Olympians all…

The Olympics are back – hooray! 

The last Winter Olympics were held in 2018 in PyeongChang, South Korea.  The last Summer Olympics were held in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  The global pandemic may have disrupted the Olympic schedule, but the games go on!  It’s hard to top Olympic longevity. The first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece.   That’s 125 years and continuing!  

Here’s an account from a previous Special Olympics: 

Let your imagination put you in a grandstand at the Seattle version of the Special Olympics.  There are nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash.  At the gun, they all start out, not exactly in a dash, but with relish to run the race to the finish and win.  All, that is, except one boy who stumbles on the asphalt, tumbles over a couple of times, and begins to cry.  The other eight hear the boy cry.  They slow down and look back.  They all turn around and go back… every one of them.  As you watch, one girl with Down’s Syndrome bends down and kisses him.  You hear her say, “This will make it better.”  All nine link arms and walk across the finish line together.  Everyone in the stadium, including you, stands up, and the cheering goes on for several minutes.  People who were actually there are still telling the story, four years later.  Why?  Because deep down we know this one thing:  What matters in this life is helping others win, even if it means changing our own course. 

David S. Pottruck 

The Olympics are a major TV event but has their purpose morphed?   Originally the Games were religious; intended to honor the Greek Gods:  

In the ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, the Twelve Olympians are the major deities of the Greek pantheon, commonly considered to be Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus.  Hades and Persephone were sometimes included as part of the twelve Olympians (primarily due to the influence of the Eleusinian Mysteries), although in general Hades was excluded, because he resided permanently in the underworld and never visited Olympus.

                   Wikipedia 

I didn’t know that. 

Here’s what I do know – Olympians are not limited to Olympic Games.  For many of us, just facing our daily challenges is an Olympic event.  For many of us, making ends meet requires an Olympian effort.  For many of us, each day we must set our mind for victory to avoid defeat: 

If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don’t.

If you like to win, but you think you can’t,

It is almost certain you won’t.

 

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,

For out in the world we find,

Success begins with a fellow’s will –

It’s all in the state of mind.

 

If you think you are outclassed, you are,

You’ve got to think high to rise,

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

 

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man,

But soon or later that man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can. 

Unknown Sage 

The Olympics will continue...  For the rest of us; we will rise tomorrow; set our mind for the demands of our day; thinking (BELIEVING) “we can”! 

Not something I would call “Games”. 

GAP 

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

Project Management…

I am gaining more and more appreciation for project managers and their skills every day.  Here’s why… 

As a career salesman, project management is something I was not very skilled at.  Yes, I’ve managed my pipeline and my forecast… and closing a deal has many parallels to a project perhaps.  But selling is certainly different than project management.  

The problem is; my company was in a rush a while back and wanted me to be a project manager for my department - bad.  At least until we could add head-count to take on that responsibility. 

Try as I might, things have not gone that well.  I’m good at understanding all of the tasks and the sequencing that go into our projects.  I’m also pretty good at documenting procedures so those that follow me will be able to see what was set up before they change it LOL!  But when I’m required to facilitate cross-departmental efforts?  I should go back to selling. 

Maybe my shortcomings are because of project management communication preferences?  You see, when working on a project I prefer that all of the participants get together at the same time in the same place (or Zoom) to discuss the status of the project; provide updates on individual assignments; address questions; identify issues; and agree on next steps.  Evidently, this is a very 1990’s approach. 

My colleagues seem to prefer project management by email.  Although I attempt to follow their preferences and provide explicitly written input on project tasks invariably there’s a misunderstanding.  Makes me think of Boyle: 

Boyle's Laws

·         The success of any venture will be helped by prayer, even in the wrong denomination.

·         The deficiency will never show itself during the dry runs.

·         If not controlled, work will flow to the competent man until he submerges.

·         Clearly stated instructions will consistently produce multiple interpretations.

 

Unknown Sage 

Thankfully, the projects I’m assigned to are not “mission critical” to my department or my company.  Our projects contribute to the success of our resellers but our resellers are already experienced, capable, salespeople and business owners so they can get by with our without our contributions. 

Nevertheless, I want to be an asset in their efforts and not a liability.  So I am trying to improve my project management skills.  Oh, and I’ve recognized a key soft-skill that I have also tried diligently to improve – patience.  

If you have read any of my little ditties before you know that I do not have much patience for company B.S. and bureaucracy.  As I stated earlier, my company was in a rush and wanted me to be a temporary project manager, bad.  Makes me think of Meskimen: 

Meskimen's Laws

When they want it bad (in a rush), they get it bad.

There's never time to do it right, but always time to do it over. 

Unknown Sage 

Over the past years I suppose I replaced patience with a heightened sense of urgency, driven by sales quotas and sales period deadlines that directly impacted my personal income.  In the past when project managers wanted to dot some i or cross some t, I suppose I interpreted that as slowing things down when I was trying to speed things up. 

Well today, I’m getting a whole new view of how things work; a whole new respect for project managers.  And I know my manager agrees with me when I say… we need to hire a better project manager - bad!   

GAP 

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

Book titles...

I was commiserating with a colleague of mine about work stuff a while back.  You know - the usual complaints followers have about leaders and the HQ staff: 

Corporate Staff: 

Known in some quarters as Sea Gulls for reasons relating to their propensity to fly round the country leaving their mark wherever they have alighted. 

Norman R. Augustine 

During our chit-chat she said we could write a book and that led to an impromptu, humorous bit of brainstorming on book titles about bad leadership.  I offered, "You can't make this shit up" as a title idea.  That was what a friend and former colleague of mine, Jim Robertson, used to say when faced with maddening, corporate bureaucracy: 

I don’t know why anyone would shell out lots of money for a computer game when you can have more fun and a greater challenge playing CSCP - Circumvent the Stupid Corporate Policy. 

Dan Danborn 

She countered with, "I wasn't going to drink today but", and our little game was on!  I came back with this little ditty from my friend Robin Nicholson when her company was acquired back in the day, "Same circus, different clowns". 

Why were we going through this banter, you might ask?  Well, other than sharing a little comic relief I got nothin'.  Here’s a couple more from the Corporate Staff’s steering committee, "We're lost, but we're making good time"; and from the front-line workers, "MBA's; seldom right; never in doubt". 

Now to be fair, we all know that leading a company is extremely challenging.  I mean for one thing leaders have to deal with employees like me and my colleague who can sour on company B.S. which leads to a loss of trust for our cause.  (Side note:  My colleague at the time of this exchange is now my former colleague – deciding to leave and join a new circus.  Me?  I chose to stay to try to make a difference.  But I digress…) 

Leaders always have the opportunity to gain (or re-gain) our trust.  I’d rather rise every morning charged up to go to work!  Wouldn’t you?  I’d prefer to trust that my contributions make a difference.  Trust – definitely a force multiplier:

There is one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, family, organization, nation, economy, and civilization throughout the world - one thing which, if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love. 

On the other hand, if developed and leveraged, that one thing has the potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life...  That one thing is trust. 

Stephen M.R. Covey 

That’s the good news for leaders (and their staff).  Many, many followers really do want to follow; really want to be engaged; really are ready to excel.  We just need a little… well… trust: 

Surround yourself with people of integrity, and get out of their way.  The right people will feel far more pressure to perform well when they are trusted. 

          Jim Anderson 

And there are plenty of book titles to help leaders lead.  Even leading people like me LOL!  Because I know there are also many book titles directed at my profession - the sales profession - one goes like this, "The salesman promised you WHAT??!!" 

After all, "turnabout is fair play" for leaders.  (Oh, and that book title? It’s already taken.) 

GAP 

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

NBA in July? It’s unusual…

It's unusual to be writing about the NBA in July.  This is the heart of the Major League Baseball season.  But here we are witnessing the start of the NBA finals in the middle of summer. It’s unusual. 

Although I've shared this many times, I dusted off one of my favorite NBA stories for the occasion.  Not just because I'm a Chicago Bulls NBA fan, which I am.  When I bring up "da Bulls" most people think of the Michael Jordan led Bulls' championship seasons.  Nope, my fanaticism predates those glory years to this era: 

Former NBA center and coach Johnny Kerr said his biggest test as a coach came when he coached the then-expansion team the Chicago Bulls and his biggest player was 6'8" Erwin Mueller. 

We had lost seven in a row and I decided to give a psychological pep talk before a game with the Celtics, Kerr said.  I told Bob Boozer to go out and pretend he was the best scorer in basketball.  I told Jerry Sloan to pretend he was the best defensive guard.  I told Guy Rodgers to pretend he could run an offense better than any other guard, and I told Erwin Mueller to pretend he was the best rebounding, shot-blocking, scoring center in the game.  We lost the game by 17. 

I was pacing around the locker room afterward trying to figure out what to say when Mueller walked up, put his arm around me, and said, “Don't worry about it Coach.  Just pretend we won."          

James S. Hewett

 I have pretended in my approach to many challenges in life.  In fact, in my first sales job I was pretending.  I was a stockbroker for Dean Witter “back in the day”.  I rode the train into work every morning; read the Wall Street Journal ©; wore a three-piece suit; carried a briefcase.  It’s unusual but I certainly looked the part I was pretending to be.  I “lost by 17” in that job. 

I shied away from sales the two years after that experience.  It’s unusual, but I became a card-carrying member of the Chicago Painters and Decorators Union. The company I worked for did commercial remodels.  I was as blue collar as you can be. Not exactly the profession my parents; my wife; or my college degree prepared me for.  When I finally decided to get back in the game, things turned out more like the Chicago Bulls we all remember LOL! 

Which makes me think about my current company.  We just finished a record fiscal year.  Pandemic and all that went with it, we had every opportunity to just pretend that any old type of year would be good 'nuff.  We could have blamed failure on Covid.  

But not my company.  We executed like we have the best salespeople in the industry.  We delivered like we have the best professional services partners in the marketplace.  Prospects and clients invested at record levels because they saw our product as the best product of its kind in the world. 

It’s unusual but I think we started the fiscal year just pretending we could make our number.  Then with a little early momentum, perhaps a few lucky breaks, we morphed from pretenders into champions! 

So if you’re a pretender in one of your current pursuits, it’s actually not that unusual.  Just fake it until you make it!  Now pass me the ball - I'm open. 

GAP 

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

Independence - upheld…

Saturday, Americans will celebrate our Independence Day: 

Independence Day is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States on July 4, 1776. 

Wikipedia 

It’s Friday however, when Americans should commemorate the event that upheld our country’s independence; it was the event that prevented the United States from being cut in half; and came with a horrific toll to protect our independence. 

July 3^rd, 1863 was the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg.  Of all the Americans who have ever died in all the wars our country has ever fought, almost half - 620,000 - died in the Civil War.  And of all the Civil War battles, the one battle with the highest casualties was Gettysburg – 51,000 Americans.  Within the Battel of Gettysburg, Picket’s Charge on July 3^rd, 1863 was the deciding, bloody clash. 

I know today the Confederate States of America; their monuments; and their flag are easily vilified.  But 158 years ago, this battle was fought by brave souls both North and South who believed in their cause.  Thankfully, freedom triumphed over slavery back then.  But do remnants remain today?  Is our country’s “civil war” over - yet?  How do you feel towards your fellow Americans today? 

civ·il 

courteous and polite 

I believe every American should visit the Gettysburg National Military Park and pay tribute to the memory of those Americans that preserved the continuation of our union. 

Thankfully, Gettysburg, and the succinct commemoration by one of our greatest leaders (who also gave his life for his country) ultimately prevailed:

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. 

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. 

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

Abraham Lincoln spoke to unite all Americans, North and South.  July 3^rd is the day for us all to remember and to speak out for a united, United States of America.   

May God bless you; and may God bless America! 

GAP 

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

Engaged…

I was exchanging emails with one of my clients the other day.  He’s new to selling our type of applications and has taken me up on my offer of sales enablement.  As he was sharing a few examples of his prospecting campaigns he became a little self-conscious.  He said he didn’t want me to think he was just trying to stand out as a “class favorite” when he related he was incorporating my suggestions – and they were actually working - LOL! 

I paused to tell him not to worry about being my class favorite – I said I thought he is engaged, and I LOVE ENGAGEMENT!  Anyone I work with who is engaged is definitely a class favorite. 

For some reason, this email exchange reminded me of an encounter I had many years ago when I was a Sales Director for the Major Accounts segment of ADP’s Employer Services.  I worked under Marty Birk, Division Vice President of Sales, for a time.  Marty had the reputation of being one nasty son-of-a-bitch (please pardon the profanity).  Many Sales Managers and Sales Directors felt the wrath of Marty’s temperament during their “ops reviews”, especially if their teams were below quota.  Some swore Marty actually enjoyed eviscerating managers and directors. 

During this era, ADP’s sales culture was known as being … well … let’s just say “demanding”.  The gladiator culture finally reached a point where ADP executives implemented a leadership training program to “take the edges off”.  Management as Quality Leaders ™ (aka MQL) was an intensive, one-week, training course mandatory for every leader and manager at every level in the organization.  Including Marty. 

I don’t think the training did much for Marty though.  When he was about to launch into one of his infamous tirades, he issued this advanced warning, “Coming out of MQL now…”  And then he’d blast the person who had crossed one of his lines. 

Although I was in the room during many of these outbursts, I was never the target of a Marty Birk blast.  Thankfully, my salespeople were among the best in the country and they ensured my team lived up to Marty’s tough standards.  Instead, I saw a completely different side of Marty Birk – and I very much enjoyed his coaching.  Dare I say, I may have even been one of Marty’s “class favorites”. 

He was going through my sales team, person by person, during an ops review once and I will always remember how he tested my commitment to my people’s commitment to getting the job done.  If he thought I wavered even the slightest bit when he was drilling down on the performance and skill of my reps, he would look me right in the eye and ask, “Gary, if you were going into a selling war and your very job depended on it… would you take this person with you?”  

Not so thinly veiled, it was Marty’s way of telling me that even though we were way above our quota, things can change and when they did at ADP, people lost their jobs no matter what their past performances might have been.  A classic, “what have you done for me lately” culture. 

Well, fast-forward to today’s modern era and I continue to believe that commitment and engagement are critical factors to sales success.  When I have a client who shows me engagement – I will match their commitment and go into a selling war with him or her.  Thanks Marty! 

GAP 

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

To Dad…

Happy Father’s Day coming this Sunday!  Aren’t fathers and grandfathers great?  The memory of my father brings a proud smile to my face (and my heart!).  If you’re lucky enough to have living fathers and grandfathers, give them more than a handshake on Sunday.  Hugs are the tradition. 

Traditionally, men are not known for showing our emotions, true?  “Be a man”; “cowboy up”; and the like, continuously profess our masculinity.  They say a father can only be as happy as his most unhappy child.  My Dad had his periods of unhappiness during his lifetime. I bet your Dad did too. 

I have witnessed first-hand the ups and downs of my children and grandchildren.  Their downs are my downs.  Thankfully, I know God only burdens us with the amount of heartbreak we each can handle.  But my children’s ups; their accomplishments; their happiness?  Thankfully, those blessings are boundless.  When my children are happy it brings a smile to my face (and my heart)! 

My sons have children so I get to be the grandfather too!  Grandfathers have responsibilities:

Sometimes the only difference we can make is passing our wisdom on to someone else who will make the bigger difference. 

Linda B. Gray 

The older I get the more appreciative I am of the love and wisdom I received from my father.   He wanted his sons to make a difference. 

He wanted us to be patient with some of his quirkiness, also.  I remember after my Mom died, my Dad ate dinner at the hospital cafeteria two blocks from his house.  It might have been for the convenience; maybe for the memory of the last place he saw his wife alive. 

This continued every evening for over twenty years.  The employees thought Al Pokorn actually worked there.  One summer, he was even invited to their company picnic!  I didn’t mind this quirky tradition.  But when he won a TV in the employee raffle, I told him he had to give it back! 

We Dads are all a little quirky I suppose:  

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you.  Tell him the plate you're handing him is very hot and he'll have to touch it to believe it.  

Mike Jaeger

Today when my children use one of my little sayings, or demonstrate a family value or tradition that has been passed down from father to son, it brings a proud smile to my face (and my heart)! 

Hopefully, our children and their children will carry on the values and traditions we learned from our fathers and our fathers’ fathers.    For Dads, this is one of fatherhood’s most satisfying accomplishments we can witness - while we’re here. 

Was it Mickey Mantle who said? 

If I knew I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself. 

Of course, someday our little angels may turn on us; they’ll want to take away our car keys before sending “Gramps” to a home.  And when that day comes we will think of our forefathers again: 

When I die, I want to die like my Grandfather who died peacefully in his sleep.  Not screaming like all the passengers in his car. 

Unknown Sage 

Brings a smile to my face (and my heart!) 

So, here’s to my Dad; and your Dad; and Dads across the world.  They have helped us all make a difference – a tradition to be passed down. 

GAP 

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