Bouncing Out of Bed

Don't tell me that alarm didn't sting your brain this morning. It's cold, dark and desolate out there. You need more than just a job on a day like this...On days like this we have to examine the intent of our higher purpose. The intense chill rises through your chest in the morning shower and asks you a simple question: What The Hell Am I Doing?

I had the answers today, did you?

I Have the Ability to Create
The marketplace is highly competitive, there are applications that can solve any business problem, and anyone can provide "personal attention". Companies that differentiate themselves possess the strong force of Creativity.

Creativity helps embrace change, it motivates people to find doors where others see dead ends, it allows people to synchronize their personal passion and their work!

Call it innovation, enhancement, or development ~ The Art of Business is Creativity!

If your company is still functioning by the measures that formalized the industrial revolution, your creativity has been stifled. Good luck getting it back!

I Am Allowed to Choose
My son is 7, at times he needs to be directed. If a 40 year old man finds himself in the same position, odds are he hit that snooze button 3 or 4 times this morning.

It is amazing to me that companies still think micro-management works. It is amazing that more employees do not stand up and ask for a greater deal of respect. If you knowingly threaten your employees with a clear conscious your business is doomed to fail. If that is the way it has worked for 50 years, you will not last another 50. It is time to grow up!

I Give More than I Take
If you give me the ability to create and the power to choose, I will slay dragons for you on a daily basis. I will achieve things I never thought possible, and having done so, I will achieve even more tomorrow.

All you need to do is empower and trust! It costs nothing and makes your job easier.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave 

Dive

Thanksgiving is upon us so naturally posts and tweets are pouring in by people expressing their gratitude. During the holidays we tend to get sentimental. This year, instead of expressing my gratitude, I am going to issue a challenge:

Before we say Thank You, let's reflect....

Do You Really Love Your Job?
Our profession is our livelihood, so we tend to be apprehensive to make drastic changes. No company is perfect, people make mistakes, and systems fail. Life is imperfect and this allows for opportunity. But, do you really love your job?

Do a deep dive assessment of your current job:
~ Are you being challenged or are you settling?
~ Are the people around you invested in your progress?
~ Do the Leaders in your organization understand your challenges?
~ Do your products/services solve business issues?

Before you stuff your face with turkey, take a moment to deeply reflect on the questions above. Are you really thankful or are you pretending that everything is fine? Are you OK with everything being fine, or do you want more?

Just Do!
Time to flip the script. Any job can be great or terrible based on your perception and attitude. If you spend your days complaining about your job, QUIT! If you don't have any other options maybe its because you complain all the time.

Actions speak louder than words. If you are not achieving all you had planned to...take action. Wake up earlier, seek advice from others, learn more about the marketplace, challenge directives.

Complaining will only make your job worse. Get busy living or get busy dying!

Stop Pretending!
Are you complimentary of your superiors simply because you want to be on the "good list". If so, your lack of authenticity probably makes you look like a phony. It is disingenuous to smile at the very people you challenge from a bar stool.

~ If you do not respect your boss, manage up....there is an elegant way to expose inefficiencies.
~ If the top producer does not have sound advice for you...emulate someone else.
~ If that BIG customer you have been chasing treats you like a commodity...find another customer to chase.

Pretending to be someone you are not takes an extraordinary amount of effort and seldom produces meaningful results. Be yourself!

Stop Stealing!
Those who are truly passionate about their work are creative and authentic. They are consistently developing new ideas and are challenging those around them to be part of the solution.

If you emulate the ideas of your competitors, your existence is fraudulent!

The way to winning is to come up with a solution that is different. Stealing your competitors ideas and putting a cheaper price tag on them never works. Commodities are replaceable, you have to believe with all your being in what you are doing.

Do you believe in what you are doing?

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave    

Solving The Motivation Crisis

The great Maurice TT Rodriguez gave supportive advice to a friend who was experiencing a fashion crisis...."wear what you dig"! At the time, the reinforcement was what his friend needed. Questioning oneself is a necessary means to progress...but, we tend to wear ourselves out if we concentrate too heavily on what we cannot do.

Early in my career I was experiencing a motivation crisis:
* I sought to impress others
* I continually focused on my weaknesses
* My negativity overwhelmed my intentions

...here's how I solved my motivation crisis....

Grains of Salt
People are always willing to give advice. Too often words are taken with deep literal significance. Asking for advice may assist in considering other angles, but your path has to be your own. You cannot pretend to be someone you are not, you shouldn't read a book you don't believe in, you should not incorporate techniques that feel unnatural, and you can't pretend to trust people you don't admire!

We cannot be genuine to what we believe in if we allow others to predicate our every move. If you are consistently trying to impress others, you will never be happy. It is comparable to driving another man's car but never owning your own. Deeply analyze what resonates with you...and let that drive!

Doubters Never Prosper
Similar to following the path set by another, if you only focus on what you cannot do...you will not do! The only result of consistently concentrating on what you have not done is misery.

There is nothing worse than trying your hardest only to be chastised for your lack of execution. A key fault in leadership is the ignorance of unseen effort. Like it or not, Leaders assume.... If I have been in business for 40 years, I have seen it all. So, I assume a person fails based on a scenario I have seen a thousand times before. This commoditized human capital management style can permanently ruin a person's motivation.

There are things you can do well and others that will take greater effort while producing fewer results. Focus on that which you do well...and let that lead! Your effort will never be analyzed if you are consistently producing results. The doubters only doubt if you give them a reason to.

The Making of a Pariah
We all hit a flat spot in our career. That point where you feel you have given all you can and luck just hasn't pushed the puck your way. Make no mistake about it, there is luck in success.

Our perception and attitude fuel our success. If we meet every challenge with the past in mind, we may drown ourselves in doubt. If we doubt enough, it will get to the point that no one wants to be around us. It is much harder to navigate failure alone!

At the lowest point in my career, I had terribly mismanaged the aforementioned flat point. In every step of my life I had seen challenges as opportunities. When I lost sight of that I compounded my failures. Instead of solving problems, I made excuses....and made my problems worse. I listened far too much to those who said I could not do something, I made excuses instead of programming action items, and I continually felt sorry for myself.

Perseverance is one of the greatest characteristics anyone can possess. The greatest of all time have failed consistently...their brilliance lies in their uncompromising ability to overcome. They know they are capable and lack of luck in any given moment does not trump their genuine skill. You are the driver...take the wheel and put the pedal to the floor!!!!!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Left to Learn

Having just attended the E2Innovate conference, I am full of fresh and meaningful ideas! I found myself most intrigued by a conversation facilitated by IT Directors from Facebook, Mozilla, and PayPal. Taking into account the company names and presenter titles the last topic you would think they would tackle is...recruiting. Fortunately, companies are embracing the concept that every employee is part of the organizational development process.

The aforementioned session was facilitated by Gerald Chertavian of Year Up. Year Up is an organization founded on the principle of delivering quality education to people of all economic backgrounds. Year Up gives young people with high school degrees or GED's an opportunity to take a year of highly intensive technical courses while providing a pipeline to IT professionals in the Silicon Valley.

I am consistently reminded of two unfair workforce stereotypes:
1. Young people are entitled.
2. Senior staff members are threatened by the rise of technology in the workplace.

In reality, people care about their companies far more than we might assume. In a day and age when people spend 80% to 90% of their waking hours at work, one cannot help but assume a sense of pride in what they do. As such, the investment in a new generation of workers is met with hope for the future and an openness to the innovative ideas new people bring into the working world. We are all part of the recruiting effort and we can all learn from each other.

How to Make Your Company Obsolete
There was a time when the hiring process was a series of grueling interviews. Those days are over. Face it, you need young talent more than they need you. People coming out of college (or high school)  have far more options nowadays. The stereotype of young people being entitled in holey false. A new generation of workers is looking for fewer benefits and has learned to work lean. Entrepreneurship has never been more accessible and the expectation of signing bonuses has been replaced with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. You should use the hiring process as an opportunity to learn...I'm talking to you Hiring Manager.

Admit You Care
I love to see senior staff members who have a sense of youthful exuberance. The days of dictatorship are gone and those unadaptive to change are finding an express lane to early retirement. The best leaders serve as teachers who are willing to learn from their pupils.

It is wise of any organization to develop a culture of learning. The emphasis on titles is being dispelled and we are all interested in sharing. A true trait of leadership is to pass along the knowledge you have gained in the workplace to help your co-workers grow with you. We have learned that internal competition only serves to muddy the workplace waters. Collaboration for the collective good is the best way to propel the organization forward.

Be a team player, be a coach, be a teacher. Look over your shoulder, pick someone up, and help them get to where they want to be.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave      

The Truth About Sales

My professional life exists in contradiction:
1. I am a business development professional.
2. I am a leadership advisor to HR professionals.

When I started in sales, I believed that my "gift of gab" would help me win the day....some how it worked. Then I grew up and I realized I was doing it all wrong!

The Truth About Sales
It takes incredible confidence to be a sales professional. One must be uncompromising in the drive to succeed and be unflappable in their ability to handle rejection. The extreme swings in sales take a special type of level-headed demeanor. There are always sales jobs available because very few people can handle the daily uncertainty of the trade. A sales job is never "safe".

With uncertainty comes insecurity and confidence competes with a need for validation. Sales people may want you to think they are invincible but the path to winning has to be complimented with daily pats on the back. Show me a supremely confident sales professional and I will show you a person who is deeply insecure.

Don't worry, we won't tell anyone! 

Take a Breath.......  
As we grow in the trade we come to understand that sales is not a game of confidence but a game of empathy. Salespeople do not have to prove their confidence but rather that they genuinely understand their buyers motives. The name of the game is building trust....and it requires:
a. Endless research.
b. The ability to listen more than you talk.

Many young salespeople rush into a room with a well-prepared presentation and tell the prospective customer how great their product is. Wrong move! You have to diagnose before you prescribe. You have to analyze those in the pew before you preach to them. In fact, save the preaching altogether.

Don't Be Cocky
Most people hate salespeople because their disingenuous demeanor reveals their personal goals as a priority over collective success. Many salespeople also have short tempers because their work in the trenches is often misunderstood by their office counterparts. Salespeople are driven (and measured) by their individual effort....so they often have issues with authority.

So, Let's Dispel the Myth
1. Don't be fooled, Salespeople are among the hardest working in your organization.
2. Salespeople possess a skill that most others don't: the ability to confront uncertainty, every day!
3. When ego drives effort it creates a bad perception (a common foe paw).
4. Salespeople's effort exist in the Marketplace, not in the office.
5. Salespeople are not as confident as you think:
- We stay up at night fearing what tomorrow will bring, and pretend to be brave enough to handle it.

The day of the barrel-chested bully pushing you into a purchase are over. The charmer without substance now loses more than she wins. Buyers are more aware, administrators are more strategic, and the sale is often trial by committee.

The process of inviting partnership is a consultation not a transaction: quick talk is transparent and insulting.

Note to Salespeople:
1. Know the extended purpose of your products and services and how they apply to your buyer's business issue.
2. Build trust.
3. Spend more time in the library and less time in the bar!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Employee Engagement - 2012

Throughout this year I have presented "Cultivating Employee Engagement" to HR professionals across Northern California. 500+ local HR Pros attended these seminars. The great attendance and positive feedback were a result of 2 things:
1. An energetic approach to presenting
2. A collaborative forum for idea sharing

It is always interesting when a salesperson presents to HR. The initial reactions are furrowed brows and raised eye brows. Attendees are there to receive re-certification credits.....they will do what they must to digest the material. Attendee apprehension is understood because most presenters do not conduct sessions with enough conviction (or they use the opportunity to sell something). You cannot establish influence without teaching skills that will contribute to the success of your audience. It's not all about us!

Here are 8 things learned in 10 seminars, countless miles on the road, and a whole lot of open and honest conversation:

Seize the Leadership Opportunity - HR has been categorized as an administrative stop gap in an organization. More and more, HR is becoming a key strategic function to organizational progress. The door is open, but you must be armed with numbers and a correlating strategy to back up your mission for organizational engagement. We can no longer be cautious, we cannot share without enforcement, employees will not be engaged by passive strategy. HR cannot be a strategic partner if we allow ourselves to be cast aside as administrators.

Demolish the Silos - Organizational progress cannot be made strictly through the manager to peer channel. Performance reviews may be a legal necessity, but they do nothing to motivate. Employee goals should be acknowledged and broadcast for the entire organization to witness. Progress should be encouraged by everyone, not regimented by a superior. Career advancement should be a result of a transparent, personal commitment to progress, not closed door office politics.

Poll the Audience - The incoming workforce is full of ideas for organizational development. That should be celebrated not ignored. Every organization needs a strategy for gathering organizational feedback to ensure Executive action.

Make it Cool - Core Values written 100 years ago need to be redefined in terms relevant to today's workforce. Wearing lapel pins is not an organizational strategy, it is a way to further commoditize an out-of-touch brand. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to excel based on well-rounded behavioral competencies.

Prioritize - HR is the key to organizational engagement. You can reduce turnover, drive results, and create a company culture that is totally unique. It takes creativity, a knowledge of your employee pedigree, and the ability to quantify effort. It is not turnkey, it is not easily defined, and it will take a lot of time. If you want to make a difference you have to believe with uncompromised conviction. Get busy doing the things that will change lives for the better, save the spreadsheets for the weekend.

Be a Business Partner - HR opposes the sales pitch. This because, if you are selling more than a widget, a pitch doesn't work. To promote an effective program you have to have: a mission unique to your organization, internal branding that empowers adoption, cool rewards, and metrics that measure program effectiveness. In order to gain adoption you have to have the aforementioned elements of program success in mind.....and then you have to sell it your Executives and Employees!

Communicate - A Marketers goal is to expose the brand, HR's goal is to protect the brand. Creativity is the key to effective program adoption. You know your workforce better than anyone. Get creative! Market your program! This is the best way to gain program adoption and to help your program grow!

Debunk the Myth - The best way to prove you are not a paper pusher or the employee police is to prove it. Organizational development is converting from a top down to a bottoms up game. You can be the change agent in communicating the employee voice.

Don't Kid Yourself.....HR is Cool!

If you stepped out of your comfort zone in my 2012 seminars, just wait until next year when the "HR as a Business Partner" series puts you in the organizational drivers seat!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave  

4 Ways to Attract Outstanding Talent

Having just made a well-educated and difficult career transition, I had a chance to experience the job seekers world in 2012. I met corporate recruiters who asked qualifying questions irrelevant to my skill set, was thrown large cash bonus offers, and received the "why our company is the best" speech from CEOs. None of it mattered!

In the HR blogosphere, job seekers are advised how to market themselves. Companies are aflood with resumes. The inundation of potential hires has created space for under-qualified gatekeepers to ask stupid questions that scare away talent. The strategy for attracting talent is a major focus for every company, many of them are doing it wrong, and that is why their turnover is higher than their hire rate.

The best talent are those who have options, may be satisfied with their current employment, and have a history of business results that speak volumes.

Advice: if you are hiring someone for a six figure salary don't make the first point of contact a college intern. Hiring is a two way street and first impressions are important on both sides of the street.

There are 4 things that attract outstanding talent:
1. Leadership
2. Company Culture
3. Go-to-Market Strategy
4. Products and Services

This is Not a Test
I sat down with a CEO who rushed into a high rise building, drilled me with challenging questions, and proceeded to tell me that I was too tame. Leaders at the highest level should not assume that they have the right to dictate what job seekers want. Arrogance is the least form of leadership.

People want leaders who are accessible. We want to see an uncompromising vision, a passion for their company, and the consistent adaptation to change (which means you may have to admit your company is not perfect).

Leaders have to walk the walk! The vision laid out from the stage at the international company meeting will be exposed as executive bravado if you are faking it. If you exist in an ivory tower the folks in the trenches will know it. Don't ask for bottoms up feedback if you are not planning to take action on employee feedback.

How Does It Feel
I remember sitting in an orientation at a company I had joined when one employee told another that their idea for program improvement was stupid. I knew at that moment that I was in a bad environment. Great companies will expose you to a variety of employees in the hiring process. Of course, no company is perfect and some employees are more candid than others. Wouldn't you rather know in advance how people treat one another than to sign a contract and then find out the real story.

Progress is made through collaborative, progressive thought leadership. Titles are not protected in great companies. Internal competition is merely a way for individuals to get over on one another. It serves no relevance to organizational progress.

Newsflash: it is OK to be nice!

Sales People Must Be Lead By Sales People
If I am working as a sales executive leading a team in a 7 figure deal, I need to be assured that the leadership in my organization understands every element of getting that done. This means the VP of Sales better have carried a bag longer than I have been alive. You cannot pretend to know the roller coaster of sales if you have never sold. Operational and Administrative mind frames are budget aware, Sales is a strategic revenue producing game! You cannot be a dog if you are a cat - stop pretending!

"You can fool some people, some time, but you can't fool all the people all the time" - Bob Marley

Bottom Line Capabilities
I hearken back to Simon Sinek and the golden circle: people don't buy what you do they buy why you do it. With this in mind, products cannot be the driving force in your go-to-market strategy. There are, however, minimum qualifications. If your product doesn't work, I cannot sell it. If you tell me your product can do something it cannot, I will not buy it.


Innovate or Perish!
The adaptation to change speaks to all of the aforementioned characteristics of what makes a company great! Every day is a new opportunity to experience something new, there is no finish line, and highly engaged people appreciate a challenge. Those who wish to stand still will be run over.

If you are an outstanding company you live every day with the motivation of what can be done not what has been done.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

Getting to Know You

I remember a VP once told me not to get too close to my team. This way, it would be easier to discipline those who were not achieving. Just yesterday, my son asked me if I ever had to fire anyone. I told him I do not believe in firing people. As he persisted, I told him that when people seek direction it is the leaders job to help them. If you give up on those who most desire your expertise, you are not a leader.

So the story goes...great leaders are willing to dispel formality in the interest of genuinely engaging their employees. Performance reviews may be a legal necessity, but no one ever gained a thing from discussing their inabilities. You can heap gift cards on any employee but it will not effect their ability to achieve. Days off are nice for some, but if you love your work, time off can actually be a motivational detractor. People want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to wake up every day and dive into something that they believe in. Employees want to be assured that their ideas matter and that their effort is making a difference. People want to work in a place where they feel comfortable expressing themselves. Money is less important to people who are genuinely fulfilled on the job.

If we allow access to the control room, we build trust. With trust in place employees realize their worth instead of asking for validation. If you are an accessible leader unforeseen problems do not exist and everything is fixable. If your organization is transparent people are not forced to guess their value.

It takes courage to get to know your employees. Managing by the numbers is an act of cowardice.

Empower Change
We are in an interesting time of organizational development. The ivory tower is being replaced by bottoms up collaboration. People are the differentiator of any great organization: give them enough freedom to produce, show you care about their intentions, and your organizational will flourish.

Ask & Listen
How do you check the pulse of your organization? Survey, focus group, enterprise application suggestion box...?

There are 3 simple ways to understand what is going on in the trenches:
1. Ask Often
2. Make the results metric
3. Take action

The easiest way to discourage engagement in your organizational culture is to ask for input but take no action.

Encourage the Bold
In some organizations participation is suggested but not encouraged. A forum for idea sharing is set up but those who speak up are put on the "people to fire" list.

The door to the board room must be open: transparency builds trust.

The cause that you represent as an organization is far more important than numbers or graphs. The people who perform the work are not assets or capital...they are human beings who choose to make your company better. Respect for sweat equity should be a pillar of any leadership style!

The formula is simple:
- Listen and take action!
- Let culture lead!   
- Show you care by empowering those willing to help!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Less Simple Path

The legend of Zappos continues. Barbara Walters recently did a 20/20 piece on Tony Hsieh and his roving band of costume wearing customer service advocates. Astonishment crosses the face of the corporate accountant who tours the Zappos facility to find young people doing aerobics to start their work day. While Tony Hsieh seems to have mastered the ability to build culture, his real strength lies in his ability to convince us that the job is all fun....

Zappos (like every other company) has inter-personal disputes and customer service issues. The difference is that problems are much easier to dispel when collaborative culture leads. By Tony's own admission, if you are passionate about your purpose; the profits come naturally. Which leads us to Simon Sinek....

In his book, Start With Why, Simon Sinek mirrors Tony Hsieh's sentiment by letting culture lead. His contention is that "people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it".

Both leaders have allowed transparency as a guiding light in their organizational strategy:
- People have been conditioned to believe that their "work self" is not their true self.
- The things we hide are easy to discover.
- Open and Honest are cross streets on the road to progress.

You are the only YOU...
I am convinced that self-empowerment is the single most important element of success. Unfortunately, most people would rather listen to others than to trust themselves.

- There is too much information to disprove any motivation you may have to try something new!
- There are too many people who will tell you that you cannot do that thing you may wish to!
- Facts and figures couldn't be wrong, could they?

There is a jumbled grab bag of excuses at your disposal. It is extraordinarily easy to not do something, no one will fault you for playing it safe, and when you don't try you can always pretend to possess a certain ability.

You CAN pretend to be who you are not!
I would agree that one should concentrate on what they are good at and let it drive. But, I would not rule out someone who wanted to step out of their comfort zone. Too often, I hear leaders tell employees that they are not a fit for a certain role. This is a simple way for a person to manage talent instead of challenging people to expand their skill set.

Make it harder!
Don't play it safe. Don't accept the norm. Don't pretend you are happy if you are not. Don't listen to people that wish not to inspire you. Don't allow people to tell you that you are not talented.

Set your own rules. Push yourself. Create opportunity. Stop listening to criticism and put on your i-pod.

There are no set rules. There are no limits. Only you can determine how this story will end.

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

A Call to Action

I am a person who has never been afraid to put myself out there. When it came time to volunteer, I was there! Volunteering takes courage, a willingness to fail, and the ability to laugh at yourself. Today, we are talking about volunteering to support a cause - the cause of YOU!

"If not me, then who?" - Jesse Ventura

I am a sales professional, a keynote speaker, and a youth soccer coach. The similarity in these occupations is the subjection to criticism. Sales people are forced live a life of aggressive uncertainty. The highs are joyous and short-lived, the lows are lonely and seemingly eternal. There is nothing glamorous about being in sales.

Such is our plight......

You will discover that only those who walk the tight rope know the joy of reaching the platform. There are those who are content to sit arms folded while the world takes shape around them...I am not one of those people.

Be Bold!
It is difficult to get in front of a group of people to present an unproven idea. To stand up for that which you believe in seems simple; it is not! In retrospect, there are billions of people who dare not try and are the first to judge.....this is why there are 100,000 people in the stands and 22 on the field.

Fear Nothing.....
In his book, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living", the great Dale Carnegie urges us to start with the end in mind. The aforementioned practice depletes worry by dispelling consequences. Think about it...of everything you have stressed over, what evil undoing actually resulted? None to the extent your worry might intend....!

Some of us got tired of waiting for things to happen and took action. We couldn't sit around and watch the conclusion unfold without having a say in it. We got up, fell down, and put effort into that thing in which we believed in....because we didn't believe the assumptions. We saw that which had been achieved and honored our obligation to make it better. 'Tis better to give than to take!

Numbers lie, people protect what they cannot replicate, and the easiest thing in life is to proclaim how would things would be if you were in charge. If you wanted to be in charge, you would be!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave