I'm a fan of Servant Leadership.  If you are not aware of the concept, check out this video of Colleen Barrett, CEO of Southwest Airlines or The Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership to learn more.  The basic premise is that when company leadership serves their employees as their number 1 priority, the employees will be more engaged and motivated and better able to serve their customers and markets.  I love the concept because it assumes we are part of something greater than ourselves, that the whole is greater than the sum of its part when this care taking is the fabric of an organization.  This also feeds my (and others') spirtual and emotional self, in that by giving we become better beings. And there is an added bonus.  Companies that embrace a long term strategy of servant leadership are more profitable than their peers.  In turn "profits are the applause for the employees doing well."  It's a win-win for all.   

My analytical side loves to analyze the tangible implications of Servant Leadership. And that's where the term Triple Bottom Line (People Profits & Planet - or Triple P) comes in.  Triple Bottom Line management can be used to find the balance between People, Profits and Planet to create sustainable businesses that serve.  All companies have components of each element but without the right balance, one or more of the other factors may become skewed. 

Consider the 3 components as sides of a triangle, where sustainability is a board that balances at the tip of the triangle foundation  - too much emphasis on one or two will cause an imbalance - eventually resulting in a breakdown of the foundation.  Too much emphasis on profit, and employees and/or planet will suffer.  Too much emphasis on employees, and profits and/or planet will suffer.  You get the point.  Triple P allows for a measureable way to manage and grow a company based on the company and owner's unique value system with our real world business, social and environmental ecosystem.  

Want to learn more about People Profit & Planet, Triple Bottom Line?  I encourage you to join a group on linked in, or check out CNBC's series on the subject

Last Tuesday marked the first day of Spring 2011; in Northern New Jersey, we celebrated the season’s arrival with an onslaught of snow and ice. Instead of welcoming Spring with short sleeves and a bouncy step, we spent the day in scarves and boots, shoveling snow from our driveways.

The business world, like the natural world, can too throw us inclement curveballs. While we may be expecting sunny skies and gentle breezes, stormy weather often comes rushing in. We can stay bundled up, huddled at home, wishing the storm would pass quickly, or we can take cues from Mother Nature and turn adversity into opportunity.

There is much we can learn from the diversity of nature, and apply that understanding to business leadership. The term “survival of the fittest” implies only the meanest of survivors – the strongest, the fastest, those with the sharpest teeth. In fact, there are many ways to be fit in both nature and in business. Much of that fitness has less to the innate physical design of the organism (or company), but rather how well adapted you are to your environment (or your market).

For example, great companies can be founded to take advantage of niche markets. Clever entrepreneurs see a small piece of the business world that has yet to have a company that services one specific sector. For a while, these companies may have no competitors – but true to nature, others will see an opportunity in the niche and bring about a new set of skilled competition.

Business leaders can also learn from cooperation. Many organisms exist in symbiotic mutualism: that is, they help each other survive by contributing to a mutually beneficial relationship. (This works when the organisms are not competing for the same things.) In the Great Barrier Reef, clownfish feed on tiny invertebrates that are potentially harmful to sea anemone; in turn, the clownfish provide nutrition to the sea anemone. It’s not always competition, but rather clever cooperation, that defines us as the fittest to survive.

So here’s to the challenges that our environment will present us, and to our continual evolution in the exciting business world. (And here’s to Spring finally showing its face soon!)

Check out some interesting first-hand stories from small business owners who have ventured into symbiotic relationships.

“Failure is the pain that fuels learning.” – Chris Brogan, social media expert extraordinaire

It’s a fear we all face: the fear of failure.

Smart business people recognize that failure is at times a business imperative. To understand what works, we must understand what doesn’t work. To understand success, we must understand failure. The important connection between success and failure is learning from our, and other’s, mistakes.

The fear of failure often leads us to travel the same path over and over, worn down by the footsteps of people before us. The true stars of the professional – and the personal – world are those who have stepped off the beaten path, gotten scratched and scarred in the process, but ultimately arrived at places we never imagined possible.

Consider the story of this entrepreneur: In 2004, Marco Terry decided to realize his dream of owning his own business, a financing company called Commercial Capital LLC. He had a comprehensive business strategy to secure clients, gleaned from years of industry experience, one that “could not fail.”

Unfortunately, the expected results failed to materialize. Eight months after starting his venture, Marco was running out of time and money. His well-planned, well-executed business strategy was proving to be a failure. As he had put so much energy and faith into the strategy, he began to worry: he had no Plan B, no back-up means of recourse.

What Marco had, though, was the ability to recognize when certain business strategies were failing, and when others – however whimsical – were working. Marco tells of stepping off the presumably safe path and paving one all his own:

But one day I noticed one small thing. Just tiny, but critical. A marketing tactic that I did, mostly for fun, was actually bringing in clients. As I devoted more time to it, my client base grew. And grew rapidly. So did my business success. And so did my level of fun. Literally, I transformed my business and changed a major focus, using this little tactic. And the company has been on the grow ever since. What is important – very important I think – is that I was happy with my marketing.

When we break from our fears, when we understand that failure is a necessary step to greatness, only then can we fully realize our human potential. Here’s to you doing something scary, but ultimately rewarding, today.

I have the pleasure of working with some incredibly talented business leaders.  One of the areas that fascinates and inspires me is their desire to help others achieve all they can.  I recently came across some great  clips on the subject of motivation.  And, in its simplest form - our human drivers are not so self-centered as one might think.  Yes, there are needs that have to be met before we can think of others.  But once our physiological, physical, and safety needs are met – self actualization, greater good and desire to fulfill purpose drive us. 

Consider the following

• Tony Robbins’ Why We Do What We Do
• Daniel Pink’s The Surprising Truth About What Motivate Us
• Motivation versus Inspiration

So - think about it - How might you, as a leader, best enable & support those you work with, manage, care for & partner with? 

For decades, business leaders have operated their companies assuming they could rely on some level of stability in their assumptions.  This is no longer the case in today’s environment.  The only certainty is that uncertainty abounds.  Globalization, tax & regulatory changes, access to information and the ability to tap into resources around the world almost instantaneously has created new models of business.  While this certainly opens up new competitive models, it also opens up a world of opportunity.  You, your employees, partners and customers (who are also facing uncertainty) now have the ability to interact in ways that were previously impossible, and to create solutions that in the past might never have existed.  And one of the most powerful ways to do this is through using Social Media. 

Social Media isn’t just for friends, family, retailers or entertainment.  It is a powerful tool for business today and allows new, ongoing conversations to take place which can in turn build your brand, your solutions and your company.  If you haven’t done so already, revisit your 2011 Success Plan and see where and how you are leveraging Social Media in 2011.  Because if you’re not moving forward, you may well be falling behind!

Have a unique way that you're using Social Media this year?  Let us know - leave a comment!  And as always, thanks for your feedback.

I recently came across IBM's white paper describing key skills and competencies CEOs will need to lead their companies in the coming years.  The biggest drivers of these revised leadership skills were speed, information and complexity.  As more information becomes more available, more quickly, CEOs must adapt. The old adage of “being able to turn on a dime” becomes more critical for businesses as they must not only execute innovative offerings, but must do so more quickly and with less information than in previous business cycles.

Instilling innovation and risk taking can seem a lofty ideal.  However, if your employees were more creative in problem solving, in improving internal processes, developing new customer services & solutions, in negotiating with vendors & customers – what would the impact be?

Consider the dental industry.  Not the most exciting (well, maybe for those in the business it is), not one traditionally known to take risks.  But while looking for a new dentist due to an insurance plan change, I came across one that struck my interest, a dental office that uses Feng Shui as its design basis.  The facility is designed to be an oasis of relaxation.  There are babbling water walls, beautiful Zen stone pieces, wonderfully calming energy, complimentary refreshments and massages.  How did the owner come up with the concept?  By innovating and creatively addressing a market need.  By disrupting the status quo. 

So often the challenge for business owners is where and how to start embedding creativity. Fortunately there is help, and there are approaches and processes to developing creative muscles.

Some of my favorite techniques include:

• Removing yourself – get away from a problem or challenge you are trying to solve
• Pairing opposites.  Think about the dental spa example above.
• Spending time learning in areas unrelated to your field.
• Embracing diversity – of ideas, people and approaches (a key aspect of The Alternative Board!). 

There are many more techniques, tips and tools that can help and a great place to start is The Heart of Innovation.    In the meantime, we’d love to hear from you.  What are you doing to create a culture of innovation?  How do you look at change – locally, globally and within your markets?

.Thanks for sharing!