No Room for Dead Weight in Entrepreneur In Action Team

I’ve had the honor for the last two years of being on the Board of Advisor’s for University of Minnesota-Carlson School of Management Entrepreneur In Action course that is operated out of the Gary S. Holmes Center of Entrepreneurship. I’ve been continually impressed with the quality of the students and the incredibly real-life learning that happens through this hands-on experience.

At our last Board of Advisor’s meeting, when Rachel Nearhood, the CEO of Aozora Organics, reported on their teams’ learnings, she said, “We’ve learned that everyone needs to be a leader. There is no room for dead weight.”

I was thrilled! I was thrilled that they were learning this lesson while in college because it’s a lesson that will fuel their success in the rest of the career. We all need to be leaders, in any and every situation. We can not be dead weight, and we can’t have dead weight on our teams, if we’re to come out of this economic storm stronger then every.

Where is there dead weight in your company? On your leadership team? Sales team?

You may find some helpful tips in my most recent booklet: Yes You Can: 67 Tips to Raise Sales Results in a Recession Yes You Can: 67 Tips to Raise Your Sales Results in a Recession.

Raise Sales Results in a Recession

If you haven’t had a chance to download my Complimentary eBooklet, I invite you to do so: Yes You Can: 67 Tips to Help You Raise Sales Results in a Recession.

Our Deepest Fear as Sales Leaders

I’m certain that most of us have read this poem that is popularized by Nelson Mandela. However, it struck me anew as I was rereading it. I’ve been dealing with a couple of sales
leaders this week who are so tentative in their decision making.
In fact, when they asked me about what might be one of their
greatest obstacles to turning their sales force from declining sales to record-breaking sales, I answered, “Your decision making ability.”

Stopping the downward spiral of an excuse making, blame-game culture takes DICE+1 leaders. Yes, that leadership means that we as CEO, owners, board members, and sales
leaders, need to build strong relationships with those around us.
However, that leadership also calls us to be clear with our
expectations and to be willing to follow through with consequences when
expectations aren’t met and promises are broken…even when we’re
afraid.

So, what are you afraid of? What’s holding you back from doing what you know is right?

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,
our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?”
Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some of us,it is in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson

The Laffer Curve and Your Sales Execution Strategies

Dr. Arthur Laffer, a world-renown economist known for The Laffer Curve, spoke at a meeting co-hosted by Turnaround Management Association and Association for Corporate Growth. Even though this YouTube interview is from Oct. 2008, his views remain consistent today. And, his predictions are worth considering as you craft your Strategic Plan and finetune your Sales Execution Strategies. Any and all flaws in your Strategies will be exposed this year and in the years to come. Now, is the time to optimize your sales efforts, to improve your sales efficiencies, and to ensure that a robust client solution!

Do we as leaders, need a Leader?

Paul Harry, Charlie Kanon and I facilitate a networking group called the Nehemiah Group. The name is in honor of a friend of our Rich Breau, who’s an incredible management consultant, dynamic pastor and great Bible teacher. Since Nehemiah was a builder, we’re trusting that we as a group will be able to help each other grow our client’s business. We’re business builders!

I started thinking about this group as I read the the litany of calamities in today’s StarTribune:

• AIG execs get $100M in bonuses
• Why would anyone shoot a sleeping family?
• Kalin Dao Unmasked
• Bullet will stay in the back of boy shot new Fairview Park
• and there are more stories like these

How are we as business leaders to respond in light of the current economic and social crisis? What would Nehemiah do? Do we have the character of Nehemiah?

Hmmmmm… maybe that’s part of the problem.

Maybe we’re really more like the people living in a broken Jeruselum. The walls are broken, but we just step over the broken rubble. The gates of the city, meant to protect us, have fallen off and been cast aside….and, we’re defenseless. The sewer is backed up; but, we’ve learned to live with the stench. Could it be that we as business, social and spiritual leaders are in desperate need of someone to lead and teach about true leadership? Are we needing a Leader who can help us be better leaders?

That’s my philosophical musings for today! I’m interested in your thoughts as you reflect on the role of leaders during these challenging times.

Is the Lantern informing your Leadership Journey?

For one of my Transformational Leadership classes taught by Dr. Sam Rima, I wrote a 99 page Personal Case Study entitled, “The Lady with Lantern.” 99 pages! I didn’t even know that my leadership journey had that much to talk about! However, whenever I see anything having to do with “light,” it immediately catches my attention and imagination.

So, while having my relaxing Saturday morning cup of coffee, I decided to read Psalm 119. The first stanza I read was, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (105).” I immediately wondered, “Hmmmmmm, I wonder what Google has to say about this verse as it relates to the role of leading during tumultuous times? What does it say that could refute some of the Leadership Myths that we read about in the endless array of leadership books and articles written for business leaders, entrepreneurs and sales management leaders?”

The first entry is a quote from Charles Spurgeon, that says, “We are walkers through the city of this world, and we are often called to go out into its darkness; let us never venture there without the light-giving word, lest we slip with our feet.” Isn’t this true, that we often feel blind when faced with all the economic and market news? Doesn’t if often seem that the pathway into the future seems so murky that it’s scary to make any moves forward, for fear of falling off the cliff?

Spurgeon goes on to say, “Each person should use the word of God personally, practically, and habitually, that he may see his way, and see what lies in it.” Again, isn’t that what we need in these crazy times? To really see and to really see what lies in the uncertainty?

Spurgeon explains the concept of Lantern and why the Lantern metaphor is so powerful. “Having no fixed lamps in eastern towns, in old time each passenger carried a lantern with him, that he might not fall into the open sewer, or stumble over the heaps of ordure which defiled the road. This is a true picture of our path through this dark world: we should not know the way, or how to walk in it, if Scripture, like a blazing flambeau, did not reveal it.”

If you’d like to read more of Spurgeon’s comments on this passage, go to Eternal Life Ministries.

So, here’s the question for you to ponder, “Where do you need the a Lantern in your Leadership Journey? Where do you need clarity? Insight? Direction?” And, where are you looking for this clarity? Finally, as they say in the sales world, “How’s that working for you?”

Love it hear from you and what you’re learning about in your Leadership Journey.

Leading from the Inside Out

I just came home from a meeting with group for friends who are watching The Truth Project. Tonight we talked about history and the importance of understanding the truth of the past. The truth of the past; not who we necessarily remember the past…the truth. Why? Because how we perceive the past informs how we act and react in today’s world.

Because of the tremendous impact we have on those in our spheres of influence, it’s critically important for leaders to reflect and to accurately understand how our past experiences impact our today’s decisions. For example, if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the economic news of the day, where does that fear come from? What’s happened in the past that drives that fear? What’s happened that causes you to react in fear whereas others are energized?

Perhaps I’ve been more reflective than usual because of two books that I’m reading for my Transformational Leadership course work, Leading from the Inside Out and Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: How to Become an Effective Leader by Confronting Potential Failures. I highly recommend these for all leaders.

What past experiences inform the way you’re acting/reacting in light of the economic news?

Leadership that’s 100% Present

These turbulent times create an opportunity for leaders, regardless of their role, to set the pace and tone that delivers positive results. That pace and tone may be much different that the prevailing culture (or regular TV programming!), and therein lies our challenge!

As I was reflecting on the leaders in my life who inspired positive momentum, I thought of the first district manager I worked for at Xerox Corporation, Don. Don has a gift of inspiring you to be your best and do your best. How did he do it?

Focus. He focused on those who worked for him. And, I mean “focused.” When I talk with Don, I feel like I am the only important person in the entire world. When Don’s attention is focused, the rest of the world fades in importance. He’s 100% present in the conversation. Since I’m important, I prioritize my work for Don, giving my best.

It dawned in me while reading Lead Like Jesus: Lessons from the Greatest Leadership Role Model of all time, that people probably had that same experience when interacting with Jesus. He was so engaged with them, so focused on who they were as a person, that they felt inspired, changed. He was 100% present with them, not distracted by the clatter surrounding them.

Isn’t that our opportunity as leaders, to really SEE people? To really value them? To focus on who they really are as human beings, not human “doings”? To be 100% present with them

I’m accepting the challenge today. As I interact with people, my intent is to 100% present with them.

Will you accept the challenge also? It’s difficult to set the discouraging economic news aside. However, when we do, we’ll inspire our staff to give at least 100% to their leader.