Blog Bite: Attack the Problem, Not Each Other

When two people are about to start an argument, they have a choice.  They can either fight to be right, or they can fight to be one.

If they choose to fight to be right, they are going to focus on winning.  They will whip out facts to try to prove their case and be confused as to why the other sees the facts so differently.  They will try to impose their power on the other.  They won’t listen to understand, but instead listen to reply.  Frankly, as the argument intensifies, the lack of listening can get so bad that they actually don’t hear the other person at all and don’t answer what is being addressed.  Instead, at this point, two totally different arguments are happening.  The way one views the other speaking can seem really hurtful, dark, and condemning.  The typical result of this conflict is frustration, more distance, fear, and a huge wedge in the middle of the relationship. 

If they fight to be one, then they are going to attack the problem together by listening more, proving that they understand the other’s perspective, and focus more on their perceptions, rather than the facts.  They are not going to condemn, attack the person personally, or misuse power.  They are going to use higher emotional intelligence and leverage each other’s strengths to solve the problem.  The result is a strengthening of the relationship, confidence, growth, and everything in the middle of the relationship being cleared. 

Most arguments go south at the very beginning of the conflict.  It starts with the approach.  Do you want to be right, or do you want to be one?  Be clear in the beginning, and the conflict will go better - because if the other doesn’t join you in fighting to be one, you can always choose to not engage the argument until they do.

Chew On This:

• What type of relationship are we writing about in this blog?

Ryan C. Bailey & Associates is an organizational effectiveness firm focused on equipping leaders to develop in-demand high-performing teams to increase the health and effectiveness of the greater organization.

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No client is being singled out.

Using Inspiration and External Motivation to Develop a High Performance Team

High performing teams (HPT) are teams that get a lot done, produce superior results, and love working together to accomplish their goals.  They believe in each other and are confident that each person is supposed to be on the team.  They are not afraid to push each other to bring the best out in one another.  When you are part of a high performing team, you don’t want to leave it.  They are so much fun to be a part of.

HPT’s don’t usually start off as High Performing Teams. HPTs are developed.  In order to build one, leaders need to know how to draw out the best in each individual member, and leaders need to know how to get them to collaborate well.  But how do they do that?  It starts with understanding the role that inspiration and external motivation play in the life of a team.

Inspiration Is About Creating Meaning and Purpose

Inspiration is about drawing meaning and purpose from a cause that is greater than we are.  Once inspired, a team has a vast store of internal motivation to go through walls, if necessary, to accomplish the mission of the team.  Internal motivation will continue if it is fueled from time to time.

External Motivation Is Used For Stretch Goals

External motivation--such as titles, more money, a seat at certain tables--only works temporarily.  The energy that comes from these one-time events won’t last.  However, when coupled with inspiration, external motivation can be a powerful way to summon great stores of energy, positivity, and fun in order to accomplish a very exciting stretch goal.

How to Relentlessly Inspire Your Team:

Start with a Rallying Cry

Leaders need to focus on inspiration, which comes from being passionate about the team’s common purpose. Steve Jobs’ motto, “A thousand songs in your pocket,” rallied Apple engineers to create the iPod.  Your team needs to come up with their rallying cry.  

How?  Brainstorm with your team about what got them interested in joining the team.  Look at what your team is tasked to do.  What is the most important part? How does it impact you and others at large when the team accomplishes it?  Is there a way to combine all three: the why of their joining the team, the most important part of what the team is tasked to do, and the impact the team will have?  Can you then say it in such a way that an intelligent third grader could get excited about it?  For the intelligent third grader to get it, you will need to eliminate details.  Focus on what it is, how it affects them and how it impacts others.  Capture it in a catchy phrase (seven words or less) that can become the team mantra.  Purpose will be cemented in this step.

Fall in Love With What You Are Doing

Next, ask your team to think about times they were doing things they absolutely loved.  What led them to fall in love with what they were doing?  Get into the weeds here for a bit.  As people vibe off of what others are saying, ask the team to come up with principles that the team can recreate to help one another fall in love with the team and their goals.

Discover Each Team Member’s Core Value

Now move individually. To gain high levels of commitment, find out what each team member longs for. What do they really want?  What are their deepest desires?  Look for what each of those things represents to them. For example, many people would assume that if you were talking to a sales team, each member of the team would want more money.  But that isn’t necessarily true.  You need to ask the question, “If you had more money, what would that give you which you did not have before?”  Some of the answers may include:

• If I had money, then I would have Significance

• If I had money, then I would have Love

• If I had money, then I would have Acceptance

• If I had money, then I would have Value

• If I had money, then I would have Enjoyment

• If I had money, then I would have Security

Each of the six letters of the word SLAVES is a core value to that person.  We are often slaves of those core values, since most of our decisions are made in an effort to achieve one of them.  Which letter drives each member of your team?  

Help members to discern this by asking them:

1. What do their longings and desires represent to them?  (i.e. Money = Value) 

2. If threatened, what do they react most strongly to, or even overly strongly to?  What does that threat represent?

3. What do they think about when they don’t have to think of anything?  What does that represent?

If they can’t seem to decide between a couple of letters, ask if there is something even deeper that just one of those letters gives them.  For example if they say, “I have narrowed down the list to Acceptance and Security, and I am not sure which one it is.”  Then ask, “If you have Acceptance, what will you then have?  And how about with Security?  If you have Security, then what would you have?”  If they say, “If I have Acceptance, then I have Security, but I can’t think of anything deeper that I would have if I had Security,” then a good guess would be that Security is their deepest value.  Often when you narrow it down to two SLAVES values, one value feeds the second value, but not vice versa. Once identified, appropriately feed their value in healthy ways.

Leverage What Comes Natural to Each Team Member for the Good of All

Next, look at what comes naturally to each person.  Start with their personality type.  As an ENFJ, I love reading a room or an individual and helping them in ways that create a major impact. 

Don’t forget to dig into their story.  What have they naturally done well over time, even when they were a kid?  What do they always get high marks for on performance reviews?  

How can they leverage what they naturally do well--whether from their personality type or their story--for the good of all?  If they don’t see how their natural gifts are valuable, help them come up with a list, starting with some of the things you see.  Then help them by asking questions like, “How do you think this gift will help José?  How about Michelle?  What about the higher-ups in the company?  How about our clients?  Other stakeholders?”  Keep generating options and asking the team member to write them down on something like a Google Doc so they can have easy access to the list whenever they need to review it.  This will help elevate their Self-Regard.

How about others on your team?  What do they do naturally?  How can they leverage those strengths for the good of all?

Make the Work Fun!

Next, collaborate with each team member as to how the work can be more (1) fun, (2) interesting, or (3) challenging.  Different personality types view those categories differently, so make sure individual needs are met.  

Once you know what works for each individual, look to the group.  Are there things in common with other members that they could do as a group to increase fun, interest, and challenge for all?  Pepper those things in from time to time.

Use External Motivation for Stretch Goals

Use external motivation to go after a real stretch goal, remembering that it is only  temporary.  If you are doing well with the inspiration piece, you may not need to use external motivation.  Every once in a while, however, there will be a need to accomplish a short-term goal which will be a challenge to achieve, and this may be a great time for external motivation, to encourage the team to go all-out to get it.  For example, if you know your team really wants to go to ABC and you know XYZ will be a challenging goal say, “If the team accomplishes XYZ, we all get to go to ABC and celebrate!”  From time to time, help them recall why they wanted to go to ABC, to keep the motivation fresh and active.  

If you want to develop your team into a high performing team, focus on inspiration and use external motivation only for the stretch goals.  Inspiration lasts... External motivation adds a little gas to achieve a stretch goal.

Chew On This:

• What inspires you? In other words, what gives you meaning and purpose?

---

Ryan C. Bailey is President and CEO of an organizational effectiveness company.

Transitioning into a New Team and Culture as a CxO

Congratulations!  You are transitioning into a new company and a new role as a C-Suite executive.  For the first few days, you’re likely to be swamped in a flurry of welcomes and introductions, mandatory trainings, and IT set-up.

But after that, then comes the real action.  Time to get down to business.

...right?

Maybe not quite as much.  Companies are finding that their onboarding processes fail to set up their new CxOs for success.  Why?  Onboarding almost never addresses intangibles like culture, politics, and relationships.  If you aren’t given clear knowledge on these items, you may struggle to effectively manage your team, make successful decisions, or garner buy-in for your decisions.  For example:

• Will your firm stick to tradiition, despite the appearance of a promising but novel business idea? (This might be good to know before you pitch your promising but novel business.)

• Your firm might provide you with a company card, but what if the CFO looks down on you for flying first class instead of economy? (And what if the CFO is one of the first people you need to ask for clearance on a high-investment project? This specific scenario may not happen, but other similar faux pas happen frequently.)

• How do you address conflict?  The plaque on the wall says your firm values “open honesty”, but your team historically has addressed conflict passively.

• Who in the firm has real decision-making power?  The director?  Or the administrative assistant who stands behind the director?

Without knowing the answer to questions like these, new CxOs quickly find themselves tangled in an invisible web of red tape, maneuvering, and strategic and operational mishaps.  Nearly half of new CxOs fail within their first 18 months.  The reason?  “A poor grasp of how the organization works,” said 70% of respondents in a global survey of 500+ chief executives.  Another 65% said, “Cultural misfit.”  The third reason listed by 57% of respondents said, “Difficulty forging alliances with peers.”

The question then is: how do you successfully transition into a new team and a new culture as a CxO?  How do you manage, communicate to, and incentivize your new team?  How do you adjust to the micro-culture within your department?  How do you know what key stakeholders really value?  Here are 7 actionable tips to get you started.

1. Set relational goals.

   Frankly, the only way to learn about a company’s intangibles is to immerse yourself in them.  That means connecting with your firm’s people.  (If you’re an introvert, this also means going slowly and steadily and scheduling plenty of re-charge time for yourself.  If you’re an extrovert, this means evaluating who talks more in the meeting: you or them?  You can’t learn without listening!)

   You may be set up for some mandatory meetings within the first couple weeks.  But create your own goals for the first 90 days of employment.  While you yourself may not need the full 90 days to feel situated, others might.  Keep in mind those who are naturally reserved or shy.  And remember that you are about as high in the company as you can go.  Unfortunately, unless your company’s culture is truly unique, those around you will likely feel a power differential which can only be overcome by boosting familiarity, predictability, and mutual trust. 

   Organize in the way that works best for you:

   • Consider organizing by type of interaction: informal and formal, spontaneous and planned. For example, every week, plan to have:

     • 3 lunches

     • 10 hallway conversations

     • 1 team meeting

     • 3 one-on-one’s

   • Consider organizing by role. If you have an organization chart, use that to guide you. For example, every week, plan to have:

     • 5 meetings with direct reports

     • 2 meetings with other C-Suite executives

     • 2 meetings with Board members

     • 1 meeting with someone from HR, finance/accounting, IT, R&D, and Supply Chain each

   • Consider organizing by time. For example, plan to interact with people for:

     • 30 minutes each Monday

     • 1 hour each Tuesday

     • 3 hours each Wednesday

     • 30 minutes each Thursday

     • 3 hours each Friday

   Lastly, remember that you cannot only gravitate towards those who are like you or those who make you feel welcomed.  In order to effectively grasp your firm’s culture and politics, you need to talk especially to the marginalized, underrepresented, and introverted to see their view of the company as well.  Otherwise, you may find yourself in an unhelpful echo-chamber.

2. Plan your meeting content.

   What do you actually discuss in meetings?  Asking questions around someone’s family and recreations is a great place to start for casual conversations.  Learning about someone’s life - both outside of work and before you met them - helps build trusting relationships authentically.

   You may also want to target your conversations for your transition.  Consider these questions:

   With your direct reports:

   • “Where did you work before here?  How well did you like those jobs and companies?  What did you like and dislike about them?  What led you to work here?”

   • “What are your career aspirations?  Why do you come to work every day?”

   • “Describe for me the ideal manager.”  (Then incorporate what you hear into your leadership!  You should ask repeatedly and specifically for constructive feedback, giving spaces to hash out awkwardness and miscommunications.  But many employees, especially direct reports, will not initially feel comfortable enough to respond honestly.  Use this question for feedback that won’t put your direct reports on the spot.)

   • “What kind of support do you need?  How can I help you succeed?”

   • “Can you describe for me your personality?  How would friends and family describe your personality?”

   • “What is ‘normal protocol’ in the company?  Are there specific ‘correct procedures’ that need to be followed?  What is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’?”

   With other CxOs and Board members:

   • “How will success in my new role be defined?  How will you know when I’ve adjusted?”

   • “What is most needed of me in the first quarter, the first year, and the first 5 years?”

   • “Are there other key stakeholders who may not be obvious?  If so, who?”

   • “What information do I need from you to be able to do the best job I can?”

   • “Here is what kind of behavior on the board’s part that would best enable me to have a trusting relationship at board meetings, between us, and in one-on-one conversations.”

3. Create an organization plan.

   Before you set off on the above, decide how you are going to track and organize the sudden influx of information.  Take a look at the following questions and have an answer prepared for each of them.

   • How will you track to-do’s?

   • How will you prioritize them?

   • How will you track your meetings?

     • Which meetings have you already had?

     • Which ones do you still need to have?

     • How will you know the agenda of each meeting?

     • How will you track the information you receive in each meeting?

   • How will you remember everyone’s names the first time and connect key information about them to them?

4. Work with a Coach.

   One of the greatest obstacles new C-Suite executives face is their own eagerness.  After all, you were hired for a reason.  In the selection process, you likely asked insightful questions and challenged inefficiencies.  Now you’re ready to get your hands dirty.

   But the intangibles take time.  No one can adequately describe the extent of their company’s culture in a day.  No one can build high-performing teams in a week.  As discussed earlier, taking drastic action before you know your firm’s intangibles can easily result in failure.

   You need patience, but you also need to prove that you can take action and make progress on your goals.  A good coach will help you nail that balance.

   Other benefits?  A coach will be key to helping you apply your individual goals to your new role.  A coach will also help you navigate any tricky politics you may immediately encounter.  And a coach can help level up your team.

5. Work alongside your predecessor.

   Tie up any loose strings with your predecessor and gain some insightful info at the same time.  Questions to ask include:

   • “What worked well?  What worked poorly?”

   • “What were you working on before I came?  How will those tasks be completed?  Will we be viewed as true partners by the Board?  Will we collaborate?  Will the tasks be dropped?”

   • “What is the company accustomed to experiencing from you?”  (If possible, take a look at their personality.)

   • “Who did you normally talk to for issues with [fill-in-the-blank]?”

   • “What is ‘normal protocol’ in the company?  Are there specific ‘correct procedures’ that need to be followed?  What is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’?”

   You may not be able to fully work alongside your predecessor, but a coffee or lunch is still extremely valuable.  If you unfortunately cannot contact your predecessor at all, a mentor or sponsor is your next best bet.

6. Work with a mentor or sponsor.

   Some companies have begun to provide mentors or sponsors to help you learn the intangibles.  If you were not given one, ask your hiring team to point you to a long-standing employee, someone who can and is eager to help you understand the answers to any of your questions.  (Make sure to thank your mentor or sponsor properly!)

7. Talk to the CHRO.

   The CHRO (assuming that is not you) will be one of your greatest assets in transitioning successfully.  (If you are the CHRO, talk to the team that hired you.)  Ask your CHRO questions like:

   • “What attributes do I possess that resulted in me being selected for this new role?”

   • “What attributes do I still need to develop or enhance?”

   • “Do you have a clear job description that has buy-in from key stakeholders?”  Get as much clarity on areas of responsibility, authority, and decision rights as possible.

   • “Can I have...

     • Key information (mission, values, history)

     • Financial information

     • An organization chart and contacts list

     • A list of key acronyms

     • The resumes of my direct reports?”

   • “What is ‘normal protocol’ in the company?  Are there specific ‘correct procedures’ that need to be followed?  What is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’?”

Starting a new job anywhere is exciting! I hope these tips help you succeed as a new CxO. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out at megan@ryancbailey.com. Always happy to help.

---

Megan Koh is a Career Development Coach, with over 7 years of experience in helping others find and achieve their dream jobs.  She lives south of Atlanta and is married to her sweetheart Danny.

Help! My Employees Want to Stay Unemployed!

At long last!  Several months after COVID-19 first hit the United States, businesses are beginning to reopen.  Strict quarantine rules are slowly being phased back as more people venture out for dining, personal care services, and recreation.

What does this mean for you?  As your company redesigns for social distancing and cleaning requirements, you may need to figure out how to re-staff.

But here’s the crux of the problem.  State unemployment benefits have risen dramatically in light of COVID-19 ($978 on average this year, compared to $378 on average last year).  And the federal CARES Act has been supplying all unemployed workers with an additional $600 per week, provided they are unemployed as a direct result of COVID-19.  As a result, around half of all workers in the United States are more financially incentivized to stay unemployed than to return to work.

If you run a company or have a hand in your firm’s HR strategy, you may struggle to get old or new staff members to fill positions.  So the purpose of this blog post is to give you 4 ways to encourage your eligible workforce to come back to work.

1. Create non-monetary incentives.

Let’s start off with some hope-giving statistics:

• 89% of bosses believe employees quit because they want more money.  But reality says that only 12% of employees switch jobs for a pay raise.

• American workers said they would be willing to give up 23% of their entire future lifetime earnings for a job that was always meaningful in a survey of 2,000+ participants.

• In a study conducted by Glassdoor, the top predictor of workplace satisfaction was not pay across all income levels.

In other words, money may not be the primary reason why employees are staying away from work.  Especially when you factor in the perilous effects of quarantine boredom (i.e. a high correlation with depression, anxiety, and drug and alcohol abuse), your eligible workforce may be more ready to return than you’d expect.  Thinking strategically, you can create some truly compelling non-monetary incentives, which may work even better than upping wages.  Here are a few suggestions:

• Of course, let your eligible workforce know that you care about their health.  Follow OSHA guidelines.  But then also hold open conversations with previous staff members about what safety concerns they might have around returning.  What else can you do to give your team peace of mind?  Do they want frequent breaks to wash their hands?  Do they want you to provide high-quality masks?  Create a workplace that ensures your staff members don’t feel threatened to return.

• The CARES Act ends July 31st.  At that point, millions of Americans will be swarming back to work, unable to support themselves entirely on state unemployment benefits.  Let your old team know that you want them to have a secure job with you when that time comes.  Let them know that you want them specifically and give them reasons why.  For example, “Ian, no matter how busy and chaotic work is, your humor and optimism always make the day better for everyone,” or, “Sally, you work tirelessly and quietly, ensuring everything goes off without a hitch from the background.  Without you, we would never be able to run as smoothly as we do.”  Recognition is the #1 motivator of work productivity, whereas a pay raise ranks at only #5.  (And this goes without saying, but make sure your praise is genuine.  Flattery is unethical, easily detected, and ineffective.)

• Use reopening as an opportunity to clean out your culture.  No one’s work culture is perfect, and values are alive and ever-changing.  Core values may not have stuck and need to be analyzed and reconsidered.  Aspirational values may need to be updated.  Overtime, organizations collect accidental values: values that arise without intentionality from leadership and represent the commonalities of the majority.  In what ways has your workplace culture become tacky, exclusive, or just plain dull?  If you want some help in finding the answer, talk and listen to your front-line and most entry-level workers.  How can you make your company’s workplace the best place to be?

• Create meaningful work.  Do you know the long-term goals of your previous team members?  Do you know their passions?  If not, be willing to ask!  And let your old team know that, moving forward, you want more now than ever to help them achieve their goals and experience their passions every day at work.This may mean that you have to do some organizational shuffling.  (For example, Shelly likes making people happy but has been in data analytics; she should be moved to a customer-facing role.)  This may also mean that you have to give your employees more autonomy or change up accountability.  (For example, Ryan and Perry are competitive, but their work output is not easily measurable; you should come up with ways to quantify and track their work.)  How can you help your workers live fulfilling and satisfying lives?(As a disclaimer, this strategy can be extensive and challenging.  What do you do with an employee whose only passion is video games?  How do you thoughtfully hold these kinds of conversations with a staff of 30?  Reach out in the contact form below if you get stumped!)

• Lastly, foster opportunities to develop your people.  Everyone, even those who flip burgers unnoticed in the back of your store, wants to feel like they are growing, learning, and improving.  And every role develops what are called transferable skills, or skills that hold across industries and jobs.  (Some transferable skills include communication, problem solving, emotional self-awareness, etc.) Unfortunately, development of transferable skills often goes unnoticed and un-praised, in contrast to the often hyper-focus placed on bottom-line results.  What skills does a burger chef develop that may be helpful to her in future jobs?  If you want to invest in your people, you need to know in what ways you are investing in them and get creative.  For example, a burger chef might develop attention-to-detail, an awareness of work flow, organization, and/or cooperation.If you want to attract talent back to your business, give them reasons to come that go beyond their immediate circumstances and last into the rest of their life.  This can be as simple as attaching a list of transferable skills to each role and creating accountability and rewards around those skills.

These suggestions can seem daunting because they are (and should be) fairly time-consuming.  Doubting the fiscal return of your efforts is reasonable.  But these suggestions aren’t just “nice” ways to “smooth-talk” your staff back into work.  Holding these types of conversations not only creates personal impact, but also increased revenue.  Since we started with statistics, let’s end with one more:

• This study generated estimations that a highly meaningful job will produce an additional $9,078 per worker, per year, given established job satisfaction-to-productivity ratios.

Is the effort worth it to you?

2. Report an “Offer of Work.”

In some states, a refusal to return back to work (when given a fair offer) leads to disqualification from unemployment benefits.

For example, if you offer employment to Bob who used to work for you, Bob might reject your offer because he’s earning more unemployed than he would returning to your company.  You can counter his rejection by reporting a copy of your job offer to your state’s Department of Labor.  Bob will then lose his unemployment benefits.  At that point, you could then re-offer the position to Bob under his new conditions.

Some important notes for using this option:

• Clearly, the nature of this option is harsh.  Essentially, employers can use leverage to “force” employees back to work.In order to use this option honorably and effectively, be proactive in your communication.  If you can, build trust by hosting an open dialogue around a return to work before you extend offers; listen to fears and objections and see what you can do to help your team return to work with ease and eagerness.  If you can’t hold that kind of conversation, at least proactively let candidates know that they may be in danger of losing unemployment benefits if they reject your offer.  (This also eliminates the necessity of a re-offer.) Above all, if you use this option, strive to be fair.  If you can’t compensate your employees financially, again, how else can you compensate them with non-monetary incentives?

• Unfortunately, each state’s process is different and developed in real-time.  Some states are not yet even offering this option.  You may have to do a bit of hunting on your state’s Department of Labor website to find the details that apply to you.

• The offer you give must be more or less similar to the offer you first gave.  In other words, you can’t slash wages or significantly alter the role’s responsibilities.  (Again, details vary per state.)

3. Try employing workshare.

In some states, a workshare program allows you to employ your workforce for a percentage of their normal hours (e.g. 40%).  Those employees would then collect (1) 40% of their normal wages, (2) partial unemployment benefits from the state, and (3) $600 in benefits from the federal CARES Act.  In some cases, the combined total of the 3 sources of income would be greater than either full employment or full unemployment.

Again, each state varies on specifics.  Check out your state’s Department of Labor and see if you can create a plan that works for you and your employees.

4. Use the intermittent furlough strategy.

If you haven’t yet closed your business entirely, you may be able to immediately implement the intermittent furlough strategy.  This strategy avoids the mistake of reducing 10 staff members to 50% of their normal hours, an act that would disqualify them from unemployment benefits.  Instead, try employing 5 staff members for 100% of their normal hours in one week, and then employing the other 5 staff members for 100% of their normal hours in the next week.  Continuously alternate between the two subteams.

Due to new stipulations in the CARES Act, these employees can collect wages during their week on and unemployment benefits in their week off.

I hope that this article has helped!  Navigating through available solutions can be daunting and confusing, and we all are experiencing this for the first time.  If you have any questions on anything discussed above, please reach out to me at megan@ryancbailey.com.  Wishing you the best!

---

Megan Koh is a Career Development Coach, with over 7 years of experience in helping others find and achieve their dream jobs.  She lives south of Atlanta and is engaged to her sweetheart Danny.

One Huge Way To Tailor Your Next Sales Pitch

Salespeople are always looking for a meaningful way to connect with a prospect as quickly as possible.  If they knew more about the prospect, especially their personality type, they could tailor their pitch in a style better designed to reach them.  

Fortunately, Myers-Briggs has given salespeople a huge leg up in this arena.  Research has shown that 75% of all people are Sensors.  

* Sensors are concrete, detailed-oriented people who are focused on the here and now.  

* They are drawn to physical realities--what they can see, hear, touch, taste and smell.  

* Sensors like facts. They are practical; they learn best when someone shows them how they can use the information they are being taught.  

* Sensors will do things according to how experience has taught them to do it rather than try a new, unproven solution.  To Sensors, talk is cheap.  They want evidence.  

* As a group, Sensors are greatly concerned with the bottom line.

* When delivering facts, Sensors will move sequentially through them.  

So what does that mean for those of you in sales?

When you don’t know a prospect’s personality type, assume they are a Sensor. Until they show you that they want the big picture, talk in metaphors or generalities, or talk about the meaning behind the facts you are sharing.  If they seem bored with details, they are part of the 25% of us who are Intuitives.  

To best reach Sensors with your pitch:

• Focus on concrete facts

• Discuss the steps involved in the correct sequence

• Emphasize immediate or short-term benefits

• Build credibility by emphasizing relevant experience

• When outlining an idea, state when the details will be sorted out and who will do it.

You will want to over-prepare for the meeting as they may want to dive deep into details.  Don’t be afraid to say you don’t know, but assure them you will get back to them with the answer to their detailed questions.  Make sure you follow through thoroughly and as quickly as possible.

If you are pitching to someone higher up in an organization, you don't want to waste their time. Even the leader is a Sensor, they may be able to put together the details through a bullet point.  So you will need to anticipate that: adjust the pitch by saying you will give the high level bullet points, and then will dive in deep to the bullet points they want details on.

As a side note, if you discover early on in your pitch that the leader is not a Sensor, be sure to adjust the presentation to a more Intuitive style.  Our next blog will discuss how to create a presentation for them.

Chew On This:

• Which of your prospects are you sure are Sensors?  What do they have in common

Ryan C. Bailey is President and CEO of an organizational effectiveness company that supports leaders in developing in-demand high performing teams

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No one single client is being singled out.

25 Questions To Consider Before Starting A New Project

You receive an email where you read that you've been put in charge of a project. Your boss wants to sit down with you to talk through the details tomorrow.

What questions should you ask that will help set you up for success?

Consider these:

1. Is there a clear, tangible objective to this project? If so, what is it?  If not, how can we make it clear and tangible?

2. What is the most essential part of this project?

3. How will we know we've succeeded?

4. What happens if this project is not successful?

5. How is this project tied to the greater organization?

6. When is this project due?

7. What are the key milestones that must be met?

8. What is it about me that led you to choose me to lead this project?

9. What are your expectations of me?  The team?

10. May I share how I work best?  May we talk about how my workstyle lines up with your expectations?

11. Who is the actual client?

12. Who is the point of contact?

13. Who is RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted & Informed)?

14. How does each RACI want to be communicated with, to what level of detail, and when?

15. How will I be held accountable for this project?  

16. Has this project been done before?

17. What things should I do immediately to set this project up for success?

18. What obstacles should I expect to find in completing this project?

19. How high does the project compare with the other projects I'm working on?

20. What support will I have in completing this project?

21. What skills are necessary to complete this project successfully?

22. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the team who will be working with me on this?

23. How can I gain each team member’s commitment to see the project through to successful completion?

24. How will this project be delivered?

25. What should I have asked you that I didn't ask you?

Chew On This:

• Which questions above especially stand out to you?

Ryan C. Bailey is President and CEO of an organizational effectiveness company that supports leaders in developing in-demand high performing teams

*This blog is an amalgamation of a few different clients.  No one single client is being singled out.

Stay in the Strike Zone by Discovering Your Bent

Everyone has something that they are especially gifted in.  It is something that is really them, something they can use to effect the greatest good for the greatest number. Do you know what yours is?

Or, to put it another way, do you know what your “thing” is?

Your thing, or your bent, is something you could apply anywhere in life.  Typically, it transcends arena, but you would especially use it at work, since you spend so many hours there.

Clients have shared things like:

• “I innovate”
• “I refine”
• “I make things right”
• “I bring order out of chaos”

Do you see how any of those things could apply anywhere in life?  Do you see how someone could be innovative at work but also at home--planning meals, parenting, etc?

That is what you are looking for.

Is there something stirring in you now that you think may be your thing?  Maybe you are still not sure.

I ask my clients three different questions to help them discover their thing:

• What have your greatest accomplishments had in common?  What have you been known for?

If you can’t think of what to list as your greatest accomplishments, then start by telling yourself your own story and see what stands out as the greatest accomplishments or something you were known for. Let me tell you a little bit of my story to help you see how I discovered what my thing is, and maybe that will help you discover yours.

I was the little kid who knew everyone’s secrets.  Two friends would be at odds with each other, and both would talk to me without ever knowing that the other was doing the same thing.

I went to the second largest high school in the country, Brooklyn Tech.  There were so many students that when we walked the stage to get our diplomas at graduation, some of my friends and I remarked that we had never seen some of the people on stage before.

Somehow at school my name got around as the guy you talk to if you are having girlfriend/boyfriend problems or “parent issues."

My mother, who is a surgeon but goes by her last name Paoli, used to jokingly answer our home telephone line by saying, “Dr. Bailey’s line," then hand me the phone.

Everyone knew that I was going to be a therapist (no one knew what coaching was back then).

When I started heading in the therapy direction, my parents encouraged me to go into business. I did.

Throughout my time working for a stockbroker (who eventually became a venture capitalist), writing business plans, and being a financial consultant, clients would say things like, “You know you sound like a therapist”;  “You ask questions like a therapist”; “Are you sure you are not a therapist?”

Eventually I became a therapist, but despite really enjoying therapy, I missed the business world.  My wife started saying things like, “It’s a shame you have this expensive business degree but use it only for your business."

Then she read an article on coaching and exclaimed, “Ryan this is you!!!  This is so you!!!  You’ve got to read it!”

Since a lot of my therapist friends at that time pooh-poohed the idea of coaching, I did not read it.

But my wife persisted over the next few days until I finally relented and read it.

I’m glad I did, because she was right again.  It was me.

I immediately bought a book on coaching, then hired my own coach, got trained, and began calling counseling clients whom I had not seen in years.  Since many of them were executives, I added executive coaching to my list of services.

When I looked at my biggest successes in counseling and executive coaching, what they had in common was that I “got to the heart” and worked at that level.

• What have others told you that you did to achieve the greatest home runs?

To gain confirmation on the “getting to the heart” thing, I contacted clients who had experienced home runs and asked them, “What did I do that most helped you to have the home run you experienced during our time together?”

The vast majority said some version of, “You got to the heart.”

I could have just started with this step if I would have thought of it.  But the home runs were in seemingly different areas (i.e. porn addiction recovery, marriage counseling, leadership development, high performance team formation, etc.).

What about you?  What’s your story?  What does it reveal about what your “thing” is?

• What natural gifts do you have that have always been better than average and make you feel alive when you use them?

A third way you can discover your "thing" is to ask, “What have I always done at a better than average level?”  See if any of those gifts can be applied across your life.

With some of them you may have to look deeper.

For example, I had a client who was in his 50’s, who said, among other things, that he was always able to hit a great forehand.  When we analyzed what he did to hit that great forehand consistently, and what he experienced while hitting the best forehands, he described how he would get into a zone where the court would look huge so it felt like he could not miss.

We then worked on ways for him to get in that zone more often.

The more he got into the flow of that zone in any area of life, the better he did.

So he became intentional about “getting into the zone”.

Once you discover what your thing is, use it intentionally in any and every area of life.  The more you do that, the more you stay in your strike zone.

The more you stay in your strike zone, the more you will see your “thing” as a gift.

The humility that comes from seeing that brings real contentment and a desire to use your gift as much as possible for the greatest ends.

You will also experience more confidence, more meaning, and even taste joy.

Finally, you will also notice that your gift can be improved and grown.  Making small incremental progress brings a sense of true enjoyment.

When team members discover what their thing is and directly apply it to their role, their engagement goes up, camaraderie increases, and they become much more helpful to their fellow team members.

As a final thought, make sure you can explain what your “thing” is in less than seven words (preferably four or less).  You will love the clarity that comes from that exercise.

Chew On This:

• What would be different about your life if you discovered what your “thing” is and constantly used it at work?

Ryan C. Bailey is an Executive Coach who helps business leaders develop in-demand high performing teams.