Category Archives: Guest Column

Dorie Clark is a member of my Private Roster Mentor Program and a graduate of the Million Dollar Consulting College.

How I Got My Book Deal, and the Lessons I Learned

By Dorie Clark

In June, I signed a book deal with Harvard Business Review Press. Because the process of landing a book contract can be so opaque and discouraging, I wanted to share the story of how I did it.

In 2009, I got serious: early in the year, I drafted two book proposals (I figured more was better, though I’ve later come to learn that publishers get freaked out if your focus appears to be scattered, so stick with one). My kind mystery writer friend hooked me up with her agent, who plunged into pitching the book/s.

Though friends assured me that the hard part was landing an agent, and I’d surely get a deal soon, none was forthcoming. The pundits­ (aka acquisitions editors) claimed to love my writing style but deemed one proposal  “too narrow” and the other one “not differentiated enough.” Oh, and I wasn’t famous. One editor said he regrettably had to decline, because Ivanka Trump was publishing a book on a similar topic.

By the following summer, we’d exhausted most of the usual publishing suspects. But I had a brainstorm: a friend of mine used to share office space with a small international publishing house that might be a fit. Sure enough, my agent sent it over and they quickly responded, calling me in for a meeting with their full staff. I was on the cusp of a contract, I felt sure, when they asked me to revise my proposal to add more international examples (I spent a week furiously researching). But mysteriously, the process dragged on and on. We eventually surmised that the American editor liked it, but the boss in England didn’t–and he ruled the day. After two months of foot-dragging, they finally called off the courtship. No contract.

Discouraged (and agentless, after we mutually agreed she’d exhausted her contacts), I realized the only way to break through the clutter was to work on the “famous” thing. So I made it my mission to reach out to prominent business publications and see if I could blog for them. This wasn’t too much of a stretch, I thought, because in my pre-consulting life I’d been a professional journalist and had won awards for my reporting. You might think online business editors would like good content for free–but you’d be wrong.

I thought I’d have an inside edge with one publication, where I was friends with a regular monthly columnist. With her permission, I emailed the blog editor and declared in the subject line, “[Columnist] suggested I contact you.” No word. I waited a few weeks and tried again, but still nothing. Finally, it was my good luck to meet the editor-at-large for this publication, and I explained my predicament. He told me I could use his name, so I emailed my target again: “[Editor at large] and [Columnist] suggested I contact you.” That seemed to work quite well, and within minutes, he emailed me back and asked to hear my blog ideas. I researched them feverishly and the next day, responded with well-thought-out pitches. To no avail. Once again, he went dark, and I never heard from him again.

I knew plenty of people who blogged for another major business magazine. It turned out (amazingly!) that until last year, literally anyone could sign up to blog for them. It was my bad luck, then, that I literally missed the cutoff by days; they had just decided to start vetting bloggers. No problem, I thought–except that their online editor (who did OK my pitch and invited me to submit several articles) would let months go by before responding, leaving me pathetically to send “follow-up” inquiries. Eventually I stopped hearing from him, too.

That might have been the end of it if I hadn’t wanted to sell my bike, a gorgeous Cannondale I no longer needed. Enter the woman who ended up buying it on Craig’s List (and who, quite pragmatically, researched me online beforehand to ensure I was legit).

“I see you’re a business consultant,” she said. Then the magic words: “You know, I work at the Harvard Business Review.”

It took time, and a few follow-ups, but she agreed to show my proposed blog post to an editor there–and he liked it. Several posts later, one caught the eye of a bigwig, and they hunted me down in Costa Rica over Christmas and asked me to expand it into a piece for the magazine. Once the magazine piece hit (on “Reinventing Your Personal Brand”), everything changed. Three agents contacted me out of the blue seeking to represent me, and one of them actually used to run Harvard Business Publishing. I figured that was a good sign, so I turned the article into a proposal and in less than a month, we received an offer.

These days, I’m blogging for the Harvard Business Review (thank you, my bicycle-buying friend!) and the Huffington Post, and guest-blogging for many other outlets. My book What’s Next: The Art of Reinventing Your Personal Brand is coming out next year from Harvard Business Review Press. And I learned the following lessons in my quest to land a book deal:

• Work with an agent who specializes in business books. As with the rest of life, it’s about personal connections (specifically, which editors they have a track record of selling to).
• Blogging is a terrific way to build your platform. Seek out places to feature your work, and don’t let jerky online editors get you down. If you persist, you will find a place that seeks out and values your work (at a minimum, you can create your own blog to get started).
• Look (and prepare) for opportunities. It was sheer luck I sold my bike to an HBR staffer, but I was already prepared with blog ideas and pitches thanks to my initial work reaching out to other publications.
• Brand matters. By now, I’ve written for lots of media outlets, but the response you get from a piece in the Harvard Business Review outshines them all.

What are your best strategies for building your profile and/or winning a book deal?

Dorie Clark is CEO of Clark Strategic Communications and the author of the forthcoming What’s Next?: The Art of Reinventing Your Personal Brand (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012). Listen to her podcasts or follow her on Twitter.

© Dorie Clark 2011. All rights reserved.

Successful Advisors and Executives Aren’t Nice!

By Todd Ordal

From the minute we engage with other humans (and even pets!) our parents tell us, “Be nice!” This is intended to be a catchall for don’t hit, scream, cry or make someone else feel bad. “Now look at what you did! Little Lisa is crying! Be nice!”

As we get older, we’re rewarded for being nice. When my kids were in elementary school, their teachers frequently complimented them for being nice, as in, “He hasn’t turned in any of his homework and has failed the past three tests, but he’s such a nice boy!”

As adults, we continue to be rewarded for being nice. My wife is nice. When someone knocks on the door trying to sell magazine subscriptions or cookies or trim our trees, she happily has a meaningful conversation with whoever interrupted dinner. Even when she says no, she says it nicely and only after much justification as to why she doesn’t need the trees trimmed or another subscription to a magazine full of ads for $6,000 couches.

There isn’t much harm in all of this except for lost time and too many Girl Scout cookies in the pantry. However, when we advise or lead and manage others, being nice is ineffective.

There’s a substantial difference between being nice (“Don’t make Little Lisa cry!”) and being kind. In the words of a friend, nice is borne out of fear and kind is borne out of love. Now I’m not going to get all mushy on you (that wouldn’t be kind), but he’s spot-on. You tell someone you love that he or she is making a big mistake, even at the risk of offending the person.

My wife doesn’t want to offend the salesperson, so she sacrifices her time to alleviate any possible rejection on the salesperson’s part. However, a key resource that salesperson has is time. Spending inordinate amounts of time with nice people who’ll eventually tell you no only after they’ve gotten to know you is not kind. A kind response might be, “I’m not interested and don’t want you to waste your time on me because I’m not purchasing anything.”

When my two daughters were still living at home, I could count on them to be kind and tell me that I looked like a nerd when I pulled on some old clothes. I appreciated that. I also appreciate it when someone tells me I look foolish with a piece of spinach in my teeth rather than their hoping it’ll come out before I get home and look in the mirror.

Let’s take this nice versus kind behavior to the work environment. Nice managers will always find something to compliment. Kind managers will tell you what you need to know to succeed, even when the message is that you’re screwing up. Nice leaders don’t want anyone to feel bad but, in the end, many do—especially the shareholders. Kind leaders know that leaving weak people on the team means it won’t succeed as quickly or as well. Nice leaders don’t enforce the rules if someone will get upset. Tardy behavior is allowed and work product is weak because to change behavior would require uncomfortable conversations. Kind leaders know that pushing people to be better, pointing out weaknesses and strengths and having difficult conversations as soon as warranted leads to much more success and, ironically, makes most people happier in the long run. They don’t worry so much about the poor performers who can’t handle kind and assertive conversations. They kindly escort them out of the company and allow them to find a nice place to settle.

In my work as a strategic adviser to senior executives, I’ve seen far too much nice behavior cause tremendous problems. Avoiding conflict, allowing weak people to impact others, being nice to vendors who don’t deliver, telling board members and senior executives what they want to hear rather than the unvarnished truth — this is not kind behavior. In fact, it destroys value, hampers employment and creates weak performers. Being nice is not kind.

Is your organization nice or kind? Here are some diagnostic questions:

1. Do people speak their minds or hold back because of what others will think?
2. Do weak performers stay employed even though they add no value?
3. If you’re the CEO, do you hear about problems before they’re catastrophes, or is everything just fine until the doo-doo hits the fan?
4. According to your performance reviews, is your company like Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon, where everyone is above average?
5. Have you ever reorganized a department to “work around” an ineffective person?
6. Is healthy conflict not only allowed but also encouraged?

The world is full of nice people, but only kind ones are effective advisors and executives.

Copyright Todd Ordal, 2011

Todd Ordal helps senior executives lead better, profit more or sleep soundly…without narcotics! He can be reached at 303-527-0417 or todd@appliedstrategy.info.

I’m pleased to present a guest column by Steve Shapiro:

Your Customers Are Cynics

by Stephen Shapiro

A large portion of my business is public speaking.  And I know many others who make their living the same way.  But to be perfectly frank, companies are often wasting their money when they hire a speaker.  I say this not because there aren’t many gifted men and women who can deliver an engaging presentation.  The problem is with the customers, not the speakers.

As Oscar Wilde once said, “A cynic knows the cost of everything and the value of nothing.”  Using this definition, most buyers are cynics. The truth of the matter is that your customers do not know what they truly need.  And they certainly do not know how to define value.  This creates an opportunity for you to engage your buyers in new ways, generating more value for them…and greater wealth for you.

To test the hypothesis that my customers could not articulate what was valuable to them, several years ago I tried an experiment.  I called it “PW3—Pay What We’re Worth.”

As background, in determining the fees paid to a professional speaker, traditionally the speaker sets the rate before the work is done.  With the PW3 experiment, I turned this model upside down. Instead of quoting a standard rate, the client would determine my fee after the work was done. The plan was to send the client a blank invoice after I gave a speech, and they would pay “what I was worth.”

The only stipulation was that we would have a conversation about value up front. I wanted to learn the value they got from previous speakers. How were the concepts reinforced after the presentation? How were ideas implemented? How was value measured?

What I discovered was that Oscar Wilde was indeed right. Companies were unable to define value, at least in terms of tangible results.  In fact, in nearly every situation, when I asked them how they would determine what to pay me after an event, they said, “Um, I guess we’ll pay you what we paid the last speaker.”  In fact, with 90% of my speeches, they asked me for my standard fee and just paid that.

How can you create exponential value for your customers?  How can you in turn create greater wealth for your organization? Let’s first look at the way organizations tend to operate. In my work, I have defined three levels of innovation:

• Level 1: Innovation as an event
• Level 2: Innovation as a process
• Level 3: Innovation as a system

From my experience, most organizations are at the first level where their innovation efforts are nothing more than a series of ad hoc events.  These events can be brainstorming sessions that produce walls of flip charts and Post-It notes.  In some cases, these events can produce incredible value.  But you know, as well as I do, that in most the end, these sessions typically only serve two alternative purposes: 1) killing time, and 2) creating more trash for landfills.

Conducting a speech is another such ad hoc event.  Customers hire someone to pump up the organization with information and motivation.  But once the buzz of the keynote subsides, it is business as usual.  There is nothing sustainable about the event and it ends up being a nice memory with perhaps some cool photographs.

Instead of treating innovation as a one-time event, the opportunity lies in treating innovation as an end-to-end process.  This allows it to become repeatable.  It gives it some level of predictability.  And it affords you the opportunity to manage and measure the process.  Eventually, after becoming masterful at the process level, innovation can emerge at a more organic level, allowing it to flourish without the need for well-defined processes.

My innovation model has proven useful for sales conversations with clients.  And it has helped me create even greater value for them. When a potential customer approaches me to give a keynote speech, the question is, how can I move the conversation to offer something of higher value?  How can I deliver something that will have a greater impact on their business?

Here’s what I say during my introductory call…

“I would love to speak at your event.  However, instead of my speech being a one-time event (level 1 innovation), I would like to explore how we might treat it as the first step of a larger process (level 2 innovation).”

I then go on to discuss a series of interventions that could take place over the next 6 to 12 months to truly help drive results inside of the organization.  This often translates into a series of webinars, articles, books, and other materials that are given to meeting attendees periodically after the first event.  I suggest keeping me on a retainer to provide mentoring to the innovation team in order to help them be more effective in what they do.  And in a few select cases, I will even offer up some more in-depth consulting.

Although my speaking fee is the most expensive part of the proposition, it is many respects the part that provides the lowest value.  Articles, books, and webinars are cheap.  In fact, I often throw in a webinar and a bunch of books at no extra cost.  I find that the constant reinforcement helps produce sustainable results.  Although the revenue to me is incremental, it keeps me in front of the client for a long period of time and they view me as someone who is committed to their success.  This inevitably leads to more work down the line.

This concept can be applied to any practice.  If you are a dentist, don’t just sell bi-annual teeth cleaning, offer a complete tooth maintenance package.  If you are a plumber, don’t just fix the toilet, but offer a warrantee program that gives customers “peace of mind.”  If you are a landscaper, don’t simply mow their lawn, define a process for keeping their entire yard looking amazing.

The key for you is to avoid becoming an order taker.  When a potential client asks you how much your service or product will cost, step back and ask yourself, “What would create the greatest value?”  What is an outcome I want to help them achieve?

Oscar Wilde was correct.  Your buyers don’t know what is in their best interest. When you create exponential value for them, you invariably create value for yourself.

Stephen Shapiro is the author of Personality Poker: The Playing Card Tool for Driving High Performance Teamwork and Innovation (Penguin Portfolio).  You can read over 500 articles at SteveShapiro.com,  play the free Personality Poker video game, or follow him on Twitter.

Why “Proportional Sharing” is an Ineffective Resource Allocation Strategy

By Pat Lynch

Times are tough. Government entities at all levels are scrambling to balance their budgets, which in most cases means making hard choices about how to allocate resources that are scarcer than ever. One strategy that some public sector leaders are using is called “proportional sharing,” which essentially means that all departments and agencies are told that they must cut their budgets by the same percentage amount. Sounds fair, doesn’t it? One Long Beach, CA City Council member was quoted recently as saying, “I do believe in proportional sharing in terms of budget cuts, and it is a meaningful approach to managing quality of life in this city.” She couldn’t be more wrong.

In fact, proportional sharing is NOT fair, and it is an ineffective resource allocation strategy. Here are three of the reasons why:

1. It doesn’t consider the appropriateness of the budget before the cuts were  made. That is, some departments or agencies may have been over-funded, others may have been under-funded, and some may have been funded appropriately.  Now the errors are more pronounced.

2. It treats all services as equally important, i.e., there is no attempt to prioritize them. In reality, there are services that are critical to the public sector entity’s (i.e., city, county, state) ability to achieve its mission, those that are very important, those that are important, and those that don’t have anything to do with the mission.

3. It gives the public a false sense of security that their leaders are taking a close look at what is being done and why, so they can make informed decisions about allocating resources most effectively. In reality, proportional sharing doesn’t do anything of the sort. By requiring across-the-board cuts, decision-makers simply are supporting the status quo, but at a lower level. This way they don’t have to justify any changes, which voters may not like.

Why do public sector leaders favor proportional sharing when addressing resource allocation? Although I can’t speak for them, two possibilities that come to my mind are (1) they truly don’t know how ineffective and unfair this strategy is, or (2) they realize that it enables them to shirk their duty of making tough decisions while appearing to be taking actions that are in the best interest of the (city/county/state) citizens involved.

What should decision-makers be doing instead of relying on proportional sharing? Here are my suggestions:

1. Take the opportunity presented by the challenging economic environment to question how they are allocating their resources, why they are doing so, how those allocations are supporting the entity’s mission, and whether there are more effective ways to use the resources.

2. Prioritize the services provided by determining the impact they have on the entity’s mission. These are the priorities I use with my clients:

Critical services: those which, if not provided, would prevent the entity from achieving its mission. There are relatively few truly critical services.

Very important services: those which, if not provided, would enable the entity to achieve its mission but with a serious negative impact.

Important services: those which, if not provided, would enable the entity to achieve its mission but with a diminished level of performance (e.g., quality of service).

3. Assess the risks by considering alternatives to the status quo. For example, what would the impact on the entity’s mission be if a given service were eliminated, delayed, or partially fulfilled, or if the standards for performance were reduced?

4. Decide what the allocation of resources should be among the three categories above. For example, it’s unrealistic to devote 100% of the resources to services deemed critical. Thus they may decide to allocate 75% to critical services, 20% to very important services, and 5% to important services.

5. Ensure the decision-making process is transparent and fair. Stakeholders will accept decisions, even those they don’t like or agree with, IF they believe the process by which those decisions were made was fair.

It’s time to put to rest the myth that proportional sharing is fair and effective, and to demand that public sector leaders make the tough decisions they were elected or hired to make. We simply don’t have the luxury to do otherwise.

© 2011 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.

Pat Lynch, Ph.D., President of Business Alignment Strategies, Inc., helps clients optimize their business results by aligning people, programs, and processes with organizational goals. She is an expert in resource allocation and works with clients in the public and private sectors. Pat is one of Alan’s Master Mentors and may be reached at (562) 985-0333 or via her web site at www.BusinessAlignmentStrategies.com. Sign up for a complimentary subscription to Pat’s monthly newsletter, Alignment Solutions.

A guest column:

Blind Spot in The LBJ White House

by Aviv Shahar

Unlike conspiracy theories you can do nothing about, there is much you can do to disarm a dangerous blind spot that derailed the LBJ White House. Seven out of ten managers fail to achieve the highest possible level of success because of this blind spot. You will discover how the blind spot relates to you and what you can do about it. But first: Have you discovered your learning inclinations?

Seven out of ten managers cannot answer this question positively. Individuals’ brains are wired differently, including those of your team members and the people in your life. Understanding processing preferences will have a decisive impact on your ability to communicate effectively and to influence others.

Not understanding his learning inclination was one of the main factors that contributed to the troubles of Lyndon Johnson even before Vietnam became an intractable disaster.

The LBJ Story

Here is what happened: JFK was a “reader.” Part of his success came from his understanding that he preferred to process information by reading. He surrounded himself with bright people who produced position papers on three sides of every issue. Written expert opinions helped Kennedy process issues, focus on the essentials and form his positions. His staff presented material to him in the best possible way – the way he was “wired.” This knowledge enabled JFK to work from inside his comfort zone, because reading was his learning inclination.

After Kennedy’s assassination, LBJ moved into the Oval Office and felt morally obligated to keep Kennedy’s team together. They went on doing what they had done so well in the past, which was to produce position papers. The problem was LBJ was not a “reader.” He was extremely bright and experienced but his wiring – the way he processed information – was different than that of his predecessor. Johnson was a “conversationalist.” Rather than connecting the dots and finding clarity through reading, he processed and perceived issues through dialogue. LBJ’s effectiveness came from his ability to negotiate and understand issues through listening to other people and then hearing himself frame a position.

The Blind Spot

The blind spot in the LBJ administration was that the staff failed to recognize that the new guy had a different “information processing preference,” a different “learning inclination” – he was “wired” differently. The White House became dysfunctional in part because nobody stopped and said: “Wait, this is a new guy. We need a new game. His processing preferences are different.” Instead, the White House staff continued to produce position papers which LBJ couldn’t process and did not read. They then viewed him with disdain as not intellectual enough to grasp what had been critically important for JFK. In fact, LBJ was not a “reader-thinker.” He was an “intuitive-conversationalist.”

We propose in this insight that the lack of understanding of individual learning inclinations was a huge blind spot in LBJ’s presidency, and that it is a debilitating blind spot for many leaders and executives.

What About You?

Do you know the nature of your “smart”? Have you discovered how you learn best? Are you able to organize the information you need to fit your process preferences?

Bright managers, promising careers and high potential teams get derailed by this blind spot – i.e., the lack of awareness and understanding of their unique learning inclinations. To be effective with your team, you need to:

1. Tell them how you prefer to learn and coach them in how you process information best, which will help them be more effective in working with you.
2. Identify the preferred learning style of the people who work with you, so you can be more effective with them.

Understanding learning inclinations includes more than discovering whether you are a reader or a listener. The range and nuances of learning inclinations are subtle. Until you realize the people around you are each wired differently, it’s very likely you are compromising your and their ability to succeed.

Although numerous studies of the five senses and learning styles have shown how different people sometimes benefit from using more than one sense to absorb new material, there continues to be a lack of application of these valuable insights into business leadership and communication skills. Here is a series of questions to help you discover your own preferences and inclinations.

Discover Your Learning Inclination

Take a moment to reflect on your own experience. These questions will clue you into your learning inclinations.

1. In what situations do you feel most engaged when learning and assimilating new information?
2. Do you like reading books? Are you able to recall right now three specific insights you distilled from reading books in the last two months?
3. Do you learn best by watching and observing someone else? Can you recall the last two times you learned something by observation?
4. Do you like listening to books on tapes? What is the last audio book that influenced your thinking?
5. Do you enjoy picking up new information from watching documentaries and movies? What are the last two movies you saw that impressed you with new thoughts or ideas?
6. Were you the kind of person who tried to take apart the radio, the phone and then the car simply to be able to put them back together? Do you learn best by trying things out with your hands?
7. Have you recently or in the past enjoyed walking and talking at the same time? Do you have a walk-and-talk buddy?
8. Do you work things out in a conversational way? Do you have a phone-buddy you use as a sounding board?
9. Are you inclined to solo learning or to collaborative learning?

10.  Do you have a mastermind team to explore options and scenarios?

11.  Are you a visual person? Do you process data best with tables, flow charts and mind maps?

12.  Do you enjoy teaching because you learn more by explaining to others?

13.  Do you get the most out of an interactive coaching session?

14.  Do you keep a journal and clarify your thoughts through your own writing? Do you get your best ideas when you write, when you are on your own?

15.  Do you enjoy thinking during physical exertion? Do you find that engaging in kinetic activities or pacing around helps you articulate thoughts?
It’s important not to assign a moral judgment as to which of these approaches is better or more important. The question is simply: How is your brain wired? How does your brain prefer to process information? What is the best way for you to learn? Your preference is neither good nor bad, it’s just what works best for your brain.

Perhaps only 25 percent of people follow their learning inclinations (consciously or not.) They then excel in certain tasks and jobs, which leads to careers wherein they use more of their learning preferences.

Now it’s your turn to put this insight to work. Avoid the LBJ blind. Discover your learning inclinations. Coach your team members to discover their data processing and learning preferences. Encourage a deliberate conversation about this insight to liberate your collaborative potential. Create dramatic new futures for you and for the people your help and lead.

© Aviv Shahar

Aviv Shahar | Aviv@AvivConsulting.com |425.415.6155| www.avivconsulting.com |

Aviv Shahar is an international consultant, coach, author and featured speaker. He has extensive experience coaching executives and helping leaders create dramatic new futures for people and organizations. Aviv is known to his global clients as The Innovation & Collaboration Catalyst. He is a recognized expert in organizational transformation, leadership and strategy. His experience in coaching for high-performance in critical operations began as a fighter pilot responsible for training other fighter pilots in the Israeli Air Force.

Top 10 Tips For Managing Up in a Top Down World

by Roberta Matuson

It may seem unnatural to manage those above you in the top-down world of business. But mastering this skill is exactly what must be done to excel in any organization. There will always be “a boss,” even if someone is currently an entrepreneur. Someone above will always be influencing us. This person may be a spouse, partner, an outside investor, or may actually be the boss.

As consultants, it is critical that we help our clients learn how to manage these relationships effectively, so they can secure the resources necessary to be successful in any situation. Here are ten tips that you can share with your clients.

1. Decode your boss’s management style—I’ve yet to see a situation where a boss molds his style to that of his employees. You can be certain you will be the one doing the adjusting. Begin by observing how your manager uses authority, the way he relates to others, and his communication style as a leader. Most bosses typically fall into one of the following categories: Dictatorial, Laissez-Faire, Bureaucratic, or Consultative. Once you determine the type of manager you’ve been handed, you can then study ways to work most effectively with this type of leader.

2. Prepare to play the game of politics—Politics is played in every organization; so the sooner you learn how to play this game, the better off you’ll be. Politics is the informal way that things get done in an organization. Pay close attention to how work really gets done in the organization. People who master this game follow unwritten rules that allow them to maneuver swiftly through the organization to obtain scarce resources, approval of prized projects and promotions. Can you see now why it’s important to master this game?

3. Shine the light on others—Compliment staff in front of others, and whenever possible, shine the light on those around you. The light from their reflection will make you shine brightly.

4. Presume good intent—It’s easy to jump to conclusions when you are asked to do something that at first doesn’t feel right. Presume good intent. Provide your boss with options on how to achieve the same results in a way that feels right.

5. Master the art of influencing—Influencing is communicating effectively with a goal in mind. Be specific in your request while highlighting why it’s in your boss’s best interest to comply with your request, and you will be on your way to mastering the art of influence.

6. Toot your own horn—For years we’ve been taught that it’s not polite to brag. But if we don’t, how will others know about our contributions? When companies put together lay-off lists, they exclude those whose contributions are well known throughout the organization. You may be the best singer in the room, but no one will know this if you never open your mouth.

7. Manage your own performance—Bosses are busy people and most would rather walk on hot coals than write a performance review. Prepare your own review, which should include ways you’ve added value to the organization as well as areas needing further development. Present this to your boss a week prior to your review, and don’t be surprised if what you get back closely resembles what you’ve submitted.

8. Continually maintain—Like any connection worth having, you will need to apply care and attention in order for the relationship to flourish. Continual maintenance is the key to sustaining relationships for years to come.

9. Hire a mentor or a coach—Every star player uses a mentor or a coach to help them improve their game. Find someone who is willing to hold up the mirror for you so that you can clearly see what your boss is seeing. Then adjust your style accordingly.

10. Attach your star carefully—You never want to be so closely associated with your boss that you find yourself on the outskirts the moment she is no longer in favor. Be your own person so others know you are more than someone’s sidekick.

© 2011 Human Resource Solutions. All rights reserved.

Roberta Chinsky Matuson is the President of Human Resource Solutions (www.yourhrexperts.com) and author of the recently released book, Suddenly in Charge: Managing Up, Managing Down, Succeeding All Around (Nicholas Brealey, January 2011). Her firm helps organizations create exceptional workplaces that deliver extraordinary results. Sign up to receive a complimentary subscription to Roberta’s monthly newsletter, HR Matters.

A guest column by Phil Symchych, a member of the Mentor Hall of Fame and a Mentor Master. He is the CEO of Symcoandco in Regina, SK.

My father, John Symchych, was a private first class in the Canadian Army during World War II. He’s 85 today and still tough.

He was promoted up to corporal once but they were out celebrating, returned late, were considered AWOL, and he was busted back down to private.

Dad was chased by a tank, hit with tank fire while in a brick school house and blinded for days, never knowing if he’d recover, returned to active duty, hit with machine gun fire, found by the Germans who gave them a coat and a flask of brandy, and eventually rescued by his Canadian buddies.

My Dad is my hero.

We have a great life in Canada and the US and enjoy many freedoms because of his courage…and speed (he out-ran the tank!).

Several years ago when I was stressed about a corporate tax exam in university, I called my Dad.

“Are you in a fox hole?” he asked.

“Ahh, no” I replied, wondering how this was going to help my academic stress.

“Is anyone shooting at you?” he demanded.

“No” was my meek response.

“You’ll be fine!” Click.

So, thanks, Dad, for giving us our feedom, helping us keep things in perspective, and teaching us how to act braver than many circumstances or common sense would have warranted.

And thanks to all military people, and their families, who endure danger, separation and worry to keep us safe.

On Remembrance Day and Veterans Day, please take a moment to appreciate our freedom and salute our military.

Copyright Phil Symchych 2010. All Rights Reserved.

By Betsy Jordyn

Becoming a thought leader and Million Dollar consultant is like climbing a very tall mountain. You can’t rush to the top; you have to spend time at various plateaus along the way.  On your journey to becoming a thought leader, there is a common challenge at every plateau: developing intellectual property. As you begin your climb, the challenge might be to come up with a value proposition and content for a website. As you progress upward, you could find yourself creating articles, booklets, podcasts, and teleconferences. At the higher plateaus you might publish a book and develop workshops and/or seminars. In other words, a consultant’s success at climbing this mountain is in direct proportion to his or her ability to generate intellectual property.

What is intellectual property? Simply put, it is the material result of transforming what you know into concepts or skills that are transferable to others.

To create intellectual property, you must first discover what is in your head. This means you must define your beliefs/core mental models and key techniques. Next, you must get your ideas onto paper. Finally, you have to present your idea to others in such a way that their conditions are improved and, as Alan has done, create a group of people who have grown as a result of your involvement and can come together in a community.

Developing intellectual property is a challenge for many of us who are bravely climbing this mountain. One reason we are challenged is that we generally start at the wrong place. By that, I mean we skip the first step, thinking, and begin creating material before we have discovered and defined our thoughts and ideas. With this in mind, here are some tips to help you become much more aware of what is in your head, so when you want to put it on paper the result is natural and flowing, rather than forced.

First, look at the problems your clients typically ask you to solve. Do they want you to alleviate pain (e.g., they no longer enjoy the business results they once did; their leaders are floundering; they must cut costs, etc.)? Or do they need help in maximizing opportunities (e.g., they want to be market leaders, but don’t know where to start; they want to publicize their assets but are having no success at doing so; etc.)? Now, consider this: The reason that a client calls you in is a clue to what your expertise is.

Second, analyze how you think about the problems or opportunities facing you.  A simple way to analyze any worldview or perspective is to define the following: What is the ideal state, what went wrong and what is the solution. As an organization development consultant, I firmly believe that the ideal state for any organization is to have a strong alignment between its business strategy and organization and people strategies. What often goes wrong is that a misalignment develops. So I focus my intervention on reestablishing the proper alignment. Not everyone will agree with me. Some might feel that the ideal for an organization is to have cultures that foster commitment.  In other words, we all have a theory that undergirds why we do what we do. Becoming aware of that theory is the key to moving forward.

Third, you probably already have core techniques that you use with your clients, so now you need to pay attention to them. What steps do you usually take from problem to implemented solution? Maybe you help healthcare organizations become market leaders. If so, how do you make that happen? What are the steps you have them take between where they are today and market leadership? Also take a look at how you typically engage a client. What steps do you use? For example, do you generally establish a partnership first, then do some analysis, make recommendations, implement a solution and evaluate the results? If so, that is a core technique which is transferable to others. I have a friend who calls these “scripts.” All of us have them, but all of us don’t put them on paper.

Fourth, learn to think more deeply. For example, I recently spoke with a colleague who had snapped a picture of a turtle’s nest on the beach. I asked him why the turtle’s nest was interesting to him. As we discussed the subject in depth, the turtle became a metaphor for business leaders who face incredible odds in trying to leave a legacy, and have to replace old strategies that no longer work in a hostile economic environment.  Fascinating stuff! Just thinking more deeply about the turtle’s nest and applying the reasons why it interested him to real-life business situations helped this individual to come up with several different ways he can use this metaphor to help his clients.

Fifth, capture your intellectual property with the right process visual. The shapes that you choose are how you tell your story. For example, A Venn diagram is designed to demonstrate the intersection between multiple elements; a 2×2 matrix demonstrates the relationship between two variables; and a see-saw is all about balance.

When you climb a mountain, the air you breathe becomes thinner, which increases the challenge.  But the good news is that you don’t have to go it alone. If you have a hard time accessing your thoughts, find a thinking partner to help you with the process.  If you have an easy time accessing your thoughts but find it hard to refine and improve your ideas, find a thinking partner to help you do that. Being in a community is about more than just having help on your climb to the top; it’s also about having others who can carry your burden and make the trip more enjoyable. After all, the process of discovering individual and shared intellectual property can be as valuable as reaching the summit.

© 2010 Betsy Jordyn

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Betsy Jordyn, President of Accelera Consulting Group, is viewed by her clients as the ultimate think partner for growth-oriented leaders.  Betsy, a consultant, leadership/career coach and one of Alan’s Mentor Masters, can be reached at 407.376.8522 and via her website www.acceleraconsultinggroup.com.

Igniting Excitement Within The À La Carte Customer

By Dave Gardner

Customers expect companies to offer more than a “one-size-fits-all” product or service. The à la carte customerTM wants to be in control of what they buy. A prospective customer wants to know what is available, at what price and, if we’re talking about a manufactured product, how long it will take to produce.

Traditionally, companies with configurable products and services build and maintain elaborate, electronic menus—often referred to as “configurators”—that describe the array of options available. Many companies offer so many choices that prospective customers are overwhelmed leaving them to wonder, “Where do I start? How do I begin to understand what product or service is appropriate for me?” For example, Dell’s website, dell.com, offers a vast array of choices yet does not go far enough in helping a prospective customer converge on the best solution based on their individualized needs.

Most companies discuss their products and services using industry-centric language which may align poorly with the language and expertise of the prospective customer. If a prospective customer doesn’t understand a company’s lingo, there’s going to be problems. Here’s an example.

Imagine you have just arrived in Malaysia and you are taken to a local, traditional buffet. You know nothing about the food you see. Some things look like insects, some things look raw—you are going to have many questions. There will be language differences that make it difficult to communicate with your local host. There will be a lot of “yeses” and head nodding but you wonder, “Did she really understand that I can’t tolerate anything spicy? When she tells me it’s not spicy, can I trust she understands my definition of ‘spicy?’” It is no different speaking to a prospective customer who does not possess expertise about your products and services.

If a company does a poor job of helping prospective customers make appropriate choices through its selling tools, it forces the prospective customer to speak with someone to help them figure out what to buy or, worse, turns the prospective customer toward competitors who more effectively help an individual decide what they need to buy.

Sometimes, a prospective customer will connect with a knowledgeable sales agent and, at other times, the customer will speak to a sales agent who knows little more about the company’s offerings than the prospective customer. The prospective customer has no means to determine the skill and expertise of the sales agent taking their call. If the product or service doesn’t meet the customer’s expectations, the customer may never buy from that company again. The unhappy customer is likely to share their negative experience with others.

Most configurators fail to offer what prospective customers really need. What are the best practices that companies of configurable products and services must employ in next-generation configurators?

• The configurator needs to be assistive to the prospective customer and the sales agent. Prospective customers require more than a “product selector” or “service selector” as traditional configurator solutions are presently constituted. Prospective customers need much more than an elaborate menu presented with little guidance about how to order or configure a product or service tailored to their individualized needs. Consider the trusted advisor role a waiter satisfies in a high-end restaurant—the waiter provides guidance and expertise to help the customer order a wonderful meal from a myriad of possibilities.

• Configurable product and service providers must offer guided selling solutions that teach a prospective customer how to buy based on the essential mission or application required of the product or service. To do this requires matching customer-required attributes with attributes inherent in certain products and features.

• Prospective customers need to know they are selecting the appropriate product or service based on attributes they have previously been prompted to provide. It is far better to fit the solution to the customer’s actual needs than let them buy something based purely on price that will disappoint them later.

• Configurable product and service providers need to provide different entry paths to help a prospective customer converge on a solution—the tools must help the novice or infrequent purchaser as well as the expert.

• Prospective customers need to have the opportunity to learn about products and services they never dreamt existed, creating excitement and engagement.

Is any company doing this well? I would suggest readers take few minutes and look at the configurator for a Bentley Continental GTC Speed for Model Year 2011. When customers spend approximately $250,000 on an automobile and receive it configured the way they want it, that’s exciting. Bentley’s configurator offers a wonderful, highly-visual experience helping buyers configure a one-of-a-kind automobile based on modularized options. While a customer will wait up to 6 months to take delivery of their built-to-order vehicle, Bentley’s process accommodates the à la carte customer very well. While Bentley’s website assumes prospective customers can determine which model is appropriate for their needs, Bentley could do a better job educating prospective customers about the range of their products and then help that customer converge on the best model.

These best practices for offering and presenting configurable products and services via next-generation configurators will turn customers into committed, raving fans. That’s exciting!

© 2010 Dave Gardner
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For over 30 years, Dave Gardner has helped companies discover that the royal road to the ultimate customer relationship is letting customers order “à la carte.” He assists clients with strategies for “The à la carte customerTM,” and in dramatic improvements in efficiencies and profits. Dave, a management consultant and speaker residing in Silicon Valley, can be reached at +1 888 488-4976, via his website at http://www.gardnerandassoc.com or on Twitter @Gardner_Dave