I'm a natural enthusiast. My enthusiasm comes from the fact that what I like to do, and need to do, everyday, is precisely what my job is. Thanks
ADVISA!
Is the same true for you and your employees? My experience has lead me through sales, marketing, management, coaching, communications, business development, internet marketing, search engine marketing, and social media to name a few of the roads I've traveled. The majority of my work experience is with young companies, where the environment is ever evolving with an elevated pace and sense of urgency.
Leveraging that experience with an understanding of how an aligned, motivated, and energized workforce can substantially increase productivity, profit, and fun for organizations is what I'm all about.
My contributions on this blog will be targeted toward areas I know, areas where I have failed, and areas I've experienced and shared success with my company and my clients.
If you have a preferred channel of communication, I'd like to meet you there.
Heres where you can connect with me:
Corporate retreats have become a bit cliche, or may have been cliche for some time now. The reason is that they lack the followthrough that is necessary to make executive team building stick. Knowing how an executive teammate is hardwired is not something that can be managed in one sitting. It's the followthrough on the education that makes all the difference.
Here are three points to consider before engaging in executive team building:
What do we want to see result from this experience 3, 6, and even 12 months down the road?
If you intend to invest the time of highly valuable key employees, it makes sense to marry an executive team building initiative to some concrete results. This will intensify the focus of your executives as well as motivate participation in future initiatives. When you deliver concrete value to A players, they come back for more.
What are the key relationship issues that prevent my executive team from excelling?
Executive team building spawns from relationship issues that hinder performance. Knowing which relationships are problems may not take much thinking. However, getting to the root of the problem may not be so clear cut. At the top level of a company there are many factors at work that lead to disruptive behavior. Learning what needs drive each individual is an ideal starting point to effectively mend and strengthen relationships.
How will I effectively track accountability to what we accomplish throughout our executive team building process?
Executive team building is a process, not an event. The accountability needs to be connected directly to results that are material to each executive. People change when they are motivated to do so. Therefore, when an executive team building process is started, it must include avenues to meet their needs. When they see progress, it should be progress that is material to them. For example, if I am able to communicate more effectively with my peer my projects will be completed more quickly and with less mistakes. That is a material benefit to me to participate in an executive team building process.
I will continue to expand on ways to develop your executive team through future blog posts. Consider reaching out directly if you have high priority challenges you would like to discuss.
"I need this position"
"I need this raise"
"I need that promotion"
"I want to be with that company"
"I wish I had her job"
"I can't lose this deal"
"I can't make a mistake"
How long do we make this list everyday? This list may be hypothetical to you, but I'm sure there is a line or two that is relevant to your own personal situation. When we attach ourselves to things in the future we can feel motivated. The next win or move being the object of my affection. The downside of this attachment to the future can be anxiety. Anxiety is never good. It is stressful, draining, and can lead to serious health problems.
In our leadership development courses we work through this concept with the executives in our class. Leveraging Predictive Index®, we are able to have a concrete discussion about how these seeds of stress, anxiety, worry, and overall lack of self-confidence can negatively impact organizational alignment. We work through the things that individuals force themselves to believe is worthwhile and important about their work or even their existence. We can attach ourselves to outcomes, positions, and jobs to a degree that strains us unnecessarily.
By learning the needs and drives of every individual in your organization, you can effectively create and maintain organizational alignment. When people know that they can be themselves in their role, they can truly be productive.
Fresh starts are a gift in life. When we have an opportunity to begin anew we feel younger, we're more curious, and we feel free. In the workplace it is often times difficult to keep things new, especially when the number of day-to-day tasks seems to grow at an unreasonable pace. What also begins to stack up is heavy relationships. The ones that can be tough to manage and make waking up to head into work increasingly more difficult.
Employee development programs often miss the fact that years of service, and doing things one way, can cause ruts. Regardless of the program, if you do not take into account the individual employee's situations the effort can bear little fruit. Employee development programs should provide this "fresh start" that I am referencing. It should refresh their work environment and improve staff motivation. I'll challenge you to think about the times in your life when you were afforded a fresh start? Remember how light, motivated, and productive you were? Think about it.
Can you say that with a straight face?
I try not to preach product in my posts, but when it comes to sales analytics and providing sales managers with relevant data on her/his people, our Predictive Index® and Selling Skills Assessment Tool™ (SSAT) are second to none. The psychology of selling is a big business, and you do not need to rely on opinion or subjectivity.
CallTower, a San Francisco based telecommunications company, realized a 20% sales revenue increase while decreasing their budget by 40% by leveraging Predictive Index, SSAT, and the Customer Focused Selling™ program that ties it all together.
Programs that are canned, and not based on objective data from your current team, are a roll of the dice. Consider a demo on the most progressive sales analytics tools in Predictive Index and SSAT. Improving sales performance does not have to by a mystery where you are anxious about the training or direction you are going with your sales team. Also, let me know if you would like a copy of the CallTower case study. It's impressive.
The importance of motivation cannot be understated in businesses of all sizes today. People only change if they are motivated to do so. Therefore, no change is possible without motivation. Organizational alignment depends upon it for consistent, healthy, and scalable growth.
Here's a simple thought experiment to illustrate a major point that many business owner, CEO's, and other executives often miss:Picture a large domino (like one in the image above). That large domino is a key executive and piece of the puzzle that makes your organization successful and stable. When that executive becomes unhappy, he begins to lean, rock, and jitter. his focus is no longer singular. Time invested and focus begin to become fragmented. Thus, this executive (domino) loses his balance... and falls. Now is the critical moment. Can you replace one executive? Yes. Even an important one? Yes. However, when that domino fell how do you tally up the collateral damage? Other dominos start to fall, and that can be other executives losing confidence in the organization, the leadership, or the product/service. It can also be seen in others performance dipping, and even others choosing to leave for another company. It's safe to assume one domino doesn't just fall in isolation. It will knock others down as well.
Take this to work:- Who are your critical dominos if you will?
- What would happen if they fell (left your company)?
- Who would be impacted by this?
- How well does your strategic plan account for these instances?
- How will you communicate the message to all stakeholders inside and outside of the organization?
- How will this impact the people and the families that rely on your company?
If you want to see how the people in your company would respond to a domino falling, click here for a free demonstration by a trained consultant at ADVISA. Once you fill in your info, we'll reach out promptly to set up the demonstration.
The thrill of closing your first deal, then your second, and then your third! You're on a roll now, and if what you're doing now is working, why change it?
This is the beginning of the mantra that has many talented sales executives in an holding pattern. The optimism that comes from a proven method of success is tough to deny. We all experience it in some way, shape, or form. However, we all know that in the world of business nothing is static. Change is constant, and even trusted systems and process operate like a well run ship on the open seas. The problem, you cannot control the weather or the sea conditions.
Effective sales training is the beginning of the learning process for sales professionals of all ages to have multiple paths to get to the same destination. That destination is a new account signed. How many directions are your sales people able to navigate? This is a major factor in separating the low and mediocre performers to the top tier sales professionals.
Effective sales training is not a once and done instance. It is a continuous process, and deserves the same level of attention and investment as any system critical to the overall health and success of your business. If you are guessing on how effective and current your sales training system is, it's time for an evaluation.
Customer Focused Selling
™ is our brand, and we rely on objective data to validate the results it delivers for our clients. Please take a moment to first, evaluate your current sales training system and ask yourself and your team the questions above.
Then, take a look at Customer Focused Selling. If you like what you see, call ADVISA for a free business diagnostic to learn specifically how our program would be tailored for your leadership, your team, and the unique challenges of your business.
Irregular Operations...
When things do not go as planned due to often uncontrollable circumstances.
In the July/August edition of Fast Company magazine, Chip & Dan Heath penned a terrific article on the importance of coordination, and I decided to take the baton and run with it when they brought up irregular operations.
How often are your sales/billing in danger of missing key budget targets?
How often do two critical members of your team come down ill, unable to work?
How often do your accounts receivable systems collapse?Most often the only practice our business or our people get when it comes to irregular operations is when they actually happen. This is a big problem. The outcomes of working through these problems in real time can be devastating at worst, and most times embarrassing at best. Why do we wait until the 5% odds of something going terribly wrong actually happen? We're too busy fighting "right now" fires to worry about such events. Simple.
Here is a quick and easy way to test your irregular operations preparedness:1. Plan a day that is usually low volume.
2. Make the 5% probability event happen, even theoretically if you must. This could be done with a small group or with your whole operation if you are able.
3. Record what happens next.
4. Gather your operations team and break down the game film.
5. List the most critical flaws in your process and prioritize them.
6. On an accountability schedule take care of them one at a time
7. When the time is right, repeat.Irregular operations is a great way to test organizational alignment, the integrity of your
strategic planning systems, and how your employee development programs address this critical, and often inevitable, circumstances.
Please feel free to reach out to us at ADVISA should you want read case studies or simply have a conversation around how you may be able to implement this and other critical initiatives at your business.
The word Accountability is thrown around a lot in business settings. It has a harsh, and often negative connotation. Employees are often promoted based on accountability toward some end.
- Did you consistently hit your sales numbers? Y/N
- Did you complete all your reports accurately and on time? Y/N
- Did you receive high scores on customer satisfaction benchmarks? Y/N
- "You will be held accountable if this doesn't go right! Do you understand that?"
Now, here is the problem with accountability.
It can be delivered as a warning rather than an opportunity to succeed. Depending upon the P.I.® of the employee being held accountable the message needs to be altered to achieve the desired result.
Do any of your key employees show these traits when it comes to accountability:- Will opt to do nothing before doing something wrong
- Shun accountability and try to avoid taking the initiative
- Fear for her/his reputation if the desired result isn't achieved
- Need to understand the entire process before accepting, and run from initiatives that have pressure involved
Accountability needs to be positioned within employee development programs as an opportunity to achieve, accomplish, and advance for the individual. What that means to each employee may be drastically different. Do you know what success truly means for your employees, or do you assign accountability without that knowledge?
She was cold, a bit indifferent, to my health situation. It didn't seem like she wanted to be there, or be helping me. I tried to make small talk, but it just seemed to irritate her more. I better just hurry up, take my pills, and let her get on with her day. Wow, something must be bothering her?Could that story be about a service employee in your hospital? Maybe. Here is another situation. Remember the best purchasing experience you ever had? Now, visualize the salesperson who helped you. They likely were warm. They guided you through the process. They seemed to intuitively know what you wanted, and helped you avoid areas that would impede the process. They made the complex simple, and they made you feel good about yourself, confident in your decision making, and eager to return again for a repeat performance. Was that company just lucky to hire someone that good? Likely not. They were wise enough to invest in consultative sales training for their frontline employees.
Notice I didn't say, "frontline salespeople."
If you want to improve sales skills, you need to improve communication skills. The best business interactions we have, and consumer purchases we make, happen with and through strong communicators. That is what effective sales training accomplishes. A roadmap to guide those who want to realize her/his potential, earn more money, and feel more confident and productive in the work they do. This is not a recipe for sales people. It is a recipe for strong, effective, and positive communicators. Do you need more of those on the frontline at your hospital? Odds are you do.
Working a lot with hospitals recently has revealed stringent measurement of employee engagement, retention, and patient satisfaction scorecard metrics. The missing element is what we need to do about it when the numbers aren't moving in the right direction. Consider evaluating Customer Focused Selling
™ through ADVISA. It provides a proven road map, benchmarks, and practical application facilitated by an experienced consultant from our team.
We practice what we preach, so take a moment to read our recent whitepaper and we'll give you a call to share more about the Customer Focused Selling program.
Have you ever worked, or been an executive, in a company run by co-CEO's? How did it work? It was a train wreck. Exactly. Simple organizational leadership training will prove that two individuals cannot effectively hold the position of CEO within the same company simultaneously.
In a recent
Wall Street Journal article a trend among high schools throughout the US is to honor, not one, not two, but several valedictorians from the graduating senior class. This is simply not teaching effective leadership skills or career pathing for high potential students. Fairness is a theory that does not, under normal circumstances, survive the rigors of the real world. The "everybody gets a trophy" mindset is setting a debilitating example to potential young leaders. Losing and second place are realities in sports, business, and life. They are also extremely valuable lessons that teach individuals more about themselves than winning ever will.
Legends are written about those who have fallen, failed, and suffered to ultimately achieve greatness in her/his profession. Yes, there are many deserving candidates for valedictorian and CEO, but not being the one chosen may be the greatest gift you can give a young leader. How to deal with failure is a lesson we often fail to teach the young.
I'm Brian J. McKay, or BJ, for those who know me well. My personal brand, if you will, has been "enthusiasm." I'm wired up, tense, excited, energized, and eager just about everyday (ask my wife). Part of it is my hardwiring. I'm just like that, naturally. Part of it is a desire to be better than I was yesterday in all areas of my life that are most important to me. That desire is part selfish, but the more noble part is that I am pulled forward by the need to be better for the benefit of all those around me.
Are you guilty of living an enthusiastic lifestyle? I hope so. Enthusiasm doesn't have to be manifested in physicality. It is born in our source of self-confidence and inwardly fuels our productivity everyday. It is the invisible energy that propels human beings forward to achieve unbelievable feats in their lives. The importance of motivation and the fundamental element of a worthwhile leadership skills course rests in finding enthusiasm in everyone.
I'm am reading
The 100 Most Influential People in the World in the May issue of Time magazine. There are so many amazing people that have come from humble upbringings that a leadership skills course could be taught from their biographies. In reading I am trying to find the tie that binds all of these influential people together, and the word that shows up more often than anything else is:
Enthusiasm.
I want to tell you a story about a company. Nothing like your company. In this company they demand 100% from their people, and accept perfection as the measuring stick of performance. Only the best survive at this company. The "weak" are fired, and a new group of employees are hired in to be tested by fire in their first few months on the job.
If you only read the news clippings, you would be insane if you didn't want to work for them. They are the best. The environment is fast paced and there are ton's of challenges.
This company has a 70% turnover rate year to year, employee morale is abysmal, and even the top talent is packing their "parachute," for an inevitable jump either self-motivated or forced. Over the next year the CEO decides that enough is enough, and begins to make standards for performance realistic and consistently achievable for the first time. Then, the CEO takes into account how each employee works best and what they actually like to do most. The CEO begins changing job descriptions and adjusting departments to ensure chemistry and fit. This happens over the course of a year.
The turnover rate drops to 35%, employee morale is boosted significantly, and the top talent insist on recruiting their peers throughout their network. Management invests significantly less time and money on employee complaints, recruiting, hiring, new employee training, and spends significantly more time on strategic planning, account growth, and employee development programs and leadership development programs.
Is that story far fetched? Is it even possible that by "giving up" on perfection you actually get light years closer to true success? It sounds simple, but engaged employees are more productive, work harder and smarter, and cost a company far less than disengaged employees. This type of transformation starts by understanding the employees you already have, and working diligently to meet their needs.
A validated and reliable way to get this information is Predictive Index® and it's as easy as this.
As I work through networking circles, attend education forums and business roundtables; a common topic of conversation is the dramatic way the business climate and the world itself is changing. It's always been this way, but now more than ever this conversation is more relevant in the workplace. What do you do when change is threatening the way you do business, the way you make money, and the salaries you pay to your employees?
Innovation.The problem with innovation is that certain types of people are prone to it, and often times we do our best to restrict them from doing so. The petri dish for innovation is an environment with zero or very minimal rules. A place that punishes those who fail, take risks, and try new creative things kills innovation. Innovation also requires someone (preferably someone who currently works for you) that actually thrives in an environment where trying new things is rewarded. People only change when they are motivated to do so. If an environment like the one I described meets the needs and drives of a risk oriented employee, they can be productive. Thus, the importance of motivation.
I've simplified this concept, because this is a blog post and you're busy.
If you do not have a laboratory-like environment AND the people with the IQ, experience, and fundamental needs/drives, you will continue to struggle with innovation. You will likely continue to fear the motion of the changes in the marketplace. A practical organizational development theory would posit that you must meet the needs of every employee material to the success of your company. Failure to do so leads to unintended results including loss of high potential leaders, lack of productivity, lack of focus, morale and motivation problems, and frustrated employees and management (to name a few).
Odds are you can create this type of environment, and you may have the right people to work in it, however you'll never know unless you invest in an instrument that will reliably and validly deliver you the data you need on your high potential employees.
Because where employees get their self-confidence is invisible, and often times not relative to the behavior you witness in the workplace. Diversity recruiting is rooted in this philosophy.
Here is the next step, take the next 5 minutes to request a P.I. diagnostic and schedule an organizational review with a certified consultant at ADVISA.
When you hear the word "strength," and try to harness it within your organization, the imagery is one of grandeur and fortitude. Executives can get caught being myopic, and miss the true strength latent within current employees. Employee development programs are supposed to promote this idea. However, they end up teaching additional skills, which have value, but fall short in measuring the inherent drive to achieve.
In the language of P.I.®, strength can be witnessed in many ways through human analytics data. Knowing an employees tolerance for conflict and poise in situations that are high pressure with something worthwhile at stake, would be valuable for all of us. What if you have developed a proven method of performance in your company, and want a leader who can be deliberate in the execution of that proven plan? Knowing information like this about your people, and worthwhile candidates, can equal success or failure.
Strength is relative to the struggle.
When you know what you need, the person with the right needs and drives is going to experience the highest likelihood of success. If you don't know what it takes to truly be successful, knowing how someone is hardwired to meet their needs will be of little consequence to you. For those who know what success looks like, and the strength necessary to realize it, this type of data is transformative. I still feel like that is an understatement.
As you pursue the noble work of organizational alignment and management succession planning, be deliberate about analyzing all of the data that is available to you. Consider P.I. as one of the most trusted, reliable, and validated instruments in the world today for the task.
In the
Wall Street Journal this morning there is an article by Justin Lahart titled Moment of Truth for Productivity Boom. (Read it). The measure of workforce productivity proved a 6.9% growth rate in Q4 2009 vs. 2.5% Q1 2010 projected growth rate. Based on the story, the takeaway was a question of whether or not the gains were produced by hustle or brains? (IE: If the answer is hustle, is it sustainable?)
Due to many companies cutting to the core, a smaller workforce has been charged with double or triple the responsibility. This is an unsustainable model by any standard. We are human beings - not machines that can be calibrated and serviced to continually output more until we break and need to be replaced. Employee productivity can be an inaccurate measure of success.
This is also a phenomenal P.I.® story. By most definitions, working harder is a stressful, tiring, and strenuous task. It takes energy, and leaves a person empty at the end of the day (or night). Through my work, in understanding where a person get's her/his self-confidence and the invisible needs s/he strives to meet everyday, it is relatively easy to see if someone is being productive in a way that is positive, profitable, and sustainable and thus yields work satisfaction.
As most successful managers know, there is no magic pill for employee productivity.
But, if a person is hardwired to do consistent, steady paced, monotonous work, then coming to the same job day after day, week after week, and year after year, could be the key to their self-confidence and ultimate happiness (work or otherwise). To a person wired like me, that sounds crazy! Because, just writing that made me cringe. Sameness is something I run from, and it does indeed take energy away from me, cause me stress and leaves me far less than productive.
As a leader you NEED to understand where an employee get's his/her self-confidence for your own success as their manager. This is not behavior, it cannot be seen, therefore you will need a proven tool to get to it.
My call to action today is for you to demo Predictive Index® at your company, for your division, or even for an individual employee. We'd be more than happy to provide this opportunity, at no charge, to show you what the eyes can't see so you can impact staff motivation.
In reading/listening to Jim Collins' work in
How the Mighty Fall, a particular line caught my attention. It was to the tune of: Be wary when the ratio of statements to questions from key leadership increase in the way of statements. (not verbatim, but close)
There have been scary times in many of our client's businesses, and maybe a few in yours as well. Where key leaders felt the necessity to make bold statements of confidence, even in the midst of impending tragedy or uncertainty. This is not uncommon. Neither are catastrophic collapses of once prominent and stable businesses.
As a key leader in your company, and someone tasked with organizational alignment, consider increasing the question side of the ratio. Ask engaging questions that strike to the core of a given situation, or business reality. Trust that your questions will increase the motivation and connectedness of your employees to the strategic plan of the company.
Those of our clients who have taken a proven organizational development theory, and applied it to their strategic planning methods, can systematically have the confidence to ask questions in the face of uncertainty, rather than make bold statements founded in ambiguity.
Which are you?
There's not a single project here that hasn't almost died at one point. You need people with a certain scientific resilience, a fighting spirit, to get through the difficult times. Once you glue people together with the feeling that we are aligned in what we do and our work has a deeper purpose, you get a lot of energy unleashed. -- Novartis Chairman Daniel Vasella
That excerpt from an interview with
Fast Company Magazine strikes to the heart of how smart leadership can impact employee productivity and employee engagement through organizational alignment. Consider making this same statement as the CEO of your company. Can you speak it boldly knowing it's true? Or, is there room for improvement?
I'd imagine that latter is true for most executives. Business is moving at light speed, and getting the fires extinguished is usually a 14+ hour day. When do you get to invest time, energy, and resources into organizational alignment? The fact of the matter is that when an organization is aligned, as stated by Mr. Vasella: "Our work has deeper purpose, you get a lot of energy unleashed."
Take time today, or over the weekend, to consider how well aligned your organization is.
Are you realizing a lot of energy being unleashed, or are you fighting an uphill battle working tirelessly to keep your key people motivated?
Corporate sales training initiatives have long taught executives that once you know how to generate revenue in a sales position the skills are transferrable to other sales positions available at other companies. Experience frequently proves otherwise... (chime in all sales managers)
Based on the environment where a sales rep reached his/her highest level of achievement, a very talented rep (based on numbers) can be an abject failure in the same role in a different environment. How?
Consider all these variables that are critical to a sales professional's success:- Management -- relationship with their manager
- Freedom/flexibility -- of schedule and other sales related activities
- Lead generation -- separate from job requirement or part of her/his daily chores?
- Complexity of sale -- How easy is the value proposition of the product/service understood by qualified buyers? And the sales rep?
- Team environment -- outside rep in individual hunter style sales role vs. team seller with a technical assistant vs. detail and relationship heavy sell with significant collaboration with the prospective client
- Lead quality -- inbound leads? volume of leads? purchased leads? cold leads?
- Average Close Value of sales -- What dollar ranges has s/he been successful with?
- Length of sales cycle
- Training -- Where does s/he need the most work to transition seamlessly? Quality of previous training? Relevance of previous training?
- Client sophistication -- Have they had experience with your ideal buyer? Do they have the intelligence/moxie to compete with your top reps?
This is my short list of variables that can lead a superstar rep to the valley of death. Often times the best sales talent can be home grown with a strategic sales training curriculum rooted in the metrics that matter most to sales success at your business. This starts with understanding the hardwiring of your sales reps and then an objective, validated, and reliable assessment of their selling skills.
If you're interested in learning more about how we at ADVISA deliver results in sales for our clients, click here. (we'll email our latest white paper, and then find a time for a conversation)
When I read business biographies I notice a theme that keeps rising with successful entrepreneurs: that of the
Self-Made Man. It's a powerful concept, but a de-motivating one if you peel back the layers. Superstar business owners were not self-made, they were the product of influence just like the rest of us mere mortals.
Believing that an individual can "go it alone" in current business world is a myth. It's one that can demoralize your top performers, and can make you realize the importance of motivation rooted in self confidence. Employee development programs and leadership development courses have been staples of the most powerful companies over the years. It was the fertile ground where the nations next generation of CEO's and power players embedded themselves to learn, grow their network, and earn their stripes.
Now, to stay competitive in nearly all businesses worth owning, you need the same type of development tracks for your employees. There is no bad economy for the most talented among us, and those who have the inherent drive and determination to realize their potential as a professional. These are the people that separate your business from the pack. The problem, for you, is that they are always seeking the greatest opportunity to develop and grow as a person, professional, and earner.
There are no self-made people in the business world. They've been developed and guided, and now you have that same opportunity. Here is your chance to grasp it.
Take action here (we'll send you a free white paper as a primer and then follow up with a conversation)
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