Sally, our lone survivor of the Great Chicken Massacre of May 2021, is a feisty hen.  While Sven is at the top of my flock’s pecking order, I’d bet money that Sally is the top hen.  I’ve seen her peck at the younger hens when they wanted to roost next to her at night or chase them away if they have a little morsel of treat that she wants for herself. Last year, she went broody in early spring, but we weren’t ready to add peeps to our flock. When I kicked her off her eggs every day to collect them, she would aggressively peck at me.  This occurred every day for over 3 weeks until she finally gave up.  She went broody two more times during the spring and summer before we finally agreed to let her hatch those eggs.

When her chicks hatched, look out! Sally would fiercely defend those chicks by attacking any potential threat including other hens, peeps from another clutch, or one of my dogs that got too close for her comfort.  At one point a chick from another brood wandered over to Sally, not realizing this wasn’t her “mom,” and Sally grabbed that chick by the neck and tossed her away.

A few years ago, we ended up with a plethora of broody hens.  We had eggs and broody hens all over the coop.  Sally hatched her chicks first, and in order to make room for the other broody hens, we moved Sally and her chicks from the hatching coop (a.k.a. the birthing coop) into the main coop.  The next evening, I went to check on them and there was Sally, sitting on her own chicks and someone else’s eggs, while the two broody hens were huddled off to the side (and not on eggs).  Even funnier was that our rooster, Hei Hei, was sitting on the remainder of the eggs.

But youth doesn’t last forever.  I’ve recently realized that Sally isn’t laying eggs anymore.  She might be a feisty hen and a great momma hen, but her job is to lay eggs.  So, here I am – wrestling with the hard decision of what to do with her.  Sure, I could keep her and let her live out her life at Marlee Acres.  But I only have room for 11 hens, and if I keep her, I am limiting the number of egg-producing hens I can care for.  She is my oldest hen, and she has been a great hen, but I wonder: is it time to put her out to pasture?

How many business owners struggle with this same challenge? You have a long-term employee who has been loyal through hard times, but as your business grows, it feels like perhaps the company has outgrown her.  How do we balance loyalty with the needs of the company?

Let’s take the emotional piece out of it for a moment.  I believe the greatest gift we can give our employees is the opportunity to do work they love and excel at.  This should also include the ability to assess their own performance and progress, independent of feedback from their manager.  In the world of EOS, that is what makes the Data Component, specifically what we call the measurable, so powerful.  A measurable is any number that an employee is accountable for keeping on track every week; it is activity-based and within the employee’s control.  People who GWC their seat (Get It, Want It, have the Capacity to Do It) are motivated to keep their measurable on track.

We can find a good example of a measurable in the sales seat.  Closing new accounts is an obvious goal for a sales person. But closing new accounts is a by-product of other sales activities. So let’s break those down. What actions would a person in the sales seat need to do on a weekly basis to ensure they are closing the desired number of new accounts?  Is it a certain number of phone calls completed? Sales presentations made? Or something else? The answer to those questions is a great measurable for someone in the sales seat.

Often when I ask a sales person their goal for number of weekly sales calls, what I hear is “as many as I can.”  I have no idea what that means – do you?  As Zig Ziglar said, “You will never hit a goal that you don’t set.” Sales can be a tough grind, but having clarity on weekly targets can motivate people to stay focused during inevitable droughts.

The goal is to make sure everyone in your organization has at least one number they are accountable for keeping on track.  If you haven’t done that yet, look at the 5 roles each seat is accountable for on the accountability chart.  What would be an activity that a person sitting in that seat could complete every week that would result in success in that role? Or think about specific activities that would lead to improvement in that particular seat.  The measurables don’t have to stay the same forever; just pick one or two where an improvement could help the company move toward achieving its vision. Then revisit those measurables on a quarterly basis.

If you are struggling with this concept, EOS Worldwide posted this article around how to find good measurables for HR.  It may spur some good ideas within your leadership team.

Now, about that employee you fear the company has outgrown: does that person have a measurable they’re responsible for keeping on track every week?  Is that number within their control?  Are they hitting that number?  Do they GWC their seat?  I firmly believe that every employee wants to come to work and do a good job, so I’d encourage you to make it easy for that employee to understand what a good job looks like.

But what if you have a “Sally,” someone who isn’t performing in that seat?  One option is to do nothing: leave her in the seat and let her perform to the level she is capable of.  The downside of this is you’re sending a message to the rest of the employees that the goal of having all the right people in the right seat doesn’t apply to everyone.  Another option: you could move that employee to another seat she is more suited for.  Or, finally, you can encourage her to move on to a greener pasture where she will have the opportunity to spread her wings and fly.

As you decide how to handle this situation, consider what is best for the greater good of the organization.

Need help talking through your issue? I’m an email or phone call away.  Together, we can find a solution that allows you to honor your core values while respecting the contribution this employee has made to your organization. And if anyone would like a feisty, aging hen, I’d be happy to ship her to you.

My chicken coach is always looking for ways to spoil her chickens.  I remember when she asked her husband to spend $50 on a chicken swing so they chickens could have something fun to play on and his response was there was no way they were spending that kind of money on a swing (I’m proud to say that I built my chickens a swing and all it cost me was the effort of assembling the swing out of recycled materials). My chicken whisperer takes her chickens for a walk after a good rain so they can eat all the worms on the driveway.   These chickens owners really love their chickens and in return, the chickens reward them with eggs o’ plenty.

I enjoy my chickens as well.  I enjoy watching them, especially after making a change in their coop.  They are such inquisitive animals that they just can’t help but go check out any little change I make in their area:  additional food, new toys, or even mice traps.  They will inspect it, peck at it and inevitably start moving things around.

Since my chickens are somewhat famous, I frequently get asked, “Julie, what’s going on with your chickens?” Typically, I smile and say they are doing great.

However, last fall, when my chickens weren’t laying, I was frustrated.  I was doing all the hard work and not getting the rewards for my effort.  During this egg-laying drought, when people would ask me, “how are your chickens?” I’d respond with a sigh and say, “They are fine.”

As much as I enjoy watching the chickens, the purpose of having chickens is to have fresh eggs.  And when they aren’t producing, it is frustrating.  Yes, I still care for them, make sure they have food and water, clean their coop, and bring them treats, but without eggs, it isn’t all that much fun.  I know that this dip in egg production is normal but I can’t help but wonder in the back of my mind if maybe this dip is due to something more than the seasonal lack of daylight.  And this little thought tends to cloud my enjoyment of being a chicken mama.

As a business owner, I know that my business goes through normal cycles.  But when sales are down or I’m having an issue with a client, it can be a bit unsettling.  In my mind, I know this is normal and I need to stay focused on the bigger picture, but some days that feels so hard.

I know I’m not alone in feeling the weight of running a business that doesn’t seem to be performing at the level that it should be.  This weight can lead to feeling like I did during my egg laying drought, and telling yourself and others, the business is “fine.”

When I’m implementing EOS with my clients, I tell them they are not allowed to say the “F word” in my session room.  I don’t want to hear Fine or Sure from them. I want them to get energized, fired up, frustrated, angry, and excited.  Because if the leadership team isn’t feeling that way, how can they possibly expect the employees to bring their best self to the business every day?

Yes, businesses go through really difficult times.  And those difficult times require the leadership team to dig in and solve the issues that are preventing the business from moving through them. That desire to solve those issues requires energy.  As Albert Einstein said, “You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it.”

A recent client was struggling with cash flow.  They had grown very fast, and as you know, growth requires cash.  But they were cash strapped and it was impacting every single aspect of the business.  The leadership team walked into my session room with the weight of the business on their shoulders. The CFO was so stressed, she wasn’t sleeping, and the owner had made himself physically ill from the stress.   “How are you?” I asked.  “Fine,” they replied.  “Are you excited for today’s session?” Sure, they sighed.  The weight in the room was so heavy.  I realized I had my work cut out for me that day.

When we got to issue solving, they were overwhelmed with how to work with the short-term cash flow issues while they secured the financing that was soon to come. We worked through the IDS (Identify, Discuss, Solve) tool, starting with identifying the issue, then listing potential solutions.  At first, they let their current frame of mind limit their thinking, but I just kept writing down any idea they came up with. From there, the team identified some significant actions they could take to address the issue in the short term.  As they looked at the list of actions, they started to perk up a bit.

I turned to the team and said, what do you think?  Does this feel like we are identifying some solutions to address this problem?  Instead of the “Sure” I had been hearing all day, I started to see some head nodding.

We took that momentum and turned to another issue that need to be solved.  The team used the same process and came up with some great action-oriented solutions.  I could see some smiles on their faces and I knew we were making progress.

I asked the team, do you think these actions will have a significant impact on your short-term cash flow issue? And the head of operations smiled and said, “Hell, yes!”

Your employees, your customers and your families need you to put the energy into solving the issues facing your organization with energy and passion.  If you don’t have that, how can you possibly expect them to bring that energy?

Are you facing a challenge in your business and you aren’t sure how to solve it? Does your leadership team feel weighed down by these challenges and you aren’t sure how to energize them?  If so, please reach out to me.  I can work with you and your leadership team to provide the tools to help you solve the greatest challenges facing your business, so you can go from “Fine” to “Hell Yes.”

I am always energized by the winter solstice. Yes, it marks the time that our daylight starts to increase. But even more exciting for me is that it is around the time when my pullets start laying eggs. Since hens need about 15 hours of daylight in order to lay eggs, egg production will drop off in the fall/winter. However, once pullets (hens less than 1 year of age) reach about 20 weeks of age, they will lay through the winter.

Once early December arrives, I live in anticipation of finding an egg in the nesting box. Every morning I go up and eagerly peek into the box hoping to find an egg. And this year, I have been disappointed every day past winter solstice and Christmas. My hens looked healthy, they were eating and drinking, walking around the chicken run. But they were not laying eggs.

My fellow chicken mamas were all reporting that their hens were laying eggs. So, at about that point, I started questioning my chicken mama skills. What is wrong with me? What is wrong with my chickens? How did I fail my chickens? Why did I think I could be a chicken mama? I even considered selling my coop and chickens. I know this isn’t helpful for my chickens or for me, but that didn’t stop me from descending into chicken mama purgatory.

Then, on December 26th, I took a step back out of my funk and thought about what I could do for them to encourage egg production. As I considered my options, I decided to give them some fresh oyster shells. Oyster shells are used as a supplement for hens to augment their calcium intake to help them produce strong shells. I emptied the oyster shell feeder on the ground and filled it with fresh shells.

Hens are very inquisitive. They will inspect anything that is changed in their area including new bedding in the coop, mouse traps, food scraps or even weeds from the garden.

So, as soon as I left the coop, they promptly inspected their new shells.

The next day, I was rewarded with an egg. My first egg in 2 months.

Now, you could say that correlation doesn’t necessarily mean causation, but I’m just going to go with it. Whatever it was, I am finally getting eggs! Life at the coop continues to be productive and I’m feeling much better about my chicken mama skills!

So, let me ask you. Has your company ever failed to produce the results you desire and you have no idea how to fix that situation? Did you go down that rabbit hole and start questioning yourself as a leader? Wondering if you have the skills to run a business or department? If you have, you are not alone.

However, that line of thinking isn’t productive. And while you may know that deep down inside, it is often so hard to pull yourself out of it.

I was recently talking with a business owner who was extremely frustrated with the performance of his company. As he analyzed the situation, he kept returning to perspective of “what have I done wrong?” However, once we started to talk it through, he began to see the real issue. And the issue was that he was tolerating unacceptable behavior from members of his leadership team. That clarity gave him the courage to make the changes that needed to be made.

I encourage all of my leaders to take Clarity Breaks so they can remove themselves from the day-to-day operation of the business and look at situations from different perspectives. I think we all get stuck in the weeds and forget how important it is to take a step back and look at the situation from different angles. A change in perspective often brings different solutions. The perspective could be that of an employee, a stakeholder not involved in the day-to-day operation, or even a customer. Try asking, “what does this situation need that it currently isn’t getting?”

If you find yourself questioning your skills as a manager, owner, or leader, this is a great clue that you may be in need of a clarity break. And if you get to the point where you realize you need some help solving that issue, remember, I’m just an email away. Together, we can work towards an egg-cellent solution that is in the best interest of all parties.

The fall weather is upon us. The days are getting shorter and nights are getting cooler. Since chickens can’t see well in the dark, they start heading to bed much earlier and sleeping in much later. Even Sven, our sweet rooster, delays his crowing until about 5:30 in the morning (a nice change from the 3:30 AM start in the peak of summer). Hens need about 15 hours of daylight to lay an egg, so unless I add light to their coop, this also means that my egg production is on the decline. The good news is that I do have some pullets (hens that are less than a year old), and once they start laying, they will lay throughout the winter (oh, the joys of being young). So in the next few months, egg production will start to increase again.

However, the biggest challenge for this time of the year is making sure the chickens are prepared for winter. They need enough warmth in the coop during those cold spells we tend to get in the Pacific Northwest. (I know, it’s nothing like the insane winter temperatures the Midwest experiences.)

The tricky part is that I don’t have power available at the coop. So, I’m forced to find other ways to generate heat. Every summer, I completely empty out the coop and fill it with fresh pine shavings. I need to do this early enough in the summer so that the poop the chickens drop on to the shavings as they roost at night has enough time to start decomposing, which generates heat. By the time the cold weather comes around, the goal is to have at least 4 inches of fresh and not-so-fresh shavings on the bottom of the coop.

This all sounds great except that my pullets are currently not being allowed to roost in the coop. They are being forced to cuddle up in the nesting boxes. Last week, I spotted five hens and one rooster roosting on the roosting bars, while the other 11 (a combination of cockerels and pullets) were crammed into the two nesting boxes. If one of them tries to roost, one of the older hens pecks at him. So how do I get my youngsters to start roosting and pooping in the main part of the coop?

I should have seen this coming, as the same thing happened last year, but I neglected to do anything about it. And so, in an effort to stop this vicious cycle, I’m going to fix this issue, once and for all.

This is a common challenge for my clients as well. They know they need to focus on fixing certain issues in the business, but without a strong commitment and focus, things just keep rolling along, albeit with a bit of frustration. One of the tools that I teach them is the importance of setting rocks. Rocks are just 90-day business priorities. The term “rocks” came from Verne Harnish’s concept of life being a glass jar, and we decide what to add to our glass jar. We have rocks (the big priorities), pebbles (day-to-day tasks), sand (daily interruptions) and water (everything else). Most people start by adding water, then sand, then pebbles and ultimately don’t have room for rocks. So, I encourage my clients to start with the most important priorities and then add the pebbles, sand and water.

As the leadership team comes together, they look at their 3-year picture and 1-year plan and then come up with the most important things they need to focus on in the upcoming 90 days. We start with what the company needs to focus on, then expand to what each member of the leadership team needs to focus on. Ultimately, we want to end up with 3-7 rocks for the company and 3-7 rocks for each member of the leadership team. I encourage them to write SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound), or at least define what “done” looks like. Once the team agrees on the priorities, everyone goes back to work with a focus on getting those rocks completed.

In a recent session with a client that has been running on EOS for a while, I was able to observe them really challenge each other on what the priorities were and what they could realistically complete in the next 90 days. It took a while for the team to hash out the priorities to the point that every member of the team was excited and ready to get to work on getting them done.

Unfortunately for me, my hens are not aligned around my rock of getting everyone roosting at night and pooping in the right place. This makes my job quite a bit harder, but I am determined to apply the necessary focus to complete this rock so I don’t let my flock down.

How about you? Do you know what your business priorities are for the next quarter? Is the team working together to ensure those rocks are completed? Or do you feel like you are a bunch of chickens pecking at each other and preventing progress? A new year is just around the corner, and if you want to set yourself up for success for 2024, reach out to me today. I can help your team work together to achieve a vision that is beneficial for all of you!