Business Coaching

Malcolm McLaren, manager of the Sex Pistols, died at 64 of cancer.

There are great bands that are considered legendary, and that changed the way of the world in certain respects forever — the Beatles, Elvis Presley and the Sex Pistols, for example.

But how much change is influenced because of the actual band itself, or the management and promotion of it?

The Sex Pistols are arguably one of the most influential bands of all time, but some of that credit should go to their manager, Malcolm McLaren. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, without him, there might not have even been a British punk scene to begin with.

McLaren had an eclectic background of designing clothing — even co-owning a store with Vivienne Westwood — and managing punk bands.

The band released the single “God Save the Queen” in May 1977, shortly before Queen Elizabeth II’s silver jubilee celebration. On June 7, the day of the celebration, the band attempted to play the song from a boat outside the Palace of Westminster on the Thames River. The police stopped the performance, which is just what McLaren intended — the debut album, “Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols,” was released four months later and reached the top slot on the U.K. album charts, partly because of the publicity from the Thames River incident.

The band eventually broke up, but McLaren knew how to market the band not only to get the public’s attention, but also to the appropriate niche. The Sex Pistols became a punk sensation.

It’s the same with business coaching, really…clients often have questions about how to market their company or products better. Helping to come up with unique and creative ideas to promote clients is all part of business coaching. And some of those ideas, like McLaren’s idea above, might be off the cuff, but they get the desired results.

TechCrunch.com recently published an article about instilling ethics in small businesses. It sounds like it should be an easy thing – people should, after all, be moral and ethical in their everyday life, for the most part. But, as Enron and Lehman Brothers have demonstrated, it’s actually harder than it looks. What does that say for American businesses?

Harvard Business School professor Michael Beer researched the difference between companies that perform at high levels for extended periods and those that implode when they reach a certain size. When analyzing the spectacular failures in the recent financial meltdown, he found that:

• Of the original Forbes 100 (named in 1917), 61 had ceased to exist by 1987. Of the remaining 39, only 18 stayed in the top 100, and their return during the period 1917 to 1987 was 20% less
than that of the overall market.

• Of companies in the original Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index of 1957, only 74 remained in 1997; of these, only 12 outperformed the S&P 500 in the period 1957 to 1998.

• The average CEO tenure in the U.S. is 4.2 years, less than half the 10.5-year average in 1990.

Beer’s research left him with three core reasons for the failure of so many Wall Street firms in the fall of the economy in 2008: the firms lacked a higher purpose, and instead were focused on short-term gains, profits, and bonuses; they lacked a clear strategy; and they mismanaged their risk. Companies like Charles Schwab and US Bancorp were able to avoid the fallout by having a strong focus on customer service, honesty and transparency.
In business coaching, ethics can be a tough issue if the client’s ethics don’t match up with the coach’s – and it can matter so much, that some coach/client relationships have dissolved over it.

TechCrunch had some pointers on how to not get caught up in letting ethics slide. Do you agree?

People become business coaches for perks like flex work hours.

It’s a story that’s becoming fairly common — people leaving careers they’ve had their whole lives to follow their true passion — but often times, even though people leave careers to start their own business in something that’s been a hobby for years, they still need help.

The Wall Street Journal recently published a story about high-powered executives who left their careers to, for example, start their own restaurant or work for a nonprofit. Even though they were executives at one point and know exactly what needs to be done in order to make their businesses successful, sometimes — as business owners might know — it’s easier said than done.

A lot of people the Wall Street Journal interviewed also wanted to work less and have more time for friends and family, and with their career changes, some have been able to do just that.

Said Rick Walleigh, 59, who left his management position at a tech company for a position in a nonprofit, “Work is a lot more fun if you’re not the one who is ultimately responsible for everything.” Walleigh now works 25 hours a week as opposed to 60-70 hours a week at the tech company.

Read the full article here. ActionCOACH and Brad Sugars is mentioned toward the end of the story because, let’s face it, lots of people become business coaches after long careers with other companies at other positions. Set your own hours and help other professionals in situations you once experienced — there’s lots to gain from a career change like that.

It’s no secret that just about every newspaper in the country has had to make cutbacks.

But still, newspaper circulation is actively decreasing, meaning the fate of the newspaper is in question.

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, circulation for 379 U.S. dailies dropped 10.6%, based on a cumulative average for the six months ended Sept. 30.

This is the sharpest drop in sales in more than 10 years.

Nearly two-thirds of the country’s 25 largest papers posted declines of 10% or more.

While everyone has their predictions about what will happen to newspapers in a few years if things keep going like this, one thing’s for sure – as a business owner, your business must change with the times.

Several businesses, whether they’ve expanded their reach and their key products or changed their investment strategy, have had to change in order to weather the economic recession.

Even some newspapers have weathered it as much as they can by investing more time and energy in moving online.

For example, The Wall Street Journal sold an average of 2.02 million copies and online subscriptions during the six months ending Sept. 30, a 0.6% increase from the same period in 2008.

Recognize where the times are taking people. For newspapers, there is now a greater demand for news online rather than an actual newspaper.

Some people don’t like change, but not changing could mean the end of your business.