As experienced CEO’s MD’s and GM’s my associates and I agree that when developing  strategic plans for your business, it’s important for you to  be a part of the planning team. It’s very difficult to lead a session and be an effective participant at the same time. Using an independent and experienced facilitator allows full participation and contribution from the team. You also have the benefit of  the experience the facilitator brings.

Another benefit  is an absence of personal agenda. The facilitator and (now very popular) co-facilitator can keep the group on track by managing the process and providing constructive feedback and suggestions if  the team becomes bogged down.  In terms of  time, energy and quality outcome this is a valuable investment in achieving  clarity of delivery of the shared commitment.

The team may also request some creativity exercises to take them out of their familiar way of doing things to give them an opportunity to learn a new skill or a new way of approaching ideas, in our experience maintaining higher energy levels during a demanding and challenging process.

One of our most popular processes is leading planning days with two facilitators.  The facilitators have a better opportunity to observe the process and provide quality feedback to the group on their energy and participation.

Another interesting learning for us is that this is quite economical. Some of our clients have spent 3, 4 and 5 days away with teams developing very important plans. We have found that by increasing the professional support by co-facilitation, the time required to create the plan is often halved  or more.

Experienced facilitators take a comprehensive brief and  prepare rigorous processes to cover the collection and review of information, the exploration of green field ideas, conducting a risk analysis before the final plan creation. This is their job which allows the team to stay inside the process, optimising their skills and experience to create plans that secure their future business success.

The feedback we receive from this particular process is invaluable to us and of course validating. I would like to share with you some points that are indicative of a strategic planning team’s reflections;

This is the first time I have left one of these sessions not drained.

I feel ready to go back to work and get straight into this

I am amazed at how pleasant this was and how much we achieved in so little time

It was so good to spend quality time with my colleagues and deliver a great result

Let’s make this our new standard

So good to remove the old adversarial defensive behaviour

One hour session - 200 ideas

Last week I delivered a program to group of technical people who had to convince customers to use their services. They were impressed with the strategic selling process because:

• the process was logical and sequential,
• it was not not just a series of opinions and inferences about the target account,
• although the information gathering requirement was much more complex than they were used to, the time saved overall was significant,
• they hadn’t realised that there were four types of buying influence, and this new understanding would help them close the sale.

The Strategic Selling process has been around for thirty years. Competitors and detractors might say that it’s “old hat”, but compare it to the automobile which has been around since 1769. The principles are still the same, but refinements are continuous. The same with Strategic Selling.

Strategic Selling works because it’s based on the continual analysis of the real life experience of successful sales professionals. What made them successful 30 years ago  makes them successful today; commitment, hard work, persistence, and above all, a superior constantly refined process!

For more information on strategic selling click here.

Why should we be assessed for employment because of our appearance? Why can’t we be hired for our natural charm, ability and output? There are many psychological treatises, but underlying is the requirement to conform if we want to be accepted by the group. It happens in the playground, it happens in the workplace. If you don’t want to conform with this group, find another.

If you’re selling B2B financial products (bad analogy today) you’d better look like someone who knows about these things, and that would normally entail wearing a suit and tie. If you’re a graphic designer, you’d better look hip and funky. Naturally there’s a lot of variation along the poseur-hobo continuum and to succeed, you need to know where your group fits.

George Clooney

Back to the issue of beards -

• evil dudes have dark facial hair - Rasputin, Osama bin Laden, Hitler
• very few guys look good with a three day growth
• take this test, do you look like George Clooney or a rat hiding behind a cactus?

Seriously, if you’re going for a job interview and you’re not sure about the corporate culture, shave.  Having a beard or stubble could go against you in a job interview, as could wearing a bright yellow suit - why risk it if you really want the position?

You mightn’t need to shave if:

• you are in a creative profession
• you are a sportsman
• you are an academic or public servant
• you are Santa
• you are a wizard

But then again if you were a futures trader you wouldn’t get a job if you had a beard, but you might get it if you had no ethics. It’s your call.

Last Word

Men who don’t shave every day enjoy less sex and are 70 per cent more likely to suffer a stroke than daily shavers.

Catherine

* I have no idea who Ron is, but he was very wise.

Remember that nobody really likes long speeches, but if the occasion is that important, it should not be impromptu.

Here is a short mnemonic to remember what you could say:

PAST P

P - Purpose

Why are we here, where is he going, what has he been doing?

A - Achievements

What did John achieve while he was here - personally, professionally?

S - Story

Tell a very short (90 sec) story about John

T - Thanks

Thank him for his efforts

P - Presentation  Well Wishes

Present him with his farewell gift, wish him and his family etc all the best for the future, thank him again and call upon the crowd to show their appreciation.

You could also use this format to thank a visiting official or an executive from head office, or any occasion where there is a presentation.

impromptu speech

I visited India recently to conduct Miller Heiman workshops for Talentcraft, a business unit of the Times Group, who produce the largest circulating English language newspaper in the world - The Times of India. Talentcraft is the Miller Heiman partner in India. Picture is of me and Priya Sachdev, the Business Head.

Miller Heiman programs include Strategic Selling©, Large Account Management Process© and Conceptual Selling©. If you’re interested in conducting these programs in India, please email Priya.

Bill + some of Talentcraft people, Richa, Riva, Priya, Treveni, Hari

Delhi, India

Ten pm, New Delhi. The magnetic strip of my debit card got chewed by the ATM. I had no way to get cash as my other card was a debit card, not linked to cash transactions. Damn! No one else would give me cash. so I had to return to the hotel. A salutary lesson.

In the last twelve months I’ve travelled to Germany, Israel, Thailand and India (twice), delivering Miller-Heiman sales programs like Strategic Selling, Conceptual Selling, the Large Account Management Process and Power Messaging. Here’s what I’ve learned during that and other travels.

1. Make a travel checklist.

Include even the simplest of items, because they’re the ones you often forget. I forgot the belt to my Army uniform once - only once. I have the list inside a clear plastic sheet protector that lives inside my travel suitcase.

2. Keep your travel documents in a clear plastic wallet.

Airline tickets, boarding passes, hotel vouchers, passport, travel receipts all live here in the one place. It saves a lot of stress when you’re in foreign airports with high security requirements.

3. Get a small amount of cash in the local currency.

Do this before you leave. This is essential if you don’t have a pre-booked cab. Believe me, not everyone takes Visa, Mastercard or Amex. In fact in India, no cab driver did.

4. Double check your credit card details.

Murphy’s Law applies. Your card will expire during the trip. Also make sure your cards can access cash. Take two cards at least and keep them separate. My pocket was picked in Paris, but fortunately I only had cash in my wallet. I kept the cards separate.

5. Get an aisle Seat in the plane. Check that your preferences apply to multiple legs of your journey.

Personal preference I guess, but I really hate crawling over other people when I want to walk around or go to the bathroom. I got on a plane in Bangalore, and was advised that I had an aisle seat. They didn’t tell me that it was only to Singapore. The big leg to Brisbane was the centre of three seats with an overly friendly passenger invading my personal space.

6. If you have to go economy, fly Thai airways.

Their legroom is superior to other airlines.

7. Find out how to get a local sim card for your mobile phone.

Using international roaming rates can be very expensive otherwise. It cost me over $1000 for ten days of routine phone home calls in India because I couldn’t get a local sim card. The reason I couldn’t was because I didn’t have a photograph of myself. No no, a photocopy of your passport was not good enough. Who carries a photo of themselves? You do as of now, in the clear plastic wallet.

8. Use Skype for calls where you can.

It’s only sensible as it is free to Skype users with very low rates to other telephones.

9. Find out about the local culture.

Learn how to greet people in their own language. Find out any linguistic or cultural traps. Americans! “Fanny” can mean something entirely different in other English speaking countries.

10. The weather.

Find out what the weather is like and take appropriate clothes.

I’m sure there are hundreds of other tips and look forward to your comments.

The great leaders I know are individuals with their own way of looking at the world and their own modus operandi. I think it’s important to recognise the words “their own”.

Successful leaders usually are not impersonating other people. They will have had good people influence and guide them at different times in their career and probably adopted ideas and techniques that were a good fit for them. The important point to make here is that they remain 100% themselves and those who come into contact with them always sense this authenticity.

In my own experience I have also found great leaders to be highly emotionally intelligent. They test themselves all the time and are open and indeed excited about new ideas, ways to improve skills, systems and methodologies. They know that there is nothing more constant than change and they do their level best to be ready to embrace good change whenever it presents itself.

Great leaders have usually had great mentors and often become mentors themselves. This is a very special opportunity for others to learn and the mentor is presented with another’s unique point of view in this highly trusting relationship. I have learned and am constantly impressed by those I mentor, it is a mutually satisfying experience and one I recommend.

To learn more about emotional intelligence testing go to the articles on MSCEIT on my website.

I would also encourage everyone to actively seek out mentors. A good mentor could be someone you admire in you work environment or someone you admire in some other business or area of your life. One thing for sure is that most people will be flattered that you would approach them to consider being your mentor and if for some reason they cannot commit immediately they may just recommend some other person to you. So be brave make the first move and take your career to new heights.

There are times when people have their own personal reasons for not seeking mentoring at work or you may have moved to a new town and haven’t yet established a network. In this case you may consider being mentored by a professional who will help you identify areas to develop and give you direct feedback on your progress. These relationships usually last well beyond the mentoring process because of the mutual trust that has been built and the genuine interest that has developed.

Actively seek a mentor!

When did you last ask yourself, “how much does this meeting cost?”

Multiply the number of people at the table times their hourly rate, taking into consideration that their cost to the organisation is around 1.5 times their salary, or even more if they are being charged out .
For instance:

There are ten people at a meeting whose annual salary is $70,000.

Hourly rate = $70,000 /1976 (number of hours in a 38 hour week)

= $35.43

Times cost to
company (1.5) = $53.14

Times 10 =$530.14
attendees

Plus another 50% =$797.06
for time wasted
before and after

Ten questions to ask about meetings:

• Did you get value from your meeting?
• When did you last question what value was added?
• As a manager or participant, when did you last question the meetings’ outcomes?
• What time could be saved from unnecessary and unproductive meetings?
• Do you know what meetings are held regularly and their duration?
• Did the right people get invited?
• Did we tap into our collective experience and intelligence?
• Do our people know how to run effective meetings?
• Have we ever trained anyone to run meetings?
• How much did this meeting cost?

Often in busy growing organisations we promote good people into roles that require meeting skills and assume that they know what to do. Having attended many meetings, as a participant doesn’t mean that you appreciate how skilful a good chair person is or a good minute taker etc.

For many years I was the world’s best passenger in a car and demonstrated very clearly and quickly how little I had learned when I had my very first driving lesson!

The effectiveness of meetings and their managers can improve instantly through some very simple skills training and some smart questioning processes that eliminate the need for some meetings altogether.

We run a fun workshop with many real examples of our own forays into the world of meetings, funny and serious. The basic skills can be acquired quickly and also passed on to other colleagues by those who are willing to reinforce their own learning through teaching.

Catherine