When You Are In, Get Out!

Golf is a challenging game. So challenging that it can, for many, hardly be considered a game. Darrell Royal, the legendary coach of the Texas Longhorn Football team once said something to the effect that, squaring the golf club face to the ball at the point of impact, while executing a golf swing is one of the most difficult athletic skills to master. There are not many golfers that would disagree!

One of the unwritten tips to enjoying golf is that when you are in trouble the immediate and only objective must be to get out of trouble. Golf courses are designed to make the game challenging and that is why there are so many trouble spots on the course. These troubles consist of; sand, trees, bushes, water, hills and on some courses, railroad ties! These troubles are easy to get into and can be very tough to get out of. But you simply must get out. The simple solution is often the best solution. 

So when you hit a bad shot and find yourself in trouble, get out of trouble. Many amateur golfers stand over a golf ball that is deep in trouble and imagine that they can hit a shot that the professionals would never attempt. They select the wrong club, take a stand and swing away. The result is predictable and they find themselves in more trouble than they there were in prior to the risky shot. 

When you are in trouble, your only immediate focus should be to simply and quickly get out of trouble. Learning to get out of trouble can be a tough lesson to learn and master. Mistakes in business and life happen and it is far less important why it happened and who is at fault than it is to get things headed back in the right direction. Once you have handled the initial issue that caused the trouble,  you can move on to causes and find out who and why. But discovering who and why is not nearly as important as quickly defusing the situation. Even if you have to take ownership of trouble you did not create, the aggrieved will value your efforts to make their life better by confronting and when appropriate, handling the issue yourself. 

So when you are in, get out!

I Know A Guy

Guy is a generic label that applies to male and female here in the south. This story is about a male guy but could have easily been about a female.

I know a guy who has served in every professional role from rookie sales person to president. He was willing to do it wrong until he got it right.

He has always been close to sales and revenue generation, independent of the duties associated with the various positions held. He won and lost his edge and won it back again.

His beginning professional sales path was filled with hurdles, not the least of which was absolutely no experience and almost no training, nor did he have the coveted college diploma. This guy thought that selling was all about talking. In the beginning of his sales career, he was a poor professional listener.

He was an outsider with nothing but a "must-do" attitude. A "must-do" attitude is different from a "can-do" or "will-do" attitude. A "must-do" attitude is more closely linked to survival than any other mindset.

In 1518 AD during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, a guy named Hernan Cortes, who was a Spanish commander ordered his men to scuttled their ships, after landing on the Mexican shore, so they would have to conquer or perish. This is the prime example of a "must-do" attitude where the stakes are higher than you, or this guy I know, face in their professional lives. Cortez' "must-do" attitude was do or die.

Many learned and judgmental folks would have taken the position that without all of the education, experience or impressive resume, this guy was doomed to fail or at best be a tolerated under performer. Success was significant because this guy learned that he was only as good as the people he surrounded himself with. He chose wisely with whom he would associate.

The results, trusted clients and loyal employees show that without anything much more than a "must-do" attitude, this guy has enjoyed the fruits of dedicated effort. He is a really good professional listener now.

You may know a guy just like this guy I know, or you may be that guy. Listen to the guy inside and don't put too much faith, if any at all, in the guys outside until they prove worthy.

Thankful For What I Cannot Touch

Fittingly, this piece may have been published last week. The timing is intentional as thanksgiving is a daily opportunity.

The sense of touch is one of the most fantastic senses of all.

The touch of a loving hand.

The touch of the green grass under our bare feet on a beautiful spring day.

The touch of cool rain.

The touch of clean bed sheets.

These are some of the wonderful things we can touch and enjoy the experience and for these I am thankful.

However some of the most important things in my life, I cannot touch and they are the very things I am most thankful for.

I cannot touch love, but I can feel it. For love that I can feel, I am thankful.

I cannot touch friendship, but I can feel it. For friendship I can feel, I am thankful.

I cannot touch compassion, caring or concern but I can thankfully feel them.

I cannot touch the contentment of a full stomach, but I can feel it. For an abundant harvest, I am thankful.

I cannot touch well being, but I can feel it. For the blessing of health, I am thankful.

I cannot touch freedom, but I can feel it. I cannot touch the gratitude I have for the men and women that served and are serving in the U.S. military, but I hope they can feel how thankful I am for their commitment. Nor can I touch the security I feel because so many brave individuals have decided to pursue a professional career as a law enforcement officer, emergency medical technician or as firemen. For a secure feeling, I am thankful.

I cannot touch God, but I can feel His Spirit in me. For the Holy Ghost I am grateful and one day I know my God will call me home to touch His loving face. 

For the Blessed Hope, I am thankful.

Fried Chicken and Vacuum Cleaners

Consider Harland Sanders and James Dyson.

These visionary and creative individuals enjoyed monstrous success in industries already filled with monstrous successes. If you had asked the public, prior to these individuals introducing their new ideas to their respective and established markets, if the world needed more fried chicken or another vacuum cleaner the majority would have likely said, absolutely not.

Although he probably never said it, Charles H. Duell, the Commissioner of the U.S. Patent office in 1889 is accused of saying; "that everything that can be invented, has been invented." However unlikely it is that this is an accurate statement, it accurately represents the attitude of too many people. These are the people that see no reason to improve or reinvent anything. If it ain't broke..... Why not consider breaking it, just a bit!

Colonel Harland Sanders and James Dyson saw their industries and their opportunities differently. Where others saw the present as adequate, these visionaries saw things that were not, as if they were.

Colonel Sanders knew he had a great idea in his unique blend of spices used to enhance the flavor of fried chicken. He called on over a thousand restaurants before someone said they would try his idea.
(He was in his mid 60's when he started!)

James Dyson was already an accomplished inventor when one day he saw a giant cyclone mechanical device that was used to remove sawdust from a lumber yard processing facility and wondered if the same principles could be used in a vacuum cleaner. Five years and 5,127 prototypes later, he had an incredible machine that had no bags and did not lose suction.

The original Kentucky Fried Chicken has been a massive success and if you have every used a Tyson vacuum cleaner, you know why the company is so very successful.

Does your industry need a new innovative idea? Don't just accept things the way they are, just because they are that way. You can't afford to wait on someone else. Many very innovative and monstrous ideas originated from people just like you and are basically minor improvements to an already existing product or service. Consider fried chicken and vacuum cleaners, think differently and take a bite out of the status quo.

Tactics

The United States Army has learned, by virtue of countless experiences, how to tactically attack the enemy. Many of these battle tested tactics, have not changed significantly over many, many years. They remain unchanged for one very simple reason. They work.

The technology has really changed. Weapons that used to be somewhat accurate are now more technically advanced and these technological advances have made these soldiers and the weapons they use far more effective.

Soldiers in the Army are highly trained on how to use the established and successful tactics and how to accurately use the sophisticated weaponry. The mix of established tactics and modern day weaponry is incredibly effective.

And so it should be in sales. There are established sales tactics that must be adhered to in order to achieve the desired results. Simply because there are a million "shiny new digital toys" in your industry does not give you permission to abandon selling tactics that are battle tested.

New technology can be powerfully seductive and has lead many organizations down the yellow brick road only to find that the bricks are crumbling beneath their hurried feet. They replaced common sense methods with uncommon abandonment of logical and methodical processes and there is always a price to pay. Sales fundamental tactics are labeled as such because they (dare I say it) are tactically fundamental to your success.

Learning the new technology, products and services will empower you to help your clients, when it makes sense for the client. Doing so at the expense of successful tactics and proven products, will likely delay and absolutely subvert the process.

Don't Get Me Started!

"Don't you get me started..."

There is a natural and regrettable inclination to avoid conflict at almost any costs. Even though, avoiding, so as not to get someone started, demonstrates your unwilliness to uncover that which must be brought to light.

You must peel back the layer of the onion to get to the real issues and that will likely require you to boldly address these hidden issues head-on. When you peel back the layers of the onion, figurative tears may start to flow. In other words, you are going to expose your vulnerable side and your client's or prospects vulnerable side, inviting a possible compromising situation. So be it.

Until you get to a position of confidence where you are committed to rooting out the possible damaging issues, you are really not willing to become the trusted advisor you must strive to be and you will some day need to be.

People, as a general rule,  do want to get better, otherwise the selling of educational and self-help books would plummet. You can play an important role in helping others grow by making a commitment to guiding them down the discovery path. The discovery path is paved with questions listening, empathy and compassion.

When you are truly devoted to helping you must be devoted to carefully and gingerly, at times, continue pushing on the hot buttons in order to help others understand your deep desire to understand. Let them know that you really want to know that which you need to know. You can accomplish that worthy goal by showing a sincere commitment to their position and goals.

Getting to yes may involve getting someone started. So be it.

Who The Heck Are They?

Back in the day when I was making lots of face-to-face calls selling newspaper advertising, I had a very robust list of regular customers that were visited weekly.

These regular customers represented a significant portion of my time consumption and almost all of my business. Admittedly there was very little time devoted to scientifically cultivating new business from this group of customers and almost no time devoted to winning new customers. But that is a subject for another day. 

Since I called on these customers weekly, I saw the familiar faces of the employees that worked at these businesses but were not my contact, so I paid scant attention to them and made almost no effort to foster relationships. That oversight in hindsight was a huge tactical error.

One Monday morning as I was making my regular calls I walked into one of my BIG customers and, as was my flawed-practice, walked right past the assistant manager ( I knew they were the assistant manager because that is what was on their name tag) to the office to meet with the manager.

My, how things had changed over the weekend. The manager had been promoted to a higher position at another location and the afore mentioned assistant manager was now the manager and local decision maker. They had a big portion of my sales goal and my fate in their hands and I knew very little about them!

That was the day I committed to treating everyone that worked for my customers like someone who should be treated with respect and make a sincere effort to get to know them, as time permitted. It wasn't the fact that they might someday hold my selling-success-fate in their hands, it was a realization that everyone is important and should be treated as such.

Because I was in their business so frequently, I was given the opportunity to get to know these individuals and blew the opportunity, up until that shocking point that the assistant manager became the manager.

Take the time to get to know the other people in the room. You just might find some new friends and you will, at the very least, know their names and be in a position where they can get to know you.

So, You're Not Doing...

Wow, you did not see that coming! You just learned that you were expected to do that which you were not instructed to do. Therefore, you did not do the expected, without knowing what it is, and somehow, unexpectedly, you are accountable.

The matter is singularly one of reasonable expectations and very clear communications specific to those expectations. What is expected should be inspected to use a tried and true statement. Inspecting anything, with the goal of setting expectations,  requires the time committed to doing the work necessary in order to get to know more about every facet of the matter.

One of the main reasons that capable people fail to meet expectations is that they are never fully informed what the expectations are, until it is too late. One of the main reasons that customers become confused, disenchanted and then they abandon plans far too early, is because no one took the time to tell the truth early on about what they should reasonably expect and when.

Leaders spend considerable time and effort selecting the right employees for the right job and far too little time telling those employees what they need to do, how they must to do it and when it is expected to be done. Leaders should also make it clear that they expect employees to ask for all the help they need, not all the help they want.

Setting and sharing aggressive yet reasonable expectations is leadership's responsibility when employees are involved and your responsibility when customers are involved. There is little you can do that has greater value than setting clear expectations, especially in the beginning.

If expectations are not clearly set, managed and measured, then anything is acceptable. Employees will feel they are meeting expectations because they do not know otherwise and customers will envision, establish and own their unrealistic expectations as part of the deal they struck with you.

Be certain to make expectations clear and you can expect to have more as those expectations are met and exceeded.  If you don't know what is expected or you feel there is something that needs further explanation, then ask for and expect help. Always expect more from yourself than you do from others.

Block Me or I'll Tackle You

Successful football teams do two basic things better than their opponents: blocking and tackling. The ability to block and tackle, are skills that football players continually practice and prepare for. Blocking and tackling are skills that are most effective when they employ several critical factors; timing, strength, speed, knowledge, desire and of course being face-to-face. To block or to tackle you have to be close, very close. Before they block or tackle in a game, they spend lots of time learning proven methods and practicing. 

I vividly and terrifyingly remember when, as a young boy, my Mother would be addressing my bad behavior face-to-face. When I would look away she would always say; "Look at me when I am talking to you." She had a point.

Looking at someone when we are talking to or listening to them, speaks volumes about our commitment to building a trusting and mutually beneficial relationship. Trusting and mutually beneficial relationships do not always mean an equal outcome relationship. Trusting and mutually beneficial relationships mean we are truly invested in doing what is best for our clients, even when it may not immediately be of benefit to us.  Over time, benefits will balance. 

Selling effectively and successfully comes down to one main goal, building trusting relationships. This is challenging at first, because the target usually does not know us or know of us, resulting in us being more of a distraction than a worthy opportunity. The fastest means to a desired outcome is in personal visits that occur, over and over.

Over time, once your value is established and your client's trust you, you may be able to achieve desired results from afar. Yep, I have done business with people without ever meeting them in person, but the relationship was not nearly as productive or fulfilling as the trusted relationships with people that I made frequent in-person contact with. Nothing is better than making calls in person. You should never do from afar, that which you can do up close. Make the time to make the calls. Studies have shown that you lose as much as 10% of your hard earned influence for every 30-days you fail to make contact!

Making close-up calls that you are prepared to make will have a significant positive impact. Making close-up calls that you are not ready to make, because you are not prepared, will have a significant damaging impact and probably get you blocked from making measurable progress. If you want to block and tackle well, you are going to have to get close, very close. Because, you can't tackle the important issues without blocking out the show-stopping challenges. 

It Is Not About The People

The understandable and very common answer from those at the "top" is that our people are our greatest asset and that they are the difference makers.

People can and do make a difference. But they are not any company or organizations most valuable assets.

The most valuable asset is not people; the most valuable asset is the right people.

The right people do the right things, the right way, at the right times and if they fail they are not hesitant to share their failures, especially when they are seeking help. Yes, the right people will ask for help and they will take the advice as they seek to learn. The right people know that failure isn't fatal. 

The right people have aggressive yet realistic expectations. They do not expect too much and will not, for long, accept too little. 

The right people ask questions and listen to answers. 

The right people are team members, who focus on contributing and helping the team to a successful outcome and do not really care who gets the public credit. They understand that not everyone can contribute at the same level and they are accepting of that, as long as the other team members are making a solid effort.

The right people can identify, the wrong people and yet they do not judge. They understand that over time, the right people will demonstrate why and how they separate themselves from the crowd. They know that the right environment will run the wrong people off. The right people will not throw the wrong people under the bus. They will however, when the timing is right, with compassion and empathy, help the wrong people to get off the bus. 

The right people make exceptional leaders because they know that no one is more important than anyone else. They know that everyone has a job that entails differing degrees of importance and that without everyone pulling  in the same direction all may be lost. They know that winning is a combined effort. The make sure the right people are in the right seats and that they are getting all of the help they need. 

When the right people are promoted to a leadership role, they already know the "who and what". They know, that they have earned a leadership role because of who they are, not what they are. Who they are is an individual that has excelled and has diligently earned the new role. They do not allow the new position (the “what”) to make decisions. They make decisions based on the right information, independent of who is involved. They do not show favoritism, they lead empathetically and when the time is right, they make decisions that will impact others, sometimes significantly. The right people care about all other people.

People are not the most valuable asset, the right people are. Are you the right person?

Sure Do Miss Phone Booths

Go ahead.

You are free to assume that everyone and I mean everyone is interested in your side of the phone conversation.

While you sit there in, let's say an airport gate waiting area or while you stand in line at the grocery store, taking far too loudly you obviously are convinced that everyone within a half of a mile is really glued to what you have to say to whom ever you are saying it to. If your opinion, based on your actions, substantiates that the discussion is of such common interest, why not activate the speaker phone function and ask everyone to gather round so we can all hear both sides and perhaps occasionally chime in as we see fit. That option would be far more considerate than intentionally speaking at such a high volume that others have no choice but to listen to you and only you.

Surely there is a place where you can take your conversation so it will not distract other people and would likely give you more privacy where you are better able to concentrate. Otherwise you might consider returning the call when you can isolate yourself from the maddening crowd. There used to be a thing called a phone booth that insulated the person making the call from the outside world. These were marvelous inventions because it required one to close a door in order to hear the other party.

The smart phone is a fantastic device that has the capability to communicate in voice and written word. You might consider the latter if you can't find a secluded place to have your phone conversation. Because believe it or not, the world outside your world, is not that interested.

Likesillitus Causes Major Grammatical Disruption

Like declaring that like is like overused is like really like insulting.


While I was like in like the airport like waiting for like the plane to like arrive I was like looking at all of the like interesting people. We will likely all agree that like the airport is like a really great place to like, people watch. So I like, did just that.

When I like got on my flight I was like seated behind like one of these interesting people I had been watching who I later discovered is like a recent college graduate (Let's call him like Ace and his conversation buddy, we'll call him like Bud) Ace like struck up a conversation with like Bub who was like sitting right next to him and he was like in the same like business this recent like college graduate was like looking to like get involved in after like spreading his diplomaed wings, while like spending like one more like big pile of like his parents' money on like some tropical like beach. So during like the course of their like loud like conversation, I like heard Ace tell Bud like just how he like learned to like change like the world with his like engineering degree from like this really cool like college.

Mostly they like talked about like the computers in like cars so I like figured like all by like myself that like Ace like wanted to like get into like the car-business. Not like physcially get in like a car but get in like the business that like makes like computers for like cars.

Bud, who talked like he had like been in the car computer business for a while like carried his 8% of the like mostly one-way conversation without like much of a challenge. Honestly Bud like appeared to like be like a bit like tired and perhaps like wanted to like sleep on like the flight, but Ace wasn't like having it.

Ace was like so attached to like Bud that he didn't even take like the window seat. Ace like sat in like the middle seat and Bud was like in the aisle seat. Most people like really find that if like the middle seat is not like occupied like one passenger sits in like the window seat and like the other passenger sits in like the aisle seat so they can like have some like space between like their bodies and will not like find themselves in like a flight-long armrest like struggle. But alas, Ace wasn't like cooperating. Ace like didn't move during like the entire like 2-hour flight, including like the 20 minutes of like taxiing,  Ace like talked like really loudly and talked like a lot and Bud like played like he's was listening and said like un-huh and okay like as much as Ace like said like.

This experience was like listening to like a drunk like attempt to have like a conversation with like a sober person. The drunk like just like continued to like carry on talking like loud and like really fast and like the sober person was like trapped in like the corner of like a crowded bar and couldn't like escape.

There like really is like a lesson here for like all of you people who use like to constitute 80% of your like chosen words during like a conversation. Like I don't drink but like I can assure you that I really like considered drinking, like a lot, during like this flight after like listening to Ace like use like one million times during like a two-hour and 20-minute conversation with like Bud. Bud was like soused at the end of like the flight and I was like not at all like surprised. In fact if Bud like ran out of like drink money, I was like going to like offer to pay for like all of his like drinks until the like flight attendants like stopped like serving like ice-cold Bud to like Bud.

Like you know like who you are. I fear that like Ace doesn't like have like a clue.

And Then, It Got Weird

Sitting in one of my favorite coffee shops, near a college campus, enjoying the best bagel on the planet (Cinnamon Crunch from Panera) I overheard a statement from a young college student.

While having a conversation with their companion, one of the students stated; "And then it got weird." I am not really sure exactly what that meant, (and I was grateful for that) because that is when they started whispering.

And then, it got weird.

We have processes in business that are developed and engineered with a desirable result expected. When we follow the steps and endeavor to own the process, our outcomes will become more predictable and overtime, more beneficial. Step after logical and planned step we continually should be moving toward the objective. The singular objective achieved is going to be one of many, making the entire process more effective and efficient.

The process is just that, a process. A set of actions required, (REQUIRED) that when followed and preformed should open a door to the next objective.

But what happens when it gets weird?

How we grow in our flexibility and resilience will determine how much we grow. People are different  and while you may be providing a solution to a common problem, people are not common and any attempt to treat them as such will invariably throw you off course.

If it gets weird and you react weirdly, it is going to get weirder.

When you are thrown off course because it got weird, the immediate objective becomes to get back on course. Get back on course by getting to the root of the matter by asking questions and listening to answers. View every individual, as they deserved to be viewed, individually. Their problems that you can solve may be familiar to you but they may be foreign to your customer. Any attempt to move to the next objective when confusion is resident is destined to fail. Make clear that the objective is clear.

You must be patient and resolute. Demonstrate patience by empathizing and show resoluteness when you are making your clear and scientific recommendations, including the next action-objective.

Expect it to get weird and when it does, adjust.