12
Jun
Opinions: just like a heartbeat, everyone’s got one. Also just like a heartbeat, the constant pumping of opinions, for many people, seems almost involuntary.
I have people tell me regularly that I’m working too hard. I appreciate their concern, but I have to balance that concern with the knowledge that these good Samaritans don’t (usually) have the full picture of what I’m working towards.
The challenge with opinions (especially the unsolicited ones) is that they’re driven by the beliefs, work ethic and – often times – agenda of the person who’s pumping them out. It’s a rare thing indeed to be on the receiving end of an opinion that truly has your best interest and personal objectives at their core.
I’m not saying people are deliberately malicious or self serving. In fact, I believe that most opinions and “suggestions” come from a place of genuine desire to help … which makes them that much more insidious and potentially crippling to your long term goals.
If you want to achieve more than most people, if you want to build a legacy bigger than most, then you’re going to be working against the opinions of most, more often than not. My general motto is to take opinion, advisement and suggestion graciously, but cautiously … particularly if it’s coming from someone that doesn’t share – or doesn’t understand – what you’re working towards.
The counter balance is to surround yourself with people who do get it. People who dream as big as you do, and support you in your efforts to create the life of your dreams. Even a handful of these people will make a massive difference in your commitment to follow through … despite the opinions of others.
This is really what I love about the Actionable Community. Every day I have the distinct privilege of interacting with people who dream big. Who work hard. Who are building something great. It’s also what I love about our Actionable Consultant Program (ACP) – these individuals, more than any other group of people I associate with, aren’t afraid of hard work in service of their greater ambitions. I’m equally excited that we’re growing the ACP this year with the addition of 20 top quality coaches, consultants and facilitators. If you’re a consultant who believes in the importance of lifestyle design and are interested in learning more about the ACP, I invite you to join a webinar I’m running on the 19th.
Inspired leaders create inspired teams. If you’re a leader, Actionable Workshops is for you.
10
Jun
Last month’s twitter chat at #BizBkChat was with the fabulous writer and entrepreneur, John Jantsch (of Duct Tape Marketing fame). On the chat, he made a comment that, ”Purpose isn’t a meeting. It’s an excavation.”
There was something about that line that rang true for me. I think we’re so used to labeling things, boxing them in and putting parameters around them. It helps us to keep our chaotic world organized, of course, and so the attempt to define and package everything around us is understandable. The challenge, I believe, with most corporate initiatives around “purpose” or “employee engagement” or similarly fuzzy terms, is exactly that – we call them initiatives. Or Projects. Maybe this is one of the reasons why we like 1/2 day, full day, or three day conferences so much; we can define them, put parameters around them and check them off our list.
Would you put love in a box like that? Or health? Sure, there are things we can do (date night for the former, visit the gym for the latter), but those single acts alone don’t sustain the improvement in those areas. Love and health are states of being. So too, I propose, is “engaged” and “working with purpose”. These aren’t checklist ideals. These aren’t achieved in a meeting. In fact, I don’t believe they’re achieved at all.
What else are you trying to put on a list of “to do’s”?
Inspired leaders create inspired teams. If you’re a leader, Actionable Workshops is for you.
3
Jun
I was recently introduced to a potential client who was looking for someone to guide their team through a workshop on sales management.
Here’s my belief about sales management – while there are certain best practices and overarching themes, most of the real value comes from understanding and properly utilizing systems and process; business practices that are specific to each industry, company and product/service. Sales Leadership, however (and really leadership of any sort) is more ubiquitous. Leadership is about connecting the individual to their personal motivations for advancing the company objectives. Leadership – sales or otherwise – is about getting the team pointed in the same direction; not through manipulation or policy, but through genuine desire to go that way. Sales leadership is intimately personal. It’s messy. And it’s the only truly effective way to get the most from your people.
Seth Godin had this to say about the difference between leadership and management:
“Management is almost diametrically opposed to leadership. Management is about generating yesterday’s results, but a little faster and a little more cheaply. We know how to manage the world – we relentlessly seek to cut costs and to limit variation, while we exalt obedience. Leadership, though, is a whole other game. Leadership puts the leader on the line. No manual, no rule book, no uberleader to point the finger at when things go wrong. If you ask someone for the rule book on how to lead, you’re secretly wishing to be a manger.”
The Icarus Deception, page 40
Seth’s opinion (while brilliantly stated) is a little strong for my tastes, as I believe that both have their value in organizations. Until you have the leadership piece figured out however, you’re pushing a piece of string uphill. Get the leadership piece figured out first, and then layer in the management. Not only will the management come easier (faster/with less effort/less, well, management), but you’ll already be moving swiftly in the right direction.
Create the wind first. Then learn how to more effectively tack the sails.
Inspired leaders create inspired teams. If you’re a leader, Actionable Workshops is for you.
27
May
Patrick Lencioni jokes that managers who complain about meetings are missing the point. As managers, our jobs are attending meetings. I can buy that… when we think of ourselves as managers. But what about our jobs as leaders? What’s our job there?
Some might say the job of a leader is to provide the vision; to inspire the team towards a yet to be realized future. A better future. I’ll buy that, too, but only as a part of the job.
We all know that the “one size fits all” model of customer service leaves something to be desired. As consumers we want our service to be personalized; designed to address our unique needs, desires and concerns. If we can think of a job as the largest purchase someone makes in their life; spending not money, but most of their waking life in exchange for something that they hope will forward their life pursuits, then shouldn’t they deserve that customized, one-on-one “customer service” as well?
Alyssa Burkus’ summary of Fierce Conversations is a powerful one – perhaps one of the most important summaries on leadership we’ve had to date. Having real, deep conversations with your employees is not for the faint of heart. As a result, we can easily find a million other work related things to keep us busy, keep us distracted from the fact that we’re not giving our people that attention. That we don’t truly understand what makes them tick, and how we can help them have an exceptional experience while they’re engaged with our business. We can avoid those deeper conversation and hope they… what, go away? Of course, that’s exactly what they’ll do. And then what?
In my mind, it is our job as leaders to have those fierce conversations. To get messy. To uncover the raw, real nature of the people we work with and – in better understanding them – help them to achieve their goals and aspirations while they work here.
So here’s the fierce conversation starter for you, as a leader - are you doing your job?
Inspired leaders create inspired teams. If you’re a leader, Actionable Workshops is for you.
20
May
Mitch Joel’s second book Ctrl Alt Delete is out today, and it’s a great one. Those who are familiar with Mitch’s work already know that his gift is in his ability to take deep thought and reflection on the trends, stories and experiences of today, and package it in a way that makes it easily digestible… without “dumbing it down”. In that spirit (and inspired by Mitch’s insights on the importance of the “Utilitarianism” that we provide to our clients), I want to share a new model I’ve been thinking about for a while.
As a side note, we’re hanging out with Mitch Joel on our #BizBkChat Twitter Hangout on June 10th. You’re welcome to join us! (More details here). Also, if you’d like to get your own free copy of Ctrl Alt Delete, tweet this. The eleventh person to tweet it gets a free copy. Easy-peasy. Ok, back to your regularly scheduled program:
Since the introduction of the big box stores, and the shift to us purchasing from faceless corporations, our interactions have been, for the most part, transactional. We bought from the cheapest supplier, and they sold to as many people as possible. If we go back to a time before the ubiquity of transactional relationships though, we see the importance (and pervasiveness) of utility as a key part of the relationship between buyer and seller. Whether that utility (which can be classified as anything that makes our lives better than the actual transaction itself) was something as personal as the butcher remembering what cut of meat you liked and having it ready for you with a smile, or as simple as an extra roll from the baker (a Baker’s Dozen), we did business with – we had loyalty to – “companies” that demonstrated they understood what were going through, and cared enough to act on it. It wasn’t scripted. It wasn’t manipulative, and the vendor didn’t quantify the ROI of that extra roll before he put it in your bag. He did it because he cared. Genuinely. The model looks something like this:
What Mitch elegantly explains in Ctrl Alt Delete is that for the first time in history, we as vendors (companies, suppliers et al.) have an opportunity to return to the days of genuinely caring. Of putting ourselves in the shoes of the consumer and providing them with tools and/or experiences that add value to their lives. When we can demonstrate that we truly understand our customers’ challenges, and then provide them with utility to ease that challenge, we build loyalty. Customers who are loyal to you are that much more likely to buy from you. It’s just that simple.
The example of “utility” that I use in my summary of Ctrl Alt Delete is that of Charmin’s Sit or Squat restroom finding app, but we don’t automatically have to go to technology when we think about how to provide utility. Tide created Loads of Hope as a very real utility vehicle for their consumer. Luxy Hair provides several hundred free tutorial videos via YouTube on how to “do” your hair… and they now have close to 1,000,000 YouTube Subscribers. Where do you think those subscribers go when they’re looking to actually purchase hair extensions (and other products)?
The point here is to stop looking for the immediate ROI in everything you do. As Gary Vaynerchuk has often said, “Stop acting like a 19 year old dude, trying to close on the first date.” (Gary is another good example of someone who provides utility. In his case through sheer sweat equity. He built his empire by being highly accessible, and ready to answer any questions about wine that you might have).
If you’re serious about building a long term, loyalty based relationship with your customers, then look for real ways to provide them with something useful… then give it away. Show them you care.
As another take on giving something of value and showing that you care, here’s a video absolutely worth watching.
Inspired leaders create inspired teams. If you’re a leader, Actionable Workshops is for you.
