Living Life By Design...

Every so often I have the chance to meet up with an old friend to enjoy some camaraderie and conversation during a long weekend bike ride.

Last weekend was one of those occasions.

Jack Daly is a sales trainer, and in my opinion, is unequaled by any other in his profession. Over the last 20 years, I’ve had the pleasure to participate in several of Jack’s presentations and workshops specially geared to salesmen and sales  managers.

Not only have I participated myself, but I’ve also sent countless of my own sales people to Jack’s seminars and trainings.

Jack’s basic sales methodology is relatively simple:

• Show up for sales calls... on time... be prepared... and always have a purpose in mind of what it is you want to achieve during the call.
   
• Ask a lot of questions and listen intently to what your customer is saying.
   
• Find ways to connect with your customers both professionally and personally... sales is really just the transfer of trust... if your customer doesn’t trust you... they won’t do business with you.
   
• Look for opportunities to do things for your customer that your competitors are unable or unwilling to do... be an innovator not an imitator.
   
• Follow up... follow up... and follow up...

His basic sales management philosophies are equally as important: 

• A sales manager’s job is not to grow sales but rather to grow sales people.
   
• 20% of your sales people will produce 80% of your sales... focus on making the 20% great NOT making the 80% better.
   
•  The team with the best players wins most of the time... always be on the lookout for the best players in your industry.
   
• While most great sales people are indeed driven by money... what they truly desire is recognition... never forget to personally recognize outstanding achievement.
   
• Coaching is done on the field... not in the locker room.  Spend time with your sales people in the field... not in the office.

Jack absolutely loves being in front of an enthusiastic audience and displays more energy than most 20 year olds (did I  mention that Jack was nearing the age when most people retire?).

His travel schedule has him on the road some 250 days each year... conducting sales training and corporate seminars on every continent on the globe.  Many times, he is escorted by Bonnie, his high school sweetheart and wife of 43 years as they manage to sandwich some vacation time in between Jack’s work schedule. 

In addition to his work, Jack is passionate about other areas of his life.

In his "spare time", Jack races in triathlons 4-6 times per year. Not some sprint triathlons where a person is required to swim a few hundred meters, ride their bike 10-15 miles while finishing the race with a 5K run.

No... Jack is an Iron Man triathlete.

A full Iron Man competition requires the racer to swim 2.2 miles (generally in rough water conditions), bike an amazing 112 miles, and then finish it off with a full 26 mile marathon!!

Most participants do not finish such a race... but Jack not only has finished 12 such races, but he has also now qualified to run in the Iron Man World Championship in Kona, HI this October.

Preparing for these races takes an incredible amount of training and dedication. One of the ways he prepares himself is to run in sanctioned marathons.

Jack’s goal is to run in a marathon in every state (he has already completed marathons in 34 states to date) and  on each of the seven continents (including Antarctica) which he will run next winter - (remember it’ll be summer there).

In addition to his personal endeavors, Jack is a family man finding ways to spend quality time with his wife, his two grown kids, and his two grandchildren.

It’s no wonder why Jack and I have had such a hard time finding some time to meet up and ride together this summer...

As we were riding along, I asked Jack in a sincere way, whether he had ever thought about slowing down a bit... if nothing else... to take time and "smell the roses".

He turned his head and looked at me with a somewhat confused look...

"Jimmy... you don’t understand... I am taking time to smell the roses... in fact... I take time every day to smell the roses..."

"You see... I live my entire life strictly by my own design... not by chance... everything I include in my life is there because I want it to be there... I don’t really do it for the money... I don’t do it for the celebrity... I live my life this way because I love doing it... !!"

"Do you think I just woke up one day and said that I think I’ll run in the Antarctica marathon next year?... no... it took years of preparation and thought... I have certain items in my schedule that I’ve planned for two or three years in advance."

"I alone take responsibility for everything in my life and what I’ve chosen to do... if I don’t like something... I alone have the power to change it."

I’ve thought a lot about these words for the next few days...

Jack isn’t a prisoner of his own life... rather he is a guardian.

Now I have no expectations in my own life to try and achieve the lofty goals that Jack has created in his. I am not motivated to spend 250 days a year on the road nor do I feel compelled to complete Iron Man competitions.

My life has been designed by me for me...

This is the same for every person on the planet...
 
The big difference in Jack Daly’s life is that he never idly waits around for his goals to one day become a reality... he spends each and every day preparing to conquer yet another challenge that he’s set for himself... to check off another "done that" box on his bucket list.

Jack lives his life just like he makes sales calls...

• He gets out of bed each day and shows up for the life he’s chosen to pursue.
   
• He sets off each day with a purpose in mind.
   
• He prepares himself for success by creating goals and measuring his results.

Even though it would be impossible to try and mimic Jack’s life... we can perhaps draw a little inspiration from him and try to live our own lives with a sense of urgency and purpose rather than by purely chance.

Thank you so much for your support of OptiFuse, where we believe that life is worth living to the fullest each and every day.

Life's Little Instruction Book...

I was cleaning my office the other day when I discovered a set of books that someone had once given to me as a present.
 
The books were entitled, Life’s Little Instruction Book", volumes 1-3 written by an author named H. Jackson Brown. Inside his books were mostly practical little tips to living a rich and fulfilling life such as:

"Always do the right thing, regardless of what other people think."

"Never deprive people of hope... it might be all they have."

"Every day always look for a way to improve your marriage."

"Get a flu shot each year."

"Never go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink."

"Always over-tip breakfast waitresses."

Mr. Brown presented the original 511 little tidbits as a going away present to his son Adam as he left home to attend college.  Later he wrote two additional volumes as he thought of them.

I enjoyed reading the first 20 pages or so (about 100 little instructions in all)... and then my mind began to wander a bit...

First I began thinking about Mr. Brown and his son Adam...
 
Here was a young man who was leaving home to go off to college to live on his own for the first time. No longer will he have the benefit of mom and dad looking after him... soon he will be doing his own laundry, buying his own groceries, paying his own electric bill.

The thing that I found most interesting was that, it wasn’t until his departure from the home, that dad decided to give him a complete instruction guide on how to live a better life...

The part that intrigues me was that dad never thought to impart any of this wisdom in the prior 18 or so years his son lived under his own roof...

You would think that mom and dad might have had a house rule that said in essence... if you dirty a dish... wash it and put it away... 
 
...or if they went out to eat breakfast one day... dad would over tip the waitress (er um... food server) and point out to his son that just because a breakfast is not as expensive as dinner, it doesn’t mean that the servers don’t work their tails off endlessly refilling coffee and making sure the food arrives hot to the table... so they should be rewarded for the extra effort.

These would have been great teaching moments in a young boy’s life... in bite size portions so it could be digested and remembered...

Children never stop learning from their parents (even after they leave the nest)... they learn from watching their parents actions... they learn from listening to their parents words... they learn from watching their parents mistakes...
   
The second thought that came to my mind was that although these tips are well-meant... no one ever learned to live life by reading about it in a book (or a weekly blog for that matter)...
 
Some things are meant to be learned by doing rather than by just reading or thinking about it...

I suspect that outside of a very small minority, practically everyone learned to ride a bicycle by actually getting on a bike and start riding it... usually with mom or dad running behind the bike... holding it upright as the child peddled along...

Soon mom or dad let go and the child started riding on their own... oh and yes... they usually crashed several times before mastering the bike riding skill... but learning valuable lessons along the way by actually doing... not thinking about doing...

The same could be said about learning to swim... or learning to cook... learning a second language... or learning to play a musical instrument...

Learning takes place by doing... not by thinking about doing... not reading a book about doing... not listening to CDs or going to seminars about doing...

You learn by trying to do something... and then repeating over and over until you have mastered the skill...

This brings me to my main topic today... starting and operating a small (or large) business.

I’ve recently had several conversations with a couple of friends who are considering joining the ranks of the entrepreneur. These are not new conversations mind you... in fact these are the SAME conversations that I was having with them 3-5 years ago...

In the time since... my friends have spent their time reading business books... doing market research... evaluating accounting software... designing logos... and coming up with catchy names...

They have also spent their time talking with other business people in order to get a sense of what it takes to run a successful business.

They have done everything that they believe is important to running a business... except of course... actually running a business...

When I confronted them with the fact that they have been all talk and no action... I received the response "well... I just want to learn all I can to help avoid making big mistakes."

With that I gave them a pearl of wisdom that was once imparted upon me when I first began life as an entrepreneur...

...the only real way to avoid big mistakes and make better decisions was having experience... and the only real way to gain experience was to make a lot of decisions and make a lot of little mistakes...

This doesn’t mean one needs to experience drowning in order to learn how to swim... but it does mean that one should perhaps first learn to swim in the shallow end of the pool before venturing out to the open sea...

Once a certain level of proficiency is reached... then and only then should one try to enhance their skills by learning new techniques and skills... exploring new ideas... reading books... employing mentors and coaches... and/or taking classes.

There is no substitute for experience and hard work.  There is no substitute for doing.  

You can’t learn to live a full and enriched life by reading about it in a book... life comes from living and doing...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse, where we believe that doing always trumps thinking about doing.

Wanting To Do What Is Needed...

"What’s important is seldom urgent... and what’s urgent is seldom important..." 

                                      ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

Once a month I have the opportunity to meet with my friends Sanjiv and Siyamak.

Both are owners of small service businesses...

Sanjiv is the CEO of Bytes Inc. - a custom software developer and Siyamak is the CEO of Skyriver IT - a local provider of comprehensive IT services.

The three of us get together for drinks each month to discuss our respective businesses and to share ideas, challenges, and experiences with each other.

Our challenges typically are not unusual.  They can be about growing our customer base, employee issues, financing and/or collections, or simply trying to find the time to do all of the things necessary to operate a small business.

My biggest challenge, these last few years, has been notably the lack of time I’ve had to complete a variety of worthwhile and strategically important projects that I currently have on my desk.

I am most certain that I am not the only person with this problem... in fact, this problem seems almost epidemic among so many of my friends and colleagues.

As the three of us continued talking about issues and challenges, I mentioned that on top of all the projects I was being tasked to complete, I had spent several days trying to fix some computer problems that we were experiencing at the office.

My friend Siyamak (the IT guy) looked at me in amazement and then spoke.

"Jim... you just sat here and told us that you didn’t have any time... and then a few minutes later you told us that you wasted several days doing something that, frankly speaking, you’re unqualified to do... why didn’t you call us?".

I defended myself by telling him that I was a trained computer engineer and that I did indeed fix the problem... albeit two days later.

The Sanjiv chimed in, "yeah... but you wasted two whole days doing something IT experts could have completed in a couple of hours... at the most... you didn’t save any money or time by doing it yourself."

I sat there thinking for a strong rebuttal to their argument... but after a moment... I determined I was in an indefensible position.

They were 100% correct... I did waste my valuable time... time that I didn’t really have...

As I drove home that evening, I started thinking about all of the little things that I do each day... things that I should never be doing at OptiFuse... taking deposits to the bank... helping to count inventory... sorting the mail... performing computer and/or phone system maintenance... taking customer service calls... etc.

All of these things are indeed necessary functions at our company... but I should be doing far more important things... things that only I can and more importantly should be doing.

At OptiFuse, we have some incredibly talented and skilled people working with us.  They are more than capable of taking care of our sales, purchasing, accounting, customer service, shipping and receiving and other day-to-day office management functions.  Why do I need to jump in and do the things that they are very capable of doing?

My problem isn’t about not having enough time to do what I need to do... no... my problem is spending my time doing things that other people are better qualified to do!

The difficult part, for me, is learning to say no...

No... when the customer service lines are ringing and there is no one available to pick them up.

No... when there is no one to drive to the bank to make a deposit before 5 pm.

No... when our e-mail stops working.

Unfortunately, it’s simply not in my nature to say "no"... I like saying "yes"...

Yes... it’s available in our inventory and we can get that out to you today... even it if means that I’ll go out to our warehouse and pack it up myself.

Yes... we can customize it the way you want it... even if that means I’ll need to personally set up a new part number in our system.

Yes... I’ll fix the e-mail so you can concentrate on your customers.

So therein lays the rub...

Ignore the pleas for help and work on strategic projects and tasks that are needed to grow the company for the long-term... or offer up the assistance and be content with knowing that current customers are being taken care of...

I know am not unique in this manner...

Virtually everyone I know is faced with similar choices... whether or not they are entrepreneurs, parents, students, professionals, and/or simple people who are looking to live a whole and balanced life.

However, unlike money... time is a non-renewable resource... once all of our time is used up we can’t earn any more... our time on earth is a finite quantity...

We decide to allocate our time to whatever we think is important at the moment... that includes not only important items like work, health, family, and education... but also things like sleep, recreation, entertainment, and socializing.

There are indeed times when we are unable to do the things we want to do... but rather we do the things we need to do... (tonight I wanted to watch the basketball game... but I needed to finish this week’s blog instead).

This is where discipline enters our lives... knowing and doing what we need to do... when we want to do something else...

... and this is where my failings lay.

I know that I need to finish my important work... but I want to help our customers and staff... I want to be the hero and fix the computers... I want to avoid having to do the hard stuff sitting on my desk...

Need to do... want to do...

I’m hoping that one day soon I’ll find the discipline to do those things that need to be done... (I’m sure that this will make Sanjiv and Siyamak happy...)

In the meantime... I have only one question for you...

How can I help you?

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse, where servicing our customers always comes first.

A Different Type of Hero...

I was having lunch with my friends David and Chris not too long ago, when the subject of sports came up.

Although both David and Chris prefer to watch American football and professional basketball, they are also avid fans of other team and individual sports as well.

During the course of our discussion, we all lamented that although there are some very talented players today, there do not seem to be any real sports heroes among the players like there were when we were kids.

Perhaps it’s just a sign of the times... but David, Chris and I grew nostalgic as we talked of own childhood heroes. These were players that we admired and idolized as bigger-than-life stars.

Player names like Willie Mays, Reggie Jackson, Kenny Stabler, and Rick Barry were bandied about as reminisced of yesteryear.

These were great hall-of-fame players with unique playing style that young boys emulated... like Willie May’s basket catches on pop-fly balls or Rick Barry’s two-handed "granny-style" free throws.

The players then, didn’t seem to play for the money... they seemed to play for the sheer love of the game.

The lack of any real free-agency meant that players stayed on your home team forever. They didn’t travel from team to team like mercenaries they are today. One day you love them because they play for your team and the next day you hate them because they play for the rival team.

Chris asked David who his childhood hero was, and he replied, "Willie Mays".

Then David in turn asked Chris who he admired the most, and he replied, "Joe Nameth".

Then they both turned to me and asked for my childhood hero...

I thought about it for a few moments and replied, "Fred Rogers".

"Who’s that... what team did he play for??", they both said almost in unison...

"He didn’t play for any team... in fact... he wasn’t even an athlete", I said, "Maybe you know him better as Mr. Rogers"...
 
They both started snickering, "No really... who was your hero?"

"I’m being serious... Mr. Rogers had more of an effect on my life than any adult other than my parents and close family"...

They both looked at me in sheer and utter amazement...

Fred Rogers was born in 1928 in Latrobe, PA. He attended Dartmouth University for a couple of years before transferring to Rollins College in FL to study music composition. It was at Rollins College that he met his future wife Sara Byrd.

Fred and Sara were married in 1952 and had two sons, James and John.

In 1963, Mr. Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological College and became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian church.

In 1954, Fred began working as a puppeteer on a local children’s show called Children’s Corner at Pittsburgh public television station, WQED.

Ten years later, in 1964, he moved himself and his family to Canada to begin production of a new children’s show called "Mister Rogers". The show ran for three seasons, before Mr. Rogers bought the rights for the production and moved back to Pittsburgh and WQED.

In February of 1968, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood was launched as a local children’s program. One year later it moved to PBS and was syndicated throughout the entire PBS network.

In August of 2001, Mister Rogers hung up his trademark sweater for the last time.

The program aired 895 episodes over a span of 33 years, winning four Emmy’s for children’s programming along the way. Fred Rogers was presented with a lifetime achievement Emmy in 1997 and a Peabody Award in 1987 for his work spanning four decades.

Mister Rogers spoke to children in a calm and gentle voice. He was a child’s adult friend who challenged them to be curious, prompted them to proudly exhibit their creativity, and opened the doors to scientific discovery.

He also explained to kids in a kind voice that it was perfectly okay and normal to sometimes have feelings of fear, jealousy, anger, and resentment.

Fred Rogers was an American icon of compassion, patience, morality.

He was a writer, musician, composer, author, and educator.

He held himself and others to high standards and never compromised his convictions.

Mister Roger’s understood that he was indeed a role model and lived a life that was moral, just, and of impeachable character.

Not only was he a friend and educator of children, he was also a friend and educator of parents, writing some 34 books about parenting and the world in which we all inhabit.

I didn’t come to really fully appreciate the incredible talents of Fred Rogers until I was in college.

For two years while in college, I worked at the San Diego PBS affiliate, KPBS. My job was in Master Control, which meant that it was my responsibility to actually put the shows on air either from tape or live off the satellites.

Each work day, I had the opportunity to revisit with my friend Mister Rogers now watching him through the eyes of a young adult rather than as a child.

Each day his message to his audience, old or young, was clear and loud... you are indeed special... because there is no one in the world just like you.

Beginning in 1983 and each year until his death in 2003, I sent Fred Rogers a birthday card each March 20th because he had touched my life in so many ways and helped me to become the person I am today.

On several occasions Fred Rogers took the time to personally write back with a thank you card to tell me that he appreciated the birthday wishes...

I suspect that Fred Rogers couldn’t hit a curveball, dunk a basketball, or throw a touchdown pass... but that’s okay...

Instead he was a mild-mannered man looking each day to improve a certain part of the world around him.

He inspired others to overcome their fears and led others to believe in themselves in order to achieve their own definition of success.

Mister Rogers doesn’t necessarily fit the description of our modern-day hero... but if the tennis shoe fits...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse, where we continue to find inspiration in our everyday true heroes.

Rising Above the Noise...

I was in the grocery store the other day when I witnessed an exchange between a young boy and his mother.

While cruising down the breakfast aisle... the boy suddenly stopped mid-aisle and shrieked... "I want Lucky Charms!!"

The mother yelled back at the little boy, "No... we have plenty of cereal at home!!"

At that point the young toddler threw himself on the ground and began wailing out... "BUT MOMMY... I WANT LUCKY CHARMS!!".

His mother, not wanting to be outdone by her 2-year old, began shouting, quite loudly, at the little crying boy... screaming things like...

... I said NO!!

... if you don’t get off this floor right now I’m going to give you a beating like you’ll never forget...

... That’s it MISTER... we’re leaving right now...

Her shouting only caused the little boy to start screaming even louder...

"I WANT LUCKY CHARMS!!!"...

At first I felt a lot of empathy for the woman... I do understand that 2-year olds indeed can be exceedingly difficult... but then I started to think about my own kids when they were toddlers...

I never remember getting into screaming matches with my children... whether or not we were at home or out at a store or a restaurant... I never remember once playing out this scene with my own kids...

Now my children aren’t necessarily perfect angels... they are, in fact, just regular kids...

The difference, I thought, isn’t in the kids... the difference is in the adults.

Getting into a shouting match with a 2-year old is playing down to their level.

Instead of trying to get the 2-year old to act like an adult... the mother decided instead to act like a 2-year old and scream back at the child.

Instead of yelling, perhaps the mother should have bent down... almost kissing his ear... and whispered to the little boy...

"If you don’t stop this behavior right now... there will be severe consequences when we leave... do I make myself clear?"...

I would almost guarantee you that the little boy would have stopped his bawling for a moment... if nothing else... just to try and understand what was happening.

He may have said in a quiet, pleading, yet whiny voice... "but mommy I want us to buy some Lucky Charms... can we pleeeeeze?... "

Now I’m not sure what the mother would have said to the child at that point... but I might have said something to the tune of (in a very quiet whisper-like voice), "I just bought some yesterday... so we don’t need to buy any more today... I’ll show them to you at the house when we go home"...
 
And the child responds, "I don’t remember seeing them".

"It’s because they are in the upper cabinet", she counters... "but I’ll show them to you when we get home"...

Notice now that the parent and the child are now having a quiet adult conversation (or negotiation) rather than simply a shouting match where no one is listening.

You might be asking at this point... what does this mother and child exchange have to do with me and my life?

The answer is simply... if you really want someone to listen to you... or more importantly your message... perhaps it’s best to simply talk and try to hold a conversation... rather than shouting at the top of your lungs...

Shouting is typically met with only more shouting or worse... indifference...

In order for a real conversation to occur, perhaps we need to lower our volume, speak clearly, and really listen.

A conversation occurs when two or more people freely exchange information, ideas and thoughts.

When we speak softly, it causes others to listen more intently to what we are saying.

Try this experiment... the next time you’re sitting across the table from someone (say perhaps at lunch or dinner)... lower your voice to a whisper and lean in across the table...

Without thinking, the person sitting across the table from you will lean in towards you to listen to what you have to say...

It’s not amplitude that makes people listen to you...

Maybe it’s the frequency... say it often enough... and people will begin to listen...

The problem with that is that when people hear the same message repeatedly... they will become bored with you and your stale message... and they stop listening...

So if it’s not amplitude... and it’s not frequency... then why do so many marketing people use these very same methods in attempting to market their goods and services to us?

Supposedly loud gets us noticed... and to a certain extent this is true... (I definitely noticed the mom and her little boy in the grocery store)...

Giant billboards in Times Square... funny and quirky Super Bowls spots... full-page ads in the Wall Street Journal might all get you noticed...

They are synonymous with loud... and loud is bedrock of traditional advertising...

Their motto... "Big is Better"...

... but is it really?

Traditional marketers will also talk about the "frequency" of the message.

Say it often enough and people will remember you and/or your product or service.

Again, there is some validity to this argument... large consumer companies spend billions of dollars each year to help re-enforce their brand message over and over again...

Yes... we know that Wal-Mart has low prices...

Yes... we know that Geico can save you money in 15 minutes...

Yes... we know that Papa John’s Pizza uses better ingredients...

Why?... mostly because they tell us this... over and over and over again... but I don’t know for sure... I don’t spend any money with Wal-Mart, Geico or Papa Johns.

If their goal is to create brand awareness... then their media purchases worked...

If their goal, on the other hand, is to get someone to buy something from them... then they failed (at least with me)...

I think about some products that I do actually use... and how much advertising they actually do...

Currently, I am typing this Blog using a Fujitsu notebook computer... using Microsoft Word... with the help of Wikipedia and Google... finally uploading it to the Constant Contact emailing service.

I don’t recall seeing a single ad for any of these services... it’s not to say that they don’t advertise... I just can’t remember seeing any ads for these particular products...

So how did I come to use these products from these companies?

Mostly I learned about them from conversations I had with other people. People I know and trust.

People who never shouted at me... they never badgered me to use the product and/or service...

They simply said I use them... so you should try them... see if you like them... if so... tell someone else...

Traditional marketing (amplitude and frequency) is dying...

These methods are simply becoming noise... and consumers are quickly finding ways to filter the noise in their lives.

Some companies understand this and have learned to thrive in the new media.

A good start for a company is to actually have a fantastic product or service that solves a problem for people...

They realize that the key to discovering problems is by having open and honest conversations...

Not talking to people... but rather conversing with people...
 
It’s an important distinction...

Thank you for your support of OptiFuse, where we hope to one day engage you in a meaningful conversation.