and I look forward to implementing these philosophies in my everyday business transactions.  Big thanks to Michael Melfi! 

A Bang with Bing!

           “There is no reason why you can’t compete with anyone!” This statement by Mr. Dave Bing rang through my head for the duration of his speech and some time after. On the morning of September 19, 2007, Dave Bing, Chairman of The Bing Group, and ex-NBA great, took time out of his crammed schedule to come and speak with the students of Bizdom U. Mr. Bing’s speech, or more like an in-depth conversion, was very informative, and give us loads of advice that could be used throughout our business ventures.

Bing, who started Bing Steel back in 1980, was, and still is an incredibly hard worker. During the summer, when not at the Pistons’ basketball practice, Bing could be seen working at Bank One. For a short time Bing held a job as a car dealer for Chrysler Corp. Bing says that it was essential for him to gain the experience necessary for him to become the successful business owner that he is today.

In addition to working hard, Mr. Bing says that there are a number of things that contributed to his success: Make sure to satisfy customers; Set yourself apart by your attitude and approach; lastly, Bing says to surround yourself with people who are strong in the areas you are week. Although these are not the golden rules to becoming a successful entrepreneur, if these rules are recommended by Mr. Bing, they should definitely be a big help to beginning entrepreneurs. Thanks for the entrepreneurial boost Mr. Bing!

Business Wisdom w/ John Ferchill

September 11, 2001 marks a sad, remorseful day for many people, including myself; September 11, 2007 marks a day for a great learning experience. Today, I and 15 other Bizdom U students got the opportunity to hear the thoughts and past experiences of a fabulous innovator of our time: John Ferchill, Chairman and CEO of the Ferchill Group.    

John Ferchill is not only a great businessman, in my opinion; he is also a man of great character and integrity. Mr.Ferchill is what I would categorize as a “stand-up guy”. Mr.Ferchill says that our main focus should be finding a niche. At that moment, I realized what really makes Mr.Ferchill so successful. Once Mr.Ferchill finds a niche, he completely dominates that area! What helps him find these niches is his “ex-ray type” vision for great opportunities. Most recently Mr. Ferchill has found a niche in the renovation industry, especially with prime historic real estate, such as the Book Cadillac Hotel.

Another aspect that excites me about Mr.Ferchill is has unbelievable efficiency. He runs a $250 million company with a nine member staff, which I think is unbelievable! Out of 75 real estate projects, one has failed! His efficiency with real estate projects is unheard of. Mr.Ferchill shared with us an experience he had where he sold $20 million in condominiums in four hours!!! This statement alone speaks for itself. Thanks Mr.Ferchill.