Will They Miss You When You're Gone?

Remember the scene from Jerry Maguire when he leaves his former employer with an inspired speech confronting the firms lack of integrity? ... and as soon as he walks out the door everyone gets right back to work.

"Everyone is Important, No One is Irreplaceable" - Anonymous Corporate Leader

In my 20 years in corporate America, I've never seen a company go out of business because of one employees departure. I've always cared a lot about the work I do, often too much. I've always jumped into each day with the desire to win. I seldom take Mondays off because I cannot relax if I don't feel I am contributing. I work on vacation (every day). 

It probably sounds pathetic, but I've always felt the need to earn my spot on the team, and to contribute (every day). I never possessed natural talent in any trade but I was always willing to work hard. 

Tempering the desire to win with humility can be a challenge. It is also what defines you as a professional.

Captain Mike Abrashoff once told a story of a ship full of soldiers cheering when their leader left the deck for the final time. His departure marked the end of a miserable time in their lives facing meaningless abuse without intent to progress.  

If you were to reflect on your career, or your life for that matter, there is one glaring question you might want to be bold enough to face:

Will They Miss You When You Leave?

Setting the death aside, let's focus of one's professional legacy....

My professional regrets exist not in failure to achieve goals, but the times I put myself before the team. 

I remember every person who has ever told me "no" in the selling cycle. I remember every time someone sighted a personality flaw to characterize my professional potential. I will never forget the times I have been bullied in the workplace. 

I feel sorry for the the Captain who left the ship to thunderous applause. I feel sorry for those who thought they had to use their undeserved place on the mantle as leverage to vomit their personal frustration. 

Will They Miss You When You Leave?

Jobs will come and go, your children will grow up and some day you will die. You will not be remembered for how many times you won but the integrity you displayed in the process. 

At some point in my life a quote came to me:

"Be Humble in Victory and Accountable in Defeat"

... I still fail to live this ideology. But, I'm working on softening the edges. 

Colonel Abrashoff spoke of leaving the same ship as their captain to complete silence... grown men and women whose lives he had protected... in tears. The ultimate sign of respect!

• Will your retirement party be under-attended?
• Will someone whom you had to dismiss from employment hire you years later?
• Will your daughter forgive you for missing her dance recital?

You Have Plenty of Time to Make it Right!

Tell the people you love that you love them (even if in the moment you don't believe it). Hug your kids, they'll get too big to carry to bed soon enough. Drop what you are doing to advise a co-worker. Blow off your board meeting to watch your son's baseball game. Kiss your wife in a room full of people. Sit silently with your kids when they fail, pump them full of positive feedback when they succeed. Never under-estimate anyone. Never walk into a meeting unprepared. Be respectful of retail workers. Tip your bartender. Get a Dog (they will help soften the edges). If you are pissed off put your I-pod on shuffle (Steve Jobs is in heaven and he knows how to slide a forgotten jewel in there). Read a book (an actual book). Call an old friend. Don't take the actions of the past too seriously.... most people are more forgiving than you may remember. 

You will make mistakes! You will fail! The key is to be one who is surrounded by supporters when you do.        

Will They Miss You When You Leave?

The streets will shut down on the day you die.... 

Will They Be Cheering or Crying?

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Without This, Success is Impossible

Every day, we contemplate the best way in which to engage our employees and the metrics to determine the effective nature of the aforementioned.

Should we do a survey, pay for a study or ask an expert for their insight on Best Practices?

We strive to devise a Total Rewards strategy to encompasses fair pay, sufficient flexibility in schedule, a certain amount of perks and some pats on the back to go along with it all..... in hopes that if we pay well and recognize effort, people will love working for us.

This age-old belief system has been disrupted by the fact that each individual is seeking line of vision to professional advancement. More than rewards, people are interested in charting personal progress outside of departmental silos.

The company has a jar full of jelly beans for all to utilize to appreciate one another. If no one cares for jelly beans the jar will go away... because there are better ways to spend money.

Three Things Matter:
Purpose
Collaboration
Achievement

What Do YOU Care About?
Personal purpose is more important than any professional goal. If your life is full of love, your professional purpose will be amplified, and failing professionally will have less sting.

Being a workaholic doesn't make you a star performer. There are many people who work long hours just to keep up. The best of the best get more done in less time and require little attention.

What do you really care about:
Vacation with your family?
Rock Shows?
Knitting?

If you neglect yourself of personal fulfillment, all the professional success in the world will not make you happy.

Transparent Ulterior Motives
As a young professional, I was intent on proving that I was right. I was less-concerned with the success of our team and more-intent on proving I had done MY job. No one liked working with me because I was pushy, self-centered and unwilling to allow people to be human on the job. I had no life and I expected my co-workers would hold themselves to similar misguided principals.

I see my younger self in so many people with whom I work these days:

• Those who wish to prove their worth. 
• Those who are internally competitive. 
• Those who are unaware that the only measurement for success is that everyone is equally capable.  

The Calm AFTER the Storm 
The greatest moments in my life are when my heartbeat steadies after a victorious occasion.... The rare occasion when I allow myself to appreciate my life.....

Those few moments when the Merry-Go-Round stops and everything feels right in the world.

With every year, I have more of those moments... not because I am better than I was but because I've allowed myself to accept that victory is an imperfect process.

"...you are still the only thing and everything I need in my life..." 
- Brian Sella

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Your Hiring Process Sucks!

A friend of mine recently won the lottery. Well not exactly, but let's just say he lucked-in to a family fortune that put him in a position to never have to work again. He thought about working at the local hardware store, but while the concept seemed compelling, the reality was a bigger headache than staying in corporate america.

He hated his current boss so he quit his high-paying Enterprise sales position. The world was his oyster, he wanted to stay busy, so he figured he'd venture into the world of start up tech.

Pretense: This gentleman had 20 years of sales experience, made Chairman's Club a remarkable 17 times, had worked for just 2 companies over 20 years and knew his marketplace inside out.

So began his experiment of Diving Back In......

Step One: For the first time in 10 years he re-tooled his resume. Unsure if people even read them anymore....?

Step Two: He agreed to work with a sales staffing firm (so his nephew would make $500 when he got hired).

Step Three: He met with one person from his network every day. He knew Senior Vice Presidents from Oracle, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce.com, Workday.... all of which offered him a job on the spot, none of which he entertained.

He was about to delve into something far more entertaining.

To his Nephew's credit, he booked him 3 initial interviews within the first week of having his resume on the market.

The hiring process went like this.....

Step One: Fresh-out-of-Jr-College admin calls to read you back your resume and ask questions like:
- What intrigues you about shit.com?
- Why did you leave your former employer?
- Why didn't you list your percentage to quota by quarter on your resume?
- Why do you not have a Facebook profile?
- What's your greatest strength?
- What's your greatest weakness?

Step Two: Talks to a Sr. Sourcer to answer the same questions.

Step Three: Re-Align with Nephew to understand that they "really like your experience" but if you wish to continue in the process you'll need to do the following:
1. Adjust resume to document quarterly quota achievement.
2. Watch 17 Vimeo videos to understand CEO's vision.
3. Write a blog .... on anything really, you just need to improve your KLOUT rating.
4. Provide 3 professional references.

Now he's in the game.... he actually gets to talk to a Sales Manager.

Douchebag Manager: Before we start, why didn't you document your percentage to plan by quarter?

DBM continues.... because your a friend of Jake's (obligatory nephew name), we're willing to chat you up, but your gonna have to bring your A Game.... Bro!

Step Four: You are invited to a Night Club to "display your social skills".

Step Five: You are brought in to give a "preso" on your go-to-market strategy.

Step Six: You get not a callback, an email or tweet regarding next steps in the process.

... the process just ends. No one is the wiser and Shit.com goes about their business.

Step Seven: You buy out 51% controlling interest in Shit.com for $750k and fire everyone!

* The above is based on a true story, names have been changed to protect the ignorant. My friend liquidated the company as a tax write off, douche bag went back to this high school job at the local hardware store and approximately $40K in office "equipment" was donated to volunteers of america.

Unfortunately, many will be facing this process (without lottery winnings in pocket) over the next 20 years.

What's more disappointing is the fact that many companies continue to devalue the hiring process.

The most outstanding candidates are not begging for employment. If you wish to enchant outstanding talent, stop engaging them as if they were auditioning for the Mickey Mouse club!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

A Ripple Becomes a Whirlpool

Over the past few weeks we have unveiled 4 parts of the Human Development strategy know as Don't Forget to Remember:

Part One: Foundation
Part Two: Deconstruction
Part Three: Re-Composition
Part Four: Unzip Your Soul

... Today we will tie this strategy together.

On May 11th of 2009, I wrote my first blog post thanks to the advising of my friend Darwin Stephenson. I remember hitting "publish", seeing my words on the lap top screen and feeling slightly guilty that I was allowed to share my unedited opinion with the world. I have since published 485 posts on a variety of topics. I've been on a few list of outstanding bloggers but I don't attempt to bring traffic for the purpose of selling anything.

The world is full of hacks and the blogosphere is one of their favorite rest stops. I just enjoy writing about the life I live. I hope my 10 loyal readers have derived some benefit from the grammatically challenged words I've written.

If nothing else, my kids will have a 10 year public journal to reference. I love you Sam & Marley!

I know what it is like to be young and frustrated. I know what it is like to work for people who do not appreciate their employees. I've had so many trials and tribulations in my 20 years in corporate America.... then one day, I decided to do something about it.

For the first 10 years of my career I complained with the enthusiasm of 1,000 men. I loved the company I worked for, I worked 12 hour days and I never stopped thinking about how to improve the organization. But, I couldn't get out of my own way.

When I was at a crossroads in my career there were a few people who were perceptive enough to recognize my motivation.... there were far more people who lined up to tell me what I was doing wrong.

At the peak of my personal and professional frustration, I listened to the album A Grand Don't Come for Free by The Streets. The album concludes with a song called Empty Cans. In this final chapter of the greatest concept album of our time, our narrator plays pessimist and provocateur in two separate breaths. The conclusion.....

YOU control your perception and attitude.... this is determinant of frustration vs. bliss.

Your Fate is Yours to Decide

I stopped blaming other people for my failures, I stopped worrying about being over-looked and I came to realize that life can be unfair (and that's what makes it worth living). The edges got softer and I took control of my success!

People are criticized for their ambition every day... mostly by people who's inability to adapt forces them to halt progress to protect their post.

With success comes comfort. You finally get to breath when you have achieved. It is extremely difficult to get to this stage in one's career. When you get there.... don't allow yourself to get too comfortable.

There are people with extraordinary ideas who will never get recognized for them.

There are idiots who are propped up as leaders through bureaucracy and politics. Don't kiss their asses!

The only measure of success is how true you are to yourself!

1. Remember what you are good at!
2. Challenge the norm!
3. Recreate a self-motivation within a manageable system!
4. Be Kind in the process......!

This is, the all-encompassing process of.....

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave    

Chasing Empathy

...If people are exceptionally annoying then giving them the benefit of the doubt may be our life's greatest challenge... 

I once heard a CEO speak of how he was certain he could change the world if it weren't for the people in it. You may recall Daniel Plainview repulsed by the people in his business dealings to the point of murder. Steve Jobs himself was always up-in-arms by human beings inability to engage in forward thinking. 

Let's face it... People are annoying. Unfortunately, they aren't going anywhere. 

If you are unwilling to interact with your fellow man/woman you will starve, your roof will cave in and your car will stop running. People need people to survive.... in order to thrive you'll need to get good at dealing with the human condition. 

When we learn to forgive one another's short comings... when we learn to accept that we are all imperfect... when we learn to collaborate...

We Start Moving Forward!

Surround Yourself With People Who Are Smarter Than You
It's easy to dazzle the less-motivated with a critical perspective. You will always find yourself enabled by the less-gifted, hang out with them long enough and you will sink to their level.

You should acquaint yourself with people who challenge you to think differently, try harder and to stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Have A Sense of Humor
When you allow yourself to be offended, you play into your critics plan to derail your progress. If you are brave enough to participate, you subject yourself to criticism.... Better grow some thick skin.

In all moments of adversity it is easy to get yourself so wrapped up in worry that you shut down completely. When you learn to chuckle at your short comings, you learn to move past them!

It's easy if you try!

Be A Person of Trust
Ever notice that you are the last person to find things out? Is that because no one feels comfortable revealing their personal hurdles to you?

Be a good listener. Confirm more than you judge. Remind people what they do well. Help people get out of their own way.

At the very least.... tell a friend it's going to be OK.... even if it's not!

I don't have to remind you that it is easier to stand on the sidelines with arms folded than it is to participate in the game.

Be a Creator not a Destroyer!

Don't Forget to Remember,

Dave 

Re-Composition

In the past couple of weeks we have examined the power of reflecting our our positive achievements along with the benefits of constructive disruption. Once you've realized your good fortune and used it to silence your critics, it's time to rebuild your life strategy.

I often speak to young people who are driven to succeed but unsure of how to navigate the system. Those same people often propose the idea of leaving corporate America ten years later. We all face our frustrations. We question if we are doing the right thing. We wonder if there is a more-beneficial way to live our lives.

The litmus test is simple:

If you look forward to Monday as much as you do Friday you have a great job. 

If you are laughing right now... the joke is on you! I'm not suggesting that we are going to leap out of bed, joyful that the weekend is over, ready to catapult ourselves into 50 hours of work. But, living Sunday evenings under a turning stomach is unacceptable.

You are not performing well because your product sucks.

Your Manager is not supportive.

Your Manager is too involved in your business.

Leadership has no vision.

You are working too many hours for not nearly enough pay.

The solution: Quit!  

If you are laughing again... the joke is still on you!

You don't have to drop out, grow a beard or work on a fishing boat. You also don't have to make money a priority.

You can find work that means something, you can find a Manager you like, you can find a CEO who believes she can change the world....

...You're just too afraid to start searching....

Your lack of happiness in life is directly correlated to your lack of engagement in your job. If you try hard enough you can re-discover the real importance of professional bliss.

My friend Corey Ciochetti recently told me that he has never met a person who put money first that is truly happy.... have you?

There is a prominent law firm that has a divorce pool. Most of their lawyers are divorced before they make partner.

Every blue-haired CEO I have met has told he wished he had spent more time with his kids.

A female business mogul I know once told me that her daughter had grown to mistaken her nanny for her mom.

... what the fuck are we thinking ....

You can exist within "the system" while maintaining your personal identity.

Here's How:

Perform Well
Your odds for gaining audience with your critics drastically increase when you are notably good at your job. Before your hand goes up to contribute, your position on the ranking report is surveyed, and your input qualified accordingly.

Do What You Gotta Do
The easiest way to get to the things you want to do is completing the things you have to do. This means filling out the stupid report, reading the assignment, populating your CRM and finishing your expenses. You would be surprised how much easier your day can be when you get the mundane tasks completed.

Provide Insight 
As noted previously, you are allowed to challenge any idea as long as you have a better one. Opposing the current state without proposing a more-brilliant solution is only complaining. No one likes a complainer.

Be Creative  
We are at a generational impasse in the workforce where former contributors are riding out old methods and leaning back on process to maintain them. The only way to move forward is to have more relevant tactics and real time data to defend the need for change.

We need not storm the tower, stage a sit in or strike. Adaptation is necessary for survival. Why not be the first to try the new way and set the standard for others to follow....?

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Deconstruction

The late 80's were the high point of my skateboarding career. Skateboarding for me was the perfect combination of athletic ability and creativity. There was nothing else like it. At the time, Matt Hensley was the greatest skateboarder in the game. At the height of his noteriety he stopped skating professionally.

The greatest running back in professional football, Barry Sanders, retired long before his ability had been maxed out.

Bobby Jones quit golf to become a lawyer.

More recently, the Great Marshawn Lynch left the Beast Mode on the field in an effort to keep his brain intact.

...And so we understand that those who are outstanding in a given field, have the ability to be outstanding in a variety of life pursuits. There are those who fear change because they think themselves incapable of achieving an alternative skill set.... more disappointing are those who do not change because things are steady......

......Steady Sucks.....

People are born with talent. The perfection of a skill has to be earned. You can be gifted but you have to put the work in to make your dream a reality.

Change is consistent: if you are relying on the standard, your ability to evolve is in danger.

The Difference Between Complaining and Evolving
I always tell the students I teach that they are allowed to challenge any idea as long as they have a better one. Raising your hand to refute instruction for the sake of disruption will put you on the complainers list. Commercial Insight emerges when you challenge the process with an intent to progress.

The Myth of Disengagement
We've seen all the surveys that indicate that 70% of the workforce are disengaged. It's bullshit!

Look around you. Can you honestly say that 7 out of 10 people in your organization hate their job. Of course, not.... and if they do, your odds for getting promoted are pretty damn good!

I don't have to jump for joy, greet every co-worker or attend a company social outing to love my job. Participation in age-old tradition does not measure engagement. Whether I have a best friend at work has nothing to do with my ability to do my job well.

Matt Hensley was the best skateboarder in the world... he was creative, athletic and daring. He didn't win a lot of contests but that has no reflection on his ability to perform at a mind-blowing level.

One's level of engagement may not be in lock step with what a survey determines. Let's face it, most surveys do not reflect to whole story.

The Gift of Creativity
Process is predictable and predictability can be the father of results. But it makes no difference.

Why would you want to do work that wasn't making a difference?

Disruption does not guarantee progress. Deconstruction is the result of dismantling the system of predictability in an effort to create something better... something different.... something more inventive... something less standardized.

You don't have to tear down walls to build news ones. You can find an abandoned field and build something where no one else thought to.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Foundation

I had a great revelation the other night.... I was sitting in bed and the greatest feeling came over me. As I soaked in the vibe, I totally forgot what provoked my fresh feeling, but I still felt wonderful!

How wonderful the joy of Positive Recall can be. How often it is overlooked. In fact, this usually works in counterpoint:

• Ever catch yourself hung up in negativity without knowing exactly why your mood had been altered to such a defeated extent?

What keeps us up at night is terminology usually affiliated with worry. It is so much nicer to sit up reflecting on all the good things we have experienced in our lives.

Do you struggle to recall when life was simpler? Have you forgotten how to love yourself?

Remember the little league championship you won, the first girl you kissed, the first time you heard your favorite song, the time you walked in the park with your dad, when you were awaken by your dog licking your face.

Remember your mothers laughter, the concert that changed your life, the time you did drugs and thought you would never be normal again.

Remember the best teachers and coaches you have ever had, the guy at the record store who introduced you to Black Sabbath... the time you beat up the bully, won the contest, stuck up for your sister....

Remember the look you got from the most beautiful girl in the world from across the room... and the day you married her.

Remember the time your Dad cried in front of you, when you lost your job, when your friend died or the time the girl you loved stopped loving you.

There is glory in the little things and every silver lining has a touch of grey.

There will never be a time when everything is perfect and there is something absolutely perfect about that.

Would your younger self look up to you? What advice do you have for her? Have you listened to your own advice? Have you ignored your true goals because mustering the courage to conquer them took too much work?

• There was a time you laughed.
• You have been a winner.
• There was a time you were so proud of yourself that you left your feet in joy. 

These are the things we should reflect upon.... EVERY DAY!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave  

At The Risk of Sounding Unpopular

"I was thinking 'bout how everyone is dying, and maybe it's time... to live"

- Mark Oliver Everett

2016 has begun with the passing of some of the world's finest entertainers. While the thought of death saddens me, it is incredibly pleasing to benefit from the legacy these titans of industry have left behind.

Indeed, one's life goal should be: 

To have lived, influenced and left your mark on the world!

For every man/woman who has touched the world with their bravery, there are millions of people who have lived without purpose.

Profoundly Sad!

Our degree of fame does not determine our degree of influence on the world because popular opinion differentiates nothing.

To establish influence one must be willing to risk being unpopular:

• To cross arms in judgement is easy.
• To stand before applause does not necessarily involve risk.
• No one ever achieved the honor of influence by doing what everyone else does.

I am not a confrontational person. In fact, I strive to make everyone happy. That said, I have for a very long time been able to determine that popular opinion does not determine quality. 

Counter Intuitive Thinking

Caitlin Flanagan recently reminded me that journalists seek methods of counter-intuitive thinking to better provoke thought leadership. I don't believe that sensationalism should determine popularity but I do appreciate the willingness to consider all viewpoints before taking action.

If in each day you were able to temper your opinions by considering both sides.... how much more interesting would your life be? 

Moral Courage

I've never promoted myself as a person of high moral character but I do consider myself a good guy. 

I never used my values as a means to judge others. It's profoundly difficult to allow oneself the privilege of determining an elevated spot on the moral high ground. Who am I to judge? 

Most BIG decisions require the courage to call out the behavior of the village idiot who's amplified voice has made him the self-elected spokesman of the tribe.

Masked Aggression  

To be prideful is not to be aggressive.

To be opinionated is not to be judgmental.

To be a Gentleman is an act of feminism.

Leadership is an act of servitude.

No one ever got famous by following the crowd.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

A Disengagement Awakening

It's 2016 and we're still claiming a very small portion of the workforce cares about their job. Gallup has been banging the drum of global disengagement since 2011. The most recent claim that only 3 in 10 people can actually tolerate their job and 2 in 10 hate their job.

I'm still not buying it!

I don't know the questions that fuel Gallup's metric, who they ask or if they are simply positioning to sell their services, but 70% of the workforce ARE NOT disengaged.

A3 - We assume we need to over-manage to crate Engagement. Many employees want the Autonomy to Create Their Own Success! #NextChat

— David Kovacovich (@DavidKovacovich) January 13, 2016

The bigger question may revolve around what we perceive to be Disengagement and how we address it.

Reality
The A in the SCARF methodology stands for Autonomy. More and more employees are seeking some space and an ability to navigate their own success. With the proper tools, training and a little bit of trust; employees can thrive and managers can concentrate on coaching instead of baby sitting.

Perception
Yet and still, Managers are intent upon inserting themselves in their employees every action.... micro-managing where they should be allowing autonomy.

Perception
The Challenger Sale identifies a sales characteristic of The Lone Wolf. This person is regarded as disengaged. Yet, he/she is the person on the team that requires the least amount of attention.

Reality
Are we really so distrusting of the people we have hired that we feel a grown-ass-man/woman needs someone looking over their shoulder on a daily basis.

Why not put a microchip in each employees neck to track their every move.

A majority of the workforce may be viewed as disengaged because a majority of managers still believe that they need them under their thumb to keep them on task.

Our belief in clock punching as a means to success may be the very thing that is turning organizational advocates into employees of our competitors.

The Truth About Engagement
It is a fact that people will accept less money if their organization trusts them to manage by their own schedule.

It is a fact that employees who are allowed flex time work longer hours and are more productive.

"managers who manage by the clock are dangerously incompetent" - Rodd Wagner

So Then
The Gallup agency has been printing money on the basis of asking employees the same group of questions for 13 years (with very little change in the line of questioning). This benchmarks improvements/decline in engagement and serves the HR Community's greatest asset:

Validation of the past so as not to have to embrace change

• We are asking the wrong questions.
• We are over-managing where employees are seeking autonomy. 
• We are attempting to combat disengagement by doing more of what has disengaged our employees in the first place. 

It's time to change the game. Seeking to control those perfectly capable only drives them away. Those who sit around and take it only do so because no one else will hire them.

Until we step away from the crutch of age-old surveys as our means to measure employee contentment, we will continue to over-spend in the shadow of a problem we are incapable of solving.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave