Enhance Your Business Ability With Core Banking Solutions

Banking systems have evolved in the last few years, and we all have witnessed a massive growth in our lifestyle. Apart from using the most comfortable user interface for clients, the banking organizations are using latest technologies to make almost everything efficient for the customers. The core banking solutions have proved to be a boon to customers across the globe because these solutions help them manage their bank accounts from any corner.

In the initial stages, the core banking solutions were used to target the business processes across various branches and made the lives of customers easier with providing an access to their bank account. However, now there has been a tremendous improvement in this area and the banks can enhance ability with core banking.

Here are some of the ways that the banking systems can benefit by implementing these solutions:

Increases efficiency in employees.

With the help of this process the overall functioning of the banks are streamlined and this helps to make everything efficient and lean. The staff manager is helped to easily manage the customer database and as a result it helps to efficiently streamline the general ledger and reporting. Some of the regular tasks such as tele-banking can be partially or fully automated and so this reduces the overall workload. On the other hand, the communication between employees from different branches of the bank across the world gets faster. The fast communication makes overall process efficient and helps the banks focus and develop other business opportunities. Other ways in which the banks benefit as they enhance ability with core banking is by using less manpower and more efficient technologies. In banks, most of the transactional processes are automated, and as a result, the manual errors are out of context.

Customer loyalty is increased.

Customers these days need the best banking service and it is the core banking solutions that help them get this feature. So, if the banks are able to provide customers with efficient service, the customers will only want to go with them. As the customer get an opportunity to manage their bank accounts from anywhere across the globe, it is a feature that helps them efficiently manage their account with the bank. This is a great feature for the banks because they are able to easily retain the current clients, and this helps to attract new clients and focus on developing the business as well. So, the products that banks focus are customer centric, and when customers feel special, they are not going anywhere for sure.

Analytics available at all the times.                    

Many of the modern core banking solutions provides the feature of business analytics at any given time. So, when the customers need their business analytics to make necessary decisions, they can immediately get the required data and make instant business decisions. When it comes to business analytics, several banking solutions provide solutions that are effective for customers. This data helps customers as well as the bank to clearly understand what immediate steps need to be taken based on the facts.

Less operational expenses.

Less expense is always welcomes regardless of how large or big an organization is. Core banking solutions are designed in a way to help banks handle large volumes of customers effectively and that too in less time. This helps the bank to cut down on many expenses needed for operation, infrastructure, and other support expenses. As a result, the manual processing and financial transactions have also reduced a lot compared to the previous years. So the banks have a perfect balance of providing most efficient service to customers and doing it with the less manpower at the same time. This helps the banks to be effective in their business approach and provide the most efficient service.

Some noteworthy benefits to the banks.

• Better customer service helps the increase the retention rate of the customers.
• One standard process between the banks and different branches across the globe. This has a positive impact on the current and potential customers from across the globe.
• Best documentation due to a centralized database of the branch. This helps in the quick gathering of data base result.
• Minimal errors and a great accuracy in transactions. This helps the banks to be stress free on mistakes done by their staff because most of the repeated tasks can be automated.
• The banks can easily submit various reports to the governmental authority as there is one point of database where all the information is saved and can be adjusted according to the format that government wants the data to be.
• Ease of handling various processes such as account opening, account transfer, deposit, withdrawal, banking and so on.

Some noteworthy benefits to the customers.

• There is no need to do banking only in the branch, and so the customers can do baking from anywhere.
• There is a perfect provision of 24 x 7 help for customers, and most of the regular problems can be handled at one place.
• Mobile banking, internet banking and other such options provide fast payment and business features to the customers.
• ATMs allow banking to be done anytime and anywhere, and so there is no need to worry about getting cash when required in emergency situation.
• The core banking solutions also help people living in rural areas and so the government can easily provide the much-needed service to people whenever there is such provision provided.

Core banking solutions can definitely enhance your business ability by providing the most efficient services to the customers. It is important to align with the latest technologies and only provide the best services to the customers. Once the customer retention rate is improved, the banks can then focus on attracting new customers and businesses and provide the most efficient solutions to them. As a result, the core banking solutions help banks in many areas to be efficient and provide the best services to the customers.

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Should You Open A Restaurant? 5 Reasons To Say Yes.

There are times that you have a fleeting idea to open a restaurant, and before you know it, you are thinking about it every waking moment. There are two scenarios that provoke such an idea: after a bad meal out, when you can clearly see where things went so wrong; or, after a great meal out, and you think you could do that.

Here are five reasons why you should consider opening your own restaurant:

Passion = Profitability.

To even contemplate entering the restaurant business, you must have a passion for it. With potentially long hours, sacrifices and risks, entering the restaurant business is not for the faint-hearted. Your love for what you do, and wanting to provide your customers with the very best experience each time they enter your building, can allow you to build a long-lasting business. If you like making decisions and are confident that you can lead your team to help you achieve success, you have nothing to lose but everything to gain.

A sense of freedom.

What is this elusive sense of freedom that entrepreneurs talk about? Work is work, right? It depends on what your current situation is, and what your expectations are. Freedom could be from the sense of not having to clock in and off at the start of your working day. It could be freedom from a 9-5 schedule, and being able to choose the hours that you work to suit your family. Freedom can be being able to go for a surf midafternoon to make the most of those waves.

Be your own boss.

Being your own boss allows you to call the end shot. You can make the big decisions and be master of your own destiny. You can utilize all the skills that you have gained previously through life experiences to shape your future.

Being your own boss entails a new set of responsibilities and areas that can cause different stresses and worries that should not be glossed over. The risk is firmly on your shoulders, and can feel overwhelming; however, there are opportunities out there that can help carry the burden, for example, a subs franchise can allow you to achieve your dream, but with the added support of tried and tested strategies to guide you to success.

Choose your team.

The ability to like all of your colleagues is in itself life changing. You can choose who you spend your working hours with. Hiring the right people to support you in your business is both challenging and time-consuming, but if you get it right? You have hit gold. You need to find the balance between liking the person, and being able to recognize the skills that they (literally) bring to the table. Remember: you define the work culture of your establishment by the team that you select; you define the customers’ experience by the team that you select – your profits depend on getting it right.

Community.

Every community benefits from having a safe and pleasant hub where people can meet and socialize. Unlike profit or staff turnover, community spirit is unquantifiable, but can feel like the icing on the cake. Watch your profits make your establishment the first call for local people to go to for birthday celebrations, lunches out with the family or even a solo coffee with a good book.

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3 Ways To Make Company Priorities More Clear To Your Employees

by Robin Lawton, author of “Mastering Excellence: A Leader’s Guide to Aligning Strategy, Culture, Customer Experience & Measures of Success“

Good communication is a key to success in any endeavor.

Yet in the business world there’s often the sort of “failure to communicate” referenced in the movie Cool Hand Luke. That failure in the movie resulted in the premature demise of the hero. In real life when leaders are unclear about their expectations, employees often muddle through blindly, work at cross-purposes or pursue unintended, unproductive directions. The result is poor organizational performance, if not an early obituary for the leader and his or her vision.

Ambiguity is pervasive in every organization but is rarely recognized and poorly remedied, keeping organizations from achieving success. For example, most business leaders will say their top priorities include service and customer satisfaction. Yet seeking improvement in those areas without being clear on what you mean by them is a fool’s errand.

To make the journey from ambiguity to clarity leaders need to:

1. Define what “service” means.

Ask any 10 employees, representing different levels and functions, for their one-word definition for service. You are likely to find at least eight unique responses. If we can’t even agree what service means, how will we achieve excellence? Define all work as products that can be unambiguously characterized, measured and improved. This focuses on deliverables, not activity.

2. Know who the customers are.

Ask those same employees who “the customer” is. You will get a similar lack of consensus. Who is to be satisfied? Are all customers equal in priority? How does ambiguity affect performance of the employee, the department and the enterprise?

The solution is to “identify which of three roles a person can play with any product: end-user, broker or fixer.” Empower and seek to satisfy end-users first.

3. Make sure there’s a customer satisfaction policy.

If customer satisfaction is a top priority of leadership, is there a customer satisfaction policy? Sadly, I’ve found in over 30 years of cultural transformation work that fewer than 2 percent of organizations can answer yes to this. They do have policies on hiring, money management, quality, supplier selection, cost control and myriad other issues. But not on customer satisfaction. With no policy on it, how important can satisfaction really be?

Ambiguity can cause chaos, confusion, conflict and unproductive competition in an organization.

 

Robin L. Lawton is an author, leadership strategist, executive coach, customer advocate, and motivational speaker. He coined the term “customer-centered culture,” and his “C3” methodology has enabled numerous organizations to achieve rapid and significant growth. His work has been referenced by authors and experts in areas such as business excellence, leadership, customer experience and innovation. He is author of “Mastering Excellence: A Leader’s Guide to Aligning Strategy, Culture, Customer Experience & Measures of Success“.

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5 Effective Sales Tax Tips For Your Growing Business

by Robert Schulte, founder and CEO of LumaTax 

Making it past the just-getting-started phase of building a business and being able to focus on how to grow and scale is so rewarding. But for most small business owners, getting there means experiencing a few growing pains, especially when it comes to sales tax compliance.

Keep reading to learn five sales tax tips that will help you avoid audits and stay fully compliant with small business tax laws:

1. Keep Your Systems Up-To-Date.

Every state has different rules and regulations when it comes to how small businesses are required to collect tax. The challenge for small business owners is – because of local economic shifts, budget deficits, demographic trends and a variety of other factors – tax rates and laws change from time to time. In order to remain compliant, you need to be aware of and reactive to any changes that apply to your business.

Incorporate routine sales tax calculation check-ups into your business strategy. Check state and local tax rates quarterly and make sure any manual formulas you use are current. Additionally, if you have an e-commerce site or use a point-of-sale system for your mobile or brick-and-mortar locations, make sure you regularly perform software updates to ensure your system is using current rates for in- and out-of-state transactions. Doing so will help you prevent tax errors that can ultimately lead to penalties, or even an audit.

2. Add Important Tax Deadlines To Your Calendar.

Some states require quarterly sales and use tax filing, while others require monthly filing. In many cases, the frequency varies based on sales volume. But, when you’re swamped with daily to-do’s that must get done to keep your business running, it can be really easy to miss a filing deadline.

To avoid an “oh shoot!” moment, set aside fifteen minutes to look up your tax filing deadlines and schedule all due dates into your calendar. If you tend to be forgetful, set a reminder to go off a few days before the filing deadline to make sure you’re not caught off guard. That will give you a little time to gather your paperwork and make sure your numbers are in order. Then, set a second reminder for the actual filing due date. Meeting tax deadlines will not only keep the state happy, but it’ll also help you avoid the potential for late filing fees and penalties.

3. Learn How To Navigate Nexus Laws.

Though you may not understand all of the ins and outs of nexus, it’s important that you at least have a firm grasp on the basics. The layman’s translation of the word nexus is “significant physical presence”. In short, nexus determines whether or not an out-of-state business (your company) that is selling goods or services into another state is responsible for collecting sales or use tax.

Nexus commonly comes into play as businesses begin to grow because it typically applies once a company maintains employees, service people, independent service agents, inventory, offices, warehouses, or traveling representatives. Laws vary from state to state and tend to be quite complicated – especially for online or mobile retailers, who have to consider multiple state laws and regulations.

To understand what rules apply to your business and to make sure you’re fully compliant, spend some time researching your local nexus laws, as well as the laws of any additional states you do business in. If you have questions or concerns, contact the appropriate state regulatory board for clarification.

4. Be Aware Of Affiliate Tax Obligations.

Thanks to the ever-expanding number of online retailers, nexus laws in twelve states have evolved to encompass two different types of compliance: click-through and affiliate. According to Bloomberg BNA, click-through nexus dictates that out-of-state vendors that compensate people for sales made via links on their sites must collect sales and use tax. It sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, but let’s look at an example. Say you own an online store that sells t-shirts and you set up an affiliate program to get more traffic to your site. When someone who clicked on an affiliate link lands on your site and buys a t-shirt, your affiliate marketer gets a cut of the profit – and you’ve just established click-through nexus.

While click-through nexus is generally pretty straightforward, affiliate nexus varies substantially by state. For example, in Georgia, affiliate nexus policy states that any out-of-state retailers who have over $50,000 in gross annual receipts from affiliate referrals have to collect sales tax for the state. To contrast, in California, affiliate nexus dictates that out-of-state retailers related to any entity located in California – including those with similar patents or trademark – must collect sales tax. Confused yet?

To make sure your business is compliant with all applicable state nexus laws, we recommend working with small business tax compliance experts dedicated to taking the burden of understanding what all this means off your plate.

5. Keep Careful Documentation Of Exempt Sales.

A sudden change in sales volume, overly complex tax returns, and specific events – like an increase in exempt sales – can trigger an audit. Although the state must prove a sale was taxable via an audit, the seller ultimately has the burden of proof when it comes to compliance.

So, let’s say you get audited and have to prove that you’re compliant. If you have exempt customers, you may have to demonstrate the legitimacy of their purchases. That’s why it’s good business practice to keep a copy of your buyer’s state-issued exempt certificate on file and to note your customer’s exemption number at the point of sale. It’s also not a bad idea to keep a separate log of all exempt sales, so it’s easy to reference if anything ever comes into question. Doing so means you can easily prove the legitimacy of your exempt sales and avoid tax penalties.

States are more aggressive than ever when it comes to imposing sales tax liabilities for sales transactions. That’s why it’s hugely beneficial to focus on compliance early on, and evolve as your business starts to grow. Follow the five tips outlined above to keep yourself organized and fully compliant to decrease your audit risk and avoid tax penalties.

 

Robert Schulte is the founder and CEO of LumaTax – a software company that makes sales tax filing a breeze for busy small business owners. Robert was formerly a Senior Tax Auditor for the State of California as well as the co-founder of Taxcient.

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This is Why Your Online Marketing Campaign Isn’t Working!

The World Wide Web is a minefield to navigate, due to its sheer vastness. It’s no wonder online marketing can be such a daunting task. If your online marketing campaigns haven’t been going as planned, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate what you’re doing. Now, mistakes are inevitable – it’s the only way we can learn sometimes. But acknowledging them when they first occur will help you make improvements the next time around.

To help you identify the areas where you can improve, here are three of the most common mistakes marketers make. And how to avoid them.

1. You’re not using social media to your advantage!

According to Statista, there are over 2.34 billion people who are using social media, today. And this number will continue to increase, yearly. These statistics also show how social media is the most trusted online platform by online customers. More than half of all Facebook users, and nearly 64% of Twitter users, prefer making purchases from brands they follow on social media.

With this knowledge, knowing how to create a social media strategy is necessary. An effective strategy allows you to permeate online communities at a personal level. You are able to build two-way relationships with existing, and potential, customers. Additionally social media gives your brand tons of flexibility in regards to content. Platforms like Facebook, and Instagram allow you to create video, photo, polls, and ads.

And the latest addition to Facebook and Instagram, is the “Stories” feature – a move right out of Snapchat (their competitor)’s play book! This lengthy guide by EZSiteBuilders is a great starting point on how to incorporate this into your strategy.

2. You’re Not Tracking Your Success.

Many companies tackle marketing campaigns without a clear sense of what success is. Is the end goal selling more products? Is it gaining more email subscriptions? Is it getting more people to donate for a cause? To raise awareness? The list goes on. And without a concrete end goal, you can see how determining if your campaign is a success can be confusing.

In order to run a successful online marketing campaign, you need to lay out your goals! Once these have been identified, you can track your progress with metrics, and data. When you do this, you get an idea of your progress, areas where you can improve, and what you should focus your resources on.

There are online tools such as, Google Analytics, that can provide you with a wealth of data like conversion rate, lead generation, click through rate, and more, in real-time. Use these to your advantage!

3. You Aren’t Keeping Up!

Online marketing is a fast-paced field. And if you become stagnant, you will find yourself losing out on business. It’s critical for you to stay up to date with the latest industry trends, technological advances, and updated information being shared.

Things such as optimizing your website for mobile, knowing the latest features being added to social media apps, and reading industry news (daily), can help you do a better job.

These are just a few reasons why your campaigns aren’t yielding the results you want. Keep these at top of mind. And apply the feedback for your next campaign.

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The Fundamentals Of The Modern Consumer’s Mind

by Drew Klebine, lead writer and co-owner of uxax.org

We live in an age of information. When applying this idea to how consumers shop online, it’s safe to assume that they already know everything about you and your company. Even if they don’t know everything, they can do their research to figure out whatever they want, and they will.

Remember the olden days when consumers chose to simply trust whatever marketers and salesmen were saying, even the shady stuff? There was no Google to look everything up, so the number one concern for marketers was establishing trust. While trust is still important today, the trust is grounded more on facts, quality content, and consistency, rather than intuition and the likeability of a salesman.

Everyone’s Googling Everything.

In today’s world, just about every shopper does his research ahead of time, depending on the seriousness of the purchase. There are countless websites, review articles, and blog posts describing every detail of what they are about to purchase. This filters out all of the BS that marketers throw at people, since shoppers are getting smarter and better at identifying good deals from scams. And since 70% of all time spent on digital media is on mobile devices, people are looking up everything about everything all the time, no matter where they are.

Most people are overloaded and overwhelmed with too much information on the internet, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking for what they want and need. People utilize their own mental filtering systems. For example, when someone scans Google, he or she glances at headlines and thinks “is this what I’m looking for?” almost instantaneously. There are also automatic filtering systems that you are not even aware of, like search engine optimization (SEO) ranking in Google, spam folders, and the “Promotions” tab in GMail.

If You Can’t Beat Em’, Join Em’.

Whether you like it or not, this is the way that consumers are acting. You can sit back and be nostalgic about the good ole’ days when people were selling door to door, but that’s not going to help you maximize sales. There’s no doubt that older marketing methods still work, but if you want to maximize your potential and be at the leading edge, you have to constantly pay attention to where the consumer’s attention is located.

People today would much rather research and solve their problems themselves than sit on a customer service phone line waiting for you to help them. One practical way to meet this preference is by offering a support page with FAQs, customer forums, and “how-to” blog posts.

But, simply adding content to your site for your customers isn’t enough. There’s too much information and competition out there. When people have a question, they want to get it answered immediately, and they usually don’t care where the information comes from, assuming the source is reliable. This is why SEO is crucial for every modern day business, whether you’re brick and mortar or completely online.

The key to creating truly valuable content is understanding your audience. Check out your analytics, visitor session recording, and heatmaps to see how your audience interacts with your website. Interact with your audience on social media and forums to see what they’re talking about. Talk to your sales and customer service representatives to fully grasp what your audience needs. Ask for feedback from your customers on your website. You can learn as much as you want about general consumer psychology, but the best way to get results for your business is to know who your audience is and how they act, think, and feel.

What Motivates Consumers?

In this context, I’m defining a consumer as someone who uses the internet for personal use, whether it’s for shopping, messaging, social media, studying, gaming, or just killing time. The consumer in this context does not know as much about marketing or the internet as you do. It’s important to keep this in mind when understanding consumer motivations.

The Word “You”

“You” is one of the most powerful words in the world of marketing. Everyone online has a purpose or a goal, even if the goal is to kill time. Knowing this means that every person is browsing the internet with a “what’s in it for me” attitude. The word “you” makes it feel personal, like you’re helping just them and nobody else.

Here’s how you can increase your sales.

Here’s a proven method to increase sales.

The difference is very subtle, and it’s almost impossible to notice it consciously. But when someone’s browsing online, there’s just something about the word “you” that really gets their attention.

Value

This one sounds obvious, but it is still important to note. People will only buy if they can clearly see a compelling benefit for them. With all of the options available for the consumer that are made easy to find because of the internet, people are a lot more skeptical these days and take a lot of time to review all of their options before deciding on a purchase.

Do whatever it takes to stand out among your competition. Use clear and captivating headlines that directly showcase the value your customers will get. If people cannot see the benefit for them within the first minute of browsing your website, they will bounce.

The best way to display your value clearly and with one specific call-to-action is with a landing page. These are different from your website because they are pages designed to inform targeted traffic about one product or offer and to get them to take some type of action right on the page, like giving you their email or subscribing to your YouTube channel.

Social Influence

It’s a lot easier for people to make decisions based on the recommendations of their colleagues, friends, and family because the trust is already there.

One of the first things people do when seeking the trust of a brand is checking out their website and social media. They’re looking to see how many people like or follow the brand, especially which friends of theirs are following. If the company’s social media page or blog doesn’t have a lot of activity, both frequent posting from the company and active engagement with the consumers, then people will leave and never look back. Hootsuite is a great tool to manage all of your social media posts in one place, and you can schedule posts ahead of time.

Familiarity

People love staying comfortable, and what’s familiar is what’s comfortable. Even if we’re learning or discovering something new, we rely on our beliefs formed from past experiences to make judgements about the novelty. People are more likely to purchase if they are familiar with a brand, if they’ve seen ads repeatedly, and if their past experience with your brand is positive.

A great way to implement this concept practically is with remarketing. Make your ads on Facebook show products that people have seen on your website but haven’t bought yet. Keep reminding them of your brand, but do it wisely so that you’re not annoying people who aren’t interested.

Trust and Safety

As a result of thousands of years of evolution, human brains are wired to remain safe at all times. It was a trait that our ancestors had to have to survive, so now we all have it. As a result of this, people assume that if they haven’t heard of the company or seen the website before, then it is automatically a sketchy website until proven otherwise. People are skeptical because they want to stay safe. In this context, they want to be safe from scams or making a bad purchase.

The best ways to assure safety on your website are with trustworthy testimonials, reviews, and security guarantees (especially if they are purchasing online).

You Can Only Go So Far With Theory.

While understanding the theory of consumer psychology is vital, you won’t start seeing results until you apply what you learned to your specific scenario.

Once you’ve made some tweaks to your website thanks to these tips, you can actually see exactly how your visitors are responding with heatmaps and session recording. So don’t just take my word for it. See for yourself how much these changes are improving your user’s experience.

 

Drew Klebine is a Content Marketer, Tech Writer, Philosopher, and Musician from Pittsburgh, PA. His writings focus on modern marketing practices, software reviews, upcoming technologies, brand and product promotion, health, self-actualization, religion, and existential philosophy. Lead writer and co-owner of uxax.org, writer and marketer for Inspectlet, InMotion, and HER Realtors.

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Coaching The Uncoachable?

by James G. Ward, MA, PCC, author of “New Directions: Successful Strategies for Career, the Workplace, and Personal Growth“

“It’s hard to help people who don’t think they have a problem. It’s impossible to fix people who think someone else is the problem.” – Marshall Goldsmith

Politics aside, recent behavior by a certain inhabitant of the White House got me thinking about the topic of coaching the uncoachable: the know-it-all, the egomaniac and the alpha male or female. We’ve all worked for, or with, individuals like this.

I decided to do some research on this topic and made the following request to my LinkedIn International Coach Federation industry group. “I’m looking for tips on coaching the un-coachable, the egomaniac, or know-it-all. All comments welcome.”

I received over 190 responses, so I suspect I hit a nerve. Responses covered the spectrum, both positive and negative. Paraphrasing, the responses included:

• Don’t bother!
• A good coach should be able to find a way to work with this type individual… perhaps it’s only you that’s convinced yourself of their inability to be coached.
• Perhaps your client should have a different coach without the labels?
• When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
• The title of this post does not resonate with me. Everyone is coachable!
• Behind every egomaniac is a muddy puddle of self-doubt. First establish trust, then you will uncover the core.

Much is written on this topic, with the consensus being these individuals are difficult to coach. They want to be in charge and are generally not good at taking direction from others, hence the alpha description. Alphas lack a natural tendency to care about others, nor do they like to express their feelings. Absent is a “caring gene,” as I like to refer to it.

As I pondered this, I found myself asking two key questions: why do these individuals need coaching if they are so good, and can these individuals be helped or coached?

In my experience, alphas need coaching because they have outsized egos. They believe they are smarter and better than everyone else, and simply don’t need help. Those with this type of well-defined ego are not open to performance feedback from others. They’ve often closed themselves off to ideas from others that can be crucial to an enterprise. When something goes wrong, it’s always someone else’s fault. Alphas don’t have faults. Humility is often lacking in the alpha’s DNA.

For 15 years I was the Global Head of Human Resources at one of the world’s largest investment management organizations. Surrounded by alphas, I saw each trying to out-alpha the other. In many ways, the place was dysfunctional. The reality is, however, that organizations run by alphas possessing an uncompromising focus on excellence tend to have positive results in the short term.

For many years, this firm was extremely successful, receiving numerous industry accolades. Their intellectual arrogance was a net positive in terms of achieving success. Over time, though, this alpha behavior can erode the dynamics of the organization. For instance, the key individuals responsible for keeping the trains on the tracks (and every organization has and needs them) are often turned off by alpha behavior. Initially, these individuals learn to work around the alpha behavior, but long term they will grow discontented and leave or, worse, just give up.

Additionally, alphas need coaching because of their fear of failure. This internal fear creates a false bravado that is difficult to break through. To get results, they often create destruction along the way. This fear of failure gets in the way of them being open to coaching. Never admitting a mistake will alienate them from their key staff and is generally not considered a positive leadership quality. Today, in my view admitting failure is a sign of real leadership.

As I further pondered coaching alphas, I thought about human history, cultural anthropology and how our thinking about alphas has deep roots. Humans have long tended to segment the species into categories. The recent book Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari points out that in the Babylonian Empire, people were divided into three classes: superior people, commoners and slaves. Each class had different values and status. That tendency did not end with the Babylonians.

Similarly, former Harvard Business School professor David Maister, classified employees into three groups: dynamos, cruisers and losers. Perhaps a brutal way to label employees, it does hit a nerve when it comes to success and motivation. Dynamos, “Type A” personalities, are driven to succeed. Their identity is closely linked to achieving status and recognition through their job. They are the top ten percent of any organization – the fast tracker, or the alpha.

In answering my second question, can the alpha be coached, I went back to my informal survey. One of the responses: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Bingo! We have lift off. Alphas are not coachable until they are ready!

For alphas, or anyone, to be ready for coaching, they must be open to feedback, constructive criticism, and willing to be vulnerable. Some alphas, however, see vulnerability as a sign of weakness. Many of today’s CEOs have the attitude that “I’m the CEO, so I don’t need any help!” When individuals are not open to learning, they shut down a coach’s ability to help them. Again, the student must be ready.

My informal survey also yielded some interesting thoughts around the need for coaches to look “under the hood” to determine why alphas behave the way they do. Some stressed the need to examine the clinical aspects of personality. While this could have some value, it is not the role nor within the expertise of a coach in my view or that of the International Coach Federation (ICF.) As a result, I haven’t addressed this issue.

In my ongoing research, I found a number of excellent articles on this topic, so if you want to learn more there’s the HBR article titled Coaching the Alpha Male, the Marshall Goldsmith article Are You Uncoachable? as well as an interesting piece by Douglas LaBier from HuffPost called Why CEOs Don’t Want Executive Coaching.

So, in conclusion, where do I stand on the issue of coaching the uncoachable, the alpha? Until the individual is open to some self-reflection, feedback and willing to change, I will take the recommendation from survey responders: “don’t bother!”

 

James G. Ward is a Human Capital consultant and a certified Professional Coach based in Newport Beach, Cal. He provides HR consulting, as well as executive, career and organizational coaching through his own firm, NEW Directions Consulting. He has more than 15 years of experience in corporate human resources and consulting, including 15 years at Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), where he was Executive Vice President, Global Head of Human Resources. He is author of “New Directions: Successful Strategies for Career, the Workplace, and Personal Growth“.

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