The Summit Blog

Time to cross the street

2012-01-24T05:50:00.064-05:00

sebastian showing the models how to step off the curb with pizazz....
(matt never figured it out), a photo by shullovox on Flickr.

You're leading a group, you're walking in unfamiliar territory, and you have come to a street. Are you going to stand there, not sure whether you should proceed? Are you going to retrace your steps, because you already know where that route leads? Or is it time for you to step off the curb and cross the street?

One of the challenges in leading is knowing the difference between situations where your best bet is to stop and seek the input of your team, and and those when you just take the step forward. When you are stepping out you might need to hold their hands, or connect your team members to one another, to help them manage their fears. You will be the one to look both ways to keep them safe from oncoming traffic, and to time the step-off appropriately.

They might be pulling back on your arms, tired from the walk so far and wanting only to sit down to rest. But you might have to urge them on.

If you know that your destination is warm and comfortable, and you know that it has food and drink, you might be less likely to slow your pace or even stop for a few moments to comfort the naysayers. They will just have to see when they arrive at the destination, and it will be evident to them then that their concerns and resistance were overblown and unnecessary. Once they arrive they will enjoy benefits that would not have been possible if you had not pulled them forward with you.

You might not, however, know what is ahead. You might know only that the place you are leaving is not going to stay the welcoming and comfortable spot to which the group has been accustomed. Change is brewing, and if you don't help them move they might not survive. They might not see what you see, and they might not understand why you are continuing to pull them forward.

Some of your group will focus on the trucks, busses, and cars whizzing by, and worry that you won't know how to help them cross the street safely. It will help you (and them) if you have navigated busy streets before. They will trust you more readily.

But ultimately it comes down to you. Is the place that you're going - or the place that you're leaving - worth the potential conflict? Are the implications and potential implications big enough that you need to go even though some of your group will be kicking and screaming? If so, then go. Step off the curb. Look both ways, and choose your time, but take that step. This stage of it is only temporary if you don't linger at the crossroads.

The unavoidable ingredient in sales

2012-01-23T05:55:00.102-05:00

Beautiful business woman,
a photo by stratfordcollege on Flickr.

The small business owner was feeling frustrated: "I just don't know how I'm going to fit one more networking meeting into my week! And I'm not closing enough deals to justify spending the money on going."

This business owner bought the premise that today's business environment is social, built upon networking, referrals, and relationships - both online and in person. What he didn't think about was that the events that were filling his week weren't sales - they were marketing. No wonder that he didn't have as many clients as he wanted!

The unavoidable ingredient in sales is the face-to-face conversation with the prospective client, where you (and they) can discover their needs and wants, and then see whether your products and services are a good match to meet their requirements. Without that interaction, you have the potential for a few unsatisfactory conditions:

They won't recognize the fact that their problem can be solved, because their daily focus is on handling it, not solving it. They are busy operating. So they won't even think of taking the initiative to contact you to buy whatever it is that you're selling, even if you can fix their problem.
You will be tempted to present solutions for which the need has not yet been established. This creates a feeling of pressure in your prospect and increases their resistance to your recommendation, even if it is a valid one. You have to earn the right to present solutions via building the relationship and asking questions. To be blunt, presenting too early is a quick way to make it harder to obtain appointments and an equally quick way to create a bad reputation in your business community.
If you are networking all week long you will have made a lot of contacts and filled your calendar with a lot of happy talk, but not enough real sales "at bats" to generate revenue. In the meantime, your fixed expenses continue to accrue, and the cash to pay them is going to have to come from somewhere.

Let's clarify the difference between marketing and sales, just to make sure we're all on the same page here:

Marketing: "Prepares the soil" for sales efforts by establishing image and general awareness. The idea is for the marketing to start to establish familiarity and a relationship before the sales interaction, to increase the likelihood that the prospect will be receptive.
Sales: "Sows the seeds" for a customer relationship. This is not necessarily a one meeting process. Especially in business-to-business sales, there might be multiple decision points, several people involved in the process, budget and timing issues...all of which can affect the cycle time from "Hello, my name is" to "Sign here, please."

The marketing function supports sales, but it is not a substitute for the buying/selling conversation. It might result in some customers coming to you without direct sales effort on your part, but who knows when that might be? If you want to increase your sales, or speed up your cash flow, start setting those appointments - even if you have to skip a networking function to make time to do so.

If you are worried about the potential for rejection, take heart. It's going to happen, and most of the time it won't even be because of you. Businesspersons out there are busy, they are on their own agendas, and some of them don't want to quit running long enough to learn an easier, quicker, better way to do their work.

But your buyers are out there. Stop keeping all of your good stuff to yourself. Go talk to them, with an agenda right on the table "to see whether their needs are a good match for the products and services that you provide." If you take time to make a friend first and ask questions about needs and wants second, you will have created a solid foundation upon which to present your solutions.

So what if they don't need or want what you are selling, or can't afford it, or the time isn't right? If you have created the relationship foundation, they will come to you when they are ready, or they may choose to send a friend or colleague to you. Stay in touch with them, send information to them that you think might be helpful to them.

And time to time connect with them in another face to face. That will help to keep you top of mind with them, and will help to ensure that you will stay tuned in to their changing business needs and wants.

Sharing 101

2012-01-19T05:47:00.054-05:00

Sharing 101, a photo by Back in the Pack on Flickr.

What are you willing to share, and what are you not? Are you free with your opinions and equally free with your money? Are you willing to share food but not your technical knowhow? Are you keeping it all, or are you giving it all away?

Sharing 101 stems from a paradigm that says there is plenty for everyone. Sharing stems from a perspective of abundance. If you're not coming from that place, it's very possible to feel as though you'll come out on the short end of limited resources. In this mindset you won't feel like you can "afford" to part with any of your whatever.

Beyond the scarcity mindset is another obstacle to Sharing 101 - that of the virtue of possession. It's the assumption that you have what you have because of something outstanding that you did. Perhaps you invested time and energy or dollars in it. Perhaps you see it as the result of the education that you sought to obtain or the risk you were willing to assume in investing in a business venture. You earned it, so doggone it, you're keeping it.

Do you really own it? Are you the only person who contributed to the person you have become and the assets that you possess? Is your success all the result of you, or were there other players who had a stake in the outcome? Who helped you to get that education? Who hired you for your first job? Who taught you how to operate the equipment that enabled you to craft the beautiful dining table? Who laid the groundwork for your research, or developed the prototype for the prior generation of your product?

Sharing 101 is interpersonal grace. It is accepting that there is bounty in the world, and knowing that passing some of "your" bounty along will not harm you. Sharing 101 means that you don't have sole ownership.

What are the thoughts and feelings that cause you to want to hold things and people and knowledge to yourself rather than share them? What are the assumptions that are preventing you from sharing? What if those assumptions are wrong? How might your life - and your view of it - be transformed?

Handling the elephant in the room

2012-01-18T06:29:00.063-05:00

Nobody wants to talk about the Big Elephant in the room!!!,
a photo by Irwin-Scott on Flickr.

The eight-grade class members squirmed in their seats. A few of the kids rolled their eyes as they furtively glanced at their neighbors. One or two hid snickers behind their hands as they vainly attempted not to be affected by the sight in front of them. And a couple of girls stared at the ceiling. They couldn't look.

The math teacher's fly was down. And until something was done about it, nobody was going to get anything accomplished. That unfortunate wardrobe malfunction (or user error as the case may be) was the elephant in the room.

Who among the kids would be able to be composed enough and subtle enough to let the teacher know so he could correct the situation? In this instance, the teacher had few fans among the student body, so the class allowed him to go through the remainder of the class period oblivious to the fact that the students didn't hear a word that he said. Even if their eyes were averted, their attention was completely focused on the open zipper situation.

In a work group setting, the elephant is often one or more objections in the minds of the participants. An elephant would be an anticipatable or shared obstacle in attitude, mindset, perception of rightness or wrongness, etc. One example that comes to mind is that of a consultant who had difficulty generating new business because his appearance was so youthful that he looked too young to be able to provide substantive information to his apparently much older clients. That consultant might never hear about the age and inexperience obstacle, but it was there, nonetheless. He perceived it in the superficial answers he would get to questions he would ask the prospective customer, or in the explanations they would frame in almost embarrassingly basic terms.

This man developed an elephant strategy. His strategy was to bring out the "too young to know anything" elephant and make a joke at the beginning of the meeting about how he was far older than he looked, and he would follow that with a summary of his impeccable business credentials. His prospects often smiled, or admitted that they were wondering about just that. He disarmed the elephant, and then was able to proceed with his agenda for the meeting.

When the elephant (whatever it is for you) isn't addressed, it doesn't go away. The elephant continues to consume space, and on occasion it smells up the room. Whatever the elephant issue is might not be fun to talk about, but as long as it is present, the elephant will prevent forward progress. Even if participants in a discussion appear to be nodding in agreement, it is likely that the forward movement is only a mirage. It will stall on the follow-through, because the pesky elephant will be in the way.

Bring that elephant out there and introduce it. Make a pre-emptive move by naming it. Help the group determine how big the elephant is, and what should be done about it. You bring the elephant down to a manageable size when you identify it, stand it in the middle of the room and address it. Only then can you expect to be able to move on to the scheduled agenda items and take some action.

Of two minds

2012-01-17T06:30:00.132-05:00

Mind Duality, a photo by h.koppdelaney on Flickr.

She uttered the dreaded words, "On the other hand..." and her husband groaned. "I'm trying to be responsive to what you want," he complained, "but you keep changing your mind! Help me out here!"

You hear it all of the time - political candidates are skewered in the press with accusations of "flip-flopping" on issues. Then when they are elected, some of them are criticized for being immune to the influence of evidence that flies directly into the face of their firmly set convictions. Is it better to be consistent, or to be able to see and even argue on behalf of multiple perspectives on an issue?

Consistency vs. Flexibility

If you want to lead effectively, you attract followers and commitment when you are consistent.

Spaced repetition increases the retention of your message, so consistency becomes important in helping people remember you and your priorities.

If you want to be consistent you have to have some overall fundamental principles upon which you base everything else. Followers attach themselves to the ideals, the philosophies, that you put forth. Then new information should be filtered through the principles to see how it aligns, and decisions made based upon the filtered data.

But what if the new information contradicts the old information? Doesn't a well-educated person run the risk of contradicting himself or herself? In a word - yes. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Closed-mindedness and inflexibility in thinking can cause a leader to make 19th-century decisions in a 21st century world. Sometimes new information has to influence priorities going forward. And it becomes important for the leader to identify - and communicate - the new information that is transforming his or her thinking on a topic.

Obviously there are pieces of new strategically impactful information that would be dangerous to share far and wide, but the effective leader shares what he or she can, even with those individuals who are outside the group of "need to know" team members. Only when team members outside the inner circle understand the leader's priorities more completely can they fully align their efforts with the leader's intended direction. And the more quickly the direction is changing, the more important frequent communication becomes.

Two minds and decision making

Sometimes inside the leader's mind there's a tie between two priorities, and that leads to a delay in decision making or a waffling back and forth between different options. Ultimately the leader has to have a method to break the tie - either an overriding principle, or a trusted person or team that helps to tip the scale in one direction or the other.

Decision criteria can help to process a choice. Here's a simple example: when determining what home improvement tasks are most important prior to placing a home on the market for sale, the criteria might include:

Safety
Curb appeal
Energy efficiency
Adaptability to a variety of buyers

The leader scores each project (1-10) against the identified criteria, and then whichever project achieves the highest score is done first. When there are multiple people involved in the process the criteria screen can still be used - either a consensus score for each item is identified, or scores from all of the individuals are tallied to determine an aggregate for each of the criteria.

Ultimately nothing happens unless a decision is made, so the more protracted your process is, the longer it is going to take you to achieve the results you want.

Who do you serve?

2012-01-16T08:51:00.027-05:00

Service Dog, a photo by pnutbuttagirl on Flickr

Who (or what) do you serve? Do you serve customers, your company, your community, your family, your career, your God, or yourself?

What is the driving force behind the way in which you prioritize your day, or allocate your financial resources? Who do you serve?

This is a way of framing your purpose, your reason for existence. If you have never articulated what your purpose is, have never set it down on paper, look around at the people and/or entities that you serve to find clues.

Of course this begs the question of the difference between espoused purpose and purpose in use. But getting close to your real motivators, your authentic purpose, will help you to summon the internal resources you need to make the most of opportunities and persist in times of turmoil and struggle.

For whom or for what do you do what you do every day? If you cannot readily answer this question you are missing the key to contribution, connection, and satisfaction. Your talents, your knowledge, and your goals are at best diluted, and at worst out of alignment without purpose as a context.

Are you listening - or not?

2012-01-13T05:43:00.174-05:00

Listen to me... (2), a photo by tanukifu on Flickr.

Do you think it's preferable to be internally driven, or to be externally driven? Your answer to the question may depend upon whether you're the goose that's swimming along minding your own business or the goose who has something important to say.

There's a spectrum here - there might be certain situations and topics in which you are open to the input of other people, and some in which you are less so. But internal vs. external drive has multiple implications for you, in your work life and your personal life.

Looking to the outside

When you are externally driven you are influenced by your surroundings, and one of your motivators is the effect that your behavior has on other people. If you go so far as to strive to please everyone else you're in a no-win situation, because the actions that will please one may upset another. For instance, you know that your boss has expectations that you work long hours to conquer your workload, but when you stay late regularly and delay your family dinner your spouse becomes upset. On the flip side of the work-life balance, when you leave early to make your child's baseball game your boss questions your commitment to your job.

To some extent, it's beneficial to your group, and to you as a member of the group, for you to be externally driven. You act in their interests and are influenced by their opinions. External drive can backfire on you though, especially in the workplace, when taken to the extreme. You can find yourself going whichever way the wind is blowing or aligning with whomever honks the loudest, and that can harm your credibility. You can appear weak or even dishonest when you don't stand up for anything.

If you have no internal driving forces to balance the external forces that are trying to influence you, you might find yourself feeling frustrated later when you realize that you have given up too much of yourself, or have negotiated poorly on your own behalf. You have created your own victimhood, seeing yourself as someone who has been acted upon or taken advantage of.

The internal lighthouse
When your drive comes primarily from the inside you don't seek the input or approval from other people. That can be helpful, even a critical component, in certain roles and situations where you have to act autonomously. The internal drive might come from a firmly ingrained set of core values, or from habits of thought (attitudes) about the expectations for a particular role, or about how an unwillingness to yield demonstrates strength.

The internally driven person can be an effective leader, because they are less subject to the conflicting expectations of the various people in their lives. They set their own path and follow it. But taken too far, internal drive can mean that when it comes down to a win-lose situation they are going to make sure that it's not them that comes out on the short end of it. It also means that people around this person can talk all they want, but they might as well save their breath.

One piece of this not to be ignored - the internally driven person doesn't have all of the information. If he or she is not listening, some of the critical input that will make or break the next decision, or that will prevent a crisis from growing, won't be available, and the quality of the decision will be compromised. Even a brainiac's IQ is no match for the collaborative input of multiple individuals.

Listening to yourself
Core values create the spine that supports your evaluating and decision making. You hold many of your values at a subconscious level, and they reveal themselves through warm (or uncomfortable) "gut" feelings about how you are to best handle a situation that presents itself. You have also stored huge quantities of information obtained through your education and/or experiences, so much that you have forgotten that it's there until a circumstance calls it forward. The retrieval of this memorized information is not always at a conscious level. Some people call this somewhat mysterious internal soup of values, feelings and subconsciously stored information "listening to your heart."

But there's more to it than that. In order to maintain that strong spine of internal direction you need to trust yourself to make the right call at the right time. Gathering data may play a role in your process - it's not necessarily a matter of whether it only feels right. But even data - neutral as it is until it's interpreted - may not tell the whole story. It's a representation of what has been already and not necessarily a predictor of what is to come.

It would be impossible to say whether it's "better" to be externally or internally driven. It's a spectrum, and isn't necessarily a choice of one over the other. But it is a valuable frame of reference for observing and understanding other people's behavior and being more self-aware about your own.

Upsetting the Apple Cart - On Purpose

2012-01-12T10:00:00.004-05:00

Upsetting the Apple Cart,
a photo by jroadie1 on Flickr.

Whoaaaaa! There they go! The apples are dumped all over the road! Now what are you going to do?

No sweat. Those dumped apples are possibly one of the best things that could happen to you today, or this week, or this month.

Perhaps you can carry something else in the cart now that it's rid of the apples.
Maybe you can make the load a bit lighter and easier to navigate by carrying fewer apples at one time.
Maybe you have the opportunity to do something with the apples other than carry them around. You could pile them up to make an apple fort, or collect a few, cut them up and bake an apple pie.

It's possible that your route with the apple cart is so ingrained that you hardly notice it any more. You get up in the morning and go through the same sequence of tasks in the same way day after day without having to think about it. What is going to interrupt your comfortable groove except for the upset of that cart full of apples?

When you can't go through your task on autopilot you have to engage your brain to figure it out. And chances are that you have more information and more experience than you had when you created the task in the first place. It's likely that you have new and better tools to use to help you get the job done. And even if you simply want to reload the apples onto a cart, there may be a cart that's faster, lighter, with better capacity and easier on the environment.

You don't have to wait for someone to upset the cart for you - do it yourself, on purpose. Take a different route, use a different sequence of steps, or change your lunch order. You will increase your awareness when you're out of your routine. It might not be as comfortable as your usual route, but the little edge that comes from mild discomfort engages your brain to do its thinking.

If you are very attached to your current cart of apples, don't drag it too far off the path to start with. Change it up just a little bit and prove to yourself that the world won't come to an end if the routine is interrupted. Then next time you can stretch a bit further, then further, until you build your mental elasticity.

And what about the apples that get left in the road? Squeezed hard enough, they'll make good cider.

Is it a match - or not?

2012-01-10T06:14:00.003-05:00

One of these things is not like the others,
a photo by gafmaster.wordpress.com on google images

Are you trying too hard to make it work? An ill-fitting shirt can be belted, pinned, left open as an overshirt to allow more belly room - but how far do you go before you decide that the shirt simply doesn't fit?

The question that follows closely behind this one is whether the problem is the shirt or you? If something has to change to make it work better, what is the change that needs to be made?

In the 2009 movie "He's Just Not That Into You," several young women practically twist themselves into pretzels trying to lure the man they love (or think they love) into the sort of relationship that they want. (see the trailer here) They try and try until their desperation becomes a head-shaking sort of comical for the audience. They watch as the protagonists kid themselves again and again that it's going to work if they only give the other person enough time, space, nurturing, etc.

On the flip side of this, you might be the person who is in the decision-making seat. Is the potential payoff worth the compromises you'll have to make in order to make the job, the sale, the situation, the house, the relationship fit you? Or is this not a match that should be made? Will you be almost instantly dissatisfied, and will it whittle away at your commitment? Will it eat away at your happiness? Will it ultimately erode your opinion of yourself if you decide to settle for something less than what you really want?

For how long do you expect this match to last? The timeframe for a marriage commitment (in theory) is measured in decades - it's a pretty big decision as a result. A mismatch will have longlasting consequences. On the other hand, the inadvertent choice of a clumsy dance partner only lasts until the song is over and you return them to their table. A mismatch here is no big problem.

How big is the adaptation that has to be made? There may be circumstances that warrant making a commitment to fairly substantial personal change: wedding vows specify "till death us do part," and many people still take that vow seriously. Business results that aren't up to snuff may require that you do things differently, even significantly so, if you want to keep the doors open.

When it gets down to it, though, you have to decide how far you want to go to make it work. Every person has his or own boundaries, some casting a broader swath than others. If you don't honor your internal boundaries you may be able to "make" the situation work on the outside but be eating yourself alive on the inside. Ultimately it will erode your motivation and corrode the relationship.

Yes, people can become and change. But if you are counting on that from yourself or others it's a risky proposition. It assumes that there is a capacity for the desired behavior, and enough motivation to walk up a steep hill to learn it and sustain it. It's a lot easier when the circumstances, personalities, etc. are in some alignment at the outset. Looking for a better match going into the deal might save all of you heartache and frustration later. And having the courage to walk away may be the best thing you can do for everyone involved.

Play your best game - and win

2012-01-09T06:20:00.062-05:00

Melrose v Watertown Football Game 055-5x7,
a photo by Paul-W on Flickr.

It's your big day. You have a presentation, or an important meeting. You need not be a football player in the midst of the championship season to think about playing your best game - and winning.

The "best game" here doesn't mean the flawless execution of football. It means play the game, do the thing, that you were born to do. If you were born to speak in public, speak in public. If you have a talent for strategy, strategize. If you crack people up when you tell jokes, do that (of course with good human relations in mind!)

If you attempt to play the game that your competition plays and its not your best game, you will likely be at a disadvantage. You will be an imitation and they will be the original. Some companies compete on the basis of product, some on the basis of marketing, some on the basis of price, and some on distribution. Individuals compete based upon intellect, interpersonal skills, credentials, connections, creativity, etc. Go with your strengths.

Do you know what your talents are? Do you know which is the appropriate stadium for you, and the uniform that gets you the best results? If you're not sure of the answers, think back on a time or situation in which you were at your best. You got outstanding results. What type of task were you doing? What methods were you using to accomplish the result you got? Were you working alone, or in alliance with someone? Were you using technology? Were you leading or following? Were you talking, or were you listening? Or both? Were you collaborating? Once you identify yourself at your best, do more of it.

Going with your strengths doesn't mean that you ignore the other person. If you are involved in a transaction in which the two of you need to partner, you will often win by helping them win. Make them look good and help them achieve their goals and you are likely to earn a score on the board.

It is not necessary for someone else to lose in order for you to win. The optimal situation is one where everyone can have their needs met. In the business world, however, there are times when only one person racks up the highest score and carries the trophy home.

Playing your best game might be a bit scary. If you give it your all and despite your best efforts it doesn't work out the way you want, it can hurt. But always remember that you will play again on another day - fear is not a good reason for not doing whatever you can right now. Review your fundamentals. Perhaps develop a few tricky (but legal) moves that will set your competition back on their heels as you breeze by toward your score. But play YOUR best game.

When creativity trumps capital

2012-01-05T06:30:00.028-05:00

"Cans Festival" "London Street Art" Waterloo,
a photo by londonstreetart2 on Flickr.

Do any of these cries sound familiar? "We need more staff!" "We need this technology!" Are you feeling like someone is always trying to reach into your pocket?

The fact is that sometimes we do need these things - but often we don't. Forgive this post, you economists out there who want to see all boats rising on the tide of increased spending by companies and consumers. This is about looking out for the interests of numero uno - me. Or you, since you're the one reading this.

Creativity often is tapped first when there isn't extra cash to throw around. You learn to make do. You learn to repurpose, to reuse resources, and to hang on to ideas or things that you might want or need on another day. It's often harder to be creative when you DO have the resources to buy something, to hire somebody to do it for you. You become tempted to follow the path of least resistance, which is to reach into your wallet, pay for the thing, and carry the bag home.

What would you have done with those resources if you hadn't spent them on that last sexy thingamajig? Could you have strengthened your reserves and built your financial security by putting it away in a rainy day fund? Could you have used your money better by allocating it to another purpose that didn't present the opportunity for creative options? Might that hole-burning cash have gone to the development of a new service line or venture that could open a whole new revenue stream instead of piling on top of your prior dollars as you continue to mine your current one?

Ok, so perhaps you're not buying the fiscal responsibility argument for creativity over capital. How about the argument for building meaning and satisfaction into daily work? The brains you have on board are like other muscles - they like to stretch, and they get stronger with exercise. If you want to build mental capacity you test your brain, give it problems to solve, give it constraints within which to work. Then when the mind comes up with that wild-haired but effective solution - bingo! Intrinsic reward. And that rush of satisfaction generates more searching for more cool and cheap ways to solve current problems.

Prioritizing creativity over capital gives you a competitive edge. First, you have financial leverage from having kept your costs down. Second, your solutions may be like nobody else's anywhere. Because of this second advantage you can differentiate yourself. Let somebody benchmark off of you for a change instead of you stalking them for your next good idea.

Why trophies matter

2012-01-04T06:52:00.099-05:00

Trophies | Crystal,
a photo by trophies on Flickr.

The parents groaned just a little bit when they walked into the sports banquet and saw a table loaded with plastic gold-tone trophies. They saw each one as another piece of clutter that would be left on the stairs to be tripped over or plopped on a dresser to gather dust.

What the parents forgot - until their beaming child marched to the front to be presented with his prize - was that it wasn't about the plastic trophies. The banquet and the "gold" cups on pedestals were about recognition for a job well done. The trophies were tangible evidence of appreciation and achievement that would be revisited over and over. The sight of that trophy in each child's room would serve as a reminder that they can be successful.

In the workplace many compensation structures involve incentive pay. The idea is that the financial reward coincides with the calibre of the performance. Do good work and you receive a nice bonus. But there are a few problems with incentive pay as a means of recognition:

It doesn't take long for the financial incentive to become part of the family budget. It morphs into an expectation, and before long the bonus or commission only becomes noticeable in its absence. When it shrinks or disappears, regardless of the sound business rationale behind the change, the employee is demotivated.
It is impersonal. The bonus or commission arrives in a paycheck, and sometimes directly into a bank account without any fanfare. No handshake, no "attaboy" accompanies it.
It isn't noticeable. Nobody but the CFO knows how well you're doing - that is unless you use your gains to purchase a car, a big house, or some trophy of your own choosing. Heaven forbid that you talk about it in your workplace - comparative compensation talk can result in disciplinary action in some companies.

Trophies aren't just objects - they are symbols. The ceremony that accompanies the bestowing of awards is also important. Public recognition is a huge motivator, so even when the award is plastic, or framed paper, or even an inflatable monkey, its recipient appreciates and remembers it.

There are prerequisites to trophy earning and trophy giving.

The leaders have to know in specific terms what performance they are looking for.
If they want team members to pursue excellence intentionally they need to communicate the desired performance standards.
And the leader has to be noticing what's going on in performance. There are measurements to be followed and/or score to be kept. Without knowledge and data the leader can find himself or herself rewarding unfairly because he or she is using subjective rather than objective criteria.

Trophies are bigger deals when they are more scarce - to a point. They have to be issued frequently or predictably enough to be on team members' radar, but not so abundant that they cease to be differentiators. A club team swimmer is thrilled with earning ribbons at the first few meets. But quickly the four from this meet are added to the four from the last meet until over the season one child can accumulate two dozen printed pieces of fabric. They start to be left scattered around the house until the dog picks one up and chews it to bits. So the child starts to count only blue first place ribbons, or first and second place, or medals - and not to care so much about the ribbons that come in so much abundance.

This idea that scarcity equals value in rewards is part of the reason why you don't say "Thank you for coming to work!" in the morning or "I appreciate that you handed this in on time." After a while the team member's internal voice is saying "yeah, yeah, yeah..." It's also a performance expectation that the leader is making a big deal about. When the leader makes a huge production out of thanking for the fulfillment of performance standards, the employee eventually starts to hear it as a vote of no confidence in their ability to deliver. It's the performance equivalent of throwing a game of cards so your child's feelings won't be hurt. You need to be able to take decent performance for granted - and the team members need to be able to know that your expectations of them are high.

Now back to the trophies to wrap this thing up. What could you make a point of noticing and recognizing in some tangible way? What behavior do you want to see more often on your team? Perhaps a traveling trophy is the way to go. Whatever you choose to do, remember that trophies do matter. Even if they are made of plastic.

One man's optimism

2012-01-03T06:27:00.003-05:00

Stanley W. Martin

Unless you lived in York County, Pennsylvania during the mid- to late 20th century you would not know the name of Stanley Martin. If you lived in the Borough of West York, however, you could not have missed him. Stanley was a business owner, a worship leader of his church, a borough council member, and patriarch for a passel of children and grandchildren that continuously populated the West York Area School District for more than 60 years. He died in 1998 at the age of 82.

Probably most characteristic of Stan (or Pepper, as his mushball buddies called him) was that he was an Optimist. He was an active member of the service club Optimist International, that performs projects for the benefit of children in their communities. The Optimist Creed was displayed for years on his dining room wall:

Promise Yourself ...
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

One of his most characteristic responses in good times or in bad was "Well, that's all right." He had a very deep but softspoken voice, and he was usually tamping the custom blend tobacco in his everpresent pipe when he said those words. He made it through a lot of troubles over the years, smiling and knowing that it was going to be all right.

The youngest of Stanley's grandkids and great-grandchildren probably don't remember him saying that. But as the oldest of them, I do. That picture of him standing in his kitchen with coffee brewing and the dozen Maple Donuts on the table is ingrained in my brain, as are those words.

Near the end of his life, I had the opportunity to speak at his Optimist Club. As a token of appreciation they gave me my own Optimist Creed on a plaque. It still hangs in my office, and it serves two purposes. First, it is inspiring and comforting to read in the times when optimism is hard to achieve oneself, much less to pass on to others. But second, and perhaps more importantly, every time I read it I think of him. And I have to smile.

Off of the recliner and into action

2012-01-02T08:47:00.052-05:00

Feeling lazy, a photo by beevek on Flickr.

The kids stood in line at the bus stop looking like zombies. They stared into space, eyes glazed over - completely different from the usual scampering and throwing of the football while waiting for Mr. Marty to arrive.

What a convergence - the first day after New Year's day and a Monday. A combination that virtually guarantees that everyone will have a case of the slows.

This will pass for the kids. Once they are at school and the daily schedule commences they will be swept up into their routines. They will pass out tonight closer to their usual bedtimes, and by tomorrow or the next day they will be back to normal.

You'll do the same with your workday - maybe. But what if you are the one who has to impose the schedule? What if you are the one who has to take the initiative to set the alarm a little bit earlier, or to get to your desk and return emails and calls? Nobody else will be sweeping you along, and so it will be a matter of choice. Choice is great, but it means that it's up to you if it's going to happen.

Inertia can be deadly to your business. The sticky molasses (and yes, it's January in a cold state) that holds you in your current position will delay your positive results if you allow it to keep you under its control. The longer you sit there the stickier it will get, and the harder it will be to extricate yourself from its grasp. The hold will start to feel comfortable - until later when the comfort and easy feelings will be replaced with regret or even panic over lack of progress.

You might have to let your internal engines warm up a bit, but start something. Take a step. Perhaps you can start with an attractive activity, one that you enjoy doing, to get the juices flowing. Then once your brain has fully geared up, look at your week and plan your activities.

As you plan your week, consider the 2-3 key outcomes you want to accomplish, or steps toward that end, by the end of your workweek. Allocate time for those activities in your calendar first, then move on to the others that aren't quite as high in priority or essential to your results and fill in.

Rest and recuperation provide critical fuel for performance. It's important to spend some time in the recliner, or at the beach, or in the mountains, or hanging with friends and family. If you master the art of getting back into the game quickly when the R & R is done, you will feel good about your accomplishment. And that confidence will create an upward spiral of performance for you.

The dream that creates possibility

2011-12-31T07:23:00.075-05:00

Dream girl, a photo by @Doug88888 on Flickr.

Accomplishment begins with goals, and heartfelt goals begin in the form of dreams. When asked to create a list of your dreams, it might be easy for you to think of the things you want to own - a particular car, a vacation home, a favorite collectible to complete your set. It might be fairly simple to come up with places you'd like to visit - Paris, London, Hong Kong, Australia, the Caribbean.

Your list becomes more exciting as you remove the limitations of current finances, spousal approval, vacation time available, etc. And often the emotional attachment generated via a thoroughly envisioned dream list spurs the very actions that help the dreams move from fantasy to real-time experience.

There is one category for your dreams that is often missed, though, when the lists are being compiled. What would you do to become more valuable to yourself?

Notice that the question asks "valuable to yourself". Your dream inventory is all about you - not about the expectations of other people in your life. What is it that you expect of yourself or would want yourself to become, given an opportunity to change? In what do you place value? Do you dream of yourself as

More educated?
More physically fit and healthy?
More patient?
More generous?
Happier in your relationships?
Producing more financial stability and security?

Opportunity is created by these dreams, because every step you take to become more aligned with your undiluted self is a step that increases your creative subconscious. Once you decide to invest yourself in one or more of your dreams you will start to notice the connections, the objects and openings in your surroundings that can take you closer to the outcome that so far you have only dreamed about.

Starting from the place of dreams and choosing to move toward making them real does require some trust in yourself. Some people stay in the dreaming place because they say their imagination is so satisfying that they don't feel the need to take action. It's quite possible that what's really going on is that they fear that they will disappoint themselves if they don't manage to manifest the dream in its fullest envisioned form. And of course when they sit there content to fantasize, they ensure that they will not help the dream fulfill itself.

Some of the things you want most in life are the natural outcomes of action. They don't drop into your lap from out of the blue. What can you do or how can you be in order to increase the likelihood that your most cherished results will come to you? It's said that "to have, you must become." It is equally important that the definition of the "musts" come from you, in alignment with your values and beliefs.

Right now, today, is the perfect opening for you to create the potential for fulfillment and accomplishment. Start dreaming.

Capturing the magic

2011-12-24T08:36:00.046-05:00

christmas lights,
a photo by Reno Tahoe Window Cleaning &
Christmas Lights on Flickr.

It's time to stop for a moment and capture the magic. Walk among the brightly lit trees. Sit by the fire and read a favorite bedtime story to the little ones who can't quite seem to go to sleep this Christmas Eve. Share a cup of tea, a cookie, a hug with someone you love.

Christmas is a commemoration of the beginning of a great gift - that of a life sacrificed for the sake of all humankind. All. Humankind.

They are here and you are here, with the opportunity to connect. You can set aside differences, irritations, squabbles, stressors - and capture the magic. You don't have to wait to be the recipient. You can be the giver, and make the magic yourself.

Christmas is more than the lights, more than the foods, the gifts, the scurry, the expectations. It's about the magic of the unexpected - and centuries ago the unbelievably fragile appearance of a profoundly powerful being who changed the world for people everywhere.

Whether you think you're finally done with the chores or not - Listen. Sing. Laugh. Give. Be. Merry, Merry Christmas.

Check please!

2011-12-21T06:11:00.003-05:00

Popeye the sailor's friend Wimpy became famous for his catchphrase, "I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." He LOVED hamburgers, and would figure out any way possible to get them - preferably with somebody else picking up the tab.

In Wimpy's era nobody was really talking about the impact of his "hamburger today" on his somewhat cushiony physique. Besides accumulating his IOUs with friends and strangers alike, he piled up debt payable to himself - Wimpy owed his own body more than a few fast-paced laps around the neighborhood.

J. Wellington Wimpy (that's his full name, you know) epitomized the philosophy of short-term thinking. He wanted what he wanted, and he wanted it now. He'd deal with the consequences later. He was focused on hamburgers that he could eat immediately. Period.

What if Wimpy had taken a longer view? Certainly the Popeye cartoon wouldn't have been as funny on his account, but putting that aside, what would be different?

Would Wimpy occasionally substitute a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for his beloved burger in order to conserve cash that he would then deposit into a savings account?
Might Wimpy have taken a spin on his bike to offset the excess burger calories, knowing that he was determined to achieve a Body Mass Index of 25 before he turned 40?
Would Wimpy have paid people back for his prior burgers before requesting money for another one, knowing that it was more important to maintain his friendships than it was to have a hamburger today?

These ideas sound absurd placed in this context. Wimpy is an archetype, an exaggeration that makes the point. But the point is still there. Long-term goals, when you have committed to them and have written them down, help you to choose NOT to engage in the potentially destructive behaviors that bring you only temporary satisfaction. Ultimately the short-term rewards will not outweigh the long-term consequences. At some point the check will have to be paid.

And you thought being wimpy only meant having a slushy tossed in your face or your cafeteria tray knocked onto the floor by a bully...

'Twas the week before Christmas...

2011-12-20T05:39:00.147-05:00

Santa!!!, a photo by BeliM on Flickr.

'Twas the week before Christmas

And all through the house all the creatures were scurrying - yes, even the spouse

All the stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that some Twix bars soon would be there

The children were bundled and playing outside,

And newly bought presents had places to hide,

And gram with her hot tea and I with my frappe

Had just settled down for a long Winter's wrap.

When all of a sudden there came such a clatter

I sprang from my chair to see what was the matter!

Away to the slider I flew like a flash

Bumped into the island and knocked down some cash!

The sun on the drifts of the new-fallen snows

Put a glare in my eye and a sneeze in my nose.

Then what to my tearing-up eye did appear

But my snow-coated kid and her snow-crusted peers.

With loud screechy voices so lively and quick

I had a brief urge to lurch out with a stick!

More rapid than eagles the kiddos they came,

And I whistled and shouted, addressed them by name -

Out Britney! Out Tanner! Out Molly and Billy!

Out Sarah, Out Conner, Out Darcy and Willy!

To the back yard you go - you can't stand in the hall.

Now dash away, dash away, dash away all!

You know how it goes, you work year after year

To make Christmas exciting and full of good cheer,

But the week before Christmas is a time when you're stressed,

And you might not feel patient or be at your best.

I will have to say that I felt a bit badly

To drive out the children and do it so gladly

I found myself dwelling on tasks to be done

Instead of on Christmas, on making it fun.

So Gran and I hid all our gifts and their wrapping

And we went to the slider and started a tapping.

The kids, still snow-covered, still playing out back

Called "Sure Mom, we'd love to come in for a snack!"

We handed out cookies, and brownies in bunches,

We plied them with junk food and spoiled all their lunches.

Their wet clothes all tumbled to dry in our dryer

And we camped out on pillows in front of the fire.

When snowsuits were dry we sent all the kids packing

With packets of cookies for later-day snacking.

We hugged every child as they headed outside,

And we noticed our holiday hearts op'ning wide.

When the wrapping was finished and chores were all done

And I peeked in the door at my small sleeping one,

I knew that I made Christmas merry alright -

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

The value of the person in front of you...

2011-12-19T05:39:00.082-05:00

A moment of personal connection...,
a photo by LifeSong-Stockton on Flickr.

Whether you are at a business function, a holiday gathering, or a chance encounter at the market, you have an opportunity to make a real connection with the person in front of you. In the current emphasis on networking to find new business opportunities, connections are important, even critical. But in the process of pursuing them, some people take a short-sighted view and wind up shooting themselves in the foot.

Imagine a businessperson strategizing before a Chamber of Commerce meeting. He calls the Chamber office to find out who has registered for the event, and assembles a hit list of the best people to meet. On the day of the event the salesperson makes a beeline for those individuals, exchanges cards with them and agrees to talk the next day to set up an appointment for one-on-one conversation, checks them off on his list and moves on as quickly as possible. He completes his checklist and leaves the function, satisfied with the strategic and focused technique that he used that day.

Wait a minute, though. There just might be a couple of things wrong with this picture, and perhaps the salesperson might want to use an alternative approach the next time. Why?

Whose agenda is it anyway?

When this salesperson is charging into the function on his way toward Mr. or Ms. Prime Prospect, he is on his own agenda. How many people are attending this gathering in the hopes that this guy or someone else will zoom up to them with a sales agenda, take their information and run off? Probably none are there with the goal of being sold. If this is a business function it's likely that they have goals of their own. If the salesperson doesn't recognize that and view each contact as an opportunity to help the other person fulfill his or her agenda, the salesperson is likely not creating the kind of positive impression that will ultimately result in an authentic business relationship and a new customer. He might even create negative buzz that causes people to avoid him in the future.

One degree of separation...

One (or more) of the people attending the function is not a power name, but is married to one of the best potential prospects for this salesperson. One might live next door to him or her, or coach kids' soccer alongside the prime contact. If the salesperson doesn't take time to make connections with multiple people, even seemingly random ones, he will miss the powerful relationships that don't appear on a registration list. Some of the people he wants to meet aren't at the event, but instead have sent proxies. These proxies might not be able to make a "yes" decision, but they certainly can be in charge of a "no". They have the power to filter the salesperson out of the running before the ultimate decision maker ever even finds out about him - and a piece of their decision to pass him along or toss his business card is their impression of the manner in which he treats them.

Intrinsic value and serendipity...

In all of this agenda-driven networking, where is the value in meeting someone interesting who is an avid fisherman, and whose passion is hand-tying flies? How would this salesperson ever find out about a charity in his community that raises money for an issue that's close to his heart? When would he have a chance meeting with somebody who knows his long-lost friend from high school or college? That person across from him doesn't have to serve his sales purpose in order to be valuable to know.

It's who knows you...

It's said that it doesn't matter who you know - it does matter, though, who knows you. Your reputation precedes you, working for good or for ill depending upon the foundation that you've laid during your interactions with other people. Overnight success is not overnight. It is the culmination of a lot of little actions, of a lot of little moments when you make the decision to do, or not to do, to connect authentically or not, with this person or not. Let's say it straight out - if you're under the impression that it's all about you and your goals, it's not. And overpowering self-interest in your approach to another person comes through like a bad small wafts right through perfume.

Successful and sustainable business results from an equitable exchange of value. What value are you bringing to the table, to them? Are you objectifying other people, seeing them only as stepping stones or stumbling blocks on your way to success? Or allowing yourself to be open to all the ways in which you might relate with one another?

Is your advice any good?

2011-12-16T05:18:00.150-05:00

advice both, a photo by lomokev on Flickr.

Do you keep your own counsel, or do you look for advice from time to time? Once you've gotten it do you follow the advice, or do you go your own way (or even do the opposite of what was recommended)?

One of the fundamental principles of effective coaching is that only the client can determine what is the "right action" at any point in time. That's why trained coaches tend not to make recommendations. They would have to be inside your head with your background and experiences, your values, your degreee of risk tolerance, your emotions, etc. even to come close to paralleling your decision process. In addition, an advisor is taking on some of his or her own risk if you do as advised and get a less than desirable result. A coach will tend to guide your thinking out loud via a questioning process, to help you gain clarity, rather than tell you what to do.

Let's say for a moment that regardless of the circumstances you're still going to make your own call. There's still a place for outside information. Some of the worst decisions made are those made with a blithe disregard for facts and precedent. This may come as a shock, but you don't know everything yet. If this isn't a shocking revelation to you (as I'm sure it's not), where do you go to gain insight before you act?

Uncle Henry - a friend and colleague describes Uncle Henry as the person who considers himself omniscient on topics from high-return investments to lawn mower repair. Listen to Uncle Henry and you'll be the blind following the blind. You probably won't have to ask for his advice - he'll make a peremptory strike, so his insights will be readily available to you whether you want them or not.
The Old Salt - This person has been around forever, and they have done it all. They probably created some of the processes you're using for your work right now. They may be very attached to the "way we used to do it" in the good old days, so their advice will be well-steeped in tradition if not overpowered by it. If you need a new answer the Old Salt may not be the one to give it to you.
The Theoretician - This person is well-educated but possibly not yet fully tested in application. They will advise you based upon the book answer. You know that sometimes the guiding theoretical principles will help you - but in other cases the quirks and twists in the situation at hand require you to adapt the theory in order to apply it. Purity of concept may not equal effectiveness in action.
The Success Story - You may not be the first one following this path. You can look around for people who are already achieving the kind of results you want for yourself and your company. Understand, though, that their ingredients are different than yours are, so like the conversations with The Theoretician, you will have to glean what is applicable and toss what is not. You won't be as successful dressing up as them as they are themselves - you will be the most successful wearing your own clothes.
The Peer Partner - The challenge sometimes is in finding this person, because they might not be inside your company. This peer partner relationship is one of reciprocity - they help you and you help them. Because it is a relationship you will have to invest something of yourself in order to obtain optimal benefit. This is not a one-way street where all of the arrows point to you. In addition, this person may have some of the same struggles that you have. It's probably a good idea to look for someone with whom you have rapport, but who has strengths a bit different from yours. Otherwise you'll both be advising with the same set of blind spots. If this person is outside your company and you become trusted sounding boards for one another you can derive great value at a low risk.
The Mirror/Sounding Board - This is a coach in its fundamental form. You talk, they listen. They ask you questions, you answer, and through your answers you develop your own advice. You hire this person, so there is no requirement of reciprocity - it IS all about you - so it is efficient. In addition, a good coach will engage a process that will help you uncover the questions you haven't thought of asking. You might be looking for advice on issue A, but really issue A is only a symptom of root cause X. The coach can help you get past curing symptoms so you won't have to handle them over and over again.

When considering the topic of advice, you might choose to plunge forward without seeking any. You might be asking (or hearing from) the wrong person. Your performance is the sum of you AND the other resources you can bring to the table. Your trusted advisors, when chosen carefully and in alignment with your goals, can help you make dramatic improvements in your results.
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Summit provides coaching process and structure that enables motivated individuals and work groups to become more skilled, more goal-directed, and guided by habits of thought that support their chosen strategic direction.

A holiday pause that refreshes...

2011-12-15T05:43:00.000-05:00

Yes, you're probably bustling around, shopping, concert-going, baking, socializing and doing assorted holiday activities. Just stop for a minute, take a deep breath, and watch.

Ending and beginning

2011-12-13T05:17:00.102-05:00

The End, Begin and Endless,
a photo by Iam sterdam on Flickr.

Retirements, graduations, births, deaths, Fridays, Mondays - all are endings, and all are also beginnings. Your perspective on what comes after is what gives them either their finality or their promise.

Take Beth, for instance. In two weeks Beth is ending her full-time employment for a fewer work hours and a more flexible schedule. A nurse by training, she has had her 90-something mother living with her for years, and she has a special needs adult daughter. She has hosted a series of exchange students. All the while Beth has been holding an Executive Director position at a local senior center.

People and their needs aren't Beth's only passion. Golden retrievers are also close to her heart, and she provides foster care for rescued goldens until they can be adopted by forever families. At any one time she might have three or so of the big, beautiful (bigtime shedder) dogs in her home, and she walks and plays with them when she's not at work. Beth also enjoys horseback riding, but she hasn't had the time to ride very often with everything else she has going on at work and at home.

When asked how she feels about retirement, about taking a back seat and moving to a part time support role in her nonprofit, Beth doesn't see it as an ending. She sees it as a beginning - to a new chapter in her life, a time when she will have the time to savor the things that she enjoys and to take the opportunity to rediscover some of the activities that have fallen to the wayside with her busy schedule. Sure, she will lose some of her contact with colleagues and work friends with whom she has developed relationships. But that's not her focus. Her eyes are pointed forward.

Letting go, saying goodbye and moving on are a lot easier when you have a clear vision of your desired future. Of course it's impossible to predict what will come, but the beginnings that accompany the endings bring with them the opportunity for creation, for invention. It's your choice to take whatever action wil help to manifest that which you want more of in your life.

How often have you considered what might be possible in your life? What skills, pastimes, people, or opportunities have you placed on the back burner or even stopped considering because you have assumed that they are not in the cards for you? Are your assumptions valid? Do you really have no time, not enough money, not enough skill, or not enough support from your loved ones? How do you know?

You can create for yourself something to look forward to. Sit back and dream a little bit. Write your ideas down so they don't get lost in the shuffle of every day, and then set some time aside from time to time to review them. There might be some beginnings out there for which it would be worth ending something to pursue. You might have the opportunity to take the chance to live your ideal life - but you may need to be the one to take the first step.

As for your assumptions about your limitations or restraining factors, are your dreams important enough for you to figure out how to go around, over, or through the obstacles that are currently in your way? Will you look back later disappointed that you squandered too much time on a track that was not taking you where you want to go? Perhaps it's time to think about a new beginning.

Witnessing a Christmas surprise

2011-12-12T05:27:00.069-05:00

Christmas Surprises,
a photo by ~RichArtpix~ on Flickr.

Whether you're a kid or not, whether you celebrate Christmas or not, you know what it's like to wish very hard for something. That something is in the front or in the back of your mind all day long, popping periodically into the foreground, and you can't let it go. You notice it everywhere, and you talk about it constantly.

Well, such a wish came true last evening for 11-year-old Jay, and his friends were there to see it. Jay's wish wasn't a big deal and it didn't cost a lot of money. He wished for his parents to put some Christmas lights up on the outside of their house. "Our house never looks like Christmas!" he complained. "Do you put up a tree?" he was asked. "Yes," he replied, not all that thrilled. "Do you decorate the inside of your house?" Again, "Yes." But Jay added, "Nobody can see it, though. I want people to drive past our house and see our decorations. I want it to look like Christmas." Okay, there's the nut of the matter. Christmas that people can see is what's important to him.

While this conversation was going on, Jay and his friends were driving around looking at attractive Christmas displays in various neighborhoods, and it seemed as though the sight of the other families' lights was only increasing his resolve that his house wasn't up to snuff. "Are there spare decorations in your house?" his friends asked him. "Could you ask your parents whether you would be allowed to use them to decorate your house?" It was evident that the wheels were turning inside Jay's head - his big brown eyes wrote the inner workings of his brain in bold red letters. "Maybe," Jay responded.

It was getting late and the Christmas light joyride was coming to a close. Jay never let up on his expectation of visible Christmas spirit. Then his friends drove down his street, passed the screen of evergreens and turned into his driveway. "Hey!" Jay exclaimed.

While Jay was gone from his house his Dad had strung lights all along the garage and porch of his house. A big "Season's Greetings" now was projected on the front wall of Jay's home. Jay's dad peeked out the front door, phone in hand, ready to capture Jay's Christmas surprise. As Jay leaped out of the car door his dad emerged from the house, grinning. "Wow! Dad! You put up all of these lights! I didn't know you were going to do that! It looks awesome!" Jay continued to chatter, leaping into the air before tackling his dad with a bear hug. And his friends drove away, glad that they had the opportunity to see Jay so overcome with excitement and happiness.

You can see Christmas surprises every evening on TV between Thanksgiving and December 25th. Sometimes the stories are more dramatic than this one, with kids returning from the brink of death to see Santa and then miraculously become healed of an uncurable disease. You read in the newspapers about impoverished children who might not receive a single present that would serve as a sign that someone loves them. But last evening Jay showed his friends the joy of an everyday Christmas surprise that is accessible to everyday people. His wish was no big deal, and had nothing to do with spending a bunch of money. All he wanted was a few Christmas lights. And his dad came through for him. And as a result, Jay's dad will likely have a Christmas that's at least as merry as Jay's will be.

Are you hoping for instant pudding - instant results?

2011-12-09T06:10:00.005-05:00

Vanilla pudding, a photo by bunbunlife
on Flickr

"Buy now, pay later!" "Lose 50 pounds in 30 days!" "Make a million dollars from your home computer!" "Tighten muscles while you sleep!" If these messages weren't working you wouldn't be seeing and hearing them every day. Everybody seems to want instant pudding - quick results with as little effort as possible.
This is a statement of the obvious, but if you're like other people you probably still allow the hope of instant pudding to bite you in the derriere from time to time. But when you stop to think about it you know that you're kidding yourself. There is a natural and predictable delay between action and result. You don't plant seeds today and see mature fruit tomorrow. It takes sun, and rain, and perhaps a little fertilizer - and then days or weeks for the seed to germinate and grow into its ultimate form. The plant may also need you to do a little bit of weeding along the way to make sure that there's room for the plant that you are trying to cultivate.

In the cases of business or personal growth and change, there's no instant pudding. You're more like the plant. You don't casually decide to become a more patient person today or a more customer focused business in your strategic plan and instantly transform into that thing forever after. It takes patience and attention and sometimes a little bit of weeding. (Maybe even a lot of weeding!) Your growth requires nutrition, a feeding of the information and the contacts and the places of greatest opportunity. Growth requires a willingness not to quit when there's something important that you're shooting for.

Asparagus green bamboo, by webtreats on Flickr

To illustrate the point, here's a story for you:

“God”, I said. “Can you give me one good reason not to quit?” His answer surprised me…“Look around”, He said. “Do you see the fern and the bamboo?”“Yes”, I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.” He said.“In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit,” He said.
“Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant…But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.” He said to me.“Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?”“I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you.”

Instant pudding, albeit quick, doesn't taste as good as the real stuff that's been made from scratch - boiled, steamed or baked with fresh ingredients. Accomplishment takes time, and in some ways is more rewarding specifically because it hasn't come easily. The most significant accomplishment becomes so in part because it is rare, because few people have chosen to do the things necessary and to invest the time necessary to achieve it.
If you can persist in tending the seed until it's ready for you and you're ready for it - even when you can see nothing happening right now - you might grow the most majestic plant. You might find that you have been growing bamboo.

Just going through the motions?

2011-12-07T05:30:00.004-05:00

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A significant number of clients come to coaching because of one of two issues: managing stress and balance more effectively, or boosting personal effectiveness and productivity. One of the key components in improving each of these situations is structure - creating reliable, intentional and repeated actions toward a desired end.

Helpful structure vs. too little
Structure gives order and predictability to the day. When you get up, get showered and dressed, eat breakfast and head out to work in the same routine every day you're often halfway to work before you actually have to think in a conscious fashion. You don't determine, "Well, I think I'll go to work today" because going to work is a foregone conclusion. You're on autopilot, which frees up your mind for other activities. Your stress level is relatively low because you're not having to make any decisions other than perhaps what to wear.

When you have too little structure, to little routine in your day, every activity is a new decision, so every move you make has to be based on a consistent intention if you don't want to waste energy or compromise your outcome. If your overall intention is not clear, or if you aren't certain that you're truly committed to whatever your goal is, you're less likely to be faithful about taking action.

Difficult changes often respond better to a higher level of structure, like short term goals and action steps. They also benefit from shorter-term progress evaluation. Monthly assessment might not be enough - you might need a weekly, or even a daily check-in to make sure that you are on track.

Some leaders resist delegating work because they are concerned about letting go, worried that the person to whom the job has been assigned won't have the foundation (structure) upon which to make sound decisions. Rules, guidelines, codes of conduct, decision making principles - these are all tools that can be used effectively to create the needed structure. Using these overweening criteria can help a developing leader handle delegation more effectively.

If you want to make sure that you're doing certain activities regularly and that the Quadrant Two (not urgent but important) items are being addressed before they become crises, create structure by entering official time slots for them in your planner. You make the decision and the commitment ahead of time so your most important tasks are less likely to fall victim to the latest crisis or popular activity. Just like a budget is to make sure you allow room in your finances for important investments and expenditures, your planner helps to make sure you have reserved room in your life for the things that are important to you.

Sound like a no-brainer? Perhaps. But far more people know to do this than actually do it.

Robot syndrome - too much structure
While structure can help reduce stress and establish beneficial habits by setting up automatic action, too much of a good thing can result in your brain being chronically disengaged from the task at hand. You're just going through the motions.

Remember the old Dunkin Donuts commercial where it's four a.m. and the donut man sits up suddenly in bed, wide-eyed but unseeing, and trudges off to get dressed for work, muttering, "Time to make the donuts..." After a while under too much structure you might find yourself partway down a routine cowpath and not remember why you're doing it this way. The routine might no longer be the most desirable or the most effective method, but because it's in your structure you're doing it without evaluating it.

Too much structure can also lead to inflexibility and thereby negatively impact your interpersonal relationships. If you find yourself saying (even just inside your head) "yeah, yeah, yeah - hurry up so I can get on with my day," when a colleague or family member is talking to you you're probably placing too much focus on yourself and/or your own tasks. You might have your daily run scheduled for 4:00 p.m., but your eight-year-old might not have scheduled her nosebleed around it. If you find yourself resenting coworkers or loved ones for imposing on your day, you're treating them as objects or obstacles and dehumanizing them.
You also might benefit from letting go of your structure temporarily when current conditions are outside the status quo. For example, if you're feeling ill, you might feel better faster if you choose to go ahead and sleep in for a few extra minutes. If your child is upset, stop what you're doing and just listen or give them a hug. If it's a holiday, take some time off and get a change of scenery - do something fun.

Structure or lack thereof is a preference that can be an extension of your behavioral style and your values. But regardless of your default preference, if you are a leader you're charged with accomplishing results. You will be most effective when whatever you're doing, you are doing it on purpose. Be aware and make conscious decisions. Sometimes that means invoking more structure and sometimes that means tossing your routines aside. You'll know you've made progress when you get closer and closer to achieving your goals.