Training in Paradise!

“Training in Paradise! It was the best experience
of my career! What you guys have created there is
a Masterpiece!”

– P.D.K.
Participant
(2010)

OK, You’re in a Manhattan conference room with God – and seven of your colleagues.

Your firm has arranged a two day Executive Session with the Creator. And it’s incredible. You’ve been really focused on the message “Personal Creativity and the Power of Free Will” – except the lunch catering interrupted the flow, and the air conditioning isn’t working. The Deity doesn’t appear to notice.

The standard hotel chair starts to bite your hip and you can’t find a comfortable position. But the session’s going well – you like it so much that you don’t complain when you trip over an unshielded network cord. The Lav. Break was 30 minutes and a half mile walk…but there goes a half hour with God.

Uh Oh, Trouble! Your wife is planning a party, and you have to catch the 5:10 train to get home. Much as you hate to break your concentration, you’ve been glancing at your watch this last hour and you’ve lost focus. Then the Blackberry kicks in.

Hey, even God has a hard time teaching in Manhattan.

We’re not claiming to be eternal; we had a hard time too. So we came to Florida and built the best training facility we could imagine.

Ancient truth: It’s impossible to pull the team off the ceiling, if the team won’t “leave their ceiling.” We suggest leaving the ceiling, the city, the family and everything else behind for a few days in paradise to focus on what really matters – The best training of your career.

Weston, Florida. Fusion.

“The best content, the best location, the best facilities. God, it was great!” – M.N.M., Participant

Not everyone sees God in our sessions,
but we’re open to it.

For a Masterpiece of Corporate Development,
call Nina Stetson, Divine Conference Services Diva
800-866-2228

Respect the Watch? Or the Man?

“The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances.”

 – Atisha
    Teacher
    (980-1054)

Has respect for “the trappings” of leadership replaced respect for the skills, experience, dedication and charisma of the leader?

Leadership consists in the ability to divine the future, and to set a course for a company, a family, or tribe that successfully navigates the shoals of outrageous fortune and brings us safely through. Leaders are lauded, well paid and respected. They form a small – and exclusive – club.

In the military, recognizing membership of this club is simple: Identify the person exhibiting “Command Presence,” then inspect shoulders and lapels for “Badges of Rank.” In commerce and culture however, the badges are both more numerous and murky – better shoes, suits, smooth pens, private clubs, cars, different colored credit cards, titles (less clear than ever…) and – the expensive watch.

We’re a little concerned that of late, too much respect has been placed on the symbols of leadership; and too little accorded Leadership itself. Don't mistake the symbol for the thing it represents. But how can one discern the difference?

We suggest four criteria:

Strategic Thinking: The leader is looking beyond juicing profits for the upcoming quarter, thinking instead about taking the team to a career or lifetime summit. Great leaders “ignite the imagination of the tribe.”

Communication: “Attention Span” is today an oxymoron. The leader has to seize attention and move people to action – now! No existential analysis please – time’s a wasting! Leaders Get on with it.

Holistic “Servant” Management: “Gorilla Management” presumes that people are to do what they are told and shut up! But a “Long Term Leader” calls to the spirit, the head and the heart. If you feel interested, engaged and excited; you’re in the presence of such a leader. It’s not the suit or the symbol.

“Counselor” Selling: Leadership is all about selling! Seniors, Juniors, the marketplace and clients all must “buy in” -- but not because they’re pushed. Real leaders help us decide and choose a course. They act as our “compass” – helping us find our way. Such leaders know that it’s not about a purchase; but a choice of direction. A beautiful conflict: Patient yet Succinct.

Finding your leader: Search your world for those with these key attributes. Don’t ignore the badges; real leaders certainly have them – look beyond them for the genuine. Then Follow!

In your own life, polish your skills and commitment – see through the appearances; put the substance and experience first! The Rolex can come later.

Listen Your Way To A Sale

"Companies don't do business; people do."
– C. Andrew Lehman
   American Sales Professional
   (1962 -

Ever feel like a sales person was only thinking of their commission and not about how they could serve you? He probably talked non-stop about this month’s hot product and you were so worn down that you said “Yes!” just to get outta there! OK, so who won? The company won because it made a sale. The sales guy won because he earned a commission. But it was a hollow victory. You decided, “I’ll never do business with them again!”

We think everyone should “win” in the sales process – for the long-term. But, what’s a win? By our lights, a win is defined as the greatest good for all concerned which, in this case, turns on the ongoing relationship between the company, the sales guy and the client. The simple truth: Selling is about Relationships, finding a need and serving it.  Again, again and again.

As a sales professional, your job is to bring this about. To do that, you need to sit back and listen until you have a full picture of the client’s needs. Then decide if your product or service is truly right for them. If it is, propose it. If it isn’t, say so. Not only will the client appreciate your honesty (“Wow, I’m not being pushed to buy something!”), they will trust your intention to sell them what they need vs. convincing them to buy something that doesn’t serve them. Congratulations! You’re now their ally – a trusted advisor. The relationship is established – and the client knows you understand them and will propose what is right. Now the door is open for future opportunities.

It’s always about the relationship, and everybody needs to win.

On your next sales call:

• Be an "active listener" to uncover your
  client’s concerns.
• Decide if your product/service is right for this client and position it accordingly.
• Serve them as a trusted advisor.
• Lather, rinse, repeat.

This is an approach your company, your client and you can take to the bank.

Corporate Cornerstsones

A reader asks..."Why is this blog called Cornerstones?"

“In 1905 construction began on the new Northern Trust Bank building built of granite, marble and other materials that would last. Strong concrete pillars reached down to bedrock -- 105 feet below street level to carry the heavy structure above. Years later, City Engineers, saying they considered the building “sag proof” cut into Northern’s Cornerstone, a “Bench Mark” known as the “Number One City Datum.” From this mark, the heights of all future structures in Chicago would be measured.”  
– Excerted from A History of The Northern Trust Bank
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Everything starts somewhere.

Children draw lines in the dirt and create sides, teams, forts and castles.

Adults survey and plat, lay granite cornerstones; and erect buildings, and cities.

Cornerstones are important. They define and separate what’s “out there” from what’s “in here.” They “mark a moment” in history and provide a sharp edge to measure against. Sometimes, as with Northern Trust, they provide a solid standard against which other structures are gauged. We can “return to source” and touch their cool crystalline surfaces when we need a reminder of who we are, where we began; how far we’ve come.

Corporations don’t have cornerstones; they have Founders, who characterize “the soul of the company.” Lofty Vision. Sharp Edges. Distinctive Styles. Uncompromising standards; against which you often fall short. Their “lines in the dirt” tell you which side you’re on, whether you’re winning or losing and how well you’re playing. Taking your cues from them, you know you’re doing something worthwhile. Who needs a “stone” when you have “Steve Jobs?” (Apple’s unique products emerge from a unique corporate culture…and earn a consistent premium. Causal Link?)

Unfortunately, the “Soul” of the company often dies with the founder – unless the successor managers can keep it hot and alive by reminding people of the standards, the style, the spoken history and the practical distinctions that make “the way we do it here” special, unique and meaningful. They succeed because they keep the culture alive. We call this “Cultural Cornerstones.”

Of course, the myths and lore of company history are unique, but the practical foundation standards usually equate to Communication, Sales, Management and Strategy. In this core group of skills and practices, a “Corporate Anthropologist” can find the styles, standards, practices and unique features that define this “culture” as one of a kind. Management can keep that distinction – or not.

In the absence of a sharp management team that builds, maintains and evolves culture by design, firms tend to de-volve down into the generic and futile exercise of managing profit-yield by quarter…(the default worldwide standard of late)…the classic signature of dinosaurs approaching extinction.

Maybe you’re not a “Founder.” But as a successor, you too can draw a line in the dirt, lay a stone, raise a standard to evolve and protect your firm’s most valuable asset – its culture! This is your most important work.

Look around! You’re living and working among the “cultural icons” put in place by previous generations. If the founder is still around, speak with her – touch the stone! If not, find the relic and polish it. And put the others in touch with what it represents – who you are – and what you stand for.

We’ll be here to remind you – week by week.

That’s why we call it “Cornerstones.”

Don't look at the scoreboard

“Play your game and your plan.  Don’t look at the scoreboard.”

Coach John Wooden
Head Coach, UCLA Men’s Basketball
(October 14, 1910 -)

“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he marches to the beat of a different drummer.  Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away"

– Henry David Thoreau
American Naturalist, Philosopher and Author
(1817 - 1862)
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
There’s a Tao (a Way) of selling.  It has a lot to do with deciding what’s right, what’s required and then convincing people to do it.

Nobody “markets” their way to success.  Nobody “consults” their way to success.  Nobody “legislates” their way to success.  When the going gets tough, you’ve got to get on the road and SELL!

It’s harder when there’s turbulence and confusion. The news doesn’t help you. Washington doesn’t help. The economy doesn’t help.  And the mass of people sitting and “wondering” doesn’t help.  So don’t take surveys.  Don’t wait for the world to get it.  Don’t wait for the government to figure it out.  Don’t wait for orders. Don’t look at the scoreboard or the odometer or the sales reports.  Figure out what’s right, get out there and wake people up.  Get them off the sidelines doing what’s right!

This isn’t revolutionary or even “hard” to figure out,
it’s “classic.”

Buy low, sell high!  When everyone else is sitting, STAND!  When everyone else is doing nothing, ACT! Leaders ACT first.  And you can’t do it while looking over your shoulder at the score.

So what’s the problem?  Why aren’t you out there already?  Well, we each have a “Normative Reflex” or an “Envelope,” which makes us intimately aware of what others are doing, thinking and feeling. Helps us fly in formation, stick with the herd, keep our heads down when the teacher looks.  Mostly, it keeps us safe and “in line.”  After all, there’s a risk in standing out.

Hmm…Nobody ever won anything without taking a risk.

Listen carefully.  It’s far away and unique.  It’s
your music.

Sell something!

Limits on Creativity

“If I had more time, I'd have written you a shorter letter"
– Winston Churchill
    British Prime Minister, Author
   (1874 - 1965)

“Talk doesn't cook rice."

– Proverb

Here's a thought:  Without limits; creativity is merely uncontrolled daydreaming - imagine a car without brakes…

Life - we're in it together, which imposes all kinds of structure: jobs, families, and the demand for outcomes.  All these responsibilities can depress the creative spirit we need for innovation.  These other people need schedules, and who’s to pay for dinner, and then there’s always the mortgage.  It’s easy to lose vision when to manage calendars, payments, agendas, and deadlines - you need Bi-focals.

Here’s the thing. A writer, a speaker, a painter, all must engage with the world. So sooner or later, an "idea" comes off the "Cool Concept" list and becomes a "Hot Work in Progress."  Then it gets evaluated (against a standard of expectation), refined, polished... and published.

The Standard: It's got to be useful, engaging, concise, practical, and if you’re really good, everything connects.  Substance often gets lost without those pesky style points.  We know limits are, well, limiting, but without them it's just Me Thinking Out Loud.  And YOU won't put up with that for long.

These "Limits on Creativity" also go by other names: Creative Standards, Publication Guidelines, Editorial Understandings, Brand Descriptors, Corporate Character, Culture.  There are also names for people who recognize and adhere to the guidelines: Employed, Published, Known, Respected.

Without the constraints of commerce, creativity might never flower.  If it were easy, why were you hired to solve it?

A message to those of you resenting the demands and limits on your creativity: "Grow Up!  Show some discipline!”

Practical Advice:

The discipline inherent in "Ready, Set, Go!®" puts you directly in touch with what's required to run a meeting with a recommended outcome, create a presentation with a next step, write a document with an execution schedule or conduct a sales call with a negotiated business partnership agreement.

And there are creative standards built into the process:

1. An outcome...The Next Step.  
2. A way of getting a handle on what it's about...The Opening/Subject.  
3. An Audience Analysis so you speak with people, not at them.  
4. A defined, explicit structure, which allows the audience to make sense of and recall the material…The Body (Agenda, Details, Summary).

Deadlines, Outlines and Results:  It’s a good thing we have all these limits on our creativity!

So don't just think - Do! There's rice to cook.

“The Beginning of Wisdom is the Definition of Terms.”

– Aristotle
   Greek Philosopher

   (384 – 322 BC)

Love.  One little word. One big question. Whether it’s loving your work, your spouse, that ‘67 Mustang convertible, or even the environment – everyone defines it differently. There! The inherent challenge of communication: Everyone knows the language, but all the definitions differ.

Our insight has deepened over the years, and we’ve come to suspect that everyone on the planet is actually living in their own private (but more or less parallel) universe – sending messages out to others through the medium of words and language. All of us harboring the illusion that we actually understand what the other person means or intends.

When things break down, you’ll notice there’s almost always an unspoken, perhaps unobserved disparity between the two parties’ terms.

Take the dinner table, when the aggressive sibling brings up “Health Care.” Words are tossed around like grenades; “liberty,” “liberal,” or maybe “justice.” Yet our arguments don’t seem to detonate.”

Defining our terms – “communication, marriage, results, marketing, liberal,” is key. What if all the parties to our national (or familial) discussions, (as a pre-condition for entering the arena), committed
to explicit agreements about definitions – to be shared with all concerned? We submit there’d be more interest and less heat in the debate.

We believe people build their own universes with the bricks and mortar of words and language. We’ve embarked on a documentary project to demonstrate it. What better place to begin than with a movie about the Meaning of Love?

Some advice: Maybe pause in the middle of the next disagreement and ask yourself, “How do I define that?” Then ask your opponent (adversary/lover) respectfully, gently how they see it. Prepare to be surprised at their uniqueness, amazed at their humanity, or even horrified at their obtuse reasoning. Then forgive them and figure out how to share the universe and your definitions.

Words: If we’re unclear about meanings they only serve to separate us. The wisdom in clear definitions can bring us together.

 View the "What is Love" movie trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65mjESxjLa8

It’s the first of what we hope will be many.