Posted: March 15, 2019 | Categories: Self-Improvement

Are you a “morning person”?  If so, you are in good company.  According to studies noted in Daniel Pink’s book, The Scientific Secrets of perfect timing”, about 80% of us our morning people.  Research has also shown that our focus and energy levels can vary throughout the day.  Knowing this can help us plan a more productive work day.  Mr. Pink goes on to say that morning people generally experience the day in three acts:  A peak, a trough, and a rebound.

The peak:  For most of us, the sharp-minded analytic capacities crest in late morning.  This is the best time to tackle work that requires the deepest and most critical thinking.  Many say this is our highest paid skill.  When I am writing a training plan or preparing for a training session, this is my premium time.  We have our “deep” work that needs to be done.  It is easy to procrastinate, but it contains the work that is a big chunk of our paycheck.  This time is gold.

The trough:  This occurs in early afternoon.  This is when we want to do those more mindless activities.  It is a good time to do our routine administrative work such as sorting through email, filing papers, or doing expense reports.

The rebound:  This may not be our peak period, but it is not to be discounted.  Recovering from the trough, we are usually in a boosted mood.  This can generate less rigidity and more openness.  Reading, planning, looking through our goals, and brainstorming can make this period innovative.  We may find ourselves generating new ideas that we could add to our plan.

Now at this point some of you “night people” might be asking, “What about me?”  The author says that you do the same thing, only in reverse.  I am not sure what that means.  I am glad I am a morning person.  What I do know is that we need to plan our day and be intentional, and good planning involves selecting the best time for our tasks and activities.  Knowledge of your peak, your trough, and the rebound can help you have a more productive day.

Posted: February 21, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Management

In the summer of 1998, I was suddenly thrust into the role of managing a little league team consisting of kids ages 9 & 10.  If I hadn’t accepted the job, my son’s team would have been broken up.  I said yes.

As we began with the season, I held a meeting with the parents.  I said, “I don’t know much about baseball, but the assistant coaches that surround me do.  I do know a little about leadership.  Some say that it is not whether you win or lose, you just need to have fun.  Others say winning is everything.  I’ve got some good news for you…we are going to have fun and we are going to win!”

As I began my coaching, I kept clearly in mind the “secret sauce” that makes a winning team:  Building Structural Tension.  Structural tension means that each team member is driven by supporting their fellow team member, not the boss.  That means that team members encourage one another and don’t put each other down.  It also means that they trust and respect each other enough to hold each other accountable.  If someone in the outfield is daydreaming, it is fair game to say, “He Steve.  Wake up.”

In 2016 the Chicago Cubs won the World Series.  They had structural tension.  Recently, Athletic magazine wrote an article about David Ross, the Cubs back-up catcher that year.  He was a seasoned pro enjoying his final year in the Majors.  He would strongly encourage his teammates, and he also would comment when they were falling in to bad habits.  They loved him!  He knew that top-performing teams have a pact to keep each other on task.

Now back to my little league baseball team:  We finished the season 15-3!

Posted: February 6, 2019 | Categories: Sales

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzge

Last week one of my clients was listening to a radio ad from someone who did sales coaching.  He made the statement, “Four out of five salespeople never ask for the order”.  My client wanted to know if that was true.  I said it was.

First, let’s define “asking for the order”.  That refers to anything you say that is intended to advance the sale.  The most common way of doing this is closes or trail closes.:

Trail close:  A trail close is used when you feel the sale is moving along well, and you want to take the temperature.  Here are some examples:

Q.  Do you have any questions or concerned that I haven’t covered?

Q.  Would you prefer to be contacted by email or phone? (Preference close)

Q.  Why don’t you give us a try?

Q.  If you’ll just authorize this, we’ll get started right way with…

Q.  Is this what you are looking for?

The close:  A closing questions asks directly for the order.  We often start with trial closes so as not to overwhelm the prospect.  When we have received a warm response from a trial close, this could be a good time to go for the final close:

Q.  Would you like to give it a try?

Q.  Would you like to go ahead with it?

Trail closes are safe since they are usually opinion-asking questions.  Asking a direct closing questions may drive the sales process backwards if they are not ready.  But if we have asked a series of trail closes and have consistently received a warm response, take the plunge and ask for the order!

Posted: February 1, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Team Building

About a year ago a client introduced me the book, “The Ideal Team Player” Patrick Lencioni.  Jim is a business owner and he liked the way the author broke down the “Ideal Team Player” into three key characteristics and qualities:  Humility, Hunger, People Smarts.

At first I thought this was gimmicky and an over-simplification.  I decided to take the scientific approach and prove the theory wrong.  I did not succeed.  What I discovered was that to build a top-performing team it is critical to look for and evaluate candidates according to these three pillars.

Humility:  When we possess and practice humility, we admit our mistakes and welcome input from others.  We subordinate our ego in favor of building others and also teamwork.

Hunger:  Without strong desire, we can be shy on initiative.  If we want something badly enough we go through much discomfort and challenge to achieve it.

People smarts:  Tactfulness removes barriers and opens dialogue.  It is essential in building team trust and setting the table for strong collaboration and teamwork.

With the past month, I worked with someone who was interviewing candidates to fill a position.  He wanted to know the best qualities to look for in his conversations.  I shared these three qualities with him.  After the first interview, h determined that the person was highly skilled, hard-working, and articulate.  He was only missing one quality…Humility.  It was a no go.  Here is how it works based on my coaching experience:

If a person needs more hunger, you can find out what motivates them, and create that hunger.  If they lack people smarts, tact and human relations skills can be learned.  I have helped people with that all my career.  How about humility?  That is a tough one.  Without humility, there is no team synergy or collaboration.  Be careful.

Posted: January 28, 2019 | Categories: Leadership, Management, Team Building

Last month I read a headline that made me sad and joyous at the same time.  The headline read, “Maverick Founder of Southwest Airlines dies at 87”. Herb Kelleher was a true maverick, and that is an understatement.

Years ago I was on a Southwest flight from Phoenix to Chicago.  As the flight began, the flight attendant took to the microphone.  She said, “Welcome aboard.  We will be serving beverages on this flight, and soon our servers will be coming by.  At this time, I want everyone to open up their in-flight magazine and turn to page #29.  Got it?  OK, now go to the right column.  There you will see listed all the beverages we offer.  Now I would like you to go through this list, and choose what beverage you would like.  Is everybody with me?  Good.  And remember, we are completely out of, What do you have?”

That’s Southwest.  Who else would have the nerve?  As I reflected on that moment, I realized that they were following in true order of their values.  Here are their top three in order:

1. Have fun.
2. Love your employees
3. Love your customers.

So how come we customers ended up in third place?  Herb Kelleher knew that having fun and treating your people right was the way to have a loyal following.  Beyond that, he did have a quirky priority:  He looked for people who had strong personalities.  The whiskey-drinking, cigarette-smoking fellow just couldn’t settle for his folks saying “Have a nice day” in monotone.  The Southwest Airlines Crew:  They may excite you, they may infuriate you, but they will never bore you.  One more thing:  In the 20 years he was at the helm, Southwest made a profit every year, and they continue to do so.  Are you a maverick?