• Profit Margin. Expressed as a ratio, this indicator tells you if costs are reasonable. It deals with how large a proportion of sales is operating profit.
  
• Capital Turnover Rate. This rate tells you how many times per year your capital (assets) circulates, which indicates how well you are using it. The higher the rate, the less capital you need.
  
• Contribution Margin. This ratio is the difference between sales and direct costs (costs of goods sold). The percentage of sales that goes into the contribution gives a rough indication of the relationship between what customers pay and what the products cost to produce.
  
• Debt -Equity Ratio. Expressed as the relation between debt (liabilities) and equity (capital), this indicator lets you know how solvent you are...or how vulnerable you are to foreclosure or takeover.
  
• Cash Flow. This indicator is a question of outgoing and incoming cash regardless of changes in loans. The easiest way to calculate cash flow is to add together net profit and depreciation.
  
• Liquidity. Your liquidity is determined by dividing your ready assets (quick assets) by your short-term debt. This percentage will indicate if you have enough cash to cover your short-term debts.
  
• EBIT. A measure of cash flow from operations before interest and taxes, which indicates how well managers are increasing revenues and controlling costs.

• Set Expectations
  Without a clear definition of the skill, there is little hope for people to make it their own. In addition, those expectations must reference some criteria that the person can measure. How else will they know when they are successful?
  
• Demonstrate
  It is a proven fact that we retain more when we see it in addition to just hearing it. Successful coaching demands more than just the transfer of information. How many of you ever improved your golf game by reading a book? Most of us require a fairly skillful coach in addition to information alone. Coaching requires enough skill to demonstrate the skill being coached.
  
• Practice
  This is where most of today's coaching efforts fall apart. Many of today's students expect instant success. -Give me the magic pill, I'll take it and then I'll be successful-. That may be today's reality but the real problem arises when the coach buys in. If you want to be well liked you probably will not make a good coach. Expert coaches adopt that old Marine Corps drill instructor attitude - Never Satisfied. Professionals know the value of practice and pushing the envelope.
  
• Execute
  Expert coaches also understand that some students are great in practice but fold under the reality of executing in the real world. That's why it is critical that coaching extend onto the real playing field of business. Sometimes failure is the greatest teacher; at other times success holds the magic.
  
• Debrief
  Every sales call or interaction is an opportunity to coach. The key to success here is what happens in the debriefing. Everyone likes to hear what he or she did well. If there is room for improvement, select the one or two most critical areas and work on them first. Overwhelming the individual will only guarantee failure. Most importantly, point the student toward the improvement. Never criticize the error as that will only ensure it will be repeated again and again.
  
• Repeat
  No one ever reaches the point where some coaching would not be beneficial. Tiger Woods along with many other professionals, continue to use the services of coaches during their careers. It is the concept of continuous improvement played out with our human capital rather that simply against a process.

Helping others succeed is the path to our organizational success as well as our personal success. You will also find it to be very rewarding when measured against all the criteria for success. Try it and you might find yourself exceeding your own expectations.

So how important is feedback? It is critically important at all levels.

• Leaders do not work in a vacuum. No leader has all of the answers all the time. Getting high-level input and access to great minds is helpful to any executive.
• Often, large organizations operate as a silo community isolating leaders in their roles. Helping leaders learn from each other builds needed peer support and relationships.
• Equally important, establishing two-way communication with staff is essential to leadership performance. Leaders must be able to express their objectives and listen to their staff's feedback to build productive teams and produce results.

Values in Action

Good leaders are as driven by their values and principals as they are by recognition and rewards. Know what motivates your leaders. Give them opportunities to make their mark on the company. Often a leader's corporate vision is fed by his or her personal values. A person who holds kindness and respect as personal values is more likely to create a corporate vision that exemplifies respect for clients and associates. Leadership integrity drives long-term results. You may be able to achieve short -term results by fear, threats or coercion...but sustained organizational results can only be accomplished through integrity and consistency.

Establishing leadership training and mentoring programs provides your new leader with tools that will help them grow professionally and personally. Not only will your company benefit from better management - they are more likely to stay with you and make a difference over time.