High School Sweethearts…

Fall; Autumn; October … I love this time of the year.  I love the colors and smells of October.  October reminds me of high school; football; dating.  Do you remember your first high school sweetheart? 

High school is a very special and memorable time for teenagers; it certainly was for me.  (Still is.)  It was a different time; an innocent time.  I always enjoyed the month of October when I was in high school – Homecoming; Halloween; dating; parties (most chaperoned, a few not). 

Fifty four years ago, this very time of the year, I went to a party at Glenn Vician parents’ house.  It was at that party where I hung out with the prettiest girl in my high school.  It was there that I asked her out on a first date.  I guess both events went well enough because here we are fifty four years later and we’re still together.  I’m still awe-struck by the glow of her beauty.

I hope you enjoy this opening to Chapter XII True North of my book, The Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective © as much I enjoyed writing it and as much as I still enjoy re-reading it every October: 

Dedicated to… a crisp night in October; with a slight breeze blowing through bare trees – waiting for the coming winter.   Close your eyes.  Can you smell remnants of autumn leaves burning? 

To winning the homecoming football game.  To being carefree. To a Saturday night party at the teenager’s house whose parents are away.  Can you hear the kids having fun in the kitchen; the basement; and the backyard, all to the beat of the Rolling Stones? 

To couches, blue jeans and sweaters.  To the floor lamp reflecting on her blond hair making it shimmer with silvery streaks of light.  To the nervous small talk of a teenage boy in the presence of a varsity Pom-Pom Team member.  To the patience of the teenage girl sitting on the couch with the captain of the varsity basketball team.  Can you remember when you could actually hear your heart throbbing? 

To throw pillows, which come in handy when the small talk runs out – what else can a young boy do?  And to playful pillow fights; which lead to gentle wrestling and ultimately to that first kiss. Remember how delicate she felt in your arms – the hint of her perfume – the taste of her lips? 

To first dates – dinner and a movie.  To the movie Catch 22 and the Oriental Theatre in downtown Chicago.  To dating the prettiest girl in your high school; to falling in love; to asking her father’s permission for her hand in marriage.  Were you ever so nervous? 

To the tears welling up in my eyes even as I write this short memoire.  To all those emotions; all the happiness; all those hopes and all those dreams; some fulfilled, some yet to be; and all that I can remember today as if it just happened yesterday – that I will remember every day, as long as I live.  How can someone be so lucky? 

To 1970 - and that Saturday night in October in Elmhurst where I kissed Debbie for the very first time.  And to the friend’s house whose parents were out – to their couch, their floor lamp, to their throw pillows; and to the Rolling Stones music.  Can you imagine being so young, so infatuated, and so in love? 

I still am. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective. 

Is your world flat?

It’s been 24 years since I ventured out into the social media world for the very first time.  I know I wasn’t the original “explorer”, but it was still a big move for me.  Permit me to share an updated, slightly word-smithed post from back in the day - beginning with: 

People told Columbus the world was flat.  He didn’t insist it was round.  He got in a boat. 

                        3Com Advertisement 

How cool was that!  No debate; no argument; no headlines; no hype.  They said, “Impossible!” he said, “Get me to a boat!”  Then Columbus got in that boat (funded by an original venture capitalist); and proved his point. 

What a stellar example of commitment to success!  “Hey Chris, the world is flat you know.  If you go out there, you’ll sail right off the table into oblivion.”  “That’s OK”, he might have said, “I think we’ll be all right.”  He wasn't alone:

What about you?  What are “they” saying you cannot do?  Do you agree with them?  Are you staying close to shore keeping land in sight to make you feel secure?  Or are you looking out across the vast ocean and on to your future?  Are you debating – or are you doing?  Where are you turning for the fuel to maintain your positive, can-do attitude? 

     It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up. 

                        Babe Ruth 

If you’re reading this, then you’re in my boat.  Welcome to The Peace & Power of a Positive Perspective©.  The next time you’re having one of “those days”, filled with too much negativity from “them”, come back aboard for a little positive reinforcement. 

It is the 21^st century after all.  Some people today might say, “Gary; Linked In, Face Book, Instagram are fun and all; but a vehicle for ongoing business-to-business, business?  Impossible!”  Well, what do I know? 

I spent over four decades of my career trying to perfect professional selling skills.  You know – permission-based prospecting; discovering the customer’s goals; presenting solutions… Remember?  Are any of those skills relevant today? 

Or have we in the sales profession shifted to Likes, TikToks, Tweets, and other, electronically-impersonal means of getting ink and contract to meet and money to change hands?  Were professional selling skills important only when the world was flat?  Well, what do I know? 

Best-selling business author Jim Collins wrote this: 

     The Tyranny of the OR vs the Genius of the AND. 

To me, it’s not social media – or – the old way.  I think social media is important.  I also believe that building trust still plays a key role in the customers’ success; and in turn, our success.  I would like to believe that knowing what you’re doing is still critical to a salesperson’s achievement.  Being a product expert + a technology expert + a competitive expert + a businessperson are the key characteristics our customers value.  But, what do I know? 

Similar to Christopher Columbus, no one can predict ahead of time what changes the AI world will bring to the future of the sales profession.  I’m certainly not going to argue about it.  I’m just getting in my social media boat and setting sail – I believe I won’t fall off the face of the earth. 

I hope you join me for the voyage and visit https://gpokorn.blogspot.com/ often.  Bring a friend!  After all: 

No sense in being pessimistic.  It wouldn’t work anyway.    

                        Unknown Sage 

Here’s to the New World.  Thanks again Chris! 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Football is my favorite sport.  A bit ironic I suppose, because football is the epitome of a time in my life that I did not give my best.  Actually, it was worse than that.  It was the one time in all my competitive pursuits (athletics or in business) that I quit.  I’ve lost many times; won my share too.  Quit?  Once.

I quit my high school football team two weeks into the start of my junior year season.  It was the only time in my life that my Mom told me I disappointed her.  I can remember going into the head coach’s office to quit as if it was yesterday.  Totally ironic, because after being a starter and co-captain my freshman and sophomore years, I was not even planning to play my junior year.  I planned to focus on basketball. 

Over the summer the coach called and asked me to reconsider.  I agreed, but when I showed up I wasn’t prepared to give my best.  He and his coaches weren’t prepared to coach me up either.  At the age of sixteen, I decided that quitting was my only escape.  I’ve regretted it to this day.  It’s not the not-playing that I regret; it’s the not giving my best.

I bet there have been special coaches and mentors who have had a positive impact on your life.  Coaches come in all shapes and sizes and use a wide variety of styles and techniques.  Some coaches resonate with us; others don’t. 

Here’s a 6 minute movie clip about high school, an underdog team, and their coach’s expectation about giving one's best: Facing the Giants

Perhaps not a technique that transfers into the business world today - but the message does, true?  Yes, the sporting world is different than the business world.  Nonetheless, we don’t have to go it alone.  Even the best-of-the-best have coaches.

In business, our favorite, Unknown Sage offers this:

Common misconceptions about coaching in the marketplace: 

“Coaching is primarily for correcting behavior” - If we only coach people when they do something wrong, we have missed the point.  It’s about building not fixing. 

“Coaching requires giving up power and control” – The manager relies more on influence. The person is still accountable. 

“Coaching takes too much time” – Coaching takes too much time if you don’t do enough of it and you don’t do it correctly.

“Coaching is soft stuff” – The manager who avoids soft stuff usually does so because it is so hard.  The work is easy; people are difficult. 

“Coaching is laissez-faire management” – Freedom in the workplace, actually just about anywhere, is rooted in strict discipline. 

“Coaching is simply being a good cheerleader” – A good manager has the courage and inner strength when needed to tell people the truth. 

“Coaching is like therapy” – To be a good manager and coach one does need a basic understanding of human behavior and motivation, but therapy has no place in your relationship with the people you are leading.

Coaches enjoy occasional accolades, too.  The best I ever heard was a tribute to Bum Phillips, former head coach of the then, Houston Oilers.  It was once said of Bum:

He could take his and beat yours - and then he could take yours and beat his. 

As a coach, he was able to get his players to give their best; they had no quit.  Imagine – what could we accomplish if we committed to giving our best? 

GAP

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

1 in 45,000…

A colleague of mine was giving a 3-minute, presentation about his company and his services recently.  He said he is one of 45,000 registered realtors in Colorado.  He went on to acknowledge: 

If you don’t have a friend who is already in the real estate business you must not have many friends. 

                   Justin Phillips 

After his presentation, we got to chatting. His business is not only in a competitive field (Aren’t all small businesses?) but its also hard to differentiate himself from 45,000 others.  As the title of Jack Trout’s book suggests: 

Differentiate or Die ©

Competition and differentiation are challenges any business, large or small, don’t you think?  It can be hard to look in the mirror and see those specific things that make you and your company different from the myriad of others in your industry.  You may not have 45,000 direct competitors, but I bet you have competition nonetheless. 

After all, there are thousands (millions maybe) of product companies; even more service providers.  Only a few of the most creative; perhaps the most clever: have figured out what their differentiation is in the eye of their customers. 

Charles Revlon, the founder of Revlon and an extraordinarily successful entrepreneur, once said about his company: “In the factory Revlon manufactures cosmetics, but in the store Revlon sells hope.” 

Charles Revlon 

We talked through my colleague’s main points of differentiation; those attributes he likes to emphasize with prospective, new clients.  One really stood out to me but not in the way he said it.  One of his credentials is he’s a former, licensed architect.  Well OK, but if you’re like me, that credentialing statement probably stimulated this thought in your mind: 

So what? 

We dwelled on this architect thing for a while.  I wouldn’t let him move on; employing one of my favorite sales coaching approaches I bet my former sales teams remember well (maybe not fondly, but well): 

Let’s go slow here. 

Or, as one architect put it: 

God is in the details. 

                   Mies van der Rohel 

Architectural training (and a license) is what my colleague “has”.  Even better, his area of concentration was in space planning.  But leaving this credential like that probably causes his prospective clients to think: 

So what? 

What do his clients “get”?  How can he better align his differentiation with what prospective clients need?  It reminds me of Patrick Renvoise who said: 

If you're selling drills, your prospects really couldn't care less about the drills.  What they actually want are the holes. 

Our discussion about real estate was coincidentally near and dear to me because my wife and I are in the process of shopping for a new house.  One of the biggest mistakes people make when buying a new house, or buying new furniture for their current house, is discovering after-the-fact that it doesn’t fit!  “It didn’t look that big in the showroom”, is a commonly heard phrase, true?  (And I’m speaking from experience here HaHa!) 

To be clear, we aren’t hiring Justin to be our realtor… we have a lot of friends and one of them is in the business.  But if we were in need of a realtor, we’d lean towards Justin.  Not because of his real estate license (1 of 45,000 in Colorado) but because of his architect license and more specifically his space planning experience. 

That differentiation can help his clients bridge the gap between the furniture showroom and their new house.                       

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

How’s your day been?

It was seven years ago tomorrow.  I was in an earthquake in Mexico City; a 7.1.  How do you work that into casual conversation? 

September 19, 2017 at 1:15 pm local time, a powerful earthquake shook the bejeezus out of my training class; our lunch break; my colleagues; and me!  Thankfully, no one in our group was hurt. 

Unfortunately, there were many in Mexico City and surrounding states that did get hurt; over 200 people killed; hundreds perhaps thousands injured.  According to The Guardian ©: 

It was the second major earthquake to hit Mexico in two weeks and came on the anniversary of the 1985 quake that devastated Mexico City, killing 5,000 people and destroying 10,000 homes. 

In fact, because of that 32^nd anniversary; commemorating the devastation; we actually had an emergency evacuation drill at 11am in 2017; about 2 hours before the real thing hit again! 

During the episode, I was conscious of the fact I was experiencing an earthquake – on the 19^th floor of a hotel no less.  What started out feeling like a freight train passing by causing the table to vibrate, quickly erupted into what seemed like a prolonged period of ferocious shaking.  It knocked me off my feet. 

Those much braver than I were calling out; directing us towards the archway leading into the room.  Firmly they instructed us to move away from the windows; calmly, they reassured us that we will be alright.  Ultimately, we filed out onto the streets joining tens of thousands of others.

I remember looking out the window and seeing the glass buildings across the plaza actually swaying.  It was surreal.  It reminded me of the scene in movie The Matrix where a helicopter crash caused the façade of a glass office tower to ripple. 

So many had invested so much before the earthquake hit – and after.  Gustavo Moussalli, our Latin American Division Director and the executive sponsor for the class had made a huge commitment to his local partners; coordinating a 3-day enablement class to support their success. 

Gerardo Diez Martinez, our local Channel Manager arranged the meeting rooms and set-up; AV equipment; food and beverage; Gerardo spared no expense to insure we had everything we needed for his partners. 

My colleague Susanna Lagtapon sacrificed time away from her daughter’s 13^th birthday; traveling instead to join us for the class.  Our colleague, Tony Caporal, with cooler head and bravery, prevailed following the earthquake.  He helped us retrieve our laptops and luggage.  (Even stopping at the lobby bar to grab a free beer on his way out of the hotel.)

Our VP, Brian Enright, was our “home base”; coordinating flights out of town; hotel reservations; and anything else he could do to support us from afar. 

And especially Hector Garcia from our long-time partner NetSoft.  Hector insisted on personally driving us to the airport; would not hear of us taking a taxi or a bus.  He would navigate us through the city streets; on constant vigil for our safety.  Three hours to drive us 12 kilometers.  Three hours in the opposite direction from his own home and family – taking us in his care. 

As with all disasters, there were many heroes – named and unnamed.  But that was 2017; Mexico City; and an earthquake.  Today, it’s another crisis; another natural disaster; another conflict. 

We are all thankful for so many first responders and other heroes – named and unnamed.  May God bless them all. 

GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Authentic…

A favorite topic of mine today.  A favorite word, too.  I hope you get a chuckle even if the machines don’t.  (I wonder, do machines chuckle?) 

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, the Merriam-Webster “Word of the Year” for 2023 was “authentic”.  The article goes on to add: 

As technology’s ability to manipulate reality improves, we’re all searching for the truth. 

Ahhh yes: truth; authenticity; technology; machines.  All of those machines out to “manipulate reality”.  Take a picture today (with your phone vs. a camera no less) and the little machine inside will manipulate that image just about any way you want.  Yes, yes, I know… still photographs, Gary?  That’s so last century.  Show me the video!  Well, last century Yawed Karim did; in front of the elephants. 

And to think; it all started with a trip to the zoo.  

Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, together with a third friend, Yawed Karim, had come up with the idea at a dinner party in early 2005.  They chose the name during a brainstorming session on Valentine’s Day. 

Over the next few months, they designed it in their garage.  After successfully testing the service in May of 2005 they received funding from a venture capital firm to cover their start-up costs. 

In December of 2005 they opened for business (Month 12).

10 months later (September of 2006, less than 24 months end-to-end) they sold for $1,650,000,000.00! 

Nicolas Carr 

What do you think?  I mean if a 19-second video of zoo animals can lead to billions of dollars, is that reality?  Do we mere mortals stand a chance of finding truth? 

I blame it on that vague and nameless group of very smart people commonly referred to as “programmers”.  Are their programming practices questionable?  I mean, are they “searching for the truth”?  If not, whose accountable if they are “manipulating reality” and bypassing the input editor with bad input? 

Peck's Programming Postulates 

·         If more than one person has programmed a malfunctioning routine, no one is at fault.

·         If the input editor has been designed to reject all bad input, an ingenious idiot will discover a method to get bad data past it. 

Unknown Sage 

How did we succumb to the machines, anyway?  When did we capitulate?  Why?  Capitulate certainly have: 

Western society… has accepted as unquestionable a technological imperative that is quite as arbitrary as the most primitive taboo:  not merely the duty to foster invention and constantly to create technological novelties, but equally the duty to surrender to these novelties unconditionally, just because they are offered, without respect to their human consequences. 

Lewis Mumford 

“Surrender to these novelties unconditionally…”  Welcome to the modern century. 

A lot is being said and even more is being written about the machines; aka artificial intelligence; aka “AI”.  Adding insult to injury, these writings are even being written by the machines about the machines.  (ChatGBT ring a bell?)  Not only that, but now we find ourselves talking to our machines?  You know, “Siri, tell me a joke.” It’s when the machines answer back to our texts, chats, and voices – posing as humans – then I get worried. 

I have hope, however.  Humans are (finally) starting to question the authenticity of information offered up by AI.  We’re finally realizing that videos can be (and are being) manipulated; deviating from reality; “truth” is not always being taken for granted.  Who knows?  Maybe “authentic” will even repeat as the 2024 Word of the Year. 

I have hope. 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.

Just askin’…

You might ask, “Could it actually be that simple?  Is it scalable?  Can anyone do it?”  Well, I’m not saying its foolproof because of our friend Murphy: 

Murphy's Eighth Corollary: 

It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious. 

Unknown Sage 

Nonetheless, IMHO it is a good approach.  It’s certainly worth trying, don’t you think?  Do you believe your customers and prospects will notice when you’re asking; inviting; deferring vs. telling; selling; pushing like so many other salespeople? 

Originality consists of trying to be like everybody else - and failing. 

Raymond Radiguet 

What am I asking about?  I’m asking about asking.  Asking is a wonderful skill for life in general but especially in the sales profession.  Just ask my friend and super star, salesperson, Matt.  If you did he might share this recent experience… 

He asked, “Shall we meet and review your evaluation team’s questions and concerns?”  She thought that might be a good idea.  He asked, “How about a 3pm Zoom for 30 minutes?”  She agreed. 

Matt’s prospect arrived on time but she was obviously disheveled.  He could tell by the tone in her voice that the meeting was not going to go as planned. 

(It was awkward but Matt was fearless, because he knew from experience: 

One can either face reality at the outset or one can disseminate the bad news on the installment plan. 

                             Norman Augustine) 

She said she had the feedback from her team but hadn’t had the time to review it.  She was “fighting fires” all day (and losing!).  He asked, “Do you want to take 15 minutes for a bio-break and collect your thoughts on your team’s notes?  After all, we both had 30 minutes blocked out on our calendars for the meeting.”  Matt offered to simply wait on the Zoom session until she returned.  She expressed appreciation for his thoughtfulness and agreed. 

When his prospect returned to the Zoom session, she was much more relaxed.  Matt asked, “Shall we simply go through your list with the remaining time we have?”  and they did.  It only took 10 minutes; no real “road blocks”; Matt was able to answer a few open items.  Before their scheduled time was up Matt asked, “Do you think we’re good?”  His prospect said, “Yes, I think we’re good.” 

Ahead of reaching the bottom of the hour he asked, “Will you be at your desk for a little while?”  She said she would be.  He asked, “Shall I send over the agreement for your signature?” and she said, “OK”. 

Prior to the close-of-business that day; after what started as a meeting that might not have continued; Matt received a signed order.  Are those the questions you would have asked at that meeting?  

Matt’s good at asking, don’t you think?  Through asking, he’s able to help his prospects navigate complicated purchase processes.  Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon wrote in The Challenger Sale ©: 

… customers place a great deal of importance on a smooth, uncomplicated purchase.  No one wants to work with a supplier that makes any purchase more complicated… 

I asked questions throughout my sales career, too.  Not because I was good at it but because I was comfortable letting my prospects take the lead.  

My comfort with asking questions started over 52 years ago.   Back then I asked perhaps the most important question of my entire life to my most important “prospect”.  She said, “Yes!”.  We’ve been married ever since. 

                                                            GAP 

When life gets tough we could get a helmet… or… we could leverage the peace and share the power of a positive perspective.