This is the second of 10 challenges for you to consider embracing to create a new year that is more productive for yourself as well as for those around you.  I have borrowed ideas from a book I read last year, The First 90 Days: Critical Success Stories for New Leaders by Michael Watkins.

Read previous challenge articles:
First Challenge – Promote yourself.

Second Challenge – Accelerate Your Learning

If you have committed to being a professional, whether you did it consciously or not, you committed to a lifetime of learning.   And I don’t just mean the learning that comes with experience.  I mean the type of learning that only comes as a result of a determination to always be the best at what you do.

Learn with a purpose – Whether you are taking on a new role, or just committing to execute your current role at a higher level, stop to think systematically about where you have knowledge gaps.  Prioritize the need to fill those gaps and use this as your guide for focused learning.

Analyze your early wins/losses – Whenever you have a win or a loss, dig in and analyze why you won or lost.  As difficult as it may be, being honest about a loss is the surest way to avoid future losses.  And, as strange as it may sound, be just as determined to find out why you truly had a win.  It’s the surest path to replicating the win.

Schedule your learning – There are almost always tasks that seem to be a higher priority in the moment than learning.  This makes it way too easy to procrastinate.  Make learning part of your job description and, like everything for which you are responsible, block out time on your calendar to make it happen.

Become the teacher – The surest way to learn something new is to commit to teaching it to someone else.  Put yourself in the position to have to make a presentation, teach a class, or just mentor another individual.

Be the student – Identify someone (or multiple people) who is already in the role to which you aspire, and ask them if they are willing to answer some questions, provide guidance, and help fill your knowledge gaps.

Know your learning style – Some of us are visual learners, some are auditory, while others are tactile.  In reality, we are all some combination.  Experiment with various techniques and learn what is most effective for you.

Acceleration Checklist as suggested in The First 90 Days (paraphrased in places)

1. Are you guilty of assuming that you already have “the answer”?

If so, how will you avoid doing this?

2. What is your learning agenda?

Compose a list of the knowledge gaps that stand between you and the knowledge required for you to better perform your role as you would like to.

3. Given the knowledge you would like to acquire, which individuals are most likely to provide you with solid actionable insights?

4. How might you increase the efficiency of your learning process?

What are some ways you might extract more actionable insights for your investment of time and energy?

There is no better time to start learning than right now.

Photo by Alan Levine.

@kevintrokey

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It’s a new year, which always means a fresh start, new opportunities, and, hopefully for you, a new role.  And while most of you aren’t formally taking on new leadership roles, I would like to suggest that you increase the scope and impact of whatever role you currently fill in your organization to the point of it effectively being a “new role” for you. 

Over the next several weeks, I will touch on 10 challenges you should consider as you embrace a 2012 that will allow you to have a greater impact on your own responsibilities and results, as well as for those around you.  As I do so, I will borrow from a book I read last year, The First 90 Days: Critical Success Stories for New Leaders by Michael Watkins.

First Challenge – Promote yourself.

This doesn’t mean to go on a campaign of self-promotion, rather it means that you need to mentally elevate yourself to the role to which you have actually been promoted or to which you aspire to create as your “new role”.

Define the role - Start by defining your new role in a way that will allow you to contribute to the organization the greatest value of which you are capable.  Be careful to not fall into a trap of thinking that just doing more of what has made you successful to this point will drive success in your new role.  Any new/elevated role will require new behaviors and skills.  Honestly assess where you have a gap and identify how you will fill it in.

Stop and then start - As you identify and commit to doing the new tasks that will make you successful, be realistic of the additional time they will require.  Since there is no way to create additional time, you are going to have to make time on your calendar.  Before you can decide what you will start doing, you have to decide what you will stop doing.  Look for those activities that could be done just as well, or maybe even better, by someone else.  Also, be honest and let go of activities that only keep you busy but aren’t producing results.

Be specific with milestones- Be very clear, painfully honest, and specific about the new skills and behaviors your “new role” will require. You may find it necessary to start setting even more specific milestones than you’ve previously set.  Describe in detail what will you accomplish this week, month, quarter.

Finding success means preparing yourself to fail – I don’t mean big picture failure. What I mean is that you need to prepare yourself in advance for the inevitable setbacks that will occur.  Know that they will happen and don’t panic when they do.  By anticipating setbacks, you will put yourself in a much better position of looking at them as a time to recommit and re-evaluate rather than a time to abandon your plan.

It takes a tribe - Establish as many accountability advisors as possible.  Find the individuals with whom you are going to share your vision of your new role, and ask them to hold you accountable for your progress.  Be sure this group includes people who can and will mentor you into your new role.

The key to all of this is to identify what success looks like and then create a disciplined plan of improvement to make that your reality.

Acceleration Checklist as suggested in The First 90 Days:

1. What has made you successful so far in your career?

Can you succeed in your new role by relying solely on those strengths? If not, what are the critical skills you need to develop?

2. Are there aspects of your new role that are critical to your success but that you prefer not to focus on?

Why is that the case?

How will you compensate for your potential blind spots?

3.    What do you need to do to ensure that you make the mental leap into the new position?

From whom might you seek advice and counsel on this?
What other activities might help you do this?

Photo by iwona_kellie.

@kevintrokey

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We’ve done a lot of reading this year, and while we’ve gotten something out of everything we’ve read, we have a few favorites we’d especially like to share with you. If you’re interested in seeing our full lists with some additional commentary, check out our reading lists on each of our LinkedIn profiles (Kevin on LinkedIn, Wendy on LinkedIn).

Also there are a few books that we’ve talked about in previous posts (here, here, and here), so we didn’t feel there was a need to include those again.

The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation

– by Matthew Dixon, Brent Adamson

Kevin’s biggest takeaway – (First of all, if you only read one book off of my list, make it this one.)  The greatest need of your prospect/client is for you to help them discover what it is that they truly need.

Wendy’s biggest takeaway – As a natural part of the business evolution cycle, consumer needs and wants change over time and so do the ways that people want to buy. In order to remain a relevant business, selling styles must evolve as well.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

– by Chip Heath, Dan Heath

Kevin’s biggest takeaway – Effective communication of ideas is critical.  Unfortunately, most of those who are trying to communicate an idea have a “curse of knowledge”.  It is the difference between their level of understanding of an issue compared to that of their audience that impedes effective communication.  The book offers a great way to assess the likely effectiveness of any message you want to send.

Wendy’s biggest takeaway – Communication is the foundation of all relationships, and the right kind of communication for effectively initiating changes in thinking & behavior is imperative. It can be quite simple if you think about communication like the Heath brothers do – from the perspective of the uninformed recipient trying to digest your information for the first time.

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

– by Daniel H. Pink

Kevin’s biggest takeaway – Many current management practices are running contrary to their intended purpose. The more businesses try to externally motivate and push goals upon their staff without tying it to individual needs, the lesser the results. To see the greatest results, we need to, instead, address the main drivers of intrinsic motivation - autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Wendy’s biggest takeaway – Businesses need to catch up with the way people think and evolve their management style from managing people to leading people. Drive power in the business by tapping into the natural abilities and resources of your team rather than pushing them to merely meet the minimum job requirements.

The Other Side of Innovation

– by Vijay Govindarajan, Chris Trimble

Kevin’s biggest takeaway - New ideas are easy to come by, but it’s how you address the challenges, which result from the idea, that determine success.  It is the execution that is more difficult and holds the hidden dangers.  Because the execution is humdrum, behind the scenes, and involves hard work, it is all too often an afterthought that gets overlooked.

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels

– by Michael Watkins

Kevin’s biggest takeaway – 10 Critical Strategies: 1. Promote yourself  2. Accelerate your learning  3. Match strategy to situation  4. Secure early wins  5. Negotiate success  6. Achieve alignment  7. Build your team  8. Create coalitions  9. Keep your balance  10. Expedite everyone

RePositioning: Marketing in an Era of Competition, Change and Crisis

– by Jack Trout, Steve Rivkin

Kevin’s biggest take way – Powerful ideas always clash with someone’s personal agenda.  This ensures an early demise for any concept that has to work its way up the organization for final approval.  No matter how good they are, ideas will never win on their own merit.  If you don’t have the right people in the room, very little change will happen.

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

– by Howard Schultz

Wendy’s biggest takeaway – The love that owners have for their businesses and the struggles they face are universal regardless of size or degree of success. Just because you’ve been in business a long time doesn’t mean you should change the passionate outlay you put into the business. Getting comfortable is one of the most dangerous risks a company can face.

Practically Radical: Not-So-Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself

– by William C. Taylor

Wendy’s biggest takeaway – Any business can completely transform itself and WOW its customers. Yes, even mature, commoditized industries can change and offer new ways of doing business. Innovative ideas, a will to succeed, a strong leader leading the vision, and a dedicated group to make it happen can yield incredible results. The many case studies in here are just inspiring!

@kevintrokey

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“One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean &*$#.” That is the secret of life according to Curly in City Slickers.

Now, I don’t know if that is truly the secret of life, but I do think it is a great start to finding the secret to your success. Okay, maybe there isn’t just one, one thing. Maybe your sales success is a series of “one things.”

In my article Willpower vs. Self-Discipline I discussed the difference between willpower and self-discipline. The main difference between the two being that willpower mostly focuses on a single act while self-discipline delivers repeated actions. Getting to that consistent, structured self-discipline takes a lot of work, and sometimes the hardest part of that is just getting started. So, I’ve got some suggestions to get you off the fence and start down your path toward self-discipline – one step at a time.

After all, you can do anything once, right? So, let’s talk about the things that if done “once” will deliver you selling success.

Daily ONE Things

Read
Read ONE article/blog from a source that understands your industry. You will be shocked at the opportunities you find to share what you learned.

Personal brand management
Share ONE idea/link/retweet via social media to enhance your personal brand. Give your prospects something powerful to find when they search you online, because they will.

Weekly ONE Things

Suspecting
Identify the ONE suspect (someone with whom you want to do business, but whom is not yet aware of that fact) you will contact this week to set up a meeting. Nothing is more important than filling your pipeline.

Prospecting
Identify the ONE prospect (someone who knows you want to do business with you and with whom you are having ongoing sales discussions) in your pipeline who you are going to move to a final decision. A stagnant pipeline is worse than an empty pipeline because it gives a false sense of security.

Client relationship management
Proactively contact ONE client this week for no reason other than sharing an article, an idea, or to just check in. Goes so far in building the personal connection.

Thank you
Send ONE handwritten thank-you note to someone who is making a difference for you. It may be the only piece of mail they actually read that day.

Referrals
Take ONE client or center of influence to lunch this week for the purpose of asking for a referral. Of course, be sure you have earned the opportunity to ask for a referral.

Practice
Role play ONE part of your sales process, with a partner, each week. Be prepared to execute your process, as well as to answer questions and objections that are sure to come up with prospects and clients.

Planning
Plan out your weekly activities. Instead of meeting each day not knowing what it holds, decide ONE time, at the beginning of the week, what things are the most valuable use of your time.

Monthly ONE Things

Team member relationship management
Take ONE team member out to lunch this month to learn how you can help them be more successful at what they do. I promise, the more you help them be successful, they more they will be able/willing to help you be successful.

Prospect research
Get online and do some in-depth research to find a group of potentially viable prospects. Search through your connections, your connections’ connections, your local marketplace, or industry resources to identify suspects and find possible links to get a referral or introduction.

Quarterly ONE Things

Personal development
What is the ONE business book you will pick up and read this quarter? Never stop learning.

Annual ONE Things

Planning
Take time to plan out your upcoming year with goals for prospecting, keeping prospects moving through the sales process, as well as sales goals. Outline how you plan to achieve these goals with your own personal marketing plan.

Book of business management
What is the ONE segment of your book of business you are going to pass on to someone else? I know this one is tough for producers to get their arms around, basically “firing” some of their clients, but it’s typically the right thing to do. When I profile books of business (ranking the accounts from most revenue to least revenue), I will almost always see that the bottom 25 percent of a book usually only generates 1 percent of total book revenue, many times only averaging a few hundred dollars of revenue per year. These accounts slow your growth more than you recognize.

So there you have it. If you need a little help getting started on that path to self-discipline, use the power you already have in willpower to get it going. You don’t even have to do all of the ONE things, just pick a few. But really, I think you have enough willpower to tackle them all. You just have to be honest enough with yourself and ask, “How badly do I really want it?”

Photo by Lululemon Athletica.

@kevintrokey

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My oldest daughter graduated from high school this year.  Between her and her three younger siblings, all of whom are involved in multiple activities, you can imagine the hectic schedule of banquets, awards ceremonies, games, etc. Not that the schedule isn’t always busy, but the end of the year stuff just adds a whole other dimension. 

Of course, at these activities, I always watch for my kids and their friends, but there is one collective group in particular that I always watch for – my old softball team.  I coached my oldest daughter’s softball team from second grade up through seventh grade.  With one exception, we kept the same 14 girls on the team the whole time.

We were always a middle of the pack team.  Never finished first and never finished last.  Even though it was technically a competition, it was way more of a social event for our girls.  Even in 6th grade, I had to remind the girls that “home team” means we bat second. 

While all of the girls have gone to high school together, only a few are in my daughter’s core group of friends, so I have always relied on the athletic events, concerts, ceremonies, etc. to know how/what they are doing. 

I have to tell you this is a group of girls who has done very well.  When you think of all of the changes you have to deal with, and decisions that have to be made, as you move from elementary to middle to high school, it could easily be overwhelming.  Well, I know I’m glad I only had to do it once!  While they may seem like simple decisions looking back from our adult worlds, any change (for any of us) can seem monumental at the time.

I have been so proud of, and watched with such admiration, the accomplishments of these softball players.  They have become National Merit Scholars, National Honor Society members, class Salutatorian, cheerleaders, and class officers; they have received scholarships for academics, music, and athletics (none for softball : | ), and  distinguished service awards. And the list goes on.

Especially over the last couple of years, it has been obvious that these little girls I remember from the ball field had become young ladies. I have to tell you, as proud as I was of each of them, I was more than a little sad at graduation to know how close they were to moving on to being “responsible adults”. 

After the graduation, the school hosted an after-graduation party which included silly games, a hypnotist, those big inflatable balloons you jump in, and a magician, among other activities.  While it all looked like fun, my first thought was that these graduating seniors would think it was all too childish.

Well, I have to tell you, I was wrong.  And, as proud as I have been of all of their accomplishments, I was even more proud to watch those girls run around acting silly and playing like they were still little kids.  Of all the things I hope for each of them, the ability to always play like little kids is at the top of the list. That is a wish I wish for all of us.

Photo by VividImageInc.

@kevintrokey

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The 80-20 rule proves itself all the time. Not surprisingly, its presence is evident as we look at the difference between good producers and those who are exceptional. At first, it may be hard to really see the difference in the characteristics of the two. That shouldn’t be surprising. Eighty percent of the characteristics of an exceptional performer are also characteristics of the good performer. However, it’s the additional 20 percent effort of the exceptional producer that will make the good producer an afterthought in the mind of a prospect. 

Where do you fall in the following areas? Are you good or are you a “20 percenter?”

Don’t manipulate the client’s problem to fit your solution, adjust your solutions to fit their need

There was a time when having a list of solutions gave a producer an advantage - those days are gone. Now, every producer has a list of Value-Added Services. The list has become expected. The difference between the good producer and the exceptional producer is that the exceptional producer understands the 80-20 rule of services. On most clients, 80 percent of their needs can be satisfied by a fairly standard, off-the-shelf solution. However, the other 20 percent requires a customized approach, or perhaps even the creation of a new solution.

The good - The good producer will relentlessly work to identify the needs of a prospect that align with their solutions.

The exceptional - However, the exceptional producer works relentlessly to identify all of the needs of a prospect, even in areas where they may not yet have a solution. They understand that sometimes you have to go out and create a new solution.

When a good producer is competing with another good producer, standardized solutions may be just fine. However, when they are competing with the exceptional producer, that 20 percent difference will be the only focus of the prospect (aka the exceptional producer’s new client).

Question your success

The good - Good producers understand the need to learn from their failure. When they lose out on an opportunity they debrief with their team and review the “game film” to learn what went wrong. Sometimes, they even get brave enough to go and ask the former prospect why they didn’t win.

The exceptional - The exceptional producer goes one step further. They aren’t just satisfied with learning why they lost or even satisfied with getting a win. No, the exceptional producer wants to learn why they won. They will go through the same team debriefing, the same reviewing of game film and will always ask their new client why it was that they were chosen. The exceptional producer understands that having complete clarity about what led to the success is the only way that they can ensure a repeat performance.

Make a strong first impression

We all know how important the first impression can be. It’s even been said that we form an opinion of others in just a few seconds.

The good - A good producer clearly understands the importance of that first face-to-face meeting. He researches the prospect, wears his best suit, makes sure his tie is tied just right, looks the prospect right in the eye and gives a good firm handshake.

The exceptional - The exceptional producer understands that the first impression is no longer that first face-to-face meeting. She knows the first thing that prospect does when considering taking a meeting with her; it’s the same thing she does when she wants to learn more about the prospect, she turns to the Internet. Nowadays, before taking a first meeting with anyone, we to go through the ritual of searching their name on Google, seeing what they tweet about, reviewing their LinkedIn profile and reading what they have blogged about.

The exceptional producer knows that whatever a prospect learns through what they find (or don’t find) about her online is now the first impression she makes. So, when she and the competition show up for that “first meeting,” it is no longer an even start; the exceptional producer has already created an advantage by what she has communicated through her online presence.

Never make a statement when you could be asking a question

The good - Good producers are able to make a strong presentation. They are able to articulate well their value proposition and make a compelling case for their ability to perform. This can be effective if the prospect clearly understands what they need and are able to recognize the solution when they see it.

The exceptional - Exceptional producers understand that the recognized problems of prospects are easily addressed. However, they also know that the problem described by the prospect is usually a symptom of a much deeper problem and, additionally, that there are almost always problems from which a prospect is suffering of which they aren’t yet aware.  In other words, they don’t know what they don’t know.

For example, a prospect may hear that you (as a good producer) can help with the administration of COBRA and see that as something they need. They hire you, you take over the administration of COBRA and you both think that this is a successful resolution.

Now, contrast that to your approach as an exceptional producer. You let them know you can help with the COBRA administration, but you start probing as to why it is so urgent. You learn that their turnover has spiked over the last few years and it has exposed the administration issue. When you ask why the spike in turnover, you get the honest answer that they aren’t sure. When you ask what they are learning during exit interviews, you find that they don’t do them consistently, if at all. When you follow up and ask how they are monitoring the level of employee engagement for active employees, you learn that, with their downsizing as a result of the recession, they no longer have the time or resources to do a survey. It’s the same thing with the hiring process. One of their first layoffs was an HR person who had the responsibility of coordinating the hiring process.

The exceptional producer has helped the prospect clearly see that the COBRA administration is really just a symptom of a much deeper problem. Focusing on that alone would be like putting a band-aid over a gunshot wound. Not only that, the exceptional producer now has several other opportunities to deliver solutions: a hiring process, an employee engagement survey, help with exit interviews, an opportunity to lower their rate of turnover, and (maybe by creating a new solution) the opportunity to create a revenue-generating opportunity for the agency’s HR person by being an outsourced resource to help with their HR issues.

Take inventory

The good - Good producers are hard on themselves. They establish their goals and objectives, they take inventory of the new skills they need to build, and what new solutions they need to acquire. Good producers are always focused on what they need to do to improve.

The exceptional - Of course, exceptional producers stay focused on what still needs to be accomplished as well, but they know that if that is their only focus, it will be exhausting. They also understand that it is easier to maintain momentum than it is to regain it once it’s lost.

It’s too easy to get lost in the overwhelming feeling of what is yet to be done. Exceptional producers find motivation by regularly reminding themselves of what they still have to do, but they find the confidence and momentum to get there by regularly taking inventory of what has already been achieved and by slowing down enough to celebrate their progress. It’s amazing how fast you can move when you slow down for the right reasons.

It takes a lot of work to become and remain good. It may be tempting to become complacent and feel that your goal(s) has been accomplished. By committing to work just a little longer and a little harder to become exceptional, you make playing the game in front of the prospect infinitely easier. It’s your choice, accept good as good enough and make every sales opportunity harder than it needs to be. Or, you can do the hard work up front, become exceptional and take the competition out of the game entirely. Exceptional is within your reach. You just have to ask yourself, “How bad do I really want it?”

Photo by ganesha.isis.

@kevintrokey

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Business success and personal development are so intertwined.  For the success of your business, you must be willing to put the time into both business improvement and self-improvement.  If not, you and your business will be stagnant, at best.

Building a business is really just that – a building process.  It requires base level planning, working out the foundational pieces, and then at that point you can build into higher-level functions.  All of this takes an increasingly sophisticated understanding of business operations and the interdependencies that influence those operations.

Even if you know business inside and out, if you don’t keep up with business processes and best practices, which continuously change with generations and technology, then you’ll be unable to maintain a thriving business.  Remember, “A” level talent wants to work for “A” level companies. 

Keeping up with all of this is where the personal development comes in.  When you make learning a priority and a part of “what you do”, you might be amazed at how almost everything you learn can somehow be applicable to business.

• Think about parenting – one of the best training grounds for management.  If you read books about parenting a teenager, you might find yourself thinking about your staff.
• Or a movie might inspire you to evaluate your team and improve your communication and accountability.

The idea of improving your business will just become a part of your culture and not something that gets pushed to the side and eventually off the priority list.

While there are great ways like this to interrelate your everyday activities with your personal development, you also need to be purposeful about it.

1. Identify and focus on specific areas that need improvement.
2. Figure out how to turn what you’ve learned into something that is directly applicable to your business or your clients’ businesses.
3. Take the opportunity to talk with other people about things you’ve learned – this is when it becomes fun and maybe a bit addictive!

There are a bazillion ways to improve your knowledge.  Here are a few of my favorites:

• Read articles & blogs over a cup of coffee or lunch.  If your clients or prospects have blogs – be sure they’re on your list.  Talking to them about their writing will definitely win you points.
• Use the Reading List by Amazon on your LinkedIn account.  You can add books you’ve read and write reviews, and you can see what books your clients and peers are reading.  Talk to them about the books and discuss how you see the information relating directly to their businesses.  Now, you’ve not only increased your knowledge, but you’ve improved a client relationship as well (and perhaps their business).
• Follow business people on Twitter.  Let other people do some of the work – find people who are interested in topics in which you want to improve.  Read the articles they share and the conversations they have – they know all the good sources.  Follow people in your industry who are in different marketplaces, or follow people who are in different industries.  There is a lot to be learned when you get outside of your own sphere of influence.

I’ve found there is a direct correlation with learning, success, and happiness:  The more focused I am on learning and educating myself, the more helpful I am to those around me, and the happier and more satisfied I am personally.  And thus continues my commitment to...

Always Be Learning.

@wendykeneipp

We all know how important the first impression can be.  It’s even been said that we form an opinion of others in just a few seconds.  While that first face-to-face meeting is still important (make eye contact, firm handshake, dress the part, all that good stuff), it is rarely our true first impression any longer.

Ask yourself, what do you think is the first thing that prospect does when considering taking a meeting with you?  Probably the same thing you do when you want to learn more about someone; you turn to the Internet.  Nowadays, before taking a first meeting with anyone, we tend to go through the ritual of searching their name on Google, seeing what they Tweet about, reviewing their profile on LinkedIn, and reading what they have blogged about. 

Your online presence is your new first impression. Whatever your prospect learns through what they find (or don’t find) about you online is now the first impression they are going to have of you.  So, when you and the competition show up for that “first meeting”, it is no longer an even start, someone has already created an advantage by what they have communicated through their online presence.  Will that be you or your competition?  This really is an opportunity for you to create a competitive advantage. 

First, take a little time to define your personal brand. In other words, what are the clear, powerful, positive thoughts you want your audience to have when they think about you?  What do you want them to know about you and why they should work with you?  What is it that makes you different from your competition?  What is your unique value proposition?

Next, develop a strategy to start communicating that brand online through your blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, white papers, etc.  Make sure what your audience finds when they look for you online makes, and reinforces, your desired first impression.

It won’t happen overnight, but you will be pleasantly surprised at how quickly you can elevate your online presence and start separating yourself from your competition.

If you truly want a team who thinks and acts with intelligence & independence, then you need to make a commitment to continual training & development within your company. 

According to research by Allegiance, a core driver of employee engagement is centered in training and contributions:  learning new and important skills, being able to offer suggestions, and being able to complete whole jobs rather than just a series of independent tasks.  When people feel they are contributing to the success of the organization, they want to do what is best for the company and its customers.

Especially if you’re trying to retain your top talent – development opportunities and career paths are key components to keeping those folks aboard and engaged.  If you’re not investing in training because you don’t have the resources, take a look at the whole cost of loss when those key players leave – salary, searching & hiring, training, loss of time, loss of knowledge, residual effects on remaining staff, loss of momentum (about 150% of the employee’s salary).  You’ll likely find that it’s a much easier decision to invest in some training.

Developing a culture within your agency of continuous learning starts with a commitment from management.  Demonstrating the commitment through courses you take (beyond CE credit classes), books & publications you read, and company resources you allocate is the best way to create and nurture that environment.  Nothing speaks louder than actions and dollars.

As you work with your team members to create performance plans, build in personal development that is relevant and appropriate to each person and his/her team.

This can become a fun part of your company culture and one that employees greatly value – while at the same time, helping to build a better company.  Win! Win!

Some ideas for personal development

• Book clubs – select business books that are directly applicable to the specific team, or a topic relevant to everyone if you’ve got a small group.  Get the team together to discuss the book and how its principles apply to your company.  Need help getting started with a book club?  I’d be happy to share with you how we’ve structured book clubs at BGN.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or connect with me on Twitter.
• Blogs & online news sources – when developing performance plans, pick a publication or two that is relevant to what you want each person to learn and allow 15 – 20 minutes per day to review new articles.
• Classes at local colleges – there is usually a plethora of class options available through local community & tech colleges that can be taken one at a time without having to enroll.  Have staff pick out a class they’d like to take that would help develop a needed skill in your organization.  It might be a course on leadership, web development, or writing.
• Have people teach something to the team – “If you truly want to master an idea, force yourself to teach it to someone else” (from @kevintrokey).   Select topics that are important to the team development and let team members chose which they’d like to research.  Have each person develop a 10 – 20 min presentation that they’ll share with the group.

There are unlimited ways you could implement training and development – these are a few to get some ideas rolling within your own company.  The important part is not the specific method(s) you choose, the important part is that you get it started!

@wendykeneipp

Photo by F Delventhal.

I am an avid reader and am almost always in the middle of a book or two.  I enjoy reading and learning, but I also feel that it is a responsibility I have as someone who regularly works to help others find their success.  Then again, that responsibility isn’t unique to me; I’ll argue that it applies to anyone who has clients who turn to you for advice.

So, I wanted to share my favorite books from 2010 and a little of what I learned from each.   Wendy got excited about this and wanted to participate, so I let her add her thoughts, as well.  It’s always interesting what different things people take away from the exact same situation.

“A Seat At The Table” by Marc Miller

What I learned – I learned how to clearly identify the types of strategic decisions made by decision makers.  With that knowledge, I have been able to develop a process through which the producers with whom I can work can position their solutions in a much more strategic manner and in a way that resonates more clearly with the C-suite.

Wendy weighs in:  Sales people often have a skewed view of how their solutions (read: product) benefit the client, therefore, making it difficult to transition from a product selling organization to a solution selling organization.  Marc shows us that it is possible to makes this transformation with an existing sales team when you’ve got the right vision and leadership to enforce the changes company-wide.

“Inbound Marketing” by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah

What I learned – I learned that the rules of marketing have changed.  Creating a brand is no longer just about writing a check, it’s about getting out there and becoming a participant in social media.  When you give a prospect a reason to initiate engagement with you, well, obviously, your likelihood of success goes up exponentially.  While I don’t think the ideas in the book completely replace traditional approaches to marketing, I do agree that they need to be an integral part of any marketing strategy.

Wendy’s 2 cents: I thought that Inbound Marketing provided a good overview and action guide for creating your online marketing plan with to-do lists and tools to get the job done.  However, to get a good in-depth understanding of how social marketing can be a viable & critically important marketing vehicle for your business, I recommend The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott. Read the 1st half and get a full understanding of the New Rules, and read the second half to figure out how to make it happen. Then get started!  If you haven’t yet embraced social marketing as an integral part of your business, you’re falling behind.

“Getting Naked” by Patrick Lencioni

What I learned – This is probably the most impactful book I have read all year.  Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is the most empowering characteristic you can take into your client relationships.  We have to recognize that one safe idea is rarely going to result in the best solution.  Instead, we have to sort through countless ideas, some horrible and some great, to make sure the one best solution is identified.   As strong as the idea of vulnerability has proven to me, an even more powerful message is to start acting as though you have already been hired as early in the prospecting stage as possible.  The sooner you start delivering value, the sooner you will get hired.

Wendy’s takeaway: This is an outstanding book that helps bridge the drastic difference in personal vs. business relationship expectations that have been so prevalent in American culture.  Building any type of relationship requires trust, and without allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, there is always at least a little bit of doubt about motivations. Business relationships are not excused from this idea of vulnerability and trust; although I believe that the rules of professionalism have dictated a reserved approach with clients.  Lencioni not only gives us permission to drop those walls that create the professional distance, he insists that it’s critically necessary for doing business today.

“The Upside” by Adrian Slywotzky

What I learned* – While businesses tend to focus their risk management strategies on the traditional risks (hazard, financial, and operational), they are quite often ignoring the strategic risks, some of which are certain to be faced by every organization at one time or another.  Strategic risk has become one of the greatest sources of lost value in the global economy.  While it is impossible to avoid these risks entirely, those companies who understand them, anticipate them, shape them, and implement effective counter measure strategies will find they’re in a much better position to survive and even thrive in today’s risk-rich environment.  The “upside” of this risk awareness becomes an opportunity to expose the risks for the opportunities that lie within.

*I read this in 2009, as you'll see from the linked article, but we held a book club on it in 2010, so it made the list.

Wendy’s thoughts: I loved this book and reference it frequently for it’s great examples and excellent explanations. Strategic risks target crucial elements in the design of your business model, company vision/values, and company culture.  These risks can be avoided or at least mitigated if your model is flexible enough to adjust to changes in the industry or the economy.  In order to do that, you must structure the other foundational elements of your business to be passionately focused on the customer, and to be acutely aware, at all levels of the organization, what is happening in the industry, the local marketplace, and with your competition.  With awareness, ingenuity, and adaptability (the new must-have’s for today’s businesses) you’ll able to find the opportunities within the risks  - and without, you’ll be one of Slywotzky’s historical comparison companies.

So, there are just four of the books we read last year and maybe a couple of reasons for you to pick them up and read them for yourselves.  While we’re not necessarily encouraging you to read these books, we are challenging you to read books that will benefit you and, in turn, help you to benefit your clients.

What was your favorite read from 2010?  And why?