I Hate To Win

Believe it or not, I’ve actually heard very successful salespeople say that. After a particularly rambunctious month I’ve even felt it myself. It’s the classic sales management psychology: Once they perform at a certain level THAT becomes the new expectation. Failing to see the demotivation? It works like this:

Month after month is spent hovering around the average performance line. Sometimes a little above and sometimes a little below. Never high enough to earn accolades and never low enough to warrant any negativity. This whole time the diligent, the truly successful, are doing the work. They are building networks, filling pipelines, scrubbing leads…grinding out the multitude of unseen day to day tasks that are necessary for success. Then it happens.

After months of building, sewing, and preparing the sales start to close. Now our hero is performing consistently above average. All the hard work is paying off. A reputation as a top producer is earned. Most likely several awards or recognitions for production and results. Then it gets worse.

All of a sudden all your “follow up” deals…those contacts that went with you part way through the process but for whatever reason just never committed…those routine calls you make just in case this is the week…yep. Those. All of a sudden they’re closing. ALL of them. No reason. Nothing different. But for this moment in time…this call day…this month…all you hear is “yes, let’s move forward right now.” The race is on. You feed off your own success and keep closing until the last minute on the last day of the month. Ahhhh…victory.

As you calculate commission dollars and survey the descimation of every goal set before you the horrible truth hits home: “My bar just got raised.”

Why do we do this? Why does management at all levels allow and appreciate this type of response? Would your top producers actually stop getting results if you recognized the accomplishment and then – never may it be – stopped talking? “Great job last month, Bob. Sure hope you can top it this month. Did you know we’re already on the third day of a new month? Any sales to report?” C’mon. We can do better than this.

All I’m saying is: If the only thing winning gets me is conversations about when I’m going to win again…I’d rather lose. It’s less frustrating and time consuming.

What can you do to create an environment where people love to win?

Intentional Attention

Over the past few years the time period just prior to Thanksgiving and carrying on through the New Year has become a time of reflection for me. I find myself processing all sorts of things in my life: professional and personal. I’m sure I’m not alone in this venture.

No matter which lens you use, 2008 was a difficult year for me. A lot of things “happened”. As I glance over my shoulder at 2009 even more things… “happened”.  While some of these things were not within my realm of control, I believe that we always have control over our response. I have noticed that when many of these things “happened” in 2008 my response created more problems, added long-term issues to short-term crisis, and divided instead of unified.

proactivity

The more I reflect on professional situations and events as well as personal failures and transgressions, I see that one (of many) things I have been lacking is proactivity. A friend calls it “intentional attention”. It sounds a little off, but taken at face value it makes perfect sense: There are things in life that we need to intentionally pay attention to. Our character, significant relationships, matters of integrity and honor… We have to DO it. Proactive, not reactive. The main struggles of 2009 were completely of my own making. There were still things that “happened”, but most of the pain was a direct result of behaviours and habits that could have been avoided with a healthy dose of proactivity in some key areas of my life.

So here I sit. I can continue to be reactive and respond to things hoping beyond all hope that I get it right next time – or – I can proactively put some intentionality into my life and pay attention!

Examine your life: work, home, relationships, your personal character, faith (or lack thereof), responsibilities, integrity,  your character…everything. I know I’ve got my work cut out for me. I know what could have been. I can also picture what could be, in every positive and proactive sense of the word. What can you picture?

Google Wave

This is short, sweet, and to the point. I just had a chance to preview Google Wave. I am in awe. The applications for this are simply incredible: business AND personal. If you are interested at all in social media, technology, and the evolution of the interweb (tongue in cheek) then read up on Google Wave and check it out. Surf’s up!

• Official Google Blog
• Mashable article
• Wikipedia – Google Wave

Be A Man. Kirtsy.

This is a great video trailer for the Kirtsy Book. The book highlights some of Kirtsy.com’s best content and tells the story of how the site became such a hit with women around the globe.

I have had the priviledge of having some very strong, intelligent women in my life. Without diminishing any of them, I want to elevate my wife for a moment. She is the strongest, most intelligent woman I know. She would have to be…she’s married to me. All joking aside, she is. Her wisdom and creativity…as well as her ability to reject my worst and call out my best…have made my world a better place and made me a better man and human being. This topic could be taken down all sorts of trails. I simply want to say this: I found this video and the concepts behind it to be encouraging, thought-provoking, and exciting. Ladies…my dear wife…I kirtsy in gratitude and respect.

Source: Alltop/Holy Kaw

Baltimore Running Festival Went Green

One of the focus points for this years Running Festival was a pretty strong green initiative. Here’s how the numbers shook out. Pretty impressive…

The List of Lists

As I travel through life I’ll occasionally have an interaction with someone and think, “I did not need to know that at all.” These items fall into a growing array of categories. Maybe I’ll turn this into a book one day. Which will hopefully spawn a movie. Or at least a straight to DVD feature film. Or at least hit VHS. Then again, I bet it could make it straight to Lifetime. Don’t worry. I hold all patents and copyrights…especially on the action figures. In no particular order whatsoever…

1. Mental Pictures I Don’t Need
2. Stuff I Don’t Care About
3. Stuff I Don’t Want To Know About Your Spouse
4. Just Sayin’
5. Stuff I Still Don’t Care About…And Then Some
6. Things I’ll Do To Get Out Of This Conversation And Away From You
7. Stuff I Refuse To Discuss With Other Men
8. No Really, That’s What She Said
9. Never Tried It. Never Will.
10. Did I Say That Out Loud?

Seth Godin and Soda Pop

I really enjoy following Seth Godin’s blog. One of his recent posts,  Everyone Is Clueless, closed with a video that I simply had to post as well. Seth used the video to illustrate his point that in business “You don’t want everyone. You want the right someone.” I agree with him and encourage you to read it for yourself. I had to post this video for so many reasons I’m not sure where to start…

• This guy (John Nese) has found something he completely enjoys AND he’s found a way to make a living at it. I am fully energized any time I see someone like that!
• I love how he has totally found his niche and he is staying the course. He turned down Pepsi, for crying out loud! Why carry what everyone else does? Why carry products that are going to force you to compete with your friends down the street and are going to bring with them consistent, never-ending price wars?
• Nese is further proof to me that having fun is good for business. Watch the way his face lights up and he laughs every time he talks about the bubbles. Why shouldn’t he light up? Unique soft drinks and the bubbles they bring are good clean fun.

Enough. Watch this video. You’ll be glad you did.

Follow Friday | Format | Idea

I tried something a little different today and received some positive feedback so I’m sharing…

If you’re a Twitter user then you’re already familiar with Follow Friday. If you aren’t a user yet, Follow Friday is a way to share with others the people and organizations you follow that are adding value to you. Maybe someone always makes you laugh. Maybe your favorite non-profit posts a picture of work they are doing and you enjoy it. Whatever. You follow them and you like following them and you want others to know. You’re sharing people you like with other people you like.

A common way to do this is several simple rapid fire Tweets. Something like this: “Follow Friday @person1 @thatkid @funnygirl @ohnohedidn’t @doyougetit” Put “Follow Friday” somewhere on the line and slap in as many Tweeps as you can to fill the 140 characters.

Today I had an idea. I wanted to promote some pals. I know these people and organizations. I care about them and their work on various levels. So today my Follow Friday Tweets looked like this:

Follow Friday | @brodybond @grittler @wordswell | they’re great guys doing great things. and they’re on tv! – http://bit.ly/r1Pm9

Follow Friday | @FallCampaign @bloodwater @bwbaltimore | Start a campaign. Build a well. Save a life.

Follow Friday | @TuckerPeterson @RonEdmondson @wiseacre | Each different. Each bring it to the Tweet stream with fervor. Follow and see.

Follow Friday | @erikwilliams @LIFE2010 | Two great things… Both life changers.

Follow Friday | @mattwertz | Because he gave me a free copy of his cd.

Follow Friday | @TangoWines @WhineyMike | anybody bringing 13 Argentinian wines to the U.S. deserves a follow!!

See the difference? I added a reason for people to check them out. This can encourage further conversation. Isn’t that kind of the point anyway? Conversation. Me telling you about them. You possibly talking with them or about them or with me regarding what I said about them…it’s all social. Kind of the point when it comes to “social media”, isn’t it?

It gets better. Since lots of platforms have ways to link your updates you could, if you set it up right, share these people across multiple platforms: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. More conversation.

Another beautiful thing? I’m not proposing a new rule. This isn’t about me telling anyone the “right” way. I had an idea. I tried it. A buddy said he like it and told me why. Conversation. Have you tried something recently? Tell us about it…

LinkedIn + Twitter

Status updates on LinkedIn can now be connected with your Tweets. There are lots of ways for you to customize and control what is shared and when, but the initial “oh neat how did he do that?!” set up is quick and easy. I think this will have a fantastic impact professionally as people and businesses utilize this fluid sharing of information across platforms.

Get Connected:

The LinkedIn Learning Center has complete information: LinkedIn + Twitter

Social Media | What works for you?

In January of this year I read an article on The Gray Matter Minute titled: The Perfect Social Media Trifecta: Have you found yours?

The writer discussed the way he utilizes the features and benefits of the following social media sites: Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. One aspect of social media that I find so energizing is that it can be fluid. You can change things at any time for any reason. Right now my trifecta is Twitter, LinkedIn, and a WordPress Blog (duh).

Twitter:

I use Twitter as a main source of my news. I follow news organizations and programs that I would normally view on TV. I find that I often catch content before it is even being reported as a big deal on TV. It’s also a fantastic way to spread information and keep in touch with people you have a real world friendship with. Twitter is fast, fun, and incredibly informative. Leveraging its power is a fantastic skill to develop.

LinkedIn:

The aspect of this that I truly enjoy is that it is 100% professional. There are ways to inject your individual personality, but the professional nature of this site keeps everything in line and in good taste. With a growing variety of applications I am finding this as a more and more valuable asset to me in business and even more so now as I am actively searching out my next career step.  An example of how useful these applications can be: I’ve added the Box.Net application to my profile and posted my resume in three formats for easy download (PDF, Word, and Text). So far it’s been downloaded five times in a matter of days. How do I know? I get an email anytime someone downloads it!

WordPress Blog (Connectivity):

Writing is a hobby for me. I enjoy putting together posts and articles on a variety of topics. The initial and general intent is for me to add professional value with a personal touch to whatever business I am in. When I was with Staples Advantage I found ways to keep customers informed on special programs, upcoming offers, and cost effective product offerings.  I also have over eleven years of professional experience to draw from in order to generate articles on a wide variety of professional and work related topics.

Closing Thoughts:

More recently I saw a lengthy but very interesting video interview with Greg Grunberg on Mashable. Greg is a celebrity who’s past credits include Alias and Felicity. He can currently be seen on Heroes and is behind the development of the iPhone app “Yowza”. One of the main points I pulled from the interview with him is that he simply isn’t afraid of social media. He encourages people to get in and take it for a test drive. Just try it out. You can always change settings, adjust things, whatever – so there is nothing to be afraid of. Greg is a huge Twitter user. If you’re interested in following him: @greggrunberg

In support of the “social” aspect of social media: What do you use and how do you use it?