Are You Prepared?

Right now, the east coast is bracing for Hurricane Irene to hit. It might be bad. It might be nothing. But it's smart to prepare.

Get everything outside, inside. Batten down the hatches. Extend the leaders from your gutters. Get your generator in order. Fill your bathtub. Radios? Batteries? Prepare a 'big-out-bag' with your important information and necessities — (Go to this site to learn more).

Take the media with a grain of salt — their job is to inform — but sometimes they do their job a little bit too well. It might turn into hype and provide undue stress to you and your family. Pick a trusted information source and stick with it.

Now I'm not the National Weather Service. I'm a coach. So how does this information track to your career or business?

1. Mentally Prepare. This is not the time to lose your mind. If the economy is tough and people are losing their jobs/clients all around you — start to develop contingency plans. The better prepared you are mentally, the better you will react if something bad does happen.
2. Don't Worry — Think — Take Action. Don't get stuck in analysis/paralysis. Once you have a clear direction or strategy in case something does happen, take the appropriate action(s) to ensure you are ready.
3. Don't Get Stressed — Listen to trusted sources of information. Don't play into the myriad of cable channels pushing out the pablum of fear. Click into those outlets who deliver NEWS — and then you develop your OWN opinion.
4. Prepare Your Bug-Out-Bag. Is your resume in order? When was the last time you updated your contact list of colleagues and friends? When did you last connect with your customers? Who are your favorite companies to work for? Who would be a perfect client for you? Start taking action now.
5. Weather The Storm. Keep your cool while things are spinning all around you. Stay flexible and nimble and most of all — keep performing. Don't freeze and hunker down — it's critical you maintain and elevate your performance.

What else can you do to prepare for career/business bad times?

Do You Work With A Jerk?

More and more, I speak with clients and colleagues who encounter people who are very angry:

• They're not nice or pleasant.
• They don't treat people very well.
• The only person they care about is themselves.
• And most of all, if you work with them, they will make your life unbearable with their behaviors.

Do you work with people like that? Are you one of these people?

Sometimes it's a personality defect. Sometimes it's a lack of self-esteem. Sometimes it's because they're just plain angry at the world and you're in their way.

I'm here to tell you to stop working with those people. Today. Figure out a way to lessen or sever your connection with them. Why?

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO WORK WITH JERKS.

• They will hold you back.
• They will make you worry about things you shouldn't worry about.
• They will make you question your abilities.
• Your self-esteem will take a major hit.

Get rid of them. Wipe them out of your life. Eliminate any and all effect they have to your job, business and career. I'm not going to tell you how — just do it.

AGAIN — LIFE IS TOO SHORT. Do it today.

Do you work with a jerk? How did you eliminate them from your life?

Why Aren't You Working On The Big Stuff?

Your life is filled with small stuff. And sometimes, as Richard Carlson said, "Don't sweat the small stuff". Unfortunately, we get caught up handling the small stuff almost all the time.

And it takes us away from working on that one big thing which will define us. That one project to get us exposure, a promotion, and solidify our position in the organization.

Or the big thing which will allow us to exponentially grow our business to great heights. To give it the perfect acceleration to grow beyond our dreams.

But we still spend most (if not all) of our time messing around with the small stuff. Why?

• It's easy. One and done — small things are simple to accomplish.
• We can do lots of them. We feel we are really making progress when we do them in succession.
• Organization. We can clean off our desk  of all the annoying papers, post-it notes, reminders in Outlook, etc. We are making progress!

Now don't get me wrong, they are important. But they shouldn't take up ALL of your waking hours to complete. You need to allocate a certain fraction of your day to work on the one or two BIG things which will ultimately define your work.

A great example is social media (read this). Lately, we've been indoctrinated to get out there and touch social media 'all the time'. Being hyper-active with social media tends to satisfy the 'small things' part of our workday (and I've been guilty of this lately). You also need to allocate time for your big thing.

So what's the ONE BIG THING you're working on this week?

Are You Frustrated? Good!

Work breeds frustration. It's a fact. You get frustrated when people or things knock you off balance, where you're out of control. It could be a late project, or a recalcitrant associate, or a vendor who never gets back to you.

Let's be honest — if everything worked perfectly, all the time, you would be quite bored at your job.

Did you know airplanes are off-course 95% of the time? The pilot or auto-pilot course-corrects to keep it headed in the right direction — it doesn't check once in awhile - it's an ongoing process.

Work needs course-corrections frequently. And the number and severity of the course-corrections are directly related to how much frustration you feel.

Now if everything starts to fail and you lose complete control, one of two things happen:

1. You get angry. You direct your frustration in an emotional manner towards the supposed perpetrator of the issue. You yell, you get mad, and you probably say things that are not found in the professional handbook.
2. You shut down. You lose energy and you become unmotivated. You move on to other projects and tasks and you probably procrastinate on this issue.

What would happen if you turned your frustration the other way? Instead of getting angry or shutting down, you use this situation to MOTIVATE yourself into action?

Turn your normal reactions to frustration into positive reactions.  

Next time, take a look at the more successful people at work or in your life. See how they handle frustration. The ones who are moving up quickly and are happy are the ones who figure out how to bypass their frustration and get motivated to solve the problem. They never let people and things get them down.

Let's go back to that pilot. If they got frustrated whenever their plane ventured off-course and god forbid, procrastinated on doing anything. What would happen?

Now put your career in that same situation. Is frustration, anger, or procrastination going to solve your problem and move you forward?

What techniques do you use to move you from frustration to motivation?

Many thanks to Zach Klein from Flickr for the image of Streeter Seidell.

Why You Hate Making Decisions.

Finding it harder and harder to make decisions lately? Decisions or the lack of them are responsible for the breaking or making of many a career.

With the craziness of the economy mixed with the bi-polar swings of board decisions, one finds it harder and harder to make a 'comfortable' decision.

So you procrastinate. You succumb to inertia and hope for the best. You deflect, you misdirect. But the decisions still hangs there . . . and it's starting to smell bad.

Some decisions are hard. Some are easy. Some are complex. And some are frustratingly simple.

But they all have an end-game . . . each decision hangs all on you. It's your responsibility and your head if things go south.

But here's the simple truth — in most cases — not making a decision is almost as bad (and sometimes worse) than making a decision.

So here's my 'easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy' technique to make decisions:

1. Take out a clean sheet of paper and pen.
2. List the decision. Keep it simple. Like: "Cut Costs or Reduce Staff".
3. Write down one major reason FOR each side of the decision.
   • FOR: Cut Costs - get more frugal and focused on delivery.
   • FOR: Reduce Staff - cut out cyphers/troublemakers. Simplify projects.
4. Write down one major reason AGAINST each side of the decision.
   • AGAINST: Cut Costs - more complaining, excuses abound.
   • AGAINST: Reduce Staff - everyone is scared; they shut down.
5. Score using Effort & Impact - how much effort will it take and what is the impact? Keep it simple use 1-3 stars as a scoring system.
6. The secret - during this process, you will begin to gravitate to a decision and also (hopefully) have the facts to back it up.

Granted, some of your decisions will be more complex and involve a lot more introspection, but I maintain one should always endeavor to keep most decisions simple and straightforward. Simplify!

What do you do to make tough decisions (when you can't ask anyone for input) easier?

Why Leaders Can't Coach.

"All coaching is, is taking a player where he can't take himself." - Bill McCartney When executives coach, they commonly make the mistake of downplaying their role as the boss. Confusion occurs with the associate and coaching fails.

To be clear, a boss is the one who holds people accountable for results. A coach helps people increase their skills to achieve the results.

When executives coach, they usually downplay their team's accountability for results because as a coach, they want to develop their skills. They use coaching to get them to do what they want. That's wrong.

Coaching is not a substitute for performance management. You have to do both and develop clarity with each endeavor. Ensure each team member understands their performance expectations AND coach them to accomplish those performance expectations. It's a dual role — don't mix them up.

Communicate your expectations and ensure you get full commitment.

1. Make sure they understand their goals. Get them to break down each goal and to identify the Who, What, Where, When and Why. This process will allow the How to appear. Steer them when they go off-course and ensure they will deliver EXACTLY what you expect.

2. Get them to mentally commit to their goals. Ownership is key — if they see these goals as yours and not theirs, all will fail. Impart clear accountability — if goals fail, it's their head, If the goals succeed, they get the accolades. It's that simple. If they are stuck or don't know how to do this, I show them how I do it.

3. Give them space to take initiative to reach their goals. Now be a good boss, step back, and give them space. This is a critical time where bosses tend to crowd their team members — give them adequate real estate to reach their goal.

Coach to keep them focused, on track, and to increase their performance.

1. Put yourself in their place and understand their challenges. Each team member has their own strengths and weaknesses. It's your job to understand what they are and where the possible road hazards might occur along the process. Once this is done, you will know approximately where each tipping point will occur and be available to coach them through it.

2. Work with the associate so they can plan all their steps. Get each associate to come up with a process comfortable to them to easily track their progress. The process of planning together allows you to step out of your 'boss' role and to help guide their progress as a coach. Remember it's their plan, not yours.

3. Actively coach them through the process. Develop regular meetings to discuss issues, concerns and opportunities along the way. If they are getting frustrated, help them solve each obstacle by asking questions. Do not attempt to help — this will only move the responsibility from the associate to you. Provide regular tracking to measure where they are and how much farther they have to go. Finally, help break bad behavior patterns along the way — this will help them accelerate and grow during the process.

How do you coach your team?

Why Your Meetings Suck.

We all have meetings.

• Client meetings.
• Status meetings.
• Project meetings.
• Brainstorming meetings.
• Get-to-know-you meetings.

Let's face it — many of the meetings we attend — well — suck. Why does this happen?

We have an agenda. Everyone is present. No one is distracted. Why is it when we're surveyed, meetings rank at the bottom of any business experience?

Because most people don't know how to run them. So here are 5 simple tips to make your meetings run efficiently:

1. Most meetings have this structure: Empathy & Action.

Empathy - It's the first section of the meeting where one develops an understanding of the topic at hand or one gets to know the person they're speaking with. Building trust or a bond with two or more people to help one another get the job done.

How: Make sure you allot time to clearly present why you're meeting, what's going to happen and what you expect the next steps will be. With one-on-one meetings, you don't need to be so formal, but empathy and trust are paramount — make sure they happen during the first part of the meeting.

Action - Most meetings forget this one. They tend to blather on and never come to what the meeting is really about — taking action in one form or another. Many meetings are sometimes 99% talk and then at the last minute when everyone is getting up, an action step is mentioned — and it turns into a successive meeting to be scheduled in a few days. Oh joy.

How: Ensure you schedule enough time at the end to focus on who is doing what and delivering when. I know it's hard to do it (asking people to do things) — but it's really the hidden reason why you're having the meeting in the first place — to explain what you are doing and getting their mental (and physical) buy-in.

2. Show up early. Stay late. Be early and welcome all the attendees, get them excited about the topic and ally all their fears about another boring meeting. Stay late to answer any follow-up questions and deepen your relationships with any new attendees. Thank everyone profusely for their attendance.

3. Keep it SHORT. Move it along. I've held five minute status meetings with my team where we all stand around a whiteboard. Get them in, says what needs to be said, and get them out. Your meeting does not need to conform to Outlook — it doesn't need to be a full hour — end early.

4. Stick to an AGENDA. Don't let the meeting get off course. It's okay if you meander a little bit to take care of a simple issue, but get back on course and keep the group focused. If you're meeting one-on-one, have a simple mental agenda and let the person you're meeting with know what you'd like to get out of the meeting: "Before we start, I'd like us to leave here with a clear understanding of how we can help one another build our respective businesses."

5. Sometimes you don't need to meet. Don't meet because you 'have' to or 'that's the way it's always been done'. A simple conversation, phone call or email might suffice. The fewer meetings you host or attend not only open up your schedule, but also when you do host one, it's an event. Don't over-use meetings — they're not that great to begin with.

What else do you do to make your meetings bearable?

Thank You UBS!

WOW. What a great day at UBS! Thank you again for attending my workshop - we had a packed house in Stamford and from what I hear, huge attendance records at the other locations and online!

Based on the feedback so far, everyone had a powerful experience.

First off, a big thank you to Liz Cresci — the consummate host and coordinator for the event. I've never done a video-webinar/audio webinar/in-person workshop — so I apologize for the constant spinning around in my seat to accomodate everyone!

Email me to request my full presentation and special gift.

Enjoy the rest of the summer and I hope you have an unbelievable 2011!

Regards – Rich

Control Your Time By Designing Your Schedule.

I thought my schedule was packed when I worked in corporate! Filling in my days with status meetings, presentations, sales calls, and updates all mixed together to produce a week chock full of weaving, diving, and running. Now that I've been running my company for the past ten years, I've found it even harder to keep my schedule clear and organized to ensure I get everything done AND allow myself the time to work on my business.

Do you feel this way? 

Well, I developed a cool way to look at each day in my schedule and ensure I not only get my client sessions scheduled, but I also leave time for basic tasks and strategic projects.

Take a look at my typical schedule (click on image to expand):

The key is CONSISTENCY and FLEXIBILITY. I try to remain consistent from week to week to ensure I can work in my business and on my business.

But I also need to be realistic. Emergencies crop up. Clients move or cancel appointments. New prospects creep into my calendar. Speaking engagements usually fall right in the middle of my schedule (but those are planned well in advance). So I also have to be flexible and have the ability to move things around when needed.

Here's the surprise — I don't have to do it as much as you'd expect. Week after week, I can pretty well stick to my schedule and ensure I am growing my business while keeping the engine running smoothly.

Let me break down some of the elements:

4:30 AM to 10 PM - Yep, that's my day. I know - 4:30 AM is a bear. But I find it's my key time to get things done - where I am energized and focused. My best brainstorming occurs at this time. So I do my best thinking in the shower (a sort of 21st century meditation) and then I'm off to write my blog and prepare for my clients.

7:00 AM to 5 PM - Blocking out all of my clients. I was taught this many years ago by my mentor coach, Ken Abrams. If you fit all of your clients into pre-specified groupings, it's easier to manage your schedule without all of the 30 and 60 minute gaps.

Email - I check my email at 9 AM, Lunchtime, and at 7 PM. It doesn't rule my life. If there is a client emergency, call me. Candidly, I read my email every few hours, that's fine to catch up on what's important.

Lunch, Dinner with Family, Reading - This is my time - these hours are to allow me to decompress and spend special time with my family and also to grow my knowledge-base.

Thursday - This is my Networking/Connecting day. I am out and about meeting people, learning about new businesses, and going to meetings. I also meet with two groups - my sales force (about 35 people) who are actively out promoting my product to key prospects. The second group is a high-potential business owner team where we exchange leads and discuss many business issues and problems. I also fit in meetings with my agent, pr guy, marketing team, accountant, attorney and any other colleagues who make my business HUM.

Friday - This is my 'clean-up day'. I spend the time with any errant clients and also do any marketing/prospecting, presentation building and my financial planning. I spend most of my day connected at the hip with my assistant ensuring I clean up any mess from the previous four days and preparing me for the next week.

I hope my schedule gives you a few ideas on how to better structure your schedule.

What do you do to make your professional (and personal) life more bearable?

Who Moved Your Acorn?

"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." — Ralph Waldo Emerson What's your acorn? 

Okay, okay - I know. We all work hard. And long. And most of the time, it's boring.

But when we got out of school, we all had a dream. A dream of being someone important, making great strides, doing great things. Making a difference.

Unfortunately, life intervened. Work snuck it's ugly head in. Then family. Friends. Hobbies. Activities. TV. You get my drift.

Today, I have one question to ask you: What's YOUR acorn? What's your dream?

How do you want to make a difference in the world? Who do you want to help? My charge today is simple — how can you integrate your acorn into your daily activities?

Don't think big picture — start small — take baby steps. What can you do today to ultimately make a difference in the world? Something that will change one person's life . . . ten lives . . . a hundred lives . . . millions?

If you think I'm crazy, one person already did — check this out.

If he can do it . . . so can you.

What's your acorn? I'd love to hear.

Understand WHO You Really Work With.

"To succeed in business, you need to know WHO you work with." Sounds pretty simple and straightforward — but the reality is most people don't subscribe to this tenet.

They spend their time worrying about themselves. And their past failures — their future deliverables. And all the people and things which will impede their progress and set them back.

Worry. Worry. Worry.

It's time you step back and begin to clearly understand WHO you work with.

If you work in corporate, WHO really are your colleagues? Who's your boss? What drives them? What excites them? How can you help them get more excited? How can you be the perfect puzzle piece that fits their puzzle piece?

If you own your own business, WHO are your customers? Who drives prospects to your business? Who's on your team? Again, be the perfect puzzle piece.

The big question is HOW. It comes down to three things:

1. Understand what their main driving force is. What is important to them — what is THE burning issue that keeps them up at night? Ask them questions and LISTEN.
2. Develop a clear communication channel to work with them. Dechipher the best way to interact with them and how best they absorb information. Then consistently deliver information in that manner.
3. Engage to compliment their actions. See how you can help them deal with their burning issues. They're not looking for quick solutions, they're looking for partners — someone to just LISTEN to them.

What other ways do you employ to understand WHO you work with?

4 Steps To Dramatically Improve Your Business.

Many business clients ask me how they can review their business and develop a simple marketing plan. There are many great books and gurus out there who will help you do this - unfortunately it takes a lot of time and effort. If things aren't working or you're not getting the same penetration you did a few years ago, you probably need to modify something in your business mix. As I've always said, "The best businesses are the ones who are nimble and flexible. When it's time to change, make that change."

I've developed a simple 4-step exercise to help you get a better handle on your business. So here goes:

1. Look at your PRODUCT.

• What are your best selling products? What are your most profitable products? Why?
• What products are growing? What ones are shrinking? Why?
• What new products can you add? What products can you modify?
• What products can you kill?
• Can you change your product pricing/packaging to reflect market shifts?

Who's buying what, when, where, and why?

2. Survey the MARKETPLACE.

• What's happening out there? Is the market growing? Shrinking? Moving?
• Are there new competitors out there? What are they doing? Offering?
• Are there new opportunities out there to develop partnerships?

If the marketplace has changed, you need to modify your efforts.

3. Analyze your CUSTOMERS.

• Who were they and why did they buy your products? Where did they go?
• Who are they now? Are they in a different area to access?
• Have their lives changed? More money to spend? Less money?
• When was the last time your reached out to your current clients?
• When have you talked to your past clients?
• When have you re-approached the prospects who got away?

You can always plan to retain and extend your clients. And get new ones too.

4. Review your COMMUNICATION.

• Did your access routes (advertising) to your customers change?
• Has your media changed? Newspaper/Magazine/Radio into Web/Groupon/Patch?
• Are you varying your messages? Different packages/price points?
• How do you talk personally with your customers/prospects?

The message is the medium and the medium has changed.

What else do you do to help you review your marketing?

3 Critical Mistakes You Make On The Job Every Day.

Look, your job may be difficult sometimes. That's why they call it work. But you do your best and plan for the worst. But you're human and sometimes it hard to lead and execute perfectly. Over the past 11 years of advising executives, here are three of the more frequent mistakes made in your day-to-day endeavors:

1. Trying to do everything, not honing in on your talents.

A frequent occurrence since everyone that works for you thinks that you can solve all their problems. Or when issues, obstacles, and opportunities come at you from many directions, it hard not to say no. But you have to say no.

One way to fix this problem is to either say no, or not now. But that's hard to do. The best way to fix this issue is to delegate it to someone below you. You first need to know what key strengths your people exhibit and then you have to apply certain communication/management skills to pass on the task. Then ask them. Most of the time, they are dying to work on more complex/challenging stuff, especially your 'stuff'. Then you can go back and work on things that compliment your talents.

If you don't do this, you'll find that your days are filled with an avalanche of decisions and tasks, many that you're not the best at. And that spells trouble.

2. Less focus on planning, more focus on quick decisions.

When time is short and your to-do list is long, we tend to make more 'shoot-from-the-hip' decisions rather than planning ahead of time. Again, this is a hard thing to do in today's marketplace.

One line of attack is to clearly define key recurring areas that frequently need addressing and to bring your team together to plan for them, rather than waiting for something to blow up. You can segment them into client-based, financial-based, operations-based, marketing-based issues and have key, qualified people responsible to lead the charge. Once areas are planned and options are defined, it's much easier to chart your course in a more educated fashion.

If you don't do this, you'll find that you will spend more time substantiating your decisions with higher-ups, direct reports, and clients and realizing that many unplanned decisions usually aren't the best ones to execute.

3. Not asking for input from multiple sources.

This is the biggest and most important one — and it also aligns with the previous two mistakes. As you get comfortable in your position, it's really easy to insulate oneself from other learned sources when managing, leading, and running the business.

One way to eliminate this mistake is to actively and frequently reach out to people and ask them their opinion on a strategy, direction, or decision. They could be mentors that you've established, previous colleagues that you've worked with, key direct reports you can trust, and even employees that you never talk to. You'll be surprised with their answers — you might find that their line of thinking is completely different from yours. And it might be better!

If you don't do this, you'll slowly find that many people around you will be able to telegraph your position immediately (since you always make the decision) or they shut down completely since you are asking them for advice. Take a chance — listen to other sources.

Which one do YOU make? I'd love to hear what you did to turn it around. 

Netflix, What Are You Thinking?

One of my most respected and admired businesses, Netflix, unveiled major changes to their pricing structure. If you are a customer, you probably received an email yesterday announcing the price increase. Netflix just asked me to pay a 33% increase in fees for THE SAME SERVICE. My current package (2 CD's and Streaming Movies) used to cost $14.99 per month — now they want me to pay $19.98 per month.

Guess what? Since my family avidly use Netflix's streaming and are frustrated by the lateness of new release DVD's hitting our home, I opted to reduce my monthly subscription to streaming for $7.99.

Netflix just lost almost 50% of my monthly payment in one fell swoop. Hopa!

Now from the face of it, this is a stupid decision. It's not like the cost of providing the services increased dramatically and Netflix had to pass on the increase to their customers.

Something else is at work here. Some facts:

• The DVD industry has been in decline for some years now.
• The studios are squeezing Netflix with their DVD launch. Stores and OnDemand get it months ahead of Netflix.
• The model of mailing DVD's is getting old when technology, broadband, and wireless is exploding exponentially.
• TV is hurting/dying and Netflix sees an opportunity.

I think Netflix has to 'rejigger' their model - move away from DVDs and focus more on streaming. That means big leaps in strategy, operations, and most of all - pricing.

Unfortunately, I've been using Netflix (off and on) since they started (I hated video stores). I wish they had a better deal for us long-time customers.

This is where I think they dropped the ball. Most people will be highly reactionary to the price change and react accordingly. Like me.

What are your thoughts on this? If you use Netflix, what are you going to do?

Why You Hate AND Love Your Email.

Who loves their email? Lovin’ those 150-200 emails you receive each day? I expect your answer to be “NO”. But why do we put so much emphasis on it then? Why do we check it whenever we get a spare moment?

Why do we treat each email equally? That’s STUPID.

Email is not a good communication platform. Actually, it’s really not communicating – good communication happens in real-time and is two-way. How many misunderstood emails have you sent or received in your lifetime?

Here are some simple tricks I teach my clients:

1. Prioritize your email. Use Rules to assign colors to important emails (Red for the Boss or Clients, Blue for emails with you on the TO: line) and Gray for all other email. Trash any CC: email – trust me, it’s not important and you're not missing anything.

When you open your email (you never keep it open all day), you will immediately see the Red and Blue emails first - choose one of four actions:

Act - if you can respond within 1-2 minutes with an answer, do it. Delegate - Push it to someone else and let all parties know. File - Read info and file, not all emails need a response. Trash - Get it out of your head and life, stop thinking about it.

2. Check your email 3 times a day. In the morning, after lunch, and right before you leave. Instead of responding by email – call. If there is something important or an emergency, they should call you.

And most importantly, keep your email 'bat-signal' OFF. Having an animation or number appear only distracts you from your more important work.

3. Use the phone more often. Leave 20-30 second messages and only talk to someone for no longer than 3-5 minutes. If you need longer, set up a 10-15 minute meeting, no longer. You will get a reputation for short calls and your colleagues/clients will most likely pick up the phone rather than let it zip to voicemail.

4. Stop by offices more often. You then control the time you talk. Make the ‘drive-by’ 3-5 minutes and then be off.

At the end of the day, email will suck the living daylights out of your productivity, motivation, and life. Trust me.

What tips and tricks do you use to keep your email behaviors efficient and effective?

Get RUNNING.

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you better be RUNNING.

- African Proverb

3 Tips When Everything Is Failing All Around You.

"Sometimes the hurricane knocks down the biggest trees, to only allow the saplings to thrive." Is this happening in the marketplace today? 

Are many of our cherished institutions failing and falling by the wayside? What saplings are beginning to grow out from under the devastation?

First, let's discuss the biggest trees in the marketplace — let's look at a basic company directory:

• Management/Admin - shrinking, less middle management, no admin
• Financial - in a tizzy, most are looking for 'inventive' ways to save
• Human Resources - outsourced areas, shrinking training, little hiring
• Operations - outsourced overseas, replaced by tech, do more with less
• Marketing - outsourced, social media typhoon, failing media institutions
• IT - enterprise to cloud, sexy area to basic plumbing transition, changes instantly
• Sales & Customer Service - most valuable of the bunch, yet do more with less

If you work in any of these areas, you've probably seen some of these things occurring (and some others).

But change is a constant. As I tell all my clients:, "Don't try to desperately hang on to what you're losing, anticipate the future based on what's happening now, and move towards it with your eyes wide open."

First — what can you currently do to stay alive and relevant in your department? You know what areas are growing and conversely, what areas are shrinking (or going away). Don't put your head in the sand — you need to take action TODAY.

Ask for more responsibility. Check out what the 'hot' projects are. Who are the stars? Begin to push yourself and challenge the internal status quo.

If you were unemployed and wanted a job in retail, I wouldn't point you towards Blockbuster, I would direct you to the Apple Store.

Second — start thinking strategically. Where is your area of expertise going? You don't want to be a slide-rule salesperson in a world of calculators. Start taking steps now to make what you have to offer powerful, relevant, and in-demand for the next 5-10-15 years.

Third — embrace change and stay flexible. Don't fight the rising tide. Don't watch the trees fall all around you and expect your tree to survive. Where are the saplings? If you don't make the jump now, you might not have the timing, resources and opportunity to make the jump when needed.

It all starts with a simple, clear plan coupled with ACTION. Start today.

What first step do you need to take to begin this process?

If You're Not Moving Up, You're Going Down.

FACT: Successful leaders require and access tools to help them be accountable and objective while stretching them to reach the next level of performance (Harvard Business Review). FACT: The marketplace is changing at a constantly accelerating rate. The challenge to learn the art and science of individual change is now paramount to every executive and business-owner's success (American Management Association).

FACT: 43% of CEOs and 71% of the senior executive team reported that they had worked with a coach. Over 48% of companies now use coaching to develop the leadership capabilities of high-potential performers. The typical coaching assignment runs from 7 to 12 months (Fast Company).

Okay — I'm promoting a little. But it's true. 

Every client I work with has seen a dramatic change in their career. They've made more money, moved up in the organization, amassed a larger client base . . .

And they're happier. Challenged. Having fun.

The ironic fact is most people are afraid of working with a coach. Why?

They're afraid of "opening up" about their true feelings and dreams.

I know it's hard — but it's just like jumping into a pool for the first time — the first few seconds the water is cold, but you acclimate very quickly. Every one of my coaching sessions start out slow initially, but by the end, the client has so much energy, they are bursting at the seams to execute.

They're afraid of spending a lot of time and money on another pipe-dream.

There are so many options out there — some are good and most are bad. I can't tell you how many business books just plain stink. Conferences and seminars which rehash the same tired and hackneyed syllogisms. Speakers who give a small iota of what they really know and suck you into a quagmire of fees, charges and upsells.

I totally understand your ambivalence. But coaching is an incremental process — small changes, small steps, and big gains happen all the time. You'll know within the first or second session if coaching is for you.

They're afraid of actually being successful and their entire life changes.

This is the big one. See my recent post on 'fear of success' — most people are afraid of actually reaching their goals and dreams because it will radically change their life. And this is scary.

The best part about coaching: The first session is FREE. Most coaches offer a complimentary session to introduce coaching. Coaching is a fit — it has to 'fit' for you AND the coach has to see a good 'fit' for their business.

Try it — you might like it.

Pushing Yourself Farther Than Ever Before.

Received this story from one of my oldest and favorite clients, Ward Smith, a senior executive with Stanley/Black & Decker. It's all about taking a dare (we've all been there) and ultimately training and competing in a Triathlon. It all started last year on a dare by my good friend and college buddy Tim Kowalewski.

Since last fall, I have been anticipating a race on Sunday June 12 in Cambridge, MD. I guess you could call me a “Tri Newbie”. It is a sport that has fascinated me for several years. As most of you know, I played competitive sports at an early age, all the way through college. The constant strive to get stronger, faster, and return the next season better than the last has been with me for most of my life. Then as all of us know, a new pattern of life begins after school.

Triathlon took a major hold on my life when my college roommate and close friend Curt Straub qualified for the 2009 Ironman World Championships in Kona, an unbelievable feat given his short time in the sport. I was determined to see what drove my friend to the insane level of training. Knowing that a full Ironman was not in the cards, Eagleman 70.3 offered a wonderful challenge in a race that attracts age groupers from all of the country.

Tim and I drove down to the Shore on Saturday morning after loading our equipment up. We traded our thoughts of what each of us was expecting for the race, neither one of us had competed in a race of this distance, but we had spent countless hours on the internet reading all kinds of blogs and websites about race strategy and what to anticipate.

Tri Columbia puts on a first class event. There was a pro open forum talk in the afternoon – defending Women’s 2010 Kona Champion Miranda Carfrae and several other top pros were competing in the race – which gave us regular folks a great insight into the world of professional triathlon. It’s always pretty cool to see people in person who you have read about and seen in magazines. It’s a very unique environment – everyone’s nervous for the early morning start, but there is also an understanding between everyone that the real battle tomorrow lays within the individual and the race course.

 

Race packets picked up, final check and adjustments on the bikes, and it was off to the transition area to rack our bikes. I knew that the race was big, but it really hit me when you saw how many rows of bikes there were, it went on and on. Off to the Farm to get some dinner and hopefully some sleep.

3:30am came early, needless to say I was pretty pumped to see what the day was going to bring. I had been training for this day for 6 months, now it was here.

The energy and atmosphere in the transition area was your typical race morning feel – experienced racers going through their checklists, first timers trying to remember where their bike was located, guys with nervous chatter, but mostly competitors anticipating a long rewarding day ahead. Once my bag was unpacked, I started to go through all of my race needs and making sure that my equipment was in the right place. I made sure to take the time and get my running shoes on and get a quick 5 min. run, trying to calm the prerace jitters.

It was now ready to get ready for the swim. I made a feeble attempt to put on sun tan lotion, as some of you saw after the race. Somehow, I missed entire areas on my arms that have resulted in the most unique sun burn I have ever gotten, lesson for my next race. Any way, it was onto the water for a practice warm up swim. The water was extremely warm, over 80 degrees this year, no wetsuits for this race. Usually, the swim warm up area is located in the swim exit, a nice way to get familiar of the exit area and the route to the transition area. One very unique aspect of the Eagleman swim is the fact that the end of the swim is a very shallow area, as I would learn later, very tempting to stand up and finish the last 25 yds standing up.

Now came the next challenge – finding my wife, Karen, in the mayhem of all of the friends and family that had come out to support their racer. Tim and I had been bouncing back and forth taking care of our own pre-race rituals; we linked up and made our way to the swim start area. Luckily, I ran into my beautiful and supportive wife, along with close friends Jim and Jess Lears. It meant a lot that Jim and Jess made the effort to come out so early, Jess is 8 months pregnant! They had signs and smiles, exactly what I needed to remind myself to relax and enjoy the present.

While catching up with Jim about the pre-race craziness, guess who we run into – a high school buddy, Jason Quenzer. It was great to catch up with him briefly about what he has been up to these days, his family, and his anticipation of the day. It is always amazing that at events like these, you run into people who you haven’t seen in a long time.

Swim start was at 7:34 am, a kiss goodbye to my wife, and it was time to enter the water. My goal for this day was stay in the present, focus only in my immediate sphere, it’s really easy to get overwhelmed with the totality of the day and of each discipline. It’s a long day, but you have to break it down into the areas that are immediately in front of you, otherwise, you will get overwhelmed.

Open water swimming is a very different animal than training in a pool for 6 months. The black lines on the bottom of the pool to help you go straight are gone, you can’t see 2 inches in front of you in the Choptank River.  We trended for only a couple of minutes, but it felt like an eternity. The horn sounded, and off we go. The first leg of a 70.3 is a 1.2 mile swim. The course for Eagleman is a rectangular course, there was minimal chop and very little current.

It took me all the way to the first turn buoy to get my breathing under control. I am not a swimmer, but I kept trying to focus on the present, stay within my sphere. My buddy Curt always reminded me in our phone calls and emails leading up to the race – “just finish the swim.” I figured it was pretty good advice from a guy who competed at Kona, where their swim leg is 2.4 miles.

As I neared the swim exit, I could see other racers starting to stand up – “YES, the swim is almost done.” With only 15 or 20 yards to the shore, I just stood up and walk in the rest of the way, it gave me time to catch my breath. Running up the shore, I saw the signs and heard the familiar voices – Karen, Jess, and Jim cheering and waving the signs. I did my best to acknowledge them, but I tend to more a bit serious when I am competing, but I did crack a smile, and hopefully a little wave – I was already on autopilot…

The Bike course at Eagleman is known to share many characteristics of the Hawaii race, a reason that so many pros come to Cambridge to race. It’s flat, hot, and windy. 56 miles is a long way, but I kept reminding myself the focus of the day – stay in the present, focus on my immediate sphere. A big race like Eagleman attracts talented age-groupers from around the country, and these guys and gals can fly on the bike. I stopped counting on how many people passed me at around 40. It reminded me how much your ego can get you into some trouble, the competitor inside what’s to react and fight. One thing I learned on the bike course – my bladder somehow shrunk to the size of a 10 year old. I made 2 pit stops, which obviously slowed me down, but I knew I need to keep up with my hydration to get ready for the run. The swim and the bike are only preparation for the beginning of the race – the 13.1 run.

My goal for the run – focus on getting to each aid station. The run is a straight out and back with aid stations every mile. It was time to bring you’re A game. Out and back runs are a different breed. For those who are starting the run, you see the guys and gals who are finishing or about to finish. They are more experienced, in better condition, and an immediate reminder of what’s ahead. Nutrition was going to be a big factor in how well the race was going to go. I had maintained my plan on the bike, and now, I was going to keep it simple of the run – Ice, water, and Pepsi. I knew that anything else in stomach could cause problems.

For the first 3 to 4 miles, I did the same thing – ice down the shirt, 2 cups of water, and a half a cup of Pepsi. I was surprised, I was actually feeling pretty good. My pace was slow, about 8:20 to 8:30 pace.

At about mile 5, I saw my good friend Tim up ahead. He is a very strong runner, and I knew the moment I saw him, he was fighting hard. He had been dealing with a hip discomfort and mild foot pain heading into the race. We ran together for several minutes, I asked him how the hip was doing. I could tell he was digging deep. We parted ways, and it was onto the turn around.

There was the infamous snowball stand at the turnaround, very much needed since the entire run is in the open, not shade. The run was half over. More ice, more water and pepsi… It was time to pick the pace up and finish strong. I was determined to have my best run. I have run the Baltimore Half the past 2 years, and I always had a bit of a struggle towards the end of the race.

Mile 10 – the race focus intensified, I was not going to let anyone run past me. It was an emotional journey those last 3 miles. I had set a goal of 5 hrs 30 mins to finish, with around 2 miles to go, my watch read 5:20, it wasn’t going to happen, but that was okay, it was probably more important to just set the goal.

The last 500 ft is quite amazing, lines of people cheering everyone on, there is a slight curve, so the runners never really see the finish line until the very end. I ran as hard I could, voices screaming and cheering, crossing the finish line at 5:35.

I found Karen, my Mom and Bill. It was great to see them and celebrate. It takes some time to gather yourself after such a long race, slow down the heart, cool the body, making sure you don’t cramp up.

Final Results: Swim – 45:24 T1 – 2:18 Bike – 2:55 T2 – 3:29 Run – 1:48

Total – 5:35

Onto the next race and adventure . . .

What dares have you undertaken which delivered this kind of satisfaction?

How To Deal With Very Difficult People.

It's hard when you're working with a tough audience. Especially someone who contradicts and challenges every point you make. 

I've come to the conclusion one has to first understand where these naysayers are coming from and what their ultimate goal is to be able to debate them successfully. I've come up with four positions your opponent might be taking:

1. They Disagree With You

This is probably the easiest one to tackle because it's based upon an honest position where your opponent is factually disagreeing with you. They still have an open mind, but for the immediate future, they are factually on the opposite side of the track.

Solution: These are rational people, so use facts, figures, and reasoned logic to bring them over to the dark side. Acknowledge their position, but show them your way will ultimately be a better direction.

2. It's Their Personality

We've all met them — the naysayers of our lives. Those people who take pleasure in contradicting an established belief, position, or idea because it's hard-wired into their personality.

It's a mix of cynicism and pessimism which ultimately drives the contrarian engine in this person. I've always felt people do this to be recognized and appreciated for their intellect — but ultimately, they just want to be acknowledged and heard.

Solution: Listen to them. Ask lots of questions and delve deeply into their position. Acknowledge some of the merits of their belief structure.

Then begin to get them to understand some of the tenets of your position by aligning the more minor tenets of their areas. "I see where you're going — we want to save money. If we take this idea, it looks like we are going to save a huge chunk of cash." Also don't use the words "My idea" — use "This idea" or "Our option".

3. They're Afraid Of Change

Oh my — they're all over the place lately — people afraid of change who will do almost anything to keep the status quo, even at the detriment of their institutions.

The main driver in these people is FEAR. Even if you present a clear example of a successful position, they will endeavor to undermine it and counter with the status quo — "things are fine if we just leave it alone".

When you lift the covers, you'll see they're temporarily irrational and will be impossible to move unless you show them a 'safer' position.

Solution: They need to feel safe, so show them their current 'safe' position is actually an unsafe decision long-term. Use facts to bring them along slowly and get them to understand the ramifications of their current 'fear-based' behavior.

If you get them to incrementally understand their unfounded fears by seeing your clear direction for change, they will ultimately (and usually quickly) side with you. If you are working against a group, pick off some of the weaker adherents and use them to convince some of the more immovable opponents.

4. They Want Power

These are the toughest people to turn. Why? They really don't care about the facts at hand or where it will ultimately go — they only care about their current power structure and how to maintain and grow it.

It's the typical situation in politics. Don't try to convince someone with facts, figures, and reasoned ideas — follow the power and money. Once you understand what's under the kimono, you'll easily see where they are coming from and how you can speak their language.

Solution: Be very, very careful here. Since this is the toughest nut to crack, these people will lash out quickly and go for the jugular if you are in any way affecting the status of their power structure with your ideas.

You need to move slowly and build a power base behind you. Appeal to their nobler motives first (give them that chance) and then slowly chip away at their resolve. If you can, show them your idea will ultimately give them even more power. But wear your seatbelt, you will be on a very bumpy ride.