Victim or Victor!

I had the pleasure of speaking with a  colleague this past week who is a female senior executive for a major Fortune 500 company, and she also teaches in graduate programs. We were discussing the key aspects of "accountability". Many of our students struggle with what real accountability means whether it is in our personal, professional or academic ventures. Without revealing too much, suffice it to say that my friend had countless obstacles in her path including less than acceptable relationships, financial struggles and of course, the daily challenge of finding enough time for her job, family and other commitments. Many of my students and clients struggle with these similar types of obstacles as well. So, who really can change the rules?

I contend that the only thing we have at our disposal is the ability to change the rules! The things that are going to happen, will! Therefore, we must adapt, be flexible and be true to ourselves, those we care about and those we have accountability to! It is about how we react; this is where the victim and victor come into play! I like to believe that it truly comes down to us; I believe we look in the mirror and reflect on whether we have done everything we could; exhausted all alternatives; and, made the best out of every situation (or do we fall back on; "why is this happening to me?").

This brings me to one of the best poems that I continually reflect upon and share with many people with whom I interact.....written many years ago (author is somewhat in question), I though I might share it here for those that may be interested....what does your guy (or gal) in the glass have to say??

The Man in the Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
and the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself,
and see what THAT man has to say.

For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgement upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

Some people may think you’re a straight shootin’ chum
And call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
If you can’t look him straight in the eye.

He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

Author Unknown (or unclear)

OH! Those Annoying Run-on Meetings!

I had the opportunity to sit in on one of those annoying run-on meetings recently, and decided to blog about something that is near and dear to my heart; having effective, efficient and time sensitive meetings! You know the run-on meetings I'm referring to; it's the ones that bring people together to speak about a supposed issue, topic, event, etc, but wind up speaking and discussing everything under the sun; instead of that one hour, they seem to go on indefinitely. It's what I like to call "boiling the ocean"!

Why can't we just have a simple meeting that speaks to the issue at hand, with only those stakeholders directly involved, and then get on with our business....It is possible if the person setting up the meeting does so in an effective manner. Here are some points I've taken away from various leadership sessions, sales learning, etc. Try using the 3-C method which calls for clear articulation of the core for the meeting; the contributions everyone is expected to bring to the meeting; and the commitments that everyone is expected to take away from the meeting. If someone does not have a contribution or is not willing to make a commitment for a take-away, why are they there?? That can handle those "hanger oners" that just like to pass the time in meetings (and probably drags them down with their own agenda or topics they want to address).

Think about this like having a phone call with whomever you are inviting to the meeting. If they were to ask what is the meeting all about, just tell them the main focus (the core); suggest what you will be providing and what you'd like them to provide in the meeting (the contributions), and then what some of the commitments you'd like to walk away with from each of you (the commitment). It doesn't have to be onerous; just simple and to the point.

So, I'm sure you're asking, "What about other issues that arise"? Sure, other issues and topics may (and probably will) arise, but suggest a "parking lot" and collect those topics for a future session just focused on one them specifically! Believe it or not, this may be more efficient and effective for everyone involved. And, this approach could also be used for those multi-hour (or day long) planning meetings-just chunk them up into palatable topics that last something like an hour each and which each of their own core, contribution and commitment (after all, what is our attention span anyway?).

All I am suggesting here is that we use our time effectively; ensure that those who are involved are the ones who are participating; and keeping our attention level focused on the issue/topic at hand. This may also cull out some of those folks who are just "pretending" to contribute and make a difference-stay tuned for one of my blogs on the various participants for these types of meetings (I'm sure you'll recognize a few in some of your organizations, clubs, etc). Oops, gotta go-off to a meeting.....(sure hope it has the three C's because I haven't seen them yet).....

An Ode to Andy Rooney.....Organizational Growth

One of my favorite news correspondents and satirists was the late Andy Rooney. If you ever watched the television show 60 Minutes which comes on at 7pm ET on Sunday evenings, it always concluded with five minutes from Andy Rooney who always asked the question, "Is is me or does........". Watching those bushy eye brows and him sitting behind that big wooden desk that he built himself immediately drew my attention to his wit and charm, as well as how he distilled everyday issues in his own imitable style! So, as a tribute to one of my statirist heroes, I want to ask the question, Is it me, or do organizations tend to shy way from proactive plannning for their growth because they are too ingrained in their every day tasks, or it is too difficult to think about? Many organizations will tell you that they do forward planning and that they have dashboards to monitor their growth, but do they really? Here's some food for thought:

Dashboards: Most organizations monitor their everyday business activities by distilling past activities; why, of course that is the accepted paradigm for forecasting future activity. BUT, what if you really haven't thought about what your true and achievable desired state is? Hmmmm, now we might have a dilemma....and have we set up certain check points so as to trigger proactive actions and investments based on that forward thinking? I'm not here to judge; rather, just to have you ask that reflective question....

Stages of growth: Have you ever thought about the fact that different approaches are required for organizations at different levels of development. If you are a start-up business, your approach to client acquisition, sales, distribution et al may be very different than if you are in a growth mode, and then again very different if you attain a market leadership role. Mercenary tactics lead to defined and managable sales processes which lead to sustainability tactics......obviously there is much depth to this discussion, but suffice it to say that organizations that do not think about this ahead of time set themeselves up to cross that chasm (remember that book "Crossing the Chasm") with no way of easily getting there....Think about it, won't you?

Much of this discussion is rooted in the need to conciously think about these things before the event arrives so that your organization is poised to execute rather than begin to think about it as you stare at the precipice of the chasm.....it's not easy and requires an ability to leverage best practices that are out there from people who have gone down that road. These are the type of customers and relationships that I enjoy dealing with because they are forward thinkers who get it! Best practices don't just appear-rather, they are built over a period of time and amassed from the experiences themselves-that is why dealing with forward thinking organizations allows for the continual evolution of these best practices (If someone tells you they have all the best parctices already, I might question that). My forward thinking clients get this! and, they tend to help evolve these best prctices that they get to leverage as well-isn't that cool (my age is showing a bit with that remark :-)). This leads me to thinking about my next little blog that will be about raising our awareness from the unconcious mindset to the concious. Won't you join me for the next five minutes with Jerry (thanks Andy for all your wit, wisdom and charm over the years and allowing me to leverage your inquisitive outlook)......

A New Year for Organizational Introspection

Well, here we are beginning a new year as we do every year. Individuals make all these resolutions (mine always include stopping smoking and losing weight-maybe one year it will happen!), and organizations tend to do the same with an onset of annual planning meetings, new budgets, new hopes and new sales forecasts. Having managed these processes for many years it was always a bit humorous how many of my sales team always projected banner years, only to find that many of the opportunities were not fully vetted nor at the prescribed stages identified! How do owners, senior executives, et al manage through this morass of over bloated expectations and projections? Many have adopted the rule of 50% (whatever is forecatsed, knock it down by 50% and maybe they will be in the ballpark). Others make a firm resolution that this year they will put in place one of the fancy and elaborate sales training methodologies (good news for all those trainers, especially the ones requiring a Phd to thoroughly understand and even try to deploy). Whatever happened to the simple method of developing a true opportunity and just going from step to step in a dilligent and cogent manner to realize the sale!

The organizations that appear to do very well with their sales forecasting and their success have a tightly defined set of steps and requirements for moving from one to another. With the onset of salesforce.com (who wouldn't want to use that tool), these steps are very tailorable to individual organizations and supply chains resulting in reasonable forecasts and understanding of next steps. Having worked with some of these types of organizations, the big issue appears to be defining where to start and how to define each of the steps and their respective markers to move to the next step. This doesn't just happen and requires a level of dilligence typically by someone outside the organization so as to avoid the unnecessary baggage and biases inherent in their current thinking. This is where I'd spend my time and money as opposed to those fancy, elongated and intricate sales methodologies. Why? Because a truly good sales executive knows that a sales process is merely moving from one meeting to another getting the "right" questions and issues answered/addressed; while dealing with the right decision makers and influencers, and not the pretenders; and tailoring the number of those interactions to the least common denomnator resulting in the close!

So, what is your process? What constitutes moving from one phase to another? How confident in the sale have you become when you reach each step? That's where I'd spend my money for some help! Next up: What stage of growth is your organization and what is your plan to accomodate it?