IT'S THE SIMPLE THINGS THAT COUNT

Have you ever been given an expensive gift, that was nice but didn't really reflect who you are? And then as a counterpoint you get a gift, that is simple, but shows that the giver actually thought about you, as a person, and gave you a gift that was truly meaningful...and it pales in comparison to the large extravagance?

I am a simple person (Ok, no unnecessary smirks here...I truly am!). So I don't need  expensive over the top recognition of a milestone. Nope, as someone once said I'm a pretty cheap date :)

When you think about yourself in the corporate world, wouldn't it be nice if your leader or a colleague, or a client, just said "Thanks, you are doing a great job, I really appreciate it!"? And do you really know folk you work with well enough that you could get them a small token, be it a chocolate bar, a mug, a pen etc.

We always wait for an event in corporate to recognize someone's efforts...a five year anniversary, the performance review process or the like. We wait for the grand gesture, without realizing that small, simple things have more meaning.

So ask yourself today, do you really know the personalities on your team? Do you know what simple things would bring a smile to their face, make their day and show them you care? Also think about the people in your life outside of work....do you always go for the expensive trinket, because it is easier than actually making a conscious effort to buy a gift that is reflective of them?

Grand gestures are, well, grand. But it is the simple things that often count more.

ABOUT STUFF

I have always loved George Carlin and his comedic rants. However the best one by far was when he illuminated us all about stuff,  several decades ago.

A house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff....A house is just a pile of stuff with a cover on it....Sometimes you gotta move, gotta get a bigger house. Why? No room for your stuff anymore.

If you think about it, most of our activities are geared towards getting more "stuff" or better "stuff." And since the '80's it has become even more so. But how much of life are you enjoying during your push to get this "stuff?" 

And have you noticed how many new self-storage buildings are popping up around in all cities? A whole industry has spawned and grown exponentially because of our need to keep our stuff.

In the last few years I have downsized the size of my abode and as such have gotten rid of a lot of stuff. And if you think it was easy for me, think again....it wasn't, because there is something that makes you think that you are successful and have "made it" because of your stuff. But I got over it, sold a lot and donated more. And although I still have a reasonable amount of stuff, I think comparative to many of my friends, I am pretty lean on the stuff front. 

When my father passed away just over a year ago, you come to realize how little stuff means. My parents had already downsized a couple of years before and there was about 50 years of stuff that needed to be sorted through. A lot of it, unfortunately, was either given away, sold or trashed, because there was no room for most of it in their new accommodations and it was not something of which any member of the family had a desired. But my parents legacy and hopefully yours is not about your stuff.

How many necessary decisions in your life are you putting off because of your love affair with your stuff. Are you staying in an untenable situation, say in a job, because you are afraid of how you are going to continue to afford the stuff you have and how you are going to then go out and get more stuff?

Or would you be happier, and less burdened if you made the decisions you need to make, without concerns about the stuff? Ask yourself,  what choices would you make today, if you didn't have to concern yourself about the stuff.

I know that you can't totally disengage from stuff. I don't live in a cardboard box under the expressway, I do like my stuff, and I do have some nice stuff. But if I had to give up a whole bunch of my stuff tomorrow, to lead a more happy and fulfilled life I would. Luckily at this point I don't have to because I like my life.

As George Carlin said Trying to be happy by accumulating possessions is like trying to satisfy hunger by taping sandwiches all over your body.

So take a critical look at how you are living, because of your stuff! You might be surprised at what you see!

(You can read the transcript of George Carlin's rant at Babyboomer Flashback or see it on YouTube at George Carlin talks about stuff)

(Note :George Carlin passed away in 2008)

ARE YOU A LEADER WHO IS OUT OF TOUCH?

Reality TV programmers are making a tidy income with highlighting leaders who are out of touch with the popular show Undercover Boss, which is now broadcast in 8 countries across the globe with more to come.

I stopped watching this program after the first few shows, when it was first aired in the US in 2010. Why? Because I was disgusted about how little the leaders of these organizations actually knew about what was going on at the grassroots. The show makes these "undercover" leaders into heroes, when they should be flailed for living in an ivory tower for so long.

I get that the CEO of a corporation can't be picking up garbage or busing tables everyday. Yet both they and their senior leaders should,  at minimum on a yearly basis, be out amongst their people, working along with them and create venues where they can obtain regular input in a non-threatening scenario from the floor-sweeper on up. This doesn't mean a town-hall meeting, which can be quite intimidating for many folk who are not keen on speaking in public. It means going onto their turf, whether a warehouse, a call centre, a restaurant and speaking to them in a small intimate gathering. You'd be surprised by what you hear.

I've made a point in my corporate iterations, as well as in some consulting gigs, to work side-by-side, picking orders, riding on trucks, unloading heavy boxes, cutting a purchase order and so on. I didn't have to go undercover for people to talk to me openly about the opportunities and challenges, and it ensured that the staff would feel comfortable with approaching me in the future. The Undercover Boss show suggests that team members will not tell the truth to a senior executive unless the latter's identity is hidden. That speaks more to the lack of connection the leader has to the organization as a whole vs. the staffs' openness.

I also had regular "coffee" meetings with all levels of my staff. I will admit this was tough sometimes to schedule and more than once I had to cancel my attendance, but often my direct reports would take these meetings in my stead. That way, the staff became comfortable with all levels of leadership. I will however say that the areas for improvement and suggestions that came forward were amazing. And not only did we act on many of them, we involved the entire team in the implementation and recognized them. 

Take a few moments and ask yourself "how much do I really know about the inner workings of the team/organization that I lead?"; "how much does my leadership team know?" If the answer is not that much, then it is time not to be the Undercover Boss, but be a leader and go roll up your sleeves and get your hands "dirty." You'll not only glean information that will keep you from making ivory tower decisions that are unrealistic, but you will gain lots of respect from your staff. You've made them feel that their job and opinion is important. 

And your business will soar!

IT'S ABOUT MORE THAN SALES

Organizations are always quick to put sales on a pedestal. Sales is the lifeblood of the organization they will shout from the rooftops. Much effort and money is put towards annual sales conference, sales training, "President's Club" trips, etc. etc. etc.

A stellar sales force is extremely important to a company, because obviously without revenue generation there would be no business. But focusing most efforts on sales is like saying you only need a frontal lobe in the brain, there is no need for the rest of the organ to think and make the body function.

So what about Supply Chain, Procurement, Finance, HR, Marketing, IT. Research etc.? Could sales actually put together proposals, sell to the client and deliver excellent service to that same client without these so-called support organizations? Of course not. Yet because these are what are typically referred to as "back-room" functions (or even worse - cost centers) they are taken for granted.

Some organizations get it and celebrate the contributions of stellar individuals or teams outside of sales. But most do not. They will slash other budgets while putting more into sales, not recognizing that the other aspects of the organization are in fact the "client retention" part of the business.

I will address Supply Chain and Procurement specifically here because that is what I have the most experience with, but that is not to diminish the rest of the "support" functions...they are equally important.

When dealing with  product distribution, Supply Chain defines the client experience. From having the inventory available, to delivering the right product, to the right place, at the promised time, in one piece. If you think about whether you would want continue to deal with an organization that never had the product you wanted available, and never delivered to promise, well, you would take your business elsewhere, pretty quickly. 

Supply Chain and Procurement often work hand-in-hand with the sales force in structuring deals, whether in services or product sales. They may even be asked to go on client visits to give some credibility to the "team" approach of their company. I have also seen deals sold, where it was almost impossible to deliver to the promises made within the profitability matrix provided. That's when all the non-sales functions role up their sleeves and become creative on how to make this work. But at the end of the day it will be the sales rep who will get the shiny statue and maybe a trip to boot.

I could give more examples, but I think you have the basic idea. I am not dissing sales, far from it. I actually like sales people. They have a tough job, I mean they have to truly go through a labyrinth, with unknown obstacles hiding away, before they make a sale. So I think it is appropriate to recognize them and train them to do better.

Yet don't forget the rest of the folk back at the shop. They don't expect much, they are used to being overlooked. But if you really want a high-functioning organization, make a point of recognizing all the contributors to the achievements of the organization, and promoting that success is the net result of everyone in the team -- not just sales.

WHAT'S IN A WORD?

The estimates of how many actual words there are in the english language vary greatly, but let's say there are anywhere from 250K to 750K words available to us at any given moment. On average, in speech, we use between 6000 to 10000 words every day, the lower side of that range being gender specific, men use less words than women do, but of course, women have been accused of talking more than men :)

So have you ever thought about how many of these thousands of words you use daily are actually delivering the message you want them to convey? The inadvertent use of a word, a phrase or a sentence could either commit you to something you didn't expect or result in the fragmenting of a relationship -- either personally or in business. Words can be used as weapons or as entreaties. 

Words are powerful!

When you are about to present a "pitch"  or negotiate with a potential client, how carefully do you choose your words? Perhaps you ensure that all the words with which you wish to convey your message are written down, but when presenting and negotiating most of the communication is verbal. 

So let me just provide a few examples of words which you may want to avoid when trying to put forward a confident, competent option to your potential client.

• Never lead with a negative . Ok, so I did here, but I chose it specifically for effect. When you say "no, never, not, can't...." people tend to shut down. They hear very little after the negative, because, well, why should they? You've just indicated that things are a "no-go". This is when people start either challenging the comment or just shut-down and  checking their watches.

• "We hope that..." Well, there is a big difference between hoping and knowing. If you are presenting to a client or negotiating, these are words which signal lack of confidence. Because hope is not a strategy and I prefer to deal with people saying "We're sure that...." Whether I am or not, at least you've conveyed you're convinced you did your job!

• "This should..." Will it or won't it? Should is from my perspective one of the most wishy-washy words on the planet. But think of how many times a day you probably use this word. For me it is a signal that there is something I need to probe deeper on, because "should" is a big red flag for me.

• There are words that make people lean in and take notice and surprise, surprise, these are powerful, positive words such as success, goals, will, sure, can, together well you get the idea. 

Maya Angelou said "At the end of the day, people won't remember what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel."

Your words, can either make someone feel positive and pumped and thus people who have heard you will feel good. And we all prefer to be around people and companies who are capable of this!

So when you are using your 6000 to 10000 words today, stop for a moment and consider what it is you are actually saying -- the result might surprise you!

DID I REALLY SAY THAT? THE LANGUAGE OF COMMUNICATION

At one point in time in my career, I taught  public speaking, presentation and negotiating skills. And even though there seems to be a resurgence of interest in what we say, without knowing, it is still, unfortunately, a little developed skill set.

When negotiating a deal, you know that you are engaged in a poker game of sorts with often very high stakes. So if you are good at it (either from the buy or sell side) you should be constantly looking for the "tells" which can be in words, body language or eye contact, as well as utilizing aspects of the same in an effort to provide the message to the "opposing" side that you wish to convey.

I usually like to start a negotiation with being very friendly, talking about inconsequential things to the folk from the "opposing" side. This provides me with a three-fold opportunity. It allows me to create an environment where the other side might believe "Oh, this looks good. This might not be a tough negotiation." It allows me to baseline the body language and words people will use when not negotiating and thus I can determine as the negotiation goes forward, how these aspects of behaviour change under stress. Thirdly, what I have found is that when creating this initial friendly, warm space, people will often tell you things that they really shouldn't have exposed. And I make sure that my body language mirrors my friendly words.

For example, in a negotiation a supplier was trying to assess a $750K payment on my firm for product that was destroyed at our behest. We knew we owed some monies, but couldn't remotely find justification for this amount.  During this pre-negotiation the supplier let drop that they had been going through a massive system change and it had caused lots of issues throughout their company including record-keeping and accounts receivable. I kept this in my back pocket and during the negotiation when they pulled out their sheets of numbers etc. which conflicted radically with ours, I just said "you know, you were just telling us how difficult the transition to this ERP system was and how you had to have lots of verification and validation through this timeframe, so considering you went through all of this and that you've indicated there are still issues, can you tell me why I should trust your numbers over ours?" They were flummoxed and we finally settled at $250K. Not bad for a two hour negotiation!

What about body language? Again best to set a baseline before interpreting too much into body language but there are some standard "tells." Unless the room is very cold, people with arms crossed are assuming a defensive position. I watch during a negotiation how the body language changes. Are the arms open, until I ask a question and then the arms cross and the body leans back? Then I know I hit a nerve and you can be sure that I will probe further on that point. If they are open and leaning forward then this is usually an area that we are in agreement on, or they may be willing "to give" on. But be careful to see if your "opposing side" is mirroring your behaviour. As a seasoned negotiator, I will mirror behaviour to make the other side believe that I'm "in tune"with them. Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but always be on your guard.

What are the other members of your entourage doing while you're speaking/negotiating? I don't only pay attention to the person that is in front of me. I look to see how other members of the team are reacting to what is being said. If all of a sudden I see a team member put their hands up to their face and maybe even put their finger on their lips in a "shushing" position, I know that something is being said that is not quite truthful, or the "speaker" has given away something that he/she shouldn't. There are other things I look for as well, but just ensure that the entire team has been briefed on how to behave and not to give anything away.

When looking at communication and what we are truly "saying", it is not just the words or the body, or the eyes. The language of communication is a 360 degree one. So be aware of every aspect! If you are not sure how you are coming across, role play and video. You'll be surprised at what you see.

(note: I'm going to write about a few other types of communication throughout this week. Stay tuned!)

BE INSPIRED ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

Today is International Women's Day. Some may know this, some may not. And although there will be a lot of discussion today on what women have achieved, there may be some that will focus on what hasn't happened.

However, as I always want women to be inspired and think of the possibilities vs. the obstacles, in honour of International Women's Day, my co-author and I are providing you with an opportunity to download an ePDF version of our book 1 Piece of Advice: Exceptional women from around the globe inspire you to unlock your potential.

Enjoy, and please pass on the link to everyone who you may know who may want to be inspired!

Go to www.1pieceofadvice.com to the right hand side of the page and click on Download!

UNETHICAL BY PROXY

If you build that foundation, both the moral and the ethical foundation, as well as the business foundation, and the experience foundation, then the building won't crumble...Henry Kravis

There is unrelenting, increasing pressure on corporations to cut costs. The problem with trying to meet metrics, which are sometimes unrealistic, it  causes the people within that corporation to cut corners, to turn a blind eye, just to ensure that their boss showers them with accolades and possibly a salary increase.

But what happens when you accept a price reduction but it is because the supplier is doing something not quite on the up-and-up? You may suspect this, you may know it, or perhaps not. Regardless, you have now become unethical by proxy and the potential damage to your reputation and that of your corporation are at risk.

When reviewing the response to an RFP, most evaluators will have lots of questions when there is an obvious low-ball offer. But we often don't question when there is only a few percent point differential and as such happily go ahead and award the business. Then we can joyfully put our savings into the spreadsheet, believing that we have done a good days work. 

Yet this is not where your due diligence should end. There are some industries where there are very low margins (particularly when the client is a large corporation), things like couriers, distribution, contract labour etc., where even a few percent difference from the "pack" should give pause. 

Is there something that this lower provider does not include in their pricing that will cost you more in the long run? Or are they doing something behind the scenes that may not be illegal, but falls squarely in the unethical arena? 

In procurement, it is our role to ensure ethical behaviour by all, our internal clients and our suppliers. We cannot end up saying "well, it was them, not us." This doesn't fly and the accolades you got today, could quickly turn into jeers tomorrow. And worse yet if you've been advised that there is some funny business going on, or that you suspect it. 

By proxy you are as culpable as the culprit -- you are an enabler or as they say in criminal court you are an accessory. 

So be careful about just being metric and not ethics oriented, because otherwise your carefully constructed pyramid of savings will crumble in an instant, along with your reputation.