Dot Connector Blog

“Thinking a lot about money is the best way to ensure you never earn a great deal of it.  Far wiser is to focus on a passion, on something powerful you can do to change peoples’ lives.  I’ve always believed the money will then follow.”

- Bill Gates (to Mark Stevens)

Stop judging this book by it’s cover.  Right now.  I know, you’re probably thinking something like “God is a Salesman? Great, now we’re going to talk about religion.”  Nope, not really. Please read on…

Yes, Mark Stevens uses the prism of religion to demonstrate how God is a superior salesman.  Whether or not you agree with the analogy, you should “play along.”  Why?  This book has some stellar ideas that will make better salespeople, better marketers, and better, more demanding customers too!

I see everyone as a salesperson in some capacity.  Nothing happens until something is sold – think deeply about this old saying and you’ll realize just how true it is.

Are you presenting the recap of a project you just did?  That’s selling.

Are you trying to change the direction of a project you are working on?  That’s selling.

Are you pushing the company you work for to think differently about a way they do business?  That’s selling.  You get the idea.

Below are some of my favorite excerpts from the book with my commentary in red.

Why Most Salespeople Can’t Sell

1. They have nothing interesting to say.  If you are selling something, please capture your Client/Customer’s attention in the first 30 seconds of your conversation.   Do it in the first 15 seconds if they don’t know you.
2. They cannot present their products and services in a compelling fashion – as more than just products and services. It’s insanely critical whether you are selling products, services, or ideas to discuss them ONLY in terms of the value they give to the Client/Customer.
3. They believe that they have done their job if they get prospects to like what they are offering. The fact is, they have to fall in love with it. Challenging?  Sure.  But it’s the only way to judge your sales skills.
4. They fail to develop a power offer that makes what they are selling seem impossible to refuse. Think you can’t “close a sale” – whatever that means to you – in the first discussion you have with someone?  I know 10 other people that will.
5. They don’t bother to read the prospect.  They’re too preoccupied with the commissions (or benefits) they WON’T earn precisely because all of the focus is on themselves. Reading, or truly understanding, your “prospect” is absolutely critical.  You don’t know what you don’t know.  That should drive you crazy and drive you to want to be better.

Top 3 Timeless Observations from Mark’s First Sales Job

1. When you try to fool people, you are only fooling yourself.
2. When you demonstrate timeless value, people will embrace your offering and tell others to do the same.
3. When you can make a bulletproof guarantee, you will have an abundance of customers.

Favorite Observations from Mark

On his financial planner: “He gives me far more in terms of advice, trust, guidance, and commitment that the value of the commissions I give him.”  Can your Customers/Clients/Employer say that about you?

On how to tell a great story: “Superior storytelling relies on a few key elements: the element of surprise, a power of epiphany, the ability to entertain…[and] a newly revealed truth.”  When was the last time you told a great story?

On going from ordinary to extraordinary: “If you begin with reality and try to radiate out to the extraordinary (i.e. what to that point has appeared to be impossible) you will likely be stuck in the predictable, the mediocre, the expected.”  Instead, dream big.  Set outrageous goals.  Look at the world in a different way.  And then celebrate when you achieve a new level of success because of it!

On ensuring long term success: “Offering yourself and what you sell as an exclusive is the only way to ensure your long term success.  Exclusivity means that you: “Demonstrate and deliver a true and unique value; Don’t simply sell things, you enhance people’s lives; Deliver what no one else does in precisely the way you do.”  Are you exclusive to your Customers/Clients?  Are you greater than the sum of your parts?  Or are you just filling a basic need and can be easily replaced?

Other Favorites from God is a Salesman:

• The “table salesman” story in the Vermont ski resort town (page 27)
• The guy who successfully pitched an idea to Jack Nicklaus with a killer opening line (page 37)
• Henry Ford’s offers you cannot refuse (page 69)
• Reality check questions and next steps for your career (page 92 – 93)
• Questions exceptional sales people ask themselves (page 135)
• The final questions to ask yourself (page 144)

Do you ignore the 800lb. elephant in the room, or do you deal with it? (source: code poet)

In this article, I’ll discuss one of the most essential business communication skills: the ability to discuss issues with your colleagues in a productive manner.  One of the critical team communication skills, discussing issues effectively will help you significantly with issue resolution and conflict management.

We live in a time where business communication has taken on unprecedented levels of transparency (people outside “the company” can see inside it much easier), and the tools used for team communication are seemingly endless (Blogs, Twitter, Instant Messaging, TXT Messaging, etc.).  All of this technology actually can do very little to help when an issue arises.  In fact, I would argue that conflict management and team communication suffers when you try to deal with an issue using these technologies.

Why? Because issues are emotional, uncomfortable, and sometimes even fearful, things.

For example, let’s say you’re in marketing, and you see key metrics for your company decreasing.  What does that mean for the future of your company’s growth?  Issues like these can cause a lot of anxiety.  You get the idea.

6 Tips for Discussing Issues with Your Colleagues [plus a Business Communication Secret]

Try these 6 tips next time you need to discuss an issue with your colleagues.  And, be sure to come back to Dot Connector and comment to let us know how it went!

1. Seek out the person you need to discuss the issue with

• Ideally, discussing the issue would be a face-to-face conversation, but sometimes you can only get the person on the phone.
• Regardless, be sure to talk directly to the person.  Don’t use technology to facilitate the conversation (i.e. email, instant messaging, etc.).
• Next, check to see if the person is ready to discuss the issue.  You need to ask yourself “is this person in a state of mind where we can have an open conversation?”  If they are not, it’s not the right time and you should attempt to discuss later.

2. Outline the issue in plain terms

• Never assume the person you’re talking to knows everything you know, or remembers what you talked about previously.  This is especially true with executives who are spread so thin and in so many conversations that they need a refresher.
• You might need to “take a step back” from the actual issue and discuss the situation that caused it before going right into the details. Be sure when initially discussing the issue to keep your opinion out of it.
• Imagine describing the issue to a 5 year-old.  How would you explain it?  Then, use that explanation.

3. Suggest your position, ideally using data to back it up

• Once you both are on the same page about what the issue is, suggest your opinion on how to deal with it.
• It’s critical to first have data or evidence of some sort to back up your opinion whenever possible.
• Why?  Because if you make the discussion about data and not opinion, you will have a much higher probabilty of resolving the issue.

4. Be open to the idea that you are wrong, or that a complimentary idea will be better.

• Go into every issue discussion/conflict management scenario with the idea that your idea for resolution might not be the only resolution.
• By keeping your mind open to the feedback you receive from your colleague(s), you may create an even better issue resolution together!

5. Gain consensus and discuss next steps.

• Clearly recap what you both decide, just to ensure you heard it right.  This might seem like a laborous step, but it’s critical to help you gain consensus.
• Use this moment to ask if you got it right, and clarify any points that seem to cause issues.

6. Document your conversation.

• It’s always a good idea to recap important conversations in an email or meeting notes, so you both have a record to reference later.
• I’ve seen issues resolved during a conversation, only to come back again when no one remembers what was decided.
• Take the time to do this, and you’ll set clear expectations for everyone involved.

Business Communication Skills Secret: “Match the Medium to the Message”

One thing I’ve learned in business communication – sometimes, the hard way – is to “match the medium to the message.”  Basically, that means use a “medium” (face-to-face, email, phone, chat, etc.)  that corresponds to the “message” (informational update, cancelling a contract, etc.).

Here are some good examples I have seen:

• Cancelling a contract with a partner?  Face-to-face is ideal, but phone communication can work too.
• Sharing notes from a meeting? Email is best.
• Need a quick question answered from a teammate? Chat/IM is likely best.

Here are some real-life bad examples I have seen:

• Using email to threaten to cancel a contract.
• Using chat to apologize after a heated shouting match during a meeting.
• Using email to ask a partner to not cash a check.

So, before you communicate significant information, always ask yourself: “Am I matching the medium to the message?”

In honor of Barack Obama’s inauguration day, I’d like to bring your attention back to a Dot Connector post from last summer, 7 Leadership Training Tips from Barack Obama.

In that post, I discussed Barack Obama’s leadership style during the campaign, using excepts from a Fortune Magazine article.  You’ll see my interpretation of how these leadership training tips can apply to you.

Enjoy!

Note from Regis: This is the second interview in Dot Connector’s Leadership Skills interview series. My goal is to bring you people who exemplify leadership skills needed for success.  Read Part II of this interview here.

Today’s interview is with Mark Stevens, best-selling author of Your Marketing Sucks, Your Management Sucks, and God is a Salesman. Mark is also CEO of MSCO, a results-driven management and marketing firm, and a popular media commentator on marketing, branding, management and sales. Mark is known for delivering business insights with blunt truths and unconventional wisdom.

In this interview, you’ll hear Mark’s thoughts on the rules of unconventional thinking and leadership, and how you can apply them to your own life.

Regis: We’re going to talk a lot today about the rules of unconventional thinking and following them as a leader. What does that mean to you?

Mark Stevens: I have divided life into two parts: I don’t want to follow anyone’s rules about anything, but I want to follow the law. So, the only place that I will follow a formula is to make sure that everything I am doing is legal. However, I don’t believe any single law imposed by convention.

When you live your life that way, you constantly find things that you are living your life by convention. I stop in my tracks and I say, “Whoa, you are doing this for what reason Mark?” And I realize that I am doing it because convention imposed it upon me at a certain point of my life. I started to follow it as if it was legal, or as if it was the only way you could do something.

Convention, from a leader standpoint, is so filled with horrible nonsense that can destroy leadership and destroy full enjoyment of a career and a life.

- Mark Stevens

For example, convention says that you have to have a balanced life: there has to be work, and there has to be play. I think they are intermingled. I don’t believe in that balance sheet. I believe if you have true passion for what you do, it’s all wrapped into one great, exciting, exhilarating ball. I don’t believe in putting down your mind in a corner over here, and putting it back on again Monday morning.

If you ask a million people, “Do you believe in a balanced life?” They say, “oh absolutely, you have to have a balanced life.” I don’t know what the hell balanced means! Then sometimes people will say “Well, you’re a workaholic.” People say “Oh no, I don’t want to be a workaholic.”

Well, what if I want to be a workaholic? What does that word workaholic mean? If I do what I love to do all the time, does that mean I am a workaholic? I am not hurting anybody. I am not driving out of control. I’m not hurting my body, which I have a right to do if I want to. These terms get applied to us. You know why they get applied to us? It’s because the lowest common denominator of people – who have the least drive, the least ambition, and the least determination to be successful – want us all at their level. So they invent these terms to keep us at their level.

It’s about not being a follower, not following convention, and not accepting the terminology of the lowest common denominator. If ask most managers, do you believe in this (idea), they’ll say I want to build a “consensus” around this. Well, I hate that word. I don’t understand what it means. Why do you have to build a consensus around it? I can’t imagine.

The metaphor I always use is, Steve Jobs wakes up in the middle of the night and says ‘I want to create an iPhone. But, let me go to the office first and see if I can build a consensus around it.’ I mean, no!

- Mark Stevens

A leader finds out something, and he or she goes back to the office and tries to bring his or her team into the mission – and certainly listens to feedback from others. But at the end of the day, every single person in the company, or the family, or whatever it is, says “that’s a bad idea I wouldn’t do that,” the leader does it (because he/she knows it’s the right idea).

During World War II, right after Pearl Harbor, FDR was advised to mount the US war against the axis powers based on sea power. The naval forces, and most of the military establishment, put a tremendous pressure on him to mount the power war, based on sea power and ground troops.

Then, a few small voices in the wilderness said “Make it air, make it air, make it air.” We had about fifty planes, I think. I am not exaggerating. It was very few. The US Air Force was tiny. The US Army was tiny. We had almost no Air Force. And then he said “No, I am going to go against the grain. I am going to build the greatest Air Force in the world. I am going to command the skies.” And that was the secret to our winning. Everybody in the Pentagon was completely against his decision, but he was the leader. So the popularity contest argument, which I hear all the time: “people don’t like it,” “I have to get buy in,” and blah blah blah blah. I hate that stuff. That is not a leader.

Regis: I couldn’t agree more. When we talk about leadership, we talk about different styles of leaders: the “quiet but strong” leader, the “authoritative” leader, the “leader that leads by example.” Is there a common thread you see between all of those types that qualifies someone as being an unconventional leader?

Mark Stevens: I think one common thread which you never read about in Harvard Business School, which by the way, I think teaches you all of the wrong things. I think it’s the best place to get most ill-prepared for a business career. If you want to use it for a network thing, fine, but it teaches you all the wrong things. You get taught by people who have never done business. I know the usual B.S. that these guys used to be, used to be, used to be, blah, blah, blah. But they’re not. They are not in the war. They are not in the game. They are sitting someplace teaching you something they have never done. They haven’t done for years and they were not very successful.

When one of my sons – he is on Wall Street now – when he went to Cornell as a finance major, his first finance professor the first day of class said to him, “I am your finance professor. I am not very good. If I was really good, I wouldn’t be here.” He turned out to be one of the three professors that my son truly enjoyed at Cornell. The guy was sensing all the B.S. and coming clean. He went on from there to be quite an interesting guy. I love that story.

Coming back to your question, one thing that I think is a common thread is that leaders don’t care what anybody else thinks of them. And that is a very hard place to get. I have people working at MSCO who come on, and I say, “that person over there, that girl or that guy has the potential to go all the way.” I really mentor them heavily. I invest in them. Because I say “They could be great, they could be creative, innovative, they could make something new happen in the world.” Then it turns out so often that their trajectory is cut short: not because they don’t have the intellectual fire power, and not because they don’t have the creativity, but because they are afraid of what other people think of them:

• They are afraid of what their fellow team members will think: “Oh, you are getting ahead of us” or “Oh, you think you are so important now.” You have to think you are important if you are a leader!
• In their personal lives, one of the people that want to hold them back says to them, “You are a workaholic.” (coming around to our theme before of “there isn’t enough balance in your life”)…and so they say, “Oh, I don’t want to be unpopular with my friends, and perceived as working too hard and being a workaholic, so I will pull back.”

I really don’t care what people think about me. I mean, I want my friends and my family to know that I am sensitive to them and love them. I want the people that I work with at my company and my clients to believe and know that I have their best interest at heart: that I will put out for them way beyond the traditional business relationship. But I don’t care if they don’t like me. I tell them what my political stance is. I tell them what I think of things. People say “You don’t say that to people in business.” But I do, I don’t care. Take me as I am or don’t take me.

Regis: Right, leadership is about having a lack of fear. I think you hear it a lot of time even in people’s vocabulary. You hear people talking about ideas, and they say “well, my fear is that…” and I just want to say “don’t be afraid, just try it!”

Mark Stevens: Exactly. I have young people say to me all the time. “Well, I can’t really express my opinion because I am young and the senior people in the company won’t like what I have to say.”

My answer to that is that with every success in life comes risk. It’s impossible to achieve success without risk. One of the risks you will have to take, whatever age you are, whatever business you are in, is that the people that you work with won’t like what you are saying.

- Mark Stevens

If they won’t give you a chance to strive because they don’t like your opinion or your forthrightness, you have to leave. Not tomorrow: I understand that there are economic realities, but you have to start to pave the way to go. You can’t tell me thirty years later that you have wasted your life in a company that has decided that it wants to have you be a person without a voice.

Regis: Well, that is exactly it. If I think about Quicken Loans, mortgages aren’t sexy, but the environment of being able to try ideas and not be afraid is what gets me up every day.

Mark Stevens: Every business is exciting and every business is the same. There is nothing more or less exciting about Quicken Loans mortgages than there is about creating chips at Intel. Because at the end of the day you can be creative in any business.

I always say that if I do one more business, because I have done a lot of businesses in my life, if I do one more business I want to do a manure company. I want to turn that into a cool kind of manure. I want to take the greatest frowned-upon commodity and make into something special.

- Mark Stevens

We had a client some years ago that sold asphalt. Now, asphalt at that time was selling for $9.00 a ton. Contractors would pull up their trucks and they would fill up their truck with asphalt and they would pay $9 a ton. What are you going to do to increase the margin of a business like that? How could you take a business like that and make it sexy?

Well, we actually worked with the company to create different strings of asphalt. One which was environmentally friendly and one which melted snow very quickly. So, we sold the second one to schools and places that where very sensitive to safety. And we sold the other one to early movers in the green movement. That asphalt sells for $50/ton and $60/ton. That gave me greater satisfaction than representing some of the “cooler” companies that we have worked for over the years.

I think that every business is immensely exciting and enjoyable. The mortgage to me is one of the great inventions in history and people take it for granted! The mortgage was an invention. We all think now that it came through divine intervention, that there was always a mortgage. But there wasn’t.

Some smart financial guy says ‘Wait a minute, okay there’s a house over there. Regis wants the house but he doesn’t have the cash for it. I will create this thing called a mortgage. Since I create this thing, Regis can move into that house that he cannot afford right now.’ What a genius thing that is!

- Mark Stevens

Regis: I love that! You are right on.

Mark Stevens: It was an act of genius that changed the world. Now we all think “Oh there were always mortgages.” But no. Somebody said “I have to find a way to get people to be able to have this thing that they could not have.”

Now, it’s interesting how the pendulum has swung and we took it too far. I have a new book coming out this fall called “Rich is a Religion.” One of the things it talks about is how people, started to say, “You know what? I will now use the industry to buy something I can not at all afford.” I don’t blame the mortgage crisis on anybody but people’s lack of discipline.

But let’s stop and realize that the industry you work in is one founded by an act of genius, that is waiting for the next act of genius.

- Mark Stevens

So what’s next best mortgage, what’s the next new mortgage idea? How can I move into a house and never pay any money and when I die my kids will pay for it? Now I don’t know what it will be, but that is where the beauty is!

Regis: The mortgage industry is in crisis. The Automotive industry is another that is having a really hard time right now. Jobs are cut, benefits are being peeled away, and salaries are frozen. Do you have advice specifically for leaders who are trying to challenge conventional thinking in these industries? When their team is under so much stress, how do you challenge thinking, inspire them, develop them, and challenge them during a crisis?

Mark Stevens: Well, let’s take the automotive industry. I have strong feelings about the US automotive industry in particular.

Here’s what I would do if I was appointed CEO of GM tomorrow, which is something I would like. I wouldn’t like to do it for the rest of my life, but I would like to do it only because I believe I know the path to success:

• The way I would demonstrate my leadership is gather everyone around virtually and actually. Obviously, It’s too big to bring everyone together all at once. But I would hold town hall meetings across the country. I would bring one of the GM cars with me and I would put it down in Yankee stadium, which I would rent and put all of the GM workers into the stadium and talk with them.

• I would say “This is our Pontiac, Chevy, whatever car, Malibu…. This car is a piece of junk. What do I mean by that? Let me show you the fit and finish of this car.” and I would run my hand across and say…“Can I get somebody in the bleachers to come down with me. Okay, you do it with me…run your hand along the side of the car where the trunk lid touches the body of the car. See how there is too much space there and where water could get it? This is called the fit and finish, you all know that. We don’t do a good job on that. Now I am going to show you a Toyota, which I brought with me also and show you the difference. Now there is absolutely nothing complex about making fit and finish it’s just a matter of caring, it’s a matter of doing it right.”

• I am starting off by telling all of you, as one of your team members, that we do a terrible job. The world hasn’t been cruel to us, we have been cruel to ourselves. The basic thing of fit and finish, there is nothing sophisticated, no sophisticated technology anything, just caring enough to make the component parts line up right, we don’t do. So we don’t deserve to be successful.

• So starting tomorrow, I am going to join the assembly line. I am going to work a week in this one, a week in this one, and I will stop everyday at 1:00 so I can do my CEO duties but I want to be part of the fix.

The reason I say this Regis is for a number of reasons.

1. All these beleaguered industries have been beleaguered in part because management is stuck itself into a bunker and said: “the world is unfair to us, we are fine, they are wrong, we are right and we don’t want to hear anything.” So, I would go out by admitting to my team we deserve this, but now we will go back together and fix it.
2. I think a great leader can’t fight the war from the rear guard. They have to go out in front. So I will work on the assembly line and I will figure out why we don’t have good fit and finish as a starting point, cause it’s a very easy thing to fix.
3. I think that coming clean – admitting mistakes – is a very big part of leading. We all respect that so much! Whether you liked Ronald Regan or not, the country was down on itself and he came in and said “We shouldn’t be down on ourselves. We should be proud of ourselves. We should be proud to be Americans. We have always been a proud nation, so we are going to be proud again.”

Going back to FDR, when he became President during the Great Depression, he said “I am going to ride around this country – a man with polio – but you’re not going to see that, you’re going to see me defiantly smoking a cigarette through a cigarette holder and wearing a cape…and I am telling you better days are here again. “

People don’t know this, but in one of FDR’s first fireside chats, after he had closed the banks, when he reopened them he said “okay I want you to start bringing your money back to the banks.” Now, we never lived in a time when you had to worry about the banks. Neither you nor I. Why would you bring your money to a bank if you were afraid it could go into a black hole? You wouldn’t! But if you look at the newsreels, people listened to Roosevelt, and they started to bring their money back. That was a tremendous sign of confidence in a leader.

So you admit it, and you act. Closing the banks was an act of leadership. You act, you don’t act beleaguered, you act like you are confident, which you are, and you back it up with your actions.

Stay tuned for more from Mark Stevens: In Part II, you’ll learn who has challenged Mark’s thinking, and what separates leaders from those who don’t want to lead. In Part III, you’ll learn why there is a “disconnect” between Marketing and Sales, and Mark’s thoughts on Social Media Marketing.

Are you “freaked out” by the current recession? Do you let that constantly put you in a state of stress and anxiety, or do you use it to find new opportunities?

Taking a look at recession history, we learn that: according to economists, since 1854, the US has encountered 32 cycles of expansions and contractions, with an average of 17 months of contraction and 38 months of expansion. However, since 1980 there have been only eight periods of negative economic growth over one fiscal quarter or more, and three periods considered recessions.

A critical component to personal effectiveness is to constantly look at the situation you are in from a historical context. Once you have that context, you open your mind to new opportunities you previously would not have thought of.

Companies Started in a Recession

Check out this list of companies from recession history. Let this list inspire you to find opportunities to do something today that you are proud of!

1. GE
2. HP
3. Disney
4. Microsoft
5. method (soaps)
6. Cliff Bar

(Source: Fast Company)

There isn’t a single book in my library that has more dog-eared pages and highlighted phrases than Your Marketing Sucks, by Mark Stevens. If you believe that effective marketing is about making money, as I do, you need to read this book.

In this article, I’ll share my favorite ideas that you can use when developing your marketing plan, refreshing your marketing strategies, or improving the efficiency of your marketing mix – all directly from Your Marketing Sucks.

In Your Marketing Sucks, Mark Stevens discusses how to look at the money you spend in marketing as a direct investment with a direct return on investment (ROI). Referred to as extreme marketing, Stevens demands (and you should too) that every $1 you spend on marketing should bring back at least $1 in revenue.

What is “extreme marketing?”

Stevens says extreme marketing is “doing everything possible to guarantee that every marketing dollar you spend:

• Is set in a strategic context – meaning you know why you are spending it
• Is based on a plan constructed to make certain that every marketing tactic reinforces every other one (Regis says: think integration!)
• Brings back more than $1 in revenue”

The last point is the most important: for EVERY marketing dollar you spend, you need to know how much revenue it brings you.

Did you know? Brand marketers will generally tell you that you have to invest in the brand, and not think of things this way. That’s a cop-out for not thinking through how to quantify the impact of a brand campaign. Direct response marketers will generally tell you to only invest in marketing tactics where you can immediately track this metric. While ideal, that might not be true for everyone either.

Bottom-line: whatever situation or “marketing philosophy” you have, you HAVE to figure this out. It’s the way to bring accountability to your marketing, and really grow your business through it’s marketing efforts.

Extreme Marketing Plan:

In the section “How to Think About Extreme Marketing” Stevens outlines an excellent 7-step process…

1. Marketing is an integrated process (i.e. all of your marketing tactics – direct mail, website, pr, etc. – work TOGETHER to drive your business
2. Identify innovative initiatives that can command the attention in the marketplace
3. Integrate all of the elements of your marketing program
4. Stop all marketing tactics that do not produce a positive return on the money invested
5. Pick the low-hanging fruit (i.e. you don’t always have to invest more money to grow your business)
6. Don’t be linear (i.e. overlap marketing tactics for exponential returns)
7. Be persistent, relentless, inventive, counter-intuitive, challenging, combative, strategic, and tactical

You may have already guessed this, but #7 is my favorite step. Why? Because those are management tips, personal productivity tips, and marketing tips all in one – basically, they are how you should act every day as a leader!

What You Can Learn from Infomercials

Stevens has a great section on “Earning your infomercial MBA.” Now, before you cringe, think about it – some of the products we buy every day started as infomercials. And, who hasn’t stayed up late at least once in their life watching an infomercial on TV. They capture attention, they push the desire to buy, and they work for a lot of products.

The tips Stevens suggests in this section on infomercials can be applied to every marketing project:

1. Give your product a cool and compelling name
2. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words
3. Provide the appearance of exceptional value
4. Expose the viewer to testimonials
5. (Added by Regis…) Create a sense of urgency in your message

I add #5 because I think it’s another effective tactic you can use (How many times has a phrase like: “Hurry, this offer ends…” or “If you call right now…” caught your attention?). Remember the principles of selling and conversion: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action or AIDA.

Marketing Leadership

In one of my favorite sections of the book, Stevens outlines lazy marketing leadership and effective marketing leadership, as follows:

4 Mistakes of Marketing Leaders

1. Creating a budget first, and goals second (Regis says: i.e. how can you decide how much money to spend if you haven’t defined how it will generate revenue for the business?)
2. Being a one-day wonder (Regis says: i.e. beware of the big vision that is never actually executed)
3. Delegate (Regis says: i.e. you can’t delegate effectively without monitoring progress – trust but verify)
4. The gullibility factor (Regis says: i.e. you can’t let people talk you out of your revenue per marketing dollar approach)

4 Attributes of Effective Marketing Leadership

1. The ability to paint a picture of what the marketing will accomplish (Regis says: i.e. set and execute goals that tie marketing to sales/revenue)
2. The determination to monitor the logistics and measure the results (Regis says: i.e. you have to monitor the performance of every marketing tactic)
3. The staying power to remain committed throughout the course of the campaign (Regis says: i.e. leadership is about perseverance, and marketing leadership is no exception)
4. The willingness to create a tight alignment between the president’s office and the marketing campaign (Regis says: i.e. the leader of your company is the chief strategist and marketing has to be a natural, integrated extension of her strategy)

Even though this is a fairly long post, we are literally scratching the surface of the ideas in this book. Definitely check it out, and if you’re feeling bold – and hopefully you are – then, try the “Marketing Moratorium 7-Day Planner” on page 215!

Other “Your Marketing Sucks” references:

• Hear 2.0: “Your Marketing Sucks – an interview with Mark Stevens“
• Mark Stevens Blog: “Unconventional Thinking Blog“

Do you like to learn the leadership styles of successful people? I find them incredibly interesting as well as a good reminder of core leadership training tips and tricks.

In this article, learn about Barack Obama’s leadership style, via excepts from a Fortune Magazine article that these tips were drawn from. Also, see my interpretations and opinions on how these leadership training tips can apply to you.

Note: These leadership training tips were reported in the “How Obama Manages” section by Jia Lynn Yang in the July 7, 2008 issue of Fortune Magazine. To order a copy of this issue, please click here.

Leadership Training Tip #1: No Drama

Excerpt from the Fortune article: When Barack Obama was selecting his closest advisors, he told each person he wanted zero drama-meaning no backstabbing, damaging media leaks or anything that would detract from the campaign.

Try this: Ask yourself, do you create drama or avoid it? You can get a lot done as a team member and as a leader by ignoring drama and actively working to reduce it. How? Use metrics (i.e. reportable numbers) in your work to completely dissolve “arguments of opinion.” Build effective work relationships. If you’re already in a leadership position, then lead without surprises.

Leadership Training Tip #2: Praise those who don’t expect it

Excerpt from the Fortune article: Obama emphasized his grassroots approach by bringing organizers onto the stage as well.

Try this: Actively look at those around you. Who has done a great job, but maybe hasn’t been recognized? Perhaps there’s someone who just achieved a personal milestone, but something you’ve already done in your career. Take the time to notice them for it. You don’t have to do it publicly – even dropping a simple card in their mailbox is a great way to praise those who don’t expect it.

Another idea: when was the last time you recognized someone in a meeting for the work they have been doing?

Leadership Training Tip #3: Make every person in a meeting participate

Excerpt from the Fortune article: Like a tough law professor, Obama will call on staffers who haven’t spoken up.

Quite often, the best ideas are not spoken, and that’s a shame. Sometimes, the only way you can effectively engage people in a meeting is to call on them. Yes, there will be times that this will not work. The person will just go along with the flow of what was already said, or decline to comment. However, the best ideas are the ones that are most vigorously debated.  Other times, you can have a moment of obvious clarity – a “duh” moment – just by reflecting on a random idea from someone in the meeting.

Try this: for one day, conduct your day as if it’s your responsibility to get participation in meetings. You are the “host” of the “party” for that day – trying to connect people with different ideas around a common purpose. Reflect on what you learned at the end of the day – you might be surprised at what you are able to accomplish.

Leadership Training Tip #4: Establish a plan and stick to it

Excerpt from the Fortune article: National finance chairman Penny Pritzker said Obama decided he wanted to run the campaign like a disciplined business.

Especially in the Web Marketing world in which I work, plans change weekly, daily, sometimes hourly. However, having a bigger plan, and over-arching vision, dramatically improves your effectiveness.  Anyone can get work done. Some of those can get work done well. However, it’s a rare person who can get effective work done.   What is effective work? Work necessary to achieve your goals, your team’s goals, and your organization’s goals at the same time. If you have a bigger goal or plan, you’re much more likely to maintain focus and become effective at what you do.

Leadership Training Tip #5: Give feedback that’s clear, direct, and immediate

Excerpt trom the Fortune article: If he’s happy, you know it. If he prefers to do something different, you know it, says (Valerie) Jarrett (an Obama campaign advisor).

Adopt a new style immediately: let those that you work with know exactly what you know and exactly how you feel.  This is especially true with leaders. Far too often, we have a tendency to hold back criticism or praise, fearing how the person will react. Delivering both quickly is one of the keys to being a successful leader – whether you lead people or projects.  If you hold back criticism, you prevent the person from being able to grow and react to it. When you hold back praise, you limit the person’s feelings of self-worth.

Remember: people rise to the expectations you set for them.

Leadership Training Tip #6: Allow new ideas to come from the bottom up

Excerpt from the Fortune article: The idea for Obama University, a unique training program for first-time fundraisers, came not from campaign leadership but from three supporters…

Do you truly allow new ideas to impact you? It’s very easy to bias ideas based on their source. Don’t do it!  Keeping a dramatically open mind is a key to growth and productivity. Listen to your Clients, listen to your teammates, listen to your partners and vendors, and listen to anyone and everyone you come into contact with.   Within every email, conversation, etc. that you have are ideas that can help you.

Leadership Training Tip #7: Genuinely listen to those who disagree with you

Excerpt from the Fortune article: He wants to see disagreements aired in front of him.

I recently had a disagreement with a teammate about how we were interacting with each other. I was forcing my point and forming an opinion about how this person was reacting to me.  Then, after a talk with another teammate, I realized I hadn’t been doing myself what I had expected from this person. To say the least, it was a humbling experience, as I pride myself on treating others as I would like to be treated.  If I hadn’t genuinely listened, and opened up my mind to being wrong, I never could have resolved the situation or learned from it.

Bottom-line: be humble enough to be wrong.

As I’ve mentioned in my other posts on leadership, leadership is a choice – how you make decisions, trust your instincts, and allow yourself to learn from failure determines if and how you will become a leader.

My past week was filled with leadership development lessons to share with you. Some were lessons I learned myself, others were lessons I watched others learn around me.

Here are my top 3:

Leadership Development Lesson #1: Giving Feedback

• By having an honest feedback session with each person you lead, you have the opportunity (and responsibility) to share the positives about their progress, as well as the areas for them to improve.
• As Wally Bock says in his Three Star Leadership Blog, feedback is really the breakfast of champions. By not hesitating to give constructive criticism, you give people the opportunity to grow and learn faster than they would otherwise.

Leadership Development Lesson #2: Having the Right Attitude

• Giving constructive criticism is always easier when a team member has the right attitude. If you have an open mind and a true desire to constantly get better, you will be open to feedback that can help you get there.
• No one is right all the time. Everyone has times where they need to be redirected, coached, or talked “off the edge of a cliff.” Allowing yourself to accept feedback like this can only make you better.
• Feeling down? Need some inspiration to boost your attitude? Check out Orrin Woodward’s favorite quotes on attitude.

Leadership Development Lesson #3: Prevent a Communication “Vacuum”

• You always have to show people you are “driving the bus” on the projects you lead. It’s critical that whenever you are managing a high-profile project, you communicate early and often – even if you don’t have all the answers.
• This is especially important with key executives. When asked a question through email, it’s best to reply immediately, letting the executive know you are looking into her question, and when you expect to have an answer.
• Later, when you give your answer, make sure you completely answer the question, and give your own opinions. To most executives, giving your opinions is as important as answering the question.

Leadership lessons like these are around you every single day if you look for them! I’ll share more of my lessons as I come across them. If you have lessons to share, leave a comment or send me an email.

One of my all-time favorite business books, and a huge influence on my leadership philosophy is Andy Grove’s “Only the Paranoid Survive.”

Grove participated in the founding of Intel, and went on to become President, then CEO and Chairmen. Under his leadership, Intel became the 7th most profitable company among the Fortune 500, and he was Time Magazine’s Person of the Year in 1997.

In his book, Grove discusses strategic inflection points, how leaders must identify them, and lead their teams through them.

What is a “strategic inflection point?”

• Grove defines a strategic inflection point as a time in the life of a business or project when its fundamentals are changing significantly. Often, “point” is really a misnomer, and it’s actually a long, sometimes painful, period of change.
• To me, strategic inflection points are those times and decisions that make or break your business, your project, your Client relationship, your Executive’s view of you, etc.
• You could also look at Strategic Inflection Points as Tipping Points as well (based on Malcolm Gladwell’s popular book The Tipping Point, another must-read).

Leadership Tips from This Book:

1. Only those who constantly try to anticipate change will survive when change happens.
2. Seek the opinions of all around you, as they are usually in touch with impending change sooner than you are.
3. Encourage debate at all costs. The most important tool in identifying a strategic inflection point is broad and intensive debate.
4. Don’t justify holding back because you don’t know the answers – seek them out as fast as you can.
5. Give your most considered opinion, and give it clearly and forcefully.

3 Questions Every Leader Should Ask Themselves:

1. Am I actively seeking opinions from everyone possible, regardless of their title?
2. Is our key competitor about to change? (Note: if you can’t clearly answer who that key competitor is, something significant is definitely going on.)
3. Do people seem to be “losing it” – or that they increasingly don’t “get it” – around you? (Note: if so, they are likely applying old solutions to a new problem, a sign that you are in a strategic inflection point.)

4 Favorite Quotes:

1. In times of change, managers almost always know which direction they should go in, but usually act too late and do too little.
2. Businesses fail either because they leave their customers – i.e. they change a strategy that worked for them in the past – or because their customers leave them.
3. Strategic inflection points provide an opportunity to break out of a plateau and catapult to a higher level of achievement.
4. No statues will be carved for leaders who charge off on the wrong side of a complex decision.

Other Bloggers talking about this book and Andy Grove:

• The Bizness Blawg: “How Paranoia Can Actually Make You Successful“
• Changing Way: “Andy Grove’s Book Survives“
• Innovate Blog/Podcast: “An Interview with Andy Grove, former CEO and Chairman of Intel“

If you lead (whether or not you are formally a leader, you can lead!), you have a responsibility to give context to the team you work for. Giving context is about telling the story of “why” to your team members, and letting them be a part of it. It’s about explaining how certain decisions were made, how they fit into the bigger picture, and how they’ve impacted the business.

Here are two examples:

• You manage a high-profile website project, where your main Client is the Chairman of the board. Giving context in this situation means teaching your team why the Chairman makes the decisions she does (hint: she’s thinking in the best interest of the business). By doing giving context, you prevent speculation and “we have to do it because she said so” rationale that can quickly fill the void in a project that lacks context.

• You work in a fast-paced environment where you manage 20-30 projects at one time. Instead of taking the time on each project to give your project team the proper context behind why you are asking them to do something, you settle into just giving orders. Quickly, the team starts to distance themselves from you, and you notice they don’t respond as quickly, or proactively seek your advice as often, as they used to.

Giving context is about first making those around you (your project team, your immediate teammates, etc.) comfortable with you and your approach. Then, it’s about giving the the knowledge so that they can be on the same page you are!

Give your team the “backstory” (i.e. context) and you’ll be amazed at how they will grow and rise up to help your cause!

Leadership is not a title. Leadership is a choice. You earn respect. You earn experience. But you choose to be a leader.Whether you are an executive, middle manager, project manager, or intern, you choose to be a leader. And far too often, those who could be leaders choose not to.

How do you become a leader? Here are my top 3 leadership development tips.

1. Make decisions. Decide to be happy. Decide to be excited about what you do. Decide that you want to achieve your Top 3 todos for today. Decide that you will make a conscious effort to help those you work with to grow. Decide to speak up to your CEO in a meeting. You get the idea! Leaders are people who are not afraid to make decisions. Do you find yourself actually making decisions, or continuously seeking answers and approval? If it’s the latter, then stop! Look objectively at what you are trying to do, and make decisions for yourself. Just ask yourself: “is this decision the best thing I can do right now?” If it is, decide and do it.
2. Trust Your Instincts. This is intimately tied into #1 – Make Decisions, since without instincts, it’s very hard to make decisions! Instincts are what guide you through your thought process when analyzing any situation. Far too often, people “second-guess” their “gut instincts.” Don’t do this! All of your career, you are continuously fine-tuning your gut instincts. No report, no research, no opinion can make a decision. Those things can only help you to refine your gut instincts. Guess what? Start trusting your instincts, and a magical thing will happen: they’ll get better and better over time! You’ll be amazed at where it can take you.
3. Allow Yourself and Your Team (if you have one) to Fail. How do you learn a foreign language? You screw it up until you get it right! Secret: the “best” people you will ever work with were not born that way. They’ve made BIG mistakes OFTEN. Yet, I’ve seen it happen time and time again: by trying to make things “perfect” a person, or an entire team, will inevitably either miss an opportunity or limit personal growth. I know this is scary stuff, but it’s key to your leadership development. Take the training wheels off yourself and your team. Jump out of the nest and fly! It’s the only way you’ll grow as a leader.

I hope you keep these leadership development tips in mind throughout your day, when you are faced with times where you can use all 3 of them.

Starting right now, decide to be a leader!

If you manage a direct team of people, or if you manage project teams – take this one tip to heart: never surprise your people. Adopt a communication style where you want them to know what you know.

Why?

Leaders (whether leaders of a team or project managers leading a project team) get into trouble when they start limiting or throttling what information they share with others. They forget what they’ve told one person, they presume certain info won’t benefit others, etc. Inevitably, this hurts them in the long run, by undermining the trust they have built with their team. This approach also assumes you know who needs what info, when inevitably you don’t!

Instead, if you approach your communications with your team, or your project team, with a “as soon as I know, you’ll know” approach, you eliminate surprises and interact from a place of trust. They will surprise you with what they do with the info you give them. And, this trust is priceless, and insanely hard (if not impossible) to regain if you’ve lost it.

How can you do this? Here are 3 easy steps you can take TODAY to lead without surprises:

1. Meet with your team and tell them that this is your approach – make yourself accountable to them!
2. As every piece of information comes your way – voicemails, emails, reports, research findings, discussions in meetings, etc., you ask yourself: “could anyone on my team benefit from this information in any way possible, even just remotely?” If the answer is yes, share it immediately!
3. Setup “safe-time” with your team or project team – an hour a week as a group, and ideally an hour per week with each member. Make this a closed-door session where nothing will leave the room. This allows you to share things you can’t share publically, and allows your team member to share things with you. Many project managers skip this step, and it inevitably hurts them later in the project.

Follow these 3 steps to build trust with your team and eliminate surprises. And remember, you will be amazed at what they do with the info you provide them!