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Top of Mind: August 1, 2013
August 1st, 2013
by Bill Boyajian

Excuses, excuses…

Have you ever used a soft economy as an excuse for poor results? Jewelers do it all the time. Although it accommodates the need to rationalize our problems, it does little to show our creative spirit or intelligent leadership.

Financial markets, weather catastrophes, global competition, and technological change are all out of your control. But your ability to lead and manage your business is not.

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You don’t have to be the best supplier in New York, the best jeweler in the country, the best designer on the planet, or even the best employee in your business. But what you have to be is good at controlling what is in your power to control, letting go of excuses that are simply out of your control.

You need to be consistent but flexible and continuously motivated without unexplainable flip-flops in decision-making. You need to work on your job, your business, your competition, your improvement, everyday. If you do this well, you are more likely to attach meaningful, rational, thoughtful reasoning to address challenges we all ultimately face. And you’ll be less likely to use lame excuses as a rationale for poor performance.

How Do You React To A Crisis?

Often, the first thing to go in times of crisis is our leadership.

In The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, John Maxwell reminds us: “How a leader deals with the circumstances of life tells you many things about his character. Crisis doesn’t necessarily make our character, but it certainly does reveal it.”

Under heat and pressure, carbon can be transformed into a beautiful diamond crystal, or it can turn into common graphite. In the same way, our character can be shaped — one way or the other — by the heat and pressure we face when leading….. [click to read more]

 

Here are a few Business and Life tips to think about….

Business Tips:

  • I grew up believing that leaders were born, not made. Leadership behavior is learned through the process of life and seeking to lead.
  • If you are in a position of influence, you can teach what you know, but more importantly, you can reproduce who you are in others.
  • Half-truths will destroy a reputation in business and in life. Being clear and taking great care in communicating is critical.

Life Tips:

  • We are all dealt a set of biological, environmental, and social realities that shape our lives. But the choices we make determine our destiny.
  • People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, about them. Caring is the most vital thing you do.
  • Wisdom isn’t gained in a day. It is gained daily. Live in such a way that you learn from people and life’s circumstances.


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“I needed help orchestrating a succession plan for our business. I had heard that Bill Boyajian specialized in assisting owners to transition their business to the next generation. He knows how to bridge the generation gap and deliver what each needs to hear. I would recommend Bill to any business owner who needs advice on succession planning from a trusted outside professional.”

–Charles Denaburg,
Managing Partner,
Levy’s Fine Jewelry
Birmingham, AL

"Our family needed some guidance on business transition and succession planning. We asked Bill Boyajian to help us because we knew we could trust him to tell us what we needed to hear. Bill became a valuable resource for our company and our entire family. He has the ability to meet each of us where we’re at and it has served us very well."

–Ceylon Leitzel
Leitzel Fine Jewelry
Hershey & Myerstown, PA

“We needed a plan to transition our business to a non-family member and we asked Bill Boyajian to help us. His experience in the area has really paid off, but we didn’t expect the added value of putting us together with a financial planner who helped organize our retirement needs. We now have the fundamentals to transition our business successfully, and we have Bill to thank for it.”

–Ernie & Debbie Cummings
Kizer-Cummings Jewelers
Lawrence, KS