So easy to overlook…

…so large in their impact.

ATTRACT Opportunities Instead of Pursuing Them…

…Using Counter-Intuitive Thinking

What can we learn from human genetics?  That the little things really do matter.  In this post I’m combining Step 6, Eclectic Education, with Step 4, See Similarities, to give you a new way of looking at the opportunities and challenges you face.

One of the stunning statistics to come from the human genome project is that 99.6% of our genetic makeup is exactly the same as other human beings on this earth.That means that only 0.4% of our genes account for the vast array of differences that distinguish the almost 7 billion people who occupy the world today.

Beyond the obvious ramifications in terms of gender, unique facial and body features, emotional make up and predispositions to disease, illness or wellness, what can we learn from this statistic?  That slight differences can have a huge and lasting impact.

By nature we’re wired to be enamored with grand and often complex plans.  There’s something enticing about being a part of something that’s bigger than ourselves.  Yet how many of these large initiatives have proven disappointing?  How many actually produce the desired result?

Often the complexity of the initiative combined with the protracted implementation period result in an abandoning of the project in favor of another new, grand initiative.  Such is the plight of our human nature.

What’s the solution?  It’s counter-intuitive, but you need to look for bigness in the result, not the plan, the process or the initiative.  Look for the little things that you can do right now that will produce results.  Each week find another little thing that you can do within hours, or a day or two, that will produce more results.

Over the course of a year, these little things, implemented one at a time, not only dramatically improve your results; they produce sustainable results for the future.

If you want to distinguish yourself, become the person in your organization who sees little changes, little tweaks, to what’s being done that can produce huge results.  This ability 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.  Visit www.pricingforprofitbook.com to discover how.  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.

Step 3 of the 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE is “Suspend Judgment.” Let’s take a look at how one winner used this concept to his advantage.

As American Idol is about to launch its new season, I couldn’t help but reflect on last year’s contest. The surprise win of Kris Allen over the favorite, Adam Lambert, offers some valuable insights into competition.

The importance of Winston Churchill’s famous 5-word speech to England’s citizenry, “Never, never, never give up,” was exemplified in Kris Allen’s American Idol win. Throughout the competition Adam Lambert was considered the person to beat. His performances were rewarded with glowing reviews from the judges and standing ovations from the audience. Yet, during the final two weeks of the competition it was Kris Allen who garnered the majority of the votes.

It would have been easy for Kris to embrace the idea that:

• Adam Lambert was more talented than he was
• Adam was more popular and, thus, unbeatable
• His chances of winning were nil

All of these thoughts could have, and probably did, enter his psyche. They all have one thing in common. They’re judgments; judgments wrought from emotion. These judgments limit our potential and the value we bring to society.

The reality is that there will always be someone a little brighter, a little more skilled, more experienced or more of a natural talent than we are. Their abilities make life miserable for us. No matter how hard we try we’re never going to surpass these people – or are we?

We can, and we will, if we follow Kris Allen’s example of setting aside these judgments and doing our best every week. It’s counter-intuitive, but there is only one competitor in your life – yourself. If you compare yourself against those who are brighter, more skilled, possess greater experience or are more naturally gifted, you’re likely to become disheartened and give up.

Conversely, if you compete only against yourself, every time you improve upon your previous performance you gain confidence and you position yourself for greater and greater success. It won’t matter what your competitors are doing, you’ll know that your success is assured because you’re continuously improving in areas that have value for your customers.

Learn from Kris Allen! Set aside those judgments that limit your future. Focus on your customers‘ needs and competing only with yourself. You’ll not only enjoy greater and greater success, odds are that you’ll have others in your industry viewing you as the one who is brighter, more skilled, more experienced or more naturally talented.

Not for ourselves…

…but for those who disappoint us.

ATTRACT Opportunities Instead of Pursuing Them…

…Using Counter-Intuitive Thinking

Step one of the 7 Steps to Becoming Invaluable is Contributory Negligence – understanding your contribution to the problem.  Today we’re going to look at how you limit your own success and, consequently, your ability to be recognized as someone with a rare talent for handling difficult situations.  Enjoy!

Dr. Thomas Gordon in his book, T.E.T.-Teacher Effectiveness Training, talks about ineffective communication styles between teachers and students.  Some of those styles are reassuring, sympathizing and consoling the student.  Here are some questions that a teacher employing these styles might ask:

• Are you feeling well?
• Did you have problems with the assignment?
• What didn’t you understand?

In essence, the teacher is offering the student an array of excuses for not performing according to expectation.  As Dr. Gordon suggests, this approach rarely produces a desirable outcome.

This behavior isn’t limited to the classroom though, is it?  Who among us hasn’t said to a reticent prospect “I don’t want you to violate a confidence, but…”  Or, during a follow-up phone call to an indecisive prospect, “I know that you’re busy.”  Or to a poorly performing employee, “Maybe I didn’t communicate my expectations clearly.”

These kinds of excuses are offered to prospects, customers, employees, vendors, stockholders, board members, family, friends, children – anyone with whom we interact who isn’t performing according to expectation.  Why do we do that?  Primarily to avoid confrontation.

We think that if we use a measured approach we’ll avoid confrontation and get the results we desire.  It’s at this point that Dr. Phil would ask “How’s that workin’ for ya?”  Can you remember a time when this approach accomplished what you’d hoped to achieve?  I can’t.

It’s counter-intuitive, but when we make excuses for others all that we’re doing is postponing the inevitable confrontation we’re going to have.  Fortunately, these confrontations don’t have to be emotionally charged.  Here are a few tips to take the emotion out of the exchange:

• Ask “What got in your way?” – this language is non-judgmental.
• If the response is reasonable, ask “What can we do to avoid these delays in the future?” – this language lays the foundation for a collaborative approach to solving the problem.
• If the response is an excuse, ask “If you were sitting where I am, how would you respond to that statement?” – this asks the respondent to evaluate his/her own response; follow up with more questions if the response seems flippant.
• Get a new commitment and an understanding of the consequences of continued failure to perform.

These simple steps will help you gain a reputation for producing results and strengthening relationships.  Soon people will be seeking your advice on how to handle their sticky situations.  That’s how you become invaluable; that’s how you attract new opportunities.

Attracting opportunities is only the beginning.  You need to get compensated well for the value you provide.  Visit www.pricingforprofitbook.com to learn how to communicate your value and command higher prices or salaries for that value.

…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.

More importantly, why do you allow it?

In a community service role, I met with a group of people twice, at their request.  In both meetings they bemoaned the situation they were in and continuously blamed others for their plight.  As I asked them to look at their contribution to the problems they were facing, I could see their eyes glaze over.  They had no desire to become introspective.

After the second meeting, I found myself feeling frustrated and a bit angry about the fact that these folks were wasting my time.  When I set aside these emotions, I was able to see my contribution to the problem.  I was reinforcing their image of self-importance. My actions invite future requests for meetings – meetings that will waste even more of my time.

Once I realized my contribution to the problem I was able to craft a solution.  In the future, should they request a meeting, they’re going to have to earn the right to my time.  How?  By telling me:

• what the problem is
• what their contribution to the problem is
• how they’ve changed their behavior to remove their contribution to the problem
• what result they’ve gotten
• what they intend to do next

Unless they’re willing to provide me with that information, I’m not not going to meet with them again.  It would simply be a waste of my time.

A similar situation existed very early in my career when I was working for a national CPA firm.  A number of people that I supervised on my audit team had a genuine interest in the operational side of the businesses they were auditing.  They’d spend a lot of time asking “What if” questions.  “What if the company used this marketing strategy?  What if they employed this technology?”  You get the picture.

The problem was that there wasn’t time built into the budget for “what if” questions.  How did I deal with this situation?  I told them I’d be happy to discuss those questions with them over a drink after working hours.  Amazingly, no one took me up on my offer.  I guess it wasn’t really that important.

So what’s the message here?  People may attempt to waste your time by pushing a personal agenda.  But they can’t unless you allow it.  It’s counter-intuitive, but simply asking them to meet your expectations prior to having access to your time can help you quickly discern who is serious about getting a better result and who isn’t.  Only those who are serious get access to your valuable time.

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 1, Contributory Negligence, both to help you see how others might waste your time and to demonstrate my contribution to the frustration I was experiencing at having my time wasted.  I also used Step 2, The Persuasion Myth, to show you how to qualify requests for your time so that you can be assured that those requesting it are serious about wanting a result and not merely wanting to bemoan their plight.  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, is going to be released 9.9.09 in the United States, Canada, U.K., Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.  Prepublication orders are being taken at amazon.com, borders.com and barnesandnoble.com. Enjoy!

What’s the solution?

July 8, 2009 newscasts cited alarming examples of security breaches at Federal facilities.  One report mentioned that a guard had allowed a baby in a carriage to pass through an x-ray machine.

So what’s the solution?  The one offered was “more training.”  Please!

I offer education programs as part of my business and one of the things I’ve learned over the years is that you can’t educate people who aren’t interested.  It doesn’t take training to know that sending a child through an x-ray machine endangers the child’s health.  Nor does lack of education explain why some guards didn’t even watch the screens as bags passed through the x-ray machines.

More plausible explanations are:

• poor hiring practices
• inadequate job rotation to minimize boredom on the job
• clear expectations
• a tracking system that allows the guards to measure their successes

Training is often the scapegoat of poor performance when, in reality, there are a whole host of factors that should be considered.  Ascribing failures to poor training leads to a larger investment in training with a very low probability that you’ll get a return on that investment.  I hope that the Congressional committee investigating these failures will realize that huge sums of taxpayer money are about to be wasted on training that won’t produce the desired result.

Although it doesn’t seem that it should be, it’s apparently counter-intuitive to understand that training can’t generate interest where none exists.  If you’re experiencing poor performance and the early indications are that employees just aren’t paying attention to what they should be doing, investigate the root causes of their disinterest.  You’ll save yourself a lot of the time, energy and money that’s typically wasted on training.

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 1, Contributory Negligence, to see that knee-jerk reactions to problems often lead to waste.  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.

If so, what lessons can we learn from their apparent demise?

A few weeks ago National Public Radio hosted a panel of journalists and journalism academicians to discuss the plight of the newspaper.  Most of the panelists expressed concern that readers aren’t aware of what they were giving up by not supporting newspapers.

In particular, the panelists are concerned that the public doesn’t realize that they are:

• sacrificing accuracy in reporting
• losing access to local news

The panelists saw the loss of accuracy as a byproduct of lost revenues which means that there are fewer reporters available to check the facts on the stories they cover.  The same lost revenues also result in fewer reporters available for local news coverage.  In both instances the panelists believed the public to be naive in its understanding of what it is truly giving up.

Unfortunately I was in my car driving to an appointment when I heard this discussion.  I would have loved to addressed this panel.  Here are the questions I would have asked:

• How important is fact checking when sensationalism is your primary goal?
• Where exactly does one find this “local coverage” on important issues?

My experience has been that, while newspapers may report facts, they put such a spin on them that the facts get overlooked by the readers.

I remember one particularly vivid example during the height of the economic meltdown when headlines stated that Sony’s earnings were down 56%.  While the facts were accurate, these headlines were designed to fuel the fear that readers were already experiencing.  It would have been just as easy to say, “despite a 56% decline in earnings, Sony remains profitable and is generating positive cash flow.”

Newspaper people tell us that sensationalism sells – that’s what the market wants.  Please don’t tell me that the readers cited above really wanted to experience more fear than they already were.  I haven’t seen any indications that we, as a society, have become masochistic.  Nor does the decline in newspaper revenues substantiate their claim that sensationalism sells.

Let’s shift our attention to the local news coverage we’re foregoing.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t tell you how many hours I spend trying to find background information on candidates and issues in local elections.  That information certainly is not available in my local newspapers.  More importantly, this isn’t a recent phenomenon.  I’ve been voting for four decades and I can never recall a time when the information I sought was readily available in the newspaper or, if I did find it, that I didn’t feel that the newspaper was pushing its own agenda.

So what’s the message for you.  If your customers are abandoning you, stop bemoaning their naiveté and start listening to them.  They’ll tell you what you need to know if they think you’ll actually change your way of doing business.  It’s counter-intuitive, but, when you’re losing business it’s not the customer who is naive, it’s you.  You’re in denial and you need to take a long, hard look at what your doing and why it’s so objectionable to your customers.  If you don’t, your business will go the way of the newspaper.

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 Step 1, Contributory Negligence, was used to help you see how costly ignoring your contribution to the problem can be when you ignore the market’s messages.  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.

If so, how did it manifest itself?

Christy Beckmann, founder of The Reputation Builder, asks “How do Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s actions personify the law of attraction?”

Rarely am I at a loss for words, but I must confess that this question has given me pause.  As you’ll see from the length of this response the words came roaring back. 

This insightful question has challenged me to go deeper into the law of attraction than I’ve ever gone.  Hopefully, Christy, what I’ve discovered will answer your question.

The law of attraction basically says that we attract what we think about.  That’s the 30,000 foot view.  In reality, it’s more complicated than that.  We not only have to be able to focus our thoughts on our goal, we must believe with every fiber of our being that it will happen and we have to take action that moves us in the direction of that goal. 

At least that’s what I thought until Christy’s question.  Since then I’ve come to realize that there is another critical element – motivation.  The motivation must be balanced; it must blend the desire of the individual with the welfare of the masses. 

When motives are purely self-serving the individual rarely enjoys success.  The reason is simple.  We are not inclined to help those who don’t care about us.  How does this relate to Senators Clinton and Obama and the Democratic convention?

I have no doubt that both senators have the welfare of the United States at heart.  The question then becomes “Why was Senator Obama able to attract what he needed to win the nomination when Senator Clinton was not?” 

Before I answer that question I’d like to remind you that Step 3 in 7 Steps to Becoming INVALUABLE is to learn to suspend judgment.  With that in mind, I will not judge the motivations of either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.  I will not judge because I cannot know with certainty what their motives are.  Yet, like you, I have to make a choice and, yes, I realize that the Republicans offer a choice as well so we’ll add John McCain to the discussion knowing that he too cares about the welfare of the United States.

Our choices will be formed by the impressions we have of the candidates’ motivations.  In my opinion, and it is only an opinion, that the reason that Senator Obama won the nomination over Senator Clinton is that the balance between his personal goal and the welfare of the masses was tilted in favor of the masses to a greater degree than was demonstrated by Senator Clinton.

I believe that Senator Obama confirmed that perception when he said “…this election has never been about me; it’s about you.”  I believe that’s the sense that the majority of voters in the primaries and caucuses felt and that’s the reason why he won the nomination.

What’s John McCain’s “karma” in light of the law of attraction?  I get the sense that Senator McCain is struggling.  I can’t put my finger on the source of the struggle; it’s something that he alone will know when he sees it. 

The reason that I say that he’s struggling is that he seems to be spending a great deal of time reacting to Senator Obama’s actions rather than moving forward with his vision of the future.  If he were to voice his vision of the future as forcefully as Senator Obama, to provide us with enough detail to be able to see that vision ourselves, John McCain would demonstrate more clearly just how much he cares about us as United States citizens.

We gain a sense that others care about us when they take the time to educate us.  They realize that we may not always agree with them, but they respect our intelligence enough to educate us to their perspective.  This is what Barack Obama has done so effectively.  This is what John McCain needs to do if he hopes to attract the votes he needs to win the election in November.

It’s counter-intuitive, but the law of attraction works best when we strike a balance, possibly with a slight tilt to the masses, between our goals and the welfare of those we serve.  Christy, hopefully, you’ll found an answer in this lengthy response.  Thank you for the insightful question.

If there are topics you’d like addressed, do as Christy did; send me an email at dale@furtwengler.com.