BroadPeak Executive Forum

Holiday Thank You Guide

The holidays are a time to give and receive which means that they are also a time to say "Thank You" frequently. In general, this is a great time of year to thank friends, clients, customers, and family for their friendship, business, and general support. Whom should you thank? Here is a quick guide to holiday thank-yous:

1. Clients - send a card, gift, email, or make a special phone call to thank your valued clients.

2. Customers - make a special effort to ensure that your customers know how much you appreciate them. Offer a discount, give a nominal gift, or just smile and say thank you.

3. Vendors - send thank-you notes, cards, emails or a token gift to valued vendors. If you have a great vendor relationship don't assume that the vendor is the one who owes you thanks just because you purchase from him/her. Good, honest, and reliable vendors are hard to find and should be treated like gold or else you may find yourself in an inconvenient or expensive situation. As an example, we just installed a stone floor in our living room. The floor was done quickly, with minimal inconvenience, was reasonably priced, and looks incredible. I sent a thank you card to the contractor because as far as I am concerned he deserves thanks for his incredible work.

4. Friends - Holiday cards are standard but make sure to write a personalized note to each of your close friends to let them know how much you value them.

5. Service Providers (hairdresser, colorist, manicurist, pet groomer, housekeeper, nanny, gardener etc.) - give some kind of holiday tip/bonus to any service provider with whom you have an ongoing relationship. They work hard to make you (your pets, your home, your lawn, etc.) look good and the holidays are a great time to say thanks.

6. Employees - if you are the CEO/Executive of a large company it may not be feasible to give a gift or card to every employee. But you should do something nice for your secretary, personal assistant, and other supporting staff. A card with a personalized note along with a gift card, gift certificate, or small gift will ensure that those who support you know that their efforts do not go unnoticed. Simply walking by your secretary's desk and saying something like, "Happy Holidays, thanks for all of your hard work." is absolutely not enough. Any executive who thinks that is an appropriate token of appreciation can look forward to trying to find a new secretary in January.

7. Colleagues - make sure that your trusted co-workers and colleagues know that you appreciate them. You an also take the opportunity to reach out to any difficult co-workers or "gate keepers" to let them know that you would like to build stronger relationships with them. The holidays present a ready-made excuse to reach out to others so why not make sure that you set the stage for a collaborative new year with all of your co-workers? Cards, homemade cookies, or just inviting a co-worker to lunch during the holidays are ways to build new or solidify old relationships.

8. New acquaintances - send cards to new business acquaintances whom you have recently met and write a note to let them know that you look forward to working with them/getting to know them in the new year. Make sure you include some kind of personalize note...simply signing a card isn't enough.

9. Your Boss - Why not give your boss a handwritten note/card to thank him or her for any special support that he or she gave you this past year? Being a manager can be a lonely job in which you may never be sure if you are doing a good job. If you like your boss and are appreciative of his or her efforts now is a great time to say so. No matter how appreciative you are though, expensive gifts to your boss aren't appropriate and may make him or her uncomfortable. A heartfelt note will mean a lot to any manager.

10. Family - gifts are great but time spent with family is the ultimate way to say "thank you and I love you" during the holidays. Workaholics need to remember that no matter how tempting it is to take your Blackberry with you on vacation the quality time you spend with your family during the holidays will yield bigger dividends in your life than your co-workers will.

If you are one of the many people who has a hard time crafting a good thank you note when you need to please click here to download my free Thank You Note Book on the Ultimate Resumes website.

Be True to Yourself

Sometimes solving problems or dealing with conflicts requires that we flex different “muscles” than the ones we normally use for performing our job, maintaining relationships, or resolving conflicts. Every once in awhile we are faced with confounding situations which require us to adapt ourselves even more creatively. After years of observing others, making my own mistakes, and occasionally doing things the right way I have come to the conclusion that in any difficult situation the key to overcoming challenges is to do whatever you need to do but to be true to yourself in the process.

What I mean is that if you behave in a way that is unnatural to you, others will notice this and you may not get the results or response you desire. Once I worked for a C-level executive who was, without question, the biggest jerk I have ever met. As an every day practice he bullied and demeaned his employees (no matter how senior), took credit for the work of others, refused to reward employees for good work, obviously played favorites, and generally behaved like jerk in every way. He was a jerk to the core – when he was trying to be nice or make jokes he came across as crass, obnoxious, and unkind. Even his jokes were awkward at best and mean spirited at worst. However, for whatever reason, his behavior seemed to work for him. He had advanced through corporate America and had been hired by a venture firm to run a successful start-up so someone must have thought his behavior was acceptable. But if, for example, I had tried to emulate him, I know that I wouldn’t have reaped the rewards that he did because I couldn’t pull it off successfully. Also I wouldn’t have felt very good about myself.

On the other hand, I once worked for an executive (her name was Barbara) who was one of the most reflective thinkers and best listeners I have ever met. Barbara was a great coach and manager who was skilled at absorbing information, considering various options, and regurgitating great ideas which others could adapt and implement. I tried so hard to be like her but I couldn’t quite pull it off. I hope I absorbed some of Barbara’s good qualities when I worked for her but at the end of the day my strength is in implementation rather than reflecting upon a menu of ideas and bouncing them to others to make them come alive.

Being true to yourself doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to improve your skills or learn new “tricks”. You should! Self reflection and continuous education is a must for all of us. You can and should adapt your skills and behavior to situations but you shouldn’t stray from your core values or personality traits or you won’t be true to yourself.

I had an employee once (we will call her J) who was the kindest, sweetest, and least confrontational person I have ever met. I really admired her ability to see the good in others even when they were being manipulative, negative, or just plain incompetent. Sometimes I ran interference for her so that she could get her job done when the occasional goofball decided to play politics, not do a job, or made her life difficult. I was very good at cutting through red tape so that all of my employees could get their jobs done. When necessary I utilized whatever tools I had to create an environment in which my employees could be successful whether that involved using politics, calling someone’s boss, or just plain making demands.

J and I had many conversations about assertiveness and I always told her that she could be assertive but that she could do it in her own sweet way – she didn’t have to try to act like me because that might not come naturally to her. In fact, if she had attempted to do some of the things I did it would have been completely counter to her personality and she wouldn’t have gotten the results she desired. J is now a manager of people herself and she has come up with some really great management techniques that reflect her values and personality but yield the results she needs to run her department effectively.

Be true to yourself even in tough situations and you will find that things often work to your advantage.

Originally posted to http://ultimate-resumes.blogspot.com/

Sarbox's Influence Seeps into Nonprofits

Tax-exempt organizations are slowly making changes to their governance policies, following demands by proponents of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act's virtues.

Sarah Johnson
CFO.com | US

December 05, 2007

Five years after companies began complying with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, nonprofit organizations have gotten into the rhythm of improving their governance policies and internal-controls documentation.

In a recent survey of nonprofit executives and board members, Grant Thornton found that 92 percent have implemented new accounting policies and procedures within the past few years, compared to only 59 percent who last year said they had new policies in place.

In many ways the call for changes in financial-reporting procedures at not-for-profits organizations — which notoriously have a reputation for nontransparent financial information and lack of consistent, regulatory oversight — are tied to the corporate scandals earlier this decade and Sarbox.

The governance mantras inherent in the 2002 law for publicly traded companies have been carried over to the nonprofit sector from the corporate suits who sit on the not-for-profit boards. "They are generally regarded as good practices," says Larry Ladd, the accounting firm's director of higher education practice. The organizations' audit committees are also taking their work more seriously than in the past, he adds.

Nonprofits have also been motivated by other mandates more directly aimed at them. The Internal Revenue Service has recently made changes to its Form 990, which nonprofits with more than $25,000 in revenue are required to fill out each year. And earlier this year the IRS proposed further revisions to the form, which is publicly available and often used by donors and watchdog groups to review a nonprofit's financial activities.

However, in its survey of 603 representatives who hold posts at universities, religious organizations, among other nonprofits, Grant Thornton reported a slow trend of boards getting more involved in the submissions of Form 990s. Currently, only 30 percent have a policy that requires the board or one of its committees to review the forms.

In addition, nonprofits have recently adjusted to new accounting rules that require them to change how they treat alternative investments, such as private equity funds and hedge funds, on their books.

As                                   CFO magazine reported earlier this year, proper accounting for nonprofits' financials can be hindered by demands by potential donors for keeping their fund-raising and overhead costs down. To meet those requests, some nonprofits either leave out their fund-raising costs by not reporting them at all, and some create separate, supporting organizations to carry those costs.

While demands for better transparency of nonprofits is slow-moving, the changes underfoot by the IRS and nonprofits' boards have brought about some progress in recent years.

For example, nine out of 10 nonprofits have a conflict-of-interest policy in place, a request made by the IRS last year. These types of policies discourage officers and directors from taking actions in matters related to an investment fund in which they serve a prominent role. In addition, 68 percent have a whistle-blower policy, another new requirement the IRS is expected to implement.

The IRS is also starting to ask for more detailed finance information from nonprofits, including data related to executive compensation (sound familiar?). This concept will be a new one for some nonprofits; 6 percent of the respondents reported their board never talks about how much they pay their executives, despite the fact that very subject has resulted in negative press for some organizations.

Congress itself has also joined the fray by holding hearings earlier this year to explore the accountability of nonprofit organizations and scrutinize the financial mishaps at the Smithsonian Institution, for example. The government's increased interest in nonprofits' financials should come as no surprise considering it essentially acts as their largest donor. "Because it is granting tax exemptions, the government has the right to expect at least full disclosures and increased transparency," says Ladd.