Contest Schmontest...Create A Movement

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Organizations are always offering contests.  When I was a manager, whenever we needed to pick up sales or revenue, we would create a contest to get the ball rolling.  There is nothing like a good contest to get people involved, excite employees, and offer great prizes as a result.  Right? I say contest schmontest, you need to create a movement.  A contest is something you run for a month, but a movement can cover a whole year!  Contests come and go but movements may go on forever...depending on how committed the company is to the movement.

To start a contest you must contact the sales team, or service sales team, but to establish a movement you need EVERYONE in the organization to change their way of thinking about contests, and you need to get EVERYONE involved.  Not just the service or sales teams. Sure a contest can help your sales increase for a quarter, but what if revenues increased the whole fiscal year.  Now that would be an accomplishment.  

Right now you are asking yourself, "how the heck do I get the whole organization involved in a movement? That's impossible!"

Wrong.  It's not as difficult as you might think. You simply have to get all of the factions of your business working together.  Success in business is about people, and getting them to work together towards a common goal. If you can do that, your company is bound to be successful  However, in order to create a movement you have to do a lot more planning. Below I've listed a few key components that you need if you want to create a successful movement in your organization.

1. Omnipresent Awareness - When you have a contest, the people who stand to benefit the most are usually the only ones focused on the results.  Subsequently, all the people supporting those sales or service people are alienated.  In fact, they might even be a bit resentful that they aren't being included.  In order to effectively infuse your whole organization with a movement, ALL YOUR EMPLOYEES, need to be aware of your goal and how they can help the organization over achieve.  Do you think Zappos got to be so big because Tony Hsieh created a contest?  Heck no.  He changed the entire dynamic of the company.  Make sure that there are visible markers everywhere your employees can see them, and that your progress towards a goal(s) is visible.  If you're going to create a movement, it should be shared in the hallway, in the bathroom, in the cubicle, even in the break room refrigerator.  If you walk through your business, everyone should feel it hanging in the air.

2. Monetize Efforts - One year while I was still working at Cintas, we decided to have another sales contest.  Whoop de doo! Another time for service and sales partners to ostracize production people. I was a bit frustrated because if production didn't help support our efforts, then we would all fail miserably.  Our solution was to monetize the efforts of our production people.  They were included in the contest(s) all year and they loved it!  We didn't pay them commissions, but if the sales or service team they were supporting did well, then all of them received a little bonus.  Believe me, we didn't break the bank with payouts, but they felt included which was much more important.  They felt like they were part of something special and that is the whole point of a movement.  Inclusion.

3. Recognize and Reward - Role plays are a normal part of sales training.  Actually, let me rephrase that... they are an annoying part of sales training.  I can remember having to do a role play in front of 300 people, and doing very well, but hating every moment I was in the spotlight.  However, after I finished, the training coordinator came over and said I was too funny and needed to be more focused on the new selling technique. Seriously?  No pat on the back for a good effort, just criticism. I can tell you that I was so demotivated, I didn't even want to participate in the training sessions.  I was done with the "new selling technique". If you want to create a movement, you need to reward and recognize people for making a great effort, even if they aren't perfect.  It's not a participation trophy, it's motivation for the future.  You can't create a movement without participants and the best way to include people is to recognize and reward them.
  
4. Visualize The Goal - People learn in many different ways.  In fact, there are 7 different ways to learn and process information.  However, I have found that with the advancement in technology that people are extremely visual nowadays. Therefore if you want to create a movement, you have to visualize your goal(s).  For example, have you ever walked into a work place and saw that board which reads "___ days without a lost time accident".  This is an example of visually making people aware of a goal.  Why not create a sign that reads, "___ days of continual process improvement", or "___ days of increased sales revenue".  Why do we focus on accidents in order to visualize our goals?  Why don't we visualize all of our goals? If people see, then they can start to believe.

5. Little People Need Love - I listed this last, because it seems that the little people who help support company efforts are always the ones who are last to benefit, if they benefit at all.  Despite the fact that they make the products, or provide the service, they seem to be lost whenever it comes to recognition.  Often they receive no love from the "C suite", which is a travesty.  In many of the companies I've worked with, once they understand the importance of their "little people", they are able to include those employees in their movements and garner even more success.  The thousands of employees who help support organizations are a powerful force and united they can help build pyramids, but if ignored they can help tear them down as well.  You have to include even the little people if you want a successful movement.


The next time someone suggests you have a contest, tell them that's "old school".  You want to make an impact on your top and bottom lines...create a movement.  You'll be glad you did.

SFTD

Are You Neglecting Your Best People?

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Yesterday, I rode with a sales rep who had finished in the top 1% or her company the last 3 years.  I'd say that's a pretty good rep, wouldn't you? I thought I'd pick her brain about what she was doing in the field to facilitate her sales, or what she liked about the company culture, or could she offer me any advice to help other reps.  Do you want to know what we talked about for the first 2 hours? We talked about another rep, who is in the same region, who gets much more attention because she's a "problem child".

Guess what?  I wasn't shocked.  I see this all that time, and with every company I've worked with.  It's a big issue, especially for management.  Companies are neglecting their best people...in every industry.  Why?

Reactive Management - The truth is that managers pay more attention to their problem children than their best employees.  It's a natural tendency. I remember as a kid, my parents would pay much more attention to my brother, who was always in trouble.  The other 4 kids, including myself, resented the preferential treatment.  He was sent to a psychologist, and different specialists because he was "yearning for attention as a middle child".  Which was exactly what he got, and lots of it, which in turn reinforced his behavior! I was just six years old, and even I could see what he was doing...he even admitted when we were older he knew exactly what he was doing and why.  He felt special.

The same scenario applies to employees.  Managers must not be reactive, but instead proactive. If you are a manager and you have an employee who is taking up most of your time, you should let that employee know right away, that you have other people working with you who are in need of help as well.  Don't let a troublemaker monopolize all of your time, because if you do,  I guarantee the other employees will feel neglected and harbor resentment towards both you and the employee. Nip it in the bud.

Survey Junkies - If I hear about one more stupid company survey result I'm going to vomit.  They're not accurate!  Why?  Because people are afraid to be honest in those surveys.  When I was in an Advisory Board meeting at one such company, they asked me what I thought of the surveys and my answer was simply, "They're bullshit.".  Which elicited quite a response, with lots of murmuring and comments.

The reasons many surveys don't work is because despite the good intentions, the beginning questions are sometimes too specific to a person's role in the company and the employees feel like there will be repercussions if they answer honestly.  You may ask, "well why would they feel that way?" Listed below is a series of questions from a survey I reviewed a month ago, and I paraphrased the questions, so I don't reveal the company or the survey.

1. Which division of the company do you work for?
2. What region of the USA do you work in?
3. Are you a regional manager, district manager, or sales rep?
4. What are your focus products in your region?

Those 4 questions alone might narrow the person taking the survey down to a select few individuals within the company, and therefore the expose employee's identity. If I was taking that survey there is no way in hell I would answer honestly, especially if I had negative things to say about my immediate supervisor.  Many people taking surveys feel like they are a form of intrusion rather than the means to a solution.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind - If you're in management, unless someone is either performing wonderfully or performing horribly you really don't notice them.  As a matter of fact, you're probably not even thinking about them at all.  The sales rep I rode with for a day, said that her boss never calls her except to complain about what a pain in the ass the other reps are in her region.  First of all, a manager should NEVER SHARE ISSUES with employees.  In addition, relating personnel issues to an employee is just plain stupid.  People talk...a lot. She told me he was looking for advice on the best way to manage his reps, but if he needs her advice then why isn't she the manager and not him!

If the only time you contact an employee is to let them know they suck or they're great, than as a boss you're simply an absentee manager.  You might as well be like ET and just phone home because that's where you'll be once your employees start leaving...at home without a job.

The Rules of Engagement - I like that the word engagement is the new catch phrase for getting employees involved.  It has a lot of different meanings:

en·gage·ment

inˈɡājmənt,enˈɡājmənt/

noun

noun: engagement; plural noun: engagements

1. 1.

   a formal agreement to get married.

   synonyms:

   marriage contract; More datedbetrothal; archaicespousal "they broke off their engagement"

   • the duration of an agreement to get married.

     "a good long engagement to give you time to be sure"

     
     
2. 2.

   an arrangement to do something or go somewhere at a fixed time.

   "a dinner engagement"

   
   

   synonyms:

   appointment, meeting, arrangement, commitment; More date, assignation, rendezvous; literarytryst "a social engagement"

3. 3.

   the action of engaging or being engaged.

   "Britain's continued engagement in open trading"

   
   
4. 4.

   a fight or battle between armed forces.

   synonyms:

   battle, fight, clash, confrontation, encounter, conflict, skirmish;

An engagement could be a fight or battle or a formal agreement to get married.  Two seemingly opposite ends of the relationship spectrum.  However when engaging employees it is important to know that it's not always about the job.  It is about forming business relationships.  It doesn't mean you have to be married to your job or the people you work with, but it does mean you must foster relationships with people in order for everyone to be successful.  Listed below are a few tips for managers on engagement:

• Be engaged yourself - I remember a long time ago in a business far, far, away, my boss called me in because he wanted to "get to know me".  I sat down in front of his desk and he asked me a series of questions, but not in the normal course of conversation. More like a list that he had to check off.  I felt like I just arrived at Customs in an airport.  He wrote down my wife's name, my families names, where I lived, what I liked to do outside work, but he rarely looked up from his desk.  It offended me rather than made me like him more.  A good manager is engaged themselves.
• Share - The best people I have ever worked with shared their lives with me.  I don't mean I went to their homes, or played with their dogs, but they shared a piece of themselves.  It made the relationship that much stronger, and I'm still friends with many of them to this day.  Don't just view your employees as numbers, but rather as people and if you share with them, they won't see you as just a manager or supervisor.  However if you have some weird and creepy hobby or fetish, please keep that to yourself.
•  Care - 15 years ago, I had been a manager for a few years, and a new management trainee came into my office and shared that he had an aging grandmother with a slew of medical bills. He asked if he could get an advance on his check for $1500.  Well, the company I worked for never gave advances, especially ones for $1500, so I loaned him the money myself.  Everyone thought I was crazy, but I knew he was good for it and it went to a good cause.  He paid me back in 6 month, and he was one of the hardest working and loyal people I had the pleasure to work with.  Just a great person.

I knew that he cared about his grandmother and they made me care even more about him.  People like that aren't a dime a dozen, so you have to do your best to keep them.


I can't guarantee that this post will help you keep all your best people, but I can guarantee that it will make you think twice about neglecting them.  And if you follow some of the tips, it will make them think twice about leaving. 

Have a good day!

SFTD 

You Don't Own Me...

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It's a Friday night and I just received an urgent email from a customer saying they needed to change the outline of our training schedule for the company's team and he needed it done immediately. Please keep in mind the training was to take place next week and the schedule was already set.  I sent an email reply stating it was Friday at 7 pm and I would forward it to him tomorrow morning. What was his response? He sent me a text and then called me...while I was out to dinner with family and friends.  I didn't answer the phone. Instead I sent a text stating I would call him tomorrow.  He sent one back demanding I call him. Are you friggin kidding me? We have a contract but that doesn't mean you own me dude! The reason I ventured out on my own was so I didn't have to deal with assholes like you in the corporate environment.  I am a contractor not an employee! FU!

I excused myself, called him, and asked him why it was so urgent that we resolve the issue tonight.  He explained he was leaving for the weekend and wanted to make the changes now.  He demanded that I drop whatever I was doing and go home to make the changes immediately.  I politely told him no, that he could email the changes he wanted made, and I would do it tomorrow and send the changes to him for approval.  When he threatened to cancel our agreement, I told him that despite his insistence, my personal life and that of my family was more important than any agreement, and if after all the work we had done, he wanted to stop working together over this particular incident then that was fine with me.  I could tell that he was trying to bully me into changing my position but I refused to give in to his demand. 

He yelled into the phone, "This is total bullshit, why are we paying you if you're not available at all times."

I responded, "I never said I was available at all times, but I am available to help if the demand for time is reasonable.  This situation is not reasonable. I am already out with family and friends and I will take care of this tomorrow morning first thing."

"I told you I need this now. What are you going to do about it."

"Well, I'm going to hang up the phone, go back and finish the dinner I was having with my friends and family and work on it when I get home."

"That's not good enough for me."

"Well I'm sorry but it's good enough for me. I don't believe it's unreasonable to wait 12 hours for the changes when it's 8 o'clock on Friday night and the training isn't until next week."

"I told you I need it done now because I'm leaving for the weekend. Are you going to do it?"

"No I'm not."

"Then I'll have to inform the CEO that we are not going to continue with the training."

"That's fine with me.  I'm sorry you feel that way. I'll be sure to call him first thing tomorrow and let him know your decision. Have a good night."

"Wait.  What?  That's it.  You're just go to give up?"

"No. I'm not giving up. You made the decision to stop the training not me.  I'll be sure to let him know."

"It's because you're being unreasonable!", and he shouted this into the phone.

"I'm the one being unreasonable? Think about that?  I'll make the changes you requested first thing and after you've calmed down you can decide if you want to continue with the training."

"Oh no, we're not going to continue.  No way."

"Fine. I'll email the CEO of your decision.  Thanks and have a good weekend.", I said and hung up the phone.  He called me back straight away...9 times.   But I didn't answer. He sent me texts while I sat, ignored them, and enjoyed a nice dinner.  I finally turned the vibration off on my phone because it was getting annoying.  When I finally got home, I checked my voicemail and there were a slew of messages ranging from angry to apologetic.  All recorded for me to pass on to the CEO, if my professional conduct ever came in to question. 

I sat there and thought about what prompted this guy to become so enraged over something so minor, and then I thought about this person's poor employees. They must feel harassed, brow beaten, and down trodden.  No wonder the company needed my help!  I want all of you reading this post to remember one thing, "No one owns you!"  Despite all the work hours you may be putting in, or the attitude of your boss, who calls you every night, you do have the power to make your own decisions and either tell them to stop harassing you, or quit.  However, don't ever feel like you must do everything they ask, or you'll be headed down a slippery slope. 

Once you give in to a business bully, they will run over you time and time again.  Never let people think they own your life from dusk til dawn, because then you won't have any life.  No job or business relationship is worth that type of degradation or humiliation. 

The next day, I received a phone call from the CEO.

"Good morning M.  I got a call from Roger last night saying you were unwilling to make some changes to the schedule for him?  Is that true?"

"That is true.  I was unwilling to make the changes immediately because I was out to dinner with friends who flew into town and my family.  I told him I would make the changes when I got home."

"That's not what he said.  He said you were upset, unprofessional, and you yelled at him about being bothered on a Friday night. "

"Listen, I understand he was frustrated but I never said anything about being bothered, I simply asked him to wait til morning for me to make the changes. I explained that I was out with family and friends and I would address it right after dinner.  If you want to talk about professional conduct I have 6 voicemails from Roger that you might want to hear."

"Really?  Well again that's not what he told me.  He felt you were unprofessional."

"That's fine. Perhaps is was just a miscommunication on my part. But if you want, I can email you the voicemails and you tell me what you think?  I understand that you have to support your employees and that's important.  But I can assure you that I would never conduct myself in any manner as to be offensive.  And again, I apologize for the miscommunication between Roger and me."

" Well.  Yeah, until I hear these emails, let's hold off on our agreement."

" That's fine.  I'll send you the emails right away and we can talk after you've listened to them."

" Sounds good.  Thanks."

I transferred the voicemails to my email and forwarded them to him as soon as I hung up the phone.
I got a call 30 minutes later.

"Hello M.  I want to apologize for Roger.   I can't believe what was said over the phone, and especially about your family and friends.  It was completely unprofessional and I am grateful to you for bringing it to my attention.  It seems we have a real problem here. "

"Well, yes we do.  I'm sure he's a real go getter and all, but you have to consider his conduct. That's what our training is all about.  Engagement... not harassment. "

" I'm just shocked.  Really, really, shocked. "

" So was I.  Good thing I didn't put the voicemail on speaker. My wife would have fallen out of her chair."

He chuckled a bit, "Well Roger and I are going to have a little talk on Monday.  And I'll assign someone else to handle the training."

"Are you sure? "

"Yes I'm sure.  Stop by Monday and we can discuss how to move forward.  I have someone in mind."

" Sure thing.  Thanks for the phone call. "

"No. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

I hung up the phone, and rather than feeling elated because Roger was about to receive his comeuppance,  I felt sad because here was another yet another example of a manager acting like a jerk.  I've always felt it's been my mission in life, to instruct people on how to be better leaders and now I was not going to get the chance to help Roger.  Life can be cruel.

Every time some one tells you that you need to go the extra mile, and that you need to work weekends, holidays, and whenever they feel you need to work, then simply tell them...

"You don't own me."

Life is more about living, not serving.

-M

How Do You Measure Success?

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Simple Definition of success

• : the fact of getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame
• : the correct or desired result of an attempt
• : someone or something that is successful : a person or thing that succeeds

Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary

A week ago, I was sitting in a hotel bar, just watching a baseball game, when I overheard a conversation from a few drunken businessmen seated nearby. They were arguing about what were the standards by which someone was successful.  However they were defining success in dollars.  A few numbers came out like ten million, twenty million, and even one hundred million.  One particularly inebriated gentleman very loudly tried to make his point.

"Dude, I wanna be ______ that guy is loaded.  He's gotta be worth a billion dollars. Now that's someone who's made something of his life.  If you look in the dictionary under the word 'success' you'll see his picture. "

And as he said this, he made the notation for quotation marks with his hands.  I don't know about you, but I'm starting to find that annoying...air quotes.  Do we really need to know the grammatical underpinnings of the word you just uttered, or are you doing it for effect?  Either way, I don't like people gesticulating near me, it's dangerous.

 Yet alcohol has a strange way of making people think they're more amusing than they really are, or in some cases more intelligent, but in most instances, it just makes people loud and obnoxious.  I would say he fit into that category, but he was determined to clarify his definition of success.

"What do you make? Maybe 100K a year?  That ain't nothing. I make three times that.  Does that make me successful? " he said and his eyes had this glazed over look.  The others guys in suits were just watching and waiting, almost expectantly for him to fall. He teetered back and forth holding his glass, but he remained standing.

"Damn right it does!", he said and then burst out laughing, after which he immediately drained his drink, slammed the glass on the bar, and ordered another.

"So if you make 300K per year that means you're a success?", asked one of the other suits, a tall blond haired guy with freakishly large hands, and a weird angular head.

"Yep! 300K.  That's the cutoff.!" the drunk shouted.

"What about kids and family and all that stuff?", the guy with the odd shaped head asked.

"What about'em?  You can still have'em.  But you gotta make 300K.", said the inebriated one.

All the other business men were just watching the two of them, as if a fight was about to ensue.  They formed a small semi circle around them and patiently waited for a retort from the man with the big hands.

"So it's all about the money? Nothing else?", he said.

"Yep.  What are you an idiot?! That's ALL life is about is money! I can't help you if you don't realize that by now.", the drunk man responded and waved his hand in front of his face, like he was shooing away a fly.

"I don't agree with that.  You can't define success in terms of just dollars."

"Yes you can!  That's the measure of success.  How much you make?"

The man with the big hands, waved them in front of his face, dismissing the drunkard, "My dad didn't make anything compared to me, but I consider him to be one of the most successful men I've ever known.

"You're an idiot!", the drunk guy responded.  "All people care about is money."

The tall blond guy stood up, "No that's all you care about.  You can't measure a man by his wallet. My dad raised 5 kids by holding down three jobs and all of us went to college, and two of us are in grad school, and my sister is a doctor.  Now that's a success."

All the other suits now looked at the tall man with the big hands with a sense of awe.  Who was this rebel, coming in and throwing water on the fire of the drunken man.  Who was this person throwing a cog in the wheels of their warped American Dream?

"That's impressive...but you're still an idiot. No matter how great you and your parents are, I guarantee that your dad thinks he's a failure."

"No.  You think he's a failure...and you're the idiot.", the tall man said and he just walked off.  The drunk guy called after him.

"F#$k you!", he shouted, but the man with the big hands didn't respond.

"Who was that?", one of the guys asked another.

"No idea.  Just some dude who was hanging out with us."

"I'd say his night was a success.", I said, and raised my glass.  They all laughed...except one.

SFTD

The #1 Thing A New Manager Should Avoid

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I just dropped off a conference call, and was I happy to hang up the phone.  First of all, in my opinion conference calls can be a big waste of time if not conducted correctly.  In addition, they are meant to provide direction and motivation for employees, not to criticize and deride their efforts.  Which is exactly what this manager for one of my clients was doing during his call.  He used almost 120 minutes to have each rep go through their numbers and explain why they weren't exceeding their quota by at least 10%.  I have to say it was painful for me to listen to, and even more painful for the reps, some of whom were well over their quota.

Moreover, he was a new manager, so he would talk down to the reps, as if they didn't know how to manager their territories.  Mind you, many of the reps had more experience than he did, but he felt oblige to offer his nuggets of wisdom on why they were "failing".  Which leads to my reason for this post.

The number one thing a new manager should avoid is criticizing employees in front of the rest of the staff. 

And yet, this new manager did exactly that to every rep on the team...even the top performing reps! You had better believe he is going to have a serious morale issue in about 15 minutes, Because those reps are going to start texting and calling each other and complaining about what a jerk they have for a new boss.  They're going to post memes of him on the internet, and make him the butt of jokes at Happy Hour.  They'll draw pictures of his face and throw darts at it. If he doesn't correct that pattern quickly, his team will start to flounder and not only will he have a morale issue, he might be out of a job.

I'm sorry, but business is not a team sport where you can scream at people and get away with it.  That type of environment is for high school and even college sports.  In professional sports, players will tolerate open criticism for a while, yet if you really piss them off, they'll get your ass fired.  Just ask any manager in the English Premiere League, or any NFL football coach.  You have to tread lightly when it comes to "dressing down" people.

It's okay to offer constructive criticism, but do it behind closed doors, and if you do it publicly, you had better be prepared for some repercussions.  Unless of course, you want the person to quit...but that's a story for a different post.

Good luck and good selling!

SFTD

Career Motivation: Treat Yourself Like A New Hire

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For years, whenever I was in a funk.  When I felt like I had exhausted all the leads in my territory, or when I thought my career was at a stalemate, I would search for ways to motivate myself. I didn't want to leave the company or the job I was in, but I was not motivated or excited every morning.  After a year of pounding your head against a wall to land accounts that just aren't buying, it becomes pretty depressing...and painful.

Recently, I felt like I was in a rut with a few older customers and the relationships were now stale.  I wasn't bringing anything new to help them, just reiterating the same old processes that I'd been preaching about for the last 5 years.  We were just going through the motions. They were bored. I was bored. We were like an older couple in need of a "date night" or something to help us rediscover each other. And then I thought to myself,

"I should have them fire me and then rehire me as their consultant.", which seemed exciting and then I thought,

"No that's pretty stupid because you have contracts and they might actually switch you idiot!"

And again I thought, "So I'll fire myself and then rehire myself but I won't share that with them."

Which is exactly what I did.  I treated them like they were a new customer, and I started asking them questions about their businesses, and their challenges.  I re-engaged them and starting building a new set of tools for them to use to improve their numbers.  It was exciting! Normally, I'm not a cheerleader who is out front trying to pump people up.  To be frank, a lot of that is all bullshit.  However, I do get excited when I can help people and we accomplish something.  That's what drives me in my business and in my life.  Consequently, my customers were excited as well.  My renewed enthusiasm became contagious and their team took a big jump forward in sales numbers.

If you're in a funk, and you don't know how to get out of it.  If you're numbers are suffering, and you're wondering what to do...consider what you would do if you were a new hire.  A person just placed in the position.  Without all the gestalts, that are currently preventing you from moving forward.  New hires have a lot of good qualities, and some bad ones, but for this post we'll focus on the positives.

1.) Enthusiasm - Recent hires are always excited about a new part of their career. They have unbridled enthusiasm because the job hasn't broken their spirits...yet.  If you start thinking what you would do if newly hired, the job can be exciting again, rather than boring.

2.) Fearless - People who are just hired, don't have fear because they don't know any better.  As we get familiar with our jobs we worry too much about what might not happen instead of focusing on what could happen.  If you think like a new hire you won't be as tentative. You'll be fearless.

3.) Open Minded - New hires aren't stuck in a job, in fact they just landed a new job, so they are open to any suggestions. They will try anything to improve a relationship or land a sale.

While recently training a person they told me, "I can't do that my customer will think I'm nuts."

My response was, "Well, what are you doing right now to change the dynamic? Absolutely nothing! You're doing nothing, and so this is at least something.  Who cares if you're nuts."

4.) Urgency - When you just start a new job, you are eager to make an impact.  When you are in a job for a while, you tend to get complacent.  Particularly, if you're good at it.  In medical sales, there were times when I knew that all I had to do was show up and I would land a sale.  That's how good I was at my job.  However, it made me complacent and I probably could have made a lot more money. Thinking like a new hire, with a sense of urgency might have brought me a lot more commissions.  

Don't let the job or the environment drag you down.  If you do, failure is inevitable.  If you like your job and you're just in rut, then dig yourself out.  I know this all seems like BS, but it can work if you just change you're mindset, and remember the days when you had just started on the job.  If you think like a new hire, you just might find each day a little more enjoyable and your job a little more exciting.

Good luck!

SFTD

Why The World Needs More Women In Management

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Whenever I publish a post, invariably I  receive one or two comments from some guy who is just an angry old bastard.  Which is weird because at times I feel like an angry old bastard.  In addition, the comment is always centered around whining or complaining by employees, and how people need to "suck it up and work harder". 

My response, "go f#ck yourself". 

Working harder is not going to make problems go away which may be inherent in a system or culture.  Working harder is not going to make the employee feel better about their work environment.  Working harder at a job which is a dead end, will in fact destroy employee morale and undermine the goals of management. 

The old bastard's response to this post would be, "Oh boo hoo! So go get another job!"

Again my response is, "go f#ck yourself."

In my experience, the men in management that I work with and have worked with, have a tendency to react like the aforementioned angry old bastard, and push blame back on the employee.  Even I do that!  Initially, I think, "Wait...what? It's my fault? No it's your fault."  Moreover, we/men tend to suppress any empathy we might have because we feel it might cloud our judgment.  We want to be objective right?  Wrong, we want to be men and make the hard decisions, like firing someone during the holidays.  Yeah, that's right. I did that one year.  I fired a guy right before Christmas, because my boss wanted me to send a message that we weren't soft on poor performance, even during the most festive time of the year.

My response should have been, "boss, go f#ck yourself."

Instead, I acted the part of the good soldier and fired a person when the really hard decision would have been to stand up to my boss who was being a jerk.

Which is why I think we need to stop promoting angry bastards and place more women into management roles...specifically senior management roles. Women comprise just 24% of senior management positions. Yes, I understand there is the campaign "Lean In" started by Sheryl Sandberg and her great book. The "Lean In" campaign has created circles all across the country to help women connect and to realize their full potential, while also getting spouses involved as well.  However, this isn't enough. The people who are actually making management decisions, mainly men, need to begin advocating for women as managers.  Senior executives around the world need to take some action and start actively promoting women into more prominent roles as leaders.   Listed below are five reasons why I think the business world needs more women in management:

Women Engage Teams - In a Gallup poll conducted in 2015, 41% of female managers were engaged with their teams, while just 35% of the male managers were engaged.  What does this even mean?  Well it means that women managers are listening more to their employees and getting their teams more engaged and therefore their teams might be more productive. Further conclusions from the Gallup study revealed that higher engaged employees may lead to higher performing work groups.  In the poll, 35% of women who reported to female managers were engaged, while just 25% of men who worked with male managers felt engaged.  This is a significant difference of 10%, and any advantage you can gain in productivity is welcomed in the corporate environment.

Too Much Testosterone - Many of the companies I've worked with have been dominated by men. In the past, this set up has worked and they've been successful.  However, moving forward, there needs to be less testosterone in the modern work place. Far too often, if you have a bunch of guys working together they start acting like silverback gorillas and trying to prove who is the most dominant, especially with regards to management.  In contrast, the few women managers I have worked with have just wanted people to strive together towards a common goal, and they didn't let their egos get in the way.  Which to me is how it should be really.  Some of the men who I've associated with, especially insecure General Managers, often felt threatened by me, as if I was going to take over their band or troop.  In each instance, I usually quit because the relationship was too strained, but what I should have done was cut off their balls. 

Women Listen Differently - According to a study conducted in 2000, by the Indiana University School of Medicine, women listen differently than men. The study analyzed the brain activity of 20 women and 20 men listening to a reading from "The Partner" by John Grisham.  The men in the study primarily listened with just one side of their brain, the left, which is notably associated with listening and speech.  While the women listened with both sides of their brain, processing not only with the left but also the right side of the brain which is associated with non auditory functions.  In other words, the women were listening and processing the information at the same time, using each lobe of their brains, both left and right. Whether this is better or not is subjective, but I'd prefer to have someone listening to me with their whole brain rather than half.

Women Promote Development - Affiliated with the Gallup poll of 2015, employees polled revealed that they believed women managers were more interested in their development than male managers.

"It does not mean that female managers are more likely to promote their associates, but it could signify that women are more apt than men to find stimulating tasks to challenge their employees, thus ensuring associates develop within their current roles and beyond." - Gallup Poll 2015

I'm not sure this is cognitive proof that women are better managers but it does offer a significant reason to place them in management positions,  particularly if you want to develop your people.

We Need Balance In Our Workplace- If you have too much of one gender in your workplace, there tends to be a general bias towards one sex.  A perfect example happened to me years ago.  I was hired by a company that was made up entirely of women, and so when I would make suggestions on how they could improved productivity many of them would shrug off my opinions, dismissing them as "a man's perspective." Similarly, I have worked in places where the personnel are entirely men, and there were more off color jokes and back slapping than was necessary.  And the women who were introduced into that environment acted more masculine than the men, just to feel accepted, and in turn get promoted. They were in fact, more off color than most of the men, acting almost over the top to garner some type of weird respect, and to feel that they were "one of the guys".  Women shouldn't feel like they need to act like and swear like a drunken sailor in order to be part of the group. Moreover, men shouldn't feel like they need to suppress their masculinity.  We should have balance and share in work place decisions.

These are just a few reasons why we need to promote female managers, but there are many more which are not listed, yet carry as much relevance to support the idea "we need women to lead."

SFTD

"Hey Boss! Stop Being An A#$hole and Listen..."

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I read another stupid post from one of my least favorite influencers on LinkedIn, who for some reason, idiots read to get advice on I guess how to be a clueless boss. I can't avoid reading his posts because they show up in Pulse all the time. The majority of his posts point to flaws with employees and never with management.  Which for me, means this person has no idea what the word "introspection" means.  If you're always blaming your employees or even potential employees, than to put it bluntly, you're an a#$hole.  However a#$holes can change and become just buttheads, and I'd rather work for a butthead than an a#$hole.  Wouldn't you?

If you are a CEO, VP, Senior VP, middle manager, or new manager and it seems like your team is not pulling together or they just don't seem motivated to work hard, you might actually be the problem.  I know that's hard, especially for new managers because you've just been promoted to the position and you think you're awesome.  Guess what?  You're not.  You're as green as green eggs and ham, and you are definitely not a Sam I Am.  

So what's the first thing you can do to improve your team?  Start listening to your employees.  I understand this is difficult for a great number of people who have egos, because it insinuates that you don't know what you're doing in the role as a manager.  But here is the reality, you don't know what you're doing...yet.  A quick way to ramp up into the position is to LISTEN to feedback from your employees.  Here are 5 simple steps to improve your listening skills, garner respect from your employees, and apply what you hear to help improve yourself and your team.

Pay Attention: When I first became a manager, I was always "multi-tasking" when my employees were trying to talk to me, and naturally I missed a lot of good information.  They would have to repeat themselves or they would get frustrated and just walk out of my office.  All of them thought I was a nice guy and I was trying hard, but they didn't have respect for me, because it didn't seem like I had any respect for them.  Why? Because I never stopped what I was doing long enough to pay attention.  Until finally, one of them shouted while I was on the computer, "Can you stop being an asshole and listen to what I'm saying to you?" That got my attention! After that incident, I made sure to stop what I was doing whenever people came into my office to discuss an issue or concern.

Value Employee Feedback - Some of the best advice I ever received as a manager was from my own employees.  Nobody knows better about what is going on in a group, division, region, or corporation than its own employees.  A year ago during a seminar, one of our team leaders told me that she was losing part of the audience during a certain portion of her presentation.  I had written that particular part of the presentation and so I was offended with her criticism.  Initially, I was tempted to tell her that I was the boss and I knew better than her how to run a seminar. However, after reading through the presentation again, I realized she was right.  A few minor changes and the audience was sitting up in their seats and not lying down.

Apply What You Learn- The worst thing you can do is get a bunch of great ideas from your employees and do nothing.  What type of message does that send to them?  "Yeah we value your opinions but not enough to do anything about it." Speaking from experience, I can emphatically state that when I applied what I learnt from my employees, things improved exponentially.  It wasn't a slow process either.  Changes came quickly and the results were astounding. 

Invest Personally - Many bosses have a tendency to care more about what their employees produce, than the employee themselves.  The problem with that way of thinking, is that you won't get the most out of each other.  When your employee comes to you with an issue or concern drop everything and be attentive.  I can remember an old friend was going through a horrible bout with cancer, she had shared the concerns with her boss, and when her boss asked why she was taking so much time off, my friend had to remind the boss that she had cancer!  Her bosses response, "Oh I guess I just forgot."  WTF? She left the company shortly thereafter, and went to work for the competitor.

Life Is Not About You - Despite what you think and what you've been taught since childhood, the world does not revolve around you. We share the world, the office, and even the bathroom.  You may be in charge, but that does not make you all powerful. There are so many start ups with newly crowned CEO's who have little to no social skills and who are running and ruining people's lives. Don't be that type of boss.  If you want to be successful, make the journey about everyone and bring them along.  It will be that much more rewarding for all involved.

Listen and learn.

SFTD

News Flash People: Recruiters Don't Really Care About You...

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I received an email today from an old job website and it was promoting a post from a medical recruiter. I began reading the post which was written by a recruiter offering "advice" to job seekers, and referring to one specific line that recruiters never want to hear from candidates. The post wasn't really an advice column, more like an article criticizing job seekers.

The line she mentioned that job seekers always say was..."Just get me front of the hiring manager".

I almost laughed because I've said that more than a few times to recruiters and they reacted the same way she did.  They didn't want to hear it.

I think many job seekers are under the presumption that recruiters are well meaning individuals who are working hard to help find you a job.  Well, I'm here to tell you that's a pipe dream. Recruiters do not care about you! Some of them may say they care about you, but let's be honest, they can be polite and they can be nice, but many of them don't give a damn about you.  I wrote "many" because there are some recruiters who do care, and those are probably the most successful ones that I know.

If you're working with a recruiter and they don't answer calls, emails, or don't seem interested in your well being, don't get offended, just understand that it's their job to place people, not to like them. I've listed below a few things that I have come to understand about the recruiting business:

Recruiters Don't Work For You - Years ago, I was under the impression that a recruiter was working for me.  Wrong!  They're hired by companies to place people.  Therefore, they are looking to place you with the company for whom they are recruiting and that's it.  They're not looking for jobs for you, they're working for companies to place people.   That's what they do! Again, don't get offended, merely understand that's how the system works. You are a product they a trying to place.  They're not your aunt or uncle trying to find you a good job for a good company.

They Have Specific Guidelines - Recruiters don't set the guidelines so again don't get pissed off if they tell you that you're not qualified.  A lot of companies set very specific parameters for hiring and they won't deviate.  Some companies even have developed hiring algorithms. Years ago, I had a recruiter contact me about a management position in medical devices, because he thought I was a git. And even though I had 5 years experience as a sales manager, my experience wasn't in the medical sales field, so they wouldn't interview me. Not even a phone interview, despite the fact that I was the top rep at my company, out of a field of 300, and had been to President's Club 2 years in a row. I guess I didn't fit the company algorithm.

Recruiters Are Sales People - Whether you like the job they are pushing or not, they're going to try and sell you on the position.  That is their job.  It might not even be a job you want, but the best recruiters are great sales people.  They will try to get you into the position because it's how they make their money! And they can push very hard to place you in a job you might not even want. Recently my wife had a recruiter calling her all the time to place her in a position with less pay at a more prestigious company.  My wife told her that she was very happy in the position she was in and that she didn't want to take a pay cut.
The recruiter told her, "You're making a big mistake.  Your company is going to go under or sell to this company and then where will you be?"
My wife's response, "I guess working for that company anyway? But for more pay?" Ouch!

Recruiters Have Bills To Pay - I was working with one of the top recruiters in the medical field years ago, and he was pushing for me to sign this stupid employment agreement before the end of the month.  I was still working for a company and was getting irritated with the fact that he kept emailing and calling me.  This guy had written books on recruiting, had offices in NYC and Los Angeles and was one of the top guys in his field, so why was he bothering with me?
I asked him, "Why are you calling me?  I'm just a measly medical rep, and you're a big time recruiter."
He answered, "Even I've got bills to pay. And if I treated everyone as a measly medical rep, I wouldn't be a recruiter for too much longer. Everyone's important...to me."
Good answer.

Recruiters Won't Get Attached - Recruiters have to remain objective.  They can't like one candidate more than another because they have to be unbiased.  Thus, if they seem cold and heartless to you, it's because they probably are cold and heartless.  They sell people and they may have their favorites, but they can't show this to companies, or candidates. People come in and out of their lives daily, and they don't have time to get all cozy with you on the couch and snuggle.  Recruiters have to find the best candidate period, and many of them don't have time for feelings. So again don't be put off if they seem distant.

Finding a job is hard, very personal, and stressful.  Rejection is difficult to overcome, especially when it almost seems that a company or recruiter is rejecting YOU. However understand that recruiters are a tool you can use to find employment. And just like a tool, many of them can be hard and cold.  Try to get to know them, understand them, comprehend how the system works, and in the long run, both of you will be successful.

Good day and good luck with your job search!

New Innovation Or Just An Old Idea?

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I was tagged a while ago, by a fellow LinkedIn member and someone I have great respect for, Arnie Mckinnis.  It was in reference to an article associated with Forbes online site about eliminating sales commissions.  One CEO decided to do this and had some success and suddenly people think this is a trend we should be following and is worthy of an article in Forbes?  Slow your roll people...

First of all, so many management "innovations" of the past 25 years I've noticed are just a twist or a turn on an old philosophy.  Why do we always have to reach for something we perceive to be shiny and new?  And by the way, none of these ideas are entirely original, and in this post I'll explain why. Listed below are a few of the latest paradigm shifts that we seem to think are changing the way we lead or manage people. New innovation or an old idea reformulated? You be the judge:

1.) The Death of Sales Commissions - I find it amusing how suddenly business executives have decided that it's not in the best interest of the company, or the sales rep, to pay commissions if they meet or exceed their quota. How does this help a sales rep? By teaching them to how to stretch a dollar? I have read books, articles, and even a review from the Stanford Graduate School of Business entitled, "Eliminating Sales Quotas May Stimulate Profits". However, is this a ground breaking idea? Please reread that title and notice the emphasis on profit.  Of course a company's profit will go up if sales commissions go down.  It doesn't take a mathematical genius to figure out that if you spend less and get the same results your company's profit with increase. This isn't a new and improved idea. Saturn tried this 25 years ago, and where is Saturn now? There is no doubt this will work in a short term case study. But I would like to see them conduct a long term experiment and see how well they retain top sales people after eliminating sales commission. People are motivated intrinsically and extrinsically, especially people in sales. "F#$k you. Pay me!"
2.) Cold Calling Is Dead - Yeah right! The names have been changed to protect the guilty. I read a book 10 years ago entitled "Never Cold Call Again: Achieve Sales Greatness Without Cold Calling", and now with the advent of social media, writers are still piling on the grave of the cold call.  However, cold calling will never die, it has just been reclassified.  When you send an email or even an InMail, this is still a cold contact with a person you don't know.  So how is that any different than a cold call.  Cold calling isn't dead, it's now that we have different mediums to conduct a cold call.  We don't always have to do it in person. Nothing new here except how we make a cold call, either via the internet, phone, or in person.  It's still "cold".
3.) The New Motivation - Wow! Now businesses are using science to discover what drives people?. Is that a new concept? Nope. They've been doing experiments on motivation and behaviorism since the 1800's.  So why is "Drive" ,by Daniel Pink, supposedly the newest book on a paradigm shift in motivation?  Because it's well written, the explanation is simple and almost intuitive, and it was created by a great speech writer. I found the book fascinating and a very interesting take on motivational theory. However psychologists such as Skinner, Watson, and Maslow have been studying motivation for the last 100 years.  In fact, the experiment or Candle Problem and the study Pink refers to is over 50 years old. What Daniel Pink has done, is put all of this science behind motivation into a very simple formula to help layman like me understand how it will work in a practical setting. It's a good book, but I wouldn't treat it like a motivational bible, and I would definitely not base my entire company philosophy on one book. Pay people!!!
4.) Gamification : I think we called these "contests" at one time. Way back in the old days of the 1990's, we used to create contests to garner employee's interest. With the advent of technology and the newest entries into the work force, seaching for a new form of engagement, gamification has become another way to motivate employees to do what businesses want them to do. It is a new form of an old system, which we call competition. Millenials who were raised on video games, and are light years ahead of older people in terms of applying technology, love the concept of gamification.  For them, it's a different way of accomplishing tasks and still being engaged.  It's yet just another way of creating competition and is not really a new concept, just an old one with an SAS attached. Either way, it's a good way to get your employees involved.
5.) Holacracy - This was once called leadership by committee. We all understand that Zappos, Kolibri, Medium, Arca and other companies are using this as a leadership tool, and that empowering employees works. I think this is wonderful, and a very good way to keep employee performance and engagement at a maximum, but it's not that new, just a more advanced form of leadership by committee.  However, with it's advancement, holacracy seems very complicated and must be difficult for an entire organization to follow, especially when you start examining it in detail. There is a constitution for god's sake!  Really? "Am I working for you, or becoming a citizen of your country?"  It almost seems a bit cult like in it's nature, but if you're trying to create a culture, than empowering all your employees is a good place to start.  For me, I would rather have something simpler, like an open door policy that's actually an open door policy.  I think that just listening to employees at all levels and empowering them to help in the success of failure of a company is enough in itself. 

I can think of dozens more examples of an old idea becoming a "new" innovation, but my attention span is limited, and so is the space for this post.

After writing this article, I realized that everything old really can be new again, specifically an idea. It just needs a face lift, a little help from new technology, and a few adjustments.  And like an aging movie star, it can make a comeback.  There's hope for me yet...

Have a good day!

Instant Gratification or Instant Frustration...Are We Spoiled?

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Yesterday I was in line at a drive thru, and there must have been five cars ahead of me.  I got a call, and I took a moment to look at my phone to see who was calling, when I was startled by the person behind me who was beeping their car horn.  I was at first surprised, and then a little embarrassed, and finally a little bit mad.  All this took about 30 seconds. 

As I inched the car forward, I started to think about how ridiculous that person behind me was for beeping their horn.  We were in line at a drive thru!  None of us were going anywhere for at least 5-15 minutes.  I rolled down my window as I looked in the rear view to get a glimpse at the person who was the alleged beeper.

"We are in line at the drive thru you idiot!  Where the heck are you gonna go?  Around me?!", I shouted.

Apparently the logic must have worked, or so I thought because the person didn't say a word in retort.  However, as I looked in the rear view mirror, I could see it was a young woman and she was on her cell phone.  She probably hadn't heard anything I'd said, or more precisely, she didn't care.
She was too busy talking or texting, and trying to manage the drive thru with all the slower cars in front of her, inching along taking up an extra 30 seconds of her time, which she could have spent talking or texting.

As my car crawled in the drive thru line, I thought to myself, "Geez we've become so impatient and so spoiled.  This (insert derogatory term for the girl behind me here ), couldn't even wait 30 seconds for me to move my car forward.  I wonder how she reacts when she's in line at the grocery store?"

And as I sat there, I thought about all the times I've been angry, or have seen people become irate over the silliest little things. As if our instant gratification is the only thing that mattered, and when we don't receive that affirmation, we become instantly frustrated. Do any of these situations seem familiar to you?

1. - You didn't receive an immediate text response - I have been in so many "fights" because I didn't send or receive a text response immediately. And we feel as if that person on the other end of the text just suddenly stopped caring about us.  So how do we deal with this situation? We send another text with either a "hey?", or "?", or "WTF?".  Here's a thought.  It's a phone, how about making a call?
2. - It takes fives minutes or more for an app to open on your phone or device - I find myself getting so annoyed when an app takes time to load.  I downloaded the new ESPN app last week, and when it didn't start working right away, I was furious.  At the time, I was in the garage trying to watch a game, and my wife made the ridiculous suggestion that I actually go inside the house and watch the game.  What? I thought she was crazy!  That's like me suggesting that she stop using Pinterest to buy stuff we really don't need.
3. - You have a problem with Netflix not streaming - Now I am a very calm person.  Almost too calm sometimes.  But when I can't stream "House of Cards", or "Arrested Development", or some other movie Netflix recommends, I just lose it and start swearing at the computer or television. I especially loathe when I'm watching an episode and the stream cuts off.  Hmmm maybe I should trying reading a book like my friends suggest...nah.  That takes too much concentration on my behalf.
4. - Your Xbox, Playstation, or Wii, not loading a game properly-If you're not a gamer this won't apply, but even if you just casually play games like I do, there is nothing more frustrating than waiting for a game to load, or even worse it won't work properly because you just installed an update. I hate when I'm in the middle of playing Just Dance and there's an issue.  Don't mess with my moves!
5. - Your computer not switching tasks quickly enough - Recently my wife bought a new laptop because she felt her old one was too slow.  By too slow, I mean she couldn't watch a dog video, check her facebook page, order from Amazon, peruse Pinterest, update her LinkedIn profile, and do actual work all at the same time quickly enough for her own satisfaction.  Either the dog video would load too slowly, or her fb status didn't update correctly, or her Pinterest page wasn't loading properly.  She had to have all of these things done instantly or else she wouldn't feel fulfilled. I know what you're thinking and "no", that's not my fault.
6. - You're annoyed with people in front of you in line at the airport- A few years ago, I was late arriving to the airport for a flight and by late, I mean the flight was taking off in 45 minutes. I had to check a bag, my first mistake.  And my second mistake was getting behind a clown in line.  I'm not calling the person a clown, I mean there was an actual clown in line!  He had all his make up on and was dragging a big trash can.  I was so annoyed that he was going to get out before me, that I wanted to hit him in his red nose with the lid of the trash can.  I did not, and guess who made his flight, but I didn't.  Yep, the clown! California is so weird sometimes.
7. - You're annoyed with people in front of you in line at the store - I can't remember all the times people have attempted to cut in front of me in the grocery store.  Just yesterday I was in line at Trader Joe's when a rich, middle aged lady acted like she was looking at some chocolates next to the cashier and then just stood there as if she'd been in the cue all along. 
I said to her, "Excuse me ma'am, but all of us are waiting in line.", and I pointed to the people behind me.
She responded, "Oh I only have this little basket.", and then she smiled.
My response, "We all have little baskets ma'am.". , and I smiled in return. Or maybe it was a grimace?
She stopped smiling and then said, "How rude!", as if I'd called her what I really wanted to call her.
My rejoinder, "Yes you are rude to try in cut in front of all of us." 
She then proceeded to extend a bony middle finger at me. Whatever happened to nice, little old ladies?
8. -You're annoyed with people in front of you in line at Disneyland, Six Flags, or Universal Studios- If these are supposed to be the happiest places on earth, than why is everyone so irritable?  Because of the lines!  Who wants to wait an hour to go on a ride?  Not me.  That's why I try to go during the week if possible, but if you have the misfortune to visit an amusement park on a weekend, well you have my condolences.  Hey, at least while you're in line you can text, browse the Internet, or even watch a movie on your smart phone. Anything to make you forget that you're in 90 degree heat, surrounded by screaming kids and miserable parents.  It doesn't exactly sound like the happiest place on earth, but I'm certain it was worth the $120 you paid for admission.
9. - You're annoyed with people in front of you period. - Get used to it because the world is getting crowded.  If you're annoyed by lines move to the suburbs or even better, the Arctic Circle.  Just move where there are less people.  But be forewarned, even in tiny towns there are still impatient jerks.  I was in the middle of a snowstorm a few years ago and there was only my car, a vehicle ahead of me, and a snow plow at a stop light.  When the traffic light changed, the idiot in front of me had the audacity to beep his horn at the snow plow in front of us.  What a moron!  Our only way home was to follow that plow through the storm. I think the jerk who honked the car horn ended up under 5 feet of well plowed snow.
10.-A car trying to merge in front of you on the thruway, freeway, or expressway. - I have never understood why people need to stop other people from merging onto the road.  It makes no sense, and it's selfish.  We act as if other cars are not allowed to get ahead of us, because we were on the road first.  Once, I witnessed an accident because the person nearest the merging lane forced the car trying to merge right into a wall. A woman was trying to merge her car into traffic, and running out of room but the person in the car nearest hers, just kept speeding up and cutting her off, like it was a NASCAR race. Finally she ran out of room and her car went into the wall. To make matters worse, the guy driving the car that cut her off never stopped.  He just drove off. What an a#$hole!

I can think of at least 20 more examples, but I don't want to bore you with any of the details.  However, remember that if these are all the things you really have to become frustrated by, then you've got a pretty good life. 

Have a good day!

Never Make A Decision When You're "Hangry"

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I'll bet a lot of you are wondering what the word "hangry" means.  Well, in the Urban Dictionary it is defined as:

Hangry

"When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both."

I was reminded of that term today, because I was starving and I was reading through an email from a colleague who I work with on occasion.  I was not going to be able to attend a conference and he sent an email to our account contacts stating he would attend in my place, but he referred to me as "your regular business consultant". I was hungry, and basically pissed off that he referred to me as "your regular business consultant". Why didn't he refer to me by name or thank me for the opportunity.  I was fuming and yet wondering "Why am I so upset"?  He'd been gracious and especially grateful when I'd spoken to him over the phone, but just because he didn't refer to me directly in the email, I was swearing like a victim of Tourette Syndrome.

I was very, very, very, "hangry".

I picked up my iPhone to call him and curse his good name I was so mad. In fact, I was even practicing saying things to myself in the car, like a crazy person, before I called him.

"Listen you mother f#$king jerk!  I throw you a bone and your sorry a$$ doesn't even say thank you!"

"I just read your email to MY CONTACTS and I have two words for you....DEAD MAN."

"If you don't rewrite that email you just sent out, I'll tell all your customers you're a furry."

"Regular business consultant?  I'm a helluva lot better consultant than you are, you stupid a-hole"

My mind was just seething with rage, and I was swearing like a mental patient in the car.  I saw a fast food place and pulled into the drive through because it was empty and I was famished.  Still feeling angry I placed an order for something horrible unhealthy but at that point I didn't care.  I got the order, took a few bites of a burger while I was driving and still swearing.  Yes that's right, swearing to myself like a drunken sailor, and eating food like I had the marijuana munchies! I think pieces of food were even falling out of my mouth.  As I was finishing the burger, I started to feel much better and got ready to call my fellow consultant back.  I was going to belittle him and give him a piece of my mind. But suddenly, I wasn't feeling that horrible hatred towards him anymore. 

As I was dialing the phone, I noticed he was actually calling me. I answered the phone immediately.

"Hi there!  I was just about to call you.", I said.

"Was it about the email?"

" Well yes.  It was."

" Yeah sorry about that, I didn't refer to you by name.  I was at the airport and we were boarding and I didn't want to misspell your name or anything and be even more embarrassed so I just went with the business consultant thing.  I'll send a proper email later."

" Yeah, I was wondering why you didn't mention my name."

" Just being too cautious. I really want to thank you for the opportunity and I appreciate you letting me fill in.  I think I'll meet some good contacts at this conference."

" You're welcome.  Best of luck and let me know how it goes."

" Will do thanks again."

We both hung up and I wondered what would have happened if he had called me thirty minutes earlier, when I was "hangry".  The conversation might have been vastly different. 

I will make sure in the future I never make a decision when I'm tired, sick, or especially "hangry".

A man's got to know his limitations...

Politics Will Destroy Your Organization

Copyright: justmeyo / 123RF Stock Photo


That's a pretty bold title for a post isn't it?  I mean, isn't politics a part of what the corporate world is all about? There is always going to be politics.  It's a part of life.  It's about survival.  Look at the television show "Survivor".  It's not always the strongest, smartest, fastest, or the most physically capable that "survives".  Sometimes it's the sneaky, subversive, little bastards that win the prize.

It's funny, I just saw a commercial from my old company while watching "60 minutes", and it reminded me of when I was working there and the office politics that ruined one specific location. Moreover, it derailed the career of the General Manager.  During that time, I truly bled the company colors and it still is a great company with a wonderful training program. Yet even so, politics can still destroy any organization, despite a great corporate culture.  It only takes one bad apple to ruin a bunch, and in the case of my location there was a bucket full of bad apples.  Why?  The boss was promoting an environment of back stabbing and trash talking.  It was truly a study in the dirty art of politics, and for me it was a wake up call that I needed to leave.

I had been brought into the location because their operational numbers were terrible, and the VP felt like they needed veteran leadership to help the new GM.  In our region, they called me "The Janitor" because wherever there was sh#t, I was sent in to clean it up.  (Not my favorite nickname.)

We were having a staff meeting and reviewing forecasts and a simple question came up which was, "Why are we so off on our projections?"

I was the assistant General Manager and running the staff meeting while the boss was at home so I offered a simple and benign answer, "I'm not sure...maybe we might have started with a different projection than corporate?  What matters is how we are going to fix this situation and get back on track.  Right?"  Everyone in the room nodded in agreement. 

That was it.  I answered the question as honestly as I could, and tried to get the staff to focus on how we were going to improve the numbers.  I was not working in that particular location when the team did projections so I had no idea who did the forecasting.  The meeting went well and we came up with a very strategic and traceable plan for the location's success.  End of story...or so I thought.

The next day, I arrived and my boss immediately called me in to his office.

"What's this I hear about me doing the projections incorrectly? ! Did you tell the staff last night I screwed up the projections?"

"What the hell are you talking about?  No I never said anything like that."

"That's not what Anna told me.  She said you thought my projections were not in line with corporate. Brian and Matt said the same thing.  That you said I was wrong on the projections.  What are you trying to pull here?"

"One of the new managers asked me why we were so off our projections.  I told her I wasn't sure and that maybe our forecast was a bit different than corporate.  Then I redirected all of them to focusing on making up the difference.  That was it.  I didn't know who did the projections and I didn't care, I was just trying to get them to focus on finding a way to get back on track.  Nothing more. "

"I also understand from Brian and Matt that you think I play favorites with some of the employees.  Is that true?"

"What the f#$k are you talking about?  I never said anything like that.  What are Brian and Matt forming a little knitting circle to make up stuff about me.  That's is total BS."

" They said you would deny it. Well I've been working with both of them a lot longer than you and to be honest I don't like what I'm hearing.  You've been here just 6 months and all I've heard from the staff is how you undermine my authority."

"Really?  I assume this is coming from Brian, Matt, and Anna?"

"Yes.  Those three have brought issues to my attention. Absolutely.  I feel they're looking out for me and the location."

" Okay.  Let me ask you a question.  Have you ever heard me undermine your authority?"

"Not directly. No."

" Have you every heard from any one else other than Anna, Brian, and Matt about me undermining your authority?"

" Well no. Now that I think about it."

" Okay. Have the numbers improved pretty dramatically in the 6 months I've been at this location?"

" Well yes. But that doesn't mean you're not saying things behind my back."

" To be honest.  All I care about and all I ever care about is performance and the morale of the employees.  If you have 3 managers who you trust and you don't trust me this isn't going to work. Do you trust me? "

" Well let's not get carried away.  I didn't say I trusted them over you. I just said they were bringing things to my attention is all.  I feel like I can trust you ..."

" I think you just answered my question. Weren't Brian and Matt both looking to get this job? "

" Yes, but they weren't ready. What does that have to do with anything?"

" Wow!"  he wasn't very bright and I realized at this point, I couldn't work for such an idiot. "Do I need to spell it out for you?  They obviously are upset they weren't promoted and so they're pushing me out.  Isn't that obvious?"

" Well I don't think they would do that.  Why would they do that?",  he truly was dimwitted.

" So they could get promoted.  It's so blatantly obvious.  And I'm sure that all 3 of them would like to see me gone.  I suppose we have a pretty serious problem.  Well actually, I have a serious problem."

" I'm not so sure it's a problem.  I just can't have you undermining me anymore.  That's all and that's why I called you into the office.  If you have an issue just tell me to my face and not in front of the staff."

" I never have and I never will undermine your authority.  However, I do think you should transfer me to another location."

" What?  Why?  We're doing so well since you came on board.  Let's not blow this out of proportion. I'm sure we can work this out."

" Who are Brian, Matt, and Anna supposed to report to anyway?"

" To you? Why?"

" So by going to you with issues, aren't they bypassing the chain of command?"

" I suppose.  But I have an open door policy.  If they feel uncomfortable coming to you that's an issue."

" I don't think they feel uncomfortable, I think they would rather speak to you about issues and bypass me directly."

" Why?"

" So THEY can undermine my authority.  You have a history with them, and they feel more comfortable coming to you with issues than me, so I think it's best if I transfer to Van Nuys or Whittier. Would you feel better if I left?"

" I don't know if I'd feel better but I think the staff might."

" If you feel more comfortable with them I completely understand.  You've got to pick your own horses. But we should let Joe know that I want a transfer."

" It's too bad, we really were doing so well these past two quarters."

" We were and I'll do my best to help with the transition, but keep in mind I'm the 10th manager who has left this facility in the last year and a half.  You might want to think about that."

" Well some people just don't work well with others."

" Isn't that the truth."

After I transferred, his location's numbers went in the tank and he was fired.  I guess he chose to ride the wrong horse.  Politics are like bacteria.  If you give them a culture to grow in, they'll kill everything in their path...including your organization.