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Category: Growth

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Growth Management Personal Development

C-Suite Essentials on Employee Engagement

Employee engagement has become a term that’s been so over used, some leaders have become desensitized to its concepts or beneficial outcomes. If you’re a leader who wants to be successful, read on. If you’re enjoying your status quo…you may still want to take a few tips into practice. Don’t be numbed by the overabundance of articles, apps and services that can increase the engagement in your workplace and subsequently your bottom line.

Here are a few ideas about what employee engagement is and what it’s not!

1. Employee engagement is people getting up in the morning and having the desire to come to work

There are many reasons why people start their day not wanting to come to work. You may think you don’t have any influence over someone’s attitude before they walk in the door. That’s not true. Once known as soft skills, communication, collaboration and change management, are truly essential skills. The organizations who take the opportunity to increase these skills will create an environment that exudes success.

2. Studies show that people who feel positive about their work culture can increase their productivity by 20%

Just how much would that save you in dollars? Some studies show that with just 50 employees, you could increase your bottom line by over $ 500K! First of all, positivity helps them show up for work. They work harder and smarter. More often than not, when they come upon an obstacle, they can assist in creating a solution. This affects the quality of their work as well. The good news? Positivity can be taught.

3. Engaged personnel are better problem solvers, sales people and customer service representatives

Having the skills to communicate, collaborate and navigate change, alleviates a lot of stress in people’s lives. Less stress leads to more tolerance and patience. Can you see where sales might increase? And, a grouch doesn’t make for good customer service either. Unless you don’t have any competition, increased sales and superior customer service is going to make a big difference in your bottom line in more ways than you might think
4. The best employee engagement techniques are related to the relationships they produce.

It might be, “Hawaiian Shirt Friday.” Maybe, it’s, “Catch a workmate doing something right,” day. In events like these benefits abound. First of all, it’s fun. There is plenty of research out there that shows when people have fun, they learn more and retain information for longer periods of time. Activities like these build greater bonds between team members. In a business where people work together this connection is priceless in terms of quality and creativity. Community projects done as a team have an additional element of raising your CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), score. This has become an important aspect of who people want to work for.

5. Employee engagement is not just giving a bonus and calling it a day

Money is no longer the most important criteria for why people work where they work. As you experience the future shortage of employees, this concept will become ever more important. Money will not be the deciding factor as to where someone works or who they stay loyal to.

6. Annual reviews do not create communication for crucial employee/leader growth

Most human beings have a need to be acknowledged and feel valuable. It used to be that continuous improvement programs were for those that needed to exceed or be gone. How about making a continuous improvement plan as a way of life for each individual and the company? People respond better and increase their usefulness at work when they know how they fit within the company’s culture

Employee engagement = higher productivity = greater creativity = Happier-Healthier place to be

Your workforce is your most important asset. Don’t wait. Don’t have a motivational talk and go back to business as usual. Lack of employee engagement will become a critical problem as our workforce becomes more sophisticated and discerning. We’re looking at a shortage of employees coming up very shortly. The latest figures project that there will be a shortage of 5 million workers in 2020. This is true for machinists, medical staff, lawyers, accountants, lawyers, nurses and IT personnel, to name a few. Don’t delay, because you can’t create a great place to work overnight. The most successful organization will realize it’s a journey, a constant and continuous journey. They will build ideas into the very fabric of their organization. You can create ideas that will become how you do business, both inside and out.

Want to share this with a friend, but they are an auditory learner? Use this link to listen to this podcast. http://www.julieannsullivan.com/engagement-in-workplace/

Julie Ann Sullivan is a professional speaker and trainer to influence, motivate and inspire.
For more information on Julie Ann Sullivan, visit Julie Ann’s website. Follow on Twitter: @JASatLNE
Julie Ann Sullivan is the host of Mere Mortals Unite and Business that Care, now streaming on C-Suite Radio.

Categories
Growth Management Operations Personal Development

Customer Service Lessons Learned from United Airlines Computer Outage

The problem lasted two and a half hours and caused 200 flight delays and six cancellations. No, this wasn’t just a single unhappy customer complaining to a gate agent at the airport. These were the results of a recent widespread computer outage at United Airlines. Thus, thousands of people were inconvenienced. I would describe a two-plus-hour delayed flight as a Moment of Misery™.

This outage resulted in thousands of passengers becoming angry. Yet, problems like this are seemingly unavoidable; just last year it happened to Delta and Southwest. Sometimes it may not be a computer glitch, but a weather problem that can cause airline delays. Yet every cloud can have a silver lining; this is an example of a mini-case study on how to handle a customer service crisis.

I did not witness what happened at the airport when passengers approached United’s gate agents for help, nor did I listen on the phone lines as passengers tried to reach their customer service representatives. I’m sure there were both long lines and long hold times. Those individual interactions turned out either good or bad because of the individual employees’ attitudes and how well they had been trained to handle such situations. Instead, what I am about to address is the overall response that United Airlines made, and how it was an excellent example of what to do in a crisis.

I teach a five-step process on how to deal with a complaining customer, and for those who follow my work, here is a short review:

1. Acknowledge the problem.

2. Apologize for the problem.

3. Fix the problem – or discuss how it will be fixed.

4. Do it with the right attitude – not just being nice, but acting accountable.

5. Doing all of this with a sense of urgency.

Well, you can extend how you should deal with an individual customer to the way you should deal with a service crisis that impacts thousands of customers.

First, United acknowledged and apologized for the inconvenience. They covered the first two steps. United responded to media inquiries and tweeted out to all of their followers: A ground stop is in place for domestic flights due to an IT issue. We’re working on a resolution. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Then they fixed it, accomplishing step three.

Step four was complete when they accepted responsibility. No excuses. Maddie King, a spokesperson for United, met with the press and told them they were working to fix the problem. In other words, United was owning the problem.

Finally, there was a sense of urgency throughout the entire process. Because United worked hard and fast, it took them just two and a half hours to fix the problem. The key to restoring confidence is urgency.

So, whether you have a single customer complaining or a major service crisis affecting thousands of customers, consider the five-step process, which not only fixes what is broken, but can potentially restore the customer’s confidence. And, done well, the process may even restore the customer’s confidence to a level higher than if the problem had never happened at all.

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker and New York Times bestselling business author. For information contact or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken

Categories
Best Practices Management Marketing Personal Development Women In Business

Is Your Voice Camera-Ready?

Raise your hand if you hate the sound of your voice when you hear it on a video… I bet if we were in a room asking that question everyone would have their hand raised. But here’s the thing: It’s not actually your voice that’s the problem: it’s what you do with your voice that makes it hard to listen to, and undermines your authority and charisma.

Now that we’ve acknowledged the elephant in the room, let’s look at why it happens, and what you can do about it.

One common goal of any appearance on camera is to come across as a confident and charismatic leader, representing your organization, company, or industry. You want to draw people in and connect with the audience… all of which is much easier said than done.

With all that pressure, knowing your performance will be immortalized on video, most people get nervous on camera; that’s totally normal, even when you’re comfortable with your content. And we all know about putting on a “poker face,” i.e. not letting your facial expressions show your true feelings to the world. But your face isn’t the only thing that can put our feelings on display.

Your voice will tattle on you faster than a kindergartener.

So let’s look at some ways to project a strong, clear, compelling vocal delivery. (You can jump to the end and click the photo with the video link if you want to hear demonstrations of these concepts.)

Sounding Confident

You know how they say dogs can smell fear? Well, people can hear fear. So what does fear sound like?

There are two key factors that will either create or destroy a confident voice.

The first is breath support. When you’re nervous, you subconsciously tense up and breathe shallowly from your shoulders. This pinches your voice, and makes you run out of air too fast, resulting in what’s referred to as “vocal fry.”

Vocal fry also happens when you’re hesitant, maybe because you’re afraid of making a mistake, or just feeling self-conscious. When your brain is holding back, your voice will too.

Of course, if you truly admire the way the Kardashians speak (read: irony) and want to emulate them as modern-day leaders, then keep doing what you’re doing, and fry-away.

But when you take a nice deep breath from your belly and open your throat to let your voice flow freely, it resonates in your chest cavity and head and takes on a full, rich sound.

The second is tonality, or intonation patterns, where you put your high and low pitches in your speech.

On the one hand, there are those of you who are so focused on your getting your content right and sounding smart, that there’s very little tonal variation in your voice, so you come across as robotic. That stiffness comes across as awkward and uncomfortable. It can also make you sound more like the teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off than someone who is really passionate about her topic.

On the other hand, another common pattern is referred to as “up-speak” or “up-talk,” which is that lilting pattern that sounds like you’re constantly inflecting “Right?” “Okay?” and “You know?” at every turn, and asking questions rather than making statements. This also sounds insecure, as those implied questions are persistently begging for validation: You’re right! Yes! Okay! I hear you – now stop asking questions!

And contrary to the examples in that last video link and popular stereotypes, men do this just as much as women, older and younger. There are other reasons and patterns for when this happens which I’ll have to detail in another post, or drop me a line if you’re dying for more info. But don’t assume that you’re innocent just because you’re not a recent college grad.

Strong, confident, positive intonation puts the highest pitch on the most important words for emphasis, and drops the pitch at the end of sentences, just like a “vocal period.” This declarative tone sounds confident and trustworthy.

The most engaging voice incorporates good breath support for a full, resonant voice, as well as strategically varied intonation, with the ups and downs in all the right places. Want a demo? Click on the picture below and see what you think!

Once you put all this together, you’ll realize that all those annoying habits that made you think you hate your voice have disappeared, and what you’re left with is your very best “camera-ready voice.”

Of course, it’s a lot easier to hear about different voice qualities and habits than it is to read about the sound of your voice. So if you really want to wrap your head – and your ears – around some of these ideas, here’s a quick three-minute video that demonstrates some of the major vocal pitfalls to avoid, and on the flip-side, strategies to help you sound like the confident, charismatic, persuasive leader you want to be.

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

Birds of a Feather

You know the saying, birds of a feather flock together, but have you ever considered what that means for your business or organization?

In this discussion the birds are your workforce, your employees. Top talent, the Rock Stars that seem to be so elusive want to be in organizations that not only appreciate their hard work and talent, but also don’t put up with mediocrity from everyone else. When you find an organization filled with A players it is because they flock to each other, they support each other, they inspire, influence, and make work a great place to be.

Do you have the Rock Stars that I’m talking about the A and B players? Those who go above and beyond, have new creative ideas, get behind the company and mission, and bend over backwards for your clients and customers? Or do you have average or below average workers (C and D players)? You know who I am talking about, those employees that do the bare minimum to get by or even worse aren’t doing much of anything.

When you find an organization with C and D players it seems like everyone is just hanging in there; no one really cares about doing better. They are getting by with just enough to keep them employed and everyone around them is doing the same. What incentive do they have to become A or B players and why would the A and B players stick around? People want to be around like-minded individuals.

The same is true outside of work. Have you ever looked at social circles and noticed what they have in common? Usually they have a lot in common. The type of work they do, the amount of money they make, how they spend their money, their health, and their ambitions You don’t often find groups with a big mix because like attracts like and that rule is the same whether you are looking at social circles, family dynamics, or work environments.

It has been said that you will become the average of the 5 people you spend the most time around. How does that translate to your business? It means that your business cannot be better than the average of your workforce?

Okay, I know this might sound depressing, so let’s look at the ways to employ Rock Star talent, not only in hiring them off the bat, but turning your average employees into A and B players.

Hire Differently – It is no longer acceptable to hire the way you have in the past. A job description does not actually provide the right information to determine if someone is going to be a top performer or an average one. The experience people have on paper is not who they are and you have to hire the whole person, not just the person’s experience.

For example, my resume reads very well, with lots of technical experience in a very niche cyber security field. If I were to apply to a job where that experience fit the job description I would be a great candidate. But when you peel back the layers of who I am and get to the deeper levels of the whole person I make a horrible candidate for that position. They need someone who can ask the same questions over and over again, enjoys working independently, and is happy to write the same long report for every client. While I can do those things and have done those things with great success I was not happy with the work because I like change and innovation, I like to be in a community and collaborate, and I like to deliver creatively. That job was not one that I was going to innovate, go above and beyond for, find new solutions, or stick around for more than a few years.

It’s about creating a personality or persona for the position and matching the candidate to it before looking at skills and experience. Someone can learn a skill if they are the right match energetically for the position and do much better than someone who has the experience and is not an energetic match for the work.

If a position requires the individual spend 50% their time working independently and the person applying loves to be around and collaborate with people they may have a hard time being engaged and could eventually become an average employee, or they will leave. This of course is just one of many examples on how a person needs to align with the position at a much deeper level than skill set.

There are lots of ways to do this and tools you can use. I personally use the Core Values Index (CVI) to do this and am happy to tell you more about it, just shoot me an email to sharon@c-suiteresults.com subject line: Tell me more about the CVI for hiring.

Create a Culture of Engagement – This does not necessarily mean Ping-Pong tables in the break room or really cool employee benefits like wearing jeans to work and discount movie tickets. A culture of engagement has to do with your workforce being aligned with the mission of the organization, doing work that lights them up, and going above and beyond because they want to provide excellence.

In my 10+ years as a consultant I rarely saw this type of engaged culture; mainly I saw fairly toxic environments, which is why I wrote The Corporate Detox (www.amazon.com or www.c-suiteresults.com/book.) There were too many employees dissatisfied, too many managers who were disengaged from their teams, and too many projects that were behind schedule and over budget.

Engagement happens when people feel heard and honored for who they are and how they work. Trying to fit all employees into a mold of when they come to work or how they work will create disengaged employees. I understand that you can’t have employees coming to work at noon and there has to be some core hours that everyone is working, but you can honor each employee by hearing them, knowing them, and tailoring as much as you can to who they are.

This means having real conversations and caring about your people. Not just once a year during the annual review, but continuously. Do you know their career goals, do they know their career goals, do you know about them on a personal level, do you ask questions beyond that of what they are working on? When people feel heard they will naturally be more engaged. This is not about more employee satisfaction surveys, this is about getting out from behind your desk and talking to your people; but more than just talking, it’s about listening.

Focus on High Performance – This is a topic that I am becoming obsessed with because there is such a difference between those who are motivated to become high achievers and the rest of the world. Since I find that the average person is not focused on high achievement, how do you create a high performance team or organization? Of course hiring those with this mindset helps, but sometimes you end up hiring other people too. So the key is teaching your entire workforce to have a high performance mindset.

When people work together you want them to know and respect each other, have the same mission for the project or organization, and be able to work together regardless of differing opinions. The way you build a team, nurture the team, and foster teamwork will make or break how well your team performs. T
he more creative a team can be in how they think, the better their results will be. This means that there is an environment of safety. There are no dumb answers and no bad ideas. Everyone is invited to participate in discussions and share what they are thinking. This is where each member of the team is able to use their natural abilities, strengths, skills, and unique brilliance in a way that honors them.

Now, where do you go from here? This was a high level discussion on how to create important change. Hiring differently, creating engagement, and focusing on high performance is a process that will take time. It is my role is to help you figure this out, to help you take C and D players and turn them into A and B players. What if it were really possible to only hire A and B players going forward and to completely change the low engagement that is so prevalent in most organizations.

What would your business and your life look like if you went to work every day surrounded by the best of the best people? What will your business look like a year from now if you don’t learn how to do this now?

For more information on hiring and retaining top talent and creating high performance teams, schedule a consult call with me by sending an email to sharon@c-suiteresults.com subject line: I want Rock Star Talent!

Categories
Entrepreneurship Leadership Marketing Operations Personal Development

A Billion Reasons Why Providing Great Customer Service Can Pay Off

For a company that provides a great product at a great price, and builds the value of that product with great customer service that inspires confidence among its members, look no further than The Dollar Shave Club.

Dollar Shave Club, in case you are not familiar, was started by Michael Dubin and Mark Levine in 2011. In 2012, they recorded a promotional video and posted it on YouTube. The video is so hilarious that it now has more than 24 million views! In the process, as you can imagine, Dollar Shave Club picked up members, thousands of them. This drove them from a start-up business to a success that would eventually attract the attention of long-established competitors. But sales alone couldn’t make them the success that they are today; they needed to have that good product supported by good service.

As their name implies, they sell a membership for one dollar. When you start your membership, you get your choice of one of their two-, four- or six-blade razors for just a dollar! And, that price includes the shipping. Then each month Dollar Shave Club sends you four fresh blades for as little as three dollars. That’s great value for the money. But great value, as in a low price, isn’t always accompanied by great service. Yet that is not the case with Dollar Shave Club.

Recently my Dollar Shave Club razor broke. The blade would no longer stay on the razor. Since they are an online retailer, I went to their website and clicked on “Contact Us.” I filled out the contact form and described my issue. In just a little while they responded.

Hey Shep,

Sorry to hear about the Handle! Thanks for letting us know. We trust you! I’ve got you covered and will send a couple of new Executive Handles on the house right away. Expect them within 3-5 business days and let us know if you need anything else in the meantime.

Shave on,

Wes

It was that easy. It was that fast. Just as easy and fast as when I signed up to be a member. Dollar Shave Club acknowledged my problem and apologized. Then they told me what they were going to do, which was send out new handles right away. And they did it. They didn’t make excuses, try to put the blame me or make it hard on me, such as asking me to return the broken handle. They just took great care of me. That’s what great customer-focused companies do!

So, how easy are you to do business with? When a customer has a problem, do you respond quickly, apologize, accept responsibility and immediately fix the problem, while making the process easy on the customer? Do you handle the issue in such a way that creates even greater confidence in your products and in your business? Everything Dollar Shave Club does creates confidence. Thus, confidence gives them a great reputation and loyal repeat customers – or should I say members.

Dollar Shave Club is the total package. Great value wrapped up with great service. And here’s some proof, they currently have over two million members, and recently, after just five years in business, they sold to Unilever for, are you ready? One billion dollars!

Categories
Human Resources Leadership Marketing Personal Development

The Top Traits an Employee Needs to Deliver Great Customer Service

Everyone needs great customer service skills because every employee deals with internal and external customers, or both.

“But what exactly are the traits an employee needs?” a subscriber asked me recently.
“Are you asking about the traits that a support rep must have?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “I am hiring to fill an IT position.”

First, I told him, as you think of traits, they come in two categories: skills and attitudes. A skill is self-explanatory. For instance, if you’re hiring someone who will be doing a lot of corresponding with customers, you’ll obviously need someone with good communication skills – a command of the English language, as in punctuation, spelling and grammar. An attitude is the way you would describe someone’s personal characteristics. For example, he or she is optimistic, witty or a team player.

To determine traits, we do an exercise in our customer focus workshops. We set a large whiteboard or flipchart in front of the audience. Then we ask the audience to shout out the traits of someone who would be good at customer service. As you can imagine, we get lots of adjectives. A few of them are:

Confident, empathetic, engaging, friendly, funny, good communicator, good people skills, happy, helpful, honest, kind, knowledgeable, nice, outgoing, passionate, poised, polite, positive, responsive, sympathetic – and the list typically goes on.

As you closely examine the list above, notice how many are skills and how many are attitudes. You’ll find that most of the traits are attitudes while just a few are skills! “Good communicator” and “good people skills” are obviously skills. You can even argue that “knowledgeable” is also a skill. But we find that out of the twenty or so traits that are typically mentioned, only about three of them are skills. Yes, we could add a few more skills to the list to try to balance it out, but for every skill we could add, there are probably three or four more attitudinal traits we could add as well.

By doing this exercise of creating a list, we’re not trying to imply to the audience that skills just aren’t important. They absolutely are. For example, if a medical center needs to hire a skilled nurse, they are going to be looking for more than just somebody with a great attitude or somebody who really wants to be a nurse. Any serious candidate for the job will have gone on for continued schooling, passed exams, got a degree and became licensed. Without those qualifications, all of the attitude in the world won’t land someone a job as a nurse.

And this discussion isn’t meant to support the saying “hire for attitude and train for skill” either. That may work for some jobs, but for many jobs, a person needs certain skills just to get the job, such as that of a nurse.

Another example of a group of employees that needs specialized skills are those whizzes in the IT department. They can understand things the average human can’t easily comprehend. However, regardless of how strong someone’s technical skills are, without the right personality, as exhibited by many of the aforementioned attitudes, a single employee can potentially bring down an entire customer-focused culture.

So what are the traits of an employee capable of delivering a great customer service experience? More importantly, how can you determine them for a position that you are trying to fill?

My suggestion is to have a group of employees in your company go through the whiteboard exercise we just mentioned. List all of the traits you can think of that are both attitudes and skills. Hone the list down to the top ten core attitudinal traits needed to be customer-focused in your organization. Then add to the list the specific skills required for the job. An accountant needs accounting skills. A doctor needs medical skills. And, of course the IT department needs people with technical skills. When you add the ten attitudes to the needed skills, you may have found that next AMAZING person to work with!

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Management Skills

Calming your Nerves On Camera

You know the drill.

Your heart starts to race. Your palms start to sweat while your mouth goes dry. You remind yourself to smile and pray you don’t draw a blank at a critical moment.

You’re either about to meet someone on a blind date, or you’re about to speak on camera.

If you’re looking into the eyes of a blind date, sorry; you’re on your own. But if you’re looking into the eye of a camera, there ARE things you can do to calm your nerves, collect your thoughts, and knock it out of the park.

Actually, the more I think about it, some of the solutions to these problems aren’t all that different after all.

For starters, head-games are half the battle. And I’m not even talking about if someone else is playing games with you. (Remember, on a first date those games haven’t started yet.) I’m referring to the internal head-games – some people might call it head trash – that you play with yourself.

Let’s face it: You can be your own worst enemy. And you know I’m right.

You constantly set the bar higher – a good thing in business development, but not when you’re always afraid you could or should have done better, never satisfied with your result. That wrecks havoc on your confidence, which is already under siege in front of the camera.

You’re also a pro at the “what if” game:

– What if I make a mistake?
– What if I draw a blank?
– What if they ask a question I can’t answer?
– What if I forget to smile?
– What if I fidget too much?
– What if the camera really does add ten pounds? I should’ve gone on a diet…

And what does all that accomplish? It sets you on a downward spiral of sabotage and self-fulfilling prophecies.

At that point, you’re like a major league baseball player getting up to bat and saying over and over to himself: Don’t miss… Don’t miss… Just don’t miss…

At best, that’s playing to not-lose. You need to adjust your thinking so you can play to WIN.
Here’s the first trick: Your body doesn’t know the difference between when you’re nervous or excited. Adrenaline is adrenaline. So when you feel the adrenaline kick in, along with the quickened heartbeat and shaky hands, don’t send yourself on that downward spiral by repeating “Oh my gosh, I’m so nervous… I’m so nervous… I’m so nervous” over and over again, mantra-like.

That’s psyching yourself out before you even get started, making the challenge both physical and psychological.

Instead, psych yourself into success. (After all, if you can talk yourself out of something, why wouldn’t it work the other way around too?)

When that adrenaline kicks in, change gears immediately, and repeat to yourself, “I’m so excited, I’m so excited, I’m so excited…” and get yourself pumped up!

And it’s not just empty words… you are excited. Think about it: you wouldn’t be nervous or excited if you didn’t care, and caring is good! And you probably care so much because this is a great opportunity for you to shine and get some good publicity for you and your company.
That’s what you should be focused on – and happy about!

Aligning your mind and body that way is the equivalent of getting up to bat and focusing your thoughts and efforts on knocking it out of the park.

Then SMILE as you say this to yourself – it actually has a positive psychological effect as well.

My video below, “Calming Your Nerves” from the series, “Capturing Your Confidence on Camera,” addresses this and other strategies you can use to get a grip on yourself and be calm, cool, and compelling in front of the camera.

And these strategies aren’t just for mastering camera presence. Whenever you need to capture the attention, minds and hearts of your audience, whether in an interview, giving a conference presentation, or on that first date, run through the strategy checklist in the video.

You’re sure to come across poised, charismatic and confident – and win them over!

Categories
Marketing Personal Development Technology

When Your Marketing Needs Machine Learning

Machine learning seems to be the flavor of the week, so I’ve been getting a lot of questions from clients who want to know what they should know. And some requests for some kind of magic that sounds like, “Can you ladle out a dollop of that machine learning on this?”

So, first off, machine learning is a kind of artificial intelligence–that sounds lofty, but what it really means is that it provides a way for computers to solve problems that they weren’t explicitly programmed to solve. Standard software can solve a problem because a programmer researched the problem, talked to experts, and designed a solution to that particular problem. Machine learning allows computers to tackle a range of problems that the programmers and the experts wouldn’t necessarily know how to solve on their own.

Let’s take an example. I’ve designed a machine learning system for a company that performs sentiment analysis for social media conversations–such as whether a tweet is positive or negative. Now, human beings can identify sentiment accurately around 89% of the time (yes, that low), but standard software is much worse–maybe 60%–because it is hard to code a set of rules that cover all the cases. This machine learning solution is actually more accurate than human beings at times.

How does it do that? It collects training data from what the human beings decide and it looks for patterns that help it identify which tweets are more likely to be positive or negative. With enough training data, it can do a better job than a person. And it is certainly much faster and cheaper.

So, of course you’d like such a technology applied to all sorts of marketing problems that you have. But you might not be ready. Recently, a client approached us, asking that we replace their human content approval system with a machine learning system. They explained that their current process takes each new web page and subjects it to the judgement of several human experts (legal, brand, product, and more) before it is approved to be promoted to the production website. The current process is frustrating and time consuming–often two weeks go by before the approvals are in hand. They desperately want to get the approval process to a day–or even minutes.

But they aren’t ready yet. Machine learning requires that you have very tight processes with well-defined tasks and a history of data that shows that human experts generally agree with each other (such as in the 89% sentiment agreement). This client had none of that–no written standards, experts who disagree, no records of prior decisions–so they weren’t ready yet.

That’s OK. We walked through how they can fix all of those problems over the next few months. Just doing those things will make the process more consistent, less frustrating, and a little faster. At that point, we can start thinking about machine learning to gain even more. It’s always important to provide business value at every step–even what seems like the preparation step.

So what are your thoughts on machine learning? Anytime something new comes along, it can be a personality test. Some people say “we don’t need that yet because it isn’t proven” and others say “we need to do that now and get a jump on the competition.” For machine learning, it’s best to analyze the situation and start preparing your processes to take advantage–because the day is coming where no one will say it isn’t proven yet.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Management Personal Development

5 strategies for getting unstuck

It happens to everyone at some point in time; you are going along in life or business and then one day you don’t feel like you are making progress anymore. You feel stuck, you’re not moving forward and you know there is more you want to accomplish. You want to get unstuck, but you’re not sure how.

Being stuck is not limited to any one area of your life. You may feel great at work, but stuck at home in your family dynamic. You may feel great at home but stuck in an aspect of work or business. You may feel stuck in your relationship and have fallen into the same old boring routine or maybe you are singles and you feel like you will never find that perfect someone.

These are just a few examples. The point is that feeling stuck can be about anything and the good news is you can get unstuck from most situations. Here are five strategies you can implement any time and start moving forward again.

1. Surround yourself with excellence. Start by looking at the people you spend your time with. You want to surround yourself with people who are going in the direction you want to go, who are smarter than you, and have accomplished more.

The reason for doing this is that when you surround yourself with the type of people who already have what you are trying to accomplish you will learn what to do much faster. You will have people you can learn from, whether through asking questions or learning from their examples and inspiration.

In doing this you will also learn habits of those who are successful and have reached similar goals to the ones that you have set for yourself. Then you implement the same habits.

Jim Rohn is known for saying that you will become the average of the five people you spend the most time around. What average do you want to be? Once you decide on that, then ask yourself who should those people be that you spend your time with? If the people who currently surround you do not average the future you want, it’s time to start hanging around new people. Find out where the people you want to be the average of hang out and start going there to expand your horizon.

2. Be Interested Not Interesting. Do you want to find new opportunities, maybe attract new people to you, or land that new job or promotion? Your goal is to be interested, not interesting. You were blessed with two ears and one mouth for a reason. To listen twice as much as you talk.

To be interested all you have to do is ask good questions about the other person, sit back and listen. Hear what they are telling you and when you have that urge to say “me too” stop yourself. This is not about you being interesting and telling your story, this is about you being interested and hearing theirs.

People want to be heard and they want someone to listen. Most people go through their day, weeks, and even years just wanting someone to really listen to them. Be that person and you will be invaluable to those around you. Not only will they benefit so will you as you start to listen, new ideas and opportunities will come to you.

3. Ask! Ask for what you want. Not asking is a definite No, when asking gives you a 50% chance of getting a yes. If you feel stuck because there is something you want or need from someone else and have not asked for it maybe it’s time to just go for the ask. You might be surprised to find that most people genuinely want to help others, especially those they know, trust, and like.

4. Get Scared. Go for the choice that scares you. Growth only happens when you get uncomfortable. When you go with what scares you, growing is required. When you go with the safe bet there is no requirement or opportunity for growth. Growth is getting unstuck.

Apply for the job or promotion you really want, the one you don’t know if you are ready for. Ask for the business or ask Sally or John out on a date. Do something that scares you and when it is no longer scary it’s time to do something new that scares you again. In all actuality if you can find something scary to do every day that is going to skyrocket your growth like you have never imagined possible. Check out the Book I Dare Me by Lu Ann Cahn to see how she overcame being stuck by doing something new every day.

5. Find a mentor. Sometimes it takes someone else to help you move forward. If you have tried everything and you are just not gaining momentum it may be time to find a mentor, coach, or group that can help. There are professionals in every possible field imaginable that have already figured out the solutions to your problem and they want to help you.

What I have found as a coach and working with my own coaches is that when I have a problem with a solution I can’t see, it’s like trying to examine my own eye without a mirror: It’s just not possible. Your coach (or mentor) can be that mirror for you and help you see what you have been missing, help you gain valuable information faster, keep you accountable to your actions, and help you move forward.

You can do this through a one-on-one coaching relationship or group coaching. In groups you will find others that understand what you are going through and you have the support of not just one person, but many. With one-on-one coaching you have dedicated time that is all yours in a safe and private environment to work through anything that has you stuck.

The point to all of this is that being stuck is completely normal and happens to everyone at some point in time. Some have figured out how to get unstuck faster than others, and you can too. Start to implement these five steps; the more you can implement at once the faster you will see that forward momentum you are looking for. If you are stuck in more than one area and you feel overwhelmed, work on one item at a time until you get that movement and then you can start to implement what is working in other areas of your life.

Don’t give up. Setbacks happen, remember: it’s not your setbacks that define you, it’s your comebacks.

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Entrepreneurship Management Skills

The High-Performance Reboot – A Modern Day Version of the American Dream

“Be All You Can Be”? Even though that slogan had its limitations, it was used in the Army for over 21 years to inspire young recruits to do their best and be their best at all times.

Truth is that being all you can be is not just for the Army. It is a choice that everyone has in life. It is about how you want to live your life and who you want to be. Be all you can be! – signifies the American dream, a dream that was coined in 1931 by Historian James Truslow Adams:

“…The American Dream… in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable.”

Each man and woman would have the opportunity to be all they can be and live a life of their choice. Sadly these days, the American Dream has turned into a nightmare consisting of a mad pursuit of riches, power and material possessions. Somewhere along the way we translated the American dream to extra-long hours at work, deadlines and high stress. It seems we have lost balance and have lost our way.

The question is can the American dream be kept alive without being a slave to your business, compromising your relationships or sacrificing your health and wellness? The answer is yes – a new updated version of the American dream can be attained thru High-Performance Reboot.

Why would you choose High-Performance Reboot?

The High-Performance Reboot provides the ability to express your

ultimate potential in life in all areas of your life on a consistent basis. It is the ability to constantly grow, achieve more and be more while still maintaining equilibrium without crashing and burning. Some people might call that work/life balance. Personally, I believe that life has ebb and flow. Balance is when the scales are even and there is no movement. While work/life balance signifies that your work is separate from your life, work is only one dimension of your life. Whereas at times you might need to invest energy in one area of your life, less in another; you then can circle back to the areas that may have been somewhat neglected and give them some extra needed attention therefore maintaining equilibrium.

For example: say you had a business project that required a lot of time and effort which may have taken your focus away from your family and your loved ones. Once that project was completed, you would be able to celebrate by taking your family on a vacation, spending uninterrupted quality time with them, therefore putting more energy in an area you had seemingly neglected.

High-Performance is not restricted to a special part of society – it is for anyone who chooses. The High Performance Reboot is about living your best life by tapping into your inner resources on a continuous basis to express the power of your own natural abilities without burning out or breaking down.

The High- Performance Reboot focuses on how you live in life, how you take care of yourself and access your inner resources. Its foundation is The High Performance Triad of Leadership- Language-Lifestyle.

• Leadership – The way you conduct yourself as an individual and the influence you have on others, your family, the community and the rest of the world

• Language – Your communication skills, your internal and external dialogues. What you say to yourself and other people and how you interact with them

• Lifestyle – What your life looks like. How you create a life of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being, a life of true health and Wellness.

My own life journey for over 30 years has lead to the natural evolution of The High-Performance Reboot. My experiences, education and professional expertise have been instrumental in defining and developing the three pillars of the High-Performance triad.
In the upcoming articles we will explore the three pillars in more depth to gain a deeper understanding on how they shape your activities, choices and your life.