How much do you love Leadership Magazine?

In case you've not had a chance to pick up your copy of Leadership Magazine this month yet; here's my latest article; it's on page 102.

How do you love Leadership? 
Let me count the ways...

The results are in! Surveys have been completed and data analysed. Using our unique reputation management research tool, the Repudometer®, we are proud to announce that Leadership Magazine’s reputation scored a whopping 78%! What this means is that you really enjoy reading your monthly dose of leadership articles and that you have a high regard for the magazine’s editorial integrity. Thank you to everyone who participated.

What is a reputation score? The reputation of an organisation (or magazine in this case) is built upon the perceptions of stakeholders about the interactions and activities of the organisation. These stakeholders all have their own specific views and perceptions of an organisation, which contribute to how the organisation is seen and valued. Every organisation has a reputation, be it positive or negative. The Repudometer® results make it even more interesting; we are able to capture and quantify an organisation’s reputation to clearly see what is impacting their reputation so that robust communication strategies can be put in motion, to leverage off the strengths and curb issues impacting the reputation. Ultimately we look for solutions to take the entity’s reputation to the next level.

Why reputation matters? The possibilities of a good and solid reputation are endless. A healthy corporate reputation helps you attract and retain talented employees. It also assists in making your brand the most preferred amongst customers when competitors’ goods and services are available at a similar quality and price. And very importantly, it pulls you through times of controversy; you don’t know when a crisis is about to hit.

Why quantify Leadership Magazine’s reputation? By understanding what elements and information about the magazine is pertinent to each of its stakeholder groups, we were able to determine what elements are building or breaking down the image of Leadership Magazine, and ultimately impacting its corporate reputation, and to make sure that the magazine is on track when it comes to delivering a high quality magazine readers have become accustomed to.

For the Leadership Magazine reputation research survey, we engaged mainly with two stakeholder groups, namely readers and employees. There were some ‘other’ respondents which included partners and suppliers; however, we did not receive enough data from this group to get statistically accurate results. Nonetheless, it still provided us with valuable insights.

When measuring stakeholder perceptions and the resulting corporate reputation, a holistic view needs to be taken of the organisation. Every area of an organisation, regardless of how big or small it may appear, plays a key role in its reputation.

The five core elements that we measured in the study included:

Corporate Management which scored 83% and focused on how the organisation is run and managed, in other words, the magazine’s Strategic Intent and Operational Governance. Stakeholders perceive Leadership Magazine to have a clear direction of where the magazine is heading. The Strategic Intent dimension scored the highest with 87%.

Corporate Capital scored 79% and measured the ability and capability of the organisation to deliver on services and stakeholder expectations. This dimension focused on human and operational capital, i.e. employees and their skills and toolset that they are armed with.

Corporate positioning scored 73% and looked at Leadership Magazine’s strategic alliances, i.e. partnerships and its interactions within their community; the Corporate Social Investment (CSI) projects that they get involved with, the latter being something that Leadership Magazine know they need to focus on and communicate more on, as this element scored the lowest overall.

Corporate performance scored 82% and measured the financial aspects of the business in terms of business results, as well as its value offering. Value Offering scored the second highest (86%), which means that stakeholders see the value of investing, i.e. buying and advertising in the magazine

Corporate dialogue scored 74%, this element is the glue that ties all of the components together and comprises of internal and external dialogue. Leadership Magazine’s external communication scored on the low side, and they know that they can do more to market themselves.

Some interesting reader statistics from the survey (please note that this is not the full list of results):

·    95% would recommend others to read Leadership Magazine

• 88% of the readers are incredibly positive and have a high regard for the magazine’s editorial integrity
• 59% of respondents read the magazine online
• 56% rated their readership experience on par with their expectations
• 37% of respondents are not subscribed to the newsletter
• 35% of readers save the hard copy of the magazine for future reference

The three top of mind words that are used to describe Leadership Magazine are: Quality, Balanced and Strategic.

The 78% overall score shows that Leadership Magazine is a solid, reputable read that people want to be associated with.

We thank everyone that participated in the study.

If you would like to measure your reputation, contact us before the end of July 2016 to qualify for a special Leadership Magazine reader rate. Your company’s reputation matters to us!

To continue the reputation management conversation, join Regine on Twitter @ReputationIsKey or Facebook www.facebook.com/yourreputationmatters.

Do you have a reputation management question? Ask the specialist – send your question through to Regine and it may be answered in the next edition: regine@reputationmatters.co.za. 

Taking time out

Very wise words from Robin Sharma, so I will be taking some time out until the end of July 2016 to get the batteries recharged. 

The Respect Effect, Paul Meshanko

Respect, trust and ultimately a good reputation are quite closely linked; you either have it or you don't. 

There are a number of  great rules of respect discussed in the book (page 77 to 94); the two that particularly resonated with me are:

1. Assume that everyone is smart about something. I like how the author puts it: "I like to think that I'm smart, it is reasonable to assume that other people like to think they also are smart. The only different is that we are all smart through different histories and life experiences." [page 80]

2.  Become a better listener by shaking your 'but'. I think this is my favourite one; I have become so aware of how often we say 'but', and what an unconstructive word it is. 

When using the word 'but' it negates whatever came before it. As soon as your idea or opinion is presented, a 'but' from someone else has the psychological impact of saying "you're wrong". The word "however" is no better. [page 83]. 

My colleague and I had a discussion about this the other day, and she shared an article that indicated that you should use 'and' instead of 'but'; another business colleague suggested, substituting 'but' with "it would be even better if...". Not using the word 'but' is a challenge that I have also set my team. It really is a lot easier said than done. 

The other respect rules are:

• Be aware of your nonverbal and extra-verbal cues. 
• Develop curiosity about the perspectives of others
• Look for opportunities to connect with and support others
• When you disagree, explain why
• Look for opportunities to grow, stretch and change
• Learn to be wrong on occasion 
• Never hesitate to say you are sorry
• Intentionally engage others in ways that build their self esteem
• Be respectful of time when making comments
• Smile!

Advice from Fortune 500 CEOs

In a recent study, Fortune 500 CEOs shared their best management advice.
The key themes are around: building the right teams | listening | setting priorities, in fact, you need to be ruthless when it comes to setting priorities | the importance of values and a couple of random chestnuts, as they call it.

The ones that particularly resonated with me:

“Surround yourself with great people, and great things happen!”

“Lead with questions, not answers.”

“Spend your time on the important, not the urgent.”

“Focus your energy on a few things and delegate the rest.”

“Always operate with integrity and excellence.” 

“Tell the truth.” 

“Leadership is action, not position.”

“Take your vitamins, you’ll need them.”

Read the full article here: Your MBA in 300 Words

Leadership Magazine: Why consistency is crucial

July 2016's Leadership Magazine article is on page 70 and 71

Cash Glow™ Cash is King

___________________________________________________________________

IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                            17 June 2015

Don’t count your check-ins before they cash ~ Vanna Bonta

Isn’t it frustrating when you have to pay for your parking ticket and you are a Rand short and the pay point does not accept card payments. To then track down an ATM to draw money is hugely inconvenient, not to mention the walk of shame when there are people behind you in the queue. It would have been so much better if you had planned properly and drawn money when you had the chance. Similarly, when it comes to your company’s finances, it is about planning properly; just as you need cash in your wallet for unforeseen circumstances, you need to make sure that you have sufficient funds in the bank account to pay your expenses. Cash flow is the lifeblood for the sustainability of any organisation, and a building block that forms part of an organisation’s reputation.

Sounds easy right? Yes, but surprisingly it is not always that simple.

To have money in the bank you need to get paid for your product or service offering, and to get paid you need to ensure that your offering is seen to be creating value for your stakeholders; you also need to have systems in place to get payments in.

To build your reputation, customers need to recognise the value in what you have to offer and must want to and be able to spend their hard earned cash on your offering instead of the competition. The higher people regard this value and return on their spend, the more likely they will be to invest in it and remain loyal customers in the long run, which all contributes to your reputation at the end of the day.  

It is all a balancing act and the crux of it is about consistency across the whole business. Yes, gaining customer loyalty is essential; however when it comes to building a reputation it is crucial to maintain the quality across all the different divisions and business units for all the stakeholders that are associated with the organisation. In other words, the way that you treat and value your customers need to be the same as the way that you treat and value your suppliers, partners and sponsors.

This is very often where companies get it wrong, and where corporate South Africa falls short. They deliver amazing products and services and invest in huge budget campaigns to set themselves apart from their competition and are quick off the mark to respond to negative social media posts. But, they forget about their other stakeholders, such as their suppliers and don’t think about the impact that their policies and payment terms have on them. We have all heard and read a lot about corporates wanting to invest in and support SMME’s. In theory this is great; the snag is that more often than not, the payment terms are unrealistic. We have recently worked with a large organisation that I have always had a very high regard for in terms of the service that they deliver and the way that they engage with their customers; however, being on the other side of the coin as a service provider has definitely dented my view of them. Their 30 days payment terms is a standard agreement that I respect, however our invoice got ‘lost’ in the system and the 30 days only ‘started’ on the day they retrieved it. I was told that some companies are still waiting for invoices from January. This was not as reassuring as they tried to make it sound. It’s a vicious circle, which could all have been prevented if proper structures were in place to settle invoices when they are due, supporting smaller organisations from cash low to Cash Glow™.

To get Cash Glow, it is very important to plan and have processes in place so that everyone knows what is expected from them where, when and how. It is also important to stick to the agreed terms.

Personally, I hate having to follow-up on payments due, so I've had to find ways to avoid that awkward conversation to get our invoices paid on time. Here are my top ten tips:

• Invest in a really good accountant. Accounting is never creative;
• Ideally get payment before doing the work. A dynamic business owner that I have a high regard for, explained it really well: you need to pay for your groceries before you leave the store, you don't pay for the food only once you've eaten it. Why bill for your products and services any differently? 
• Create a Savings or Call Account and save the payments you receive in there and budget only for the expenses you have. Save the rest of the money for larger payments that you know will become due, in this way you won’t be tempted to use it for other expenses;
• For invoices that go out on a regular basis, or that don't get paid upfront; send them out early in the month. We want payment by the 25th of the month, so we send out invoices by the 16th. I have heard that some businesses send theirs out even earlier in the month. My experience has been that a week in advance is sufficient for most customers;
• In the past we only sent the first reminder for invoices the day before payment was due. However, we’ve started sending out the first reminder three days before the payment date including a reminder to the customer what was delivered, value added and the agreed upon terms;
• If we don't receive payment on the date agreed upon, the person working on the account then follows up with the customer. Fortunately, this happens very rarely;
• If payment is not received by the last day of the month, I get involved by making a phone call to the client to follow-up on the payment. Again, fortunately this is rarely necessary.
• With that said, late payments do get an interest fee added the next time the invoice goes out; it is communicated and agreed with customers on commencement of projects.  Banks and SARS don’t think twice about charging you interest or late payment penalties if you pay them late, why should doing business with corporates be any different? I see no reason why we should carry that cost;
• Sticking to the process is important so that everyone on our side and the clients' side knows what to expect and what to do;
• It is important to acknowledge the payment and to thank the customer once it has been received;

What tips do you have when it comes to invoicing and getting paid on time and managing your cash flow?

He that has money is bothered about it; and he that has none is bothered without it - unknown

*Because of the importance of cash flow, and we all need it to glow, I trademarked Cash Glow^TM.