Yesterday I talked to a group about reaching 212 in 2012. I used a video that talks about water being water at 211 degrees but with that one more degree it gets to 212 and becomes steam. The point, of course, is can you give just a bit more effort. Can you raise the temperature by one degree? can you give one more percent. You know you can.

The CEO was in the room and this is what he sent me last evening.
Wally, EXCELLENT job today! I have had 6 people stop in my office this afternoon commenting on your presentation this morning. A while back I had an employee tell me I was an ass because I questioned their “break time.” I asked him if he had any idea what these “break times” cost the company. I then went to our CFO and asked for our total payroll dollars for 2011. This is what I found:

2011 total payroll 24,387,000.  I then divided by 12 to get the monthly cost (2,032,250.00) then divided by 4 to get weekly cost (508,062.50) then divided by 5 to get daily cost (101,612,50) then divided by 8 to get hourly cost (12,701,56) then divided by 60 to get cost per minute (211.69) After going thru this exercise and explaining that if everyone took a 10 minute break, we are talking real money. When the video titled 211-212 was playing I was thinking this was ironic. I don’t know who
came up with 212 as the boiling point. Mine is 211.69!

First it was just plain nice of the CEO to share with me his thoughts and to give me a pat on the back.

Second, it is easy to see why this firm is so successful (and they really are!). It has an owner who pays attention to the details, and when necessay, digs a bit deeper to get information he can share with his team to help them understand the link between behavior and bottom-line. He helps them understand the importance of executing the basics.

A while back I wrote an article called are you making your blocks.

Was reading an article about ways to maximize personal productivity. They interviewed some uber productive people.

One of them swore by getting up early, NOT having caffeine and getting in a work out.
The other one was a fan of the cup of java followed by the workout
Another person had a room temp cup of espresso that had been made the night before (seems like alot of effort)
Yet another went to the gym and then had the java
and there was that crazy person who drank the java in the AM and the gym in the afternoon..

Please do note that the common thread was exercise. But beyond that THERE WAS NO ONE ANSWER….What works for you? Do it. It is February, the gym is a little less crowded this month than last month. But you need to find your own way.

Me? I hate to work out in the AM. Preferred time is 12-5 window. Yes, I do work out in the AM when needed. Tonight I went at 7PM. I adjust but I have a prime time that I know works for me. Television has a prime time, what is yours?

OH yeah, none of those productive people drank a large diet coke in the AM…maybe I am on to something..maybe not..but it seems to work for me..What works for you? Find your way, make it your way, and then live it to the max!

In real estate they (whoever they are) say location is everything. I say in business – culture is everything. I am not alone in this and I certainly didnt come up with the idea but here is another perspective to help you with the concept.

Kevin and the kids..

Just back from a skiing week in Vermont. My regular readers will know last year on this trip my son, then age 9, broke ulna, radius, tibia, fibula….he did better this time and avoided the barn.

We did reconnect with Kevin Fitzpatrick. He is a ski instructor at Okemo and went out of his way last year to make that experience a good one. He truly went above and beyond the call of duty….He is also an outstanding instructor and we get along with him well. Our family spent alot of quality time with him last week. Okay, he isn’t just an instructor, he is OUR instructor.

This brings me to a book called The Fred Factor by Mark Sanborn. It isn’t a new book but the principles are solid and relate so well to Kevin.

Sanborn writes Principle number 1: Everyone makes a difference. I add that some make a positive difference and some make a negative difference but everyone does make a difference.

Principle number 2: Everything is built on relationships. Kevin and my family have a relationship. He has a blog to foster and maintain the relationship. We eat lunch together when his schedule supported it.

Principle number 3: You must continually create value for others, and it doesn’t have to cost a penny. Kevin would join us for lunch. He would ski an extra hour with us at the end of the day. He was done with lessons for the day and this was his time to enjoy the mountain. He chose to do that with us. Marketing? Sure. Adding value. Yes.

Principle number 4: You can reinvent yourself regularly. Kevin lost 50 pounds this past year. He also kids me that I ski like a fossil. Meaning, he and I grew up in a time when feet tight together and skis parallel was the way to ski. Well, technology has changed the ski which has changed the way we ski. I am adapting. Kevin is already there. As an instructor he had to learn a new way of skiing before he could teach it. Not an easy thing to do – change something you have been doing for a lifetime.

I suspect we will ski again next year. I hold out hope for the golf resort but my wife nor my son golf. I have a friend who has offered me his place in Telluride. There are many mountains that might be nice to visit. However, Okemo remains near the top of the list of where we might ski next year.

It isn’t about the mountain. It is about Kevin. Are you a Kevin? Or to quote Sanborn, are you a Fred?

Are you creating the conditions for people to even want to be a Fred or Kevin? Great leadership does that. It creates more Kevins and more Freds.

Bill Parcells, someone who knows a good bit about winning, commented on the two super bowl coaches this week. He knows both…I saw this on MSN the other day, Mike Lupica might have wrote it.

Parcells knows Belichick longer, admits he knows him much better than he knows Tom Coughlin. But he is pretty clear about
both of them:

“Like I said, different personalities, don’t try to make them out to be the same guy, they’re not. But as coaches they both do the four things that you’ve got to do to be great in this business, follow these four axioms:

“They know how to acquire players, they know how to develop the players they have, they know how to come up with a good design for those players and they both get them to play hard.” !!!!!!!!!!!!

I added the underline and the bold (and even the exclamation points). It applies to the business of football, as noted by Parcells, and it applies to the business of business. Recruiting, training, planning and strategy and motivation. These are the keys to success. How well do you do with these? (Want help??)

Gossip….toxic…

see what Forbes has to say about it…

Leaders must work to ensure that a company’s culture is healthy, productive, and capable of thriving, and that the culture is characterized by trust, credibility, respect for coworkers, integrity, and a supportive environment.  There is one behavior many consider to be ‘part of human nature’ which a good leader needs to eliminate from his business in order to preserve the culture and reputation of both company and employees. Gossip is often considered a trivial, harmless behavior, but it creates an atmosphere of distrust, undermines integrity, and spreads false or inaccurate information, all of which combine to sow discord and destroy workplace performance and relationships. This type of behavior often arises when an individual has a problem with someone else or with a situation, and leaders should direct them to go to the source to discuss the issue respectfully in a private setting, or, if absolutely necessary, should accompany that individual to the discussion to act as a mediator for the situation. Leaders are encouraged to remove gossip from a business to ensure long-term survival by protecting the company’s reputation, the reputation of coworkers, and their own reputation.

Do I even need to mention here that the leader should not be doing any gossip either? Hate to say it but I do see it….talking about performance is one thing…gossip is another….think about it, you know the difference…

This just in from the Wall Street Journal…and Glamour magazine…

Take out the trash, don’t forget your doctor’s appointment, do you HAVE to strip off all of your clothes as soon as you come through the door and leave a trail through the house of dirty socks. Sound familiar? It does to many, unfortunately. And now an article published in the “Wall Street Journal” says that nagging is more pervasive than cheating and just as damaging. The article states:

“Nagging — the interaction in which one person repeatedly makes a request, the other person repeatedly ignores it and
both become increasingly annoyed — is an issue every couple will grapple with at some point. While the word itself can provoke chuckles and eye-rolling, the dynamic can potentially be as dangerous to a marriage as adultery or bad finances. Experts say it is exactly the type of toxic communication that can eventually sink a relationship.”

Citing a study by researcher, professor and co-founder of the Center for Marital and Family Studies Dr. Howard Markham, the
author points out that wives aren’t the only ones to do the nagging; however, it also says that women are more likely to be the provokers mainly due to the fact that, in most cases, they run the households.

But the facts are facts. Dr. Markham found “that couples who became unhappy five years into their marriage had a roughly 20
percent increase in negative communication patterns consistent with nagging, and a 12 percent decrease in positive communication. ‘Nagging is an enemy of love, if allowed to persist,’ Dr. Markman says.”

Luckily, it’s not all bad news: It is possible to work on communication patterns that are more productive. According
to the WSJ, “The first step in curbing the nagging cycle, experts say, is to admit that you are stuck in a bad pattern. You are fighting about fighting. You need to work to understand what makes the other person tick.”

If you are still with me at this point you are wondering how this applies to work. It isn’t too much of a stretch to see nagging at work. In fact, you probably see it all the time. You might even do it. THE KEY THING MENTIONED ABOVE IS BEING IN A STUCK PATTERN.

We do a two-day training session on Crucial Conversations (based on the book by the same name and a great read) and that issue of being stuck, of having that “havent we talked about this before” feeling means you are not communicating well. Clearly something is wrong. Marriage is a relationship, so is leadership.

Stop nagging and start communicating.

Read this on MSN today…

Narcissism is a personality trait defined as an inflated sense of self-importance, overestimations of uniqueness, and a sense of grandiosity. According to a new study, not only is narcissism more common in men, but it’s more  likely to have a detrimental effect on their health. (So much for women being more vain, right?)

The assumed reason for this is linked to the societal definition of masculinity and pressure on men to be arrogant and dominant: “Even though narcissists have grandiose self-perceptions, they also have fragile views of themselves, and often resort to defensive strategies like aggression when their sense of superiority is threatened… These kinds of coping strategies are linked with increased cardiovascular reactivity to stress and higher blood pressure, so it makes sense that higher levels of maladaptive narcissism would contribute to highly reactive stress response systems and chronically elevated levels of stress.”

We have all met that guy…what a jerk…but maybe he will die soon..OK, seriously. This is a problem when we talk leadership. Leadership is about the people we seek to lead and influence, it has humility, it is not arrogant and dominant. Rather, I should say good leadership is about the people we seek to lead. There are plenty of people in positions of leadership who are arrogant and dominant. They aren’t good leaders. If you think being a leader is about you, you have it wrong.

Just got done with two days at Whistler (the site of the alpine events at the Olympics two years ago).

We had a meeting in Vancouver so I took a detour to experience Whistler. Wow. In short, I experienced deeper powder than I have ever seen, skied on steeper slopes than I have ever skied, and was on a mountain three times bigger than anything I have ever skied.

The point? New experiences. It was a challenge. Not only was it a new place to visit but the skiing challenged me in ways I have never been challenged. I am an OK skier. I can hold my own with most people on most terrain. I was with a few buddies from Canada who, of course, are really good…so holding my own was a bit tougher. But I did it! and I feel great about it.

When is the last time you stepped outside of your normal routine? When is the last time you really challenged yourself? IF you aint growin you are dyin….or something like that….

and..thanks to my wife for being so supportive…none of this happens without her support. The new book, the new driver, the new experience. Only because of her support. Thanks, Hon….

Last week posted some comments from my friend David Stone on marketing. This week he talks about building your brand. From my perspective you can also think about your employment brand. What do employees and potential employees think of when they think of you? Are you an employer of choice?

Anyway, considering that marketing is voodoo to many business people, here is David for this week.

First, let’s define what we’re talking about when we say ‘brand-building.’ This is the effort you expend to establish a wide-spread knowledge and understanding of the facts that your firm exists and what it does (name-recognition), that your firm is well-regarded within your target markets (reputation-enhancement) and that the decision makers and influencers within your target markets are familiar with and have a positive view of your firm, whether they’ve ever actually worked with you or not (mind share.)

Traditionally, a design firm’s brand has been established over a long period of time, mostly by word of mouth, and is almost exclusively restricted to the clients with which you’ve worked. Very often, outside that circle of clients, the firm’s name is hardly known at all. But a strong brand name is essential for a firm to thrive today and it’s no longer enough to rely on the slow pace of word-of-mouth advertising. A firm must take a proactive approach to establish its brand throughout its target market.

A well-designed and executed brand-building program ‘surrounds’ every decision-maker and influencer in your target market with reminders of your firm. When they go through their mail, you are there. When they attend their conferences, you are there. When they read their industry journals, you are there. When they open their in-box, you are there. After 12 months or more of this, especially when the high-quality content of your communication shows you to be an industry thought leader, they will have easily reached the conclusion that they owe it to themselves to include you in their list of preferred providers.

The best return on your branding investment comes through regular, frequent, broadly-cast communications to your entire market including those who have never been clients – even the clients of your competitors! The worst use of your resources is to send information irregularly and infrequently. The firm that sends an annual holiday card, or three issues of a newsletter followed by silence, would be better off doing nothing and saving the time and cost.

Since the goal of brand-building is to raise the knowledge and understanding of your firm throughout your market, the best way to measure the effectiveness of the effort is to conduct regular surveys of the market to see how much that knowledge has been raised. A simple perception survey, conducted annually, will provide clear data on the results of your campaign. If perception and understanding is going up, your efforts are working.

Measuring ROI is also a simple matter. Most firms obtain between 70% and 90% of their revenue from repeat clients. Presumably, those clients don’t come back because of your brand-building efforts. They already know the firm. By tracking new client activity, and making a point to determine how the new clients first heard about the firm, you can gauge the return on your branding investment. If you spend $25,000 in a year for brand-building and it attracts one new client with a $50,000 project, your ROI is 200% in the first year. If that client sticks around with additional projects, your ROI goes higher still.