Posted: December 21, 2020 | Categories: Self-Improvement

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Posted: December 21, 2020 | Categories: Leadership, Self-Improvement, Team Building

I have two sons who are now married and in their mid-30’s.  Growing up, they loved to play baseball in the back yard.  One day I was coaching my son, Kevin as he was working on his batting skills.  I was frustrated that he wasn’t doing something right, and I made a comment that was not supportive.  As soon as I did, Kevin had a puzzled look on his face and asked, “Dad, was that a put-down?”  My first instinct was to respond, “Oh no, I just…(blah, blah, blah)”.  Instead, I paused, reflected on what I had just said, and replied, “Yes, Kevin.  That was a put-down and I was wrong to do that.  I am sorry”.  When I said that, I could feel the tension leave my body, and Kevin and I were back on track.

To be clear, when I say “put-down”, I do not mean we don’t ever re-direct someone.  A strong team strives for excellence, and each team member knows how to keep one another accountable.  For example, let’s say I am playing baseball in the outfield and not paying attention.  As a result, I mess up a play.  My team members have every right to say, “Hey Brainerd, wake-up!”

Throughout the holidays you may be with many friends and relatives.  You will also be with your team members at work.  Whatever your situation, when you are tempted to find fault, take a step back and pause.  If something needs to be said, say it in a way that builds trust and respect, not resentment.

Posted: December 7, 2020 | Categories: Self-Improvement

It’s the first week in December, and that means it is time to get our best mindset for the holiday season.  Even with Covid restrictions, it is likely that many of us will be attending social events and family gatherings.

For nearly 20 years, I facilitated leadership classes year round.  During that time I noticed that each holiday season, many would dread getting together with some relatives – particularly the ones they seemed to get their “fill of” quickly!  When we don’t look forward to an event, we usually don’t have a very good time.  That is unfortunate. Is there anything we can do?  Maybe.

For the first several years we were married, my wife and I kept a weekend scrapbook.  In this book, we summarized the events of each weekend of the year, and illustrated the pages with pictures and mementos.  One year we decided to spend New Year’s Eve reading through the years events and evaluate them.  We reviewed all the weekends and various activities, and rated them on a scale of 1-10.  The ratings we gave referred to how much we like the event or activity.  Joyce’s ratings and my ratings matched up pretty closely.  There was one thing we noticed that was peculiar:  One event occurred twice during the year.  It was with the same friends, and we did the same activities.  One of these events we rated high.  The other got a poor rating.  We wondered why, so we did some thinking.  We realized that our thinking going into the low-rated event was negative.  We were upset about something.  We went into the event with low expectations.  Here is what we learned:  When we are going to an event or function, we need to do an attitude check beforehand.  What is our enthusiasm on  scale of 1-10?  Is is an five?  Why?  What do we need to do to take it up a couple notches?  Then we give ourselves a pep talk, and keep talking to ourselves until our attitude is up to speed.  This works for us, and it has resulted in us enjoying many events that we normally we would have just “got it over with”.  The most important words we say each day are the ones we say to ourselves.  Happy Holidays!

Posted: December 3, 2020 | Categories: Sales, Self-Improvement

Several years ago I received a follow-up call in mid-December from a company that sells and installs carpets.  They had given me a quote earlier in the year, and due to some unexpected expenses I had set the quote aside.  It is important to note that the person calling was professional, likeable, and easy to talk to.  She made reference to the quote and wanted to know if I was still interested.  The timing of the call was perfect, and resulted in a $10,000 order.  I can’t say this for sure, but my hunch is that the woman calling was given a list of outstanding quotes, and they were doing an end-of-year cleanup.

Many sales professionals regard December as a poor month to sell. People are distracted by the holidays and less likely to commit to any purchase that is not a Christmas gift.  While this may be so, I have found that consistently top-performing sales people do well in December.  They want to set the table to “hit the pavement running” when the new year rolls around.  If you would like to increase your sales in December, here is an idea:

Write down all the accounts and contact people for those in these categories:

• Clients you are currently doing business with
• Clients you have worked with – but not for a while
• Outstanding quotes that have not been followed up on recently

After you have put together this list, commit to a block of time, and start dialing.  You will probably get one of three responses:

1. No longer interested
2. Interested, but not until after the first of the year.
3. Yes, I am interested now
4. Let’s just say that the woman that called me had a list of 100 names.  If my sale was the only one she made, that means she would have made $100 per dial.  That is s pretty good hourly wage!  Dig in to December!

Posted: November 18, 2020 | Categories: Leadership, Management

If you are the owner or manager of a business, the past 8 months have probably been extra stressful. One of the most abrupt changes we have all had to deal with is wearing protective masks.  Some people like them, others put up with them, and the rest despise them.  Many times, those who are resistant to the mask rule are not the most compliant.  When someone is defying the rule, we need to confront them.  If we don’t handle this confrontation well, we can create ill-will and resentment.  That is not good for productivity or turnover.  Here is an example of an instance where a boss needed to approach an employee about wearing their mask:

Susan is a lively, gregarious team member with a beautiful smile.  She hates wearing masks, so she decided to take hers off for a while.  Wouldn’t you know it?  The boss walked by.  He was upset, and approached her in a not-so-friendly manner.  Susan was hurt and resentful.

The next day the boss noticed the difference in Susan’s mood and countenance.  He called her into his office.  The first thing he did was apologize for the way he had approached her the day before.  Next, he showed empathy by saying, “These masks are awful!”  She sure agreeded with that.  The boss then went on to state the rule that he was obligated to enforce, and asked for her compliance.  She gave him her full compliance, and now wears the mask when she should.  The problem is solved.  My message to you is to remember the old saying, “approach in a friendly way” and do your best to understand the other person’s point of view.  It can increase team productivity and reduce turnover.