Posts

StrategyDriven Podcast Special Edition 66 – An Interview with Mark Sanborn, author of Fred 2.0

/in , /by

StrategyDriven Podcast Special EditionStrategyDriven Podcasts focus on the tools and techniques executives and managers can use to improve their organization’s alignment and accountability to ultimately achieve superior results. These podcasts elaborate on the best practice and warning flag articles on the StrategyDriven website.

Special Edition 66 – An Interview with Mark Sanborn, author of Fred 2.0 explores the actions anyone can take to achieve extraordinary results and to build and lead teams to do the same. During our discussion, Mark Sanborn, author of Fred 2.0: New Ideas on How to Keep Delivering Extraordinary Results, shares with us his insights and experiences regarding the:

  • StrategyDriven Podcast Special Editionwhat it means to be a ‘Fred’ and the four Fred Factor principles
  • what to do if others take advantage of your ‘Fred-ness’
  • the importance of asking “Will I regret not doing this?” instead of “Will I regret doing this?”
  • what it takes to be a ‘Head Fred’
  • actions required to build and sustain a team of ‘Freds’

Additional Information

In addition to the outstanding insights Mark shares in Fred 2.0 and this special edition podcast are the resources accessible from his website, www.MarkSanborn.com.   Mark’s book, Fred 2.0, can be purchased by clicking here.

Final Request…

The strength of our community grows with the additional insights brought by our expanding member base. Please consider rating us on iTunes by clicking here. Rating the StrategyDriven Podcast and providing your comments online improves our ranking and helps us attract new listeners which, in turn, helps us grow our community.

Thank you again for listening to the StrategyDriven Podcast!

About the Author

Mark Sanborn, author of Fred 2.0, is the New York Times bestselling author of The Fred Factor as well as seven other popular books. He is the president of Sanborn and Associates, Inc., an idea studio dedicated to developing leaders in business and in life. Mark is a noted authority and in-demand speaker on leadership, customer service, and extraordinary performance. To read Mark’s complete biography, click here.

Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Principal is a StrategyDriven Principal, and Host of the StrategyDriven Podcast. For over twenty years, he has served as trusted advisor to executives and managers at dozens of Fortune 500 and smaller companies in the areas of management effectiveness, organizational development, and process improvement. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 26:10 — 36.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS

A dozen books to own and read – at least once.

/in , /by

When Jim Rohn said, “All the information you need to succeed already exists, the problem is you haven’t exposed yourself to it,” it was one of the most challenging and eye-opening statements I had ever heard. I immediately made a lifelong goal to read a thousand books.

I have not reached that goal yet, but I’m eating away at it. I love the hardbound vintage book, but I’m finding that reading on my iPad’s Kindle app provides the perfect strategy to increase my desire to read in spare moments.

Here’s my list of must read books:

1. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill is at the top of everyone’s list. Written 70 years ago, it’s still the benchmark book for attitude, goal setting, and achievement. Get an original copy (pre 1960), not one of the altered, newly minted, “after the copyright expired” versions. NOTE: Not on this list, but equally important, is the best sales book of all time: How to Sell Your Way Through Life. Written just two years later, this book is an unknown gem. It’s hard to find and a little pricey, but look for it on abebooks.com, bookfinder.com, or ebay.

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. The all-time, gem of gems for engaging with self-confidence and connecting with sincerity that contains timeless rules of success. Your Carnegie library is only one third completeuntil you own and read How to Stop Worrying and Start Living and Effective Public Speaking, two books with timeless information on stress relief, positive attitude, speaking skills, and success strategies.

3. He Can Who Thinks He Can by Orison Swett Marden. One of the original ‘self-thought’ and self-help books containing thought gems such as, “Every child should be taught to expect success” and “The world makes way for the man with an idea.” If you want a list of great Marden quotes from this book, underlined by John Patterson, the founder of NCR and the father of American salesmanship, go to www.gitomer.com and enter MARDEN in the GitBit box.

4. Swim with the Sharks by Harvey Mackay. A benchmark and game-changing book for me and millions ofother people in business. It’s full of applicable ideas to make you think and strategies to implement immediately.

5. Small is the New BIG by Seth Godin. One of many Godin books that should be in your library. Not just for the information – he’s much more than that. I don’t just marvel at what Seth writes, I marvel at how he thinks.

6. Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko. Short lessons, tools, and exercises you can easily understand and apply immediately. It recharged my brain, and opened my eyes to a new way to see creativity – by example.

7. What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis. A compelling work that centers around Google as it relates to other businesses. Jarvis compares what Google would do to diverse industries such as hotels, restaurants, schools, and the media. Amazingly insightful and thought provoking – especially if you relate it to your business (as I did).

8. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. Outliers tells stories of how, why, and when people became successful entrepreneurs, and how standards were set in the 19th century that are still in place today. But it’s his concept of ‘10,000 hours’ that makes this book an absolute insightful treasure.

9. Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson. Jobs had vision, foresight, character, uncompromising ideals, and shrewdness. He was inspirational to all who came within his domain. This is a great story and important to read in order to understand where we are today. I have written about Steve Jobs’ impact on my life. If you’d like to read it, go to www.gitomer.com and enter JOBS in the GitBit box.

10. The Pursuit of Prime by Ichak Adizes, Ph.D. This book addresses the stages every growing business goes through, and what to expect and do in each stage. Compelling because it’s both a game plan for what to do, and a pie in the face for what you haven’t done.

11. Social Boom by Jeffrey Gitomer (hey, that’s me!) and several other social media experts. Business Social Media is not an option, and this book is the ultimate “how to” and “why.” Yes, I have ten other books I hope you buy, read, and implement the lessons from, but Social Boom is my best book for this moment.

12. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. A book that has been canonized by every cross section of the political and business landscape EXCEPT the politician trying to grow government and give handouts. It’s an amazing, compelling read, and has a happy ending for entrepreneurs. May be my favorite of all time. When you’re finished reading this epic novel, I dare you not to starts on Rand’s The Fountainhead.

12.5 There are other imperative non-books. CDs, essays, quote books, and kids books that I also highly recommend. They are, in no particular order, The Art of Exceptional Living (CDs) by Jim Rohn, Acres of Diamonds by Russell Conwell, A Message to Garcia by Elbert Hubbard, Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper, and The Strangest Secret (CD) by Earl Nightingale. You can find all of these gems at www.executivebooks.com.

NOTE WELL: This is not THE definitive book list – it’s MY definitive book list. These are books I have read, been inspired by, implemented, and banked. I have a longer list on my website – click on ‘Recommended Reading’ under ‘Sales Help.’

Invest your time reading. It will pay lifelong dividends.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

Recommended Resource – Positive Intelligence

/in , /by

Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential and How You Can Achieve Yours

by Shirzad Chamine

About the Reference

Positive Intelligence by Shirzad Chamine reveals the ten personality Saboteurs limiting individual performance and the three Sage strategies to combat these limiters. Through his book, Shirzad provides a step-by-step method for unleashing potential by:

  • Identifying and conquering your top Saboteurs
  • Determining your initial Positive Intelligence (PQ) score
  • Developing new brain ‘muscles’ and significantly increasing your PQ score
  • Applying PQ tools and techniques to increase your personal performance and fulfillment

Benefits of Using This Reference

StrategyDriven Contributors like Positive Intelligence for its well-structured approach to identifying and overcoming one’s performance limiters. We found the book, its assessments, and recommended actions to be easy to follow and implement. Shirzad’s assessments accurately identified our Saboteur traits and the inner struggle – the thoughts, feelings, justification lies, and impact on self and others – these cause. It further revealed our personal motivation and style; leading to an understanding of the performance barriers improvement efforts should target. Positive Intelligence concluded with three Sage strategies, supported by insightful and thought provoking ‘inquiries,’ that were helpful in addressing our unique Saboteurs.

Understanding the intellectual and emotional barriers limiting one’s actions is a first critical step to improving performance. While a dry read at times, Positive Intelligence helps readers precisely identify their personality limiters and provides sound, actionable advise on how to overcome them. Shirzad’s book goes beyond the academic; providing real world examples and solutions. It’s this sound, implementable insight that makes Positive Intelligence a StrategyDriven recommended read.

Think the ‘write’ way. Do the ‘write’ thing. And all will be well.

/in /by

RELAX!

You’ve heard that word since the first time you got angry or upset. Or maybe it’s a word in your head that beacons reality. Pent up frustration, worry, or concern about the present or the future – or both – and nervousness about what’s about to happen in the world, at work, at home, or in your personal life.

RELAX! is easy to say, hard to do.

Here are my secrets for maintaining inner peace and fulfillment in a world filled with distractions, diversions, and distortions:

1. Write down all the crap clogging your brain. Get rid of your mental clutter. As soon as you write the details, you no longer have to dwell on them, or remember them – and your mind is free to think. Try it. It’s amazing and mentally relaxing (almost a relief). The bonus of an uncluttered mind is that ideas and resolutions to your issues and challenges will begin to manifest themselves daily.

2. Write down your present situation. What’s going on in your life right now? What’s the status of all things work, family, friends, life, and self? More amazing than unclogging, writing your present situation actually creates answers to situations that have been bugging you. Oh, and it also helps relax you.

3. Write down your dreams and thoughts. Every one has thoughts of “one day I’ll…,” or “someday I’ll…,” but those words are usually just spoken. REALITY: Those thoughts are just pipedreams until they’re written down, formalized, and crystalized. Writing your dreams will help you see a more clear and focused picture of them.

4. Find a quiet park or a garden where you can sit and think, read, or write for an hour. Invest quality time with yourself DAILY. This is the most relaxing of all outlets IF you have done the first three things I’ve recommended.

5. Read something positive, and write down the most inspiring quotes. Create a mailing list of important people to share them with. Make sure you acknowledge the author.

6. Mentally go to all the positive places where you’ve been before. Those thoughts will lead you to stories and lessons – write them down right away. Then blog them.

6.5 Blog your thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Blogging not only creates a public avenue for you to publish and express yourself, it also positions you and your views to the world. Your ideas may matter to some people in the world, and the feeling of accomplishment will give you a feeling of personal pride and fulfillment. I have decided that 2013 will be my ‘year of the blog,’ consisting of an intensive, daily effort for me to talk about and video about sales, business, and life. You can see my blog history at www.salesblog.com. Got blog? Air your thoughts to the world!

There are other things you can DO beyond writing to relax…

  • Play with a kid. It’s an amazing elixir for relaxing and having fun.
  • Go shopping for yourself. It makes you feel good to do things for YOU.
  • Make a list of ten people from high school or college you want to reconnect with. Call them, don’t just Facebook them. These are people you knew in your responsibility-free days.
  • Take a walk someplace you’ve never been before. Look around as you walk. Marvel at things. Take a few pictures. Write a few notes. Sit down and soak it in.
  • Book a weekend trip. Make a list of the places you’ll go and the things you’ll do. Often just the action of writing and planning the getaway will change your mood and your thinking, and that can calm you.

GOTTA GET AWAY? Need a vacation? That’s because you’re not relaxing every day. When the ‘need to get away’ is a dominant thought, it’s a symptom, not a problem or a goal. The reality is you’re not relaxing on a daily basis.

RELAXATION REALITY It’s likely you’ll need to make some personal changes if true relaxation is to permeate your life. Avoid negative events, negative things, negative news, and especially negative people.

“Jeffrey I can’t eliminate these things!” you exclaim.

Relax dude, just relax.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].

It’s not being best, it’s setting the standard.

/in /by

When I say the words, ‘set the standard,’ what comes to your mind?

Is it personal standards of yours?
Is it standards that your business sets?
Is it standards you have in your mind about other people?
Is it standards you have in your mind about other products?

When you go to a restaurant and order your favorite steak, you’ll always recall the one restaurant (especially if it’s the one you’re in) that had the best steak (or whatever your favorite food was). That restaurant set the standard. All other steaks you will ever eat will be compared to the standard bearer, until one day you may get a better steak, and then that restaurant will become the new standard bearer.

You know and recognize dozens of standard setters in your life – especially if these products or people are amazing and have your undying loyalty and especially if you proactively refer them. It could be as simple as the best ice cream or the best apple pie. It could be the best dentist or the best chiropractor. It could be the best financial planner.

And it could also be your own brand loyalty. The best car. The best clothing. The best computer. The best phone. Things that you would never consider doing without.

Whatever those products are, whoever those people are, they set the standard. Your standard.

There are third party standards…

  • Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single basketball game. He didn’t just set a record. He set the standard.
  • Abe Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. It wasn’t just a speech. He set the standard.
  • At the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr., gave a speech to 500,000 people. It wasn’t just a speech. He set the standard.

The Beatles. Elvis Presley. They set the standard and paved the way for others.

When Wilt Chamberlain set the standard for scoring, it was on March 2, 1962. That standard has endured more than 50 years. Kobe Bryant’s 81 points were good, but not as good as Wilt’s 100 points – the standard.

Accomplishments are always compared to standard. Quality is always compared to standard. Products are always compared to standard. You know what the best products in your industry are. If you work for that company, you love it and vice versa.

MAJOR CLUE: Now that you get the idea of what I’m talking about, let’s talk about your business and your career.

What standards are you setting and who are the people involved in setting those standard – not just in your company, but also in the mind of your customer and in the reputation of your business in your community and in your industry?

If you’re not setting the standard, you’re fighting price. Reputation trumps price.

Your reputation stems from what others think about you and say about you. In today’s world, it’s what others post online about you. Reputation comes from setting standards in service, quality of product, consistency, and availability.

You may think of it as ‘best.’ But there’s a big difference between bragging about the fact you are the ‘best’ and ‘we set the standard.’

There are many products in which you can argue ‘who is best.’ There’s often an obvious winner. German automobile engineering has set the standard. Many computer products are best. Microsoft set the old standard and Apple set the new standard. There are many social media sites that can be argued as better than others, but Facebook set the standard.

As a salesperson, I’d like you to take a moment and evaluate (or should I say self-evaluate) where you are on the standard-setting scale. Are you just a rep? Are you one of the top 25% of reps? Or have you achieved the status of trusted advisor, who is setting standards not just in sales numbers, but also in customer loyalty, profitability, and relationships.

What about your company? What standards are they setting? What high ethical ground have they achieved?

If you look at the example of Bank of America, you see a century-old company who had set many standards and achieved global greatness. All that was destroyed by indiscriminate greed and a total lack of understanding of social media in general. Standard bearers can fall quickly. Just ask Tiger Woods.

I’ll admit this is pretty high-level thinking and for many of you reading this. You may believe that setting the standard is out of your personal control – especially standards that your company sets. But in the new world of transparency, thanks to the internet, mothered by Google and social media, you now have the opportunity to build your personal brand, create your personal reputation, and set your own personal standards – standards that will remain yours even if you change companies or careers.

I challenge you that the key word in standard setting is endure. Set standards that will last. Many have come and gone quickly. Don’t be one of them.

Reprinted with permission from Jeffrey H. Gitomer and Buy Gitomer.

About the Author

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Sales Bible, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless Customer Loyalty is Priceless, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Red Book of Sales Answers, The Little Black Book of Connections, The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude, The Little Green Book of Getting Your Way, The Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching, The Little Teal Book of Trust, The Little Book of Leadership, and Social BOOM! His website, www.gitomer.com, will lead you to more information about training and seminars, or email him personally at [email protected].