WorkPuzzle

Becoming Engaged in Your Work: Don’t Try to Sell Something You’re Not Doing Yourself

Every hiring manager is, at some level, a salesperson.  You’re selling the idea that a candidate will experience a better quality of work life in your organization compared to staying with their current employer.  But, it’s difficult to sell something effectively if you’re not experiencing the “better quality” yourself.

Last week, I mentioned that I’d focus my next few WorkPuzzle discussions around the topic of engagement—how to experience engagement yourself, how to make sure that those on your team are experiencing it, and how to make this topic a key component of your recruiting message.  Today, we’ll work on how you can feel more engaged in your role as an owner, team leader, or hiring manager.

Researchers have well-documented the notion that in order to find engagement in a job, your personal strengths have to be aligned with the tasks that you’re doing on a day-to-day basis.  For employees who work in structured jobs (typically below the middle manager level), this reality tends to have a significant impact on the engagement they feel.  This is often referred to as job-fit.  If a person does not happen to fit the structured tasks required to perform the job, it is difficult to be excited and engaged in the work.

But, for most positions middle-manager and above, a person can adapt the job to match his or her own strengths.  So, job-fit tends to have a diminished impact.  Instead, the way the job is performed by the individual (and how that work integrates into the rest of life) is more predictive of the type of engagement a person will experience.  In essence, if you can figure out how to work well, you’ll find engagement in your work.

Researchers have invested heavily in this subject over the last ten years, and best-selling authors, Tony Schwartz and Jim Loehr, have done a great job of summarizing much of the research on this topic in a best-selling book called "The Power of Full Engagement" (2003).  As I previously mentioned, Schwartz recently completed a follow-up solo project with updated information called "The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working."

Schwartz describes the lack of engagement problem this way:

“We live in a world of infinite distractions and endless demands.  Many of us juggle several tasks at a time and struggle to focus on any one of them very long.  Lack of absorbed focus takes a toll on the depth and quality of whatever we do, and it’s also an inefficient way to work, extending the time it takes to finish any task…. 

Most of us work long hours and feel a restless sense of urgency.  We juggle multiple demands without feeling we’re devoting sufficient time to the most important tasks.  We arrive home in the evenings with little energy left for our families.  We spend too little time thinking strategically and long term, too little time taking care of ourselves, and too little time simply enjoying our lives….  Is the life you’re leading worth the price you’re paying to live it?”

If you’re in any type of leadership role in your company, I’m sure this resonates with you because it is exactly the type of disengagement that leaders struggle to keep under control.  If you want to attract the best talent to your organization, you must address the issues that cause this type of disengagement.  People are inspired to work for a leader who has his/her own life in order.

How do you fix these problems in your own life?  Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts or quick answers. Schwartz describes the process as “transforming the operating system” of your life.  This means creating an inventory of the habits that drive your poor behaviors and then systematically replacing those habits with new rituals that produce the desired behaviors and actions.

This is easier said than done!  In the last few weeks, I’ve tried to change just a couple of the harmful habits in my personal workflow, and I’m amazed at the internal resistance I’m facing.  I’m not going to give up, but I also don’t want to come across as unsympathetic as I suggest you address these issues.  I do believe that it's worth the effort—both for our personal well-being, and our ability to recruit.

Here are two new things I learned as I worked through Schwartz’s book:

1.  The body and mind work best in rhythms.

All systems in our body pulse rhythmically when we’re healthy—heartbeat, brain waves, body temperature, blood pressure, and hormone levels.  Our fundamental need is to spend and renew energy.  The mind works on the same rule.

This principle has all kinds of implications.  Every area of your life—eating, movement, sleep, relationships, and work- functions optimally if it has a rhythm to it.  For example, your workflow will be most productive if you are able to work intensely (without distractions) for a period of about 90 minutes.  This 90 minute period is then best followed by a period of low mental intensity (emails, most meetings, errands, etc.).  By repeating this cycle several times during the day, your overall productivity and engagement will increase.

2. Physical routine has significant impact on your performance and sense of engagement.

There are three important components to a physical routine:  (1) sleep, (2) exercise, and (3) diet:

Sleep is the foundation of all physical energy.  No single behavior more fundamentally influences our effectiveness in waking life.  Sleep deprivation takes a powerful toll on our health, our emotional well-being, and our cognitive functioning.  The only viable solution to insufficient sleep is to go to bed earlier.

Secondly, regular exercise, especially intense energy expenditure followed by deep recovery, dramatically increases our capacity, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally.  Ideally, we should be doing some sort of moderately intense physical activity six days per week for twenty to forty-five minutes a day.  That time can be split between two or three sessions over the course of a day, so long as each is at least ten minutes long.

Finally, how we eat (not just what we eat) has a significant impact on overall performance.  The key to nutrition is maintaining a stable level of blood sugar.  Food is our primary source of glucose, and it fuels not just our bodies, but also our brains.  Small, frequent meals serve us better than two or three large ones.  To maintain a steady source of energy, it’s best to eat something at least every three hours—that is five or six “small meals” a day.  Avoid the foods that provide a quick hit of energy but dissipate quickly.  And if you feel like you really need at least one big meal a day—eat a big breakfast.

As you can tell, I’ve just scratched the surface on this topic. There is much more to learn and implement.  Hopefully, this information will jump start your efforts toward finding engagement in your work.  Next, we’ll discuss how to lead a team that is just as engaged as you are...

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why Organizational Narcissism Leads To Failure

Over the past 23 years I have treated at least 50 clients with the diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder.  In addition, I have performed psychological assessments on well over 1,000 individuals who have fit the criteria for the diagnosis. 

Unlike most mental health issues, these individuals rarely come in for mental health consultation, until it is too late...primarily because they only come in when they have lost or are about to lose everything in their life.  In other words, they don’t feel pain until it's too late.  Why?  Because these people think so highly of themselves that they are blind to their shortcomings.  They have built such an inflated sense of self-worth that they don’t invite critique or input.

These people can tolerate only adulation and surround themselves exclusively with people who will tell them what they want to hear.  Their dedication to experiencing themselves as beyond reproach forces them to neglect outside information, as this would threaten their outwardly very confident, but unconsciously very fragile, façade.  As a result, narcissistic people ignore all messages of trouble and pain around them until their family or life disintegrates before their eyes.  That’s when these individuals come to see me.

This narcissistic structure can and has been found in organizations as well.  Companies can become overly self-confident to the point of resisting change and becoming overly reliant on all of the techniques that originally created their success.  When this happens, eyes and ears of the company become closed to anything that sounds unfamiliar.  History contains many examples of where this has resulted in failure.

I’m not advocating change for the sake of change.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with a leader or organization saying, “We’ve done the research, know what the options are, but we are going to continue to operate in this fashion.”  What I am cautioning against is a cocky kind of confidence in the way companies think and do business.  The primary difference between healthy businesses and narcissistic business practices, is that healthy companies are constantly asking questions, considering new avenues, and are open to input.

Whether you are an agent, recruiter, manager or executive, you can stay on the right path by asking questions, staying informed, and surrounding yourself with people who will do the same... 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn.  Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

How to Raise your Expectations: And Get What You Expect

We all intuitively realize that each person within an organization should be productive and perform at a level that justifies their position and salary.  It's not unrealistic to expect everyone to enjoy contributing their part to the overall goals of the company, and offer no excuses for poor performance.

We also all know that there are plenty of people in every company who don’t contribute and leave us uneasy about how to treat them.

The Great Dr. Harry Levinson (psychological consultant to numerous organizations) has a keen eye for perceiving the most fundamental problems with management.  One of the primary problems he has found in the hundreds of companies that he's researched and consulted with is the universality of what he calls “management by guilt.”

The crux of management by guilt is the tendency to not hold people accountable for how they should be performing due to the manager’s internal discomfort around conflict and disappointment.  In his research, Levinson has repeatedly witnessed managers reporting feeling like a “not nice person” when they had to confront people with the reality of their poor performance.  When this pattern has been set, managers will typically procrastinate dealing with these individuals who clearly have not been doing what’s expected, for years.

This irrational way of managing comes from our general reluctance to deal with what reality tells us, if that reality forces us to see and feel our disappointment in someone’s performance. This is usually an overly developed conscience at work. Additionally, people who are poor performers often elicit our sympathy and have a way of making others feel guilty if they are confronted.  This sets up the destructive little dance that can continue indefinitely.  In the meantime- the company, the team, and the person who is allowed this leniency; are all left to languish.

Management by guilt typically follows a six step process:

1. Disappointment in the subordinate;
2. Failure to confront him/her realistically about his/her performance or behavior;
3. Procrastination in reaching a decision about him/her;
4. Covering up with false compliments to ease the guilt of the disappointment;
5. Transfer to another position;
6. Finally, discharging the person.

Levinson goes on to say that the consequences of the above often include:

1. The subordinate's occupational opportunities are either impaired or destroyed in the name of kindness;
2. Executives hurt each other as they transfer this person;
3. The company suffers because the subordinate often draws a salary for years without producing adequately.
   (Harry Levinson; Selected Articles, 2009)

Remember, A poor performer has an impact on much more than their immediate, obvious responsibilities.  I have personally witnessed individuals bottleneck an entire department because of their refusal to do what was expected.

Here are some quotes from Dr. Levinson about this topic that we each need to etch in granite:

"Each person must see adequate reaction to his performance and behavior if he is to govern it accordingly."

"When after two or three direct discussions of a person's performance, she is unable to change her behavior to meet the requirements of her position, it is a reasonably safe assumption that the person cannot change voluntarily."

"Unless a Leader takes charge, and makes it clear that she is in charge, her subordinates are likely to continue to challenge her and to be in conflict with each other."

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn.  Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why Do People Hate to Pick up the Phone to Recruit? Part 2

Last week, I introduced you to Maureen Sharib, one of the few people on the planet who seem to  enjoy recruiting by picking up the phone and calling people.  I know it sounds strange, but such a person actually exists!  And as promised, I’m going to share some of the things I’ve learned from Maureen's insight over the last couple of years.  I can’t guarantee that the information will transform you into an enthusiastic phone recruiter, but it should help to improve your execution of this important fundamental.

Why do we hate to pick up the phone and recruit?

1. We’re scared.  Most people are reluctant to recruit by phone because of fear.

“What prevents a [recruiter] from being successful on the phone?  The biggest element is fear.  Have you ever experienced a situation where you just knew the people you need to recruit are on the inside of a particular company’s four walls and the only way to reach them is via the telephone?  In that situation, even though there was a large monetary incentive to reach those people, did you not do anything about them because you were afraid?”

The answer to these questions (for all of us) is “yes.”

Maureen’s advice..

“So, the very first thing you have to do is get over it.  So get over it.  Next be willing to admit that you’d like to fix this troubled aspect of your existence.  The final step is to do something about it.”

Sharib details some well-established techniques for overcoming fear in phone recruiting in her feature article, "20 Calls to Change Your Attitude."

2. We’re great at rationalizing behavior that keeps us off the phone.

For example, some people think it is helpful to research the person (typically on the internet) whom you’re trying to recruit before making a call.  Maureen’s take….

"I personally think this 'cold calling' versus 'warm calling' thing is a red-herring made up by people who find calling a complete and total stranger psychologically difficult.  They somehow believe that if they spend half a day researching each person that they'll be more likely to establish a rapport with them. Perhaps 'warming' themselves up for half a day makes them slightly more effective.  But if they made 10 calls instead they'd get much better results.  At some level it is always a numbers game."

Another example:  Some people think it is unethical to call companies with the intention of stealing their best employees.  Nice try.

“It’s a fact that many people don’t want to call another on the telephone and ask for information much beyond what it takes to order a pizza.  Because this is a basic truth about much of human nature there’s a repugnance that’s developed around the subject of phone [recruiting].  It’s intimated over and over again among individuals that it’s a borderline honest activity.  Bolstering that repugnance are the lofty ministrations that usually emerge over the subject of calling another company’s employees and offering them another opportunity.”

These are just two of many examples.  If you’re not calling, you’re somewhere on the continuum of rationalizing your inactivity.  Maureen’s advice….hold yourself accountable to making the calls.

3. We’re lazy.  Very few people are willing to do the work necessary to be successful at phone recruiting.  The laziness applies to both becoming a student of successful recruiting methodologies and following through on the strategies that work.  

Maureen published a very long article earlier this year that outlines an effective strategy for successfully engaging a passive candidate (i.e. someone who is not looking to change companies) in the first minute of talking to him/her.  She uses a case study of one of her clients who would call passive candidates and leave the following message:

“Hello, my name is ___________.  I located your contact information online and have a very exciting opportunity to discuss with you.  Please reach me at (___) ___ – ____ to learn more about this great opportunity.  I promise not to take more than a couple minutes of your time.  I look forward to speaking with you; have a great day!”

This message was left with more than 200 candidates.  The results?  No callbacks.  No interviews.  No hires.  Phone recruiter who is seriously depressed.

Maureen makes the point that if you’re willing to do some work, the results can be significantly improved.

Rule #1:  Try multiple times to reach the candidate live.  Never leave a message until you’ve called the person at least six times and got their voicemail.

Rule#2:  When you get a candidate on the phone, be ready to answer the following questions/objections quickly:  “How did you get my name?” and “I’m not looking to change companies right now...” while keeping their attention.  One of the ways you could answer the second objection is:

“Nobody said you were looking for a job.  The intent here is to locate and talk to persons who are happy in their positions with the idea that these people are likely to be the most productive.”

Maureen’s advice… become an expert at this stuff.  The ROI on becoming a proficient phone recruiter is worth the time and effort.

Hopefully, I’ve whetted your appetite to learn more about becoming a competent phone recruiter.  Reading Maureen’s writings is a great place to start, but there are many, many more experts who are willing to share their secrets...if you're willing to look.

Keep in mind that many of these experts do not specialize in the real estate industry.  The upside to this reality is that there may be many fresh new ideas that have never been tried in real estate recruiting.  The downside is that you’ll often have to translate their verbiage into something that makes sense for your business, and sometimes modify their methods to match your application.

Let me know what you are learning as you do your own research... 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Why Do People Hate to Pick up the Phone to Recruit?

 

Hopefully, you’ve had an opportunity to read Dave Mashburn’s recent series on the importance of fundamentals (1,2,3,4).  We’ve received a lot of great feedback from the insight that Dave has shared - It seems he has hit a nerve, identifying some issues with which we all struggle.

This got me thinking... What are some of the specific fundamentals that seem to hinder owners and managers who are responsible for recruiting?  After working with hundreds of different managers and leadership teams over the last few years, there is one fundamental that stands out above all the others:  sourcing candidates by phone.

We seem to universally dread this activity in the real estate industry, and in every industry in the marketplace, for that matter.  Maybe you didn’t know this, but there are professional conferences dedicated to sourcing candidates. They even hold breakout sessions regarding why it is so difficult to pick up the phone and call people!

If everyone hates it so much, why do people keep doing it?  You know the answer to this already—because it works!  And, if you’re specifically trying to hire people away from your competitors, there is nothing that produces a better return on your time and money.  I’ve heard many people try to rationalize this fact away, but it’s true:  there is no substitute for picking up the phone and calling people if you strive to be a successful recruiter.

So, how do you overcome the deep internal resistance you feel toward this activity, and instead grow this fundamental into one of your personal strengths?  There is no quick answer to this question.  But, I’d like to introduce you to someone who can help you find the answer over time.  Her name is Maureen Sharib.

Maureen owns a recruiting company, moderates the MagicMethod business networking site, and writes extensively on various recruiting sites such as the Electronic Recruiting Exchange.  She is a very practical person who writes in a conversational manner.  The only downside to her style is that her articles are very long.  However, I’ve learned to stick with her stories because she ends up sharing some of her best tactics, if you’re willing to hang in there and listen.

In my next discussion, I’ll summarize a few things that I’ve learned from Maureen over the last couple of years.  Until then, you may want to check out an article that weaves some of Mark Twain’s writing on “Pocket Hunting” (a interesting method of prospecting for gold) into the principles needed to be a successful phone recruiter.  Enjoy!     

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email. If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.

Fundamentals matter: Stick to your Priorities

In my most recent articles (1, 2, 3), I've tried to stimulate some thinking about the critical importance of detailing your own set of fundamentals that you MUST focus on in order to succeed.  The purpose of this series is to encourage you to have a list of principles or "rules" you will forever rely on, and even obsess over, to maintain the focus necessary for great performance.  After all, we all know that if you fail to aim at anything in particular, you'll most likely hit NOTHING at all.  I strongly feel that too much of our day is spent performing tasks that do little for our long-term success, for the reason that most of us have never taken the time to build, much less, stick to a list of MUSTS.

I was reminded today of one of the more important principles via an email from my 25-year old son, Ryan.  He is an account executive at a large local radio station here in Seattle.  He shared how he lost one of his most lucrative accounts and is having to apologize, both to the client, and his boss, that he let some details slip through the cracks.

Now, how does this happen?  How do you momentarily or insidiously lose track of one of your primary sources of revenue?  This sort of thing seems very simple to track, and yet we all do it.  I almost guarantee that most of us have, at some point, lapsed into the type of work day where we are so busy doing "all sorts of STUFF," that we fail to prioritize the primary blocks that need to be built, from the extraneous, less important, fires to be put out.  This is not limited to sales.  It happens in every department, in every industry.

There is something about human nature that causes us to slowly lose track of the things that really matter most.  We lose sight of how to prioritize -- what details to invest enormous amounts of time into, and what details to delegate, deal with in two minutes, or completely ignore.

The primary problem is that we all want to please and not disappoint.  It is not necessarily a sign of deep psychological distress to want to please people, be helpful, attend to squeaky wheels, and rush to out fires.  After all, when there is chaos we want to fix it, right?

However, what most of us fail to do, is weigh the degree to which investing time in each fire is worth the energy expended.  Imagine for a moment, now, if you had some magical, built-in computer program that flashed before your eyes saying, "This problem is not worth addressing personally-- Delegate!"...or, "This complaint from an agent who has done little to perform and less to build up the overall goal of teamwork at the office, is not worth more than three minutes!"  OR even better, "You have failed to contact xyz company in 4 weeks...BIG MISTAKE, as this agent/client represents $$$ off your company dollar and needs attention now!"

Unfortunately, you are probably not ever going to have such a sophisticated computer.  (Maybe someday?)  But you can build something similar, only if you are willing to take the time to prioritize ALL of your activities and follow a system to be reminded.  By prioritizing all of your agents, your agent prospects, your clients, your clients' most critical needs, and your agents' most crucial tasks--you can begin to build your own system of sifting through all of the incoming data.  As a result, you will become much more efficient, functional and intentional with your time.

 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn.  Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.  

Social Networking: Are You Becoming the Right Kind of Expert?

Earlier this week, I ran across an article written by John Sumser.  John is one of my favorite recruiting columnists because he really makes me think.  He’s a little like the Matt Drudge of recruiting—he seems to get things figured out a little ahead of the rest of us.

The article of interest concerns the time and energy it takes to maintain a social network on the internet.  It is the first time I’ve seen some metrics on this topic.  Any idea how long it takes to stay in touch with a social network of 1,000 people (not an uncommon size for many today)?  Take a guess before you read on...

Through an interesting birthday celebration experiment, John shows that just to maintain the network at the “annual birthday greeting card level” takes five concentrated hours per week!  The article is long, but entertaining, regarding how he reaches this conclusion.

Do you have this kind of time to dedicate to such an effort?  It’s an important question to ask yourself because social networking is the type of activity that can eat up a whole lot of time if it is not controlled by some self-imposed boundaries.

If you are purposefully dedicating this much time, are you likely to get a return?  John goes on to answer this question in a follow-up article.  Here is his perspective:

“There is no correlation between having a big social media presence and:

• being good at what you do
• being smart
• having something useful to say
• being worth the attention
• getting your work done
• making sales
• closing deals
• getting new business
• innovating
• being a good place to work
• getting smart people to work for you

Social media is no different than any other form of [media].  The message and the distribution channels tell you nothing about:

• the biases of the author
• organizational affiliationthe truth or falsity of any claims made
• the accuracy of the material
• whether or not the material is good for you
• the utility of the idea

When new [media] technology takes root, the early adopters appear to have (and in some ways actually do have) more influence and authority than might otherwise be accorded them.  Prowess with new technology can seem like subject matter expertise.  Learning to tell the difference between publishing skills and functional utility is one of the new frontiers of literacy.”

The point:  If you happen to be one of those people who spend the time and effort to master this new form of media, it doesn’t necessarily mean you know what you're talking about.  Mastering the media (at perhaps a very high cost with regard to time and effort) may give you a short-term advantage, however, it will be eventually overwhelmed by those who truly have the subject matter expertise.

What is the take away here?  Don’t aspire to become a social networking expert.  Instead, aspire to become a real estate expert who is proficient with social networking.

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Ben Hess.  Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below. 

Why fundamentals matter: The simpler the better

 I trust that you've read the last two entries (1, 2) regarding the importance of building a list of absolute, non-negotiable, principles or objectives that everyone in your organization knows and practices.  I have received some feedback that I will share with you shortly, but I am hoping to get more ideas from you, the reader, before providing a list.  Please refer to the above links to review exactly what I'm looking for in your list.

Briefly, the case was made that we can't rely on talent alone to achieve our business objectives.  I used the Seattle Mariners to support this idea.  Today, I'll present you with an excellent example of obsessing over the right things, this time using the Seattle Seahawks as an example.

The Seattle Seahawks are not predicted to return to the playoffs anytime soon.  They have far too many new players and very few positions, if any, held by anyone who is considered the best at their position.  Nonetheless, their record to date is two wins and two losses.

The reason for their relative success is fairly simple:  Pete Carroll realizes that he can't match other teams, position for position.  In fact, he realizes that having a team with so many new players and a lack of cohesion demands that he MUST boil down their objective to eliminate confusion and bring about a unified purpose... so that everyone GETS IT.  So, instead of focusing on a complex set of principles, he has simplified the focus to one... Yes that's right, ONE objective:

"Offense= Don't give up the football; Defense= Get the football."

That's it.  So, this entire year this Seahawks team will focus on their turnover ratio more than any other stat.  Will they still make mistakes and turn over the football?  Yes.  Will they go to the playoffs?  I don't know.  But will they have a more favorable turnover ratio than their opponents?  I believe they will.  My hunch is that Pete Carroll knows that having small, attainable objectives can bring a team of new comrades together to build something great.

And by the way, remember....as I write this, they are 2-2 and challenging for the top of their division.

Have you simplified your objectives?

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn.  Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.  

Why "Let's Have Coffee" Is Vital To Success

In my last post I promised to begin building a list of vital business fundamentals that are non-negotiable--things that must be performed, measured, and in every way, insisted upon.  I asked for your help in building this list and am eagerly awaiting ideas that you have derived from the best of your own experience.  Keep in mind…there are no right or wrong answers here.  The point of this exercise is to emphasize the importance of HAVING A LIST.  And once you have a list, be diligent about setting expectations and measuring that list.
 
I opened this discussion yesterday by pointing to our very own Seattle Mariners as an example of a team that has great talent, yet very few wins.  One of the problems this year began with the relationship between baseball legend and Hall of Fame bound Ken Griffey Jr., and the Mariner's manager.  Griffey was well liked by the majority of his teammates and was said to be an asset to team moral, cohesion and maturity.  The problem was, that the manager hired to lead the Mariners, didn’t take the time to get to know and develop a relationship with Griffey.

I don’t know whether it was pride, intimidation, or a naïveté that led to this blunder, but because of this, there was little communication between the two.  As a result, halfway through the season, Griffey spontaneously packed up his bags and drove home to his family in Florida with no press conference, no goodbye celebration, nothing...
 
The point is this:  We can spend reams of time with the “hard” practices of our business, but the “soft” principles are equally, if not more important.  One of these soft principles, relationship building, I like to refer to as “Let's have Coffee.”
 
I can tell you unequivocally, that in my own experience--whether building my private practice, developing a partnership at Tidemark, or helping others with their success--all of these things have begun around meeting for coffee or lunch.  In fact, 23 years ago, with only $3,000 in my bank account and two young boys, I moved to Seattle to begin my practice.  And, although it was tough financially, I designated $1,500 of that money to inviting possible referral sources to lunch (this was before Starbucks was on every street corner).  I did this nearly every day, for the first three months of my living in the Seattle area.  This was the best money I ever spent.
 
"Making time for coffee" is not only important for building a business, but also for maintaining a business.  It helps you to retain your best talent and really get to know what other talent is out there.
 
We can spend so much time building the right tools that we forget about building the right connections, and maintaining them.  It often doesn’t matter what long-term outcome you're after - Just showing that you actually want to build a connection can open multiple doors in the future and aid in keeping existing doors wide open.
 
A world famous business consultant recently said that 20-40% of your 300 lunches per year should be dedicated to these types of casual meetings.
 
Is this something you are doing?  Do you consider it to be important?  If it is, should you be measuring it?
 
I think I have inspired myself into a corner.  I guess, I better start doing the same...

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn.  Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.  

Converting Conference Excitement Into Long-Term Habits

Many of us have experienced the emotional high that results from a well run motivational sales conference.  Unfortunately, not many of us successfully convert that flash of energy into long-term change that impacts our business.

What's missing?  We are not using that temporary moment of motivation to begin the process of replacing old habits with new ones.

Successful people understand that their success, in part, is derived from a consistent pattern of converting emotional "ah-ha" experiences into sustainable long-term habits and rituals.  Without the habits and rituals, we keep doing what we did before, and those “ah-ha” catalyst moments are forever lost.

If you are naturally gifted at converting these short-term energy bursts into the hard work of developing and sustaining long-term habits, then chances are, you have built a successful life.  That is what successful people do.

What might come as a surprise to you is that most people don’t do this.  It may even frustrate you that people under your management don’t do the things that you do so automatically.  It's critical for managers to understand that they need to expand their role to include teaching others the formula for forming new habits.  It's also imperative for managers to develop systems to help this become part of the overall culture.

A recent survey of 10,000 real estate professionals outlines what agents expect from their company.  Look at what came in number 2 and 3:

1. Respect, honesty and trust
2. Leadership, guidance
3. Accountability / career coaching

According to the second two expectations, agents are expecting you to hold them accountable.  This desire opens the “I give you permission” door to teaching and building what I am about to describe.

To accomplish the above you must become an expert at habit change, as well as an educator, facilitator and creative strategist in building venues around sustaining these changes.  So, let me help you get started on becoming an expert on change...

People resist change.  Period.  For most people change must be understood, taught and aided toward and through implementation.  Habits are not formed by emotion (although this is the initial catalyst).  Change comes through a very predictable formula.

So, what does create change?  People say will power is the primary ingredient, and that is true to some extent.  But, will power without action, doesn’t work.

Let me use an example that is relevant at this very moment.  Millions of five-year-olds are starting school for the first time this month.  I live on what is referred to as “Education Hill” in Redmond, Washington.  There are five schools, three of which are elementary schools, within 1.3 miles of my home.  My commute is heaven in the summer and horrible in the fall.  Why?  Because all of these new-to-school children are being dropped off by their parents to ease the transition into this new habit of leaving home daily and going to school.

The first few days, there are tears, tantrums and resistance to this intrusive new habit of leaving donuts, Barney, Lego’s, and Sesame Street at home, and instead being expected to sit quietly without mom or dad, for three to six hours at a time, with a teacher who wants them to concentrate on what she’s teaching them.  Yuck. 

A month into this process, most children will have converted this whole new process into a habit that they’ve learned to enjoy and sustain.  This serves as a great example of the fundamentals of habit change.

So here are the steps made simple - A habit will become part of your typical day if you do these things:

1. Start it now.  New habits must begin when the emotional surge or temporary insight is available and fresh.  You, as a manager, must be prepared to help new agents and experienced agents returning from a conference, implement new habits, and get rid of old ones immediately.
2. Do it early in the day.  Any new habit is much more likely to be sustained if it is initiated in the morning hours, if not first thing in the morning.  Once behaviors become habits they can be moved around throughout the day.  For example, when I first started working out 24 years ago, I had to do it in the morning.  Now that I can’t imagine life without it, I can move it around the day, knowing I’ll get to it.
3. Don’t deviate.  This is key.  You must maintain the new behavior or task for at least 45 days if it is being practiced daily, and up to 4 months if it is weekly, to begin to feel like it is a habit.  Anyone who attempts to reward themselves with old habits while trying to build new ones, is usually doomed to failure.
4. Set up accountability.  This is where you come in.  There must be systems developed to help the agents keep themselves accountable.  This is usually done in one-on-ones, groups, or both.  There is a reason why AA is so popular.

One of our most successful clients has a manager or two who have developed groups that meet in the mornings on a regular basis, specifically to build new habits.  One manager even began a walking group that meets in the mornings for a two-mile walk, three times weekly.

The point is, as a manager, this is your job.  Your agents want it.  Become experts at delivering it.  If you're too busy to do the above, then you may need to find others to put out the fires so that you can spend more time doing what really impacts the business--- and the lives of those entrusting their livelihood to you.

 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn.  Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.  Comments or questions are welcome.  If you're an email subscriber, reply to this WorkPuzzle email.  If you read the blog directly from the web, you can click the "comments" link below.