Finding the Perfect Company. Parenting Your Employees to Better Performance.
The search for the perfect company is not the pursuit of day-traders or market insiders. They're looking for quick and dirty returns. High speed, high risk, high stress. No, the perfect company is more along the lines of what an individual investor - like you or I - would look for. I don't want to have to have my hand on my mouse until the closing bell just to make sure I don't lose my shirt. I want to buy a position in a company and know that regardless of what happens today or tomorrow, eight months from now, my portfolio will be worth more than today. I'm not talking about a laissez-faire approach to investing - far from it. What I'm talking about does take a time investment as well, in research, understanding the ins and outs of a company, but one that will be paid off in spades.
That's an approach that I've taken seriously (guess what, we're talking about money here), and that I feel makes the market less of a gamble. It's also a mantra that has gotten me yields in the double digits over the Dow to date in a markedly tough year.
So, you may be asking, "What is the perfect company? What traits should it have?"
One of the most important things - in my opinion - about investing in a company is the feeling that you're a partner.
It's essential to know the company inside and out. Be aware of all their products, as well as all of their numbers. Above all, you should be excited in the company you're investing in. If not, what's the point? Your gut is an important part of investing. If you're portfolio doesn't get you going, you might as well be gambling in Vegas. At least you'd get comped.In the perfect company, fundamentals are, well, fundamental. It's so important to familiarize yourself with the annual and quarterly reports (the 10-K is your friend) and listen to quarterly conference calls (both can be done online, very easily. Check out the company's investor relations site to learn more). Remember, you're not banking on market psychology, you're focusing on profits. No matter what happens to a company, if they've got juicy profits, their share price WILL go up. There's no two ways about it. Make sure that the company is making money and you will be too.
Emotion has a natural part in this. If you're loving a company, it can be expected that you'll be blinded by that fact when it comes time to sell. One remedy for this is defining a reasonable sell point before you even buy. All too often people watch their positions go up past their expectations only to see them fall back down below what they bought for. Have a look at analyst estimates as well as other factors (after following the market for a little while, it becomes sort of instinctual) to try and determine a price to sell at no matter what. Just as importantly, don't forget to reevaluate frequently. Things change, you don't want to miss out on huge gains or look toward a share price the stock will never get to. News and economic factors will influence things, change you're estimates appropriately.
Just as you should reevaluate your sell point for a stock, you should often reevaluate your position in the company itself. While a company may have been exciting and ideal for you when you purchased their stock, things change. Maybe the product line you though would take off didn't. Maybe their visionary CEO retired. Maybe something just doesn't feel right. Ambivalence has no place in this game.
Don't be afraid to speak your mind on the company's business, either. You're an owner, however small, and have an obligation to protect your investment. While you might not have the same clout or voting ability as an institutional investor, or anyone who measures their equity in percentages of the company, but sometimes, making your points known makes all the difference. Lobby to those powerful holders of the company as well as other individual investors. (We'll have more on making your piece heard in an upcoming issue).
If you want to try your hand at speculative, technical trading, this isn't the method for you. If, however, you want to shoot for a combination of excitement and profit, you may want to look into this a bit. It's worked for me. If you're a seasoned investor, or a newbie willing to learn (through methods that don't require money initially) you may find this to be a particularly rewarding idea.
Jonas Elmerraji is the founder and editor of growFolio, the world's first free online investment and business magazine. Issues are available online at http://www.growfolio.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
Have you ever worked for someone who was such a micro-manager that it drove you crazy? And have you ever worked for someone who was so hands-off that you felt like a lone warrior on the battlefield? These are examples of you working for leaders who did not adapt their style based on the employee's needs. I would venture to guess that you were not entirely motivated to put out your very best effort every time when you were feeling such frustrations.
What can you, as a manager, do to prevent the same mistake? My suggestion is to follow what good parents do.
Good parents instinctively know how they need to manage their children. But we sometimes don't make the same connection when we are at work. Let's think about the different stages of a child's development.
The Toddler At this stage, there is so much they don't know. They are just learning the basics of how to walk, and run, and talk, and play with others. The parents are generally right there at almost every moment. They are very involved in the child's development.
- They set boundaries for the child: "don't' go near the stove, its hot!"
- They give very directive instructions: "Put the toy truck back into the basket."
- They give frequent feedback and encouragement: "That's right, this is a blue ball. Now pick out the red one. That's great!"
When you have an employee that is at the toddler stage in terms of job skills and proficiencies, you need to adopt the hands-on parenting style of leadership. First determine what they know and don't know. Set boundaries for them so they don't get into big trouble. Be very directive in what you want done, and provide them feedback and encouragement so they know whether they are progressing and satisfying your expectations or not.
The Teenager
At this stage, the child wants more independence, and prefers to figure things out for himself. But the parents know that they still need to provide supervision. And they also give the child more space to experiment and build confidence.
When your employees are at the teenager stage, they often think they know more then they actually do. Surely you were never guilty of this when you were a teenager, right? So, you still need to be around enough to keep them out of trouble. Instead of checking in with them every day, you can now check in with them every week on their progress.
Your requests can be less directive, and more objective defined ("I'd like you to clean up your room this weekend.") Instead of offering information and directions with every assignment, you can now wait for your employee to approach you with questions.
When your employees see they you have eased off your level of supervision, they know that you are feeling more comfortable with their ability to perform, and their confidence grows. But always remember to continue to give feedback and acknowledgement for their efforts.
The Young Adult
Now your employees are almost independent. Like a good parent, you have provided them all the skills and knowledge to make it on their own. At this point, you can ease off even more on giving directions and checking up on progress. Instead, you want to help them grow as contributors to your organization.
Now when you hand over an assignment, you can give the most crucial details and leave them to figure out the approach. You let them know that when they come to you with problems and questions, you would like to see their recommendations or solutions.
At this stage, your responsibility as a "parent" is quite light. But you must continue to give feedback and acknowledgement so your employees stay motivated to excel. They need to know that you have noticed their development and appreciate their efforts.
The Adult
Now you are on "easy street". Your child has moved out of the house, and is successful and productive. At this point, your role as parent is to show love and appreciation of the person they have become (thanks to your hard work), and to offer them opportunities for growth.
Your expectation of these employees is that they can pretty much operate without you. You provide them with the vision of where you are going and they immediately rally the troops and make a plan and start marching down the road.
When these employees encounter a problem, you expect them to come to you with a list of alternatives, the recommendation they want to choose, and just ask for your concurrence. They come prepared with all the critical information you need to make a sound decision. You can ask these employees to be mentors to your toddlers or teenagers and take some of the responsibilities from you. You continue to provide them feedback and acknowledgement so they know they are still on the right track.
Now take a look at your team, and make an assessment of what stage of development each of your employee is at present. Adopt the appropriate parenting/leadership style that is needed and your employee will respond. Most employees want to do a good job for you, so set your expectations clearly and watch them perform.
© 2005 Inez O. Ng
NOTE: You're welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end), and you send me a copy of your reprint at mailto:Inez@RealizationsUnltd.com
Are your business results suffering because of an ineffective management team? Find out what coaching with Inez Ng can do to improve the effectiveness of your leaders. Visit http://www.RealizationsUnltd.com for informative articles and resources. If your work group is struggling to keep up with the volume of email they are receiving, check out her ebook "Master Email without Breaking a Sweat!" at http://www.easyemailstrategies.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
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