Individual Leadership: The Power of Role Models

We learn best by watching others, noticing what they do, how they behave, and what resonates with us. As well as what doesn't. The most effective leaders are role models who inspire and motivate others to high performance through their positive example.

While being a role model is one of your most important responsibilities as a leader, it won’t show up on your to do list. Remember that people are looking to you for cues about how they should behave. People are watching:

·     How you treat people

·     How you make decisions

·     How you communicate

·     How you respond to pressure

·     How you demonstrate values

·     How you challenge

·     How you collaborate

You don’t need to be perfect in these areas. But take a moment to consider: what standard are you setting for those in your organization? What do you want to be the role model for?

Organization Leadership: Client Results or Scope and Costs?

Are your teams focused more on achieving your client’s objectives or managing scope and costs? Both are important but consider how your prospects or clients experience this.

I’ve hired several firms to do research, build websites, and help with Marketing and PR. My interactions could be mapped on a continuum with companies focused on cost/scope on one side and client results on the other.

Scope/Cost ---------------------------------Client Results 

My conversations with teams on the left were more about what was “in scope” or “out of scope.” My conversations with teams on the right focused on desired results and how they were going to deliver those results. Take a guess at which companies I would gladly hire again and refer to others? If you frequently spend more time talking about scope, process, and billable hours than you do discussing quality of output, results, and outcomes, you are likely creating a client relationship that is transactional instead of a partnership with long-term value.

Perspective: Finding Common Ground

During my first stint in management, I used to argue with our CFO. A lot. It was endlessly frustrating for our CEO because our antagonistic relationship stymied collaboration. Everything became a fight: revenue recognition, commissions, territory design, expense reimbursement.

Then one day, I commented on a photo of two dogs, which sat on his desk. He shared that they were German short haired pointers, which got us talking about our love of dogs. After 20 minutes of conversation, he said to me: “I’ll have to change my thinking about you. You must be a lot nicer than I’ve thought if you love dogs that much.” We both laughed.

It was the first time that we had enjoyed a conversation. Afterward, we still fell on different sides of all the same issues, but the tone and tenor of our discussions became totally different. We had found common ground, which paved the way for productive collaboration and teamwork without being so heated.

When collaboration is difficult, where can you look to find common ground? Even a little bit goes a long way.

The Sales Experience Is Your Hidden Advantage

Innovative products, and great services, and unique capabilities are necessary if you want to compete. But they aren’t sufficient to sustain differentiation and growth. So, where else can you turn to create more value for customers? We hear a lot about the Customer Experience (CX). But on the customer journey, the sales experience is the first mile. And if it’s not compelling or valuable, prospects will get off at exit 1, and go have customer experience with someone else. Please join me on LinkedIn Live, May 21st at 10am ET, to discuss how you can leverage the power of the sales experience as a hidden advantage.