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Growth Personal Development

3 Steps to Prevent Growth from Ruining Your Business

‘Growth’, ‘expansion’, or ‘buildout phase’, whatever you want to call it, is the most dangerous time for your business. But outsiders think your business has to be successful since it’s growing. Isn’t it ironic? The expansion itself can destroy your business.

Before the buildout phase, your business had finally reached its first stage of shaky sustainability. You were finally able to pay your bills, and not with investors’ money, but with your revenue—imagine that! You had finally scored a few big clients who helped you achieve positive cashflow for the first time since your launch. Your business had been built up to a point where you proved your stance in the market, and some stability did result, even if only for a little while.

Then, you realized those few big clients that you relied on and were so proud of, actually had you over a barrel. You had all your eggs in one basket. Any of those clients could dictate your terms, or even worse—they could’ve stopped buying, putting you out of business then and there. But, lucky for you, you listened to your salespeople and accountant, who agreed you were stuck in a precarious position—until you found new clients to lessen the risk of financial disruption or coercion.

Given all of that, you decided to expand! You wanted more customers so that you couldn’t be held hostage by just one customer. You chose to protect your revenue with more sources of income. But then what? You hit a wall! Just like so many other buildout companies, you were slammed with overhead and costs you never saw coming. You learned the heard way. Not about the cost of goods, but the cost of sales!

We’ve learned that sales is the number one underestimated cost in business. These costs were absorbed under “general” overhead before the expansion phase. They were spread out. But once you begin to move into new markets, these costs become more and more obvious.

You are now stuck. If you borrow cash for expansion, how long is it going to take to pay off the loan? And if you sell equity to fund growth, how much control will you need to give up? And, most importantly, what are the costs of buildout, anyway? Are they the same across all markets? Can you recognize them ahead of time? And can you cashflow your way to growth?

The implications of expansion are various. Here are 3 simple steps to survive this “Build Out or Blow Out” challenge to your company:

1. Supply. You’ll need extended terms and credit from your big suppliers. If you already have a collaborative partnership with them from your buildup phase, they’ll be more likely to extend these to you. You’ve shown sympathy for them by letting them know ahead of time if you’d be late or short on your payments. You have demonstrated and accomplished payment plans to get and stay current. You’ve shared your plans for growth on a quarterly basis. Through a long-term contract, you’ve given them the security that you’ll stay a loyal customer even after you “make it.” You’ve done these things the whole time, right?

2. Sales Cost Analysis. Your cost accountant has not only identified the cost of goods, but also the cost of sales in several different They have taught you about the probable advantages and disadvantages of specific markets. You took their advice, and created an expansion plan based on a strategy for revenue growth. You first started in the most profitable markets, because they cost the least to compete in. You and your cost accountant, together, have recognized and understood the cost of sales, and how they change from territory to territory. These include (but are not limited to) promotions, advertising, transportation, taxes, fees, representation, merchandising, customer service, discounting, presentations, and the list goes on. You wouldn’t expand into your next territory until the first one pays for itself, right?

3. Incentives and Compensation. Finally, you’ve figured out that you can’t expect expansion by paying your sales team on volume alone. In fact, you can’t really grow without an annually renewed compensation package based on new, higher goals. You understand what growth means in terms of business health and practicality, and now you’ve created a system that rewards your people for growth, reorders, and new markets. You’ve established incentives for those who aren’t on your payroll, who can foster your growth. You’ve chosen to take a smaller piece from a larger pie!

Of course, there is so much more to this tricky expansion business. Just remember to avoid over-extending yourself, grow slowly, make strategic alliances, and take note of what it actually costs to make a sale, service a sale, and keep ‘em coming. Work closely with your suppliers and a cost accountant, and follow a practical strategy so you can build out and not blow out! Remember—you can do this! Right?

For more, read on: http://c-suitenetworkadvisors.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

Categories
Best Practices Growth Management Personal Development

Create Exceptional Experiences for Customers

With Exceptional Attention to Detail

Do your customers know how important they are to you? And when I use the word customer I’m talking about your clients, your patients, your members, your students, your team members, whatever you call them, let’s use the word customers today. How are you paying professional attention to your customers, whoever they might be?

I want to share with you what I call BDA, which is just a fancy name, or process, for before, during, and after. When it comes to truly paying professional attention, and committing to our customers, I want to share with you an experience I had, and a great example of an organization, or really a hotel, that demonstrates what I call intentional attention through their BDA process.

I wanted to surprise a dear friend and she lives in North Carolina, and so I had booked a weekend in New York as a surprise. Now, what happened was before I even got to New York I had the opportunity to go to their website, register all my details, but it was quite a fun check-in process. And one thing they asked about was there any special occasion? So of course, I mentioned my friend Leslie’s birthday. Then, I was thinking about what made it a really great attentive experience before I even got to the hotel. Well, their website’s well designed, there are so many great pictures. All my questions were answered, their registration process was simple. And I had done quite a bit of research on them through social media.

The Exceptional Customer Experience

I had heard about this unique property called the Library Hotel, and I had personal endorsements from others who’d stayed there. So, I want you to have a think about what are your customers telling others? What are people looking at when they view your social media accounts? Are they sharing and seeing what you stand for? And do you make it easy for your customers to do business with you?

There are some ideas before you even get that customer interaction. But let’s talk about what happened during my stay at the Library Hotel. It was a very hot summer day, we had both got into the city in very different ways, and we jumped in a cab to get to the hotel. It was a hot, sticky day. Imagine our delight when we were offered water by the attentive, kind staff who offered us water upon entering. We were early, so our room wasn’t ready for us at that time.

But, what was amazing was that they wished my friend a happy birthday as soon as she walked up to the counter, which is incredible, and they offered us a hospitality suite to be able to change so we could then go and enjoy a luncheon. Not only that, the hospitality suite was equipped with lovely complimentary drinks and snacks, and it was a gorgeous beautiful facility.

We told them a little bit about our day’s plans, a little bit of shopping in Soho, and then lunch at Balthazar. Now, Balthazar is one of my favorite French bistros in New York, and it is just a hustling and bustling very New York type place. I go there whenever I have a chance.

We had mentioned this as we jumped in our Uber to go out after leaving our luggage at the Library hotel. We had a lovely lunch and after returning from lots and lots of shopping, they told us our room as ready and they had sent our bags up to our room.

Now, here’s what’s interesting. When we got into our room there was a birthday card for Leslie, some little chocolates. There were two mugs with the Library Hotel so that we can enjoy them after we left. And I looked across the room and I saw a bundle of my most favorite champagne. How did they know? What was even more remarkable was when I found this. This is the cookbook for, you guessed it, Balthazar.

They had organized for a copy of this book, including a lovely handwritten note from the manager about our experience. Now, this is attention to detail! They gave us a beautiful room overlooking the New York Library – the hotel’s namesake.

Every room is on the Dewey Decimal System. Isn’t that interesting!? You might remember, if you’re as old as me, going to a library and pulling out the draws. And they had those little-indexed cards with the number and then you had to go find the book. I know, before the internet, I’m that old.

But the Library Hotel was a fantastic case study in how, from the moment we set foot on their property, they paid attention, the staff was trained, everyone was attentive. They listened to our conversation and added little tiny moments that would make us remember it for a lifetime. We had an amazing time at the Library Hotel.

Interesting. After we left, so remember BDA, before, during, and after, they also reached out to see how was our stay. They asked for feedback. We got lovely responses, and obviously, we shared our experience on social media. What are you doing for your customers to make them feel seen and heard, before they interact with you, during their interaction with you, and then after they leave you?

Create Your Exceptional Experience

We work hard to get customers to support our business. There are so many tools available for you to you to pay attention and commit to your customers. Your website, your marketing collaterals, your advertising, your social media, your staff training, your policies, your procedures. And the experience of your physical environment if you have one.

What are all the things you could be paying attention to? All those touch points that leave an impact on your customers? I want to challenge you today to have a look at one of these areas, before, during, or after. Think about what could you do differently and commit to your customers in an even deeper way.

Categories
Growth Leadership Personal Development

Why Executive Leaders Cannot Motivate Anyone

In other words, I am responsible to you, as participants to provide information and a safe, interactive learning environment. But, I am not responsible for what you do with that information. You are responsible for your own actions. You can decide whether you will actively participate. You will decide whether you will actually take action on what you learn.

The same approach should be applied by leaders, executives, and managers. You are responsible to your team – to lead, guide, and coach them, but ultimately, each team member will choose what actions he or she will take.

Although it may seem counterintuitive, I have a newsflash for executive leaders:

You cannot motivate anyone.

You cannot put motivation into another team member or employee. And that’s because all people are already motivated. You, as an executive leader, are charged with tapping into that internal, intrinsic motivation. Rather than trying to put something in that you think was left out, your job is to draw out what was left in.

How to tap into internal motivation:

Get to know the individuals on your team. Before diving deep, you may start off with some basic conversation. Since that is easier said than done for some, check out this article to help you get started.

Find out what their motivations are. For some, it might be money. For others, it might be recognition.  Some people get a huge amount of satisfaction from helping others. Lots of people enjoy forming a lifestyle where they put family first and are able to spend lots of time with those who matter most in their lives. Others thrive on challenge.

Don’t ignore that all people are tuned into the radio station WIIFM – What’s In It For Me. When trying to influence performance and productivity, help them to see how they can get something beneficial for themselves.

Now you know that, we as executive leaders, unfortunately can’t motivate people. But we can influence, inspire, and persuade them to greater performance.

Your turn:

Have you had any success tapping into your team members’ internal motivations? I’d like to hear your perspective on this important topic. Share your experiences with us!

For more resources on leadership and employee engagement, be sure to sign up for our monthly Ezine and you will receive our report: “7 of Your Biggest People Problems…Solved.”

Related articles you might love:

8 of the Best Kept Leadership Communication Secrets

5 Quick Tips to be a More Influential Leader

Ten Tactics for Leading Through Tough Times

Jennifer Ledet, CSP, is a leadership consultant and professional speaker (with a hint of Cajun flavor) who equips leaders from the boardroom to the mailroom to improve employee engagement, teamwork, and communication.  In her customized programs, leadership retreats, keynote presentations, and breakout sessions, she cuts through the BS and talks through the tough stuff to solve your people problems.

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Categories
Growth Human Resources Management Personal Development

3 Reasons to NOT Treat Star Performers Differently

We love our heroes and star performers.   I love them too. There is very often a mystique about a hero or star.  I watched an interview with Medal of Honor recipient Army Staff Sergeant Salvatore Guinta.  Guinta stepped into the line of fire to help two comrades on the battlefield in Afghanistan.  He acted seemingly without fear in the face of incredible danger.  He succeeded.  He is clearly a hero in every sense of the word.  However, predictably, he didn’t see himself in that way.  He claimed to behave the way he was trained and that every other soldier is expected to behave that same way.  He followed principles.

In January of 2009 “Sully” Sullenberger landed a USAIR flight in the Hudson after both engines shut down from a bird strike.  He was honored by everyone including the President of the United States, his hometown, and 60 Minutes.  He was called a true America hero by many in the press.  His actions were called a miracle.  He claimed that he and his crew were only doing their jobs.  He said, “But I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the job we were trained to do.”  Sullenberger followed processes based upon solid and proven principles.

Why is it so often that our heroes are so modest and downplay their star qualities and give away their accolades?  They know something that we often forget.  They have a system supporting them.

In the case of Sullenberger the flight crew was thoroughly trained to react quickly and decisively in an emergency situation.  Sullenberger took control of the plane and instructed his co-pilot to read through the appropriate check lists.  The check lists and the cooperation of the co-pilot did as much to save all 155 people as did Sullenberger.  They all played a significant role in the coordination of a successful heroic event.  Sullenberger did NOT act alone. He could not have possibly done it alone yet we still want to hold him up as some super natural champion.   Heroes understand systems.  The general public doesn’t yet appreciate the influence a system has on performance.  We don’t yet think in terms of systems.

There are three reasons why we should not treat star performers differently whether it is in the military, the airlines or in our organizations.  First, doing so ignores the overall system interactions that helped contribute to the successes.  We can forget the catcher who snags a wild pitch to save a perfect game for the star pitcher.   We ignore the co-pilot’s role of reading and fulfilling the emergency engine startup check list or the flight attendant who keeps the passengers form panicking even though they need to stand on the wing of a jet in the middle of the Hudson River.  System interactions contribute greatly to a hero’s success.  Acknowledging this helps us engage others and understand a bigger picture.

Second, treating “stars” differently prevents us from duplicating successes in the future.  By giving all the credit to one person that event becomes a “person dependent event” not a system dependent event.  If the success is great don’t we want to duplicate it as much as possible?  Sullenberger is now retired.  Does that mean we cannot teach others to duplicate his actions?  Why can’t we have 100 heroes in USAIR and not just one?

Finally, treating heroes and stars differently prevents us from learning.  It creates a barrier to learning. Aren’t we are saying, “We just couldn’t have done it without them?”  Instead, isn’t it more important to acknowledge their accomplishments and the system interactions and ask, “What can we learn from this?”  Isn’t it just as important to learn from our successes as it is to learn from our mistakes?

So much time and effort is spent now on looking for ways to keep our star performers in our organizations.  We court them, provide opportunities for them, we lavish them with praise and bonuses just to be sure we them happy.  The next time you see a star being honored think about what we might be missing.  What other system interactions need to be honored and who else needs to be engaged?  How can we duplicate that same set of circumstances and interactions such that we duplicate the success?    Finally, ask, what can we learn?   If we want continued success and continued engagement in our organizations we need to stop treating our heroes so differently.

Check out the interview on C-Suite Best Seller TV to learn more about how to stop leadership malpractice and replace the typical performance review: https://www.c-suitetv.com/video/best-seller-tv-wally-hauck-stop-the-leadership-malpractice/

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal.  Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.   Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP.  Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

For more, read on: https://c-suitenetwork.com/advisors/advisor/wally-hauck/

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Investing Management Marketing Negotiations News and Politics Sales Women In Business

Who’s Shaping Your Perspective?

“Your thought process is shaped by the filter through which you view life. To better understand it, understand who controls the lens through which your thought process is filtered.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

Do you really know what shapes your opinions and perspectives?

Most people don’t like to be told how to think. They want to maintain their independence and being told what to think infringes upon that. Nevertheless, most people don’t realize that they’re being primed to think a particular way, based on who and what they allow to become part of their thinking process.

No one has to tell you how to think in order to influence your thought process. Instead, all they have to do is tell you what to think about. Once you accept their premises, they’ve begun to steer your thought process towards one direction versus another. That’s the reason why you should be mindful of where your information comes from. Those sources have their own bent on what reality is. As they pass their perspectives to you, they’re also passing on the perspectives of how you should think about a situation.

In order to be more open-minded in your thought process, be more open-minded about the sources from which you gather information. You’ll be able to have an open mind by listening to the perspectives of others from a pro and con point of view. Once you do that, you’ll be better informed and able to understand any point of view from a more concise outlook.

People will always attempt to sway your thoughts to those that appeal to theirs. There’s nothing unnatural about that. It’s a form of validation per the way they think.

The point is, always maintain an open mind by being willing to listen to opinions that might differ from yours. The value of doing so will come in the form of your mind becoming more expanded. That will allow you to expand your thought processes even more, which in turn will allow you to understand the perspective of others better … and everything will be right with the world.

What does this have to do with negotiations? 

When negotiating, you must keep an open mind about how you’re thinking. In order to negotiate more effectively, you need to understand the thought process of the other negotiator too, and how she came to have that mindset; you can influence her mindset by what you suggest she think about. Once you have the insight by which she thinks, you’ll have a better understanding of why she adopts the stances she takes and why she makes the offers that she extends. The added benefit will be in being able to understand her better. At a minimum, that should allow you to have more empathy for her and her position. If you can get her to reciprocate, both of you will be able to engage in the negotiation from a more civil and open process. A silent benefit of that will be a less stressful negotiation, and when it comes to a negotiation, the more stress you can remove from it, the easier the negotiation becomes.

Remember, you’re always negotiating! 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really 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 http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#YourPerspective #NegotiatingWithABully #Power #Perception #emotionalcontrol #relationships #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #ControlEmotions #Psychology #Perception #ControlLife #Control #leadership #HowToImproveyourself #Achievement

 

 

Categories
Best Practices Growth Management Personal Development

Moving from Judgement to Coaching: The Four Quadrants Tool

Is it a good idea to judge others?  The Bible says no.  “Do not judge, or you will be judged…For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”[1]  “Do not judge, you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”[2]

These thoughts fly in the face of one of the most popular organizational performance management policy, the typical performance appraisal.  They negate the very foundation upon which the policy is based, i.e. the manager will judge the performance of each employee and provide a grade or rating to improve that individual’s performance.

The judgement of employee performance by managers is well intended but creates unintended negative consequences.  The most damaging consequence is the damage to trust, optimum communication and optimum relationships between the judge (manage) and the judged (employee).  Trust and optimum relationships are corner stones of the foundation of optimum performance.  Therefore, the typical appraisal causes an outcome that is the opposite of its intended purpose.

An employee’s behavior is a root cause of a problem is one of the most common and flawed assumptions upon which the typical performance appraisal is based.  Employee behavior is rarely a root cause.  It is most often a symptom of a dysfunctional process or policy.

So, what do we do if we want to avoid judgement while protecting trust and relationships.  We need the Four Quadrants tool.  This tool uses two key dimensions of performance and creates insight and guidance for optimum coaching and feedback.  The two dimensions are the ability to keep agreements and the ability to manage variation in processes.

This provides four different situations for the manager to decide the best coaching approach with that individual.  If a manager reviews these two dimensions prior to a coaching session, he/she will be able to be more productive and address root causes of performance issues instead of only addressing symptoms.

Does the employee keep their agreements, for example, do they come to work on time, do they treat others with respect, do they follow policy? These are observable behaviors.  It’s data.  It’s the manager’s job to uncover the root causes of these poor behaviors and ask the employee to correct them.

Is there too much variation in processes within the employee scope of responsibility?  This also requires data.  To judge this situation a manager must have data that shows the variation in the individual processes within the employee’s scope of responsibility.

Instead of evaluating the individual employee, the manager can now have a dialogue with the employee about the root causes of the broken agreements and the root causes of the variation.  In this coaching model, the employee and manager become partners to uncover root causes.  They are no longer “judge” and “judged”.  They are looking at the data not the person. 

The Four Major Situations

High

#2

The employee is keeping their agreements but there is also too much variation in their processes.  Something needs to change to reduce the variation.

 #4

The employee is keeping their agreements and there is low variation in their processes.

 
#1

The employee is not keeping their agreements and there is also too much variation in their processes.

 #3

The employee is not keeping their agreements and there is low variation in their processes.

 
Ability to manage variation in process
Low
High

In this model, it’s the employee’s responsibility to keep agreements and to ask for help to manage the variation in their processes.  It’s a manager’s job to assist them to uncover barriers that prevent them from keeping agreements or managing variation.  It’s their job together to find the root causes of poor performance.

Judgement of an individual is no longer necessary to improve performance.  If you set up observable standards of behavior, and ask these two questions you can partner with an employee to make positive change:

  1. Is the employee keeping agreements?
  2. Is there too much variation in the processes within their scope of responsibility?

You can then partner with employees to look for the real root causes.  Two brains working on root causes will improve performance faster than just one judge and one who is judged.

Check out the interview on C-Suite Best Seller TV to learn more about how to stop leadership malpractice and replace the typical performance review: https://www.c-suitetv.com/video/best-seller-tv-wally-hauck-stop-the-leadership-malpractice/

Wally Hauck, PhD has a cure for the “deadly disease” known as the typical performance appraisal.  Wally holds a doctorate in organizational leadership from Warren National University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from Iona College, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.  Wally is a Certified Speaking Professional or CSP.  Wally has a passion for helping leaders let go of the old and embrace new thinking to improve leadership skills, employee engagement, and performance.

For more, read on: https://c-suitenetwork.com/advisors/advisor/wally-hauck/

[1] Bible: New International Version Matthew 7:2

[2] Bible: New International Version Luke 6:37

Categories
Growth Management Personal Development

Moneyball for Leadership Teams: Winning with Evidence-Based Insights

Teams are the core work group in any business. Yet few of us stop to think about their impact on the bottom-line. Or how they actually perform relative to their full potential. Are teams falling short? How large is the gap between actual team performance and full team potential? And, how might team shortcomings be holding back business performance? Is there new and little-known information on teams that will yield your firm a competitive advantage?

My name is Sean Gallagher and together we’ll be discovering the answers to these questions on the C-Suite Network in this and future articles.

I’m an evidence-based team coach. I help leadership teams and other organizational teams thrive. I’m a new member of the C-Suite Advisors. Like you, I’ve been a member of great, inspiring teams throughout my career. And I’ve also been on a few painful, ineffective, and depressing teams. It’s pretty obvious which of those two “team extremes” works better and works happier. Most teams are somewhere along those two extremes — they’re not terrible or amazing, they’re stuck in the middle. As a C-Suite Advisor, my purpose is to help you create effective teams, teams that work at their full potential, using the best research available (there’s lots of data out there) and adding context from my personal experience.

This is the first of many articles you can expect from me. I’ll offer actionable, evidence-based advice to boost your business performance. If you apply and tailor this advice to your teams, you’ll be creating greater value, your employees will boost their skills and creativity, there’ll be more fun on the job, and all your stakeholders will win.

What does “evidence-based” mean?

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is the 2003 book by Michael Lewis. It told the story of Major League Baseball’s (MLB) Oakland Athletics and its general manager, Billy Beane. It was a New York Times #1 Best Seller and the basis for a successful movie of the same name. Lewis started researching the book with a simple question in mind: How did the Oakland A’s, a motley collection of baseball misfits and utility players with the second-lowest payroll in baseball, playing in a relatively small market, win so many games against teams with much, much bigger player payrolls, fan bases, and available resources?

According to reviewers, it’s a well-researched book that’s a pleasure to read. And the lessons revealed go beyond baseball.

“This delightfully written, lesson-laden book deserves a place of its own in the Baseball Hall of Fame.” – Forbes

“Moneyball is the best business book Lewis has written. It may be the best business book anyone has written.” – Mark Gerson, Weekly Standard

“Is worth reading even if you couldn’t care less for baseball.” – N. Tuzovon, Amazon.com customer review, October 29, 2014

In a radio interview, Lewis said this about the A’s and general manager Billy Beane:

“It was a losing team when he took over in 1997, and it’s gotten better every year under his stewardship. And Billy Beane came into the organization and embraced the idea that there was such a thing as new knowledge in baseball, and you could research baseball and find out interesting things about it by researching it, and that the way baseball teams were conventionally run had all sorts of inefficiencies in it that could be exploited for profit. And so, you’ve got, essentially, one team that’s living purely by its wits and making a good run of it.”

In short, it’s a book about the team’s systematic, evidence-based approach to creating a baseball team with a competitive advantage. Their increase in success occurred despite Oakland’s meager financial resources. Perhaps you, too, find yourself leading a firm with scarce resources, especially in comparison to the bigger players in your industry?

The key insight in Moneyball is that the wisdom of baseball insiders was subjective, flawed and circular. Statistics such as stolen bases, runs batted in, and batting averages, are holdovers from the 19th-century. Lewis argues that Oakland’s innovation was evidence-based metrics of player productive output. The result was the fielding of a team better able to compete (and outcompete, actually) against bigger-market, richer MLB rivals.

New statistical analysis had shown that on-base percentage and slugging percentage were undervalued and actually better indicators of offensive success. The A’s believed that these qualities were cheaper to obtain on the open market than traditional metrics such as speed and contact, mostly because other teams hadn’t deeply explored these alternative but highly-relevant performance metrics. These observations re-imagined player scouting and hiring and flew in the face of conventional wisdom. They also created untapped opportunities for the savvy A’s and Billy Beane.

Moneyball tells the story of challenging assumptions and strategies about what factors produced wins on the field. With this unorthodox approach (and re-imagined metrics/KPIs), the 2002 Athletics competed successfully with the likes of the New York Yankees. This was despite the Yankee’s spending three times the amount the A’s spent on player salaries. In the end, a solid team built with the right, re-imagined, and data-driven metrics in mind beat a bunch of high-salaried, big name superstars. Financial constraints forced Oakland to find players underrated by the market — their new metrics allowed them to play a game only they were playing, which is one great way to compete and win. It also brought the A’s to the playoffs in 2002 and 2003.

Evidence-based decision-making means making decisions, wherever possible, based on provable facts. It means finding research that uses the scientific method to observe, experiment, and winnow truth from delusion, finding what behaviors and indicators lead to desired outcomes (superior profitability). It means NOT accepting the conventional wisdom and following others when there is a better way. Creating a competitive advantage mean, by definition, doing things differently.

Anecdotes are interesting and can be used to illustrate what the research tells us as true. But we must view them critically unless we have clear supporting evidence. I may have been on a successful team, but that doesn’t mean I’m an expert on team design. You may have been in a series of wasteful weekly meetings, but that doesn’t denote that weekly meetings are inherently wasteful.

Conventional wisdom on leadership and other teams is subjective and flawed. That’s good news for you because it creates an opportunity to out compete your rivals. Like Billy Beane, you’ll need to challenge the strategies and assumptions about what factors creates value in your firm. There is new and little-know information on teams that will yield a competitive advantage for you and your business. I look forward to sharing with you evidence-based insights to create brilliant, effective teams.

Sean Gallagher is a business team coach. He lives in Boston and covers the world. Reach him at Sean@InfluenceSuccess.com. 

Categories
Best Practices Entrepreneurship Investing Management Marketing Negotiations Sales Skills Women In Business

7 Characteristics of a Bully and Why You Should Care

“In order to deal with a bully, you must know what one looks like.” -Greg Williams, The Master Negotiator & Body Language Expert

“He will lie to your face, and not give a damn if you know he’s lying!” Those were the exasperated words of one member on the same negotiation team to another.

Do you know anyone that possesses the following 7 characteristics? If so, they just might be a bully.

When involved in #negotiations with someone that’s overly aggressive or someone that’s an outright bully, you should take note of the following characteristics to identify who he is.

1. Bullies tend to be egocentric. They have to be the center of attention in order to satisfy their need to appear superior to others. Thus, they will belittle, demean, and put others down to maintain the appearance of their superiority.

2. Observe a bully’s associates. Bullies tend to bring like-minded people that are weaker and like himself into his fold; he uses the former as foils in the plots he perpetrates against others. The caveat being, the bully needs to be the leader and will only allow those in his immediate sphere that will subjugate themselves to him. Therefore, be mindful of the fact that unknowingly you’re also negotiating with his minions when you’re negotiating with him.

3. Bullies alter facts to make them fit the situation. Doing so is his attempt to psychologically arrest the logical thought process of others, in an attempt to bend their outlook to his will and perspective. When negotiating with him, be selective about the points you choose to address and be mindful of the retorts you offer to refute him. Facts may be viewed as demonic objects that cause you to lose sway with him.

4. Loyalty between a bully and his associates is good as long as there are no threats in his camp. Once threats occur, loyalty loses its two-way appeal; the appeal is revealed as nothing more then a tool he employs to trick others into following him. He will throw supporters under the bus and find blame with them to account for his short-comings!

5. A bully seeks constant praise from others because that feeds his ego and his need for self-aggrandizement. It serves as validation that he’s superior to others. Therefore, seek ways to praise a bully in a negotiation. That will endear you to him. Just make sure not to fall into his attempts to pull you closer to his views than is necessary.

6. Bullies lie incessantly because their view has to be the predominant one. Thus, they attempt to alter the outlook of others to make others conform to their perspective. This action of the bully is very dangerous because one never really knows what to believe when a bully speaks.

7. The only way a bully can rise to his perch is to do so by keeping others under the spell that he casts. Once he loses any appeal that makes others bow to him, he can become more aggressive in his attempts to reacquire the power he’s lost. That’s when he’s most dangerous. During such times, he may engage in activities that are very far outside the realm of rationality.

Dealing with bullies is always a dicey proposition. Being oblivious to his characteristics can lead to a stressful negotiation, one in which you may lose before you realize what has occurred. If you use the 7 traits above to identify with whom you’re dealing, you’ll have an idea of what you’re up against. From there, you can be on guard as to how you engage him in the negotiation … and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating! 

After reading this article, what are you thinking? I’d really 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 http://www.themasternegotiator.com/greg-williams/

#negotiatingwithabully #bully #bullies #bullying #uncoversecrets #hiddensecrets #Negotiation #Personal Development #HandlingObjections #Negotiator #HowToNegotiateBetter #CSuite #TheMasterNegotiator #psychology

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Best Practices Marketing Personal Development

The Real Cost of Buying Into ‘Algo-logic’

We’ve found ourselves in a world where what’s important is predetermined by a simplistic form of artificial intelligence—algorithmic “logic”. It only measures what it’s able to measure.

Since it can’t measure the content’s quality, it measures the amount of response the post, article, video, or podcast gets. This is measured in number of comments, “likes”, or shares. The algorithm assumes that, somehow, engagement determines quality.

Slowly, you may find yourself buying into this naïve and over-generalized rating system because there is nothing better. It seems like everyone else is hopping on this bandwagon too, so you feel validated. This is your first mistake.

Eventually, you start to believe that quality is a hierarchy of engagement. It’s the only system to rely on, after all. Or at least the most popular! But do these algorithms really have the smarts to understand true quality?

Or, on the other hand, can true quality be inhibited by lack of engagement? Even worse, can we be manipulated once we buy into this system? Can crafty digital marketers work the system to create fake statistics, making certain content seem more important to sell you things that don’t work? Absolutely!

In other words, we now vote on what’s important at the expense of critical thinking. Do earlier actions of engagement push content at us at the expense of material that could be more thoughtful, wiser, and overall more valuable to the human experience? Yep!

This is an attractive process where it’s easy to get carried away with trendy distractions at the expense of hard-won lessons in history. Are there better and more important indicators of value than early engagement? We certainly think so. And we worry that those indicators can get lost.

Are smartphones really that smart? Or have we dumbed down to what they can measure? Now, don’t get us wrong—we love this new technology and can’t live without it. But we must constantly work around overly simple algorithms.

For example, we love Pandora, but we have to get around their algorithms to listen to the kind of music we like. Seems like everyone’s workaround is different due to the overly simplistic algorithms. Our friend, Bill, says, “I spend the first few days listening to everything they play on a given station. I quickly hit the likes and dislikes so I don’t get too much of their simplistic idea of what I like.” On the other hand, our friend, Mary, says, “I only hit the ones I dislike so I still get variety without getting into a rut.”

Mary and Bill are dealing with assumptions some programmers made about what’s important. If the song Bill chose first was sung by a woman, they give him all female artists next. Never mind the lyrics, melody, or beat. Bill knows that, and jumps on his next choice to prevent this from happening. But the more active Bill is with his choices, the fewer new offerings, because of the algorithm’s limits. Mary understands this, and only tells Pandora what she dislikes.

How many people enjoy a post without engaging? Most! But does that make the post less newsworthy, less important, or just plain wrong? Algorithms are unable to measure the silent majority—they are silent! They can only measure feedback that’s, well, measurable.

So, now a potential troll farm or minority can manipulate the algorithms and your thinking. They may even lead you to allow or take action because you think it’s what the majority wants. But it’s not. It’s what the programmers say is important because it’s all they can measure.

If this all seems like a call to return to critical thinking, it is! Let’s consider the source as we move on into the New Year.

Our 100-year-old neighbor says, “When airplanes first came out, they’d walk on the wings, light ‘em on fire, and fly ‘em through barns! Nobody ever thought they’d be going to Chicago in one.” Is this where we are now with the algorithms that control what gets pushed in social media? Are we still in the barnstorming phase?

Let’s not dumb ourselves down to what algorithms can measure! Let’s elevate classic standards, proven principles, and history—even if they don’t get a lot of ‘likes’. We’ve had enough cute puppies and mug cakes! It’s time to move on to what actually matters.

You don’t have much time. Don’t be tricked into believing that engagement alone is a measure of value to you, your community, or your business. For example, we don’t get much engagement on our 2 weekly posts and we know why. Our readers simply don’t have the time—they’re businesspeople!

However, our content is often picked up by major business publications such as the C-Suite Network, Entrepreneur, and the Business Journals in 43 cities. People reply to our newsletter and say, “Awesome,” “Please keep these coming,” and “I can’t wait to try this in my own business.” We have only had 2 unsubscribe in 4 years. Click here to see the best of our 30 years of successful business experience. But don’t feel like you have to engage. We’re happy to help!

For more, read on: http://c-suitenetworkadvisors.com/advisor/michael-houlihan-and-bonnie-harvey/

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Best Practices Entrepreneurship Human Resources Management Personal Development

Answer the Call for Rest and Recovery

You know that I’m Australian. But, I’m also a US citizen. Now for me, my entire family is in Australia. Now my honey and I moved here many, many, many years ago and I still call Australia home, and I call the US home as well.

I think it’s important I go back to Australia to see my family. Now so many people say to me, oh I’ve always wanted to go to Australia, but it’s so far. Well here’s how you think of Australia. It is very simply just six movies from LA. That’s right. Once you get on the plane, have a little snack, have a meal, have a little nap, watch six movies and voila, you’re there.

But why I think it’s so important to share this message about why I go back to see my family, is I think it’s really important to live a life that we don’t have any regrets. I think so often as busy professionals we think, oh, I’ll make a vacation when I have time. I’ll make plans when I have time, I’ll put it off, I’ll put it off, I’ll do it when I’m not so busy. Well here’s the reality. We are all busy. And one of the things I want to challenge you about is as a leader you are role modeling for your team about the importance of recovery. If you don’t spend time with your family or do whatever recharges your batteries then you become a tired leader and honestly, you become a boring leader.

My team knows that I have to go back to Australia every year because I get homesick. There is literally no cure for homesickness except being with people that I love. There is something about the Australian concha, the food, the sense of humor, the beauty the sunshine, the animals and it’s very different to what I experience here. I love living in the US. I love working with my American clients and my Canadian and also love being able to go home to Australia, see my family, wrap my arms around my mom, see my baby sisters, well they’re not really babies anymore, see my nephews and nieces. To shop at my favorite stores, to see my dearest friends there.

What are you doing to take care of your recovery? How do you recover? How do you show your family that they mean so much to you? You see when we pay attention it’s not just about what we pay attention to professionally, it’s who we pay attention to personally. And for me, that involves a trip to Australia every year. Sometimes even twice.

While you may not need to go to Australia. When was the last time you visited with your family? And if you can’t physically visit them, when is the time last time you videoed with them? I want to encourage you, what’s your Australia. What’s a trip maybe that you’ve always wanted to take but you keep it off? Now is the time to book it. I go back to Australia every year because I love and adore my family. I enjoy spending time with them and frankly, I need to see them. They are a recovery opportunity for me. What’s your version of Australia? I’d love to hear from you.