Knowledge has become a commodity. It’s easy to access and there is far more of it than we can digest. We can generalize and say that today most businesses have about (or can access) the same amount of information. If you believe this (based on our experience we do), then why don’t all businesses perform equally as well? The answer we’ve found is that they don’t do very much with the information they have – they fail to execute.

The Knowing-Doing Gap isn’t created by the lack of information; it’s created by the inability to use that information in a way that materially helps your business.

And the Knowing-Doing Gap is endemic in organizations. It’s supported and perpetuated by the “the experts”. Whether they are executives, managers or consultants. They are the people with the knowledge; they are the people who know how things should be done; they are the people that have the answers. They are also the people who, after the retreat or after the meeting go back to their offices and assume the heavy lifting has been done. It’s now someone else’s job to do it. The plan after all has been made, the strategy set – now for the easy part – implement it.

Successful organizations, growing organizations, market leaders are simply better at doing. To paraphrase (very liberally) General George S. Patton: a good plan executed well is better than a great plan executed poorly.

If you want to differentiate your business or yourself, if you want to find a competitive edge – you need to execute well – swiftly and consistently. And it doesn’t matter if you are a solo practitioner, a small business or an international conglomerate – execution is the key to business success.

Our call: “While knowledge is great; Results trump knowledge”.

On Thursday we will provide insights into what you need to overcome to become a company that executes well.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

As we presented in our Blog on Monday, many talented people (and particularly women) struggle with deep self-doubt, regardless of their high achievements.

Here are some indicators to consider. And as you read them, rate yourself by answering each question with: rarely, sometimes, regularly, always.

1. Do you say to yourself, “I’m not good enough.”? “I’ve never done this before”. “They’re going to find me out?”

2. Do you say to others, “I don’t deserve this, I’m not that good, I’ve just been lucky.?”

3. Do you limit yourself by not taking on new challenges and ventures because of your fears of competency and self-worth?

Now, honestly, in our experience, most of us will say yes to these questions, as some self-doubt and fear is natural, and truthfully healthy because it is an old survival instinct coming into play. The bigger question now is – how often?

If the frequency is regularly or always, you are losing out on opportunities and wasting valuable energy. And the results, you are sabotaging yourself and your future.

If this resonates with you, if you feel you may be sabotaging yourself by playing the “I am an Imposter” game, stop in now and use one or all of the suggestions below to help you:

1. Identify exactly what you are saying to yourself about why you feel you are an imposter (write down the words – words have power so understand the words you are using).
2. Now ask yourself – is there any evidence to support this? If you have been successful when promoted, if your projects and tasks have been successful, then the answer is no. There is no evidence so redirect your thinking from negative to positive. Yes, use your words but frame them in the positive not the negative. As an examples:
a. Change your words from negative to positive – such as – this is a new project and based on my experience in the past, I can handle it and what is new I will do what I did before, learn and ask for help.
b. Just tell yourself to STOP IT! There is no evidence, therefore you’re making it up. It’s wasting your time.
3. Talk with a trusted friend, colleague or advisor. Someone who knows you; someone you have confidence in. Sometimes it’s best to trust another and get honest feedback. If they don’t see an imposter and the evidence doesn’t support it – trust it.

And remember, the difference between successful people and un-successful people isn’t that they have doubts – for they do. The difference is that successful people, in spite of their doubts, do it anyway.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

Work in leadership has indicated that many high achieving people, (and especially women) experience a coined psychological term related to self-doubt– though not really a condition—called the “imposter syndrome”. It looks like /sounds like: “I’m not good enough.” “I’ve never done this before”. “They’re going to find me out.” “I don’t deserve this, I’m not that good…I’ve just been lucky”

Every day talented business people struggle with thoughts like these; you may be one of them. It can show up before an important meeting, a presentation, a new project or worse, it could even be a habitual daily ritual, like brushing your teeth (which you mindlessly concede to because you’ve always thought this way).

Most people don’t reveal these thoughts to others. It’s an internal battle between being confident and being in a concealed state of angst.  For those that do (at the wrong place, at the wrong time and with the wrong people), the mystery is revealed and they are often dismissed as not confident enough to succeed in business – hence a dilemma.

In looking at this dilemma, we think about the famous line in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden: the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation, and go to their grave with the song still in them. How tragic don’t you think?

Like the “”Fear Monster” we have written about, the imposter syndrome has an insidious impact on our lives: if we truly believe it (that we are imposters), we are likely not to take action and do the very thing that we feel we should do or aspire to do. And this could be starting a business, expanding and growing a business, taking calculated risks in advancing our careers– and in enjoying the success we have achieved.

What’s the most interesting, however, is that it’s not true! Most of it is fabricated out of fear and self-induced limitation. So it goes like this. We make something up that’s negative about ourselves (our performance, competency, capabilities and opportunties) and we fertilize it by giving it more time and mental energy then it deserves. Over time it starts to grow, and like weeds, begins to infest our mind. And where does it lead? It leads to a self-fulfilled prophecy. It leads to what we have described as being unhappily successful. It leads to self-sabotage. It leads to not taking action that could have a positive impact on ourselves and those we work with. Being aware and acknowledging that it does happen to most people at some point, is the starting point to overthrowing the imposter syndrome.

In our Quick Tips on Thursday, we will provide more ideas on ways to eliminate this thinking and potential derailer in your performance and advancement

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

Whether your partnership is new, forming, or looking to transform so as to improve and grow your business, one thing is certain— for sustained success, you can’t only focus on the business aspects of the past success of the partnership and the predicted success of the business (based on strong market demand or niche). If you only do that, you may be assuming a future based on a very weak foundation. And that weak foundation is – not knowing and addressing the issue of partner compatibility and alignment. Enthusiasm for a business idea or for the success of the business can mask partner instability.

Partner stability is critical to your business success. Remember when you formed the partnership and created the business, the enthusiasm and excitement were palpable. You likely planned for what business you would be in, how you would run the business, who would have what role and you launched. You also likely ignored two additional components for success:

• Are the partners really compatible and aligned?
• Do you have an agreed upon exit strategy.

That’s right, you heard us correctly, having an exit plan is important when you form the business. We acknowledge that it is also something no one wants to talk about in the euphoria of business formation.

The strength of any relationship is not defined by the good times; it’s defined by the stressful times. And stress occurs when partners have different expectations for the business. One partner may want to leave the business. One partner may not feel the other partner is carrying their load in the business. The reasons are many, but the effect is similar: partner disagreement, anger, acting out, and creating a crisis in the business. And a potential result is dissolving a very successful business. Solomon offered to “cut the baby in half”. While that is an awful solution for the baby, it’s a wise decision for the business. But if there is no agreed upon exit plan, then the polemics created by partner distrust prevail.

In Thursday’s Quick Tips, we will provide recommendations on how to determine the strength of you partnership, and ideas for framing an exit plan

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

Contrary to popular belief that social media is an informal and casual connecting source; and while the very ease of use itself perpetuates that belief, we caution you that really, there are no “casual” moments on social media.

We have written before of the damaging impact social medial can have on your reputation. And it can also have a damaging impact on the image and repute of others – and that’s the focus of our blog today.

Think about that casual critical comment to a friend about another person that used to occur on coffee breaks or during lunch. Inappropriate? Absolutely. Yet contained within a small group of people. Today, with the social media as the new “water cooler”, those same gossipy, or perhaps intended as humorous, comments are now available for 1000’s of people throughout the world to see. And many  who will only know you by how you are portrayed by others on the social network.

Hence – there are no casual moments on the social media. A seemingly innocuous comment can escalate through the responses to it into personal reflections about age, gender, interests and other issues resulting in communicating a negative imagine about you. Social media is not a personal email communication tool. It is a wide-open view of what you are saying, how you are saying it and to whom. And that’s before the responses start.

As an example, someone makes an innocent, perhaps playful, comment. The response says something like, ‘oh he/she is old and sometimes gets confused”. Again, an innocent comment. Yet someone reads it, perhaps a potential employer, client or customer and their take-away is – perhaps this person is too old to work with us. Now the comment and responses are no longer innocuous – now they have damaging consequences – where none was intended.

There is a legal doctrine referred to as “stray remarks”. These are comments and statements made by employees who have no power or authority to influence an outcome for another employee. The Wall Street Journal (8/6/10) reported on a California Supreme Court decision regarding an anti-discrimination suit filed against Google, the court ruled against Google and potentially opened the door for more lawsuits including and using “stray remarks”.

Can comments made on social media be considered “stray remarks”? Perhaps. The court system will need to decide that. And if you find your friends using you as the target for their humor, consider talking to them or rethinking your use of social media. Your future, your business success and the future of your family are simply much too important.

Copyright 2010 Kubica and LaForest

Brainstorming or self-centered behavior? Yes!

We all get questions like this. It comes from our colleagues, customers, clients and friends. And we believe it’s fair to say, that most if not all of us are happy to comply. Brain-picking can be great for relationship building because it provides the opportunity to share ideas and thoughts. It helps both people understand the other better and it may even lead to a breakthrough in a project, approach to a client or even in making a major career/life decision.

While brain-picking is good, taken too far (that is into the brain-sucking realm), it is neither good for you nor for the person selfishly demanding your time! When over-exercised, it’s not good for you for the obvious reasons: it quickly eats your time, drains your energy, and can actually perpetuate the other person’s venting, or worse, victimhood. And in all honestly, this doesn’t help the other person, and that’s where you can and should help, or set a boundary.

We commonly find people who have not thought through their own questions or their own situation—they have not done their homework and due diligence before asking for help. (Now, if this is a client that has hired you to help them learn this process, that is one thing. But if it is a peer, colleague, family member, community member that always comes asking, this is a different story.) And when you enable people like this you do them absolutely no good by listening, agreeing, nodding your head and sympathizing with their drama. We call them the “always askers” who are plagued with “runny mouth”,

Now if you want to help (and we suggest you choose those you help carefully), the first thing you want to do is to determine if they are being honest with themselves about their situation and interests, and if they are really interested in help and action.  You do this by asking pointed questions that take them out of their comfort zone and give indication if they have done their homework first. If you do not feel they are being honest with themselves or are serious about improvement, deselect (excuse yourself) and move on. If you are not certain, in our Quick Tips on Thursday we will provide questions you can ask and ways you can help them.

Copyright 2010 Kubica LaForest