If you want to be more successful…

…where should you look?

ATTRACT Opportunities Instead of Pursuing Them…

…Using Counter-Intuitive Thinking

By following Step 6, Eclectic Education, I discovered Mike Michalowicz’s book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur.  Very early in the book Mike hits us squarely between the eyes with a succinct message – “Passion begets persistence.  And persistence begets success.”

I doubt that any of us would argue with Mike’s message, yet how often do we get distracted and derailed by our skill sets, our experience, our financial needs, our need for security?  Who among us hasn’t foregone our passions for our needs only to experience both the loss of our dreams and limited success in satisfying our financial and security needs?  What’s the solution?

It’s counter-intuitive, but putting our passions ahead of our needs lays the foundation for success.  As Mike so eloquently puts it “Those who are following their path (passion) will relentlessly march forward during the ups and downs, even as others pursue something else.”

Discovering your passion and following it are just the first steps toward enjoying greater success, i.e. the life you desire.  You have to consistently monitor your passion.  Inevitably it rises during easy times and wanes during challenging times, but as long as the passion remains you’ll be able to view both as fleeting moments in time and maintain your resolve.

What isn’t as easy to discern, yet equally important to notice, is when your passion no longer exists.  All too often we get bored with what we’re doing even though we’ve been successful at it.  Our natural tendency is to stay with what works. Again, it’s counter-intuitive, but we’re better off letting go of the familiar, yet uninspiring work we’re doing and moving forward with our latest passion.

As Bertrand Russell wrote” The more things a man is interested in, the more opportunities of happiness he has and the less he is at the mercy of fate.”  As we grow personally, professionally and in our businesses, it’s inevitable that our passions will change to reflect our newly-found knowledge and experience.  Follow those passions and you, too, will enjoy “more opportunities for happiness.”

If you want to distinguish yourself, become a person follows his or her passion to greater and greater success.  Then encourage others to do the same.  Your success and encouragement will make you INVALUABLE to those around you and, in the process, attract opportunities so that you don’t have to pursue them.

Attracting opportunities is only the beginning; you need to be compensated well for the value you provide. Discover how at www.pricingforprofitbook.com.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog, please enter your email address and name in the left sidebar.  You’ll also get a free copy of Step 1 of the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE.   If you’d like me to address a specific topic, email me at dale@furtwengler.com. Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

For more information on Mike and his book, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, visit www.toiletpaperentrepreneur.com.

Our natural tendency is to grow our operations.

Is it possible that we should be shrinking them?

ATTRACT Opportunities Instead of Pursuing Them…

…Using Counter-Intuitive Thinking

Our natural tendency is to grow our existing operations.  We operate under the notion that what has worked for us in the past is the best approach for the future.  Often what we’ll discover is that while what we’ve been doing may have worked, it may not have worked well.  Here’s an example.

Mr. Eggett cites a candy manufacturer who discovered that his real strength was in creating new candies, not in producing them.  The candy manufacturer outsourced the production, sold his production facilities and aligned himself with a food distributor that needed a candy product.  The result? He grew his regional company to a national brand while shrinking his company’s operations.

It’s counter-intuitive, but when considering growth for the future take a look at:

• What your company does better than anyone else.
• What you have the most fun doing.
• Which aspects of your operation consistently disappoint your customers.
• Which areas of the operation give you the most headaches from an operational standpoint.
• Which companies excel at the things your company struggles with;  Mr. Eggett suggests that it could be a competitor who could become an ally.
• Which companies have a gap in their offerings that you can fill with your expertise.

Bring ideas like this to the table vis-a-vis your eclectic education and you’ll have others regularly seeking your counsel, inviting you onto their teams and involving you in their initiatives.  It’s another way to become INVALUABLE.

Attracting opportunities is only the beginning.  Visit www.pricingforprofitbook.com to discover how to get compensated well for the value you provide.  Enjoy!

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog, please enter your email address and name in the left sidebar.  You’ll also get a free copy of Step 1 of the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE.   If you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

Desirable goal…

…or limiting vantage point?

ATTRACT Opportunities Instead of Pursuing Them…

…Using Counter-Intuitive Thinking

The one step in the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE that continues to intrigue me day-in, day-out is Step 6, Eclectic Education.  It’s through diverse reading that I find gems like this.

I recently read a brief summary of Socrates’ life by Anthony Gottlieb. In this booklet the author offers four dramatically different perspectives on who Socrates was. These perspectives come from the writings of Plato, Xenophon, Aristophanes and Aristotle.  Gottlieb notes that each author’s account is shaded by the beliefs the author held.  Plato was a profound advocate of reason, consequently his descriptions of  Socrates emphasized Socrates’ reasoning.

Gottlieb goes on to say that while none of these accounts is entirely accurate, by blending the four we can get a reasonable sense of who Socrates was and what he believed.

In a similar fashion, the late Saul Alinsky in his book, Rules for Radicals, says “…judgment must be made in the context of the times the action occurred and not from any other chronological vantage point.”

The obvious questions these two books raise are “What are facts?  Do they even exist?  If so, how do we find them?”  Based on these readings it seems that “fact” is a matter of perception.  Since perception is always based on personal experience, any fact must then be specific to the individual’s or group’s experiences.

For those of you who prefer to make decisions based on “fact” this can be disconcerting.  These authors are in essence saying that there is no single set of facts on which we can rely as the basis for our decisions.  That flies in the face of our natural desire to discover “the facts.”

Should the lack of complete knowledge (facts) deter us from the exploration?  Absolutely not!  All scientific effort has as its goal the acquisition of knowledge about how things work.   Yet, the reality is that the knowledge gained in scientific exploration always falls short of a complete answer – scientists never have all of the facts.

It’s counter-intuitive, but our desire for facts is limiting.  If there were only one set of facts we’d lose the benefit of other peoples’ perspectives.  With that in mind, our search for the facts must necessarily lead us to an exploration of the other party’s experience which, in turn, expands our knowledge – not of “the facts,” but of the vast array of possible interpretations of those facts.

The next time you find yourself inclined to search for the facts, pause a moment and remind yourself that what you’re really seeking is others’ interpretation of those facts.  This approach will not only help you stand out in the crowd.   It will make you INVALUABLE to those around you and, in the process, attract opportunities so that you don’t have to pursue them.

Attracting opportunities is only the beginning.  Visit www.pricingforprofitbook.com to discover how to get compensated well for the value you provide.  Enjoy!

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

A reader shares a news piece…

…touting counter-intuitive thinking.

My thanks to Christy Beckmann for bringing this piece to my attention.  It’s a November 14, 2009 New York Times article entitled “At Bloomberg, Modest Strategy to Rule The World,” written by Stephanie Clifford and Julie Creswell.

Christy was intrigued by the following quote.  “We need a broader audience,” says Daniel L. Doctoroff, Bloomberg’s president.  “The history of this company is you do the counterintuitive , countercylical thing.  It’s part of our DNA.”

Indeed, Bloomberg’s success stems from it’s financial information systems software called terminals that offer the quick, reliable financial data and analysis to the trading desks of Wall Street firms in formats not available elsewhere.  Bloomberg built a better mouse trap and have maintained their competitive advantage for nearly three decades.  And they did it using counter-intuitive thinking – by looking at financial information in a new light.

Does their new strategy “to be the world’s most influential news organization”  fit their counter-intuitive, countercyclical DNA?  On the surface it doesn’t seem so.  If anything Bloomberg may be on a slippery slope of financial decline.  Why?  Here are the insights Clifford and Creswell provided:

• The vast majority of Bloomberg’s $6.3 billion in revenue and nearly all of it’s profit comes from its financial information systems.
• In 2009 Bloomberg will see a drop in the number of terminals in use.
• Bloomberg feels the need for “a broader audience.”

Let’s explore each of these insights in greater detail.

The fact that nearly all of Bloomberg’s profits come from it’s terminals suggests that its media expansion efforts aren’t producing much, if anything, in the way of profits.  If that’s true Bloomberg is adding a lot of infrastructure cost with little return on its investment.  That’s not a financially sustainable business model.

Bloomberg’s core business is declining as evidenced by a decline in number of terminals in use.  Their desire to expand into other new coverage indicates that they don’t know what to do to fix this problem.  That’s not intended as a criticism.  All companies that enjoy tremendous success eventually face this dilemma.  The intuitive (not counter-intuitive) solution is to look for new lines of business.

Bloomberg is utilizing the intuitive approach by seeking “a broader audience.”  The fact that it is doing so at a time when the world seems to be devaluing news coverage is counter-intuitive.  What’s missing is an indication that Bloomberg has found a formula that will once again entice consumers to pay for that coverage.

While it is my sincere wish that the Bloomberg organization continue to enjoy tremendous success, I have serious doubts that their new strategy will allow that to happen.

To view the rest of the New York Times article visit http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/business/media/15bloom.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=bloomberg%20rule%20the%20world&st=cse

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, contrast Bloomberg’s previous counter-intuitive business strategy with its more intuitive new strategy.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

For examples of how counter-intuitive thinking can help your break the bonds of industry pricing visit my Pricing for Profit blog at www.pricingforprofitbook.com.  Enjoy!

Few of us doubt that evil exists…

…the question is where.

I recently had my world rocked when I read Philip Zimbardo’s book, The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.  Not so much by the fact that each of us has a propensity for evil behavior – who among us hasn’t made a biting comment when we’ve felt hurt or threatened?

What did surprise me was Zimbardo’s insight as to how the situations we face trigger evil behavior and how quickly that can occur.  Professor Zimbardo, a social psychologist, created the Stanford Prison Experiment at Stanford University in the 1970s.  His goal was to determine whether or not situations influenced behavior and, if so, to what extent.  His findings are amazing.

Within a few days male college students who had agreed to be either guard or prisoner depending on the luck of the draw experienced the following:

• Guards became progressively more verbally and psychologically abusive (physical abuse was not permitted) – so much so that the experiment was stopped after just five days.
• Those guards who didn’t participate in the abuse, or did so only sporadically to avoid criticism themselves, didn’t do anything to curb the abusive guards’ behavior.
• Some prisoners experienced such severe depression that they were released after only a day or two in the experiment.  Interestingly they could have left voluntarily at any time, but didn’t.
• All prisoners became accepting of the ill treatment they received.
• Professor Zimbardo admits that he fell victim to the situation and moved away from what he perceived his true nature.

What’s the message for us?  As we’re thinking about how we structure our organizations, incentive programs and other aspects of our business, let’s keep in mind this propensity for evil.  Are we creating an environment in which we encourage arrogance toward customers, intolerance with employees or exceedingly unrealistic expectation for vendors.

If you’re thinking “I’d never do that.”  Take a look at some of your policies.  Have you set sales quotas and, in doing so, encouraged your salespeople to sell to customers who don’t really value what you offer.  Worse yet, are they lowering the price to get the sale which hurts both your company and the customer.

Have you established aggressive collection policies?  If so, have your collectors lost their compassion for people who are trying to pay you, but find themselves struggling to find a way to do so.

Have you created compensation programs that encourage your employees to ignore what’s in the best interests of your customers or your business.  Years ago, during a training program I was presenting to mid-level managers, they told me of an ongoing problem.  When I began to offer suggestions on how to deal with the problem, they said “Oh, we know how to fix it.  That’s not how we’re compensated.”  Ouch!

It’s counter-intuitive, but the policies we establish and the procedures we put into place have the propensity to trigger the evil that exists in all of us by virtue of our human nature.  Spend a few extra minutes evaluating your policies and procedures with an eye to the evil it could create and you’ll save yourselves and those with whom you interact a great deal of pain.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 6, Eclectic Education, to gain new perspectives from a social psychologist.  I also used Step 4, See Similarities, to demonstrate how his concepts apply our policy-making, procedure-writing activities.  Finally, I used Step 6, Contrarian Mindset, to offer ways to avoid triggering the less savory aspects of our human nature.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com. Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

For insights into how you can apply counter-intuitive thinking to your pricing strategy, visit my Pricing for Profit blog at www.pricingforprofitbook.com.

My latest book, Pricing for Profit, was released 9.9.09 in the United States, Canada, U.K., Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.  It’s available in all the major bookstores – Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

Each of us experiences fear.

The question is “How do we conquer it?”

Recently I wrote about fear and the use of a contrarian mindset as a way to prevent personal fears from becoming societal fears and eventually triggering violent acts. In order to be able to become the voice of reason, we must be able to conquer our own fears. Easier said than done?

Chapter 23 of the Chandogya Upanisad says “Where one does not see another, does not hear another, does not know another, that is abundance. Where one sees another, hears another, knows another, that is smallness. Abundance is immortal: smallness is mortal.”

What does this quote have to do with fear and our need to conquer it? Fear is egocentric. Whether I’m afraid of losing power, influence, customers, a valued employee or vendor, the love of my life, a child or financial stability, I’m focused on my needs. That bespeaks smallness on my part. All that I’m concerned with are my needs, my wants, my desires. With that mindset, virtually anyone I see, hear or know poses a threat. I’m going to examine everyone – even those I love – to discern whether they’re a potential rival for what I desire or what I fear I might lose.

Let’s contrast that mindset with the earlier portion of the upanisad – “Where one does not see another, does not hear another, does not know another, that is abundance.” When I’m free from fear what I see are possibilities, not just for myself but for others as well. There is no me versus them; no zero sum game where one person must lose for the other to win. There is plenty of power, influence, love and financial wealth for all to enjoy. I don’t create opportunities just for me; I just create opportunities. I understand that the more opportunities I create the better off we’ll all be.

When I create abundance for others, abundance is assured for me as well. That’s one of the messages of this upanisad!

It’s natural for us, as human beings, to experience scarcity, fear and smallness from time to time. I wish that I could tell you that I’m exempt, but I suffer the same human frailties everyone does. I have, however, found ways to overcome these natural tendencies.

It’s counter-intuitive, but we can train our minds to quickly recognize when we’re feeling scarcity, fear and smallness. With that realization comes a choice, “Do I continue to focus on myself and perpetuate the fear I’m feeling? Or do I choose to begin exploring possibilities for a new, bright future for all of us?” The choice becomes easier over time.

It won’t take long for you to get a sense for how much fun it is to be able to create possibilities at will. Soon your mind will quickly make the shift from the smallness of fear to the largesse of abundance. That’s when you’ll know you’ve conquered fear; that’s when you life will seem fuller and richer even in challenging times. This is my wish for you – a sense of abundance drawn from the abyss of scarcity. Enjoy your freedom from fear!

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier. In today’s blog I used Step 6, Eclectic Education, to gain new perspectives from the upanisads, spiritual teachings pre-dating most organized religions, regarding the difference between the immortal and mortal aspects of our nature. I also used Step 4, See Similarities, to apply these concepts to the fear each of us experiences by virtue of our humanity. Finally, I hinted at Step 3, Suspend Judgment, when I spoke of “challenging times.” After all, times are challenging only if we decide to judge them to be so. For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com. Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

For ideas on how to apply counter-intuitive thinking to your company’s pricing strategy, visit my new Pricing for Profit blog at www.pricingforprofitbook.com/. Enjoy!

Good news – My latest book, Pricing for Profit, was released 9.9.09 in the United States, Canada, U.K., Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.  It’s available in all the major bookstores – Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What does framing artwork have to do with marketing?

More than you think.

I’m sure that each of you has, at one time or another, purchased a painting, a limited edition print or art quality photography.  Do you remember your trip to the frame store to get it framed?

First, the attendant helped you decide which frame fit your decor and the artwork.  Then, just when you felt that you’d finished your selection, she said “You can enhance the picture even more by adding some mattes.”  She took creme and green mattes, overlapped them and you could see the green color jump out of the picture.   Then she replaced the green matte with a blue one and the picture took on that blue hue.  The picture didn’t change.  Yet the look and feel changed dramatically with the different mattes.  That’s what marketing is.

The benefit you provide, whether it’s image, innovation or time-savings, is the picture.  That doesn’t change regardless of what market you’re serving.  How you craft your message around that benefit is the matte.  It’s how you can target different markets without changing your offering.  Let me give you a couple of examples.

Ford has recently been advertising the “smart truck.”  In addition to a host of other things this truck will help you track your tools.  Amazing!  How can Ford tailor its message for a variety of buyers.  Here’s a couple of examples.

For those buyers who love innovation and simply have to have the latest and greatest, their current campaign of brains over brawn will work nicely.  Innovation buyers typically view themselves as bright, cutting-edge folks.  The current ad appeals to these buyers.

How does that ad attract other buyers?  Let’s say that your a contractor who’s tired of the wasted time, energy and money involved in replacing tools that are either lost or stolen or someone who wants to be considered a savvy business person, will this ad attract you?  Probably not.  How could Ford use the matte concept to attract these time-conscious buyers?

For the time-saving (dependability) buyers the ad might read:

Time is money and Ford is going to save you both.   Our new smart trucks are designed to help you spend more time generating revenues instead of searching for and replacing lost tools.  You get all this and the quality you need to handle any tough job you have.

For the image buyers the ad could say:

Consumers like to buy from successful business people.  Our smart trucks let your buyers know that you’re successful, that you’re using the best tools available for the job.  Don’t leave buyers in doubt about whether they’re dealing with the best in the business, your Ford smart truck will tell them everything they need to know.

Three different messages – Ford’s innovation message and two that I’ve suggested for time-saving and image buyers.  The product, the smart truck, didn’t change, but the message has been tailored for the market Ford wants to attract.

The natural tendency is to think that we need different offerings for different markets.  It’s counter-intuitive, but all we really need to do is reframe one offering for the markets we target.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 4, See Similarities, to take a lesson learned at the frame store and apply it to marketing.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

On November 17, 2009, the Cottleville-Weldon Springs Chamber of Commerce has graciously invited me to present an expanded version of Common Pricing Errors at their breakfast meeting at 7:30 a.m.  For more information visit http://www.cottlevilleweldonspringchamber.com/

It’s here! The Pricing for Profit Blog.  For 20 years I’ve watched talented, hardworking people like you provide tremendous value to your customers without getting compensated for that value.  My reason for writing Pricing for Profit was to help you and others break the bonds of industry pricing so that you can get compensated fairly for the value you provide.  That’s why I’ve launched the Pricing for Profit blog.  You can find it at www.furtwengler.com. Enjoy!

Finding it yields great power…

…but you have to know how to look for it.

Recently I had the good fortune to present a program for the American Society for Training and Development entitled “Have Trainers Lost Their Way?”  In this program I asked the audience to share their thoughts on what the real purpose of training is.  They offered about a dozen suggestions.

Then I asked them to find a common thread that ran through all of these suggestions.  They found this task considerably more challenging.  Finally, I shared with them what I believed to be the real purpose of training – to build confidence so that the participants felt comfortable employing what they learned.  What was the result?

When we compared the common thread I offered – building confidence – to all of the purposes they had identified, they agreed that building confidence would achieve all of the other purposes as well.

Being able to see the common thread that runs through all things – even those that don’t seem similar, is a powerful tool for you to add to your repertoire.  Josh Waitzkin, World Chess Champion, in his book, The Art of Learning, described it this way “I often sensed a logical thread to positions that seemed irrational – playing exciting chess felt like discovering hidden harmonies.”

It’s counter-intuitive, but “harmonies” do exist in much greater abundance than we realize.  Why don’t we see them?  Because our natural tendency is to see differences, not similarities.  One of the things you’ll discover is that when you train your mind to see the common thread, life gets easier.

Imagine how much easier it is to design training programs when you know that your goal is to help participants build confidence.  In essence all that you, as a trainer, need to do is provide two or three new concepts and develop exercises that allow the participants gain experience in applying those concepts.

How do you develop the ability to find the common thread that runs through whatever you’re facing?

• Broaden your knowledge base by exploring topics outside your normal interests.
• Before you begin your exploration, ask yourself “What am I going to discover that is like situations I’ve already faced in my job, at home, during play time?”
• Enjoy the exploration.  Let your subconscious mind do the work for you; that’s what it is designed to do.

Learn to see the common thread that runs through everything and you’ll not only enjoy a simpler life, you’ll amaze your friends as well.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 6, Eclectic Education, to open the door to a seemingly diverse knowledge base and Step 4, Seeing Similarities, to help you see the common thread that runs through that diverse information. For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

Good news – My latest book, Pricing for Profit, was released 9.9.09 in the United States, Canada, U.K., Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.  It’s available in all the major bookstores – Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

While alluring…

…it’s regular use invites the demise of your career.

I’m sure that each of us has, at one time or another, bemoaned the fact that we didn’t have the power to change something.  If only we had the power to…, we could solve this problem quickly.

The reality is that those who have the power and use it regularly often limit their career advancement.  Why?  There are several reasons.  Most employees:

• Hate being told what to do
• Resent not having their ideas heard and acted upon
• Despise the arrogance their leader exhibits
• Will do “exactly” what the boss requests even though they know it will fail
• May harbor desires that the boss’ idea fails or, worse yet, work toward that end

Yet, despite all of these negative consequences some people achieve lofty positions using positional power.  I’m sure each of you could point to autocratic leaders who have enjoyed great success.  Or have they?  What price did they pay for that success?

Imagine the pressure autocratic leaders must feel as they:

• Manage the most minute details of their direct reports‘ work
• Assume the risk for every decision that gets made
• Work diligently to see that blame for an errant decision doesn’t land on their doorstep
• Are constantly on the alert for potential sabotage
• Work countless hours because they don’t trust their employees

Is that the career you desire?

So what’s the alternative?  Influence!  By engaging people in the decision-making process, you get greater buy-in, quicker implementation and better results.  Indeed, a former chairman of Porsche, said that his mantra was “Decide democratically, delegate dictatorially.”  He went on to say that “a poor idea, implemented well, will produce better results than a great idea implemented poorly.”

It’s counter-intuitive, but the foundation for career advancement doesn’t lie in positional power; it lies in your ability to influence the thinking of others.  How do you do that?  Remember that persuasion is a myth.  We can’t persuade anyone of anything, they have to persuade themselves.

The best we can do is:

• Shine the light on new information
• Allow employees to process that information and reach their own conclusions
• Allow them to validate their conclusions with their own experiences

If our conclusion is correct, our employees will reach the same conclusion we have and they’ll be excited about the idea because they know it will work.  If, however, we’ve overlooked something in our analysis, our employees can pull our bacon from the fire by shining the light on new information for us.

Fortunately, as a consultant, I never have positional power.  I have no authority in any client organization.  As a result I’m never tempted to use positional power.  Instead I rely on influence.  The ability to influence others‘ thinking serves me equally well in my personal life as it does in my work.  I would never trade that skill for positional power.  Indeed, like the Chairman of Porsche, I didn’t use that power when I had it.

Do yourself a favor.  Use the steps outlined above to influence others’ thinking instead of exerting positional power.  You’ll quickly discover that leadership can be fun and exciting instead of stressful and draining.  The choice is yours.  Which will you choose?

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, to demonstrate the often overlooked disadvantages of positional power, Step 6, Eclectic Education, to provide insights from an incredibly successful former Chairman of Porsche and Step 2, The Persuasion Myth, to help you see how easy it is to gain influence.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment below.

Good news – My latest book, Pricing for Profit, was released 9.9.09 in the United States, Canada, U.K., Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.  It’s available in all the major bookstores – Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

A dilemma…

…or an opportunity for enlightenment?

A friend was telling me of an opportunity that presented itself.  Someone, who had a lot of very attractive contacts, wanted to do some joint marketing.  My friend then said that his potential partner, at their first meeting, had launched into an hour-long presentation of what he did and how valuable it was.  My friend asked for my thoughts regarding this opportunity.

What would your response have been?  Should he pursue this opportunity?  Is further exploration warranted?  Or should he forego this opportunity?  Regardless of your response, I’d like you to take a moment to reflect on the rationale for whatever advice you would have offered.  What were your reasons for the conclusion you reached?

Here’s how I responded.  I told him that I didn’t feel like there was much promise in this potential partnership.  Why?  Because I saw incongruities in what my friend was being told.  First, his potential partner claimed to have a lot of very attractive contacts.  If he was that well connected and had that many people who valued his offerings, why would he need a partner to market his offerings?

Second, during the first meeting with my friend,  his potential partner did an information dump that indicated that he wasn’t very adept at sales.  All of the effective salespeople I know tantalize prospects and potential partners by offering glimpses of what they’re offering without divulging much about the offering itself.

Finally, the potential partner did little exploration of my friend’s background, skills, abilities, interests or results.  His focus was on convincing my friend that he would be a valuable partner.

What was the result?  My friend came back to me and said that my assessment was right on target.  During his second meeting with this potential partner he asked for examples of the results and successes the partner had achieved.  He asked about the strength of the potential partner’s relationships with his contacts.  Finally, he inquired about the potential partner’s knowledge of his business.What my friend’s inquiries uncovered was that his potential partner’s business was built on a very shaky structure.  Not one on which he wanted to invest a lot of time, energy or money.  He ended this partnership exploration after two meetings.

It’s counter-intuitive, but we can’t discover the truth in what we’re being told until we’ve investigated the incongruities.  In every misrepresentation, whether intentional or not, the truth can be found in the incongruities.  If you’re looking for a way to assess what you’re being told, compare the behaviors the other person is exhibiting against what you’re being told.  Then ask “Are this person’s words and behaviors aligned?”  If they are, you have good reason to move forward.  If not, the incongruities will lead you to the truth.  Once you’ve discovered the truth, you’ll know whether or not to proceed.

The 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE program I offer is designed to help you see more effective ways of doing business – ways that dramatically improve your bottom line while making your life easier.  In today’s blog I used Step 4, See Similarities, to show that the absence of similarities between behavior and words is a cause for further investigation.  I also used Step 5, Contrarian Mindset, to demonstrate that incongruities should be a cause for celebration, not consternation – a source of truth, not a dilemma.  For more information on the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE visit www.furtwengler.com/7steps.htm.

If you’d like to receive a weekly email reminder with a link to The Invaluable Leader blog or if you’d like me to address specific topics, please send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.  Please share your experience with our readers by posting a comment.

Good news – My latest book, Pricing for Profit, was released 9.9.09 in the United States, Canada, U.K., Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.  It’s available in all the major bookstores – Borders, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.