Dance Like You Mean It!

If you've ever been to Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney), in Orlando, you have probably seen "The Dancing Guy". He can't be missed with his colorful outfits, signature cap, and constant dancing to the music that inhabits every corner of the small Disney-created city. With his unconventional appearance and one strong dance move, many onlookers wonder if he is playing with a full deck. The truth is he has managed to master one of the secrets of life. Discipline.

He always looks happy and content. He is in great shape for his age. He is a minor celebrity with a facebook page and a following. His name is Eddy Maserati.  

Eddy shows up almost every night at Disney Springs to dance. In an interview in the Orlando Sentinel, he mentions that he tried to exercise at a gym and didn't like it. He loves to dance. So he does. Almost. Every. Night. 

He found the thing he enjoys and he does it every day. He has a routine that he follows, and he has been able to also combine it with the joy he finds with meeting and interacting with people. He dances with a purpose.

Routine is important to meet the demands of life, and deal with the inconsistencies. Routine allows for us to deal better with the surprises in life that inevitably arise. Routine also allows for the compounding effect from habitually doing something every day. It's the best way I've found to get things done, and although I struggle with consistency and routine like many, I've not found a better way to accomplish goals. 

Recently, I was trying to get through a book on leadership. Heady stuff. I kept looking at it on my desk and didn't pick it up. I knew it would be a good part of my professional development, but kept thinking that I needed to read multiple chapters in order to get through it. No luck. It stayed there for about three or four weeks with only a small portion read. I decided to change my tactics.

I picked the book up one day and read one section and put it down, resisting the urge to keep reading. The next day I read another section. Each day the reading only took about ten minutes, but after a couple of weeks, I was done with half of the book. I'm sure if I had tried to read more each day, it would still be sitting there unread.

This is just my story about the compounding effect, but I know in every aspect of our life, with routine, consistency, and dividing into smaller, manageable tasks, we can accomplish large goals in a reasonable time period.   

Let's all Dance Like We Mean It and take advantage of the compound effect in our lives.

It's Not My Job... or is it?

Whenever I hear someone utter the phrase, “It’s not my job”, I’m always brought back to the book that was read to us in a leadership class I was part of a couple of years ago. The Dog Poop Initiative by Kirk Weisler tells of how his son’s soccer team came to the field for the game and a pile of dog poop was on the field. One person after another including parents, kids, coaches and referees made sure to point out the poop and let everyone know of its location so they wouldn’t step in it. Finally, Kirk and another coach found some cardboard, picked up the poop, and threw it away. The moral of course is there are “pointers”, constantly pointing out the problems or issues, and there are “scoopers” who jump in and solve the problem. An organization’s views on marketing can be the same way.

The mentality in most organization’s I’ve been involved with is marketing is done by the marketing department. The marketing department comes up with slogans, materials, social media posts, writes articles, etc. As a non-marketing person, the common thought is there is nothing for them to contribute. It’s someone else’s job. That “pointer” mentality only reduces the overall effectiveness of the marketing department. The reality is marketing, especially in professional services, needs to involve everyone to be truly effective.

In professional services, marketing is supporting the building of relationships. Marketing is creating and maintaining awareness. Marketing is building credibility and reinforcing expertise to build trusting relationships with clients. These initiatives can’t be accomplished by the marketing department alone.

Marketing an organization involves everyone, from the person answering the phone, to the partners who are often tasked with business development. All in the organization need to contribute to make marketing work. There are some common misconceptions among professional services staff which may lead to inactivity, and can contribute to a “pointer” mentality. Re-educating and reminding internally is important to reinforce the value of their contributions.

In the interest of not being a “pointer”, here are FIVE tips to support the organization reaching its marketing goals.

1. Listening – Staff at almost every level has contact with technical staff, or clients. Listen to conversations with the intent of learning more about the subject matter. The knowledge gained about the organization can help in a number of different ways, from contributing to an article, easily directing a client to the right person, or understanding information included in a request for proposal to shape the submittal.
2. Opportunity Awareness – Providing the marketing department with opportunities to promote and create awareness. Be aware of what publications clients are reading, award applications, speaking abstracts, community events, conferences, and numerous other ways to create top-of-mind awareness. This is especially important in organizations with multiple offices where the marketing department can be somewhat removed.
3. Competitive Information – Marketing and business development thrive on being strategic. The more information about competitors, markets, and political climates a marketing department has, the better targeted the message.
4. Social Media – Although many professional services are slower to adopt social media as a key means to market, there is still a great deal of opportunity to extend the reach of the organization through very simple means. A simple “Like” to a LinkedIn post can generate huge numbers to those within the organization who have large networks. Even making sure to connect with people you already know and interacting with the organization’s posts can reap huge benefits. Ask your marketing department for help and basic training if you aren’t comfortable.
5. Pictures/Videos – These are marketing gold. Taking pictures of unique, and sometimes what may seem like ordinary occurrences can be turned into an interesting post. Simply provide a brief explanation and context along with the picture or video. This will help contribute to the information shared with clients and prospects, ultimately keeping top of mind. Plus, it has the added benefit of making marketing’s job easier because they don’t have to work as hard to find relevant content to share.

It is very easy to look at marketing as someone else’s job. I encourage everyone without a “marketing” title to look at how you can provide value to your organization by taking the initiative and picking up the poop!

Leadership Development - Trust

At the basis of any leadership program is Trust.

In John Maxwell’s book, The Five Levels of Leadership, Maxwell defines leadership simply as influence.

Everyone has the ability to influence others, and how they use their influence defines how effective a leader they become. How does one gain influence, and thereby increase their opportunity to lead? One of the key ways is to gain trust.

Recently, I attended a dinner where the keynote speaker was Stephen M.R. Covey, author of The SPEED of Trust. In his book, Covey conveys research and statistics that support the importance of trust on both sides of a relationship to meet any goal. The importance of trust is evident in personal, business, and as we have seen in the continued stalemate in the State of Illinois, political relationships. Without it, nothing gets accomplished.

Trust is a Competency. It can be learned and increased. It starts with building relationships, which leads to familiarity and comfort. Familiarity and comfort breed trust. Trust breaks down walls and leads to efficiency. Efficiency saves money leading to financial benefits. Covey mentions how trust can produce better communication, less turnover, increased job satisfaction, more fun, and overall better profits. Covey states from a 2002 Watson Wyatt study, high trust organizations outperformed low-trust organizations by 286 percent in total return to shareholders (stock price plus dividends).

Trust is something we all have the ability to give. It’s a choice for each of us, and easier for some than others; trust breeds trust. When a person is given the trust of their co-worker to complete a project, that trust is usually reciprocated, allowing for more open communication. An open, trusting environment can spawn ingenuity and creativity, as well as a positive, less-stressed environment where fear is eradicated.

Leadership is important but takes a lot of dedicated time, effort, and continuous communication. One of the ways to ensure better communication is to promote self-awareness and awareness of others. A great way to provide this awareness is through RightPath Resources personality testing. If you or your company is interested in a team facilitation centered around leadership development and how to better understand each other, contact WellBridge Solutions at geoff@wellbridgesolutions.com.

Organizational Change is a Marathon, Not a Sprint

I just completed my first marathon in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. I started training in April to run 26.2 miles having previously only completed a 5K. It was one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. There were times during the last quarter of the race where I wanted to just peel off and sit down at the local Dunkin Donuts, or just sit in the middle of the road and not move. Just let everyone pass by and leave me to die. I’m obviously being a little dramatic here, but for good cause. It is hard to run a marathon, and don’t let anyone tell you different. It taxes you in ways, both mentally and physically, that the human body wasn’t meant to be taxed. With that said, the most difficult things to overcome can often times be the things that lead to the most growth and success. Stepping through fear and taking on those things that seem insurmountable are how we become better people.

The same goes for any organization who is driving a culture change. It is the long-term “marathon” which will lead to the ultimate prize of positive organizational change, but it doesn’t come without its fair share of pain and discomfort. Creating a positive culture where staff is self-aware, leadership development is championed, and tough conversations are had cannot be rushed. This kind of transformational change doesn’t happen overnight. It starts with a plan, like marathon training, and requires the discipline to live it day after day, without attempting to “short-cut” the plan for more immediate results.

In marathon training, you incrementally increase your mileage to handle the longer runs. In organizational change, incrementally rolling out smaller pieces of the overall strategic plan to implement will help the staff adjust and not be overwhelmed to the point they decide it’s not worth it. Giving them smaller goals which are difficult, yet reachable, builds confidence in the overall goal. Similarly, if I were to run 12 miles right after a run of 5 miles, I would get discouraged because the jump in distance would have come too quickly, making 26.2 miles seem impossible. But because each week our team ran a little more until we culminated in a 20-mile training run, we gained confidence that each week it was only a couple more miles than the previous week. By challenging your staff, but not overwhelming them, they collectively will realize that the next incremental goal is reachable. Whether that is an increase in sales, beating a fundraising goal, producing more units, or beating a safety record, there will be confidence they can reach it.

During the marathon, there were different stages of the experience. The elation and adrenaline rush off the starting line, the feel good of the first 10 miles, getting to the half-way point and taking stock, then The Wall. Everyone tells you about it, and it’s different for everyone, but no matter how it happens, it sucks. In organizational development, there comes a time when change has been going on for a while and progress is being made, but you just get stuck. Whether you need to reorganize your team, lay some people off, or just bring them together for a team-building session, something needs to happen to mentally get through that difficult stage. This is where having a very strong leader and/or a very strong mission is paramount. The team needs to be able to focus on the “why” in order to make it through “The Wall”.

Celebrate your successes throughout so that people don’t get too down on where they are going and the time it takes to get there, but also looks back and gets a boost from how far they’ve all come. During the marathon, I reached the 18-mile mark and began to cramp in a couple of different muscles. Because of my previous experience, I knew that if I slowed to a walk rather than push through, I could run again for a period of time before feeling the cramp come on again. Sometimes organizations have to pivot, or slow down and re-evaluate rather than forge forward. Be aware of your organization and staff and its capacity to handle forging ahead. Taking one step back may allow you to get to the finish line, whereas pushing forward may require you to shut down completely, and in my case would have required an Uber ride to the finish line.

Getting to the finish line is one of the most incredible feelings. Whether it is reaching an organizational goal, or finishing the marathon, it is worth celebrating. Don’t hold back on making a big deal. It will not only show your staff appreciation for what an amazing job they have done, but it will also give them motivation for the next big change. After I finished the marathon, I was by myself, wandering aimlessly through the finish chute, staying on my feet for fear of being whisked away by the “Finish Line Police” if I fell to the ground where I would be held in a medical tent for an hour until they released me. (They really do that) I did not have the energy or interest in ever running another race in my life. After I got back to our team tent and saw the celebration and talked to other runners and got the pats on the back telling me how proud they were of what I accomplished, it made me consider doing it again. The longer the time from the run, and the closer I get to actually being able to walk down stairs again, the more I’m considering how much has changed in my life, and how much I’ve accomplished, and BELIEVE I CAN accomplish by running this marathon. It was truly a life changing experience.

In organizational change, many times those in leadership don’t have the appetite for the time and discipline it takes to reach the promised land. Impatient shareholders, boards, and sometimes staff cause leadership to waver in their resolve and either shortcut change, or abandon it altogether. Speaking from my experience in both organizational change and running a marathon, hold fast and press on. The payoff is worth it, regardless of the short- term pain.

P.S. The organization I mentioned above, World Vision, is a Christian organization working to help communities lift themselves out of poverty. For good. They have been instrumental throughout the world, and most recently in the areas ravaged by the recent hurricanes. Team World Vision is a group of people committed to raising funds to provide clean water to children in Africa who have to walk on average 6K per day to collect water from sources which are typically unclean. The goal is to provide clean water to everyone on earth through wells, rain catchment systems, water pumps, solar kiosks, and more. Water changes the lives of children. They have better health, improved nutrition, and can go to school instead of spending the day fetching water, improving their chances for education and business development.The Our team I ran with here in Rockford, Illinois has raised almost $300,000 to date for clean water. If you are interested in providing support me through Team World Vision and bringing water to one child in need, please consider visiting my fundraising page HERE.