WorkPuzzle

Julia and Julia and You

My wife is allowed to drag me to one chick flick every two or three months.  With the exception of a few Academy Award winning films, I usually forget these movies fairly quickly.  On last night's occasion, my wife coaxed me into seeing Julia and Julia, the story of both Julia Child and Julie Powell.  To my own surprise, I quickly became very engaged.

Why would I write about this?  Because it is an example of just about everything we've ever discussed in WorkPuzzle.  Both of these women demonstrate ignition (motivation), deep practice, tenacity, grit, confidence, focus and attention, and several characteristics of survival.

At its core, it reminds me of the importance of finding excitement in your work...even the most mundane work.  (Certainly cooking can go either way...)  For both Julias, it took time in absolute obscurity, before receiving any accolades or financial reward for their efforts.

Additionally, it reminds me of the importance of finding ways to help others discover this level of commitment and challenge, and then coaching them to be patient in waiting for the rewards that eventually ensue.  It reminds me that a person's work often reveals a great deal about the person.

Julia and Julia were giving their best.  Are you?  Are your managers, agents, and new recruits?  It's your job to help bring this out...

Today's Hires May Be Tomorrow's Leaders

There are many companies across the country that, given the state of the economy, are choosing to postpone hiring new talent at this time.  I sincerely believe this to be a grave mistake.

Here is why: 

When times are good, the best talent is already heavily engaged in their careers. They are the ones leading the charge in innovation and growth among their industries.  It is very difficult to dislodge these high performers during periods of growth.  Although you can always count on a certain amount of good people at any point in time, as there are always people who are languishing, many of those you are able to dislodge during good times are those looking to make an easy buck.

Look around your office... I know for a fact that some of your top producers and best managers came on board during the tough times of 1979 to 1984.  They were the few who said, “Of course I’m going sell homes with mortgages of 15% interest rates!”  Many of them are your leaders now.

In tough times people are shaken to their core.  The wisest and healthiest people, reexamine their lives, their values, and their vocation.  It's during these times that people question the trust they had in what they thought was "stability,” and entertain the possibilities for change.  You likely did this at some point yourself, before entering your current position.

It's during this period of “reexamining” where you can most effectively dislodge the best talent from their current occupation and get them to mindfully consider working for you.

These people will be the innovators of tomorrow's real estate industry.  They will twitter their way to selling homes in ways we can’t even imagine.  Don’t waste this period of time in history.  Your next wave of talent is out there, just waiting to be discovered...

Relationship Farming

Whether you manage, recruit, or sell, there is nothing more important than your ongoing task of building relationships. 

My 24 year-old son, who is a an account manager at a Seattle radio station, recently sent me a very  good article.  The article, Relationship Farming Starts With Creating A "Wow" Experience, helps remind us all of the importance of relationship building through the analogy of farming.

Terry Brock , president of Orlando, Florida based Achievement Systems says:

"Building quality, profitable relationships in business is much like farming, or what I call relationship farming.

Like the farmer who keeps us all alive, you have to study the soil (know what is happening in the world and environment of your customers), plant the seeds (send your message in a positive, respectful way), nurture the plants (provide continued benefits), allow for ample moisture and fertilizer (keep providing what the customer needs) and be around for harvest (have systems in place to process sales).

Then when all the work is finished, it is time to begin for next year.

But how do you keep those wonderful, delightful people who pay our bills (call them customers, clients, members, guests — whatever) happy?

Keep creating experiences that make customers say 'wow' when they deal with you.

See customers’ experiences from their point of view.  What do they have to deal with in your business?  In the market you serve, what are the major problems people encounter?  Why are they buying from you?  What problems are they seeking to solve?

Once you’ve nailed that very important first part, you want to sit down with your people and lay out your plans.

Find out where you can make experiences pleasant and easy for customers.  What can you do to ease their pain?  What can you do in your business to create that wow experience?  Here are a few ideas to get you started and to use as a check-up on what you’re doing now:

• See the world through your customers’ eyes.  What is causing them pain?  Where are they hurting?  What can you do to help relieve the pain?

Don’t just assume you know, talk with them and listen.  Find out from them what is going on and what they want solved.

• Do the hard work of thinking.  Yes, it is hard work as you struggle with options.

• Provide important extras.  Find key areas that add that wonderful new dimension that brings a smile.  Not so much huge, expensive additions but little, important-to-the-customer touches that keep bringing them back.

• Automate as much as possible.  Make the systems around your business fine-tuned and bullet-proof.  Yes, use technology but think in terms of systems and developing better systems all the time.

• Constantly review and revisit what you’re doing on how to tweak and make it even better.  Be so focused on their problems that they would complain if you weren’t around to help them!

Make it your goal to become indispensable in the minds of your customers.  That is what relationship farming requires and that is the benefit for your long-term business."

Have you ever noticed what the common denominator is with articles (like this one) that resonate with what we know to be important?  It's that they always represent the "right thing to do."

Finding Peace

As the saying goes... "If you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything."  If your position requires you to lead and coach others, I guarantee that those you mentor know whether you stand for something, and their willingness to follow your lead will be determined by this.  Here is one great example, with lessons you can build a life around: 

Northern State University men’s basketball coach, Don Meyer, was presented the ESPY Jimmy V Award 2009 for Perseverance.  You may not know him, but all the great coaches in College Basketball do.  He's been at it for 38 years.  His story is incredible, and his acceptance speech, impressive and memorable.

Meyer is the third recipient of the JIMMY V Award.  The honor is presented to a personality within the world of sports who, due to sheer zeal and perseverance, has achieved success in their respective field after having overcome immense obstacles.

The award was presented to Meyer in an effort to honor the determination he displayed after sustaining life-threatening injuries following a car crash last September.  The accident almost killed Meyer.  Somehow he survived, but was inflicted with critical injuries.  Amidst the numerous surgeries to revive him, doctors discovered that Meyer’s intestines and liver were infected with cancer.  This was another blow that he had to courageously face, while still recovering from the post accident trauma.

Meyer spent 55 days in the hospital, undergoing the recovery phase, and lost part of his leg as a result of the ordeal.  It was his sheer will that kept him going day after day.

In his acceptance speech, he described the long-standing foundational values that lead one to this kind of determination:

For example, he explained that from the very start, he instills in his team the following "F" words:  Faith.  Family.  Friends.  He went into how each one of these was a critical factor to his healing and fortitude.

He also teaches his players something that John Wooden taught him: 

"Don't whine.  Don't complain.  Don't make excuses."

And finally, he summed up his experience with these words: 

"I've learned from this Odyssey that peace is not the absence of troubles, trials and torment, but the calm in the midst of them."

This kind of living, remarkably, provided Coach Meyer with the resources and dedication to get back to work in time for basketball season.  He coached from a wheelchair.  Can you imagine how his players must have listened and followed his direction?  

A reminder to all of us:  Great Coaching takes living your values when it really counts...

Bustin' Down The Door

Over the weekend, I viewed an interesting documentary that I highly recommend to anyone fascinated by true stories of innovation and excellence.  What might surprise you is that I've just recommended a movie about surfing.  Bustin' Down The Door is a 2008 documentary film chronicling the rise of professional surfing in the early '70s, and the vision these surfers shared of what surfing could become.

The road to that vision takes far too many interesting turns for me to give away, so I'll keep my comments restricted to what fascinated me most.  Take a look at this youtube video to get an idea of what ensues in this movie:

In order to become the best in the world, surfers from all over the globe began migrating to the north shore of Hawaii to hone and perfect their skills.  They realized that in order to become great, they had to face the most consistently tough waves in the world.

The Australian and South African surfers of the time (1974-76) began to win competitions at a much greater frequency than surfers from anywhere else, including Hawaii.  How could this be?

The answer to this question lies in the principles laid out in my articles about "The Talent Code" (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).  These surfers had moments of "ignition" and incredible examples of "deep practice."

I won't spoil the moments of ignition that motivated each of these individuals to excel at their sport, and to "invent" professional surfing.  But as far as deep practice goes, without realizing it at the time, they became great due to the way they practiced.

Unlike the Hawaiians and those from the States, Aussie and South African surfers didn't waste valuable time waiting for the perfect wave (which is the habit of most other surfers).  They jumped on any wave, no matter how "narley" (surfer word) or imperfect the wave was.  They were up and down waves at a much higher rate and frequency than any other surfers.  By the way, this was frowned upon by other surfers who had to constantly dodge these obnoxious rebels.

Although the movie doesn't mention this, anyone who has read my blogs referencing The Talent Code knows, that by practicing in this way, they were able to experience the process of "failure-correction, failure-correction" exponentially, more than any other surfers on the planet.  And because of this, they built layer upon layer of myelin at far greater rates.  As we know, the more myelin one produces, the greater their performance.  So, as a result they became the greatest surfers in the world. 

The reminder for all of us, is this:  If you want people to succeed, then they must practice often...and experience failure.  To avoid failure when attempting to learn something, is a sign that someone hasn't really experienced that moment of ignition, where they think:  "I want to do this...and do it well!"

The ME Generation

In piggy backing on what Ben wrote a few days ago regarding the Gen Y population, I came upon some compelling data that may be of value to most of us who are hiring and training the next generation of talent.

In her book, Generation Me, (2006) Jean Twenge summarizes the results of 12 different unique research projects, spanning 13 years of generational differences.

What she found was that the baby boomer generation was brought up by people who had lived through a world war, and whose values were about honor and duty.  It was also a world dominated by God, the State and community, where the group mattered much more than the individual.  The children raised in this environment (Baby boomers in the 60's and 70's) began to rebel against this value system. They questioned authority.  As this generation aged, they began to become more focused on psychological growth, spirituality, self-discovery and fulfillment.

What she claims happened next has led to some not-so-good, unintended consequences.  Because personal growth was emphasized so clearly in the parenting styles of baby boomers, the children of these parents were told that they were special and the most important person in the world, etc.  Thanks to the influence of the self-esteem movement, the children of baby boomers had these ideas reinforced at schools throughout America.  These children were brought up forgetting about duty, or politeness, or social approval, and concentrated instead on simply being themselves.

She sums it up by stating that, although the baby boomers had slowly migrated from strong traditional values (that their parents held), toward a focus on "the self," that these newer individualistic values didn't really run all that deep.  Twenge writes:

"Those who adopted the ways of the self as young adults..speak the language with an accent." 

Not so for their offspring – Generation Me:  "The self is their native tongue," Tenge explains.  Unlike their parents who talked about "journeys of self-discovery" - The Me generation's culture of the self is their hometown.

Twenge elaborates (writing as if she's part of this younger generation):

"We don’t have to join groups or talk of journeys, because we’re already there.  We don’t need to 'polish' the self … because we take for granted that it's already shiny.  We don’t need to look inward;  we already know what we will find.  Since we were small children, we were taught to put ourselves first.  That’s just the way the world works – why dwell on it.  Let’s go to the mall."

So how does one use this information to build good companies and great execution?  How can we relate to individuals who put themselves first?

My thoughts on this are purely anecdotal, but I believe they have some merit.

I believe that everyone, has at their core a conscience that tells them when they hear good and bad truth.  I believe that people want more than empty individualism.  In fact, I believe that they need it.

A case in point is unfolding at the fastest growing church in Seattle, and perhaps, in the nation.  Mars Hill Church is led by a pastor who doesn't pull any punches about the RIGHT way to live life.  Since this church began seven years ago, their focus has been on speaking the truth, especially to this younger generation.  As a result, the congregation is made up primarily of 17 to 35 year-olds who have never been told that "they aren't number one."

The truth is being told, the need is being met, and people are responding.

So what can you do?  I believe that if we all stick to the truth regarding company values and expectations, and paint a vision of excellence that's beyond the individual, generation ME can become generation WE.  After all, most of us baby boomers switched back over eventually - right? (Although, it would be nice to have my pony-tail again...)  

What Creates Talent? - Part 5

This entry represents the last edition of our Talent Code series (1, 2, 3, 4), which has spanned most of this last week.  Again, I am reporting primarily what Dan Coyle has found in his extensive research regarding talent development.

The focus of this final edition is on Coaches, or as Coyle puts it:  Master Coaching.  These are teachers, coaches, managers and mentors who approach the task of nurturing and helping others to grow “talent” (or in Coyle's belief- build myelin: the essential ingredient to brain growth).  Coyle begins by pointing out that coaching/teaching/mentoring/managing is a skill, in itself, that takes a long time to build, and eventually master.

To support his claim, Coyle presents some fantastic examples of coaches, music teachers, and school teachers who have put in many thousands of hours of deep practice coaching and mentoring.  In other words... If you want to be a great coach, you need to hone your skills!  If you are an owner of a company, you must insist that your managers work on their coaching, just as they would any other skill they want to develop.

Coyle calls these great coaches "The Talent Whisperers."  They are the teachers who view their jobs with the utmost seriousness.  These are the individuals who understand that it's up to them to tap and sustain the second element of The Talent Code...Ignition.  As Coyle puts it, "They are creating and sustaining motivation." 

Dr. Bloom, from the University of Chicago, researched 120 world class talents and summarizes:

"The effect of the first phase of learning seems to be to get the learner involved, captivated, hooked, and to get the learner to need and want more information."

If you are responsible for managing/teaching/coaching, do you accomplish this?  I know that I have fallen short at times...or perhaps more importantly, lost sight of this underlying purpose of teaching.  If I've been a successful teacher by presenting you this fascinating insight from the The Talent Code, you might take it further, and read more from Dan Coyle's book, which is full of similar insight.  And then apply, apply, apply...

What Creates Talent? - Part 4

Over the past week, I've shared some fairly counter-intuitive insight regarding talent development.  This information benefits anyone who is serious about recruiting, or wants to better coach their success-driven employees. (To catch up, read editions 1, 2, and 3)

Yesterday, I focused on what Dan Coyle has found regarding a concept that he calls ignition (moment of motivation launch).  All of us intuitively can grasp that to excel at anything, one must have the energy, passion and motivation to sustain a commitment to practice....not just any kind of practice, but deep practice.

To arrive at this level of commitment takes a moment where one experiences a spark, and says to him/herself, "I can do that, and want to do it!"  There are several ways this can happen.  A common way, is to witness achievement by someone who resembles you...someone you can relate to.

For example:

• Since Se Ri Pak won the LPGA championship in 1998, South Korean women on tour steadily grew from one, to 33 in 2007.

• Since Anna Kournikova reached Wimbleton finals, Russian women in the WTA top 100 has grown from three to 16.

Girls in these respective countries likely said..."She's like me, and I can see myself doing that!"

• As soon as Roger Banister managed to break what was considered to be an impossible barrier to the four minute mile, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz3ZLpCmKCM, other runners began to break the record.  Knowing that it was possible was all it took to trigger the motivation.

• For me it was watching The Bob Newhart Show in 1974 and thinking to myself that Bob had the sweetest job in the world:  Getting paid to hang out with quirky people!  I know, not too deep a reason, but it did ignite the original spark. 

Whatever it is that lights the spark must happen before the commitment to practice.

Here's a prime example of the link between ignition and commitment:  Gary McPherson set out to understand what differentiated those kids who continue to practice musical instruments and those who give up?  Predicting the continuation and talent development turns out to rest on a simple answer to a simple question:

Before children began music lessons they were asked to identify how long they believed that they'd play their instrument.  The categories were:  (1) Short-term commitment, (2) Medium-term commitment, and (3) Long-term commitment.

The results were staggering.  With the same amount of practice, the long-term commitment group out-performed the short-term group by 400%.  So what matters most, it appears, is one's ignition level - This is what ultimately determines commitment level.

So, what does this mean for you?

How many times have you asked a new recruit about their ignition story...about what initially sparked their interest in their given field?...Or, how long they planned on continuing in their line of work?  And don't settle for vague answers - Commit to getting solid answers.  Those answers may be the most important information you'll ever get regarding the future your employees.

Igniting a hot bed of talent can be done.  We've just begun to scratch the surface regarding how it can be done.  If you're responsible for talent development, you owe it to yourself to read Dan Coyle's book.

Tomorrow, I'll describe the third principle of talent growth:  Master Coaching!

What Creates Talent? - Part 3

In the last of my discussions regarding Dan Coyle's work on Talent, I promised to summarize some of his findings around the concept of motivation (the second of three vital components of talent creation).  Coyle found that people tend to have what he calls a moment of "ignition" prior to developing great talent. Specifically, he contends that people need to have a moment, or period of time, that inspires them to be great at something.  Without these moments or circumstances, we can't sustain the lonely discipline of deep practice.

I'd like you to reflect on your own talent before I provide any more specifics regarding motivation/ignition:  Where does your talent lie?  How did you develop this talent?  What drove you to practice or study to develop your skills?  Where and when did the ignition take place?  What was your environment like while you were developing your talent?

How have the most talented members of your team developed their talent?  Ask them how and where they were "ignited?"  Has it ever occured to you to ask this of your top talent, or of prospects or individuals who you're trying to recruit?  The more you know about people, the the more relationship credibility you will build, and the better you can manage.

Tomorrow, I'll elaborate some more on the details of Ignition...

What Creates Talent? - Part 2

In yesterday's blog I began to share some facts that challenge the way we think about talent development.  I think you'll find over the next few weeks, the material I share with you on this topic will change the way you train, recruit and coach. 

In my intro, I included questions similar to the following:

• Why has one tennis camp in Russia developed more top ten athletes than any other?

• Why has one music school in New York turned out the likes of Itzhak Perlman and Yo Yo Mah?

or, as metioned previously...

• Why have 12 different boys from the extremely small country of Curacao, made it to the semifinals of the Little League World series, six times over the past eight years, even taking the title once?

In his book The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle uncovers certain consistent patterns that exist in every "talent hot bed" in the world.  Specifically, these patterns include similar methods of practice, motivation, and coaching.

So, let's examine these three components further:  Practice, Motivation (he calls it Ignition) and Coaching (he calls it Master Coaching):

It turns out that Practice, in each of the talent hot beds, is achieved in a very similar way.  It is performed so that mistakes can be tracked and modified, without missing the opportunity for correction.  For example, in one of the top music schools, students are asked to play so slowly that nobody can possibly recognize the song being played - The student is then able to notice imperfections and train the brain to grow in this area.

Similarly, tennis players are trained to work through routine movements slowly, without a ball, to train the brain to grasp the fundamentals before actually hitting a ball. They do this throughout many years of training.

What is happening in the brain while one trains like this? (from a recent blog that also references The Talent Code, but worth including again)

Your brain is made up of millions of neurons and synapses, all with the ability to build super highways of super speed.  All that is needed to build these connections is a substance called Myelin.  Myelin, it’s recently been found, has the ability to grease the skids between neurons so that large pathways are formed to create mega bandwidth learning and growth, if given the opportunity.  And guess what gives your brain the greatest opportunity for Myelin production?... Failure!  Not just failure, but lots of failure…the more the better!  And not just large doses of failure, but failure and correction, failure and correction, failure and correction…

Here’s an example:

In 1997, Soccer Coach, Simon Clifford, was so curious about what caused Brazilian Soccer to be so successful, that he temporarily moved to Brazil and lived in a dimly lit dorm-like setting to find out first-hand.  What he found has changed the way many elite youth soccer teams practice, and has made Simon Clifford a very wealthy man, given that he has founded worldwide “Brazilian Soccer Schools” all over the globe.

What he found was that everyone, except the professionals, were playing a much smaller game of soccer on a small, hard court, with a heavier ball.  Given the small space, the game moved quickly and frantically, with split-seconds to decide where to pass, to whom, and how.  In other words, unlike American Soccer, Brazilian Soccer offers many more chances to fail and succeed in each minute of play, for each player – Every player touches the ball six times more per minute, to be exact.

When the brain experiences this incredible frequency of failure and correction, it grows Myelin like mad!  Super highways are formed that can ultimately lead to amazing talent.

So what does this teach us?

When we are training, it's not the "talented" people we should focus on, it's the people who share the capacities of the top performers, and are willing to practice until they reach mastery of a given skill.  People who are willing to practice scripts, over and over and over... Sales people who are willing to make multiple calls, fail/correct, then fail/correct, again and again...These will be the folks who develop talent!

I don't know each of your businesses well enough to definitively be able to articulate what should/shouldn't be part of your training regimen, but I do think that if you can mirror the practices of these talent hot beds, tailored to your industry of course, you have a much better chance of turning out some true talent. 

I would love to hear your ideas regarding how your company's training might be able to resemble these talent hot beds... 

Next:  Ignition (Motivation)