I am a fan of Colin Powell. His leadership style and thoughtfulness is seldom demonstrated today in what seems to be a high risk environment where decisions are deferred and conservatism prevails. I would argue that this happens to be the very time when we need to take some risk to not only run public institutions, but also private companies more effectively. After a successful career in both the military and public services, Powell leads a private life but is still well sought after for his international relations advice.  

In his series of lessons for “A Leadership Primer” in 2001 he cites 18 lessons that describe leadership hints to prospective leaders in any sector or organization. The one I think I will spend some time on today is all about risk management. That is, taking appropriate risk to change an organization’s direction, goals or improve its performance. Inevitably in everyone’s career one will always be able to find people who are “no” focussed. They say no because it’s their role, no because it’s never been done and no because change is too risky. It’s very easy to say no as any parent with a 2 year old will tell you this but is this where organizations, boards and executives really want to be? The opportunities to grow and become more sustainable require change. The moral here that Powell brings forward is simply “don’t ask”. Period! Less effective management generally endorse the sentiment “If I haven’t been explicitly told yes then I can’t do it”. Whereas good leaders believe if “I haven’t been told no I can!” It’s a big difference of views! So for fun take one of your ideas long put away due to all the no’s you received and imagine if you tried to get away with it. Was it valuable? Could it have been positively impactful? Was it positioned at the right time when you first considered it? More often than not it would have been appropriate and had positive impact.

So next time you need to move forward with a strategy or project, instead of simply acknowledging the “no” camp try pushing the idea forward without a large permission process. It could be the very thing that propels your career to the next step!  Until next time!

David Rankin 

A few months ago I blogged an article on mobile technology, how it distracted productivity and jeopardized safety at construction sites. Today’s article is about the enabling potential it offers field staff. Every project has its share of successes and what I call challenges as it moves from the drawing stage through to actual installation and operation. Recently I was able to use my smartphone to transmit field installation data to technical support 5000 km away to solve a plant operating problem. Without going into any detail, the operations problem was infrequent and didn’t seem to be predictable particularly when an inspection was underway on site. This problem was creating a great deal of concern for the owner and contractor as both were locked in different opinions of the issue, and the supplier’s product support staff were getting different stories. With a warranty expiry looming, I was called in to resolve the problem. It was clear when I got to the site that no one had really taken the time to study the equipment installation literature and a picture was needed to clarify the situation for the supplier. With product support only a phone call away, I was able to send the appropriate picture to the firm, they examined it, determined it was a relatively easy field adjustment, sent me an edited photo and was able to coach me how change it while I was there. The whole exercise took 40 minutes! In the “Old Days” it would have taken days and probably an expensive 2 day trip from the supplier’s location in the southern US to solve the same problem.     

So what does this mean? Mobile technology can be a real advantage to “advanced thinking” contractors who can capitalize on mobile technology. Speedy and innovative solutions are just a message away. The benefit (in the form of reduced costs and eventually increased market share) also goes to suppliers that offer this type of support and service.  Next time you make an investment in new systems or equipment in your business or home, check to see if the contractor and supplier are linked together with mobile technology to support each other!  It will go a long way to making your project successful and trouble free.   

David Rankin

I am building a house. I have the plans, a great group of contractors and the city permit approvals in hand. Does that mean I’m on easy street?  Of course not! We have had the usual issues of uncovering problems on existing pre-developed lots and trade scheduling, but aside from those issues, one would feel that confident with a great team and lots of energy, you are all set. Not so fast. A strong communication plan is probably the single most important part of any project and now that communication comes in so many ways -- the morning tailgate meetings where communication about the entire day’s activities was tabled, and drawings discussed or reviewed is simply not effective anymore. Smart phone technology has opened a completely new way of managing projects and made decision making almost real time. Sounds great right? Well maybe not. This technology has created a new distraction for contractors on the work site. We all realize interruption and distraction is a potential safety problem but so too is its impact on direction and project execution speed. The reliance on electronic information at hand -- particularly drawings and equipment specs -- is increasing exponentially, but at the same time, so is field error rate. 

So what to do? We can’t stop technology from delivering innovative communication methods. So how do you harness it to work for you on a construction site? That’s my next blog! 

David Rankin

Recently I was asked to conduct a Safety and Loss Prevention Audit for a disability support organization in the GTA. After spending time reviewing the organization’s Policies and Procedures for field programs and armed with a field audit questionnaire (that I had put together), I went out to one of the program operations in the field to see how compliant the actual operating discipline was to written policy. I was pleasantly surprised that, indeed, compliance appeared to be in place with the broad program design and that staff were very fluent with the organization’s safety and loss prevention requirements. However it soon started to go wrong after I asked some questions related to last minute changes made to programs while underway. Location changes, field trip protocols like staff ratios and contact information were not updated, driving up organization risk if something were to go wrong. Empowerment had hijacked policy, and compliance was no longer in place increasing risk to the organization in a significant way.

So what can you do to ensure your organization doesn’t face similar risks?  I will keep it simple and refer to someone who sought to bring common sense to government, Ronald Reagan. Known for many quotes he had a favourite…Trust but Verify. He insisted that although a program or process may appear to be compliant or look favourable, you need to verify that the actions and results in the field are indeed compliant to policy.

Today, with our sights focussed on profitability and growth, we can be distracted from ensuring field operating discipline compliance to policy. No matter what type of organization it is, Not for Profit or For Profit organization, whether its protecting the public, your customers or your organization reputation, these 3 words, “Trust but Verify”, ring true every time.

As a board member, senior executive or an organization’s stakeholder you should always take the approach to verify the written policies and operating disciplines in the field. Some quick points:  

• Help ensure measureable operating discipline is put in place to support your organization’s policies
• Make sure staff understand the organization’s policy, process requirements, and the background regulatory requirements
• Make sure follow-up and audit is a matter of routine to ensure the policy design is maintained in the field
• Reinforce positive compliance results and grow it this way rather than using a stick, it will become more entrenched

David Rankin

You think you have made all the right moves to ensure the firm is in good hands when you leave or retire. You have a candidate lined up to move into place and your customers and suppliers know what is happening. Sounds good but what now?

The tough part…Transitioning the top role in a smooth and thoughtful way is a key step often missed!

So where do you start? How about a short self-evaluation?

Are you truly ready to leave your role? Many senior leaders who have been in the role for some time cannot separate themselves from the firm easily, resulting in potential conflict with the new candidate or the firm’s different stakeholders. A structured transition plan with coaching resources to help ease your way out is a big step forward. Next item to consider is do you have an established timeline? Working yourself out of a role in a deliberate and orderly fashion is very hard for some to consider but that is exactly what has to happen. I could write a book about owners, general managers and senior executives who said they were ready to leave, prepare their replacements and staff only to return to the organization regularly to check on “how the new guy is doing”. In most cases the transition plan if any did not assess the old leader’s needs and generally turned out badly for all parties. Customers and staff are at particular at risk when this happens as they are often left confused, presenting a big risk to the future of the company.

So the advice goes like this at a minimum:

• Evaluate your own needs to transition properly early on
• Establish a detailed timeline/transition plan and communicate it to stakeholders.
• Take full responsibility for the initial success of the new leader just as you would have for any new project you managed
• Finally, celebrate success when you hand off your responsibilities in a responsible and supportive way. Not all transitions are managed well, so be the exception!

David Rankin

How does a small business owner utilize the provincial government incentives to conserve, time shift and perhaps even generate energy in the Province of Ontario?  Well apparently it’s all here for you! Wind, solar, and even small hydro opportunities are all out there for consumers to consider to offset their electrical demand. Or so that’s how the Ontario Government (Ontario Power Authority) has presented the options to small and medium sized industrial users. I think we all understand however that it’s not exactly that straight forward and one really needs to start with the fundamentals and assess their demand in the context of their individual business operations. But what questions do we need to ask before we consider implementing changes? For one you need to know your demand profile - is my electrical demand continuous and not interruptible? Is there an energy conservation plan that can be applied to offset my peak high cost periods? Are there energy conversion options (multi fuel) to reduce the type of energy consumption at different periods? Can I load shift to change the pattern of use and save money? Understanding your business energy demand picture is the very first step towards improving costs and taking advantage of the incentives offered by your local utility.   

Here in Ontario the Ontario Power Authority does do a few things right. The Authority website is a great resource to users to investigate savings opportunities. Start with its home page and scroll through all the different programs available for consumers. Next check out the Hydro One website and review their programs. Some of the programs include:

• FiT and Micro FiT
• ICI OPA Industrial Accelerator Program for grid connected Users   
• Ontario Clean Energy Benefit offered by Hydro One-One
• OPA/Hydro One Audit program incentives

Many owners think electrical demand costs cannot be optimized and that these programs really don’t fit their needs. Not only is that incorrect but many businesses, maybe some of your competitors, have taken advantage of the incentives to improve their energy demand and costs. Now that’s something we need to pay attention to!

David Rankin

Are you concerned about the lack of strong leadership and value demonstrated in the boardroom? Are you frustrated with under-utilized expertise sitting at the boardroom table? What about the low level of engagement and poor attendance demonstrated at meetings? You are not alone. Many boards both public and private sector are plagued with problems like these. They are all leading indicators of poor board structure, strategic plan alignment and poor operating discipline which, with a little time and organizational effort on behalf of the Board Chair and CEO or Executive Director, can be fixed easily! In a few short months your organization could reap the benefits of a supportive, strategic and engaged Board of Directors or Trustees!

Restructuring seems like a large endeavour but broken down into key activities like a current board assessment, reviews of  the composition and a number of committees, the committee terms of reference and finally, strategic plan alignment, will produce a plan to align the organization’s mission and board objectives! This type of transformation will satisfy the strategic needs of the board, owners and management of your organization. Engagement, quality of board room discussion, strategic action and finally attendance will all improve. Recently a provincially funded Higher Education institution realized that its Board was not providing the type of value that it could. Though large in numbers in both membership and committees, the board suffered poor attendance and board member engagement. Agenda scope creep, member conflict and low productivity haunted the President and Board Chair to the point that hiring a governance consultant became a necessity before it became too late. Post review and restructuring work and with a dramatic reduction in numbers (both committee and members) a transformation of the board is now underway. One that is more aligned, engaged and contributing value to the school! 

So back to you…If you see the same symptoms mentioned above, the first and most important step is to acquire an independent faciliator to start the review process! Engage your Governance committee with a challenge to renew the Board structure.

Energy Management for small business owners in Ontario…How does one optimize it to improve profitability?

How does a small business owner utilize the provincial government incentives to conserve, time shift and perhaps even generate energy in the Province of Ontario?  Well apparently it’s all here for you! Wind, solar, and even small hydro opportunities are all out there for consumers to consider for offset their electrical demand. Or so that’s how the Ontario Government (Ontario Power Authority) has presented the options to small and medium sized industrial users. I think we all understand however that it’s not exactly that straight forward and one really needs to start with the fundamentals and assess their demand in context of their individual business operations. But what questions do we to ask before we consider implementing changes? For one you need to know your demand profile - is my electrical demand continuous and not interruptible? Is there a energy conservation plan that can be applied to offset my peak high cost periods? Are there energy conversion options (multi fuel) to reduce the type of energy consumption at different periods? Can I load shift to change the pattern of use and save money? Understanding your business energy demand picture is the very first step towards improving costs and taking advantage of the incentives offered by your local utility.   

Here in Ontario the Ontario Power Authority does do a few things right though. The Authority website is a great resource to users to investigate savings opportunities. Start with its home page and scroll through all the different programs available for consumers. Next check out the Hydro One website and review their programs. Some of the programs include:

• FiT and Micro FiT
• ICI OPA Industrial Accelerator Program for grid connected Users   
• Ontario Clean Energy Benefit offered by Hydro One-One
• OPA/Hydro One Audit program incentives

Many owners think electrical demand costs cannot be optimized and that these programs really don’t fit their needs. Not only is that incorrect but many businesses, maybe some of your competitors have taken advantage of the incentives to improve their energy demand and costs. Now that’s something we need to pay attention to!

David Rankin

Energy. Its expensive and with recent supply changes quickly becoming more so. I regularly suggest to clients that every organization undertake an “Energy Assessment” which might cover these vulnerable areas.

• Energy expense impact on the corporate income statement – Is it visible and monitored?
• Is the natural gas supply reliable and is there any pricing stability measures in place
• New capital equipment impact on your energy demand
• Personnel awareness and skill training
• Heated water system management status
• Waste energy capture status
• Electrical rate pricing optimization
• Electrical facility safety upgrading requirements
• Energy Management System status

Every step towards a well thought out energy management plan saves your organization money and reduces your greenhouse gas emission footprint! It’s easy to rewire your organizations’/operating disciplines to consume less and reuse what we waste but you have to make the first step. Start with an assessment and finish with happy shareholders! 

David Rankin

Energy. All Canadian organizations use energy for product production or services and/or infrastructure to provide heat, light, air-conditioning for staff and electricity to run equipment (computers, etc.). For many organizations, energy is the largest single expense aside from salaries. But do we proactively manage this resource or do we simply consume and treat it as an uncontrollable cost of doing business? Without taking a close look at optimizing cost and the impact to our firms we do a large disservice to owners and our stakeholders. Historically we have not stewarded energy well. Ontario and Canada for that matter has had low cost and plentiful electrical energy for many years. That has all changed. The Ontario government is now valuing electrical energy differently, presumably to ensure consumers pay for the real cost of this commodity. If you haven’t developed a mitigation strategy get going! If you do, not only will you protect your operating margin but you will contribute long term sustainability for your firm!  

David Rankin

As any skilled commercial painter will tell you, it's the preparation work that paves the way to a great job. Contract negotiation is essentially the same process. Firms that succeed in today's commerce world understand that preparation is key and without it you risk failing. It is that simple. 
 

I suggest that before starting any negotiation or dialogue to obtain goods or services, ask the questions 'What, Who and When' to kick your procurement planning off to a great start. Some key planning steps to start your quest off would be to know and document all your firm's contract requirements and research and determine who the best players are to contract with. Can you afford the product or service market costs and what limit is there to your procurement funding? Your firm's finance leader and someone with the appropriate contract commitment authority should be on side in advance of any negotiation. Your ultimate goal is to be able to choose a quality supplier that will be there to support your business in the long-term. Finally, and only when you have completed your preliminary work, is it time to sit down at the negotiation table.

Your investment in planning and research time will pay off many times over during the next phase of procurement...........the negotiation. You must always remember, however, the company's future depends on your preparation and planning.

David Rankin