This is my monthly very high level look at events in the ICT industry over the month of March … with brief mention of March 2007. More details will be available at the Eagle website over the next day or two.

A year ago, in March 2007 Cisco was “on a tear” announcing 3 acquisitions, including the $3.3 Billion purchase of WebEx and Microsoft paid about $800 Million for Tellme networks. That was the big news a year ago.

For March of 2008 there continues to be concern about the economy although M&A activity continues at a reasonable pace. This month saw Microsft announce three separate deals (one reputedly in the $100Million range); the biggest deal of the month was AOL’s $850 Million purchase of social networking company Bebo; Acer continue on their acquisition trail, paying $290 Million for E-Ten and Synopsis paid $227 Million for another semiconductor company Synplicity. IBM, EDS, Alcatel-Lucent, Red Hat and EMC all had their cheque books out this month too.

Motorola announced that it is going to split into two separate companies (one mobile company and the other networking). Gartner predict a slowdown in chip sales and mass layoffs are increasing. Finally in another sign of the growth of the Asian economy China tells us it has more internet users that the US.

That’s what happened in the technology world in March 2008!

Don’t forget more details are available here at the Eagle website.

I was reading a tip from Paquin and Associates that made me think about failure. The Paquin newsletter is at the bottom of this post.

Over the years there have been many occasions where something did not go well, things went off-track or they just failed.

Anyone who takes a chance, sticks their neck out a little, tries something new or just tries hard will fail sometimes … its just the way it is.

Last year we had our failed technology project and it caused us a lot of pain, but we recovered and we ended up with an even better solution. We learned a painful lesson and we are stronger because of it.

That is the nature of failure!

It is not failing that is the measure of a person, or a company, it is how you deal with failure!

So the next time it feels like the sky is falling, the world is ending or you want the earth to swallow you up … remember that things WILL get better. Just keep doing the right things and you will ultimately succeed.

This can apply equally in personal hurdles or in our professional lives. Adversity does make us stronger!

Here is Michael Paquin’s thought …

A Setback Is For A Time, Not For A Lifetime

Coaching

Setbacks are difficult at best and can totally get you off track, discouraged and ready to give up. However, a setback can also be a sign that it is time to go in a different direction, start something new or look at the situation from a new perspective. Setbacks are temporary and an inevitable part of life. If you take the setbacks in stride and keep on going, you can turn setbacks into success.

Coaching Question

Have you turned your setbacks into successes?

Daily Action

Today, remind yourself that you are where you are because of your setbacks.

There IS a responsibility that goes with leadership, beyond a leader’s day job … more specifically as it relates to supporting the community. Anyone who has achieved a level of success has worked hard, studied, sacrificed and given a piece of their self to become a leader in their company or their community. It is easy for people in that position to feel that they deserve their success, they earned it and the rewards that they reap belong to them. And they would be right … to a point.

I contend that EVERYONE in our society has a duty to give something back to those who are less fortunate, to those who need a lending hand. Our children will be paying the price if we don’t get this right!

If you are a leader then your responsibility is even greater … you need to set an example! You need to give more … not just dollars, but time, energy and knowledge also! If our leaders are not willing to “ante up”, then why should anyone?

Wikipedia defines leadership as the ability to get people to follow voluntarily. A leader’s power is very clear in their day job, but this society of ours expects our leaders to apply that skill to greater things. Being a leader in your job is good, well done! But it really is just a start … all leaders need to be giving a little more.

OK I can hear you … you are busy! So am I! It doesn’t stop me from being involved in numerous charitable and community ventures. It certainly doesn’t stop me for encouraging my management team to be involved … to give back. I look around and am sometimes shocked at the great business leaders who are not visible in their communities.

If you are a leader then you have been blessed with success … give something back! Use some of your talents to make this a better world for all of us … your children will thank you, your neighbors will thank you and those people who really need your help will certainly thank you.

Postscript: If you want to read some of my previous blog entries around charitable giving, then here are some references:

In September I wrote about the United Way and the great work they do in our communities. If your perception of this organization is in any way dated you might want to find out what they are up to these days … you might be surprised.

In May last year I wrote about individual giving and developing the habit of supporting those who need our help.

A couple of years ago I wrote about corporate giving and gave an example of why my company supports one particular event.

Pat Katz sends a regular email called the Pause Newletter. Its focus is on stopping and smelling the roses in this high speed world in which we live. Quite often one of Pat’s topics will strike a chord with me and today is one of those days.

The topic today was how people let their PDAs (because its not just Blackberries) rule their lives.

I would like to add that we are also driven by:
1. our telephones … they ring, we stop whatever we are doing and answer!
2. our email … a new one arrives and anything else we are working on is interrupted!

The reality is that our best work is done when we are focused on the task at hand … planning to make time for the phone, emails and the PDA will make us much more productive, much more organised and will mean that we are driving our agenda instead of the technology driving us. And … at the risk of sounding “soft”, stress levels will be greatly reduced.

Read what Pat has to say … and subscribe to her newsletter at her website.

REFLECTION:

It’s been several years since I last offered a comment on Blackberry use and its impact on our working and personal lives. Recent experiences have popped this little beastie top of mind once more. I promise…no ranting and raving…just a bystander’s report partnered with a few bits to consider.

Having been engaged to deliver an after dinner speech, I share the evening meal with the coordinators of the Staff Retreat. The table is set – rolls, salads, water, china and cutlery. And at each place, resting right next to the dessert, a Blackberry (not the edible kind), placed with loving care by the occupant of the chair. The meal proceeds. NIbble on the salad, check the Blackberries. Sip the soup, check the Blackberries. And so it goes from course to course, bits and bytes between the bits and bites.

I’ve just delivered a morning seminar at another Staff Retreat, and shared a delightful lunch with the organizers. As I return from the buffet table with my dessert in hand, I seat myself and look up to find the tops of four heads pointed my way. My lunch companions simultaneously engage in the Blackberry Prayer – scrolling and typing under the table.

In a full day seminar on leadership development, despite requests to unplug the technology, two of the participants persist in Blackberry distraction. When the conversation involves them directly, they raise their heads and make eye contact. As soon as the discussion moves elsewhere in the room, they check out and click in to the technology. At the first break, they announce they’re desperately needed elsewhere and that they’ll attempt to reschedule their professional development for another time. I wonder will they ever be able to unplug long enough to really listen to their colleagues or think in any depth about the future.

At yet another conference, I’m chatting during the break with one of the participants. His Blackberry is holstered at his waist, set to vibrate. Each time it gives him a buzz, he lifts it from its cradle, looks briefly to see who’s calling, and pops it back in the holster. While he checks, I’m suspended in conversational limbo. Will I continue to be more important than the callers, or will I lose this round to some one or something else of clearly greater importance?

ACTION:

All the situations I’ve described feature minds divided. The techno devotees end up being partially present and mostly absent. The chances of their choosing the most optimal responses to the people around them are as limited as their attention.

When it comes to techno tools, and being constantly accessible to the whims of the whole wide world (that’s www, for short), here are four points to consider:
* When we allow ourselves to be governed by the pulse of technology, we embrace speed at the expense of thoughtfulness.
* We are nowhere near as indispensable as we imagine ourselves to be.
* Every piece of technology has an off switch. It won’t wear out from overuse.
* Blackberries don’t have feelings. However, our misuse of them places our connections with the people who are in front of us at risk. Human relationships do wear out from disregard and lack of care.
________________________
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Partial attention generally leads to partial results.” – Todd Wilkens

One of my favorite sayings is “Walk Fast and Smile“, which I explained in a blog entry just about two years ago. In October that same year I blogged about the power of a smile.

Life is short, and a little good humour can go a long way towards making life better for all of us. In a departure from some of my more serious blog entries I thought I would share some “reputed” Dilbert-like quotes from corporate America.

IF they are indeed true then they are a great reminder that engaging the brain before opening the mouth is pretty good advice! Enjoy … and smile!

These were voted the top quotes in corporate America (not sure by who!):

“As of tomorrow, employees will only be able to access the building using individual security cards. Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, and employees will receive their cards in two weeks.”
(This was the winning quote from Fred Dales, Microsoft Corp. in Redmond WA )

“What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter.”
(Lykes Lines Shipping)

“E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business.”
(Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company)

“This project is so important we can’t let things that are more important interfere with it.”
(Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service)

“Doing it right is no excuse for not meeting the schedule.”
(Plant Manager, Delco Corporation)

“No one will believe you solved this problem in one day! We’ve been working on it for months. Now go act busy for a few weeks and I’ll let you know when it’s time to tell them.”
(R&D supervisor, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing/3M Corp.)

Quotes from the Boss:

“Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say.”
(Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)

My sister passed away and her funeral was scheduled for Monday. When I told my Boss, he said she died on purpose so that I would have to miss work on the busiest day of the year. He then asked if we could change her burial to Friday. He said, “That would be better for me.”
(Shipping executive, FTD Florists)

“We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to discuss it with the employees.”
(Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division)

I recently blogged about procrastination … something that we all battle to varying degrees. There are always reasons not to do things, so I thought I would list a few …

There is plenty of time to do it later …
If I leave it long enough perhaps someone else will do it …
I have much more pressing things right now, like getting coffee …
I am nervous about doing it, so I’ll put it off …
I forgot …
It is not really important to me …
It looks hard, so I’ll do it later …
Maybe I’ll have more energy later …
Maybe I’ll be better prepared later …
I don’t want to do it so I won’t think about it …

There are probably a lot more excuses than these, but I guess I’m not as adept at finding excuses NOT to do things. My goal is to complete as many things as possible … so I look for ways to get things done, as quickly and efficiently as possible. To each their own, but if you want success at any level it comes from achievement, not from inactivity!

Do you look for excuses NOT to do things?
Do you take the “easy” way out?
Do you make things other people’s problems?

These are not characteristics or behaviors that will help you to reach success and to feel the reward of achieving success. Look for ways to make things happen … it will change you forever!

This will be my 12th year running Eagle and each year it seems that the role I play evolves and changes. When we started the company I was President and CEO, Marketing guy, Technology guy, Ottawa sales person, chief cook and bottle-washer. A fairly typical start-up scenario that demands the owner to adopt multiple roles and do whatever it takes to survive.

Over the years the management structure of a company evolves and for me, and most founding CEOs, that means a need to adapt and change with each evolution. For me it meant giving up control, allowing others to run with things and getting further from different parts of the organization … for other founders it can mean giving up the reins.

Its an interesting journey and you learn a lot about yourself. As an owner/founder of a company it is a different dynamic than a “hired gun” and maybe in this role I am prepared to accept more than someone with less “skin in the game”. There is also the danger that I could stay in the role beyond my capabilities, so I need to be honest with myself about whether I am still the right person in the role.

The role of CEO in a not so small private company continues to evolve as the business changes. What at certain points could be a very strategic role, directing and managing growth, developing and championing strategy, cultivating executive relationships can quickly move to a tactical role.

Last year we suffered the pain of a technology change that went off the rails and that caused all of our management team to change our roles as we battled our way through a tough time. As CEO I found myself up to my ears in the day to day operations of the company as our President managed the conversion project to our current supplier.

Currently, six months after moving to our current environment we head into a training session that will take us to the next level of productivity with our systems. I am up to my ears in developing content, and creating a program that I will deliver in a couple of weeks. So the Eagle CEO will be the sales trainer!

The point of this blog entry is to give you an insight into my experience as a CEO, I don’t think it is vey different from other CEOs of private companies. The bottom line is that we do what we need to do in order for our companies to remain successful … we roll our sleeves up and make things happen.

Next month I will move back to the more traditional CEO role of planner, organise, controller and coordinator as described by Henry Mitzberg. Of course if its needed, I’ll be taking on a different role!

Kit Grant’s newsletter arrived in my inbox and as usual Kit was intent on taking his reader out of their comfort zone! The focus of this email was in doing things that you really want to do … making things happen! Some time ago I wrote a blog entry about Living Your Life With No Regrets and the concept is much the same.

Here is what Kit had to say …

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do.” … Mark Twain.

No regrets would be a great way to lead one’s life, wouldn’t it? What is holding you back from getting the great results you deserve either personally or professionally? … well … it’s usually you and what you’re telling yourself. People who are “waiting” for just the right time may not be around when it arrives. Make 2008 even better than planned by acting on your imagination. What’s your “thing” you’ve been thinking about? Travel to some exotic location, write a book, record a song, volunteer at a shelter, call that friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time, visit a relative, say thank you or I’m sorry? … whatever it is … do it sometime this year … you’ll be glad you did.

I have many entries around this theme, have talked about setting goals and how Time Goes so Fast but Kit’s idea is even easier than that. One theme here is making things happen while we are still able, but equally important is making things happen before other people are beyond knowing! Life is full of decision points … will you make the right ones?

Currently I am gearing up for another of Eagle’s semi-annual training sessions for our sales staff and recruiters. Typically they are quite intense sessions with lots of work and plenty of play too!

I am very focused on updating Eagle’s training materials for our sales people … and thought that today I should be able to find something in there that is useful stuff for anyone. This section from our training manual contains some very general time management tips … primarily focused on salespeople, but relevant to us all!

Goal Setting

This is a tried and proven technique that applies to our personal life just as much as our business life. As the adage goes … if you don’t have a goal how do you know when you reach it? Goals can be big and small, interim goals or end goals, they can be very personal or very public. A noted efficiency expert suggests starting by developing 5 relatively simple goals and working every day to take another step towards those goals.

“TO DO” Lists

A MUST DO for anyone who wants to take charge of their life. To do lists are a living thing that you are constantly updating as you think of additional tasks, or as you complete tasks. By having an up to date list, that is prioritised in some manner you can quickly and effectively run through the list of tasks, without having to think about it. If there is one time management principle that you are going to start with … this would be it!

Tools

There are many tools to help you to be more effective. We all have access to electronic Task lists, Calendars, Contact Management software and PDAs. Effective use of these tools will increase productivity.

Clean Desk

The premise here is that if the only item on your desk is the thing you are working on then you are less likely to be distracted.

Big Rocks

The story here is about a jar, some big rocks, some small rocks and some sand. If you put the sand in the jar first, followed by the small rocks then its unlikely you will get many big rocks in there. If the put the big rocks first, followed by the small rocks the sand will work its way around the rocks and you will get everything in the jar. The jar represents your time (a typical workday or work week), the big rocks are important items like client meetings, interviews etc., the small rocks might be internal meetings etc., the sand represents the many, many things that consume us all on a daily basis. If we set up our key meetings first, and plan all of our other “planned activities/conference calls/meetings” etc into our calendars then we will find time to work on orders, close business, sign people up etc around these “big items”. If you just go about the daily chores it will be hard to fit in the meetings!

Interruptions – the phone

Interruptions change our thought patterns, distract us from our tasks and generally make us less productive. If you are working on an important activity put your phone on call forward, or find some other way to not answer it! Answering 5 voicemails in a row is far better use of time than having 5 interruptions while working on something important. Obviously this is tough when expecting calls from candidates/clients but prudent use of call display can help.

Interruptions – email

Many of us are “driven” by our email. We wait to receive an email and respond instantly! It is far more productive to set aside specific time to work on emails (between larger tasks, or set times … whatever works for you).

Interruptions – people

We are all guilty of interrupting our colleagues, and accepting interruptions from our colleagues. We need to be aware of the affect this has on productivity and try to limit the activity, and try to tactfully let people know that you are busy and an interruption is not wanted.

Prioritising

Perhaps one of the harder components of time management, but a key skill to develop. What is a priority item, and what can wait till later? What has an impact on our profitability? What has an impact on our client or candidate, and do we need to address it now or can it wait? There are many factors that go into priorities and time and experience will help.

Finish Your Task

This goes hand in hand with the interruptions above, however sometimes we interrupt ourselves by going on to a new task before we have completed the one we are working on. It is far more efficient to keep the train of thought and complete a task before moving to the next thing.

Personal Bank Accounts

We establish an emotional bank account with everyone we interact with. The goal should be to have that bank account “in the black”. Be nice to your coworkers, compliment them, buy them a coffee whatever. A pleasant work environment is way more productive than a tense one!

Reward Yourself

You have to have fun or this all becomes too serious. Play hacky sack, shoot your colleagues with nerf guns (as long as you are not interrupting them), buy yourself a Second Cup special coffee … all as reward for meeting goals, completing tasks etc.

I spent some time today chatting with Tony Hamway about the work that he is doing with organizations, people … and their dreams. the discussion was fascinating for me as a business owner who wants the best for this company and the people who make up this company.

Tony is very passionate about the work that he does, he is articulate, bright and very focused on keeping things simple … which appeals to me. How do you have an atmosphere where people really want to work? How do you get maximum potential from your people? How do you get your people to want to maximise their potential? Interesting, topical and fascinating stuff.

There were many things discussed which resonated, but one thing Tony said that bothered me was that people are afraid of success. What he meant by that was that when successful people tell others about success and how they achieved success it can somehow have the opposite affect, rather than motivate people. The average person will be a little awed by the successful person and feel that they are not capable of achieving that same success … even when they are very capable people.

It made me think!

I blog about my beliefs and ideas, to share them with others that might want to learn or even just gather different points of view. What if I am actually turning people off by blogging?

If I am trying to motivate a sales team to new heights by showing them how they might get there, am I motivating them or just turning them off? Certainly if they don’t believe they can get there it won’t matter what I say … so the real success needs to come from within the sales team themselves. How do you get there? How do you get a lawyer to believe they can win an un-win able case? How do you get an underdog hockey team to believe that they can win a championship?

Whether the issue is business, sport or personal, the challenge is much the same. Motivation comes from within and Tony’s approach is to help people to understand how they can reach their dreams because then they can be successful … and if we help them to reach their dream perhaps the dreams can be aligned with the company dream. Interesting!

I hope I didn’t scare you with this blog … I’m really just another guy who has happened to have some business success and is willing to share. I certainly don’t have all the answers, which is why I need to talk with the Tonys of the world!