C-Suite Network™

Menu

Day: March 20, 2020

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

The New Reality of Innovation and AI

Talent is the most valuable asset of any organization. While automation and artificial intelligence improve productivity and profit, they are not the drivers of success. The succession of strategies that continually move an organization forward to create sustainable success over time – innovation – comes from humans.

Innovation depends wholly on the talent of your team, even when they do not share a physical space. Collaboration can be challenging for any organization, and especially difficult for those thrown into creating a virtual culture due to a natural disaster, inclement weather, or “social distancing” experienced during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. Collaboration requires human interaction. If the right culture is not in place, the quality of human engagement and performance across the organization will suffer, as will the bottom line.

Human AI Accelerates Innovation

One of the most powerful ways to leverage human talent within an organization is to approach problem-solving the way intelligence machines do – through artificial intelligence. When humans are inspired to share their knowledge and resources toward a shared goal, the whole (what I refer to as “Human AI”) becomes different and greater than the sum of its parts.

As I explain in detail in my upcoming book ‘Crowd Success: Welcome to the Age of Human AI’, scientific studies reveal that the collective intelligence of the crowd solves problems better and faster when key criteria are met.

These criteria can be summarized as:

  • Diversity is Essential: Cognitive diversity is essential to a high-performance organization.
  • Each member of the team must feel personally invested in success.
  • Collaboration and problem-solving should allow spontaneous interaction.
  • Every member of the team must be valued equally – where one is not safe, no one feels safe.

The Virtual Team Challenge

Creating a collaborative environment can be difficult to facilitate in virtual environments, especially when team members are new to working virtually. Choosing talent to create the most innovative ‘Human AI’ is quite different than traditional hiring approaches. Duplicating the “ideal” employee or modeling a team that resembles the boss are outdated approaches to team-building. The more diverse the better. Creating cognitively diverse teams that include a wide variety of perspectives and backgrounds create healthy tension and accelerate innovation faster than any team assembled purely on socioeconomic, academic, or traditional resume criteria.

Simply put, bias is good, discrimination is not.

Leading Innovation

How do you encourage innovation in teams when you cannot control the process?
Simply put; you don’t.

When trusted, the team will come up with the best solution on its own. The collective intelligence of the group will far surpass what any one individual would come up with, no matter how talented or experienced they are. It is the interaction created by each member of the team applying their unique perspective, experience, and ideas that will spur innovation faster than anything methodically planned by an individual or group of like-minded humans.

This approach may be difficult for some to embrace, but this mindset is essential to leaders and organizations that seek sustainable success. The digital transformation will be the greatest disruption in human history.  To survive and thrive in the age of AI and intelligent machines we must embrace the genius within ourselves and every person we lead to creating solutions greater than ourselves. Humans can and must be empowered to, excel in the areas they outperform machines; such as innovation.

Now, more than ever, innovation requires leadership with vision and courage. ‘Human AI’ is the key to unleashing the talent within our teams to innovate faster and better – now, and in the future.

Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

The Leadership Bottom Line

There is an old meme that’s been floating around the Internet for a long time where it says, “CFO asks CEO, ‘What happens if we invest in developing our people and they leave?’ And the CEO responds, ‘What happens if we don’t, and they stay?'” This popular meme highlights the major issue in leadership development. While training and support for leadership is a line item for every organization, what is the ROI? When we look at it, it is an expense, and it can be significant, depending on how much an organization wants to invest in its people. However, the costs of not taking it are substantial. We need to start diving into organizations and exploring the aspects of what the aggregate effect of healthy leadership development are and how we show that it is a genuine and sincere need for our organization.

I think back to some of the earliest people I’ve coached where I saw a young leader who’s good at their job, then she gets promoted and is now the team leader and is expected to oversee the people who are doing the job that she used to do. When we look at it on a technical basis, she should be very good at that, and she knows the job, she has the ins and outs. But does she know how to delegate? Does she know how to step back and view her new organizational role and how those relationships have to grow? These skills and concepts are what proper leadership development brings into an organization.

I was speaking to a new project manager not too long ago, and he was proud that he completed his first project under time and budget. When I asked him how he made it happen, he said that he had spent the extra nights and weekends and worked himself to make sure the job got done.

Sorry, skippy, that’s not how it works. It’s not sustainable.

Making sure that new leaders have robust development opportunities available is crucial; this is true for experienced leaders as well. What happens when you have that one weak leader in your organization? You regularly see people in his team turning over because it’s just an unhealthy environment, and they don’t like working there. The common denominator is that one weak leader. Think about the extended costs of rehiring and retraining. Even if they are low, entry-level employees, those costs add up. The reputation of the organization can become tarnished. There’s a cost there. Development for executive teams falls along similar lines. What happens when we don’t set and exemplify a cultural precedent of what is expected in our organization? What happens when we don’t show people we care about their personal and professional development to inspire some of their loyalty, where they can see growth opportunities within the company. Let’s be honest; many people leave when they don’t see that opportunity for personal and professional development within their roles. They’re looking to see that next step. Sometimes it’s a leadership position. Sometimes it’s just simple job expansion. But if that’s not available, they’re going to look elsewhere.

These phenomenons become something that when we look at conversations at an organizational level, and we understand that, yes, this is a significant expense for some of our organizations. Still, it is a substantial investment in the organization’s future because we don’t want to keep bringing new people in through the door or to be losing out top talent and the productivity, organizational knowledge, and networks that come with them.

We don’t want to keep losing the best people that we have at any level. Unless we take the time to build proper development into our organizations, we’re going to fall short every time.

Invest in your people, invest in your organization, and invest in your future. That’s the power of leadership development. It’s not something where you are going to see immediate returns, but it’s going to be a huge stone that has a massive ripple effect when we toss it into that larger pond. It’s going to affect and touch every piece of our organization’s success. Robust leadership development is the only sustainable competitive advantage an organization can have because that’s what allows organizations to continually adapt and adjust and overcome the circumstances that they find themselves in, take advantage of new opportunities, and surmount the challenges before them.

Ed Brzychcy is former U.S. Army Infantry Staff-Sergeant with service across 3 combat deployments to Iraq. After his time in the military, he received his MBA from Babson College and now coaches organizational leadership and growth through his consultancy, Blue Cord Management.

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Marketing Personal Development

Writing is Money

Do you like to write?

Do you consider yourself a good writer?

Do you know how to write it so they read it?

More importantly – do you know how to write so people get out their wallets and PAY you money?

Writing is the secret superpower of the thought leader.

If you’re a consultant, you have to write.

If you’re a speaker, you have to write.

If you’re a coach, you have to write.

If you’re a trainer, you have to write.

If you’re an online course creator, you have to write.

If you’re a marketer, you have to write.

If you sell any product, service, program, or idea – people will buy (or buy into) what you have to say or sell based on…

You got it – something you wrote.

Think about all the places writing is money…

Think about all the places where your ability, skill, and will to write can help you get more leads, prospects, subscribers, fans, followers – and best of all – clients and customers…

Your home page copy

Your blog posts and titles

Your articles

Your LinkedIn profile

Your Facebook posts

Your LinkedIn updates

Your tweets

Your “verbal business card”

Your About page

Your speaker introduction

Your services page

Your consulting/coaching packages

Your seminar or training descriptions

Your speech titles and descriptions

Your YouTube video titles and descriptions

Your prospecting emails and subject lines

Your sales letters

Your landing pages

Your webinars and livestreams

Your pay-per-click ads

Your email newsletter

Your book (see above for all the places you can compile your book content from!)

It used to be, “you don’t sell – you don’t eat.”

Today it’s “you don’t write – you don’t eat.”

Wondering why you’re hungry?

You’re not writing enough – or your writing isn’t good enough to truly connect with your leads, prospects, clients, and subscribers.

Categories
Body Language Entrepreneurship Management Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

“How To Negotiate In The Frightening Times Of Reckoning” – Negotiation Tip of the Week

“The only thing that trumps fear is a conscious mind controlling it.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert (Click to Tweet)

Click to get the book!

“How To Negotiate In The Frightening Times Of Reckoning”

 

I didn’t need all this stuff. Then why did you buy it? Just in case I need it. They’re shutting down everything. And right now, I, along with a lot of people, are afraid of what’s coming. Heck, you’re scared of what’s happening? It’s already here!

With a worldwide pandemic upon us, some will perish, some will become mentally crippled, and some will thrive. The most predominant factor that will dictate the categories people fall into will be how well they negotiate in these and the coming times.

The following are a few insights to consider to increase the probability of getting through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Mindset

People are seeking calm and reassurance. If you’ve been reading my articles on body language, you know that the body always tries to stay in a state of comfort – it wants to feel safe and calm. And when it’s out of that state, it exhibits signals indicating that something’s wrong – that’s how you can decipher someone’s thoughts (i.e., by the body language signals they cast).

During this and any pandemic, people become scared. They’re afraid of the prevalent uncertainty that surrounds them. And thus, they don’t know what meaningful actions to take. So, they follow the herd, which in many cases doesn’t know where it’s headed. And that’s the void that you can step into. Show people, teach people, calm people, by giving them a sense of purpose and direction. Shine a new path of hope and safety for them to embark. They’ll trust you more when you negotiate with them.

Negotiation Strategies

Offers

In the coming months and years, some people will become less discerning about maximizing their gains versus losing an opportunity – because there will be a surplus of some big-ticket items (e.g., cars, etc.). When possible, negotiate with individuals that must move items quickly; less those items lose more value. And be mindful of the speed you use to make and accept offers, which will depend on whether you’re buying or selling. If you’re the seller and you have leverage, push to close the sale quickly. If you’re the buyer, let the seller sweat – move slower.

Cash

Having cash-in-hand will induce some people to lower their prices. To enhance that image, display the money when you’re at a close point of agreement. And then ask, as you show the cash, how about I give you ‘x’ right now (display the exact amount you intend to offer), as you extend the money to the person. Let it linger there for a moment to see if he accepts it. If he doesn’t take it after a few seconds, slowly begin to withdraw it and observe his body language. Note if he becomes nervous – that’ll be a sign that he’s grappling with indecision. You will have done two things with your offer and gesture. One, you’ll show him how close he is to getting something where he might not get anything. Two, your slow movement of withdrawing the money serves as a takeaway, a loss of something someone is about to incur. Psychologically, people will fight harder to keep from losing something than they will to acquire it. So, you have that factor in your favor too.

Takeaway

As indicated a moment ago. When someone senses loss, and it’s something they want, they become motivated to keep or acquire it. Once again, that’s the power of the takeaway. It implies that someone is about to lose something they want.

While this is a powerful tool in a negotiation, be mindful of not overusing it. Because, if you use it too frequently and still allow the other person to obtain what he wants, you’ll be teaching him to dismiss your takeaway. You will have devalued it. Thus, be aware of how and when you use it.

You, Thought Leader

Thought leadership is another form of negotiation. Because people follow the thought leaders that they trust. And they do so more in frightening times of reckoning.

On the back label of the products we consume, there are several factors listed for information purposes. There are nutritional facts, ingredients, and a ‘best by’ or expiration date. That information displays a sense of the product’s life cycle, and the continuum it’s on, along with its nutritional viability. It’s a way to set the expectation in someone’s mind for how long the product is usable. And that’s what you can do as a thought leader – reassure people that there’s no expiration on their health and financial future if they adopt specific procedures. To do that, you must be aware of reliable and current information that those who follow you can use. And that will enhance the perception of those with whom you negotiate.

Reflection

The thoughts on mindset, negotiation strategies, and thought leadership, are ways in which you can negotiate in frightening times and enhance the perception of your leadership abilities. To do so successfully, you must become well attuned to factual circumstances occurring around you. And, you must be aware of what those that follow you need and want – and don’t confuse those two. There’s a perspective difference in what people want versus what they need. If they truly need it but don’t want it, you may have a more difficult time getting them to accept it. That’s where your negotiation skills will become tested. In a best-case scenario, they’ll need and want your offering.

When we come through this pandemic, one day we’ll look back on it and think these times were not that bad. Time will be the healer of the pandemic image. Thus, no matter how bad a situation is when you’re going through it, those times always appear to be perilous. So, fret not. Instead, possess a healthy mindset that will insulate you from seeing unreasonable scary things ahead, and increase your negotiation skills (which will enhance your leadership abilities). By doing so, you’ll become better positioned to see it through (i.e., the pandemic). And everything will be right with the world.

 

 

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

 

Listen to Greg’s podcast at https://anchor.fm/themasternegotiator

 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d like to know. Reach me at Greg@TheMasterNegotiator.com

 

To receive Greg’s free “Negotiation Tip of the Week” and the “Sunday Negotiation Insight” click here https://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

 

#TheMasterNegotiator #GregWilliams #negotiation #Coronavirus #Recession #NegotiationSkills #Stress #Secrets #bodylanguage #csuitenetwork #thoughtcouncil #readingbodylanguage #Control #Conversations #NegotiationStrategies #NegotiationProcess #NegotiationSkillsTraining #NegotiationExamples #NegotiationTypes #ReadingBodyLanguage #BodyLanguage #Nonverbal #Negotiate #Business #SmallBusiness #Negotiation #Negotiator #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #BodyLanguageExpert #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #GregWilliams #success #negotiation examples #Negotiation strategies #negotiation process #negotiation skills training #negotiation types #negotiation psychology #Howtowinmore #self-improvement #howtodealwithdifficultpeople #Self-development #Howtocontrolanegotiation #howtobesuccessful #HowToImproveyourself

 

Categories
Best Practices Economics Growth Management Personal Development

Leaders Who Outperform Competitors In A Down Market

No one likes a downturn in the economy whether it is short-term or a longer-term recessionary period. What ensues for business leaders and their employees tend to be a natural reaction – heightened anxiety, stress and hunkering down into an approach that focuses on defending and retaining existing clients to keep them happy and the revenue intact.

Focusing on happy clients during a downturn is not new nor should it be a new focus. In fact, focusing on clients is something good organizations do during good economic times. What’s changed is what actually comes next – a leadership focus on managing employees to tasks the organization feels will lead to desired goals.

Studies prove when leaders have heightened levels of anxiety and stress, they become more goal and task-oriented and less “people-oriented” towards their employees. Employees feel the pressure, the culture shifts, and everyone is less happy than they were just a few weeks prior to the economic downturn. And, the shift lasts……. hurting productivity & employee engagement.

The lasting effect of this shift is twofold: (1) productivity and focus decrease, negatively impacting desired results and (2) unhappy employees are waiting for the upward turn in the economy to jump ship and move to a better organization who feel the experience would have been better.

Who are those who leave? Your best employees. If you refer to Leigh Branham, the author of “7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave” you’ll find managers believe 89% of all employees leave for more money when the actual number is 12%. Without your best employees your ability to execute a growth strategy can become significantly handicapped.

So, what do the best leaders do during an economic downturn to find success? Let’s take a look at the two things winning leaders focus on accomplishing – employees and real investments into a growth strategy.

 

EMPLOYEE FOCUSED

Great leadership knows the tasks and work will get done by their direct reports because they hired qualified, capable people. What this same leadership also knows is that their employees can and will get caught up with distractions of a downward economic cycle in both their personal life and business. By acknowledging to their direct reports these distractions and challenges, they offer a few important things to their employees:

• Connection – Employees want to know their boss ‘gets it’ and knows what they are feeling and going through as stressors. Outward acknowledgment helps create and keep a line of communication open where the employee may have a periodic need to just talk through things not related to their tasks and goals. The employee feels relieved they can talk to their boss if needed without the risk of it coming back in the form of a negative performance review.

• Listening – Let’s be real, employees do not have a lot of outlets to talk through their stressors at work. Listening is the biggest form of emotional support when employees don’t want a solution but understanding. They don’t want to think there is a professional risk in being human.

• Engagement – Those leaders who master connection and listening create the highest level of engaged and committed employees for making the business successful. It also reduces turnover when the economy turns positive. How do we know this is true? A Harvard Business Review study revealed 58% of all employees trust a stranger more than their Manager.

 

INVESTING IN A GROWTH STRATEGY
There are 4 types of business behaviors during an economic downturn by leadership:

1) Prevention-focused companies, which make primarily defensive moves and are more concerned than their rivals with avoiding losses and minimizing downside risks.
2) Promotion-focused companies, which invest more in offensive moves that provide upside benefits than their peers do.
3) Pragmatic companies, which combine defensive and offensive moves.
4) Progressive companies, which deploy the optimal combination of defense and offense.

#2 is the most important leadership decision you can make for your business. These leaders know that while there is short-term pain in terms of selective cost-cutting, they actually spend budget dollars to create a new growth strategy for when the upward economic turn starts to evolve. This is something I discuss in my February 2020 whitepaper entitled “Economics – The Business Owner’s Blindspot” as Plan B. Creating and preparing your business for growth by investing the time and resources will put you ahead of your industry peers who will be trying to figure it out when you already have, and the economy has turned positive. This gives you a window of exclusivity to accelerate business results.

We know COVID-19 will have an unprecedented impact on businesses. But, we also know there is no permanence to this current challenge and things will get better. The question is: “what can you do right now during the COVID-19 pandemic to be prepared to capture new growth when the pandemic subsides?”

 

TAKING PROACTIVE ACTION
Step 1 – Analyze your market’s buyer behavior right now and predict what it will be when the economy turns positive. What will be their triggers for engaging and not engaging? How you build a strategy around those constraints and enablers determines success in creating positive outcomes
Step 2 – Initiate a plan today around your employees so they are with you for the hard times and good times without having thoughts of leaving for greener pastures (a.k.a. better leadership)
Step 3 – Budget and be willing to spend money on strategy that will give you a competitive advantage over what everyone else is doing right now and where they are focused
Step 4 – Embrace your limitations as a leader and obtain the help to build out Step 3. Average leaders try to do this themselves. Great leaders know their limitations and embrace it – there are no feelings of vulnerability nor concerns they will be viewed as unqualified leaders. Quite the opposite.

What leaders exemplified these traits and found exceptional success during their time leading an organization? Herb Kelleher, co-Founder & CEO of Southwest Airlines. Elon Musk, Founder & CEO of Tesla. Rodney Martin, chairman & CEO of Voya Financial. There are many more – and you can be one of them too.