Observe

“You can’t simply see, you must observe” – Tom Matthews

Seeing is one thing.  Hearing the words is easy.  Hearing what is not said, or where it’s coming from, and observing what people are really doing and how they feel is another.

It’s what Attila meant when he said “know the temperament of your camp”.  (The is a fantastic and old audio program called “Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun”.  If you can find a copy you are lucky!)

Making the right call takes a second.  Knowing what call to make takes lots of time.

Are you a good observer?

Be available.

A leader who is not available will miss a lot of feedback, ideas, opportunities, and be seen as more important than his team members – and that is not good.

Are you available?

"I" or "We"?

As a leader, if you use the word “I” a lot, they know you are in it for you.

If you use the word “we” a lot, they know you’re in it for them.

Which do you use more?

Why do people follow you?

If they follow you because they have to, you are a manager.  

If they follow you because they WANT to, you are a leader.

What do you think?  Why do people follow/listen to you/get behind you?

How are your emotions affecting you?

We are all emotional.  In business, we say we use logic, but in the end, many important decisions, and certainly our day to day behavior is affected by our emotions.

How are your emotions affecting you in your leadership job – and thus the people around you?

Silent consent

Silent consent is when a behavior occurs among your team and you let it continue without comment, even if the behavior is something that makes you uncomfortable.

A manager or leader who wants to be liked, or one who is not good with conflict is going to struggle, by offering silent consent when they really should speak up and call out what is not acceptable.  Silent consent is the same as an audible “yes”.  It’s dangerous and can ultimately lead to your demise as a leader and the destruction of your team.

Speak up.  Call bad behavior and bad practice what it is.

A Matter of Style and Grace

We run businesses – but HOW do we run them?

How do we conduct ourselves and use our voice with others?

The matter of style and grace can make it go a lot better and be more enjoyable for all.

What energy is coming out of you?

Really Hard vs. Impossible

Your business is your project.  Doing a really great project is never easy, otherwise, everyone would be doing it and it wouldn’t be great – it would be average – and there would be no margins in it.

Falling in love with your project is important, but don’t be blinded by love. Know the difference between really hard and impossible.  

Often times one or two key factors can foil the full realization of your dreams.  But if you can focus in on those factors and control them, even if the scope of your business changes, you can make it work.

Impossible missions can be made possible by changing the mission.

If you're not happy, you're doing it wrong.

And if you are not happy for a long time, there is no point in doing it at all. 

How can you operate so you are happy? 

How selling well brings your marketing costs down

If I get ten leads at a given marketing cost of $300, and sell three of them for an average of $400 each, then my total sales are $1200 and my marketing costs are 25%.  I may not make any money.

But if I can sell five of those leads for an average of $500, then my total sales are $2500 and my marketing costs are 12%.  With costs that are 13% lower, it will be a lot easier for me to make money.

If I sell well, my marketing costs as a percentage come down.  If I sell poorly, my marketing costs go up.

So the question is, how good is your company at selling?  

How will you get better?