Hustle -- What Does Your Daily Serving Look Like?

I hear people tell me how they have been laid off and in the same sentence tell me about the round of golf they played on Monday afternoon.

I hear people talk about how sales are off, budgets are tight and no one is buying out there right now.

I hear business owners complain about losing money and slow customer traffic.

What I am not hearing is how these people are investing 12 to 14 hours a day to find a job, close a sale and get more customers. Wow did we get lazy in the glory years. We expected profit growth to just happen every year (and it did), we expected our investments to grow just by watching them (and they did) and we sat back and enjoyed the view and the rewards. We justified that behavior by telling ourselves that finally all that hard work in the early years was finally paying off. No longer did we need to work hard because we had set up businesses and investments to run successfully on their own.

Hustle is for the Hungry

The game changed and those of us sitting back enjoying the view suddenly find ourselves out of shape for the effort required to make a difference. Now is the time to break out the hustle mentality and get digging, grinding and sacrificing to get back on top once again. As a twitter friend wrote recently, "HUSTLE is shoe leather and elbow grease and sweat and skipping breakfast and missing lunch."

Let the competition sit and whine about what happened to the good ole days and you regain your daily dose of hustle and blow them away. The fact is, people are hiring, sales are being closed, and customers are buying. Make sure you are the one who is in growth mode by being the one who doubles up on his or her daily dose of hustle.

If you start doubling your daily dose of hustle starting today; in six months you will be back in the hustle groove and you will be back in growth mode. Guaranteed. No magic bullet. No quick fix. Just hard work, focus and moving with purpose all day long.

I Think Therefore I Am -- More Than You Know

Most of the players on the PGA Tour have convinced themselves they can't beat Tiger Woods when he is playing his best. Frequently, companies announce well in advance they are about to file for bankruptcy as a negotiation tactic, but the mindset they create all but ensures it will happen. If investors are convinced the market is failing, they dump stocks, create a run on the market and cause the self-fulfilling prophecy of a Bear market.

Can anyone disagree with these facts? Hardly. In fact, I'm sure you can think of many more personal and professional situations where the expected outcome can to be a reality.

Rene Descartes is quoted with the phrase, "I think, therefore I am." In his philosophical analysis he used that quote to prove his existence, but I think he missed the second powerful message: What I think is what I am.

For example, if you think you are creative, you'll put yourself in situations to use creative thinking, look for opportunity to take risks, and challenge yourself for new ideas. But if you are convinced you aren't a creative person, you don't respect the ideas you come up with and you fear taking risks, thereby proving you are not creative and you find solace in the routine, even if you hate being there.

I love music and can't help moving my body to it, but in high school I convinced myself I couldn't dance. I completely talked myself into believing everyone was watching me and laughing and I talked myself right off the floor -- for decades! It became a self-created obstacle completely of my own mind's making!

Ever work with someone like this? Constantly reaffirming a negative thought until that negative thought became a reality? Perhaps you can even look in the mirror and see this person?

This type of thinking, if nothing else, can teach us the lesson of what we think is what we become. There is no doubting this fact and every one of us has examples of it. So, if this can be seen easily in all of our lives, then that means the reverse of the negative thinking must also have the same self-fulfilling results.

What about in your business? What are the projects, ideas or departments we are convinced will fail before they even get started? What in your career are you accepting a routine because you have convinced yourself you can do no better?

Think of the powerful opportunity you have to reverse that thinking. You have treasures, glory and greatness awaiting you if you only start believing you are worthy of it and believe you can make it happen. Believing in itself isn't enough, of course. You have to develop skills, work at making these things happen, but if you never think they can occur no matter how hard you work, it will not become a reality until you are sure it's the outcome you deserve.

For those that really want to be better than they are right now.

Define the opportunity

Have a focus on the success you want in your life and define it, paint a picture of it, make it become more of a reality. Whether it's the promotion you are looking for, the end of the month targets exceeded, or running 5 miles in under an hour, you want to envision the opportunity.

Action Step: Write it down in as much detail as you can think of. Imagine you are writing a book and you want the reader to see what it is you are describing.

Living in Beta Times

Gmail turned 5 years old yesterday (and still considered to be in beta testing.)

On September 26, 2006 Facebook was opened to everyone of ages 13 and older with a valid e-mail address. In less than 3 years it now has 175 million users.

Twitter was opened to the public in March of 2006 and is currently growing at 1382%.

The Blackberry smartphone was released in 2002 and now has 21 million subscribers.

Technology is changing how we interact as a society, how we process information and how we think. In other words, we are a completely different society than we were on September 10, 2001. That's not even including the social trauma impact we felt in this country the next day. I'm just looking at the technological impact.

Where are you in the transition of society?

When I hear employers talking about having to adjust to employees having "cell phones" I cringe at how slow they are adopting to the changes going on around them. I have witnessed technology speakers asking their audience members to turn off phones and laptops during their presentations. I see savvy business leaders refusing to blog, get involved in social media online and claim to be cutting edge because they have a static page on LinkedIn.

Business executives in this country need to be using the technology available to them to revamp, retool and reposition their businesses in these dormant economic times. Instead of wring hands and gnashing teeth wondering where the next order is coming from, focus on what this time is presenting you with: the best opportunity to recreate your business without losing significant market share.

Traditionalists moan and wail over the loss of how things were.

People leading organizations at the top of their industries resist change because the are the best at the old rules.

Innovators always create and embrace change because they believe life should never settle into a rut.

It was brought to my attention from a twitter colleague that Gmail is still considered to be in beta testing five years into the process. It got me thinking; as rapid as life is changing, aren't we living in a state of constant beta? With Gmail, facebook and twitter all less than five years old, what changes do the next 5 years have in store for us? Life in beta indeed. Lead the charge to new technology applications or lose customers to those who are.

My view on living is I'd rather have life in beta than life in boring. You can quote me on that.

Someone Didn't Just Move My Cheese, They Stole It!

On a rainy day between speaking trips I try to catch up on my backlog of business books. Some are to reread and refresh my mind on the material and others are ones I've been meaning to get to. This morning I realized while surfing through the stack, some of these books that were written five years ago read like they were written 20 years ago.

Knowing how to pitch stories to get into newspapers...

Networking ideas that don't include social media...

Information becomes out dated so quickly these days that someone didn't just move my cheese, they stole it!

To keep up with the pace of business you need to be in constant contact with resources for news, information and current ideology for the workplace. The question used to be, "How many books do you read a year?" More importantly, how many books, blogs and online articles are you reading weekly? This is the only way to stay current on your leadership and executive knowledge and information.

Favorites

You need to be bookmarking blogs (like this one) and websites that you find to be a continuous flow of good information. Better yet set up an RSS feed so that information comes directly to you. Weekly, you need to set aside an hour to explore new information avenues to find even more places to add to your online favorites. Keeping up with the flow of information is the key to knowing where the world is turning and how you need to be proactive to such changes. They say once it's in the news its already happened but that news item can give you insight on the next proactive step.

Groups and social media

Every Monday evening I participate in a group gathering to talk about the meeting industry and how things are changing and how we should structure our businesses based on those new trends. This is a multi-national online meeting and approaches the industry from all angles. Imagine a business after hours cocktail hour every Monday evening with an international feel. The information flows, new contacts are made and serious topics are handled. This is fresh information live.

I've become a twitter addict (add me @GrowthSolutions) and every other week, those people locally I tweet with, gather for a lunch to talk about social media. This information exchange always has a specific topic of discussion and it always surrounds how we make emerging technology work for our businesses. Every lunch I am able to strengthen relationships with very knowledgeable people whose information helps my business.

It's time to amp the learning curve to take it active, to take it daily, to take it serious. Leadership must be well informed to be able to lead.

What Am I Doing Here?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself that question? It seems with the world spinning at such a faster pace, we lose days, weeks, months and sometimes we lose years and look up and realize its already one quarter deep into 2009. Anyone else remember Y2K like it was yesterday?

What am I doing here -- at work?

Inertia can keep you in jobs you no longer are suited for and you find yourself simply going through the paces from day to day. You may not have noticed your robotic pace but I'm sure your employees have. If you feel you are sleepwalking doing the same routine, you need to really address this question. If you are dreading Mondays and begging for the weekend to get here in a hurry (as I talked about in yesterday's blog) you need to ask yourself this question.

If you are not feeling that you are performing meaningful work or realize you are not making great efforts to inspire your employees in these turbulent economic times, then the question really fits: What are you doing?

What am I doing here -- with my family?

If you were a workaholic before this recession, you are an ever greater workaholic now and the stress meter is about to hit the bell at the top. Think your family has seen a difference in your behavior? Think the work stress is spilling over into your family? Stop. Think. What are you doing here? Under stressful working conditions, domestic violence increased, depression increases and family tensions can seriously increase as well.

Sure money is tight, but some solid family time or a road trip can do wonders for getting away from the stress. Turn off the phone, leave the laptop at home and put the watch in the suitcase and take a four days trip to a fav spot you and your family can drive to, and enjoy some relaxing family time. I hear it from executives far too many times how they sacrifice family for the sake of occupational achievement. Now is the time to question your behaviors and time demands, and move the family to the front of the priority list.

What am I doing here -- with my body?

Anyone else a stress eater? Anyone else already lost that New Year's resolution of hitting the gym at least three times a week? Anyone having a difficult time getting a good night's sleep? Stress will tax your body and sap your energy. In addition to that, when we are stressed we eat poorly and on the run, exercise takes a backseat and we get to bed late trying to entertain ourselves with late TV and then toss through the night dreaming of work. Ask yourself, "What am I doing here?"

Now more than ever is the time to grab some discipline in these health areas. I know in my case I need an accountability partner and about three or four exercise buddies. Because we all travel at least a couple of us can get together. If I am meeting someone I will be there for sure. If I am on my own, that snooze button looks too good and then hitting the drive thru for breakfast starts the whole bad cycle once again. What are the body maintenance habits you need to shift today?
If you never stop to ask the important question of "What am I doing here?" You will never make the necessary changes to keep you traveling the right path for your life.

Being sidetracked can be subtle and suddenly two years down that wrong path you realize how far off you are. Add this question to your weekly routine, and constantly search for your success path.

It's Good to Be Different -- In Fact, It's Essential

My parents used to try to get me to act just like every one else so I would fit in. Companies today are following the same philosophy. Whether you are talking as an individual or as a company, nothing could be further from what is best for you: Be unique.

Today price-driven economy has everyone falling into a commodity market where no one wins because price competition drives down all profits. To fly above the noise you have to create the unique difference that sets you apart from the competition and places your company in the first position in the minds of your customers. The brand most recognized in any industry outsells positions 2 and 3 combined. People will seek out the first company that comes to mind 99.2% of the time.

With those kinds of statistics you have to spend time thinking creatively to find the differentiators.

Ford Motor Company asked input from the creator of the concept of lateral thinking Edward de Bono. Lateral thinking is a type of structured brainstorming to find the creative ideas that are more on the mark than simple free-form brainstorming. Ford wanted him to suggest some ideas on how to differentiate themselves in the auto industry.

Ford had approached the problem of competing for customers by asking the question, "How can we make our cars more attractive to consumers?" De Bono offered a concept from a completely different direction. He asked the question, "How can we make the whole driving experience better for Ford customers?" He offered the suggestion that Ford should buy up parking lots and garages in all the major city centers and make them available for Ford cars only. What a great unique idea! However, his remarkable idea was too radical for Ford because they saw themselves as a vehicle manufacturer not a car lot owner.

"In times of rapid change, experience can be your worst enemy." J. Paul Getty

How can you take a view of your organization from different angles? What are the ways to position your organization at the top of your customers mind? The more you learn to think ahead of the rest of the industry the more your organization will be the industry leader.

Establish a manager growth program -- build the knowledge base

I am hearing from some executives that growth in this economy just isn't going to happen in their industry so what can they do to maintain the growth mentality in the organization? If you are in one of those industries that are significantly stagnant you must maintain the growth culture in other ways, such as knowledge growth, specifically in your managers.

The managers are going to always set the tone for the rest of the employees, whether it is a positive outlook, a negative outlook or a growth outlook. In order to keep your managers fresh, keep them growing and keep them in the right frame of mind, provide a book study that will improve their skills.

I've had a number of clients in the finance industry this year order my Russell's Rules book for their managers to study and discuss in their weekly meetings. The rules are short, simple, to the point and have implementation action steps that are easy to do. By using practical application leadership books, you keep the knowledge base growing, the positive discussion active and the workforce happy with better leadership approaches being used with them.

Some basic steps for knowledge growth:

1. Make sure the book is something your managers will actually read.

I consider Peter Drucker one of the best leadership authors of all time, but unless your manager team is deep into the science of leadership and business, they will not finish a Drucker tome. Short, to the point and immediately applicable books might not make the best seller list, but your managers will make it to the back cover.

2. Have meaningful conversations about what was to be covered for the week and how these tools are going to actually be put into practice.

The discussions will allow people to offer their spin on the information and how they plan to use it. If the group truly is interested in growing on a personal level the conversation will truly be beneficial to the organization. As the executive you will also see who is making the effort to make a difference and who is going through the motions just to follow along. This information becomes your growth as you better learn who cares and who doesn't and who may be dragging down your team and who may be the best selection for your succession plan.

Reading leadership information without putting it into practice is not going to give you the return on your time investment; therefore, be sure to build in accountability to putting these things into practice.

3. Make it fun.

If this becomes a chore for your managers or an addendum to your weekly manager meetings, it will take on an air of unimportance and a necessary evil. Have fun with it, get people involved. Use the book you've selected as a way to talk about the parts of your organization you want to grow. Even when the economy isn't facilitating market growth, the growth inside the organization should always continue.

Keep the Phones On During My Programs!

A new phenomenon is happening in speakers' audiences -- people texting instant word of mouth marketing and commentary while the program is going on! I heard about one technology speaker chastising people from the platform for leaving their mobile phones on and for opening computers during his session. How do I know this? Because people in the audience were twittering about it as he said it, and I got to read it 3000 miles away. They were not happy about his comments. Instant word of mouth. Are you ready for that type of bold scrutiny?

Being a speaker, I am used to hearing the formulaic pre-program announcement requesting all audience members to turn off phones and laptops. Today that request is expecting too much of people and many people will just not adhere to the request. Why? Because this is how we communicate in today's world. We need to start using this type of technology to our advantage; don't try to take it away from them.

Keep the phones on! Laptops too.

This past weekend I spoke at an international conference and on my opening slide (you know the one with the program title that stays on the screen as everyone is walking in) I posted my phone number and asked my audience to text questions to me during my program if they so desired. I listed my facebook url, my twitter url, my blog url and my website address and asked them to "Friend me up" while waiting for me to get started or after my program if it met with their approval. Don't fight technology -- embrace it, use it, incorporate it.

Forget the evaluations

Paper evaluations at the end of a program are so old school. Not to mention they have to be tallied, sorted and distributed to the speakers. Just set up a #(hash) page on twitter and let people provide the instant feedback as it happens. For example, let's say I set up the page #ARARussell (the conference and my name) on twitter. Anyone in my audience could give me instant feedback on what they learned and what they liked and what they didn't think I did well. Instantly! This can be accessed and updated instantly by phone text or laptop. There is one form of evaluation that needs no tally. It's there in raw form: open communication and quick access.

The Migration

Another form of evaluation that is the newest trend in conference audiences is the "Text Migration" effect. I was one of 5 concurrent programs at this conference. When I started, my room was full and the largest audience of the five, but as my program progressed, it grew to standing room only. I later was told by a number of my audience members their friends had texted them from other sessions to see how my session was going and based on that instant review they left the other sessions and came to mine. That is a serious evaluation for all the speakers.

Expect this trend to continue. In the first 15 minutes of a program the speaker needs to "lock in his audience" or they will migrate to the program that is totally making the most of the opportunity.

Allow audiences members to stay connected. Allow them to use the technology they love to use and incorporated it into your program.

It's Not Just a Job -- It's an Adventure!

We all have options on how we approach the times we are living in. Leadership is still about inspiring excitement, enthusiasm and determination. Maybe now more than ever leaders need to take control and set the tone for the culture of their organizations.

Show me the love

Tough times can bring out the worst in people. Stress levels are high, worries are numerous and people are angry. Mix in some cold weather, gray skies and negative news in the morning paper and rage is just under the surface for millions of American customer and workers. It's a great opportunity to show some love and appreciation. Recently, I sent my long-term clients Peace Lilies to remind them I'm here to help them grow and to thank them for their business in these difficult times. It stood out and they knew it was sincere. It was a show of love that is in short supply.

Show the love to your customers.

If you have heavy customer walk in traffic, put a coffee pot in the lobby with some flavored creamers and a sign beside it -- "Although times are tough, we still, love you! Have a cup of Joe on us."

Show the love to your employees.

Take extra care to thank employees for coming to work. Thank them for their positive attitudes. Thank them for their hard work. During challenging times workplace appreciate counts double! Show the love.

Make conflict constructive

Because of the edge of emotion people are riding, conflicts are going to be meaner and happen more often. You can't just tell people to behave. It's in them and it has to come out. That's OK -- channel it.

Remind your entire workforce you are a solution-based organization and not a blame-based organization. Constructive conflict is a good thing. It's how innovation happens. It's how creativity is improved and it's how problems get solved. If you are successful at channeling conflict behavior into creating improvements in the workplace, in the interactions between employees and in the communications throughout the organization, you will benefit greatly from the conflicts that happen.

It's not just a job -- it's an adventure.

I remember that recruiting slogan for the military a while back and it applies perfectly to today's work environment. Do you know anyone who loves to go camping? I never go camping. I work hard to have a nice comfy bed with air conditioning and electricity and running water. I like those things. But I have friends who hike into the mountains, fight the bugs, freeze in tents and have restless sleep in a sleeping bag lying on the ground with no bathrooms, no electricity -- and they love it. Why? Because it's an adventure! Imagine if those same people will be thrown out of their homes and had to live like that for a while because they got laid off? Are they still all happy about camping? No, because the mindset is different. It's no longer camping -- it's hardship.

Which are you experiencing at work -- an adventure or a hardship? It's all in your mindset. That mindset will determine how you move forward this year in your efforts, commitments and drive. People like adventures because that are fun, unpredictable, exciting, and it is unstructured. One of my buddies has a camping story where a bear showed up at their camp site one night and sniffed the tent he was in trying unsuccessfully to sleep. He was scared to death and exhilarated at the same time, and it's his favorite story to tell. That is what adventure means -- scared to death and exhilarated at the same time!

Adventures are always challenging and adventurers live for the challenge and to overcome the obstacles of that challenge whether it is climbing Pike Peak, whitewater rafting the Colorado or backpacking into bear infested mountains. Can you feel the excitement?

On the other hand, hardships are oppressing, suppressing and depressing. They are something you hope to simply survive and make the best of a bad situation.

How are you looking at our economic times? Do you see the adventure or the hardship? Those who see it as an adventure will come out on the other side of this turmoil as a much better business leader and person, not to mention how much they will enjoy the journey. Embrace the adventure.

Its Kick Ass Friday :10 Ways to Be Who They Can't Be

Forget coasting into the weekend, make today Kick Ass Friday and dominate the competition today.

I hear clients bemoan the competition all the time. The whining sounds like…They are bigger. They have larger budgets. They have more man power to get things done. They have a bigger market share. They. They. They.

Forget playing the game THEY play. Figure out what they are not doing and be the one to deliver that.

Answer these 10 questions for your organization and you will be who THEY wish they could be. After you make millions of dollars from the answers to these questions remember where you got it from and let me know about your success.

1. What is the marketing approach in your industry no one has tried yet? Do it.

2. What relationships do you want to establish your competition wish they had? Go for it.

3. What service could you improve to remarkable levels? No waiting, act today. In fact, right now.

4. What are the trends of your industry changes over the next five years and how could you be there next year? You have a full 8,760 hours to make it happen. Make it happen.

5. What is the most creative marketing idea you could smack the competition upside the head with? Think how good that would feel.

6. How could your salespeople out-smart, out-hustle, and out-maneuver everyone else in the industry? It's there for the taking. It's up to you how bad you want it.

7. What is the one product you produce or sell better than anyone else? Scream to the heavens about it like your hair was on fire.

8. What online technology hasn't reached your industry and how can you capitalize on that fact? Go find it because it's probably something you can do for free.

9. What is the biggest customer complaint about the competition? Be the superstar to those customers in that one area.

10. Where are you not giving your full effort and passion? Ask someone who reports to you and you'll get a better answer than the one you came up with – unless they are afraid for their job.

11. What are the next ten questions you need to ask yourself as a leader who needs to grow?

A Shark Won’t Let You Park

The average American watches 30 plus hours of television in week. That's a little over four hours a day parked on the couch, letting your mind idle making no progress to be better. Ever wonder if your life feels stale? Maybe it's time to turn off the TV and get into some shark infested waters.

The Japanese population enjoys fish as a steady diet, and to feed this population fishing boats had to venture further and with larger holding tanks to catch enough fish. Freezing the caught fish wasn't an option as frozen fish doesn't suit the Japanese palate. So the problem facing the fishing industry was how to transport large holds of fish without the fish arriving stale tasting. The fish in these large holding tanks on the boats for days became listless and sluggish without a predator in the tank and actually tasted poorly and people stopped buying fish.

So how did the fishing industry solve this problem? They put a shark in the holding tank on the ships. Although the sharks would eat their small share of the caught fish in the tank, the rest of the fish would arrive alert, and quite lively, and yes, very tasty.

We are creatures of habit. If our habits are sitting on the couch watching TV, then we are embracing listlessness and our minds dull in the process. Put a challenge in your life and you will be livelier, alert, and be able to rise to overcome more obstacles.

What shark do you want in your tank?

Creating The Insider: Every Customer Wants "In"

Back in the dark ages I owned record albums with “hidden” soundtracks and “backmasking.” Monty Python’s Matching Tie and Handkerchief album had a second, or “hidden,” groove on one side of the album that only played if the stylus hit it accidentally. We called this the “third side” of the album.

The Beatles White album has a message recorded backwards under the song Revolution Number 9. I had access to a radio studio turntable, so I could play the album backwards and hear what the words really said. These were the surprise prizes that were shared from person to person; the “inside” information made us feel in the know, clever for having figured it out, and part of a special crowd.

DVDs now do the same thing with Easter Eggs. They are exciting to discover, and the customer feels special and rewarded. And the best part for the customer -- sharing the “secret” with someone else! For example, the Cars DVD has hidden treasures aficionados enjoy. If you’ve seen “Boundin’ with Mater,” you are an Insider!

What are you doing to create the buzz of word of mouth marketing for your surprise prizes?

Do you know about the “secret menu” at In and Out Burger? Have it “Animal Style!” Are you a Maker’s Mark Ambassador with your own barrel of private stock bourbon? Now you want to be an Insider don’t you?

Define the “Insider”

Insider: A customer who feels special. A customer possessing special knowledge. A customer who has been given a unique and remarkable gift. A person who resists the invasion of the masses.

Insiders are going to be the best salespeople you have -- and they will sell your company and products for free, and with greater enthusiasm than many in your paid sales force. With the speed information now travels across the Internet, a single person can create a tidal wave of information and buzz!

Create the “Insider”

Resist the temptation to overexpose an Insider opportunity. Let your customers do it for you! Avoid publicity. This flies in the face of conventional marketing wisdom, which is, in fact, its special power. It is non-conventional. It creates selectivity. Here are steps to consider in creating your Insider:

1. Define who you want to “qualify”

Who you want to qualify establishes your parameters. Are you looking to create buzz through a “membership” program? Correct mistakes overwhelmingly? Let your customers create the “inside” information? Have customers occasionally have discoveries and tell others where to find them? Your Insiders need to reflect the culture you are creating with your organization and products.

Maker’s Mark is a small distributor of high quality bourbon that is worth the extra expense to their clientele. Maker’s Mark’s “Ambassador” program is focused on those loyalists who want to be part of the Maker’s Mark family. Both the company and the loyal customer like the family feel and status identification of their product.

2. The discovery

Insiders love the discovery. It’s the surprise prize. The discovery has to be exciting, remarkable, and of value. In the early days of HBO, the movie channel used to offer a gift movie at midnight one night during the end of year holidays. In the listing it simply listed it as “movie” with no fanfare or promotion. One year, it was the movie Ghostbusters, which was a real surprise because it hadn’t been released on videotape and was barely out of the theaters. The unexpected discovery was exciting! I got to tell everyone the next day what they missed. I was an Insider who got a treat others missed out on! The discovery creates buzz, creates scarcity and makes the Insider feel special.

3. The gift

Maker’s Mark sends gifts unannounced. They just appear in my mailbox. Surprise! They are always gifts of quality that I can display, use and share with friends and are linked to the use of their product.

Some are gifts of immediate practical value such as engraved glasses and stirrers, and some are gifts of prestige. I’m proud to say there is a barrel of Maker’s Mark in their warehouse with my name on it. It’s a gift of recognition that my “Ambassador” status has significance.

I received a certificate announcing the birth of my barrel. I receive updates on its progress. My barrel will not be ready to be tapped for 7 years (how’s that for anticipation marketing!) -- and notice how I say it is “MY” barrel. Roughly 18 names are on the 50-gallon barrel, but it’s mine! I can even have special engraved bottles made to share with friends. The extra expense for these VIP bottles? Who cares -- I look like I am “The Man!” giving those away. This is what most Insiders value: the peer recognition of owning such a gift. I have given some of my Insiders golf towels from Augusta National, home of the Masters. It’s not the towel -- it’s the comments from their friends that are the gifts.

4. The access pass

Insiders like special access. Whether it’s the password to a special website page or access to a “forbidden zone,” Insiders like the special treatment. On a distillery tour, the tour guide decided to take the small group where “we really shouldn’t go” through a door that read “No Unauthorized Admittance.” The buzz of the group at the end of the tour was being able to see behind the scenes.

It was doing the forbidden that made us feel special. It’s the backstage pass. It’s the press credential to get onto the field. All insiders want to feel special. It’s what we tell our friends about.

5. Keep it fresh

McDonald’s Happy Meals regularly change the toy inside with savvy movie tie-ins. The kids may not be in the driver’s seat but they make the fast food selection. They are the Insiders who were able to get the “limited edition” Mater toy.

You need to keep your Insider’s attention fresh. Your Insiders want to be intrigued. If every year you send out pocket knives (as one of my vendors still does), they lose their appeal. Since I fly so much, a pocket knife is now actually undesirable because if I forget it’s part of my normal pocket contents, not only will I lose it at airport security but I now have the inconvenience of getting pulled for a special security check. I no longer feel special. The vendor is no longer in touch with my needs, therefore I no longer feel like an Insider.

Insiders want to be appreciated, pampered and know the company is in tune with them. The minute you lose freshness with your Insiders they will feel less appreciated.

6. Listen to the Insiders for what they create

If your organization is lucky enough, your customers will create their own Insider information (I mean the good kind.) Nothing is better than word of mouth you never had to initiate. It’s information that takes on a life of its own. Be familiar with the buzz, enjoy it, and work to keep it for Insiders only without trying to overly capitalize on it. Why?

7. How to lose Insider buzz

A. Allowing the masses in.

Waffle House once had its Insider lingo: Scattered, Smothered, and Covered. It was the inside way to get special treatment to your hash browns for the after-midnight crowd. Word traveled fast about the lingo, and people knew there were options but not sure what they meant. Sadly, now some menus actually explain the words’ meaning and promote those options. Insiders no longer feel part of the inside few because now everyone is an Insider.

You will lose your Insider once the masses become the Insiders and the buzz will be lost.

B. Easy entry premium clubs

Airlines have their premium clubs trying to make frequent flyers feel special but the clubs have lost much of their meaning. What good is early boarding for premium club members if 85 percent of the passengers are in the club? What good are upgrades to first class seating if, as a flight attendant told me, the bean counters are removing 25 percent of the first class seats and replacing them with coach seats to make more money once they realized 25 percent of first class seats were being filled with premium upgrades? Thanks, USAirways! Now I feel so special!

A premium club has no meaning unless it has scarcity.

What are your scarcity items Insiders crave? What is the Top Secret information only given to Insiders? How are your customers creating buzz about your company or products? What are you allowing Insiders to discover? It’s the multi-million dollar marketing advantage you need to get in on.

Step Forward or Run Scared

Right now companies are falling into two different camps on how they view the economy. Which group do you think has more members in it? Which group do you think has a better chance of corporate growth in 2009? Which group are you leading your organization toward?

Run scared

This is the group that will sit back, wait and see then hope a light at the end of the tunnel appears soon. This is the common choice, this is the choice for those companies who desire (Based on their actions) to be a commodity, a middle of the pack company who have no interest in attracting more customers and are more interested in just letting the economy buoy or sink their bottom line. These organizations have executives and boards of directors looking at budgets with Samurai swords looking to slash costs, worried how their organization is going to fare and essentially looking at the next 12 months with the expectation of how hard it’s going to be to just sustain. They collectively shake their heads about how bad “everything” is. They have accepted they are staring at a hill too big to climb and would rather run scared than run up the hill to move forward.

Step forward

The few leaders who honestly believe in the core of their being they can make 2009 a great year for profits are rolling up their sleeves, laughing at the competition and getting ready to make quantum leaps in their industries. Instead of taking out the Samurai swords to slash budgets, they are planning and making strategic choices on how to spend MORE money on development, advertising and innovation. How can they afford to take this approach?

Lance Armstrong is a fast racer but everyone else in the peloton could keep up with his pace in almost all stages of the Tour de France. Where Lance became unbeatable and won each of his 7 Tour De France races was in the mountain stages. He knew in the roughest terrain in the most challenging stages, was his opportunity to move forward. To take control. To teach the competition that in the toughest stages the best was able to gain great ground and move forward to be the leader of the pack.
Those companies who are looking to run forward in 2009 know that this is the year to make those hard decisions to invest time talent and finances in making great steps forward. While the rest of the pack is thinking negative thoughts on the way up the mountain, the best leaders are thinking about how they are gaining a competitive advantage.

Was it purely mindset that put Lance Armstrong in the lead in the mountain stages? No, the mindset was the foundation of the preparation, the planning, the diligence, and the hard work. He knew it would pay off dividends after the first race it worked. Great leaders know the payoff when an opportunity like 2009 comes along. Do you? Are you ready to set you mind and follow with your actions to step forward?

Have you ever seen this behavior before in your life? Sure. These are the students in school who are always hoping for a teacher curve to adjust test scores so enough people will get a passing grade. These are the football players who show up for practice every day, go through their work outs knowing that are not going to start in the big game and they’ve accepted that spot on the sidelines. When the team wins they are happy! When the team loses they drop their heads to listen to the coach’s locker room comments just like those who actually played the game.

Scary Wins in Scary Times

Industries are shrinking, profits are getting smaller and the global competition is getting scary good. You have three options on how to go forward.

A. Close the doors, give up and curl up into the fetal position and hope everything gets better – eventually.

B. Continue doing what has worked for the last 20 years because it has always served you well to this point

C. Get scary in these scary times

The NEW economy is here and to grow and thrive requires a different approach to employees, customers and how and what you offer in the marketplace. But first a few scary statistics.

One in ever five people lives in China. With 1.3 billion people, China has 20% of all of humanity within its borders.

India’s prime minister has committed the next big wave of government investment into higher education with the goal of producing over 500 million technology skilled workers by 2022.

The entire population of the United States is 300 million.

When you have 20% of humanity on this planet within your borders, you have a workforce size that is indomitable. China is beginning to emerge on the global scale as a corporate player not for lowest cost minimal quality goods as we have seen in the past, but with top quality goods and the commitment to play the business game better than anyone else. That also means they will have the buying power and resource demand to completely reinvent global competition. If you saw the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics, you know with practice and commitment this country can mobilize and synchronize a juggernaut of immense proportions.
As far as GDP or purchase power parity based on 2006 data:

United States $13.13 trillion
European Union $13.06 trillion
China $10.17 trillion

This is the foundation of the new economy where the US is fast being approached by the competition which means all businesses need to adopt the Olympic slogan of “Faster, higher, stronger.”

You might be thinking this only applies to Fortune 500 companies who are multi-national organizations what does this have to do with my small business? Are you aware small businesses (less than 500 employees) make up 99.7% of businesses in the United States? Were you also aware that small businesses employee over 50% of the American workforce? Small businesses are the engine that drives this country and the global economy and competition have everything to do with your business!

If you’ve recently filled your tank on your car, gone to the grocery store, watched the news on television or picked up a newspaper you know we are in different, some would call scary, times. So Mr. Business owner, entrepreneur, executive how do you react? Do those first two responses offered previously in this article inspire employees and encourage customers? Of course not, yet they are becoming a common scene across the business landscape in this country because business leadership is running scared.

Don’t be scared – just get scary. Scary wins in scary times because traditional well-worn efforts no longer work in this new economy so leadership needs to make the commitment to try scary steps in order to win in these scary times.

Scary Sales

Having a sales staff of order takers calling on the same customers hoping for renewed orders is old school that functioned satisfactorily in the good times of the 90’s. It’s a new economy that requires sales staffs to be high energy, product smart and prospect savvy. High energy is a must for the salesperson to be able to expend the needed energy and effort daily to locate the best opportunities, dial in the best approach to get to the decision maker and leave them breathless with the opportunity being presented. Does your sale staff have this attitude? This standard for every sales opportunity presented? Are your sales people ready to ramp up the effort and energy level at least three notches in order to compete?

High energy will get sales people in the door and potentially to the right person but it won’t close the deal. They also need to be product savants. One sales man in one of my audiences stopped me in my presentation to tell me he offers thousands of products to customers, it is impossible for him to know them all in detail. How true he is! A person selling thousands of products is nothing but a walking catalog. That is useless today! Get rid of your sales force, put all the products and descriptions on your website, post an order form and tickle the customers with an email once in a while if that’s all you want your sales people to do. It won’t work but you will sure save on your labor cost!

Sales people today need to know their products as if they invented it themselves. They need to know the applications for each customer, the potential challenges, the proper pricing, and billing schedule that best suits the customer and be able to answer any question the prospect or customer has, without the BS lights flashing and horns sounding.

Run free trials, do experimentation with the customer, assist them with their R&D efforts and identify better ways to use the products more efficiently before the customer even asks to be able to. In other words, provide a “Shock and Awe” campaign in your sales efforts. You may have to actually add more sales people to accomplish this, and you will for sure have to add more training for your sales people. Is that a scary thing to do in this economy? You bet it is, and it’s what you have to do to win, that is if you want to win.

Scary Leadership

I’ve been hearing for ten years about the multi-generational workforce, and how people are so different and how the younger age workers just don’t have the same work ethic as we boomers and geezers had and no loyalty, blah, blah blah. Business executives are still trying to cram the workforce of the new millennium into a 1950’s style of management box. It doesn’t work! So why do they keep trying? Because it’s what they know and what they understand and what worked for them for a long time. And, the new ideas scare them.

Scary leadership involved removing time clocks and time sheets and expecting people to get their work done and accomplish what they need to do. It involves offering a flex time schedule that truly means flexibility! Organizations who offer day care services, gym membership benefits, time off with pay to experiment on new ideas and projects are doing the scary stuff and making it profitable. Who needs an annual review when you are giving weekly performance feedback and developing better habits and practices along the way? Scary leaders don’t wait for job openings to find new employees, they are in a constant talent search and when someone with top talent is located they hire that person and then find the right fit for them in the organization.

One of my clients had it all figured out. Their conference room didn’t have a table it had a bar, complete with a keg and a tap that operated by pass key that everyone had to get in and out of the buildings. On the bar sat a name tent that read: This is a conference table. Many evenings a week the CEO, department managers and shift leaders of this call center would gather for a “meeting” in the conference room and no one had more than two beers and the conversations hardly ever revolved around sports, or jokes or idle chit chat. It was all about business. How many accounts they sold, what the wait times were, how many customers they handled on this account, how many new people were signed up, what problems they dealt with and victories they wanted to celebrate. These guys were all young guns and they worked hard, had high energy and were savvy about customer development and employee management. In over 25 years in the workplace, those were the most constructive, beneficial and profitable management meetings I’ve ever witnessed. It was leading in the new way. A year later the entrepreneur sold his company to a large holding company and one of the first steps they took was removing the bar and analyzing the financial reports for ways to cut costs. Sadly but predictably, that company immediately lost revenue, profits and their best talent. The new ideas scared them. The employee freedom scared them. They just couldn’t allow themselves to be scary leaders because it was too much to expect from people stuck in the past and doomed for the future.

The responsibility of business owners and executives is to legally do what it takes to stay on the cutting edge and make the organization the best it can be for the employees, stock holders and customers, no matter how scary it can get.

Character has Left the Building

The feel good story of the Olympics is now the puff, puff pass story of a celebrity athlete who let his young swimming fans down. The most gifted athlete in baseball has now gone from a lock for the Hall of fame as A Rod to another athlete who cheats as his new moniker A Roid will forever remind us. Throw in a little Madoff, mix in a bit of TARP bail out junkets and you have to wonder what happened to good judgment?

The Enron scandal of ancient history seems to have not been the corporate lesson we hoped it would be, instead becoming the jumping off point of a landslide of a loss of leadership character. Remember character? The ability to know how to make good decisions. The ability to control yourself for the benefit of those who follow you? Abuse of power and money is not a new story, but we seem to be awash in poor judgment. How do we right the ship?

Set the Tone

If you ever expect your staff to be honest, upfront and consider the greater good, you as the leader have to demonstrate the behaviors you want to see in your staff. The auto execs begging for money in DC and deep concessions from the unions while travel in corporate jets and accepting large bonuses in a profit bleeding year – are you kidding me? It doesn’t take an MBA to see the mixed message being sent.

We’ve reached a point where ethics, decision-making and what is means to have personal character should be topics of managerial training. Assuming “they already know that stuff” is an assumption that could cost your organization millions. Think I’m wrong? You probably also thought a food vendor knew not to ship salmonella poisoned peanut products as well.

We need a return to the basics of leadership that have been lost. Having good character, caring for employees and complete honestly are the only ways to restore trust in this country that is being shaken worst than a 9.2 earthquake. Begin the restoration process today.

I Gotta Be Me (So Do All Leaders!)

I had a message on my desk the plant manager wanted to see me. As a newly promoted fresh-faced department head I hadn’t been jaded to the fact I was wanted in the plant manager’s office. To my eagerness this was an opportunity for face time. To shine. To please my boss.

He asks me to close the door and have a seat. The tone was stern and unemotional. His first question to me was, “Russell do you want to be a success in this business?” Of course! There was never a doubt. How could he question this? I answered immediately, “I’ll do what ever it takes to be the best manager I can be.” He smiled, sat forward in his seat and said, “I knew you’d see it my way.”

He continued, “The first thing you need to do is get rid of the boots. I don’t care how polished you keep them and how nice they are, they’ll always be sh*tkickers in my book and no one in management in this company wears those things to work. Second, you have a personalized license tag on your car and your car is a Cadillac. That just won’t fly here. No one needs to be calling attention to themselves with anything other than a regular license plate and let your wife drive the caddy and you get a pick up or smaller car – like mine. Now, what’s this I hear you have a solid gold monogrammed chewing gum case?”

I laughed at that and showed him the brass gum case my wife found in a newspaper supplement for 88 cents. I tell him it keeps my gum from getting wet in my pocket and… He cuts me off in mid-sentence and tells me to get rid of it and that is all he had to say and I am excused.

When I get back to my office I am a different person than the one that left there fifteen minutes ago. I’m stunned. My success is predicated on my footwear?

For the next two years I tried to fit in. I complied with all the requests except the car – and I quit being who I really am. Finally, I took a stand when I was asked to “quit being me” when it came to an ethics issue. Enough was enough. After ten years with the company I walked away and the biggest mistake I made in my career happened the day I quit being me and tried to be what someone wanted me to be.

1. Be who you are and find the right fit

Have you ever been forced into a mold you didn’t really fit? How did it make you feel? How much did it carry over to your personal life? How did it impact your self respect and confidence? How fast did you want to get out of that situation?

I see many people wedging themselves into jobs they fit into about as well as I would into a Speedo. What an ugly sight! Why do you do this? For the paycheck? For the sake of your careers? To get ahead?

If you aren’t being true to yourself you are being a fraud and deep down inside your spirit knows it. You hear it in your mind no matter how hard you try to ignore that inner voice.

Have you ever laid off a worker and knew the reason this worker was being laid off was because the president of the company was making bad decisions and the worker just happened to be an employee someone thought expendable? How did that make you feel? How many times have you taken actions at work under the title of “That’s just business” and felt a bit guilty about it later? These are all signs of how we are compromising ourselves as managers, and not being leaders as a result. If you find yourself making more and more decisions deep inside you don’t feel right about, then you are being given direction to find a better fit.

2. Hold Your Ground

In the 1960s, Stanley Milgram conducted a now-famous laboratory experiment in order to study obedience. After recruiting male volunteers, he set up a task in which someone called a "teacher" would administer electric shocks to a "learner" in order, ostensibly, to help them learn a list of words. When a "learner" missed a word, the "teacher" would administer an electric shock. An experimenter was in the booth with the "teacher," and would encourage the "teacher" to push the volt-delivering button when the "teacher" expressed reluctance. In fact, the experimenters would tell the "teachers" that they had no choice but to deliver the shocks.

In Milgram’s experiment, no shocks were actually delivered. The "learners" hidden from sight from the “teachers” were confederates of the experimenter. But the "teachers" thought that they were delivering shocks. And more than 65 % of the teachers were willing to administer the maximum voltage to the point of death, in spite of the cries of pain and screams for mercy. I’m sure you are thinking I’d never do that. Really?

Middle managers are being asked to do a lot of dirty work they don’t agree with and doesn’t benefit the greater good. As demonstrated in the Milgram experiments we will do things against our better judgment in order to please. Any idea how many times do we do exactly that in the workplace? We use excuses to justify our decisions to ourselves, such as, “I have to take care of my family,” and “I’m only doing what I was told to do,” and my personal favorite “Hey, what are you gonna do?” Eliminate these “reasons” for making decisions that just don’t serve a greater purpose and don’t fit you.

3. Leaders don’t sell out

Leadership is about doing the right things and holding firm in that approach. Why is this so hard to do? Maybe you are worried about losing your job. Or, worried about not having enough money to feed your family? Or, worried about being the rebel. Maybe we should worry less about these things and worry more about how willingly we give up on being ourselves. Standing your ground doesn’t mean you have to give up on success. It may mean you find even great success, just in a different place than you have been looking.

I used to look for success in the manufacturing management world. My experiences told me I wasn’t in the right place and it surely wasn’t the right fit. Once I listened to that inner voice, I found the job I was created for and have experienced success I never knew I could reach.

Three speaker colleagues I admire tremendously have abandoned the molds of the world and decided to just be themselves. It doesn’t mean they don’t work hard at what they do, it doesn’t mean they don’t sharpen their skills and make efforts to constantly improve. It means they don’t compromise themselves for anyone or anything, and their success is the proof of how effective this way of living can be.

Think about it. You know which decisions during the day are the ones that ring true to you and which ones are going against your grain. Leaders make the right choices because they can feel it within themselves. Be who you are and care enough about yourself to be the best you, you can become.

Grow in Your Body, Brain and Business

This year taking care of these three most important aspects of your life are critical to creating personal and professional growth. On a daily basis you want to take steps to grow in your life and here are a few ways to focus that growth on the 3B’s.

Body

When you are busy, pressed for time and under stress it seems body maintenance goes lacking let alone actually trying to create positive growth in this area. Want to adjust your food intake? Don’t crash into a drastic diet plan that only is going to give you a short term result. Take it easy on yourself as you grow. Just change one food at a time. For example, if you find yourself hitting the Starbucks drive thru for your morning coffee and frequently throw in a bagel, cinnamon roll or scone, shift that one habit. Instant oatmeal takes two minutes to prepare in the microwave and five minutes to sit down and eat. Think you can build in ten minutes into your morning routine to make this significant adjustment to grow your body better?

Exercise is the other priority that quickly falls off the list. Forget the gym. It can be inconvenient and for some people once you are home for the day – you are home for the day! With an inexpensive exercise ball and a pair of good walking shoes, getting in 30 minutes of good exercise a day is purely a matter of choice. There are tons of at home exercise programs online if you need that guidance. But a brisk walk through the neighborhood, some ab crunches on the exercise ball, push-ups, and good stretching are going to give you great daily progress toward building your body.

Brain

Turn off the TV. Walk away from the Guitar Hero. Feed your brain. Daily growth isn’t about huge dramatic “look at me” type changes you will have a hard time holding onto in the long run. Make a minor shift in the right direction. For example, what do you read? The newspaper is a dinosaur that will disappear. Besides, it usually is loaded mostly with bad news information that doesn’t help you grow. The most popular magazines also are more along the entertainment avenue than the mental growth avenue. My favorite magazines that grow my brain are cheap and packed with mind expanding information. Inc, Fast Company and Wired are my monthly mental fix that I enjoy as much if not more than my Sports Illustrated. Also make the effort to read a book a quarter that is business based that will help your business brain grow. I keep a stack of four in a back log that I work through. I read with a note pad and a highlighter to capture ideas that I want to implement, review and hold onto.

Another way to grow your brain is to network with people that expand your thinking. Small steps here as well. Find a monthly meeting to attend that you feel expands your mind. I know there are certain people that can drain the energy out of a room and there are certain people who stimulate my thinking and I no longer network with the brain drains and I seek to get to know the mental stimulators. Find that local group for you and plug in your brain for a recharge.

Business

Growing your business has already begun if you have done the stuff I mentioned previously in this article because it will make you a more alert, more energized leader and that translates directly to the bottom line. To grow your business incrementally takes subtle positive steps just like in the other areas of growth. One positive step to grow your business is to challenge your managers to engage their minds in a growth mentality. For example, I was advising a board chair of a non-profit on some planning issues for the coming year and he mentioned to me the board was concerned about the current economy and there was going to be a short fall on the budget so they were going to have to either leave staff positions unfilled or cut programming. I asked him how far off are they from the budget and he told me roughly $40,000. I said next board meeting post on the wall in very large type the number $40,000 and tell the board they have a responsibility to go find that much money.

Why focus on the short fall and eliminate a position? You don’t grow with that thinking. Set the expectation of growth and set the tone of responsibility to go find that money by being creative, by accepting nothing less than a full effort and commitment to get that short fall covered. It doesn’t take genius to grow a body, a brain or a business. It takes drive, commitment and perseverance to be a growth entity. Set the tone.