Everyone Wants to Rule the World

Everyone wants to rule their own world and have control. Everyone wants a happy ending, but guess what – life is not perfect.  The subtle art of influence is about kicking yourself into gear to inspire movement and motivation.  It cannot be about negative commentary to yourself, but about committing yourself to a broader plan of attack.  

Complaints and vetting are sometimes cathartic, but you need to move from “complaint to commitment”.  Commit to a plan and execute using other friends, advocates and stakeholders in the process. Sometimes we get so caught up in what everyone else is doing and telling us that we need to do that we stop listening to the signals that our bodies are sending us. If something feels wrong, it probably is.  

Sometimes the stress that we place on ourselves for results, in and of itself, enough to make us sick and unsuccessful in our endeavors. We get so obsessed with trying to ‘feel’ an effect from something that we can actually create that effect or symptom. I’m not joking. I’ve done it to myself and I see it over and over again in the misguided and futile attempts – this is small stuff and obsessing about it is sucking the life out of you. It’s NOT okay to spend your life caught up in the idea that life sucks because you are not making the right amount of money, have a specific title, weigh a certain amount or because you look a certain way. Until you start to truly value yourself – where you are and for who you are – you aren’t going to find happiness.

 

So the fine art of influence is about motivating yourself to live and be the best you that you can be – because that’s enough. What about working harder than anyone else? While it may not appear to many people that know me, my confidence is not based purely on my innate talents, it is based on fact that I try to work harder than anyone else.  A good friend and associate joked around with me that he would have to get up at 3:45AM to get a jump start on me – get ahead of my morning emails, rants, celebrations and personal expectations.  The reality is that is when everything kicks into gear for me.  Let me reiterate the concept “for me”.  This is about motivating yourself to suck the marrow out of life and living every day like it is your last or think of living one life in one day.  

 

It is true that that hard work doesn’t always equal success. Some people work very hard, but fail for a myriad of reasons. They tried and didn’t succeed.  The simple fact is that people tried...and there is a subtle difference in what I just referenced – “hard work doesn’t always guarantee success, but working harder than anyone else opens unique opportunities and insights if you are paying attention”.

Happiness Quotient - Art of is,policies when faced with complexity

Good discussion with a person I mentor this morning. Focus was on the complexity or simplicity of happiness in search for the perfect career and life. 

 

Happiness isn’t about where you live or the things you do. It isn’t about being on an impossible mission to do everything, see everywhere, and accomplish everything you ever dreamed - Happiness is a state of mind.

 

How you achieve it is by building a life and finding ways in which to enjoy “the moment” rather than dwelling on all the things you could be doing or the places you could be visiting.  Remember that all we ever have is right now. Forget about the past. Don’t worry about the future. Take each day as it comes, and most of all, stop thinking that the grass is greener, because it never really is.

You own your your life and live each day with focus and passion - stay and focus on the moment.

Commitment to simplify and improve professional services marketing

How are you breaking through the legacy perceptions of professional services marketing or business development? If organizations are redefining their roles in a disruptive market why aren’t you?

Organizations are in a continual state of reflection, looking for new ways to inspire, lead and shape the right team members to bring the organization's strategy to life battling against a market in near-constant disruption. Audiences are short for time and overloaded with data. A shorter attention span means that brands will need to reflect on the quality of the conversations - these audiences both internal and external want less talk and more quality.

 

Businesses are defining and redefining their marketing focus, responding to the changing role digital, social, marketing technology and content plays in the development and presence of a brand. As a result, professional services marketers are seeing an increasing amount of specialists carving out a niche, but that will require a significant influx of creativity.

 

Professional Services Marketing is in a phase of massive transformation led by empowered clients.  To the extent that marketing knows the client and the market, my personal opinion marketing should be in the forefront of driving the change. Perhaps it’s not yet happening across peers and competitive organizations. Some organizations insist they’re different, but they’re deceiving themselves. They’re worried about the future and trying to avoid change. It is happening in the marketplace, so if it hasn’t touched you yet, it will.

 

Thought out many discussions the role marketing is changing as well. Marketing requires imagination and community – I have defined the role of Marketing, as, “creating and extending relevant conversations and experiences that build a halo for the brand while deepening relationships and revenue growth”.  The biggest challenge for any organization is to consider the multitude of business priorities across all product or service lines – take into account that many have competing priorities, then simplify and improve your focus.  

 

How fast “knowledge” is processed, redistributed and employed throughout organization is one of the key differentiators for any professional services firm. You need to harness the collective knowledge of the entire firm then systematically drive this knowledge into every conversation with the markets, market segments and client.  While this is paramount for professional services it provides a framework in structuring conversations around product marketing as well.

 

1       What are the three ideas you have to simplify and improve the most common daily activities?

2       What is the one activity you can need to start doing differently tomorrow to realize one of your ideas?

3       What are the ways in which you can collect and deploy knowledge more effectively in your organization?

4       How can groups articulate marketing value to internal constituencies? Marketers, business development and knowledge support professionals need to stop telling people how good they are at what they do and start solving problems in order to provide value to the organization.

 

Evolving Professional Services Marketing

Professional Services Marketing is in a phase of massive transformation led by empowered clients and knowledgeable markets.  To the extent that marketing knows the client, marketing should be in the forefront of driving the change.  While some may disagree, who else should be aligned to how the brand and organization touches markets, organizations and individuals?

Perhaps it’s not yet happening across peers and competitive organizations. Some organizations insist they’re different, but they’re deceiving themselves. They’re worried about the future and trying to avoid change. It is happening in the marketplace, so if it hasn’t touched you yet, it will. Thinking different about what you can do to break through or become more agile is simply about focus.

 

While it is critical to understand,  the what, why and how things are changing in the market, it is equally critical to understand what is not changing and the rationale supporting.

The four things marketing has always been responsible for haven’t changed:

• Knowing your clients, future targets and the capital markets you serve
• Define what to market and how to market it
• Creating and extending conversations to elevate the brand
• Owning the brand promise

 

The Brand - Great brands make measured choices in four areas:

• What is the brand’s enduring idea?
• What makes the brand different?
• How is the brand primarily experienced?
• Who does the brand serve?

 

Marketing requires imagination and community – I have defined the role of Marketing, as, “creating and extending relevant conversations and experiences that build a halo for the brand while deepening relationships and revenue growth”.  The biggest challenge for any organization is to consider the multitude of business priorities across all product or service lines – take into account that many have competing priorities, then simplify and improve your focus.  multitude of business priorities across all product or service lines – take into account that many have competing priorities, then simplify and improve your focus.  

 

Three questions for Marketing Professionals

• Does anyone know what your organizational brand actually stands for? 
• Do you know what you stand for? 
• Marketers should ask, who are we and what do we want to be?

 

Get Excited about Something!

How are you building optimism in your life day after day.

Waking with dread and negativity only erodes your energy and in not so many words your soul and purpose.  I have used a statement that has served me well in many situations "we need to move from complaint to commitment".  Rather than the random acts of complaining start making a commitment to do something different!

Get charged up about the art of the possible, the fuel of true potential. It is not about another PowerPoint slide presentation it is about action.  The art of influence, urgency and action has alluded many people today and it leads to frustration, stress and illness

Positive Thinkers Cope Better With Stress - When faced with stressful situations, positive thinkers cope more effectively than pessimists. Rather than dwelling on their frustrations or things that they cannot change, positive thinkers will devise a plan of action and ask others for assistance and advice. Pessimists, on the other hand, simply assume that the situation is out of their control and there is nothing they can do to change it.

Optimism Can Improve Your Immunity - We have all seen the research in recent years that your mind can have a powerful effect on your body. Immunity is one area where your thoughts and attitudes can have a particularly powerful influence.

Positive Thinking Is Good for Your Health the Mayo Clinic reports a number of health benefits associated with optimism, including a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular problems, less depression, and an increased lifespan. While doctors are not entirely clear on why positive thinking benefits health, some suggest that positive people might lead healthier lifestyles. By coping better with stress and avoiding unhealthy behaviors, they are able to improve their health and well-being.

Optimism Can Make You More Resilient - Resilience refers to our ability to cope with problems. Resilient people are able to face a crisis or trauma with strength and resolve. Rather than falling apart in the face of such stress, they have the ability to carry on and eventually overcome such adversity. It may come as no surprise to learn that positive thinking can play a major role in resilience. When dealing with a challenge, optimists typically look at what they can do to fix the problem. Instead of giving up hope, they marshal their resources and are willing to ask others for help.

Get excited about the day!

Fight and resist going immediately to your email or social media channels.  If you do that then your day will be dictated by the priorities of others and social media maelstrom that is omnipresent.

Start asking yourself different questions:

What are you excited about doing today or what can you create excitement around?

What are you looking forward to do with a goal and objective something that you are passionate about?

Think about this, the art of influence is more than just about you. Influence - raising people's ambition of who we can be together "true potential of the outcome".  start asking and acting upon questions that build excitement in you and others.

Embrace the Chaos and Fear

Dare to imagine – when you allow yourself to start down the path there will be fear and self doubt.

Henry David Thoreau’s famous quote,  “If one advances confidently in the direction of one's dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

You need to start-to-start and do the thing that you fear and although it may be imperfect and slightly ugly you will have transgressed your limitations.

 

Start small, but start

Identify your fear, let it into your life, just a fraction of it. Allow it to sit there awkwardly and watch as the person you think you are feel it out, back away, circle warily and the re-engage.  Go slowly. Allow yourself to feel intense discomfort, as well as the pleasure personal growth. Approach the chaos with an attitude of self-care, not lack of caution.

Then plan your next move knowing you’ll take care of yourself every step of the way.

While some people say I create chaos, you have to invite it into your life to breakdown the limitations and wall you have set for yourself.  You can discover who else you could be and you are.

 

Life is not the problem, expectations are

I was thinking about a friend of mine who is so incredibly talented and creative, but has yet to focus on the right things.  Through this conversation I finally realized, looking back at my life, that every time I struggled to deal with the hand I’d been dealt, it was because my expectations were clashing with reality. I had created a picture in my head of how life should be and when things didn’t turn out, I didn’t cope.

It wasn’t life that was the problem; it was my unrealistic expectations. This is not to say that you should not set big bold hairy goals. I had thought that being idealistic and striving for a goal was a good thing, but it wasn’t leading to a contented and fulfilled life. It is never a straight line, much like creativity the journey is more important than the destination.

The only way to resolve them is to face up to the situation you are actually in and accept it. This does not mean you should not have any expectations but if we want to be content, we need to accept what is occurring during hard times while trusting for something better in the future.

Instead of trying to change the world, change your focus. When we are faced with the challenges of life we are predominantly configured at seeing what is not there versus all of the things that are present.  Do you ever catch yourself in only seeing one side of life?  If you focus on the things you don't have in life you will never have enough - I think I may be channeling my parents a with this last statement.

Understand that being grateful is difficult if you are focus on the wrong things in life. You and only you can discover that and I am by no means dictating what you should or should not do - I am speaking from the wisdom and guidance of multiple influences in my career and life.

No pain no gain, well... Perhaps in certain situations. Embrace the pain and then take control and focus. Embrace the entire experience, both the good parts and the gaps.  We have the ability to choose a more empowering set of beliefs and meaning for what was happening to you. This will allow you to discover new possibilities that may have been elusive before.

The irony about accepting the situations we find ourselves in is that once we have, we are able to make decisions and take action that moves us toward the place we truly want to be. We stop feeling like a victim of circumstance and more like we own our destiny.

A little bit of Column A a little bit of column B

The disruption in today's market environment is not a comforting thought, but it is the reality. So this requires a little from column A. "creativity" and a little from column B "strategy".

Focusing on creating solutions requires the practicality of being creative and collaborating - single contributors beware! Creativity is complex bringing different concepts together to fuel a hypothesis or weave a story. You can't do it on your own and if you believe that it is possible then guess again.

The scary part is shifting your perspective and getting out of your proverbial comfort zone. I know that many people are absolutely polarized in any type of change. Shifting your mindset that anyone can be creative may require a huge leap - jump!

Today challenge yourself, identify and act in the one thing you can do to make the impossible...possible?

Welcome to the Jungle - Meetings

While many of the images surrounding this title focus on the 80’s metal band, the MTV video illustrated an individual downfall into imagery of the city’s decay and debauchery. We let me take into another world of inertia and one of the biggest productivity killers – meetings.

People need forums to make decisions in today’s organizations – yes a gross generalization, but you hear it all the time…”I am slammed with meetings today”, “have to run to a meeting”.  Modern meetings have devolved based on a myriad of things and the cultural dynamic of different organizations.  There are books on this topic and it is curious that we still don’t get it.  Hey I don’t practice this as much as I should and I understand the dynamics.

Meetings and planning for meetings have turned into psychological warfare – planning strategies, key messaging, end results and action plans.

There are several basic elements to any meeting

• Why is this meeting necessary – what’s the purpose?
• What decision needs to be made during this meeting or immediately following?
• Everyone in the meeting should have a definitive role
• The agenda should be crystal clear and a narrative to get to the decision that needs to be made
• Supporting materials should support the agenda

 

It’s a Trap! - Ask that materials that would typically have been presented during a meeting be sent out to participants at least 24 hours in advance so people can familiarize themselves with the content. Here is the trap…does everyone read the material before they get to the meeting?  Eliminate the presenting and get into the discussion.  Decks, Presentations and other fun descriptions can be used for the reliance on “PowerPoint or Slideware”.  The build and they will come is not a reality.

 

It’s all about the PreGame – Although people are most likely nauseated by my repeated reference of preparation, what are the alternatives, “going in cold”? Ask yourself what you can do better based on knowledge of the audience, key messages, focus on the narrative, what?  Yes it’s about the pregame,. But also raising the game!

 

Key Practices:

Define the objective of the meeting - Asking one simple question at the onset of the meeting, "What is the objective of this meeting," can prove invaluable in terms of ensuring everyone is on the same page and focused on keeping the meeting on point, rather than allowing it to devolve down endless rabbit-holes unrelated to the matter at hand.  Restate the five basic components above

 

Facilitate – “One person drives” - The primary role of this point person is to ensure the conversation remains relevant, that no one person ends up dominating the discussion, and that adjunct discussions that arise during the course of the meeting are taken offline.

 

Simplicity in Language - Take the time to define semantics (and first principles). It never ceases to amaze me how often meetings go off the rails by virtue of semantic differences. Words have power, and as such, it's worth investing time upfront to ensure everyone is on the same page in terms of what certain keywords, phrases, and concepts mean to the various constituencies around the table.  Preparation to keep things simple and straight-forward.

 

Chapter 2 - Assign someone to take notes - This should not be the equivalent of a court stenographer documenting every word uttered, but rather someone who is well versed in the meeting's objectives and who has a clear understanding of context that can capture only the most salient points. This not only avoids multiple people recalling one event in multiple ways, but also creates a plan of record for what was discussed and agreed to. This can also be particularly valuable for invitees who weren't able to make the meeting.

 

Immediate Follow-up 24 Hours - Summarize key action items, deliverables, and points of accountability. Don't end the meeting without summarizing key conclusions, action items, and points of accountability for delivering on next steps. This summary is usually the first thing to suffer if the meeting has run long and people start running off to their next scheduled event. However, it's arguably the single most important thing you'll do at the meeting (and is ostensibly the reason for the meeting to begin with). Have the discipline or don’t have the meeting in the first place.

Start to start having better meetings today

 

 

 

Start to Start or you can just wait for Perfect

"Start to Start" -  Start your journey, your education today, if you are not moving and learning you are stagnating.

Every success story in history can be traced back to a small first step. So many people look for the perfect and the reality there is no such thing.  Starting small makes you very likely to start, and good things happen when people start.

Then repeat then...

• Practice
• Practice
• Practice

Consider the knowledge you already have — the things you really know you can do. They are the things you have done over and over; practiced them so often that they became second nature. Every normal person knows how to walk and talk. But he could never have acquired this knowledge without practice. For the young child can’t do the things that are easy to older people without first doing them over and over and over.

Most of us quit on the first or second attempt. But the person who is really going to be educated, who intends to know, is going to stay with it until it is done.

Just start and stop the procrastination - the repeat and practice, practice, practice.

Click, Click, Boom!

Click, Click, Boom! - If you are not creating new problems or opportunities what are you doing?

Every year comes a healthy dose of anticipated anxiety. Will I reach my goals? What are my goals and why are they my goals? Goals and resolutions I treat one in the same. Go big and bold and never stop pushing yourself. How can you make your resolutions a reality?

 

Is there anything we can do to “guarantee” that our resolutions stay alive and eventually come true? The short answer is yes -but requires creativity, discipline and focus. Write them down every day, list the actions needed and just do it. Need help ask for help, buddy up, and hold each other accountable for your actions.

 

Kevin this is for you - no matter how much complaining and variations of excuses why something couldn't get done - it's all on you, your actions, and your behaviors.

 

• Focus - Select the goal, break them down into smaller objectives and tasks and measure your progress.
• Creativity - There are so many different ways to address opportunities and challenges in front of you. What are three different ways you can address the task at hand? Write them down and select one.
• Discipline - Write your goals down every day and reserve time in your schedule.

 

While people have said and will probably keep saying "it's not that easy", why not? Are you making more excuses?

 

Believe in your own potential and crush your own negativity. My buddy Kevin finally did.