There is an additional benefit that comes to the person who exercises this concept in his/her business; the development of that person’s strength.  In nature, do you suppose the strongest trees are those that are protected from the storms and hidden from the sun?  This isn’t the case.  The one that stands out in the open and bears all of the winds and rain and is shone upon by the blistering sun is the tree that develops the strength to withstand  the most violent weather.  This also is the case for the person who goes beyond expectation to deliver added value in everything he/she does.  This is the person that becomes strong enough to succeed despite the adversities that one is sure to come up against in his/her business.  The fact that most people are delivering as little as they can get by with, serves as a great advantage to you when you deliver added value.  One who delivers as little as he/she can, may rest assured he/she will receive the same.

I hope this information will add value to all of your experiences.

Managing is often equated with controls rather than leading and developing a business.  The manager feels more comfortable and secure when they are able to put in strict controls on everything that happens in a business organization.  This is so especially of Senior Managements where the controls and directing becomes so severe that it erodes any creative freedom for the middle managers to work towards achieving the goals set out for them.

Here are a few simple prescriptions to get the best out of your managers.

Avoid Centralizing Decision Making

This is perhaps one of the best ways to achieve totals control.  You feel by centralizing decision making you will be able to avoid wrong decisions.  While this may be so to some extent who is to prevent your own wrong decisions.  Unless your managers are able to make mistakes and learn from them you will never be able to develop expertise through experience.  Centralizing decision making is also the surest method to kill your business growth.

Provide Working Space

The top management often entrust tasks and responsibilities to their subordinate managers.  More often than not any specific time frames which are comfortable to achieve the given responsibilities or tasks are discussed.   However in their anxiety or aggressiveness and sometimes over enthusiasm you start chasing your subordinate for action and results.  If you do it too soon and too often you are severely limited the working space of your managers.  They may be spending more time in complying with your commands rather than focusing on operational priorities and important tasks.

If you are not providing sufficient working space for your managers you are surely heading towards disaster as important tasks may be getting neglected to escape from your frequent and aggressive follow ups.

Listen to Your Managers

While experience is an asset it also makes one arrogant and conceited.  Sometimes one tends to believe because he is the superior, he always right.  The Boss Is Always Right principle looks good only on posters.  It doesn’t work if you want to build a Professional organization.

Cultivate the ability to listen to the voice of your managers.  Most times they know better as they are more familiar with the ground realities.  If you decide on their behalf and just issue orders, you will have clerks in the guise of managers as you have killed their initiative.

Don’t Get Into the Nitty Gritties

Once broad goals and objectives are set with specific time frames and key results are outlined leave your managers to perform.  If you get into too many details and meddle with the execution at every stage, you may be sure to mess up the entire process and ultimately the results.

The key to managing effectively is to empower people across the management structure so that they feel part of the responsibility and ownership.

If you are pitching investors to give you money for a new venture, you should subscribe to the following rules:

1. Explain exactly what your business is within the first thirty seconds. Many entrepreneurs waste valuable time giving loads of data, background and other info—all the while investors are left scratching their heads thinking “What does this business actually DO?”

2. Tell your audience who your customers will be. Paint a vivid, specific picture of these people.

3.  Explain why your customers going to give you there hard-earned money.

4. Explain who your competitors are. (And if you say you have no competitors, that is a certain sign you are unsophisticated and deserve no investment money!)

5. Explain why you are the ONE to make this happen.

6. Give your presentation with confidence and enthusiasm. Investors want a founder/CEO to be a chief salesperson; they want to see that you can convince the world of your dream—not just them.

7. Explain what star you can hitch a ride to. Has Best Buy or Radio Shack agreed to distribute your new product? Investors feel much more comfortable knowing you have an established player willing to distribute your wares.

8. Ask for a specific amount of money. If all you do is ask for money, then you can’t complain if an investor gives you $3.25 for a cup of Starbucks coffee.

9. Tell prospects exactly what you are going to spend the money on (hint:a trip to Maui for you and your friends will not impress)

10. Dress well, act confident, and put on the air that you don’t really need their money, but would be willing to accept it if they bring enough to the table to be a strategic partner for you. Sad but true regarding human nature, but people are much more likely to give you money if they feel you don’t really need it.

Finally, make each pitch presentation serve as a focus group for your next presentation. When one group of investors asks you a series of questions after you pitch, write down all of those questions and make sure most of them are answered in your next pitch so that the next group doesn’t have to ask them. Keep pitching and keep improving your pitch and eventually you may get funded.