Caring

With the NBA season coming to a conclusion we revisit the legands of the past:

• The great Larry Bird said he had only cried twice in his life, once when he lost the NCAA championship and once when losing an NBA championship...both times he lost to Ervin Johnson.
• Michael Jordan said that he loved the thrill of winning a championship so much that he dedicated himself to winning as many as he could.
• Billy Beane (Oakland A's GM) admitted that he hated losing even more than he enjoyed winning.
• ...and now Lebron James has finally fulfilled expectations. 

Of the above mentioned only one of them had it right. Let's explore why:

Great Expectations
The Great Cathy Berky recently shared an act of vulnerability in our LinkedIn group. She noted that her expectations of herself had always been exceedingly high (which is what makes her great).
She followed up by saying that she had found peace by allowing curosity to lead.

I wonder if Larry Bird loved basketball as much as we all think he did? He was a pure shooter and a fierce competitior, equal parts artist and warrior. The questions lies in why he cared so much? Did he want to win more than anything in the world or was he terrified of losing?

That's what losing sounds like...
The Great Billy Beane was quoted as saying that he hated losing more than he enjoyed winning. That sense of motivation built a fire in him that put him in a position to become the best paid in his profession. The true joy comes in winning and if you win only to keep from losing, you neglect your ability to celebrate.

To prepare and best an opponent seemingly stronger and more qualified than you is the ulitmate feeling of success. You don't prepare and try hard because you want to see the Giant cry. You win to prove to yourself that you can do anything and that nothing is impossible in this sad and beautiful world.

It's about freaking time!
Lebron James, the greatest basketball player of our time, has finally won a championship. Always big for his age and blessed with extraordinary athletic ability, Lebron James became a fan favorite by the time he finished high school.

Then something happened....

The expectation of greatness bestowed upon Lebron James did not manifest itself quickly enough. In this quick fix society, we want results....right away. So Lebron's love for Basketball turned into a job. He stopped running around with joy in his heart and started over-thinking the process of winning. He lost the joy and laced up the shoes with an assumed obligation to fulfill public expectations. When he hoisted the championship trophy on Thursday night, the thrill of being the best was replaced by the relief of achieving what everyone knew he was capable of.

...the real answer
My Dad once told me never to make a decision based on money. I replied that he had money. To which he retorted, "that's because I never made a decision based on money". My Dad knew what Tony Hsieh later explained:
If you lead with a purpose for which you have a passion, the profits will come naturally.

Think of it this way...
would you rather win a championship with your truest friends by your side or move across town just to play on a better team with a bunch of strangers?

Our motivation cannot be defined by what we think to be the right way, but by what we believe we were put on this earth to do.

Do you remember the show The Wonder Years? Kevin's dad would come home angry every day and proclaim "work is work". Do you ever feel like Kevin's dad? That the work you do is lacking purpose? That the passion is gone? That you are just in it for a paycheck?

It's not 1950 anymore! You are now more empowered as an employee than Kevin's dad ever was. In fact, you don't have to put up with losing anymore!

You are in control!

To put effort into something so as to avoid losing defeats the purpose of living. To win your way, by your rules, is the most empowering thing in life. If you allow others to make the rules, your chances of losing increase. To play another person's game and to win serves to validate your worth. Love is created by flipping the rules on their ear, finding a better way, and proving that it works better.

Your greatness is defined by the JOY you find in winning, not the relief of doing enough to keep from losing!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Best Laid Plans

I am often asked about the keys to leadership. Of course, there are core characteristics that we can list and quantify. Most often, however, I hearken back to sound advice. The best bosses I have had assisted my career development through very human interactions. The strategy book is thrown out the window and you talk to one another in caring terms.

Here is some of the best advice I have received:

"If you keep working that hard, you will be a State qualifier"
At a tender age I began to participate in the sport of wrestling. To be an exceptional wrestler you have to have outstanding physical conditioning, unflappable will power, and extraordinary patience. You workout for hours a day to get to a 6 minute match in which every muscle in your body is used to exhaustion. All the while, you are controlling your diet to make weight. When you lose, you have no one to blame but yourself. Wrestling is not the world's most popular sport because very few people have the courage to endure it.

In wrestling your hard work is validated with gold medals. Wrestling also allows you to overcome your greatest opponent in life....yourself! When you know that you can push yourself beyond your limitations, you are consistently willing to try harder.

The season is long and tiresome. You work so hard and occasionally you lose. You question how far you can push yourself. While your friends are cruising chicks and drinking their first beer, you can't even eat. So, when my coach pointed to me at the end of practice and told me the words highlighted above that was all I needed. Indeed, our success is often predicated on one compliment from someone we respect. When my coach told me he recognized my effort, it made me want to try ten times harder.

"Once you have wrestled, everything in life is easier" - Dan Gable

"You will not beat them, you will become one of them"
In our professional lives we are always looking for opportunities to improve ourselves. I was with a company for some time and I was getting restless. I needed some variation to the daily grind. I did everything I could to get promoted. When the opportunity for advancement finally came my way I sat down with a senior leader in the company. He asked me why I wanted a position in management. I went into my professional mission statement of making the company better by evolving the workforce.....he stopped me and said. I'm asking you why you think it is a good idea to get out of sales and go into management? After a slight pause, I told him that I thought the middle management in our company sucked and that I was willing to commit myself to inspiring our workforce instead of regulating them. He smiled and then he proclaimed the statement highlighted above.

This senior staff member could have recommended me to the hiring manager but he felt I would be wasting my life if he did. He cared enough to tell me that I could do more than position myself for lifelong mediocrity. I cherish his advice to this day....because he was right!

"Don't go gettin' insecure"
People love having a new job because it allows them to wipe the slate clean. I cannot recommend strongly enough that when changing careers an attitude make over is absolutely critical. You probably left your former job because there was some bad blood....leave it there. Easy for me to say!

I had a new job and my boss was in from out of town. I had worked hard to get a meeting with a key prospective client and was really excited to showcase my talent for the new boss. I picked him up at the airport, we arrived at the client's location, and she was not there. The excitement deflated by the need to reschedule, my boss's precious time wasted.

As we hopped back into the car, I expressed my frustration. How could someone agree to meet and then neglect the importance of our time? To which he said, "don't go gettin' insecure on me". It was a critical turning point in my career. My boss didn't hire me to see me display my skill in front of a new client, he trusted my talent. Here I was still interviewing two weeks after being employed. Despite my career change, I was still carrying the baggage of the corporate politics from my former occupation. My boss's words caused me to remember my greatness, for far too long before meeting him I was ruled by people who managed to make me believe I was not good enough....and that I had to prove myself.

These three lessons have one thing in common. They are all simple words of advice given to me from people who genuinely cared about me....and in their simple words I came to understand that.

Leadership is the act of inspiring confidence. Management is the process of challenging job function.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Why Salespeople Lie

The world of business is currently mired in platform development, entrepreneurial risk taking, and cutting edge business planning. The most profitable companies are the best places to work because the culture is relaxed but the players are putting in long hours. Technology has streamlined the way we work. The politics and formalities are breaking down in favor of collaborative business improvement planning. It is as it should be.

Ties are not comfortable, meetings that tip toe around issues are not productive, and people who pretend to be experts are anything but. We are becoming more honest with one another because we have learned from the mistake of trusting the wrong people. Business partnerships are built on personal relationships. Mistakes are forgotten when the intent is right and partnerships are destroyed when the expert is revealed as a court jester.

In simplest terms, a lot of the things that used to be characterized as "professional" were a smoke screen. So how do we see through the smoke...?

Stop Lying
I have been in sales consulting and sales training for 15 years and I can tell you this....sales people are liars. It's the thing that makes people hate salespeople. So the process for success is incredibly simple:
Tell the truth!

In the movie, "In Good Company", the great Carter Duryea convinces a bunch of industry veterans that his education and youthful motivation have applicable relevance in the marketplace. It works for a while. But when he meets the boss' daughter in the elevator he admits to her that he has no idea what he is doing. It is a refreshingly human moment. While it is probably not best to completely reveal your cards, I can tell you that in time the pretenders are always revealed for their true selves. Why fake it?

As a salesperson, your target buyer will often ask you leading questions in an effort to measure your BS meter. Many salespeople see this as an opportunity to showcase their expertise (and it often might be). But if you talk yourself in circles, you destroy your credibility. Let me advise you are 3 simple things:
Allow silence to linger.....don't believe you have to keep talking
Address questions directly
Don't allow the past to sidetrack your strategy

We Weren't There
Have you ever asked a salesperson a yes/no question and gotten a 20 minute answer? Did the answer even address your question? In sales anticipating pitfalls is critical. If one knows their product cannot perform a certain function, they might seek to disguise that. In fact, they may overexpose their fact masking because they are so afraid that their past product failures will resurface. Often times, the aforementioned paranoia exposes an inefficiency that does not even apply to the situation. Then, you lose because you lied.

Quick tip: don't buy from someone who does not directly address your questions, they are hiding something.

So Then...
Be honest but don't reveal your hand. Sound contradictory? Not really.

The process is simple: Someone needs something and you have something to give.

Why complicate the issue?:
You do not want to leave any stones unturned...so ask good questions!
You do not want to miss a buying signal...so do your research!
You do not want to validate your buyers stereotypes....so be honest!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The 4 Intricate Disciplines

There are 4 Intricate Disciplines essential to professional success:
Planning
Execution
Fortitude
Positivity

...of course, there are a million other things that the readers of this blog can site as "absolutely essential" to success. Be that as it may, I would be willing to bet that any more specific skill set would fit in one of the 4 categories mentioned above. Today our mission is to explore the 4 intricate disciplines of professional success and to figure out how to put them into action. Sound simple? It is so very far from simple. Let's dive in.

Some people have amazing strategic planning discipline, others are very good at executing at the point of customer engagement, there are those who have an uncanny ability to persevere in lieu of failure, and some people just know how to find the best in every situation. Which of these areas best characterises your professional excellence? If you execute just one of the 4 intricate disciplines well, you will be successful. If you are able to execute all 4 intricate disciplines really well, every day, you will be a professional Rock Star!

Let's Rock!

All Points Considered
Aaron Levie the CEO of Box has an uncanny ability to articulate solutions in the enterprise with rapid fire precision. It might come as a surprise but Levie's admirable leadership is a result of introspection. The best talkers are not those who talk the most. People who speak well are well thought out. They spend more time preparing what they say than they do saying it. So, in fewer words they can articulate with greater precision.

Preparation is not just a matter of writing a check list. Preparation is the art of fact finding and differentiating a solution that engages personal relevance. The true visionaries rehearse every potential conclusion with the board of directors of their mind.

Showtime
I used to think I could get by on product knowledge and my ability to entertain. I assumed I could call myself an expert if I knew what my product did while possessing the gift of gab. It worked for a while but eventually people got tired of my bravado. I learned to slow down, ask questions, and share knowledge. It is about sharing not grandstanding.

Selling is not telling. You can no longer pretend your good looks and fast tongue will help you succeed.

Know your audience, speak their language, and make it look effortless!

Fall Down, Get Up
I remember getting upset when I heard Michael Jordan proclaim that he had failed more than he had succeeded. It was the point when I realized that there is no finish line. Every day presents a new challenge and those of us wired for success are always seeking a challenge. We are not willing to accept winning as an end point but rather an opportunity to do more.
 
Did you know Rovio failed 51 times before creating Angry Birds. This overnight success took 8 years to develop. Nothing comes easy! Everything that produces interest is a result of hard work and conviction.

Anger is Easy
Anger is a result of frustration. Frustration results from having all the tools but being unable to utilize them in the proper fashion. Everyone possesses massive talent. Most people choose to let their fear prevent their potential. Ultimately, the ability to develop momentum is permanently disabled. This produces bitterness.

The easiest thing in the world is to be negative. To sit on the sidelines with arms crossed, criticizing those in the game. Then there are those who have the moxie to get out there and make things happen. With every effort you are open to criticism, with every failure the naysayers nod in disgust, then you look up and you are on top of the mountain.

"Do or do not, There is no try" - Yoda 

4 Intricate Disciplines
Every day our world is advancing. What an exciting time to be alive. With progress comes competition and the need to do more with greater efficiency. No longer can you be good at just one thing. You have to be good at everything!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave          

The Black Licorice Theory

“We're like licorice. Not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice.”
― Jerry Garcia

I recently re-read a friend's book on "PUSH marketing". From what I could ascertain there were two main themes in his book:

1. Quantity not Quality
2. Ideas must be Commercialized to gain adoption

.....I emphatically disagree with both of these misguided principles!

Far too often in the Social Media space, I see users with 10,000 followers who produce no relevant material. Therein lies the problem. The people with great content shy away from social media because they see the aforementioned popularized user producing irrelevance. The system is broken. Trending topics do not encompass specialized content, popular users are not experts, and the opportunity of thought leadership sharing has been trumped by the commercialization of ideas.

Introducing the Black Licorice Theory:

• Quantity is a smokescreen
• The experts have been forced into Lurkerland
• Personal connection is all that matters

You have 10,000 followers....what does that really mean?
I read an article a while back about how to use LinkedIn. The well-intended author gave bullet pointed advice on how to gain followers. All points probably would enhance one's profile....Now you have another 100 followers, most of them independent staffing professionals.

Following the PUSH marketing strategy on LinkedIn commoditizes your life's work. Once you commoditize yourself your differentiated relevance is forever gone. Now you cannot attract the people with whom you actually want to connect.You are a person not a product.

Why I don't use Facebook
I am a self-professed social media evangelist. Admittedly, I don't have a Facebook profile. Like so many, I fell victim to the frustration of irrelevance. Tons of content - all vapid to the point of enticing me to rip my eyeballs out. Unfairly, I forever wrote off Facebook as a thought conveyor for the thoughtless.

Today, a one day Facebook advertisement generates more attention than a Super Bowl commercial. The collective of Facebook users is the third largest nation in the world. Unfortunately, the marketers forecasted these amazing statistics, commoditized a Facebook strategy, and squandered an opportunity to make meaningful connections.

One (is not) The Loneliest Number!
It takes an incredibly intelligent person to assess social media before they jump in.

There is only one piece of advice I can give you:
Be Yourself

You cannot pretend to be of a certain professional ilk to impress your buying public. Best case scenario, you actually get to meet them and they discover your masquerade. Then you have wasted your time and you have blown your credibility. Don't pretend to be someone you are not.

Honesty and Negativity are different concepts. I remember attacking someone on my friend's blog who had insulted my intelligence. When I revisited the feed I realized that I had been disregarded. A thousand people viewed my tirade and all of them knew better than to justify it with a response. In the right social forums the villagers rule with dignity and empower you to act accordingly. With great power comes great responsibility!

In the movie Office space, Michael Bolton compromised his integrity to impress his assumed future bosses. He sold himself down the river in an effort to keep a job he didn't want in the first place. It is the ultimate lesson in compromise. If your goal is to be regular, achievement is inevitable.

Business is driven by new ideas. Truly innovative ideas are very hard to come by. All you have is your unique thought and it is imperative that you protect it. No one ever changed lives by selling out.

PUSH Marketing sucks! Black Licorice is Delicious!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave     
   

Sales 2.0

Over the last few weeks, we reviewed the concepts of Social Selling and The Social Enterprise. This week we will marry the aforementioned concepts in the revolution known as Sales 2.0. In my estimation there are 3 key characteristics to Sales 2.0:

• Introducing Compelling Content
• Performing Rock Star Presentations
• The Forgotten Concept of Human Interaction

Cold Calling is Dead
Very few people answer the office phone, everyone has caller ID, and calling from a blocked number is a poor way to establish trust. Everyone is busy and interruptions are never well received. Even the magic phone controllers of yesteryear need a point of reference these days.

In order to make an impact you need content to support your prospecting efforts that is easy to access and simple to understand:

• Value propositions must be conveyed within 10 seconds
• Content has to be written in your prospective customer's language
• The best way to intrigue your buying audience is by entertaining them 

Maybe you have a knack for writing concise and meaningful emails. You might be able to peak customer interest through video sharing. Maybe social media has served as an engagement point. These days a phone call or smile without significant content attached to it will commoditize you as another pretty face.

Wake Up Call
Sales teams spend countless hours preparing for the big pitch. We think ourselves in circles obsessing over the intricacies of our products and services. We get in front of a prospective customer and take them way down the rabbit whole....a 90 minute crash course training on how our products works......without considering WHY they would want to use it. Repeat this pain staking process 4 times and you have a day in the life of a buyer....no wonder why they're grumpy.

All sales people want to be Rock Stars....your content and how you present it is your Rock Opera!

You can differentiate yourself from the other boring presenters by doing the following:

• Deliver multi-media presentations that are "fun" for your audience
• Consult in an interactive manner
• Articulate a business solution (not a product or service)

We all know the fine points of where we are better than our competitors....our buyer doesn't care. The key to wining is presenting as if you were a co-worker not a potential "vendor".

The Secret Sauce
The sales folk are aggressive and articulate but they still seem to believe their gift of gab is all that matters. The marketing folk have amazing content but engaging at the point of sale requires more than product functionality. Sales 2.0 brings great content and differentiated consultation together. But, don't fall into the trap. There are products built by brilliant programmers who know how products function but are unable to articulate why they will make a potential customer's business better. It's not about the widget!

The key to winning in sales is to develop the ability to become a consultant not a salesperson, a partner not a vendor, a friendly advisor not an annoying product pusher.

Consider This....

• Don't demonstrate a product, present a solution
• A brand is only as good as the people who represent it
• Make is easy
• Make it fun!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave          

Now Boarding...The Enterprise

I remember giving a seminar to HR Professionals in 2007 extolling the virtue of what I called "Social Networking Tools". At that time, Social Media (as it would come to be tagged) was still suffering from the Paris Hilton stigma. This was the perception that tools like Twitter were of the same ilk as Facebook and that they had no business relevance. The crowd of HR Pros embraced the story I told of recovering addicts who used Twitter to encourage one another throughout the day. But, they still left with eyebrows raised.

Times have changed! I was blown away when I heard Salesforce.com's CEO, Marc Benioff, advocate the virtue of what he called "The Social Enterprise" a few years back. The spirit of the keynote inspired business progress through collaboration not competition. This was a foreign message to the cut-throat sales professionals in the room....but Benioff had conviction in his cause and it caught fire!!!!

Last week, I attended another Cloudforce event, sponsored by the aforementioned cloud computing maverick organizational leader. The message again redirected: Social Networking Tools evolved into Social Media which has now become "The Social Enterprise". The social enterprise has adopted two primary functions:

• Internal Strategy Platform
• Customer Community

#Chatter
There is a problem with email, it is nontransparent! I can cc the team on project objectives but this traditionally leads to one off cyber-conversations that create silos. What if it was all out in the open? What if you couldn't hide information or misstep deadlines any more? Salesforce.com developed Chatter a few years back. Chatter is a social application: an internal platform to share best practices. But, Chatter's divine power lies in transparency. No longer are there side roads in the path to success...we all face it together. Collaborative, Transparent and All-Accountable!

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
People fear social media because the interpretation of intent is a very slippery slope. "give them an inch and they'll take a mile". In other words, if there is an application central to my organization that I can access any time, I might go to happy hour, log-on, and tell them what I really think. So, we turn a blind eye to that which is there to help us for fear that it may expose us. The kids will not learn to play fair in the sandbox if you keep them tied down in their swings.

#CustomerService
Today you can go to Twitter, hashtag a company name, voice an issue, and get a reply in real time. No more waiting on-hold. Your issue is out in the open for millions to see....frequently asked questions in real time. An unavoidable basis for pro-active problem solving. Faults can no longer be put off or avoided. The sooner your problem is fixed the sooner they get off the front page. Today everyone works for Consumer Reports!

Customer Community
Let's not mistake the issue, social access is not an invitation to complain. We all simply need to adjust our frame of thinking to collaborate not compete. Before we know it we will all be on the same side of the screen.

The world's best companies are developing communities for their advocates to communicate across the Globe. It's product development through consumer input. You are no longer on the side lines, you are in the game, and your voice matters. Reviews are no longer confined to professional news publications, the board of directors voice is dwarfed by unavoidable customer input, and leader interpretation is backed by metrics from a thousand sources. The only solution is to get better, quicker. That's a good thing!

Mending Fences
We are at the crest of a tidal wave. Companies locked in buildings are becoming communities of unique individuals free to share their vision. Companies are no longer hiding their mistakes, they are inviting others to help create their destiny. Giving up control is no longer a sign of weakness but an invitation to consistently evolve. We live in real-time and everyone has something to teach. The opportunity is massive, if you ignore it, the wave will swallow you.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave       

People Not Contacts

It was a great day in San Francisco on March 12th. The Sales Giants of Tomorrow braved the time change to attend Inside View's Insider Summit. It was a well put together event...great keynote, 1 minute sponsor intros and short/informative breakout sessions. A lot of information in a snapshot....such are times in which we exist.

Umberto Milletti eloquently delivered the message of the day.....selling is about people not contacts. Umberto told us that he, as a buyer, does not answer the phone and rarely replies to email. He then noted that commercial real estate agents are among the most pushy salespeople but when he requested information for commercial space on Twitter only 2 people replied. A reflection on the swinging pendulum of sales. It is no longer about having the gift of gab or an extroverted personality. It is about doing your research, differentiating your solution to the personality of your buyer, and finding a creative way to access them. The game is changing and if you stick to your old methods your forehead will start bleeding.....from running into walls!

Introducing the 3 Stages of Social Selling:
Personal Access
Differentiation
Silver Bullet

How did you know that?
....because it's on your facebook page.

Still to this day people are surprised when I mention their favorite baseball team or a current event at their alma mater - and this is the easily accessible information. Don't worry about freaking out your buyer. You can find out a lot about a person in a 15 minute review of their LinkedIn profile, Twitter page, Facebook posts and/or blog. If they put it out there it is yours to share in....the key is using the information in a differentiating way without creeping someone out!!!!!!

Information is not an Invitation!
Be an advisor not a stalker! Use the elements of a person's personality conveyed through social media only in ways applicable to your products/services.

Don't:
Tell someone their daughter is beautiful!
Revisit a political or religious opinion that may have been posted!
Ask if you can have permission to date the aforementioned beautiful daughter!!!

Do:
Mention an industry relevant article or case study that they posted, retweeted, or favored
Mention a common professional connection
Correlate the benefit of your solution in metaphor to their favorite team winning (...tricky...)

The introduction is over
People's time has never been more precious. They will smile and entertain your personal probing questions but they would rather you cut to the chase. You can now access the answers to all the stupid "ice breaker" questions before you check in with the receptionist.

With all the information at your finger tips everything you say should be direct and relevant. Formulate and customize a presentation (or conversation strategy) that is personally engaging. If you are smooth in your delivery (which every salesperson should be) you will come off as a subject matter expert: "This guy knows my business and his product matches what I do really well".

The New Age in Sales
* Everyone thinks sales people are pushy. You have a direct path to victory if you can dispel that presumption.
* Time is money: be relevant, precise and direct.
* Know not just what they do but why it matters and how you can help.

The tools are there but they are commonly avoided. The salespeople who are winning have put themselves on the buyers side of the table through research and the ability to differentiate. The salespeople who are losing think they can still rely on their big mouth to impress people.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"   - Albert Einstein

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Even Linebackers Need Recognition

Greg Williams and his former New Orleans Saints organizational mates are in deep trouble. It is alleged that Coach Williams took the process of inspiring his players a step too far. No one would advocate rewarding a professional football player for hurting one of his union mates....we are unsure if this was the intent of what has been labeled a "bounty program". Everyone, however, would applaud a leader for offering his/her employees incentives for improving their performance.

The intended consequences of the New Orleans Saints unconventional incentive program are yet to be fully realized. There are, however, 2 key lessons learned from this controversy applicable to Employee Recognition:
Everyone Wants to be Recognized
It's Not About the Reward

Romo's Thoughts
"...it wasn't about the money, it was about the recognition..." - Bill Romanowski

A sports scientist nor even Roger Goodell can explain the importance of a post game moment. That moment in Pop Warner Football when the coach gives you a sticker to put on your helmet. It has nothing to do with the hit you put on your classmate and you did not intend to hurt him. For the first time in your life you spent 5 hours of every summer day in the hot sun with pads on and YOU overcame your personal limitations. Your parents were nowhere to be found, it was not soccer, and your dad was not the coach. For the first time in your life you did something on your own, you tried your hardest, and after days of uncertainty...the Coach picked YOU as the top performer. This, dear readers, is the premise of greatness. It is a result of great parenting, faith in the right things, and your recognition of your own ability! There is simply nothing better!

On a recent broadcast of the Jim Rome Show, Bill Romanowski explained it in terms that related to that which was documented above. Football players in this day and age make 10 figure incomes. They also risk their life every day. Put it in perspective: you are walking into a gun fight....a knife won't do!

Houses, Cars, and Attractive Women are elements of fame. They cannot make up for that moment when the coach brings you in front of the team to recognize YOUR effort! It is humbling and gratifying all at once. It is the place we all strive to get back to regardless of our income or status.

There is not a person on Earth who would not be humbled and gratified by a coach calling him/her in front of their team to get a sticker to put on their helmet. The sticker goes on the helmet and the recognition of your personal ability is never forgotten. You cannot assign a fiscal value to trying your hardest and knowing it made a difference.

Coach Williams did not encourage grown men to hurt their union mates. He wanted them to remember what it was like to try, succeed, and to be validated.

Value Is Interpretive
I once won a sales contest and our Vice President gave me a gift card. I bought diapers for my kids. Only they gave a shit! It was amazingly easy for our VP to ask her assistant to send me the card in the mail. There was no human interaction...my life's dedication had become a commodity. As I sharpened up my resume, my boss called me into a room, all of my teammates were there. They applauded for me. I had no idea what I had done. Without my knowing, everyone on my team had nominated me for an award that was globally recognized. I was the only sales professional to be given the reward. I stayed with the company for an additional 5 years because I didn't want my team to have to live with our Vice President.

Lance Armstrong said it best, "it's not about the bike". His life's dedication was to beat cancer and to inspire other people to do the same. To look a death sentence in the eye and win is far more important than any professional achievement.

Think about it....the best gift you have ever received did not cost more than any other. Someone took enough time to get to know you, they took time to find something that meant more to you than money, and they presented it to you in a fashion that made you remember what LIFE is all about!

We all need a sticker for our helmet. None of us would injure another to get it.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Hill

I recently saw a documentary on Walter Payton. He is an athlete that is near and dear to my heart because I played him in the Viejo Elementary production of The Superbowl Shuffle in 1985. He was called "Sweetness" because he had a certain style, on the field and off, that came to characterize the charismatic Chicago Bears of the mid-80's. The team won the super bowl by a landslide, losing only 1 game the entire season. They dominated. It should be noted that the head bands, haircuts and flashy clothes did not contribute to the Bears success - their success was a result of one thing: Hard Work!

That year I saw an article in a magazine. It was about "The Hill", a piece of land that Walter Payton owned. While some would have used the landscape for hunting or to built a race track for the kids, Sweetness used the land as a training ground. When football practice ended, Walter went back home and ran up and down a near vertical hill on the property...over and over. He pushed his physical limitations ever forging a new frontier of conditioning...never stopping until he reached the mountain top. It was a foreign concept to many, to use your limited free time to torture yourself. The result was the aforementioned championship and personal achievements that will forever be enshrined in the pro football hall of fame. More than the results, The Hill represented the American Dream: success is there for you if you are willing to work really, really hard!

New York Knicks point guard, Jeremy Lin, has become an American Icon of late. Tim Tebow completed one of the most hyped football seasons in 2011. Neither of these young men are the most talented in their trade. They are a phenomena because they have worked hard to earn their place in the spot light. In a time of multi-million dollar contracts, endorsement deals, flashy cars and tattoos; Lin and Tebow chose to make a career of a game through hard work. They went back to The Hill!

In business, there are those who have big ideas, others are blessed with the gift of gab, and some people have a firm grasp on the art of finance. No matter who you are or what you do there is one thing that will always ensure success: Hard Work!

What does The Hill look like to you?

We all have goals to conquer. Each of us is tasked with making the impossible a reality and then doing it again next year. The Hill we face is mighty and we must start the climb!

We are six weeks into 2012. Have you started the climb?

The cleats and the headband are not enough. Here are a few tips for getting up The Hill:
1. Wake Up One Hour Earlier
2. Listen to What you Have to
3. Be Persistent

Get There First
I never believe people who say they do not have enough time to perform certain tasks. This excuse is a result of poor time management. Are you too busy or are you busy doing unnecessary work?

Holstee released their organizational manifesto in 2011. The line most prominent, "if you don't have enough time, stop watching TV". You spend time on facebook, watch stupid shows, and sit on a bar stool in an effort to decompress from the rat race - I get it! But, your time can be better spent.

When the excuse of limited time became a staple in my vocabulary, I made a commitment....to wake up at 5am every day! It is hard....the air is cold, the sky is dark, and the snooze button is inviting. The adjustment took a few days but I learned to shut off the TV and go to bed earlier. I stopped spending time on the bar stool to avoid waking up with a lamp shade on my head.

Try it for one week....wake up an hour earlier!

You have to hear this
Most often in life, we are told what we want to hear. Cell phones were created to fill time on our commute calling a friend, complaining about our day, and hearing we are right for feeling disgruntled. We seek validation for our lack of effort and our friends are kind enough to lend it. The people who really love you may, from time to time, tell you not what you want to hear but what you have to hear! It stings and it cuts deep.

Only you spend every moment of every day with you. Only you know if you have done everything you could have done today. If you are to be successful you have to be honest with yourself. You have to face the tough decisions head on and do the right thing.

The Hill gets no less ominous if you stand there and look at it!

Never Give Up
My dad would often test my resolve by telling me "NO". I would walk away upset and he would say, "You're going to give up that easily?".....The thought often crossed my mind that if he was willing to give me a buck for nachos, why didn't he just hand it over. He wanted me to earn it.

In this day and age very few people will hand you anything. They need to know you are committed. Now more than ever loyalty is a result of trust. Trust has to be earned. You can have a less attractive marketing strategy and might even neglect wearing a fancy suit. If you can prove you will not let someone down; they will take a chance on you. But, you have to earn it.

If, with every challenge failed, you put your tail between your legs you won't even make it to the foot of The Hill.

Get Started >>>>
The image of Sweetness pumping his legs as he climbs The Hill remains the benchmark for hard work. We always see the Great Ones with the trophy in hand. We seldom see the failures they had to overcome to get there. The camera does not light up at practice. The media does not wake up at 5am to document the morning jog.

The Hill is in front of you and it is yours to conquer!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave
      

The Door

I sat in bed on Saturday night with my two beautiful children sleeping between my beautiful wife and I; a humbled smile on my face. As a life-long Oakland A's fan the story of Moneyball was a glorious viewing pleasure. Long before the Oakland A's winning streak of 2002, there were the A's of the 70's that were paid to grow mustaches to embrace the hippies and bikers that supported their team. Long before Billy Beane there was Bill Martin....Crazy George and Rickey Henderson's stolen base record. There was an Earthquake that unified two sides of Northern California during a world series. The most famous home run ever hit started in the hand of a clutch Oakland A's reliever. Heart breaking at times, glorious in others, baseball is certainly a romantic sport.

A person I consider a very good friend has suffered and thrived as a member of the Oakland A's staff. They await a new stadium, their cross town rivals have won a World Championship and the recent fire sale of their team's talent makes the Giambi/Damon departure look like a walk int the park. There can be no glory without heartbreak and such is the story of Moneyball.

Golden Globe Nominee, Jonah Hill, called the story of Moneyball punk rock - Amen! The movie is not about the Oakland A's or even baseball. It is about finding the door where others see a dead end. Billy Beane and Peter Brand bucked the tradition of the most traditional sport in the world and created a new way of operating. That is the challenge that faces us all, no matter what we do. We cannot bow to the New York Yankee's of business because they have more staff, more clients and bigger operating costs. We have to use our gift of inventive thought to flip our respective industries on their ear.

Here's what happens: a company gathers market share, they systematize their business plan and profit drives their mission. People become numbers and reputation creates customers.....In hindsight, they stop creating ways of attracting new clients because they focus on margin management. The sales folk get lazy and count their money instead of hunting. Someone call Billy Beane!

The standard in any industry exists only to be broken. The rich think they are getting richer while the commoners plan a way to storm the tower. Every great company is built by a chairman or chairwoman who is hungry. This is the definition of punk rock: viewing the norm as a stagnant weight station on the road to success. Nothing is cemented, permanence stopped a second ago, and being at the top of the ladder only reveals the color of your bloomers. Our fleeting moments on this earth are only an invitation to chase a pennant every day!

There is a moment in Moneyball when Billy Beane reveals how badly he wants to win. He states that the only game worth winning is the last game of the year. His pursuit of perfection is equal parts torture and joy. Billy Beane missed his daughter's growing up to build a team worth watching on a shoe string budget...and I voiced my disapproval from the stands. His time lost encapsulated in a song that his daughter played for him. My frustration erased by a Scott Hatteberg home run!

Sports are an incomprehensible metaphor for life. You cannot make this stuff up. The human spirit cannot be systematized or defined by metrics. With every achievement the bar is set only to be raised higher.

Find The Door!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Voluntary Criticism

Twice this weekend I witnessed a person volunteer advice to a retail worker. In both cases, the advisor was aggressive in their unsolicited criticism. The workers in both cases were graceful. Feeling sorry for the dejected laborers, I pose the following question to the voluntary advisor:
Are you an advisor or a bully?

In both of the aforementioned acts of indignity, the retail worker was noticeably shaken by the abusive prose of their "valued customer". A punch in the face would have been more fitting than a smile and an apology. But, that's not the world we live in.

We live in a time where standing up for oneself is frowned upon. Knowing this, the miserable invite company by baiting the well-intended into a demerit. This is what losers do....look to anyone they have temporary control over and abuse this pseudo-authority. As a result, the losers are empowered and the well-intended get side-tracked. Those who have tried and failed want to distract the well-intended from their goals for advancement. They will not stand to see another succeed because they missed their chance.

I remember Tiger Woods' press conference before his first professional golf tournament. When asked what he felt would be a decent result for the tournament Tiger Woods responded "A Victory". The crowd roared in laughter...when they looked up from their notepads they saw a look of stone cold determination on Tiger's face. He was there to win! Ultimately, he would redefine possible in his sport because he ignored his detractors.

Why do we feel it necessary to shake our heads at the well-intended?
Why can't we defend ourselves when abused by the ill-intended?
What can we do to transcend the inherent negativity of the failure culture?

Bliss (is not) Ignorance
When someone smiles at you, the reaction is either:
"whats that guy's problem"
or
"why is that dum dum smiling"

My Advice: Keep Smiling

What has happened in our society that we have to be suspicious of kindness? Last year, I had an idea....I would randomly email one person a day to wish them a great day. To a person, I got responses intending that I had sent the email in error. A random act of kindness met with suspicion and malcontent for "spamming" them.

It's hard to be positive because it requires a consistent ability to see beyond people's suspicion. If you keep your chin up, you are always susceptible to a left hook.

Enough!
Back a man in the corner long enough and he's bound to come out swinging

A friend of mine who is a professional boxer had this phrase posted in his locker. It meant that he was willing to be a Gentleman until he couldn't be a Gentleman any more.

Bullies rely heavily on the element of surprise. Their bravado kicks the door open (and all that follows is wind). The surprise with which the bully puts upon you needs to be flipped on its ear. You can pose two or three simple questions and reveal the mindless frustration of a person who has nothing left to give.

Never underestimate your ability to flip the bully on his ear. The bigger they pretend to be, the harder they fall!

Duck's Back
My children's great grandfather had learned that the key to success was to be an action hero rather than a drama queen. He worked hard and turned his hearing aid down when the women of the family were at the table. He once told me that I was his favorite person with whom to share a sunset (because I knew better than to ruin it by talking).

We can talk ourselves in circles seeking validation or we can do our fighting in the ring.

Bad things happen to people. They get beat up by their "superiors" so they seek inferiors to project their anger upon.

Reflection: I remember being the last kid on the soccer field; alone with a kid who had picked on me for several weeks prior. There was no one around to save me. He approached me with his usual intimidation tactics. I flipped him on his head and punched his face until he began to cry. I looked up and my mother was standing there. She grabbed me by the collar and took me to the car. I was sure I was going to be grounded for a year. As we drove away she said. "you can stop crying now, that little asshole deserved it".

You Are Inferior to No One - send the bully home with a bloody nose!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Art of Goal Setting

Again this morning I braved the cold as the city slept. At the onset of 2011, I set a goal to wake up an hour earlier. I achieved my goal! For an entire year I awoke before 5am and got out the door after showering (hygiene is important). The streets vacant, the weather often cold, the sky dark....alone with my motivation.

I lead a strange professional existence. My job entitles me to work from home....I have never actually worked from home. Coming from a hyper-structured environment, I didn't trust myself to build a home office, so I spend the hours before others awake at the coffee shop. When you are arriving for your morning coffee, I am out the door on to phase 2 of the day. It's difficult avoiding the snooze button, but there is nothing more empowering than starting every day ahead of the competition.

I recently tweeted - "If you strive for perfection you will never fully achieve your goals". I will always set goals for myself that exceed the expectations of others. Achievement of everything is too much to ask if your goals are designed in proper fashion. The art of living is always striving for more.

2011 was a success - I reached my revenue goal. But, there are several areas in which I fell short. No matter how monumental our achievements we can always do more. Too often, we allow the past qualification of possible to drive our motivation instead of shattering the standard.

Five years ago, I evolved my business strategy: to do more with less. To try harder for fewer results....such were the times....they haven't gotten any better. The economy continues to struggle and there does not seem to be relief around the corner. With each year, I try harder to find the door in the dead end. I have learned that hard work always yields results, positivity is the only frame of mind one can possess, and creativity has never been more valued. With these skills in my tool belt I brave another year.

How can we take flight in the eye of the storm?:
1. Find a Larger Purpose
2. Shatter the Standard
3. Self-Assess

Stop Punching
If you are a person who dislikes bravado as much as I do it can be very difficult to "buy in". I understand that the "ra ra" thing can be distracting. That being said, you owe it to yourself to develop a higher professional purpose. In simplest terms:
a. Examine your organization's core values and mission statement
b. Develop the ability to derive personal purpose in every assigned task
c. Take a minute every day to research a personal interest

Work is (not just) work. You can create something that will benefit YOU from an instruction given by THEM.

~ I'm not sure why every organization doesn't present their core values to job candidates...?
~ Every instruction your boss gives you is yours to interpret and prioritize as you see fit.
~ It's a refreshing practice to google something you haven't thought of in a while.

Be Kind to the New Girl
I received a promotion in my company and was moved to a new team. The first thing I noticed was the negativity of the so-called team leaders. They thought I would respect their warnings. I thought, "I am going to be the number one producer on this team in six months".

Tenure can be a tricky thing. No one wants to be the new kid on the block and the tenured reps always seem to be more helpful than they need to be. In most cases, the old guard just wants to help the new folks. But the new crew has different ideas and experiences. Those who set the standard cannot seek to protect it.

There was a book written called the first 90 days. From what I can discern, this book offers suggestions about how to make a good first impression and with whom one should align oneself. I'm sorry....The concept of positioning yourself in an organization without results is complete horse shit!

We all know we can perform above the standards set before us but we must be humble in the process. I would recommend the following:
1. Don't speak unless spoken to
2. Don't ask questions with the intent of showing you know the answer
3. Keep your hand down in team meetings
4. Keep your phone on mute during conference calls
5. Don't drink too much and state your (real) opinions

Do your talking in the ring!

Be your worst critic, but let no one know
I know no one who has been massively successful that has allowed the company for which they work to define them. You must always set standards for yourself higher than those of your boss or the company you represent.

The art form is being consistently critical of your own effort without the slightest degree of public transparency.

Allow me to explain: You cannot endure life's challenges by beating up on yourself. Self-assessment is a healthy way to turn your weaknesses into strengths. Only you know how much time you have, how hard you tried, and what you could have done differently. The only person you report to is yourself!

Question: Have you ever given everything you have to every minute of an entire year?

Why not make this The Year...?

Don't Forget to Remember ~

Dave

The 3 P's

Most often, this blog deals the bigger issues that relate one's personality to their professional development. Today, we will work in much more direct terms. As a Career Coach, I am often asked for the silver bullet methods for success that one can implement in their climb to professional nirvana. It changes based on variable factors but I can suggest the following:
Preparation
Purpose
Personal Attention

The 3 P's are a excellent method in differentiating a truly successful company from the pretenders. They are also a turn-key to good professional habits. It is important to conduct oneself in a professionally graceful manner. Follow the 3 P's......

Preparation
Do you get freaked out when someone you meet for the first time knows the college you attended, your favorite sports team or your past employers? Did you ever consider that this is information you have made readily available? Why wouldn't you be flattered if someone took a personal interest in you.

A 2 minute google search can tell you a lot about a person. Understand the common language that correlates to a person's lifestyle and work it into conversation. It's a great way to establish rapport and common interest.

The look of surprise is one of flattery not alienation.

Purpose
Common purpose creates a company identity that cultivates an organizational culture. A logo represents a professional ethos shared by everyone who humanizes a brand.

No two people are perfectly alike but let's consider a football analogy. The path to victory is driven by a style of playing the game and directives for success. Business is no different: every company has core values, every department has business critical goals. Professionals should be able to recite their company's core values and the top 3 directives of their business group. Purpose is driven by common goals and a style for achieving success.

Personal Attention
Can you commit to responding to every email/voicemail within 3 hours? I bet you can. Even if you do not have a perfect answer, you can at least lay out a plan of action or report that the process is under way. People love to know that they can ping someone and that person is reliable to the extent that any given task will be addressed in short time. Your boss loves it, your customers love it, your wife loves it.

Implement a 3 hour turnaround time!

In summation:
1. Google every person you meet
2. Believe in what you do (or do something else)
3. Implement a 3 hour turn around time

Don't sweat the small stuff but always remember the little things!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

i-consider

You will find success when you learn to say "I" less!

A while back a team of several people presented a major proposal to a large corporation. In debriefing, our team lead went on and on about what she did to impress the client. She continually said "I did a really great job showing them....I told them exactly....blaw, blaw, blaw...". We won the deal and at some point our team lead was promoted. Proof that God does not understand the corporate world. In the court of the opinion of her peers the damage was done. Months of preparation by several people was reduced to an insecure young lady trying to prove herself worthy of a seat at the table with the big boys. The rest of us just wanted to put together a great strategy for our client. We went on working with the corporation we presented to and warned them with the aforementioned team lead was coming to town. While she attempted to impress them with another powerpoint we texted each other from across the table with eyes rolling. When the client (now our friends) laughed at my texts the team lead thought they were smiling with astonishment of her professionalism. What a Dum Dum!

I must admit that there are times when I have acted out of character professionally. I went out of my way to prove myself worthy of greater responsibility. I had side bar conversations with Senior Managers bringing to their attention my latest contributions. I look back on that point of my career with disdain. I simply didn't understand the image I was projecting. I was too naive to recognize my selfishness. My bravado projected insecurity.....not confidence. Over time, I grew up.

We all have milestones in our personal development. This is actually a critical part of our professional development. For some it comes from losing a big deal, others lose a job, and there are those who learn from winning. For me, the transition was very subtle. I saw people acting the way I had and I came to understand the inelegance of my former self.

There are 3 things to consider in consideration of others:
Stop saying "I"
Be humble in victory and accountable in defeat
Learn to blow off the unimportant

There is no "I" in R.e.s.p.e.c.t
I once worked with a man who was unable to delegate. He felt out-of-control if he passed anything along to his "lesser" colleagues. He really cared a lot....but he came off as mistrusting. As if to say, you are going to screw this up, so I'll work twice as hard. We heard the story of the team lead who took credit for her team's hard work. I told you of my shameless self-promotion. All of these people are well-intentioned but terribly presented. We often get so focused on the final score that we neglect the style in which we play the game.

Your boss will fire you tomorrow if someone better comes along. The company you work for could close their doors tomorrow. You will, however, always have a reputation among your peers. Your peers are the people who you see in the grocery store and at the kid's soccer games. When you lose your job, you will most likely look to your peers for support. The same people you see on the way up, you will see on the way down.

The Humility of Accountability
I love hearing post-game interviews with players who compliment their team. Interviews are stupid...we all saw the game, we know what happened. So those who take their moment on TV to compliment their peers are admirable. No one enjoys someone who brags when they win, no one wants to hear excuses from those who have lost.

It is best to be Humble in victory and Accountable in defeat.

Ignore It...
I remember being really upset about something incredibly unimportant. Someone had let the team down and had tried to pass the blame on others. Nothing upsets me more than lack of accountability masked in unilateral communication. After complaining like a little girl for 10 minutes, I asked my boss how he was able to endure such incompetence day in and day out. To which he replied, "I ignore it"!

From that point on, I learned not to take the mundane elements too seriously. I learned that everyone knows when the ball is dropped and attempting to save face is a natural human reaction. I learned to give people the benefit of the doubt when they fail and they will do the same for you. Yes, you too will fail!

No one is perfect yet we all need to approach life with the proper degree of confidence. We cannot go through each day second guessing ourselves. We have to make decisions and be confident in them....and when we fail we have to own it. A whole bunch of talk does not make one confident but the inability to express oneself is worse. We have to learn to pick our battles and to always present ourselves in a nature that is respected by others.

Years from now the team lead I mentioned above will deliver a pizza to my house....and because I'm a nice guy, I will tip her an extra buck. It is in those moments that the selfishness of poor personal promotion comes back to haunt us. In fact, the best personal promotion is no personal promotion.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave       

Enterprise 2.0 - Part 2.0

Earlier this week, I wrote of the mind meld that is Enterprise 2.0. The Santa Clara Convention Center and the Twitter back channel was filled with awesomeness this week. Consultants, Entrepreneurs and Community Advocates from Major Corporations gathered to contribute their Thought Leadership in development of a strategic approach to Social Media.

As a Social Media Evangelist, I can say this conference was equal parts inspiring and alarming. We are always trying to use technology to support our companies and customers in the best way possible. We want to keep up with trends while protecting our public reputation. It's tricky!

I pointed out the superstars of the convention earlier this week. Today I have a few take aways to challenge those who believe in the power of social media.

The Art of Presenting
I've been to a thousand conferences.....Human Resources, Training, Coaching, Sales, Music Industry....whatever. The thing that differentiates tech conferences like Dreamforce, Tech Crunch and E 2.0 from the others is the matter in which people present.

Two Things to Consider:
1. It seems a lot of the population in the tech industry are young entrepreneurs who are programmers by nature.
2. The Tech Crunch Ethos has created a very narrow window for presenting.

The aforementioned pre-qualifiers make for presentations that are either really good or really bad. The Great Aaron Levie of Box gave a super-charged keynote that included a plethora of information at rapid fire pace. He was focused, fluid, and passionate about the topic he presented. The Twitter back channel seemed lost in his pace of verbosity.....but I thought it was the perfect way to present.

A few things Presenters should be aware of:
1. Don't Product Dump!
2. Don't Tell Us About YOUR company exclusively
3. Act like you are actually interested in your topic
4. Deliver your message with passion

I would consider presenting at Enterprise 2.0 to be a pretty big deal. I was surprised how many people were unprepared. Just kind of reading slides. I understand that not everyone is comfortable presenting in front of people. All you need is a little humor, some energy, and a message that your audience can relate to.

At Dreamforce I saw an Executive from a Fortune 20 get in front of the audience and talk about her company...on and on and on.....The fact that this person is a Millionaire is disconcerting. If I am in the audience to improve my organizational strategy, I don't need a case study on YOUR company's success. I need you to tell me how your strategy can enhance my company. Show me the WHY not the WHAT.

FUN!
The most heated back channel discussion at E 2.0 involved Gamification. There are emerging companies that are using game theory to engage their employees. The crowd of ferociously competitive young professionals seemed put off by the idea that "work" would be a "game". Gen Y stereotype dispelled!

Gamification is a slippery slope. I have no issue with adding a creative way of bringing employees into a forum to showcase their degree of engagement. We got a peek at VMware's Niko Niko, a single-touch daily employee feedback function. There are other concepts of Avatar driven virtual rewards that employees seem to view as a waste of time. As long as the metrics of the "game" attach business critical behaviors to organizational directives a little creative design never hurts.

You Are Welcome   
As evolved as Social Media has become, it can still be a good old boys/girls club. In participating in Social Media people also submit themselves to criticism. The attendees at E 2.0 seem to be aware of this and were thus massively supportive. In a Twitter back channel of thousands of posts, I saw very little negativity. People were also willing to have in-person discussions. The mood was profoundly upbeat. There was not a feeling of competition but a Community of Collaboration. It feels great to walk into a conference with the willingness to share without being judged. Thanks to everyone who made me feel at home in Santa Clara.

Parting Message:
Adoption is Social Media's greatest challenge. People are apprehensive to participate in social media for fear they will have their message misinterpreted, will be judged, and will ultimately have their reputation (and the reputation of their company) damaged.

For those who participate in social media forums.
* Judge Not!
* Try to see all sides
* Be Positive

For those on the fringe.....as I stated earlier this week, Social Media is no longer the elephant in the room ~ it is a Fire Breathing Dragon! It is not a fad, it is not going away, and it will be a pre-qualifier for your next job! It is very important to put your predisposition aside and get your feet wet.

Know this, your reputation will not be damaged if your intentions are good:
a. Share in the interest of everyone
b. Don't assume people think a certain way by researching their profile/company
c. Don't be an asshole!

Collaborate!

Don't Forget to Remember!

- Dave Kovacovich

5 Questions for Brian Garvey

Let's face it, most mentoring programs suck! We pair an upstart performer with a more Senior team member or an Executive. Two scenarios usually take shape:

1. The upstart preps for the meeting and the Executive asks to reschedule.

2. The upstart spends the mentoring sessions opposing the Executive's viewpoint and she puts him on the "people to fire" list.

There is an exception to every rule! 8 years ago my Boss asked me to spend a few minutes each week with one of our new hires. The intent was to answer questions and provide situational guidance....what happened was something completely different. Our sessions were highly productive for 2 reasons:
1. We spoke it terms of business solutions (not products and services).
2. We actually enjoyed talking to one another.

The Mentor was I and the Mentee was today's guest. Since our first mandated call nearly a decade ago, both of us have found different careers, but we have seldom missed our Friday evening call. This week's discussion involved the questions below.....which Mr. Garvey was kind enough to contribute to DFTR.

1. You are a project management professional – tell us what that means.

Technically, I am not a project management professional. That title is a professional designation known as a PMP by the Project Management Institute. I am, however, a Business Development Manager in the project management industry. Businesses rely on projects to sustain, change and improve their business performance. There is much to gain from choosing the right projects and completing them successfully. But that's easier said than done; most companies struggle with some aspect of their project portfolios. I work with a select group of companies to improve the way they manage their project portfolios, programs and individual projects.

2. You have an MBA in finance and could be a CFO by now, but you continue to endure the sales game….why?
Business exists to create customers, and I believe there are specific ways to create customers (through an organized effort on behalf of all members of a business for positive reasons that customers and employees love). I pursued my MBA because I wanted to learn more about business. I saw it as an investment in my personal learning and it has benefited me in many situations. But it's only one piece of many lessons I've learned about business. Why am I not a CFO by now...finance is interesting; accounting is not. I choose to endure the sales game because it's where customers are created. Sales is also the discipline where most organizational leaders come from.

3. People may not know that you are a culinary expert. How has your career as a chef complimented your experience in corporate America?
I do love to cook and contemplated a lifelong career as a chef. A restaurant is a business, and I've learned many lessons there as well; as many if not more than I learned in the MBA program.
Lesson 1- when everyone pulls in the same direction, a group of people can create amazing customers.
Lesson 2- don't let one bad review define your talents.
Lesson 3- I'll probably never like rice pilaf.

4. You are a guy who got married young, had kids, and have managed to stay married. What does that family foundation mean to your professional career?

Good question! I've heard thousands of managers over the years say employees need to keep personal lives away from work. I never understood that because my personal life is a huge reflection of what defines me. It's also impossible for me to keep my work life away from my personal life. My wife and I have many dinner conversations about work! One area affects the other. Admittedly, I believe the point is to keep the downside in check. If I'm having a terrible day at work then I don't go home and "kick the dog." The opposite is also true. So what does family foundation mean to my professional career? It's a very simple law of nature-- loyalty. I will do almost anything for those who have my best interests at heart.

5. There was a time when IBM was the training ground for a lot of other companies. These days, I think its Iron Mountain. What has being an Iron Mountain alumni meant to your career development?

Iron Mountain. The goose with the golden egg. I wonder if there's any other company 5 times larger than it's nearest competitor. The people I met at Iron Mountain have meant the most to my career development. They still impact my professional development today, even though it's been nearly 5 years since my resignation. It may seem unlikely, but I learn and grow every week because of the people I met at Iron Mountain.

Brian Garvey is a man who continues to win as a professional by the virtue of his tireless work ethic, solution oriented approach and his continual quest to try new things. 
 
Get to know Brian better @  http://www.linkedin.com/in/bgarv
 
Don't Forget to Remember!
 
- Dave Kovacovich