How Biographical is your Business?

I had a chance this weekend to visit the Assyrian exhibit at the Boston Museum of fine arts. The antiquities on display were from the British Museum and it was pretty fascinating to see how advanced these almost forgotten people were. They were really ahead of their time so to speak. They had proven themselves to be a formidable military power that was pretty much unstoppable - what happened?
Well , like Winston Churchill had said - "good history is biographical" and that was true with Assyria as well. As long as the King was strong the nation was strong. Sure, the empire could weather the occasional bad ruler but when there were a few in a row things fell apart - and the competing nations took note of the weakness. In other words a nation is merely a reflection of the Ruler.
What about the leadership during this time of economic strain? Are you able to keep your company ahead of the curve? are you able to maintain focus? Are you able to fight off the more aggressive competitors? Do your people trust you and look to you for the right guidance?
So often, like running an empire, Business is Biographical.

Winning Against the Odds

A.D 60 and the Romans had suffered several humiliating defeats at the hands of a woman. Boudicca was queen of the Icini and she was now pursuing the last remaining obstacle to her returning the rule of Brittania back to her people - Seutonius stood in her way with two legions, a little more than 10,000 men facing as many as 100,000 Icini warriors.
Seutonius was moving quickly because he was trying to find some ground to fight on that favored his army - and he did. When Boudicca and her army arrived they certainly could have moved on and fought somewhere else but by now they were so emotionally involved and in a frenzy that didn't happen. Needless to say and long story short the Romans won.
The question for business leaders is this - are your sales people fighting the competitive situations they face on their own ground? Or are they fighting on the prospects terms or even worse on the competitors turf? Are they disciplined and trained enough to stand their ground in the most trying of situations and come of victorious?
Good questions and you might want to start by rating your sales force -here

Breaking Down the Doors

Most business people would feel that people "breaking down the doors" in order to do business with you would be a good thing. Maybe that expression is not so popular after the events of this past weekend where two workers were killed by a charge of greedy consumers hoping to save $50 at their local Wal Mart - yes I called them greedy!
I personally hate Wal Mart - not because of the big corporate bully bad guy image it has acquired but if I am being totally honest everytime I have had the displeasure of entering one of their stores I simply hate being with the people - the people that work there and the people that shop there. I don't have the type of buy-cycle that forces me to shop at a place where price is everything and the others do - I am sort of a fish out of water the minute I walk in.
That is why I would never be among the throngs of Idiots that head out the day after Thanksgiving at 4:00am in order to secure a minor savings. I certainly would like to think that no decent sales person would be among that group either. Most rational people who understand their value and time would not wake up at an ungodly hour and spend extra time in a crowded store to save maybe $100 - it actually would amount to a net loss!
So now they are talking about law suits - who should be sued? Well obviously they are going to all proceed against Wal Mart. My alternative - collect the names of every person that was there that morning by looking at every transaction in the first 2 - 3 hours and prosecute them all! After all they were the greedy people responsible for this tragedy. It was their feet that trampled the workers.

The Best Manager I Ever Knew

Sometimes the people that are promoted to positions where managing a group is the focus are not always the right fit - especially a group of sales people.Notoriously the most difficult group, segment or department of any organization to manage. Dave Kurlan talks about the tendency to promote your best sales person to the position of management - what a disaster that can be! I have seen it time and time again , superstar sales people often end up being too spontaneous and reactionary - I once saw a female "superstar sales manager" start throwing items across the room at her sales reps in anger - needless to say she didn't last.
I conversely was not the greatest sales person - She consistently finished top 3 in the country and I was a top 25 finisher ( still out of 2000 sales people nationwide not bad) but in retrospect and being quite honest I am probably the best sales manager I have ever known.( not that there are not any better managers - I just haven't met one) I blew the doors off when it came to getting a team of 8 reps to perform at the top of their game and all of a sudden our place in the national standings reversed.
Why - the role of a manager has more in common with a Director of a Play or Performance than many might imagine - get the most out each person, help them to perform better and better, consistently acknowledge their greatness, keep them enthusiastic about being there and loving their job, keep the head in the show and treat them like a fellow "artist". Of course there is still an obligation on their part to know their lines, show up for the rehearsals and listen to your coaching. My counterpart modeled her management style after Joseph Stalin and people responded accordingly - no self respect, no pride, no confidence, no motivation and by the way no numbers, no new business and spending their valuable prospecting time looking for another position.
When William Shakespeare founded the Globe theater in London he knew the value of having the right performers on the stage to bring his characters to life. Often he would tirelessly search for the right tonality or physical build so that nothing hindered his performance. You hear things like that about Directors today - Oliver Stone, Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard - "they just brought the best out in me"

the Great Wide Open

There has been a lot of talk about FDR lately - mainly having to do with the great depression and the similarities with the current economic meltdown. But i want to talk about Teddy Roosevelt, lover of the outdoors, big sky country and founder of most of the National Parks we enjoy today.
Interestingly there was no mandate to create national parks. There was no EPA nor were there groups protesting for the preservation of the national natural treasures - he just did it and he did it because it was the right thing to do and at the time it might have seemed silly, rash or pie in the sky.
I guess the point is that sometimes what is truly brilliant at the time seems silly or foolish. But when you think about Yosemite, Yellowstone or Acadia - who would say Teddy made a bad choice. With global warming and so many other serious environmental issues facing us - in retrospect Teddy really did take us into the great wide open! Will you take your business into big sky country?

Give them Something to Believe In.

So it is the day after the election and pretty much everyone is happy that we are finally at the end - regardless of your political views everyone was just about over saturated with this race and the "closure" that the decision brings is somewhat of a relief.
I was listening to a report about the canvassing and tireless support that some of these advocates had given to their candidates - door to door work, holding signs, making calls, handing out information and pretty much selling their candidate. Interestingly many of these people were not sales people and I am sure they suffered from some of the hidden weaknesses we uncover in people and no doubt some of them suffer from these quite severely, and yet they were involved in sales activities, they sucked it up and overcame these fears. What a lesson for business leaders. Could you "Obama-Fy" your people by giving them something to believe, a big picture view of your company and a clear vision of the "how you help" factor.
Of course the best option is to have all the right people in the right seats, however it is also true that sometimes we don't and even the wrong people will serve your business better if you give them something to believe in.

When a Keynote hits the wrong note.

I attended the central Mass business expo this week and subjected to their keynote speaker. I use the word subjected because I am trying to be polite - boring in delivery and more noteworthy - boring in content. This was an opportunity to provide these business people with something helpful, timely and applicable - it was also supposed to be information that would help their business to do well in a rough economy and unfortunately, it accomplished none of these.
Here are some of the gems I did happen to glean from the presentation.

• turn down the heat and buy your people long sleeved sweatshirts to reduce costs through the winter.
• LOCK the supply cabinet.
• take a close look at your expenditures and go to your vendors and get them to lower your price.

So if you like those and think they would make a difference in your business surviving the recession then here are a few more you might benefit from.

• CLOSE your doors - save a bundle.
• QUIT - go work for someone else.
• MOVE - change your name and find a new identity, start over.
• Start collecting cans and bottles on the side of the road.
• Get rid of your car, walk to work.
• See if you can save money by "acquiring" your lunch in the dumpster behind McDonald's.

Sounds Ridiculous doesn't it? I thought it would.

Bigger = Slower?

So here I am watching Tom Peters speak to a group of business people that are attending his presentation because they all desire to see their business grow. One problem according to Tom - that may not be the right thing to focus on and often big companies often equate to bad companies.
Think about yourself - maybe you have put on a few pounds, maybe you are a "little" out of shape and surely as you have grown older you have discovered more aches and pains? Your bigger - so to speak, but you are hardly faster or more energetic. Same proves true in business - with growth often a business finds themselves losing some of their nimble moves and stamina, not to mention flexibility.
So the point would seem to be - focus on the right things, the fundamentals and not the flashy things. In history all empires seem to have grown to a point where they suddenly cannot get out of their own way, they experience a social and financial collapse and then they implode - sounds a little scary doesn't it?

Write it Down!

I was watching a show about Herodotus this weekend. Much of what we know about the ancient Greek world is seen through his lens. He was diligent about recording events and offering his interpretation of them - he wrote everything down. Not everything was spot on, not all of it was accurate, many criticized his viewpoint but still - he wrote it down.
Too often in business and especially sales there is not enough written down. Well of course there is no shortage of excel reports and forms but that is not really what I am talking about. If you are a CEO do you get sudden inspiration and ideas and then jot those down immediately, if you are a sales person do you document your success and your failures in a journal of some type.
When I think about putting all of your thoughts in writing I can't help but mention Rick Roberge. In his Blog he mentions everything that happens and willingly offers his perspective. I really enjoy watching events unfold through his lens and I know there are times when the mere process of documenting these situations helps him get his head around things.
The same is proven true for the belly to belly sales person as much as the high level CEO. Writing things down will help you get your head around things and provide a measurable way to improve your skills or your business!

Hey Diddle Diddle

So here we are - weeks since my last post and the news and outlook for this economy is worse than ever. More big banks have floundered and fell, AIG is in trouble for spending $500k on a trip to reward their sales people (who didn't sell by the way???), the Dow is below 9000 and the behemoth of GM is poised on the edge of bankruptcy.
Apparently all of these troubles were brewing under the surface for a long time and nobody saw this coming - imagine that! Could there be "huge problems" hidden beneath the surface in your organization? Wouldn't it be nice to expose them earlier, before they turn into a really big and unfixable mess.
I would imagine that if I could go back in time to speak to the CEO's of AIG, Bear Sterns, Wachovia or Lehman Brothers they would say "all set", "no problems", "I have a great team of people who know what they are doing" etc, etc. Of course they would have been wrong but therein lies the curiosity. All too often so called business leaders don't lead and have ulterior motives. Finding "problems" that need fixed will mean work and change for them - yuk!
It is rumored that emperor Nero started the great fire of Rome and played his lyre while it burned. Don't know if that is true but it would make sense knowing what we know about Nero. The fire made room for a new Palace and gave him an opportunity to frame the Christians for the disaster (and then persecute them) as well as ridding the city of slums and many of the poor.
In our modern situation I think we all know that the "fire" could parallel this economic melt down - I haven't worked out who Nero is yet, but I am sure he is out there somewhere playing a fiddle.

Always Inspect Growth

So it has been a rough week - economically speaking, for the U.S markets. Interesting that we saw the government respond with the bail out yet another company; AIG. I couldn't help thinking that although many customers of AIG are probably comforted by the bail out - would I want to do business or invest with a company that allowed itself to end up in this position? In fact would I want to do business with any of the companies that have required such massive help? What does their ending up there say about them?
A CEO that I know - when facing some financial hardships said, "we will just sell our way out of it" - what a concept, imagine if AIG, Bear Sterns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers had that same philosophy, what would have been different?
Well first of all they would have been watching the sales numbers, the accuracy of forecast, inspecting what they expected and holding people accountable. If the numbers couldn't support the losses then they would have been driving, mentoring, motivating and coaching their people to counter act the problems - yes they would have "sold their way out of it".
Instead - we have what we saw this week. If in my years as a sales manager I had even for one month done as poorly as these CEO's did for months at a time I probably would have been asked to leave - or before that happened my own pride would have caused me to quit!

Wall Street Blues or Wall Street Bull?

The news yesterday included some troubling facts about the economy - 3 formidable "giants" had been bought out, bankrupted or made people aware of some major struggles they were facing. The Dow and the NASDAQ reflected this by having one of the worst days in decades. As I watch the news this morning - the world is following suite with awful trading and horrible numbers. Do you think we are in a down economy?
When you look at financial "crashes" in the past it becomes clear that they are usually a result of investors putting too much faith in one segment. That was true in the late 20's when people jumped off buildings, it was true when the Irish economy crashed and the potato famine followed and it was true when these companies decided to jump on the real estate band wagon.
Any Lessons? Well I am not an economist but one thing I notice is how - to quote Mike Douglas in the movie Wall Street - there is "no skin in the game". Right up to the final hour everyone still receives their fat salaries and the investors and even the public are left holding the bag. In my line of work if I know my numbers are not where I want them I work harder and if I don't hit them I make less - why should that be any different on Wall Street. I don't get it.