In these tough economic times, it can be hard to think about more than just running your business from day to day. Energy costs are one operating expense that we can help you control. Michigan Saves, a nonprofit organization, has money to help independent grocers, restaurants, and convenience stores finance equipment that reduces utility bills, and would like your help to design a statewide financing program that meets your needs.

The Michigan Business and Professional Association — the voice of independent businesses — supports the work of Michigan Saves. Please take a few minutes and answer 10 questions at http://www.cvent.com/d/5cqkd9?RefID=MFBA.

To thank you for your time, Michigan Saves will send Michigan Business and Professional Association $10 for each of the first 50 people to respond.

Even if you don’t plan to make improvements in the near future, we value your opinion and appreciate your response.

By Mary Jane Mapes, CSP
Portage, Mich.

As a small business person, you probably find yourself being asked to serve on boards or committees with people with whom you find it difficult to communicate. Undoubtedly, from time to time, you are faced with customers who rub you the wrong way or with employees who cause you angst. The faster you learn to make the most of those relationships, the sooner everyone concerned benefits. I learned this lesson years ago while serving on a board. Maybe you can identify with me when I tell you about Milton.

My dislike for Milton was relentless. I couldn’t find a single redeeming quality in him. He seemed caught in a permanent sneer, and the high-pitched whine of his voice made my teeth ache. His breath offended. He never met a clove of garlic he didn’t like.

I found everything about Milton offensive, and he knew it. Thus, he became more of everything I resented. Seven years of serving on the same board-of- directors, putting up with his fanatical attention to detail, his opposition to anything I suggested, and his argumentative disposition tested my character to the breaking point. Finally, the time came when something had to change.

It was my year to be president of the organization, and I needed Milton’s support to accomplish my goals. Aside from that, my conflict with Milton had created a conflict within myself. My feelings for Milton were in direct opposition to the person I believed myself to be: loving, gracious, and generous with all people. It was Milton who had to change. But I knew his change had to begin with me. Although it didn’t feel fair that I should have to make the first move, down deep fairness wasn’t the issue. Growth requires change. If I waited for Milton to make the first move, I knew I’d only be more and more frustrated when it didn’t happen. I had to be the catalyst. You’ve heard of taking the bull by the horns? Well, I had to take the pig by the tail.

As far as I was concerned, Milton’s only redemptive trait was how lovingly he spoke of his grandchildren. To hear him tell it, they actually loved their grandfather. Unbelievable! He was influential with professional colleagues; his reputation as a college professor was positive. Many former students sought him out after they’d graduated. Incredible! My mission was to find in Milton some of what his children, grandchildren, colleagues and students found in him that was worthy of appreciation. It took all the imagination I could muster.

Challenge Yourself
I began by challenging myself to assume the best. I started by giving him the benefit of the doubt. This was not easy. When tempted to question his motives, I’d consciously shift my thinking to assume something more positive and explore his ideas by asking open-ended questions and listening to him. “What prompts you to say that, Milton? I’d like a better understanding of your thinking on the matter.” Grudgingly, I was surprised to find that once I understood his rationale, it was easier to value his point of view.

Whenever he’d begin to dwell on the negative, I’d resist the temptation to tune him out, and instead, disciplined myself to respond with, “Milton, that doesn’t sound like you; you usually find the best in a situation.” His conversation would shift to more positive aspects of whatever was under discussion. If he actually said or did something I appreciated and wanted to see repeated, I’d say, “That’s what I like about you, Milton. You…”

I learned not only to assume, but to acknowledge Milton’s positive motives. For example, during a meeting at which he strongly opposed an idea I favored, my response was, “Milton, I know that your heart is in doing what’s best for this organization. I’m wondering if you’d chair a committee to explore both sides of this issue and then come back and present a case for each?” He ran with the idea, and as a result, was able to fairly assess both sides of the issue. The bluster in his voice was gone, and in its place was the voice of reason as he calmly detailed the pros and cons. If he criticized my idea, rather than react, I learned to say, “Thanks for your input, Milton. Tell me more.” Once I offered no defense, no justification, the matter would be dropped almost immediately. Our relationship was maintained, and both of us could walk away with our heads high.

Over the years, Milton and I continued to serve on the same boards and committees, but our relationship moved from darkness into light. In place of disgust, there was trust. Instead of resistance, there was the desire to explore each other’s viewpoint. Desire to do battle was replaced with genuine appreciation and concern for one another. I fully understood this when, in response to an email from me thanking him for the hard work he had done on behalf of our council, he wrote back a simple acknowledgment. It read: I love you, too, Mary Jane.

Milton retired a couple of years ago. I miss him.

Hold Yourself Accountable
To ensure our success with people, as professionals we must hold ourselves accountable. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to get stuck in a victim mode? Unfortunately, once caught there, we begin to believe our own story and neglect to realize how powerful we are to change a situation we don’t like. I’m sure you’d agree that I had a part to play in my negative relationship with Milton; rarely if ever, is a bad relationship a one-sided affair. Just like me, you always help to create, contribute to and keep a sour relationship going. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have the power to change things. My relationship with Milton changed in powerfully positive ways.

Some of you may be thinking, “Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell me that when I’m in the throes of a rocky relationship, it’s my fault? Is that what you’re saying?” No. My message is much more encouraging than that. What I am saying is that you, like me, play an important part in every negative relationship.  But the good news is that if you have the power to create something you don’t like, then you also have the power to change it. By holding myself accountable for the part I played in my relationship with Milton, I was able to exercise tremendous power in bringing about the change I desired. And you can, too.

A seminar participant recently wrote to me saying, “I am a no-nonsense person and value honesty. I take my work seriously and want to get it done in the most efficient, accurate, and professional manner possible. My boss is the Queen of Denial type, and whenever I give her truthful feedback on the programs she initiates, she accuses me of being critical. Therefore, I have discontinued giving her input, which just fuels my anger. As you see: big clash. What should I do?”

Don’t Become a Victim
It’s clear that this woman sees herself as the victim of a boss who can’t accept her “no-nonsense, professional approach.” From her perspective, she had nothing to do with the negative reaction of her boss. She didn’t want it; it just happened. Almost nothing “just happens.” We always help to create, contribute to, and keep a negative situation going. Let’s take a look at how that happens by using the situation above.

First, the woman helped to create the negative situation with her boss. She knew her feedback to her boss would be negative, and she chose to share the unvarnished truth of her perceptions. Now, let me clarify here. I am not saying that you do not tell people the truth. Of course we do. Truth telling is critical to a good relationship. It doesn’t give us license, however to give our opinion to everybody about every thing. And in the case I’m referring to, this woman gave feedback that wasn’t requested. In essence, she made her boss wrong. Creation of tension.

She contributes to the current situation by refusing to provide her boss with input. When she withholds her opinion, she stuffs her feelings. Things are getting crowded inside, and now her unexpressed feelings of anger are eating her alive. Finally, she allows the negative situation to continue by complaining behind her boss’ back to anyone who will listen, rather than taking her concerns to her boss.

Reversing Bad Relationships
If we want to reverse a bad relationship, we need to accept responsibility for the part we play. Having the courage to face the truth about ourselves isn’t easy, but it’s an essential ingredient to positive growth and change.  You’ve heard the saying, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”  Well, the greatest truth we can discover is the truth about ourselves. When we take responsibility for being a co-creator in all our relationships, we take back control of our lives, and we serve as powerful examples for others to follow. As professionals whose job it is to communicate clearly with untold numbers of people, we not only have greater opportunity, but increased responsibility to set that example. Congruency is key to our credibility on or off the platform.

As a reminder of the importance of taking responsibility for all your communications, take the time to answer the following questions.

Transformers

• Identify a person with whom you’ve had difficulty. What happened to create negative feelings with this person in your life? Did he or she disappoint you? Cancel an appointment at the last minute? Speak to you in a tone you didn’t like?
• Were you holding any misgivings about this person prior to the activating experience? Be as honest as you can about any thoughts you might have been experiencing. For example, when I first started my business, it was not uncommon for me to approach a meeting with the CEO or the VP of an organization with fear and a lack of confidence. Unconsciously, I’d broadcast these feelings to them, and then wondered why they didn’t hire me. My thinking was actually contributing to their misgivings about my ability to do the job. 
• If someone else had been looking on, how might they have described your reaction? What did you do? What did you say? What was your physical reaction? What was the tone of your voice? Did you maintain silence?
• Was your reaction rational? For example, whenever I speak for an organization that doesn’t provide a host and allows me to fend for myself, I find myself feeling annoyed. That is, until I stop long enough to think about how irrational it is for me to expect someone else to exhibit the same rules of etiquette I learned growing up. It’s irrational because often that person didn’t grow up in my generation, nor in my family. Once I ask myself, “What else could this mean?” it’s easy to let go of the irritation. Any time we expect people to share our standards, do as we would do, think as we would think, respond as we would respond, we are being irrational.
• If given a second chance, how might you respond differently?  A good way to answer this might be to answer some other questions first. For example, “What attitude would lead to the most productive outcome? What attitude would lead to organizational or personal success? What attitude would have the most positive impact?”
• If you had responded differently, how would the outcome have been different? Would you have maintained or enhanced the relationship?  Would you have established a greater trust bond? Would you have felt more authentic? Would you have had greater feelings of self-respect? Would your credibility have been enhanced?

© 2012  Mary Jane Mapes.  All rights reserved.

Mary Jane Mapes is an award-winning leadership/communication strategist, author, and professional speaker who works with organizations that want to create great relationships and develop a culture of excellence.  She is from Portage, MI and can be reached at www.maryjane@maryjanemapes.com  or at 800-851-2270.

Gov. Rick Snyder and Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Board of Management and head of Mercedes Benz Cars, meet at Daimler AG headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.

STUTTGART, Germany – Michigan is more business friendly than ever and eager to establish productive relationships with European businesses, Gov. Rick Snyder said today in an address at a supplier reception at the Mercedes Classic Center in Stuttgart.

“Michigan is blessed with a number of strong, productive and long-standing relationships with German-based companies, and to those companies, we say thank you for your continuing contributions to our state,” Snyder said. “To those of you looking to expand your global presence or enter the North American market, Michigan is the place to be. We have been busy reinventing Michigan, breaking some bad habits of the past and embracing new opportunities for our future. We see many great opportunities ahead for all of us to do more business together.”

Earlier in the day Snyder and the entire Michigan delegation of state, university and local officials and economic developers visited Daimler’s training center in Untertürkheim-Brühl. Snyder also met with Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Board of Management and head of Mercedes Benz Cars, at the Daimler AG headquarters.

Daimler is one of the Michigan’s largest German employers with about 3,000 employees in the state. The company has made significant investments in its 3.3 million square foot Detroit Diesel operation, in Redford since 2000.  Its $500 million investment in the “Redford Renaissance” helped to make it one of the leading Daimler truck engine plants in the world. In addition, Farmington Hills is home to the headquarters of Mercedes Benz Financial Services.

Among the reforms the state implemented to attract investment and energize Michigan’s economy are:
 

• Repealing the jobs-killing Michigan Business Tax and ending double taxation on small business with a simple, fair, flat 6 percent Corporate Income Tax.
• Adopting a balanced budget for the current fiscal year that eliminated the state’s $1.5 billion deficit and set aside savings to help the state meet its long-term obligations. This fiscal discipline laid the groundwork for the governor’s proposed 2013 budget, which recommends strategic investments in key priority areas such as education and transportation.
• Streamlining regulatory processes to weed out laws and regulations that are inefficient or needlessly burdensome, while maintaining proper safeguards. 

Snyder arrived in Turin, Italy on Sunday for an eight-day investment mission to strengthen relationships and attract new job-creating investments. He will spend Friday in Ludwigshafen and Lippstadt, where he and Michigan business owners and local economic developers will meet with executives from several German companies before returning to Michigan on Saturday.

Follow the governor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RickforMichigan and on Twitter @OneToughNerd.

By Mark Tarpinian
TFI Insurance & Benefits

Have you ever made a mistake? (Certainly every husband since Adam has.) Are you a “professional,” or, even if you are not considered to be a member of one of the typical professions, do you advertise yourself as a “Pro?” These issues address the risk and insurance areas of Professional Liability.

Most businesses retain Commercial General Liability (in the past also known as Public Liability), which covers risks arising out of the maintenance or use of their premises, operations, and products, focusing on Third Party property damage and/or bodily injury. A visitor’s slip and fall at a place of business is a common General Liability claim.  

General Liability policies typically exclude ANY liability arising out of the rendering of professional services, including mistakes such as errors and omissions. The Personal Liability provision of a Homeowners Insurance Policy, even when endorsed to cover incidental professional occupancy, will not cover “malpractice.” Did you forget to or mistakenly advise a patient of a medical procedure, or a client of a tax provision, or a homeowner of a safety railing on a porch, or a restaurant of an exhaust vent, or a building owner of a boiler, or a business of the use of software or programming code? Did any of these allegedly result in a physical, mental, and/or financial injury to the client or customer?

A special form of liability insurance, or endorsement, covers these “professional-error-omission” risks and claim situations, imaginatively termed Professional Liability. Different forms are usually issued to the various professions, sometimes known as Errors and Omissions policies or endorsements, but their intent is similar. Both cover exposures to claims arising out of the rendering, or failure to render, a professional service, including the popular tort of “malpractice.” When considering the risk of a professional service, think of the old Armenian saying, “You are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.”

Professional Liability policies generally follow a similar format as their General Liability policy brethren. But the insuring clause and declaration page are adapted to cover the particular professional insured. For example, the policy’s Coverage Declaration cites a specific Business Description as “Group Insurance Consultant” with the Insuring Agreement stipulating:

“To pay on behalf of the Insured all sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as compensatory money damages as a result of claims made and reported during the policy period by reason of any act, error or omission in professional services rendered or which should have been rendered by the Insured or by any person for whose acts, errors or omissions .. and arising out of the conduct of the Insured’s profession.”

In contrast to General Liability policy forms, Professional Liability/E&O policies are usually issued on a “claims made” basis. For a claim to be covered, the alleged error or omission must be covered by the policy, must have occurred on or after the retroactive date of coverage, and before the policy’s expiration date. In other words coverage must be in force at both the time of the claim occurrence and when it is reported. Reporting can follow years after the alleged claim happened. To ensure protection, you must continue your coverage long after your service is complete, even after retirement.

Obvious professions include doctors, lawyers, accountants, and architects and many of their mistakes, and legal awards, entail highly publicized media exposes.  But most businesses provide some form of “professional service,” and the following are examples of less publicized situations but highly detrimental to various small businesses:

*Massage & Spa Business: Rose Spa and Salon was scheduled to host Mary’s bridal shower party for a two hour massage and day spa session for all nine bridesmaids. Due to a booking error the morning of the appointment, Mary received a call from Rose Spa saying they needed to reschedule for the following week. Mary was furious as she had paid for four of her guests to fly in from out of state to attend the event. She was unable to find another venue at such short notice and sued the spa for $1,600 to recoup the airline fees for the booking mistake.

*Dental Hygienist: Steven is a dental hygienist working for Dr. Muller. While assisting Dr. Muller on a routine cleaning, he accidently cuts a patient’s gum with his dental instrument. He stopped the bleeding and notified Dr. Muller of the cut, but no further action was taken. Four months later, Steven received notice of a lawsuit demanding $5,000 for an infection that caused the patient to lose his tooth. Because Steven was an independent contractor not covered under Dr. Muller’s dental malpractice insurance, he soon found himself in severe debt trying to pay for lawyer fees and unpaid leave from work.

*Marriage Counselor: Neil and Kimberly sought the assistance of Paul Lawson, a relationship/divorce therapist, in order to save their marriage. With two successful businesses they co-own and run, they financially had a lot at stake. Utilizing a combination of individual and joint sessions with the counselor, they proceeded with weekly sessions for a year. After a few months, Neil began to suspect that Mr. Lawson was manipulating Kimberly’s individual sessions to expedite the divorce process rather than to resolve their differences. He was furious when Kimberly served him with divorce papers, including a demand for sole ownership of the two businesses. Neil blamed Mr. Lawson for swaying Kimberly’s decision and filed a lawsuit against him.

In many cases these plaintiff actions are defensible and the business or individual can prove they were not negligent. This requires legal defense, an important coverage component of a professional liability policy. The marriage counselor cited above might be innocent of the allegation, but, without a professional liability policy, he will have to pay the legal defense costs out of his own pocket at $200 to $500 per hour, or more, depending on the law firm, jurisdiction, and potential financial severity and impact of the situation.

Mistakes, and alleged mistakes, like “stuff,” happen. Because they do it is prudent to consider and review the benefits of professional liability coverage for the health and welfare of your business.

*Claims examples cited above courtesy of United States Liability Ins Group, publication AH CE 4/10.

Mark Tarpinian has been an insurance agent in the Detroit area for 29 years, and is President of TFI Insurance & Benefits, a trenchantly independent insurance agency in beautiful downtown Northville. He can be contacted at mark.t@tfiins.com