Extra Points: The Flash

Dan_Weedin_022 As a kid, I loved comic books, and some of my favorites were of super-heroes. I was mostly into DC Comics which featured Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. My favorite was a guy who had the super power I most wanted. The Flash. The fastest human on earth wearing a cool red suit with a lightning logo on his chest. I wanted to be fast and The Flash was the guy.

Speed is a great super power for a super hero like Barry Allen (aka The Flash). It’s also a super power for those heroes called entrepreneurs. If you’re a CEO or President of an organization of any size (including just you), then you should be striving to wear that lightning bolt on your chest. Because in business, speed is everything.

Speed to market gets you to your target market first, so you can optimize your brand and value proposition. If you’re there faster and with more fury, you become the thought and brand leader.
Speed to cash in the bank is crucial to cash flow management. I’m always amazed when a business eschews taking credit cards (or charges the fee). Getting money in your bank account fast is more important than ever to surviving and thriving.
Speed to respond is often curiously undervalued by entrepreneurs. The “I will call you back at my earliest convenience” line is time-worn and transmitter-biased. With today’s technology, if one can’t respond to a voice mail within half a day, or an email within 24 hours, then they either are time management challenged or don’t care. Current and potential clients care.
Speed to recover means the speed to bounce back from a crisis. I’m talking to two potential new clients this week about creating or improving business continuity plans because they want to be able to reduce their “recovery time objectives.” The per minute improvement can result in tens of thousands of dollars…per minute. That’s real money.
Speed to human recovery. Yeah, this is different. Bad stuff happens to us all the time. Personally, we have to recover to crises both professionally and personally. How do you respond? The faster you can find your emotional and mental “sweet spot,” the sooner you return to peak performance. This is critical to how your business and company perform.

Here’s your challenge for the week. Pick one of these “speed,” or find one of your own. Then become The Flash. Work to accelerate your speed to improve your business, your profitability, and your lifestyle.

Quote of the Day:

“Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it.”

~ Winston Churchill

Lessons from Hurricane Harvey

He is ready to fight for success

Rainy Days Happen To Us All
The images of Houston and the surrounding areas hit by Hurricane Harvey are heartbreaking. The devastation will have an impact on residents and businesses for decades.

All of our hearts go out to the people suffering and trying to survive this tragedy.

However before the rest of us get too comfortable in our chairs, it’s the right time to take stock of our own precarious situations. Houston is the latest in a long line of calamities, and it won’t be the last. What can we learn and most importantly implement from Hurricane Harvey?

September is National Preparedness Month and a great time to assess your current state of readiness and preparedness. How resilient are you personally and professionally?

I’m offering you risk assessment questionnaires for your current state of readiness and preparedness in your professional and personal lives. They’re short, simple, and free.

There are two forms: one for business and one for personal. After completing one or both, you can send them to me via email and I will respond within 24 hours with a brief assessment and some suggestions. If after, you’d like to schedule a chat about your situation, we can do that.

We see occurrences like what is happening in the Houston area and are shocked and saddened; however all too often we forget about them quickly and go on without making any changes that will better us. Don’t let that happen this time. Take a few minutes to understand how ready and prepared your business and family are so that when you face your own calamity, you are in a position of strength and resilience.

LINK for Business Assessment

LINK for Personal Assessment

Gator in the Grass

This video was sent to me by my colleague and friend Noah Fleming. Noah was vacationing on beautiful Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina a few weeks ago. He knows I’m an avid golfer and sent me this video via text. Take a look, it’s only one minute long…

I viewed it for the first time on my mobile phone. What do you think my focus was on? You would be correct if you said the tee shot. I was looking at the lush green fairway, the clear blue sky, and the danger on either side of the fairway. As a golfer that hits the ball right to left, I was wondering, “How the heck would I play this hole?”

My myopic view completely missed the alligator strolling right in front of me. It wasn’t until later that I watched it on a larger screen that my focus changed to the reason Noah sent it me to begin with.

Do you have a myopic view of your business, your company, and your career? Are you not seeing the gator in the grass?

In my consulting practice, I hear constantly from people that are so focused on increasing sales that they miss the peril that might actually put them out of business that is right smack dab in front of them. An example is the cyber liability peril that goes along with their mounting technology exposure.

In my coaching and mentoring practice, I talk to consultants and other professionals about increasing their peripheral vision. Many become so laser focused on their methodology and what they do, rather than how they are actually improving the condition of their client. The peril in this is that you miss the mark on engaging new prospects so they never engage with you!

Here’s the deal…

It’s easy for all of us to miss the gator in the grass. It’s human nature to become so overly focused on what we like to do and what we are good at doing, that we forget the perils lurking waiting for the unsuspecting. You have exposures to all sorts of crises just becasue you are in business – economic, physical, and reputation – and that’s part of the risk and reward of your craft. However, you can avoid a lot of gators if you slow down enough to identify your perils, assess how you can best prevent and mitigate them, and then go out and do what you do best.

For me, if I could only hit a nice easy fade like Jack Nicklaus…

Wht Do You Need a Crisis Plan?

It never ceases to amaze me when executives and business owners delay or simply refuse to put a strategic crisis plan in place for their business. I see it over and over again with small businesses. Quite honestly, it’s negligent on their part. They risk their profit, their revenue, their employee’s future, their reputation, and the impact to their supply chain. Other than that, it’s not a big deal.

Later today, I am hosting a webinar for executives in the assisted living and elder care community on the topic. These are some quick bullet points on the reasons to invest time and resources towards a plan. If you are in a position where you’re ultimately responsible for the sustainability and resiliency of an organization, you should all me. Or, allow me to put it this way – If you want to assure that no crisis is fatal to your business, you should call me. You will get a plan that meets these objectives:

To maximize the prevention of crisis or disaster situations from ever occurring.
To minimize the likelihood of any suspension of operations.
To minimize interruptions to the normal operations.
To limit the extent of disruption and damage.
To minimize the economic impact of the interruption.
To establish alternative means of operation in advance.
To train personnel with emergency procedures.
To provide for smooth and rapid restoration of service.
To assure that no crisis is fatal to the organization.
To set up a communication procedure for employees, supply chain, media, and community.

Unique Program from Dan Weedin – CAPS

As we are on the eve of National Preparedness Month in September, I am thrilled to unveil a brand new, unique program that only I can offer to businesses of all sizes and industries. I call it the Crisis Awareness and Prevention System (CAPS). This information will be launched officially on my web site in September along with a lot of other changes, however consider this a sneak preview! The good news is also I am prepared to help anyone immediately.

To read about how the program works, click here. You will also find it on the Crisis Conqueror navigation tab above.

Here is what you need to know…

If you own a business or are responsible for its continued operation, you must have a crisis and disaster recovery plan in place. Now. Not doing so is simply negligent. Insurance is a contingent action, and only one of several. What are you doing to prevent calamity in the first place?
Trying to do it internally is a waste of time and internal resources. Most businesses under 300 employees don’t have the resources, the staffing, or the experience to carry out the project. You might be able to procure templates (of which I have an excellent one), but those are only starting points. To be truly effective, you need help.
The good news is I can help. I have nearly 30 years experience in the risk mitigation industry and I will get you in a better and more secure place of readiness and preparedness quickly and skillfully.

Check it out on my page dedicated to it. You owe it to yourself, your employees, their families, and your customers to be ready and prepared as a business. Heck, if you’re like a couple of my clients, you will soon be required by your vendors to have a written plan. Regardless of your motivation, do yourself the favor ans simply contact me to learn more. There is no charge for an initial phone consultation. What do you have to lose (except your business if you don’t call)?

Here – I made it easy. Contact me below…

The Big 5

I was recently interviewed for an article on crisis management for Chief Executive Officers. The question was – what are the five things that need to be in EVERY crisis plan. I thought I’d share my answer with you!

Chain of Command – There must be a clear, delineated, and communicated chain of command from the person in charge of the command center, to the communications coordinator, insurance liaison, scribe, etc. The size and scope is dependent on the size and complexity of the operation.
Plan to recover power, connectivity, and data…quickly. This includes setting up in alternate locations, if necessary.
Backup physical location plan. What do you do with 200 employees tomorrow if a fire destroys the building overnight? That’s the question this section must answer.
Communications plan. This will be a guide for the communications coordinator/lead to communicate with all stakeholders – employees, board of directors, investors, customers, prospects, Supply chain, community, and media. This will also lay out the method – email, text, social media (specifically Twitter), etc.
Evacuation and security plan. This is about getting people out of the building quickly and keeping them secure before, during, and after a crisis.

VIDEO: Episode #10 – Preparation of a Disaster Management Contingency Plan

This is a 10-part video series I recently created for Chron, which is the online version for the Houston Chronicle. The topic surrounds crisis planning and disaster recovery for small business. The questions and topics were raised by readers of Chron. There really is no order to the videos; they each deal with a different topic in this area. This is of vital importance for businesses and organizations of all sizes. Executives and small business owners should focus on these strategies to assure sustainable operations and revenue. I will feature a new video daily for the next 10 days.

Video #10 – Preparation of a Disaster Management Contingency Plan