An Ally’s Advice

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Giving Back During Tough Economic Times, Part 6

We’ve discussed a lot of different ways over the past few weeks that you can give back during tough economic times. This one happens to be a little trickier, because its effects are – hopefully – not immediate. However, at some point it’s sure to have a big impact.

Write a bequest in your Will to one or multiple charitable organizations or institutions that you value.

You can designate a specific amount or a percentage of your net estate, which, after taxes, probably won’t drastically affect your family’s inheritance. A particularly good idea is to get your children and spouse involved in the decision, so they can learn from your generosity and support your wishes.

The last thing anyone wants while grieving for a loved one – in this case, you – is to have a struggle over where money is going, particularly if that struggle is with a charitable organization.

If you or your children are concerned that an organization may not be what it once was when you pass and leave it money, you could set parameters. For instance, the organization may currently return 90% of all donations directly to those it’s helping (that is, less than 10% of donations are used for administrative purposes). However, you might stipulate that if the organization has gotten sloppy at the time of the bequest – say, using 25% or more of donations for administration – then the donation is canceled. I’m not saying you should do these things (who knows why the circumstances might be what they are), but there may be ways to temper your family’s concerns and potential objections.

One of the most valuable lessons and immediate impacts in the “giving back during tough economic times” sense is the lessons this will teach your family. If your family members see and understand your desires and decisions and the generosity with which you lived your life, they are that much more likely to become charitable people themselves.

I remember once as the CFO of a non-profit business, we were having cash flow issues and couldn’t even make payroll that week. A bequest suddenly appeared that allowed me to make payroll, and it made the biggest difference to the business and every one of its employees because some anonymous donor who had recently passed – at some point in his life – changed his will to add a donation to this organization that he considered worthy. You never know how the timing will help, but in this case the impact was tremendous and integral to the survival of this non-profit.

Have you written charitable organizations into your will? Do you have a comparable way of achieving these ends?

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Giving Back During Tough Economic Times, Part 5

Giving away your services pro bono – pending you’re in a service based profession like law or consulting – can be a particularly unsettling thought. You may fear that giving away your services devalues them, and I can absolutely appreciate you not wanting to do that. I also understand that your time is valuable – after all, you charge for it, and maybe even an arm and a leg – and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to start giving a chunk of them away for free.

I get that. Really I do. I am, after all, in the service industry. But fear not.

How and Why I Do It

As a turnaround manager, I bill by the hour, but you better believe that I give a ton of those hours away for free. Now, I’m not saying that I just don’t bill certain clients out of the goodness of my heart. However, I did recently use my skills to help guide a community center that is near to my heart through some challenging fiscal times (made even worse by the general economic climate), and I perform similar functions for the religious institution with which I affiliate.

These are both organizations that I donate to fiscally anyway, but I realized that I didn’t need them using my dollars to hire someone who does what I do, and not as well at that. I could give them my time pro bono, which is what they needed most anyways.

Pro Bono in the Service Industry

For some professions, doing pro bono work is easier than for others. For instance, it can be particularly easy if you’re a lawyer or accountant. Just ask your priest, minister, rabbi or imam (if you attend a religious institution) if you can be helpful with any paperwork or forms. Issues arise all the time that could use someone with a knowledgable eye to review a document or contract – and much better to do it yourself for free, knowing what it costs and how much time it takes, than for the institution to hire an outsider.

Just consider the many ways your skill set could contribute and where. The help and time mean much more to the institution than to you. And if you’re an accountant worried about helping with taxes during your busy season, encourage the institution to hand its books over in early January so that you can get it out of the way right away. Rather than devalue your services, if word spread that you were helping pro bono, it would probably generate more paying clients than it would create potential ones that want your services for free.

If you’re still concerned about doing pro bono work for the reflection it casts on the value of your time, make official criteria for the kinds of people and businesses you help for free, ensuring that whomever you help could truly never afford you otherwise and that they are really in need by some set of standards you establish.

Giving Back in Retail

And what if you’re not in a service industry, but you do retail?

If you sell goods or own a business, consider donating a portion of the proceeds bought by members of your congregation or community back to the community’s schools or church/synagogue/mosque. Create some kind of buyer’s card that can be used and monitored, and then every month or year, donate a portion of the proceeds of what the members have bought to their institution. I know that the Kroger near me always donated a portion of our bill to my kids’ school, and I know of a local yogurt shop that has three rival high schools signed up with proceeds going to their football teams.

You can do this with multiple institutions at the same time (there are programs that allow you to create and track spending), and as a bonus it makes for great publicity. Surely the institution will publicize to its members what you’re doing because it will want people to shop with you. I know those high schoolers buy a lot of yogurt.

Are there other good ways you know of or try to give back based on your industry?

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Giving Back During Tough Economic Times, Part 4

We’ve already discussed three ways to give back during tough economic times:

  1. Include singles in your life who could use a place to go
  2. Mentor those who could use guidance and help
  3. Lay people off more compassionately

Today, I want to add a more obvious way to give back without straining an already thin wallet: volunteer work.

When people hear the word “volunteer” they often think of doling out soup at a soup kitchen or sorting cans at a Food Bank. For many people, that involves a long drive to a neighborhood they might not otherwise go to, and it can be one of those things we do once and imply that we do regularly with action statements (e.g. “Oh, yeah, I volunteer at the soup kitchen).

But when life is short and time is valuable – which is to say, always – we don’t always want to take those trips and engage in these volunteer connotations (not that they’re not great things to do, but they’re conceptually daunting for a lot of people who may then avoid volunteering altogether).

That’s why I want you to rethink what it is to give your time with volunteer work that doesn’t really seem like volunteer work as much as spending your time on and for other people.

Volunteer to assist in a program that’s happening in your community or neighborhood, whether a beautification project, a food drive or any number of other volunteer projects going on. If you’re looking for ways and activities, check out your local YMCA or JCC.

Another great option is going to your local old folks home or elderly care facility and reading a book with someone, taking a new friend for a walk or wheelchair stroll or playing games like mahjong (if you don’t know how to play, I’m sure someone would love to spend an hour showing you how . . . and then beating you). You could even just drive someone to the doctor or an appointment s/he might not otherwise be able to attend easily.

Alternatively, coach youth sports, sit at a welcome desk, hand out cookies to Red Cross blood donors (or give blood) or think of another way your heart suggests that you can volunteer your time for the benefit of others. If you own a business or building, consider putting a collection bin for food or toys or something comparable.

Remember, you don’t have to raise millions of dollars, buy overpriced plates of fancy foods at balls or start cutting big checks to make a difference in someone’s life during tough times. Just putting a smile on someone’s face, spending time with him or her to reduce loneliness and give them an activity, or helping someone enjoy a home cooked meal is a wonderful way to give back. If everyone who could did that once a month, our world would be a much more pleasant place to live, whatever the state of the economy.

How do you give your time?

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Giving Back During Tough Economic Times, Part 2

Last week I discussed the importance of giving back during tough economic times, and I promised I’d make suggestions that weren’t hard on your wallet.

We discussed the importance of making humane decisions when laying people off and how to ease their burden. A colleague who read the post reiterated the challenge of offering someone a lesser position in your company. He pointed out that this could be embarrassing for the person who’d been severed, and mentioned other problems that might arise when continuing to employ someone who had been effectively demoted.

That’s what has brought me to my next suggestion for how to give back during tough times (and all times).

Become a mentor.

One way that I choose to use my time and that I hope you will as well is mentoring those who need some assistance. In a weird way, this can be the perfect accompaniment to letting someone go or being there for someone who has been let go.

Help that person hone and display his or her marketable skills. Assist that person in pursuing other gainful employment or counsel that person in those areas that are your strong suits as s/he pursues an alternate path, be it entrepreneurial, educational or otherwise.

Become a mentor to those who need your expertise and who are eager to learn from your gray haired, no haired or wrinkled status.

This person doesn’t have to be someone recently severed. He could be anyone: a child, co-worker, or someone you met at a social gathering.

And don’t mentor just one person, but as many as you can. Spread your knowledge and be compassionate. Those who benefit from your wisdom today could be the leaders of tomorrow and the financial footings of your community.

Mentoring is an amazing way to give back in difficult financial times – especially if those times are falling particularly hard on other people.

Do you mentor? How did the relationship come about?

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Giving Back During Tough Economic Times, Part 1

In writing consistently about our flagging economy, the problems we’re facing and the expected duration of this situation, I’ve realized that the tone and scope of my articles have been increasingly depressing.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not depressed, but I recognize that the tone has nonetheless been dour.

That’s why my upcoming series of articles will provide a variety of ways for you to make a positive difference during these times of hardship. It’s important that we don’t all adopt the Turtle Mentality and keep our heads in our shells. We need to be a part of our community and give back however we can, even and especially if that giving back isn’t or can’t be monetary.

My first piece of advice is about layoffs.

As a CEO, owner, or manager, you may understand all too intimately that these times have unfortunately required layoffs and company closures.

As a turnaround professional, I understand better than most that cash is tight, but if you find yourself in a position like this or advising someone who is, be especially sensitive to the personal needs of those severed. Be sensitive when you have those difficult termination meetings; be sincere, and it will show.

Consider offering options like out placement services, extended health insurance and networking meetings. Let people know – if it’s true – that when positive cash flow and profits return, their jobs will be filled again by them, if possible.

This kind of approach deepens your understanding of others’ plight and demonstrates that you have compassion for your fellow human beings.

In some cases it might be appropriate to create lesser positions within your company part time. Though this may be insulting to some and result in a lessening of benefits and pay, it will allow them to remain employed in some capacity and ensure that when the time comes, they will be easily able to restart their previous positions (this can be very challenging and quite uncomfortable for all involved as a subject but weigh the benefits and ask those to whom you might offer this to do the same).

In short, do whatever you can to soften the blow to those less fortunate when the economy requires that you downsize in ways you would prefer not to.

Please stay tuned for more posts on giving back during a touch economy. I think that this series will allow us all to generate and act on some ideas that will be to the benefit of our community and country.

Please share your ideas for giving back below.

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The New American Ethic: Revaluing Hard Work and Austerity

I recently reaffirmed my contention that not only are we in a recession, but we never truly came out of one in the first place. The term “New Norm” was once tossed around a lot, and I want to re-invoke it here in order to say that the economy is going to be like this for a long time. If you ask me, at least the next 5 years.

So what does that mean for the regular person? That it’s time to find pleasure in austerity.

Changing Attitudes

Part of the economy and its effect on us is our attitude towards it. If we change our attitude towards the economy we will be better able to bear the burden of this bear market environment, and we will minimize its impact on us and our country.

Now, that’s easier said than done. I can tell you to be happy with less far more easily than I can be happy with less. I won’t pretend like this is a picnic, but we need to start thinking differently if we’re going to make this happen.

In essence, we need a return to Max Weber’s Protestant Ethic. Maybe we don’t need a return to it, exactly, but we could use a secular reevaluation of its value – a New American Ethic. That is how we will change our attitude.

The Protestant Ethic Reapplied

Now, don’t balk at the notion of applying a Protestant Ethic because the religious undercurrent shocks you. An element of Weber’s reconfiguration in The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism was an emphasis on wealth and its accumulation as the result of a rational means of existence. This, on its surface, is actually rather secular, but I’m not proposing that wealth is the end-goal (nor, mind you, was Weber). We’re both proposing that the reality of this rational existence is hard work. The result is wealth.

For Weber, the historical emphasis on the value of hard work was born of the Protestant Reformation circa the early 1500s (think back to 10th grade history, Martin Luther nailing his Theses and the resultant religious uproar in Europe). Protestantism, notably its Calvinist manifestation, according to Weber, emphasized the value of all work – including and particularly secular work – as being extremely important and a path to personal salvation. That is, secular work was for God, too.

Weber contended that this attitude ultimately led to the glorification of secular work and the groundswell of capitalistic enterprise that occurred in countries where Protestantism was embraced (think northern Germany, England, the Benelux countries – places where the Industrial Revolution was taking off by the 18th century). Ultimately, this ethic flowed to America’s capitalistic beginnings and Protestant predilections.

While an emphasis on the inherent value of hard work is the first step, it is an outgrowth of this Protestant Ethic that is the necessary component in transforming America’s attitude towards our challenging economic environment: austerity. Wealth was not meant to be gaudy or filled with showy pageantry, or as Protestants would describe Catholic churches, filled with Popery. Like the austere churches in which Protestants worshipped, wealth demonstrated that those with it worked hard for what they believed in. They did not have to flaunt this wealth for it to be the natural and deserved outcome of their devotion to hard work. In fact, it was considered all the more commendable to live within humble means – to embrace austerity.

The New American Ethic

Hard Work and Austerity are exactly what we need in our current economic situation.

We need to see the value in working hard for what we have. I know that unemployment is high. In fact, it’s higher than what’s reported by probably something near to 150% due to contractors never having been on employment books and people losing benefits due to the length of time they’ve been out of the workforce. But that’s nearly 15% of the population that desperately needs to embrace what I am terming the New American Ethic.

We need a return to respecting the value of hard work and the entrepreneurial capitalistic enterprise that built this country in the first place. Starting a business is not for everyone, but there is tons of work to be done and had that does not involve conventional employment at a big company. Part of our problem in finding and doing this work is our attitude, though: that the only employment worth having is that which pays a standard and acceptable salary (what we can “flaunt,” if you will, or share proudly at our Thanksgiving tables with relatives who judge us). But this is wrong. We must rethink our emphasis on valuing the money and value the hard work instead.

This is not to pretend that it doesn’t take money to feed a family, but I’m not suggesting that we quit well-paying jobs for the noble feelings that could come with hard work and having less. I’m saying that all of us – from the unemployed to the 1% – need to think differently about our values in order to do two things. The first is rethinking the ways that we’re going to get America back to work, and the second is preventing ourselves from spiraling further towards economic disaster by not depending any longer on the broken systems we have in place for pensions, social security, retirement and future benefits. People’s retirement investments are not what we thought they would be, and pension funds are failing left and right.

In 2010, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp paid $5.6 billion in benefits for people with failed pension plans. The government is paying this money, which means that we are paying to fund other people’s underfunded pensions even though we have to make personal retirement sacrifices in the meantime. This is not sustainable, and if we’re going to stop relying on these increasingly broken and failed systems we’re going to need to rethink our attitude towards work and wealth.

For the Right Reasons

Coupled with an emphasis on the pleasure and value of austerity – doing more with less and living within humble means – the New American Ethic is one that values hard work for the pleasure and sake of that hard work. If we don’t start living that way we are going to die poorer and considerably less happy about it than we otherwise could be.

Our country needs to embrace this attitude, not as a mandate from above, but as a groundswell from the bottom up – the only way such a movement can work. Every individual needs to see the value of his time, his hands and his mind, and put all three to work in whatever way he can – not for riches or glory or as the Protestant Ethic would contend, God, but for himself, his family and our collective future.

It is this kind of movement, towards a New American Ethic, that will get us through these tough years and return the American economy to its position of power and success – but more sustainably this time. It is also these values that we can share with the world in order that we may all build and work ourselves towards a better future.

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The Rotten Ratio: Sales = Debt

Every industry and business has interesting ratios and rates that are relevant to it. For e-commerce, returns are around 8%; the average conversion rate on a Google Adwords advertisement is 2%, and so forth. I’m sure you can think of some in your business.

In my business, we have a ratio, too: one I call the Rotten Ratio.

The Rotten Ratio is when sales equal debt.

Take a second to think about that: sales equal debt. Believe it or not, I have a number of companies in this situation.

But how does something like that happen? Why do I keep getting hired at this rotten sweet spot?

Well, when business is good and sales are going up, companies decide to buy a new factory, or purchase new equipment -or Ferraris – you know, whatever the necessities are. In order to do this, they borrow money, which at the time makes sense when they look at their sales and growth.

However, as they tend to do, especially when companies and their leaders get distracted, sales slow down, yet that debt is still there. In efforts to sustain their perceived growth, companies take ill-advised steps, which sometimes include more borrowing. At the very least, they don’t pay their debt down, and with sales continuing to slow, they don’t get any closer to doing so.

Numerous warning signs should likely have tipped off CEOs, owners and boards off to the impending crisis that’s coming their way, but as I often say, no one calls me and says, “Lee, I’m going to have a crisis three weeks from Thursday.”

By the time sales and debt meet, it’s become clear to many CEOs that they need to bring in a professional, so when I arrive and start looking over financials, I notice time and time again that sales do indeed equal debt: the Rotten Ratio.

Though you should know that things are turning sour before your sales and your debt numbers meet, by the time they do it’s a pretty good indicator that you’re going to need to change the way you’re doing something and take some drastic steps to resolve your company’s problems. When that happens, seek professional help. Oftentimes it takes a professional to make the truly huge and hard decisions that will save a company.

Remember, turnaround isn’t pretty. We often have to amputate a leg to save a company, and when you’ve just moved into a shiny new factory, selling it off seems like the biggest backwards step and the one thing you’re not willing to do. But that’s why, as a CEO, you have to check your ego at the door, admit you’ve made a mistake (or multiple mistakes) and do whatever needs doing to save your company and the jobs of those who depend on it.

When you’re moving towards the Rotten Ratio, get proactive.

Have you ever seen the Rotten Ratio? What other reasons do you think a company might find itself in this position?

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Turnaround Your Time Management with New Email Skills, a Guest Post by Leslie Walden

Leslie Walden and Barbara Skutch Mays, creators of It’s Time to Get Organized, help individuals and businesses increase their efficiency and effectiveness. As they say, more productive, better organized people feel less stressed and gain a new sense of empowerment. It’s my pleasure to share their guest post with you about making more time for your business by becoming more efficient with your email.

We all know that being efficient saves time, but when considering changing your life to become more efficient, we have to ask ourselves two questions:

  1. How much time is really saved?
  2. Is it worth the effort to become a little more efficient?

We say, Yes!

But then again, we’re efficiency devotees.

Let’s take the #1 problem virtually every person in business contends with on a daily basis: managing email. Unless you have a timer in front of you, it’s easy to forget that time is always ticking by. Before you know it, you’ve spent far more time on your smart phone or computer than you’d intended while the day’s tasks go untouched.

What if you could reduce the time you spend on email by ten minutes a day? It doesn’t sound like much, so does it matter?

Perhaps not but, over a week’s time, 10 minutes a day adds up. By the end of the week, you’ve lost nearly an hour not reducing email by ten minutes a day.

A four week period is well over 3 hours that could have been spent performing meaningful activities that could help you reach your goals. That’s the equivalent of a morning’s worth of valuable time. Imagine getting an extra morning to be productive every month?

In one year, the opportunities are even more impressive. Altogether, a person gains an extra day and a half just by taking advantage of daily ten minute increments. If your marketing plan includes contacting new prospects, that’s a lot of new prospects that you might not have otherwise called.

With rewards this great, I hope you’re already wondering how to knock ten minutes from your daily email routine and use the “newly found” time to bring you closer to your goals.

There is no shortage of ways to learn to hone your email skills. Try any of these:

  • Sign up for an online class: Microsoft offers many free classes at different levels for various versions of Outlook. Each class provides an overview of what you will learn, the number of lessons and practice sessions, the estimated time the class will take, and specifically what you will know when you complete the class. Just go here.
  • Investigate sites such as About.com to answer questions and provide valuable information on using email more efficiently. Examples of topics: message priorities, scheduling time, handling tasks, tips for communicating effectively and staying on top of email. Where do you need guidance?
  • Find tutorials and webinars on YouTube. They’re short, and video makes it easy to follow the instructions. For example, watch this 5 minute video on taking your inbox to zero for Outlook 2010.

You’ll be amazed at the benefits of spending a few minutes every day upgrading your email skills.

With 2012 just around the corner, now is the perfect time to give it a try!

What kinds of organizational skills would benefit you and your business? Do you have any email tips to share with us?

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Thanks for Getting it Right, G.K. Chesterton

“It isn’t that they can’t see the solution; it’s that they can’t see the problem.”

– G.K. Chesterton

Boy did ol’ Ches hit the nail on the head with this one.

No one’s ever called me and said, “Lee, I’m going to have a problem three weeks from Thursday.”

It’s not that people don’t know three weeks prior to a crisis that they’re going to have an issue, but they don’t perceive the problem as substantial enough to call me in soon enough. Sure, their issue seems like a problem, but if people thought that the problem would turn into the crisis it would, I think they’d dig my card out of the Roll-A-Dex earlier (continuing to use a Roll-A-Dex may be indicative of another problem in your business…).

At that point, knowing the solution isn’t the issue – I can figure out the solution. What I need people to see is the problem they have, and more specifically, its magnitude.

You can’t resolve anything if you haven’t clearly identified the problem.

Have you ever waited too long to resolve a problem? What was it and what did you do?

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If the Shoe Doesn’t Fit, We’ll Make It Fit

We’ve all heard the phrase, “If the shoe fits…” meaning, if you’re accused of something (good or bad) and that deed fits your m.o. then it was probably you, because, well, the shoe fits.

In turnaround, the shoe rarely fits. I’ve either got a size 12 company with a size 8 shoe or a flat-bottomed foot with a big-arched shoe. Either way, the shoe doesn’t fit.

But in turnaround, we do what we can to make it fit.

We get creative with shoes. Perhaps we lop off some toes to make the shoe fit, or maybe we cut the end of the shoe off.

Whatever the case, it’s not the job of a turnaround professional to complain that what they’ve been given doesn’t fit right or work the way it should. If you like things to be neat when you arrive, don’t get into the turnaround business.

It’s our job to make the creative deals and think constructively about how to make things work that don’t appear to work. If you want to start thinking like a turnaround professional to get more working at your business than is already, remember that if the shoe doesn’t fit, you’ll have to make it fit.

Do your shoes fit?