Info

Mighty Good Work

From THE YES WORKS, this is MIGHTY GOOD WORK. A podcast built on the stories of people and companies who are making good work happen. Whether it’s work as a place to be, work as a product or service, or work as a way to spend your life, we will be talking to those who are committed to excellence and who are succeeding in bringing Mighty Good Work into existence. We aim to deliver actionable guidance to people shaping business about engagement, company culture, and healthy business relationships.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
Mighty Good Work
2020
January


2018
April
January


2017
October
August
July
June
May
April
March


2016
September
July
June
May


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: 2017
Oct 4, 2017

GUEST: Dan Ralphs

www.thedreamblog.com

Twitter: @dreamtolead

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-ralphs/


HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR CONVERSATION:

 

You can’t teach another person anything they don’t want to learn. They have to choose to learn it. If you can’t motivate people to choose to learn and grow, you won’t be very successful as a teacher… or as a leader.

 

There’s a magic lever you can use to awaken that intrinsic motivation. It’s the question, “What’s the future for you? I’m an advocate for you.” Give them ownership of their future.

 

We’re afraid of letting our people define success for themselves. We can trust our employees a lot more than we do to define an ambitious success outcome.

 

People can and will be able to create a balance and synthesis of self-interest and company-interest. They can comprehend the interdependence.

 

As a leader, ask yourself… Do I diminish or increase those who report to me? Do you think of them as being as capable, well-intentioned, and hard-working as you are? If not, how does your communication to and about them reflect those beliefs?

 

Every company should have a dream manager. That may sound like a silly idea. It’s mutually transformative.

 

OUr brains are designed to help us survive. We’re programed to seek sameness and to resist change. So we get into routines, and then into stasis. We resist change and growth.

 

Dreams are those things that we want and that lie outside our comfort zone and that can be expressed in language.

 

Try this: Make a list of 100 Dreams. Then choose one you could accomplish in 12-18 months. And commit to that dream. Make it happen. Get someone to hold you accountable. Watch yourself expand and grow to make that accomplishment a reality.

 

Dreaming and executing on those dreams grow a capacity to perform that an employer benefits from.

 

Intense side-hustling employees are higher performers than those with no side hustle.

 

At Infusionsoft, the word “Dreamer” is akin to “Entrepreneur.” It’s someone with vision who brings vision into the world as reality.

 

Managers hold people accountable to their dreams and to the steps it takes to achieve them. We invite managers and team members to dream together. That amplified the results.

 

To create change, we need a community of people to believe in us even when maybe we don’t believe in ourselves.

 

There are two parts of dream making: Imagining. And, Executing. These are fundamental business skills. Most people are much stronger in one than in the other. And the capacity in the other can be learned and grown.

 

There’s great power in imagining possibilities -- and in aligning resources to support a desired possibility.

 

If this improbable thing were possible, then what would it take for us to get there?

 

Theoretically, it’s possible historically has turned into in actuality, it exists.

 

Having a Dream Manager is a recruiting draw. The greatest benefit to Infusionsoft, though, is the growth of our employees.

 

We want to see leaders recognize that part of their opportunity is to help those that they lead to aspire to bigger things, believe they’re capable of bigger things, and to put plans and actions into place to accomplish bigger things.

 

We can magnify those whom we lead.

 

Believe in people. When we believe in people, they are magnified and they accomplish more than they coul dhave without your belief buoying them up.


Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/

 

And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.

 

www.TheYesWorks.com

 

Resources mentioned in today’s show:

 

Liz Wiseman’s book, Multipliers

Matthew Kelly’s book, The Dream Manager

www.learn.infusionsoft.com

www.Infusionsoft.com

www.thedreamblog.com and Dream School

Aug 30, 2017

There’s a lot out there about how to reduce conflict at work. A lot of the stuff out there is very good.

 

This episode is about transforming conflict, and using it to your advantage. If conflict seems like something to avoid… If it seems like something you can win… Then, you’re doing it wrong.

 

We’ve got a companion blog post you can read. For those of you who don’t have time for well thought out articles, here’s your Mighty Good Work ADEPTability Skills Checklist:

 

Slow Down

 

Your primitive brain, and the fight or flight response is powerful, but it’s not the only game in town. You can teach yourself to override it.

 

  1. Breathe: Try something called box breathing. Practice it anytime you feel a bit anxious or angry. Breathe in for a count of four. Hold your breath for four. Breathe out on a count of four. Hold for four. Breathe in for four. Repeat. This may not be practical during an argument, but it’s great before initiating a conversation that you anticipate may be stressful. And, even during the interaction, bringing your attention to your breath, and doing this box breathing as much as possible is a powerful fight or flight defuser. Just ask a Navy Seal. This is a technique they use in actual battle.
  2. Look for common ground. Actually take a moment with your collaborator, your employee, your negotiating partner, whomever. Name the things you agree on in detail -- breadth and depth. Notice how much common ground you have that surrounds the points of contention. It’ll put the disagreement in perspective and remind you of how aligned you truly are.
  3. Puzzle it. Sit on the same side of the table -- literally or figuratively -- and investigate the problem. You’re looking together at a jigsaw puzzle, trying to find the solution. Your pieces aren’t better or worse, or even yours. Theirs neither. They’re not your ideas or their ideas. All ideas are joint property. They’re all just puzzle pieces. And they either fit, or they don’t.
  4. Murder the unchosen alternatives. When the decision is made about which direction to go down -- yours, theirs, a third unrelated one or a hybrid of the two -- put your doubts to rest. You may not be able to quash them, but don’t feed them. Instruct yourself, “We’ve made a decision. Whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant. That ship has sailed, and my job is to back this plan of action to the hilt.” Every plan of action but the one that was chosen is done. Burn your boats. Don’t dwell. And if it’s your plan that’s in action, don’t gloat.

 

Reap the benefits

 

By following this approach to difference and conflict, you’ll reap rewards. Your relationships will thrive. Your blood pressure will improve. Your organization's decision making will be more effective. Your results will be better.

 

If you want, you can think of this as the “BLIMP” method. If you look above, you’ll see the steps… BLPM. Ok. BLIMP is a stretch. I just know people like acronyms.


_______

 

Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/


And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.

 

www.TheYesWorks.com

Aug 17, 2017

Today’s show is about a powerful multi-tool. It slices. It dices. It motivates performance and leads to retention of customers and employees alike.


And… It’s a recruiting juggernaut.

 

Today, we’re talking Company Culture as a major recruiting unfair advantage.

 

We’ve got a companion blog post you can read. For those of you who don’t have time for well thought out articles, here’s your Mighty Good Work Checklist:

 

 

  • Play the long game. It takes time and deliberate action to build a lasting culture to your design specs. It’s an investment, and it pays dividends.
  • Start Now. Don’t put off starting the long process to shape the culture you want to work in and that others want to work in. It’s not true that every day you wait to start is another day until you have the results you want. Every day you wait, the culture you’ve got (which is imperfect no matter how good it is) gets stronger.
  • Focus on your people and make work work for them. Your best recruiters are the people who work for you. Want more people like them? Make sure they’re fulfilled by their work and would be proud to bring their friends into the fold.
  • Broaden your KPI focus for yourself as a leader. You’re responsible for results, yes. You’re also responsible for the relationships with the people who attain those results for you. Their experience is a leading indicator of your long term and ongoing results.
  • Ask your people to recruit NOW. Dig your well before you’re thirsty. Build your bench before you need people. Ask your people to help you grow your network of people you’d like to work with in the future. Have an ace up your sleeve. (Mix as many metaphors as you can.)
  • Only hire a sure-fire fit. Don’t hire to fill a seat. You can struggle on understaffed far better than you can carry dead weight. Hire for culture fit (diverse culture fit) and skill, both. If you hire someone who undermines the culture you’re working to build, everything, everything gets harder.

 

 

In this episode, I referenced a few companies who are killing it in this department and past podcast episodes where they share the secrets in their culture sauce. Here they are for your reference.

 

 

_______

 

Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/

 

And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.

 

www.TheYesWorks.com

 

Jul 12, 2017

GUEST: Jen Spencer

https://www.allbound.com/

Twitter: @JenSpencer

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenspencer/

jspencer@allbound.com



HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR CONVERSATION:

 

Your partners are a natural extension of your sales, marketing, and customer success teams. And they should be treated as such.

 

These relationships and their health starts at the top.

 

Fear, uncertainty, and a lack of trust can erode the health of those partner relationships.

 

What would help your partners be successful in the partnership. Give them access to all information and control that will help them succeed. Expose more to your partners than you may be inclined to.

 

Alignment at the executive level is key. A culture of partnership and a win-win compensation agreement that doesn’t lead partners to compete with one another lays the groundwork for successful partnership.

 

Why bring resellers or referral partners on board?

 

  • They give you access to a community you wouldn’t have access to.
  • Fill in expertise gaps with expertise you don’t have.
  • Give you a regional access you don’t have.

 

Symbiosis adds value for the customer, and makes the customer very sticky. Customer first drives effective partnerships.

 

B2B buyers in a SAAS environment can change providers at a moment’s notice. To keep customers, you’ve got to add more and more value.

 

There are beneficial side-effects to great partnerships.

 

The differing perspectives and backgrounds of partnering organizations can drive and catalyze innovation.

 

In M&A circumstances, partner organizations can help to preserve the integrity of the original vision, and the customer service of an acquired company.

 

Strategies are strengthened by collaborating to develop and implement them across companies.

 

Understand why you are partnering. Be sure you’re on the same page with your partners. Align your purpose with theirs, or know this is not a right-fit partnership.

 

Build out partner personas the same way you’d build out customer personas. Be purposeful about partnering.

Build a business plan together.

 

Relationships are not all about the soft-stuff. Data can help predict what partner relationships will thrive.

 

Partnership is a human endeavor.

 

Choosing a partner is as important and nuanced as choosing an employee to hire.

 

A bad partnership can impact your brand. And without synergy, a partnership will fizzle out. That’s lost opportunity, and wasted investment.

 

For a long time, partnership seemed like a strategy for large organizations only. That’s not true anymore. Small and startup organizations are using partnerships to catapult them to success.

 

And lastly, while Jen Spencer is a huge animal lover, she does not trust birds.


Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/


And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.

 

www.TheYesWorks.com

 

Resources mentioned in today’s show:

Aaron’s appearance on Jen’s podcast: The Allbound Podcast

Allbound offers a free version of their platform to help you get started with your channel partner program.

Jun 28, 2017

GUEST: Elaine Lin Hering

http://triadconsultinggroup.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elainelinhering/

lin@diffcon.com

 

Across industries, people say that feedback conversations are their most difficult conversations -- both giving and receiving.

 

ONe the receiving end, it’s triggering. On the giving end, you may cause a trigger in the receiver, and you don’t know how it’s being received.

 

Three kinds of feedback:

  1. Positive feedback: appreciation
  2. Coaching: guidance for improved effectiveness
  3. Evaluation: Tracking against expectations

 

In order to learn and thrive and do good work, we need all three kinds of feedback.

Feedback is:

  • solicited and unsolicited
  • Verbal and non-verbal

 

When receiving feedback, people often feel judged.

 

When feedback is non-verbal, it’s especially hard to interpret.

 

Principles of Improvisation:

  • Everything is an offer.
  • We are meaning making machines.
  • Be specific.
  • Yes, And. “Tell me more about that.”

 

Skills for giving feedback is half the equation. Receiving feedback is an equally important set of skills.

 

We reject feedback for three reasons:

  1. Truth trigger: You’re wrong. You have incomplete data.
  2. Relationship trigger: I don’t like or trust you and your motivations.
  3. Identity trigger: That’s not me. That’s not who I want to be. I don’t want to face the possibility that this describes me or my behavior.

 

Build awareness as a feedback giver and receiver of the above triggers.

 

As a giver of feedback, notice and unpack the labels you’re using in giving feedback -- and Be Specific. Specificity can help get around the truth trigger by helping people to be clear that we’re talking about the same thing.

 

As a receiver of feedback… take some time away and assess the feedback away from the stress of the confrontation.

 

Don’t use vague or uncertain terms that require interpretation, and that will inevitably get different interpretations from different people. “Be more man-like.”

 

Describe behavior and describe impact instead.

 

When receiving feedback, observe your first reaction, and then you can choose your response.

 

Human beings think in labels. It’s our job as givers (and even as receivers) to translate those labels into useful information.

 

How can you frame the feedback to be in the self-interest of the feedback receiver. How will it benefit that person to make the change you’re suggesting?

 

As a receiver, if 90% of the feedback someone gives you is off and irrelevant, focus on the 10% that can serve you.

 

Feedback is information exchange and it’s the fuel and driver for getting stuff done. So, ask yourself, how is feedback going on our team? How painful is it? How effective is it?

We need a mindset shift: Feedback isn’t the “F” word. It’s an opportunity for improvement and accelerated growth.

 

Neglecting to give feedback insulates people from the reality of their behavior, of the reality of the impact of that behavior. If you aren’t giving me feedback, you’re cheating me out of the opportunity to learn and grow.

 

There is no learning without feedback.

 

If you’re giving people feedback, and it’s not working. 1) Look at how you’re having the conversation. 2) Give meta-feedback. “We’ve had this conversation before. There’s a problem here with your making adjustments based on feedback.”

 

It’s critical to discuss the impact, the results, the consequences of behavior.

 

As feedback givers, we will never be free of bias. We can work to filter it out. And as feedback receivers, our job is to try to filter through that bias as well.


Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/

 

And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.

 

www.TheYesWorks.com

 

Resources mentioned in today’s show:

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Roger Fisher and William Ury

Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, by Douglas Stone

Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well…, by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen

Manager Tools

HR West, A Professional Conference for HR folks in Northern California

Jun 1, 2017

GUEST: Eric Johnson -- CFO of Nintex

  

Nintex is a leader in workflow and content automation. Making more time in workflow for what really matters.

 

The Eric Johnson approach: When I make a commitment, I deliver on that commitment. That builds respect and trust. Caring about people, and hold a mark of high integrity. And look for creating benefit for everyone.

 

If you’re great to work with, and you do great work, life goes pretty well.

 

We’ve never taken venture capital to fund operations.

 

How are we achieving excellence, growth and recognition? It’s a combination of a few things.

 

  1. Fundamentally, serve a broad need around something that people care about.
  2. A great distribution model. We’ve done a great job of partnering to distribute and get great results for the customer.
  3. Hire great people. We are disciplined about how we hire, and how we treat people.


If you’re competent, but terrible to work with, we’ll try to help you be better to work with… and ultimately, ask you to move on if you don’t improve.

 

We’re transparent about how we want to work and what our values are. We onboard with a 30-60-90 process and again at 180 and there’s straight-talk about how they’re living up to expectations.

 

Through our management training, we work to prepare our managers for positive feedback for a positive culture. Celebrate success. Recognize good work. This happens on a large scale and a small scale.

Managers are given guidance and training, not simply expected to be effective without guidance and oversight.

 

One-on-ones are expected to be a regular thing: weekly or semi-weekly. The reporting in one-on-ones isn’t just about the performance. “How are YOU doing?”

 

When you employ best people practices, you can experience the difference quickly and powerfully.

 

There is a hierarchy of function and roles -- and a personal way of relating to one another.

 

We operate with a high level of transparency, and allow employees to ask probative questions. We don’t always answer with a high-level of specificity. But we are honest, even if we’re delivering an answer they may not want to hear.

 

It’s important to identify the opportunities to say “no” to.

1) What has alignment with our core values and goals, and what doesn’t?

 

2) After clearing that alignment, what’s going to deliver value to customers and investors?

 

When there is disagreement around important questions… people need to be heard. They need to have the opportunity to go through the exploration process.

 

If you’re not going to allow everyone on the team to express their ideas, and to be affected by the input of others -- then why have a team?

 

When we face a situation that may in the short term be worse for us, but it’s right in the long term for partnering, then we go with the right in the long term for partnering.

 

We need to do the right thing for partners, and the right thing for customers. That way, we have sustainable outcome -- not flash in the pan temporary gains.

 

We don’t let policy prevent us from doing the right thing.

 

Caring for employees, partners and customers pays dividends.

 

 

 

Today’s guest: Eric Johnson, CFO of Nintex

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebjohnson1/

https://www.nintex.com/

 

 

Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/

 

 

And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.

 

www.TheYesWorks.com

May 17, 2017

GUEST: Jacob Morgan -- Founder of The Future Organization

 

https://thefutureorganization.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobmorgan8/

Engagement efforts have failed. There’s a lot of investment in surveys and measurement, but the numbers -- and the practices that drive those numbers -- don’t change.

 

Engagement is a result of core workplace practices. It’s not affected long-term by perks. We know when perks are installed to manipulate us.

 

Employment day 1, everyone is engaged. Then, slowly, the organization breaks people down, and trains them to become disengaged.

 

Part of the problem is that when corporations are focused on quarterly profit, things like changing workplace satisfaction that take time don’t get the attention they need to move the dial.

 

We promote the wrong people. Leadership is a specific set of skills, and being a good individual contributors don’t always have the skills that leadership requires.

 

There are people skills in your company already. Seek them out and leverage those skills.


Organizations lie to recruits. We tell them how amazing and wonderful it is to work here -- even when it’s not true. Now, the new hires quickly become resentful and unhappy, not only because of the environment, but also because of the bait-and-switch.

 

If you’re an individual contributor, speak up about your experience. Manager’s be committed to the success of others. Executives, take a stand for designing exceptional employee experience.

 

The common assumption is -- You need to give your employees challenging and exciting work. But the employer doesn’t control what the work is that needs to be done. It controls the environment in which the work is done. How does the company require you to do your work? How does the company support you in your efforts? What is the culture of work in which the work gets done? What metrics are used to measure performance?

 

Results are a trailing metric. Behaviors lead results. Measuring and rewarding behaviors improves employee satisfaction and results both.

 

Environment can be controlled by the employer/organization. There are three environments. Culture. Physical environment. Technology. These three environments all play together. It’s important to deliberately design all three.

 

With every change an organization makes, it’s important to consider the impact of change on the above three environments.

 

There’s no such thing as an organization where 100% of the people are going to be happy all the time. The most important thing is how the organization responds to those people who at a given time are not happy.

 

The companies that are doing people well are treating the problem as a laboratory would -- with quick, measured, deliberate experimentation, not with a lot of drawn out thinking. Make attempts and respond to the results with new attempts.

 

This is a messy process. Decide for yourself whether this is a battle worth fighting -- at whatever level you are working. Expect that it’s not going to be easy. And the results are


Subscribe to Jacob’s newsletter: text “future” to 44222

Find Jacob’s books, The Employee Experience Advantage, The Future of Work, and The Collaborative Organization here: https://thefutureorganization.com/books/


Your host on Mighty Good Work is Aaron Schmookler.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/schmookler/


And, we’re The Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.


www.TheYesWorks.com

May 10, 2017

Today, a departure from our usual format. Instead of host, today I’m the guest on another podcast. The host of the “Go Time” podcast, Greg Towne of Greg Towne Training invited me to be his guest. I enjoyed the conversation so much that we’ve decided to share it with you.

 

Today, instead of the interviewer, I’m the interviewed. And I’ll be talking about what makes for effective training, why accountability is not a  burden, but a great grace, and the way having a kid has shaped my career.

 

Thanks to Greg and Go Time for having me on their show, and allowing us to share our conversation with you.

 

Dreading failure leads to mediocrity.

 

Celebrating failure can make you less self-conscious, more flexible in thinking, and more willing to take risks.

 

“I can’t” and “That’s not my personality.” are crutches to protect us from facing fear. They help us feel safe. And they prevent us from being effective. It’s not necessary to rip those crutches out of people’s hands. Whatever people (yourself included) throw your way to excuse a lack of accountability, simply deny the applicability of the crutch. And insist gently but firmly on performance.

 

Taking unreasonable accountability for reaching your goals and performing exceptionally gives you access to success. Gives your people access to success.

 

Any success without unreasonable accountability is luck.

 

Asking for help is called employing resources. If you’re not using resources at your disposal because of pride, you’re cheating yourself (and your organization) out of success potential. And there’s no lost pride. It’s just smart. It’s resource management.

 

I speak about a client’s success in turning things around on his team. Here’s a link to a case study.

 

Training that’s information transfer is ineffective because people go into auto-pilot, especially under stress. When training is habit-forming, it creates change, even in people who may be reluctant or resistant trainees.

 

Work is more and more about experience, community, affinity. Work is more and more the place where we get those things, instead of other gathering places of communities in the past.

Work is built on relationship. The stronger the relationships, the stronger the work.

 

Accountability can be a pleasure -- when you’re striving to perpetually become better.

 

Perfection is impossible to reach Striving is worthwhile. It’s enlivening. It gets people up in the morning to go to work. It’s uncomfortable, but rewarding.

 

“That’s just the way things are,” “That’s not me,” “We’ve always done it this way…” Those phrases are a death knell.

 

Comfort and complacency are tempting, but boring.

 

Managers, supervisors, leaders who invite and inspire us into the roller-coaster of striving are the people whom we most appreciate.


Thanks again to Greg Towne for hosting me, and for allowing me to share our conversation with you.

 

http://www.gregttraining.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtowne/

May 3, 2017

SHOW NOTES:

GUEST: Lee Cockerell - Executive Vice President, Disney World

 

Lee's website - www.leecockerell.com

Time Management Magic Course - www.timemagiccourse.com



Lee Cockerell has had a long and storied career in Hospitality, starting as a banquet waiter for Hilton, later helping put Marriott on the map, and eventually retiring after 10 years as Executive Vice President of Disney World.

 

Now, Lee’s professional life is dedicated to sharing the wisdom he’s gathered over the years. Lee, you’re conducting workshops, delivering keynotes, doing a podcast of your own with our mutual friend, Jody Maberry, and consulting with leaders who care enough to become great.

 

So I’m really glad to have Lee Cockerell on our show, dedicated to helping you create Mighty Good Work.

 

Here are a few notes from our conversation.

 

When you’re the boss, your behavior can have a profound effect on the people who work for you.

 

Intimidation behaviors stem from low self-confidence. If you’re finding people intimidated by you… check your own confidence level.

 

Consider your authority and status when interacting with people.

 

Ask yourself, “Who am I?” Do people trust you?

 

Success boosts your confidence level.

 

“The world needs less big, bad bosses, and we need more teachers… Role-modeling is a gigantic responsibility.” Don’t underestimate the power of it.

 

Management is defined as the act of controlling. Keeping important aspects of business on track requires a great deal of organization.

 

With better organization, most people could get 50% more done.

 

Train, test the effectiveness of your training, and respect the responsibility of being a role-model.

 

Management is what to do. Leadership is how to be. How to be there for people. How to be a person of honesty and integrity. To be a person who can have the hard conversations. We can be more respectful, and more respectable.

 

What can I do, and how can I improve my behavior?

 

Have people in your life who will tell you the truth about how you’re doing and who you’re being.

 

We do not see ourselves the way other people see us.

Take a good look at the things you believe. Don’t believe everything your parents told you. Don’t believe everything you hear. Don’t believe everything your culture has led you to believe.

 

Treat people as individuals. Not as a group.

 

People only change in two ways: Education or crisis. Make it easy for your boss to tell you the hard truths -- so you can learn by education rather than through crisis.

 

The people who are close to you can give you great feedback about even your professional life. Listen. Give them credence.

 

Life is all connected. Physical health, family health, emotional health… These all affect your performance throughout your life including at work. You can’t have one personality at home, and a different one at work.

 

Take stock on a regular basis. Strive consistently.

 

Change is tough. It takes time. There are setbacks.

 

People will tell you the truth if you’re consistent about setting the environment where people are not afraid of you one bit.

 

Plan your day for effectiveness, not by default.

 

Look to the future. Start putting things on your calendar, and have it before you need it. Do it now so the things that come up later have space, and your life doesn’t get out of control.

 

Your personality must not conflict with your responsibilities. Effectiveness has requirements.

 

Be careful what you say and do. People are making meaning from everything they observe of you.

 

Culture starts at the top, and it affects attitudes.

 

Don’t stay in a job that’s changing you for the worse. Move on.

 

Three things that make the difference: 1) Hire the right people. 2) Train people. Test the training. Enforce the training. Train them so well their confidence skyrockets. 3) Create a culture where people know they’re valued, and they want to come to work.

 

You can’t find the time. You must make time.

 

Books by Lee:

http://www.leecockerell.com/books.cfm

The Customer Rules

Creating Magic

Career Magic

Time Management Magic

 

Lee's website - www.leecockerell.com

Time Management Magic Course - www.timemagiccourse.com

Apr 19, 2017

GUESTS: Darci Lee - Director of Talent and Culture and Kate Butcher - Manager of Culture from BitTitan

 

https://www.bittitan.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/darcilee/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-butcher-47262a3/

 

Stay active to keep your energy up.

 

Find great people. Onboard them well.

A common thread in our conversations on Mighty Good Work. “It starts at the top. Culture is established and reinforced by leadership.

 

Find your core values at the beginning.

 

“Get shit done. Have fun.” Cut to the chase.

 

If you don’t have integrity, you’re not going to be here.

 

“We used to tout flat management and limited process… With 200 people, now, we have to have some management, and we have to have some procedures… The right procedures.”

 

Procedures must be streamlined.

 

Guidelines are more effective than limiting procedures.


No-one wants to go see HR. That’s why we have talent and culture. “People come to us to get our guidance about how to have fun.”

 

We’re in a new business model and a new environment. We move so quickly, you have to be who you are. It’s so liberating.

 

Celebrate failure. “Yay! I failed.” Failure is not an end, it’s an inflection point. A time of learning and change.

 

We’re not tied to a ship date. We’re not tied to a product launch.


We “dog food” our products here before we got to market.

 

We tell our engineers that you can just try stuff. Not all your work has to go to market. That’s part of creating an innovative culture.

 

We’re willing to put something out into the market -- and if it’s not right, pull it back. That’s something that’s true throughout the company. It’s external -- and internal as well. Policies are tried, and adjusted, and changed whole-cloth.

 

People need time-off. Mental health is served by a change of venue, a relief from pressure. Your people work better when they’ve had a break to reset.

“A big part of our job is, how can we help people destress and get out of the office?”

 

Policies have long been in place in corporate culture to try to create the trailing result of performance and results. When you enlist and inspire people to accomplish goals -- when you give them your trust, faith, and feedback -- you’ll be amazed at their motivation and drive.

 

We invest in coaching for our people because they want to do good work -- and they will if they have the tools.

 

Work-life balance is a fool’s errand. That’s a false dichotomy. Work is a part of life. Live a balanced life.

 

People at BitTitan know they need to bring their full-self to work.

 

Notice whether your people seek guidance from one another. Do people seek coaching, advice, help from HR, from their peers, from their managers? If not, how can you create a company culture in which people make the most of the resources available to them?

 

Make sure in recruiting that what candidates see is what they’ll get when they come on board. Bait and switch is a recipe for losing people to resentment and mistrust.

 

Your people need someone to talk to who isn’t their direct colleague, and who isn’t their line-manager.

 

People we hire are willing to do the work.

 

We provide a kind of “concierge service” to make things easy for people. The work is hard. Being able to do the work should be easy. We orient people as well as we can, and give them the tools they need to do the job.

 

We have reverse engineered some of what we do from the folks out there who were already winning best place to work awards. That’s how we learn what people truly want in our sector.

 

Look for the subtle cues that people aren’t being entirely themselves, and instead of ignoring those signs, probe into that -- their changes -- with kindness and care. We want people in the right place at the right time.

 

How do you plan for succession? The most important thing is to hire the right people. People who have passion, integrity, and a sense of impeccability.

 

Fun is a more effective motivator than fear or compensation. Not forced fun… Levity. Everybody has a different definition of fun.

 

The names of things -- job titles, initiative names, etc -- carry information. Stuffy names lead to stuffy attitudes about and receptions of those things.

 

ID high potential employees. Empower them to select their picks as well. Form a team of those folks to develop their leadership -- by giving them real leadership work to do, and autonomy.

 

We’re people first, and workers second. If you don’t care for the person -- yourself included -- then the worker isn’t going to be at their best.

 

Introversion is not the same thing as social anxiety.

 

At the end of the day, we need to treat people as individuals.

 

QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

By Susan Cain


BitTitan is HIRING! Getting up to 400 employees this year -- doubling in size. If you’re looking for a great place to work, get in touch with Darci and Kate.

Apr 4, 2017

SHOW NOTES:

Sales - A Noble Profession with Bill Caskey - MGW #9

GUEST: Bill Caskey

Sales Trainer, Coach, and Podcast Host

https://advancedsellingpodcast.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcaskey/

 

Professionals in sales are looked down upon in some quarters, and some sales pros even look down on their own professions. So we’ve brought Bill Caskey onto the show to help those of us who are in sales to practice the trade in such a way that we can all feel great about sales and selling.

Here are a few notes from the conversation:

 

Anyone can become a great salesperson as long as you’re willing to think differently about yourself.

 

A lot of salespeople think they need to wear a persona. We’re not powerful when we’re wearing armor. We’re powerful when we don’t wear a mask.

 

Sales can be a very noble profession if we think about in the right way.

 

I’m not in sales. That’s not an accurate depiction of what we do in 2017. A salesperson creates an environment where a prospect can share about their problems or goals, and discover together whether the salesperson can help solve those problems or reach goals.

 

Sales is not about convincing. Taking that off the table helps eliminate the fear of failure, fear of rejection.

 

Avoid hyperbole. Don’t get ahead of the prospect. Don’t be more eager and enthusiastic than the client.

 

Find detachment. If you’re attached to the outcome, you’re less likely to make the sale.

 

Don’t work to “mirror” your prospect. When you imitate someone else, you lose yourself. When you practice sales gimmicks, you become a manipulator, and you feel the lack of integrity.

 

People will tell you what they want if you’ve established trust, and you’re not pitching, and conniving, and contorting.

 

If you’re faking it, pushing, pitching, and convincing, you’ll make sales in the short-run. But the sales will collapse as you build a reputation for poor service and poor sales qualification.

 

Create. Create something useful for your prospects and clients. Articles, videos… Provide resources. Publish, write, produce, curate.

 

That connects you to your work more, and separates you in the marketplace.

Position yourself as an expert.

 

If you bring value to my business, even outside of the products you sell, I’m going to be glad every time you ring my phone.

 

Your product or service may be a commodity. A connector -- connecting people, resources, etc. -- will never be a commodity.

 

There is a loneliness in sales. Sales leaders have to find ways to require working together. Sales reps somehow team up. Share what’s working. Listen in on calls, and give feedback.

 

Compete together with the past, with the industry trends… Less competition within the team.

 

Top performers are curious about what works. They’re hungry to learn new best practices. And they reach out to get the information. Ego interferes with lower performers’ willingness to ask for help, advice, and training.

 

Don’t buy into the idea, “How I am, others are.”


You need a coach to help you recognize what you’re doing, to reflect your actions, to help you shape what you’re going to do.

Mar 21, 2017

GUEST: Luke Hartsock -- Founder and CEO of Decisive Data

 

http://www.decisivedata.net/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukehartsock/

 

The Guiding Principles of Decisive Data:

  1. Create Customer Value: I do work that clearly satisfies my customer. The primary beneficiary of my effort is my customer.

  2. Be Original: I have a unique combination of skills, character, and history that no one else does.

  3. Serve Others: I put the needs of others first. Service is an attitude and way of being.

  4. Have Grit: I see challenges as opportunities for growth and learning. I am not defeated by setbacks and choose to endure and overcome.

  5. Pursue Excellence: I continuously improve my knowledge, tools, and expertise. The quality of my work is a representation of who I am.

  6. Have Fun: I foster an environment of laughter, joy, and friendship.

 

Points of Wisdom from our Conversation:

 

Culture starts with who we let into our company.

 

Everything important gets codified. Even the oral tradition that is organically created, gets codified and written down, in order to ensure that as the company grows, it stays true to its core.

 

Authority is effective when it can influence without having to control. And it’s effective when it can serve without demanding service in return.

 

Transitions are hard. Change is hard. The transitions that people go through before and after a project are often overlooked to the detriment of the individual and the organization.

 

Be aware of and beware the switching costs of moving from one area of focus to another, even briefly. Make sure to protect (and that your people are protecting) expanses of productivity time.

 

We’ve got to move past the distractibility to really lead well.

 

Behind distraction and lack of flow, avoidance in a real issue that hampers effective leadership. Note what you need to do -- and face it.

 

Results are accomplished through behaviors. Request, measure, drive behaviors.

 

Take what you want to build, and magnify that vision by 10X -- then you’ve got a vision that will really drive results. Method without vision has no capacity to guide or inspire.

 

At Decisive Data, there’s a motto: Every decision informed by data.

 

You can’t gather data if you’re not paying attention.



Referenced Resources:

 

Manager vs. Maker -- http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html

Cal Newport’s “Deep Work” -- http://calnewport.com/books/deep-work/

 

At Decisive Data our mission is: Help people use data to realize better outcomes.

Our vision is: Every decision informed by data

 

http://www.decisivedata.net/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukehartsock/



And, we’re They Yes Works -- Helping to make work good for people, and make people good for work.

 

www.TheYesWorks.com

1